It’s Safe Now

sunrise

© Roger Bultot

“It’s over Grandpa. Sun’s coming up. We’ll be okay.”

Timmy’s Grandfather lay asleep on the duck blind’s floor. Yesterday, they’d been hunting and got lost. Couldn’t find the truck. Sun was going down when they saw the first in a forgotten graveyard.

These zombies were real. Fought them off while their ammo lasted. Grandpa got scratched, but they hid back in the blind. It’s over now.

“Grandpa?” Timmy shook the old man. “Wake up.”

Bloodshot eyes oozing yellow mucus snapped open. It grabbed Timmy’s arms fast.

“Grandpa, no!”

Just because the sun comes up doesn’t mean the monsters go away.

I wrote this for the Rochelle Wisoff-Fields writing challenge of 27 October 2017. The idea is to use the image above to inspire crafting a piece of flash fiction no more than 100 words long. My word count is 100.

Decades ago, I saw the 1968 black and white film Night of the Living Dead on TV. I don’t like horror films beyond the old 1930s-1950s Universal horror films (Frankenstein, Werewolf, and such), but this was supposed to be a classic.

As expected, I was scared out of my wits and the movie has a tragic, ironic ending. Today, television is full of zombie-type shows, and I refuse to watch any of them. But it is “Halloween week” and horror stories are expected, so I thought I’d create one (though it’s not my first).

Poor Timmy.

To read other stories based on the prompt, go to InLinkz.com.

68 thoughts on “It’s Safe Now”

  5. I remember that ending! Yes, you stick with a character all the way along and then … Poor Timmy. But then the weak, the young, the old, the infirm will be the first to fall when the Zombie Apocalypse hits. I’ve always thought I’d be one of the opening rounds of zombie fodder you see in these movies, part of the human flood that dies in the first reel. Happy Halloween!

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    • Grandpa will “take care” of Timmy by consuming him, Madison. I can’t always write happy endings.

      I have written two other zombie stories, the very short Never Bother Sally When She’s Eating and the longer When Sean Met Sally. The latter tale is part of a series, one about a vampire named Sean Becker who works for a private detective in Los Angeles. He’s investigating missing teenagers and discovers they’ve been kidnapped and slowly consumed by a Zombie. Check them out if you like the genre.

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      • Thats the part I was referring to… I think Timmy needs to quickly learn how to use a knife! Im assuming a knife to the brain will kill your zombies, like in the Walking Dead.

        I will have a read! My normal genre is psychological thrillers but I love to swap genres around too!

        Thank you

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    • You might. No Timmy in that story as I recall. I picked Timmy because it had that 1950s/1960s feel for a youngster in keeping with the 1968 movie “Night of the Living Dead”. I usually don’t kill kids in my stories, but this had to be an exception.

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    • Indeed, Alice. I was afraid that a 100 word limit would force me to reveal too much too soon, but judging on some of the other comments, it all seemed to have worked out okay. Thanks.

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  32. And the attempt was excellent! Sorry you don’t care for them.
    I have a short novella called “Keeping Watch”. It is outlined in my blog, listed in a set of about 18 posts. it became more of a character study and would be rated PG13 today, I imagine. It is zombies, but as always, with a bit of a twist. I fell in love with Caroline. You might try.
    Scott
    Mine: https://kindredspirit23.wordpress.com/2017/10/31/reckoning-friday-fictioneers/

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