Chapter 2 The Cemetery

Elysia’s mind snapped into focus as she laid on her back in the muddy crater. With growing confusion, her eyes scanned her surroundings. Where am I? The last thing I remember was a bright light after my run. Did I fall in a ditch after dodging a car?

Her thoughts paused as a long list of text displayed itself in her vision. She blinked several times, but the text remained, forcing her to read it.

Status

Name: Elysia Arashi

Race: Level 1 Lightning Touched Human

Class: None

Gender: Female

Age: 18

Eye color: Purple

Hair color: White

Height: 160 centimeters

Weight: 49.6 kilograms

Charge: 98/100

Status screen? Am I hallucinating one of my sister’s games? That must be it. My hair isn’t white, and my eyes aren’t purple. What is a lightning touched human anyway? I’ll probably never know because this is all in my head. It’s kind of creepy it has my weight too, but it’s not like anyone else will ever see this.

As if following her wishes, the status screen morphed, removing her physical description, leaving only her name, race, and vital stats. Well, that proves it’s all in my head.

Her eyes traveled down the status menu to the next section.

Attributes

Strength: 3

Dexterity: 5

Endurance: 8

Intelligence: 9

Perception: 5

Elysia puffed her cheeks as she fumed. I’m not weak! Sure, I struggle with pull-ups, but those are unfair and should be banned!

She glared at the last small section, willing the evil status menu to die, but it ignored her wish.

Affinities

Lightning level 1.

Moans and shuffling drew her attention away from the status screen, which disappeared on its own. She tried to crawl up the muddy wall of the crater, digging her fingers into the slick surface to gain purchase. Halfway up, she lost her grip, sliding to the bottom, eliciting a squeak as she coated the front of her dress in mud.

After climbing to her feet, Elysia glared up at the offending wall. She planted her right foot to propel herself up the wall but slipped, face planting in the mud.

“Dammit!” Shouted Elysia, punching the mud in anger.

The sounds of moans and shuffling neared, attracted by her outburst, causing her to freeze. She held her breath as her wide eyes tilted upward to the top of the crater.

She waited with bated breath for over a minute until the shuffling moved away, allowing her to release a shuttered sigh. Another minute passed with her laying still before her curiosity got the better of her. Quiet as a mouse, she stood and inched toward the wall with careful steps on the slippery mud.

Elysia kicked off her golden flats before digging her fingers deep into the mud to begin her ascent. This time, with the added grip of her toes, she reached the top. She peeked over the edge, scanning her surroundings. Her eyes landed on shattered coffins scattered about the forest floor between massive tree trunks. The discovery caused her gaze to gravitate down into the crater to find wood fragments buried in the mud.

What’s with the coffins?

Her arms strained as she pulled herself out of the crater. She stood and rotated in a circle. Where am I? Trees aren’t this big near town. They look like the old-growth forests we visited last year, but those were hours away.

She crouched down to a half intact coffin. Some people love to use forests as dumping grounds. At least it’s just some wood, not trash.

Next, she glanced at her right wrist, only to find a bare, mud-covered arm. Where did my watch go? Her eyes ran down her body, causing her to stiffen. Why am I wearing a dress? Did someone kidnap me!? She shivered in revulsion at the thought of a stranger dressing her.

A familiar long groan broke her out of her thoughts. She tiptoed toward the sound, hiding behind a tree trunk several times wider than her before peeking at the source of the sound.

She stared frozen stiff, eyes wide, watching a group of half-decayed bodies shambling through the forest a dozen meters away. After a few seconds, her mind rebooted, prompting her to retreat behind the tree. Her back glued itself to the tree trunk as her heart beat like a drum. She trembled as she held her breath, terrified to make a sound.

Several minutes passed before the forest returned to silence. She tentatively peeked around the trunk, finding the undead gone, releasing a sigh of relief.

Her legs turned to mush as she slid down the trunk to the soggy ground. Zombies? How? Was this a graveyard? Her eyes gravitated toward the crater, causing another thought to form. Did I die? Am I undead too? That weird status screen said I was human though.

She shook her head at the absurdity of it as she regained control over her body. Why am I even entertaining the thought of zombies and status screens? I must’ve hit my head harder than I thought.

While using the tree for support, she stood up, taking one last scan of the coffin-covered clearing before walking around the tree. Despite telling herself otherwise, her head swiveled, scanning every tree for zombies as she walked past.

After fifteen minutes of silent trekking, she stopped at a wrought iron fence. She eyed a massive tree trunk growing through the fence to her right. There is no way this fence is old enough for the tree to grow through it. Unless Native Americans learned how to make a European-styled fence hundreds of years before they made contact. She shrugged her shoulders as she turned left, following the fence.

Five minutes later, Elysia stumbled upon a paved road with trees speared through it. She stared down at the road, head tilted in confusion. Okay. Something is seriously up. How could a massive tree grow out of an asphalt road? Did they pave around the tree?

Her eyes gravitated to the mossy concrete arch over the open iron gate on her right. The barely legible engraved name on the arch caused her heart to skip a beat. Evergreen Cemetery!?

Elysia spun on her heels, frantically scanning the dense forest, spotting several familiar gravestones between trees. She dashed down the street bisecting the once cemetery, weaving through trees sprouted through the pavement as she followed landmarks engraved into her mind.

Her breathing became erratic as she neared her target, a gravestone next to the crater she woke up in. She fell to her knees in front of the intact gravestone, tears flowing from her eyes.

Tempa Arashi June 17, 1983–May 8, 2006

Devoted wife and mother of twins taken too soon.

Almost against her will, her eyes gravitated toward another shattered gravestone with an all-too-familiar name, causing her to fall to the ground, curling up into a ball unable to cope, instinctively knowing it was true. Under her mud-caked skin, purple veins glowed as tears flowed from her amethyst eyes glued to the shattered gravestone with her name engraved on it.

Despite the sounds of groaning nearby, Elysia continued to stare at her gravestone dead to the world. Zombies shambled by, but unaware of the curled-up woman silently staring at her own grave, they moved on.

She remained motionless for over a half-hour before her rational mind wrestled back control, pushing her emotions down as her veins dimmed.

Still sluggish from her meltdown she struggled to her feet. Her eyes remained glued to the shattered gravestone for a minute longer before wiping away tears from her eyes with a trembling hand. A determined expression took hold as she tore her eyes away from her grave, turning her attention to her mother’s grave. I don’t know how I am alive, but I won’t waste this opportunity. Sorry mom. It looks like I won’t see you for a while longer. I’m sure you understand.

Elysia turned toward the tree-speared road. I need to find dad and Sis. They need to know I’m alive.

Though still shaken from her discovery, she forced herself forward, knowing dwelling here would do her no good. Her stiff legs loosened with each stride as she jogged through the trees to the right of her mother’s gravestone approaching the tree-speared road. Now that she knew where she was, she returned to the entrance five minutes later.

Goosebumps formed as she stepped under the arch, causing her to glance over her shoulder. Her eyes landed on a herd of a dozen zombies shambling her way. A scream ripped from her throat. Faster than she ever ran before, she dashed out of the cemetery down the overgrown sidewalk, scraping her bare feet raw in her haste.

A half skeletal arm shot out through the fence, grabbing her dress with an ironclad grip. The mud-caked fabric tore as Elysia fell sideways toward the fence. Before she could recover, another rotten arm latched onto her right forearm. The arm pulled her toward the fence, slamming her shoulder hard on the iron bars.

She pulled with all her might, but she couldn’t break free. Her skin bruised, indenting against the bending bars. Elysia screamed as her shoulder dislocated. Her eyes glowed, static writhing around her trapped arm. A sudden wave of dizziness muddied her mind as a violet stream of electricity released from her hand, jumping to the fence bars.

-50 Charge.

The purple electricity arced between the bars, zapping the crowd of zombies gathered at the fence. A burned flesh smell filled the air as the zombie latched onto her arm jerked back, releasing her. She fell away from the fence, stumbling a few steps before regaining her bearings. Without looking back, Elysia took off in a sprint crossing the street as her right arm dangled limp at her side. She continued to run for a kilometer before stopping to lean against a traffic light, panting for breath.

Elysia surveyed her surroundings, finding herself alone. With the traffic light acting as support, she clenched her eyes shut before grabbing her limp right arm with her left, popping it back into the socket. A pained groan escaped her lips, but learning her lesson, she kept herself quiet.

After the pain died down, she surveyed her surroundings again, finding herself at the corner of Emerson Drive and Settler Lane. Where is everyone? Sure, it’s late, but shouldn’t people be investigating? I mean, there’s a damn five-meter wide redwood growing out of the courthouse.

She shook her head at the absurdity as she continued down Emerson drive to the east only to stop a block later, glancing down at her bloody footprints. A wince graced her face when she checked the bottom of her right foot. Why did I ditch the flats? Sure, they aren’t running shoes, but they would’ve at least protected my feet.

She glanced across the street at the 24-hour pharmacy. After surveying her surroundings again, ensuring the area was zombie-free, she limped across the street into the pharmacy with a lit-up open sign. With practice precision, she zeroed in on the first-aid section, grabbing disinfectant, gauze, and a pack of non-stick pads before approaching the counter, only to find it empty.

Weird. There’s always someone at the counter here. It’s the only pharmacy in town, after all.

Elysia waved at the camera before grabbing a pen and piece of paper on the counter to write down her phone number, knowing they would recognize her as she visited often after injuring herself running.

After writing her number, she limped into the bathroom, pulling herself up on the counter setting her feet in the sink. Pained tears formed as she washed away the dirt and blood to reveal her mangled feet. She next poured disinfectant on the scrapes and waited for the sizzling to die down before applying the pads. While holding the pads in place, she wrapped her feet liberally. With her feet taken care of, she gently dropped to the tile floor, hissing in pain.

She limped out of the bathroom, grabbing a pair of flip-flops from a rack as she gave a sorry look at the camera. I hope I can make it home. If I had shoes, I wouldn’t have a problem, but with mummified feet and flip-flops, it may be difficult.

Elysia exited the pharmacy, taking a left down the sidewalk to continue her journey. The stinging from her feet died down to a mild throb as she wandered past the illuminated but deserted stores with green vegetation growing on roofs and along the brick walls. Some had trees growing through them or were collapsed, but a majority remained standing with power.

Each step was a struggle, traveling down the road leading out of town in pitch-black darkness. Fortunately, unlike most roads, the dense forest remained along its edges, sparing her from face planting into a tree trunk. Still, her feet throbbed as she traveled several kilometers before reaching a driveway on the right.

In a practiced motion, she turned onto the dirt driveway, reaching a house nestled between several large redwood trees a couple of minutes later. At least our house survived whatever caused the sudden tree growth. Though we didn’t have redwoods in our yard before.

Tension left her shoulders as she trotted past a familiar old Chevy pickup up to the front door. She checked the door, finding it locked, so she circled around back. After trying the back door, finding it also locked, she frowned. Odd we never lock the back door. It’s not like we have anything worth stealing.

With a shrug of her shoulders, she turned toward a weather-worn brown shed a dozen meters from the house next to a small pond. Finally, her third attempt succeeded as she found the shed unlocked. While being extra careful of sharp objects, she weaved around gardening tools to the back. Elysia lifted herself on her toes, trembling from a jab of pain through her feet as she blindly slid her hand along the top shelf, finding a key.

Key in hand, she exited the shed, closing the door behind her before trotting up to the back door. Elysia slid the key into the hole before turning the lock and pushing the door open. After peeking inside, finding all the lights off, she pushed the door open, wincing at the loud creaking. How many times do I have to tell dad to buy some damn silicone spray? Hopefully, I didn’t wake them up.

Elysia glanced down at her dirty, mummified feet clad in mud-caked flip-flops. Afraid to hurt her feet worse, she carefully slid off the flip-flops, throwing them in the garbage to the right of the door before tiptoeing through the kitchen, bearing with the throbbing.

A left turn took her down a short hall with a bathroom on the left side, followed by another two doors on the right. Upon turning on the bathroom light, she saw her muddy trail causing her to glance toward the door at the end of the fall with an apologetic expression. Sorry dad.

She grabbed a white towel from the shelf, wrapping it around her muddy, bandaged feet. Next, she fetched another towel before dropping to her hands and knees and followed her path, wiping away her trail. Satisfied, she threw the now brown towel in the laundry basket in the bathroom before opening the first door on the right.

Warning! Charge 25.

A wave of dizziness assaulted her, forcing her to rest her hand against the wall, waiting for it to pass. Numbness spread through her limbs, turning them to lead. Elysia stared at the door to her left with her now blurry vision with a conflicted expression before entering her room.

Without bothering to flip the light on, she stripped away the filthy dress, dropping it on the floor before flopping face first on her bed. Knowing my sister, it would be impossible to wake her up the middle night as much as I would love to let them know I’m alive

Within seconds, Elysia passed out, naked on top of her covers.

A few minutes after Elysia fell asleep, a familiar moaning and shuffling neared her bedroom window.