Brutal cold and faint painful yowling filled the smog filled warzone. The snow still fell as usual. Asteroids delivered deafening explosions onto what used to be a forest. What had not already fallen over to the meteors would soon be leveled with the overwhelming stopping power cranked out by six red hot rotating barrels of a minigun. The heavily armored corpse apparently had infinite ammo exploit.

Jed really had his hands full. The mangled corpse of the fallen soldier remained frozen in his lap. The guy had been running for cover one second, then heaving his last breaths leaking guts from holes behind the cover of rocks the next from the big gun, until he suddenly sputtered back to life again.

“Brains,” cried the re-animated cadaver, thrashing about.

The zombie soldier had an eyeball dragging on a thin line behind followed by his intestines. A mouth with two holes out the other side and a nose shot off lunged forward. Jed flinched seeing the red eyes determined for fresh blood. It snapped ready to bite. Jed unstunned just in time to survive the current battle dodging the snapping teeth by instinct.

It was as if by instant a mental switch had flipped. Jed grabbed onto the shredded remains of its military backpack of the assailant. He tossed away the zombie into incoming bullets and into a burn pit. It screeched on account of being raked over hot coals.

“Bang!”.

The valley exploded with light as a big chunk of fallen moon hit a nearby mountain. Jed was a soldier doing actions his subconscious acted out while the man supposed to be behind the driver's seat drifted away into a far out dream. His brain a shell shocked pudding spinning round the ring around the rosie. His eardrums cried like they were being cleaned with a broken fiddlehead. Additionally his pulse pounded in a headache with every nearby impact of the outside meteor storm.

Out of nowhere slithered the return of the burned zombie making a beeline towards the survivor growling on fire with hunger. It crawled underneath obstacles overhead. Jed picked up a rock from the pile he was hiding behind.

“Come to papa you little bastard,” he taunted.

The zombie remained fearless in pursuit of getting dinner until suddenly it sputtered backwards seemingly cowering away in fear. It’s' eyes were all that showed out of a dark hole until it changed color to gothic pitch black. Nancy now had control of the body from the other end of the spirit realm.

“Oh Eddy that must be you also cast down by shooting star, smooch smooch smooch,” emitted the gargle of nonconsensual dead vocals from the dark. “ Let's start the love early before my skeleton gets there to bone you,” called the zombie, looking for something more jock to snack on over brains.

It broke the ice leaping out of its hiding spot in a foxhole right on top of Jed. He rolled out of the way just in time. his ears screeched like they were being cleaned with a broken fiddle.

“Crunch!”

The creature’s head was pulverized underneath the makeshift weapon of stone, but it kept trying to kiss him. Jed screamed out like a caveman in response, grabbing hold of a wooden club conveniently cut out from the bullets. He continuously smashed the brain until nothing remained, alternating primitive weapons.

“There’s suppa, eat that,” Jed said, leaving behind a bloody mess.

“Brrrrzt!”.

The remaining tree trunks in the area were ripped open.in similar fashion to an experienced mortician cracking open the final cold one from the fridge on a friday night. The branches launched while the trunks turned to splinters. The rest of the grove creaked, cracked, and toppled over on each other causing a chain reaction among the timbers. There must have been an end to what seemed to be an unlimited amount of bullets.

Jed had alway been lucky enough to not count himself out just yet. He realized his rifle was missing in action. The only options left seemed to be sneaking out of the area somehow in one piece or hoping a falling object would bullseye the shooter.

The hail of bullets ripped into things heading away. The zombie wielding the minigun must have been gunning for the other target still alive. It was now or never to act.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

Jed searched the smoking clearing for any cover still standing, but what he was behind all of it. He sprinted from behind cover into the open. The bullets started turning back his way, shredding the ground as the angle of attack was recalibrated. He jumped back into cover just in time to avoid being shot. He held his ears tight and his head down behind the rocks as bullets whizzed and popped being deflected right behind his head.

Not going back to the burning cabin where the heavily armored zombie continued to shoot its minigun, Bessie had probably fallen with the collapsing roof. There was no going back to her family's farm either empty handed to get the supplies of jungle juice he had a quest for. Her father would shoot him on site regardless if he was going to sneak in and steal it or try to rest. He would somehow survive another day. The road comes to the end for everywhere sometime and old Jed had done good to fight himself this far.

Meanwhile back on the ranch in ruins.

“hahaha ,” laughed the heavily armored zombie shooting the minigun.

“Where’s the exit?”

Nancy the blind skeleton witch was fumbling around inside a nearby crater she had fallen inside.

“Oh how I wish I had my eyes, or a seeing eye guide,” she said, blindling slashing the air.

“Rap,rap, rap!” the sound of something knocking on her metal breast.

“Taking advantage of the blind girl to feel her up oh how shameless who dares disturb the dead,” she said.

“Let me out and I'll show you the way to victory and teach you love,” called a faint pissed off voice trapped somewhere.

“Oh Ratom I should have known I would find you there,” she laughed, touching a secret wedge hidden somewhere.

The large breastplate of her signature Elven plotting armor popped open revealing a flat chest holding a zombie leprechaun in the compartment. Ratom jumped out foaming at the mouth and took her hand. Together they walked out of the smoldering crater.

“Girl how did you get so lost damn last time I remember we were on the moon,”

“It was blown up I think.. Luckily my armor seems to have saved both you and me he he,” she cackled.

“I’d say we got shot out of there on a rocket or something,” replied Ratom, leading her beside the ashes of the burnt log cabin.

“A rock. It felt like being on a shooting star,” she explained.

Where the nearby woodshed had been replaced with a massive hole holding a large sparkling crystal meteor. The only thing left standing in the former camp was a small darkened guard tower. Laying a mess on the floor eavesdropping at the top somebody. Cramped next to the ladder Bessie lay surviving.

After narrowly escaping being trapped in the burning building's basement. The smoke had wafted down the stairs and she had run to the basement steps to find the door still locked. Luckily the soldiers locked outside had tried to cut their way back in before fleeing for the forest. Just enough for her to kick open a square bending the metal where it was still attached on one of three sides into an opening. She crawled right behind the heavy zombie too distracted with shooting to notice. She pulled her injured body and rifle through the dirty melting slush to where she was now cradling the weapon for safety. The sound of Jed screaming in pain cut into her like a knife.

“Sick em boy, get the brains of whoever it was I saw him in the woods killing one of my zombies” said Nancy, pointing below.

“Yummmy,” drooled the zombie leprechaun, letting go of holding his master’s hand and becoming feral.

He picked up a scent and barked like a hound, then chased it into the forest on all fours going underneath the friendly fire.

“Bang!”

Bessie ducked back into the tower after blasting the skeleton. She heard it collapse outside, and readied for the return fire. As quietly as she could used the gun's lever action to load the next bullet.

“Creek..”

The small tower felt like it was moving. She felt her world collapsing sideways on a collision course.

“Smash!,”

Bessie was tossed out of the falling tower like water being thrown out of a bucket. She skidded behind a massive smoking meteor where the woodshed had previously stood. The heavy zombie stopped shooting at Jed, and started to turn.

“What was that?” asked Nancy, trying to climb off her knees blind.

Bessie had rolled onto her hindquarters recovering from the tumble like a cat with nine lives. My bullet aimed at her skull must have instead hit that armor, bounced clean off, and blasted away a support structure on that tower. This realization crystalized the next angle of attack.

The heavy minigun wielding zombie had now fully completed its slow heel turn. Bessie was running right in the crosshairs of death itself.

“Brrrrrrrrrt,”.

She dove behind the cover of Nancy’s armor. The bullets blasted away at the magic Elven plotting device ricocheting right back off return to sender. The heavy zombie’s clothing was ripped into shreds, its plates broken, and its flesh cooked. The minigun collapsed into a pile of guts and big bones.

“Aww shit here we go again” cried Nancy, her skeleton sent flying back into space.

“Grrrrrr,” growled the zombie leprechaun turning around for revenge.