Six Hours Remaining: Chapter 1

This is the first chapter of an "urban fantasy/slap-stick comedy with zombies" and a cat. Six hours left on the laptop battery. Four friends. One cat. Too many zombies.

Read Six Hours Remaining: Chapter 2 part 1 here!

Six Hours Remaining

Chapter 1

“Asian wire-fu flick or gaming?” Gabriel asked as he held up his latest bootleg DVD.

“Gabe, it's Friday night. We always game on Friday nights.” Nikki looked up over her Console Gaming magazine and feigned a disgusted look.

“I know, I just thought—”

“Gaming. Come on, Dawn84 will be online tonight.”  Gabriel's mouth twitched with a smile.

“Gaming it is.”

“Maybe we could watch your movie later, Gabe. What language is it?”

Gabriel picked up his video game controller off the charger. He ran a hand through his messy brown hair and blinked at the back of the DVD case.

“Good question.”

“I hope it isn't dubbed,” said James as he also picked up his controller. James took his seat on the couch next to Nikki.  

“I thought it was subtitled with Japanese audio but this DVD case is so Engrish I can't tell.” Gabriel frowned as he gave up and handed the case to James.

“Where do you even find these? That cat is holding a katana and most of the description—I can't even read this. I'm banishing this film to the 'Bad Movie Wednesday' shelf and don't want to watch it unless I'm drunk.” James threw the DVD back to Gabriel.

“I really can't argue. I found it used online, shipped slow-boat from China. Cost me $5 and now I can see why. I swear the description made it sound so much cooler.”

“Does the cat with the katana do wire-fu? I'd watch that.” Nikki asked. As if summoned, a dusty white Siamese cat jumped on to her lap. As soon as she tried to pet the cat, it walked across her and laid down in James' lap. Nikki glared and the cat ignored her.

“You'll just have to wait until Wednesday, I guess. What game are we playing tonight?” Nikki hopped up from the couch and rummaged through a stack of books, bags and empty soda cans. She pulled out a plastic bag and held out a plastic-wrapped game case.

“We just picked up two copies of 'Maple Falls: Zombie Outbreak 3,' at the store. James picked it up opening night.” She held out the case to Gabriel.

“Midnight, man. I waited outside for two hours. In the rain.” James added.

“Uphill, both ways,” Gabriel and Nikki said, laughing.

“I'll be your sniper. I'm seriously jealous. This game just came out.” Gabriel unwrapped the plastic.

“It even smells new. You'd think by now that Maple Falls would be destroyed. I mean, come on, three zombie outbreaks? You just know the government would have nuked them.”

“No way, don't you remember the ending in 2? The President was involved the whole time. I call the automatic pistol.” James unwrapped the other game case.

“I guess I'll drive.” Nikki smiled and turned on the TV and put both game discs in their consoles. On the screen a notification popped up and read: 'Dawn84 is online and playing MAPLE FALLS: ZOMBIE OUTBREAK 3.”

“That brat! She's already playing.” Nikki threw popcorn at the TV screen.

“Man, I can't believe your girlfriend started without us. She's already level 5!” Gabriel said.

“She's not my girlfriend! And she's level 6. Besides—I bet she saved us all the good guns.”

“I can hear you, and yes, I did. Come pick me up and I'll share.” Dawn's voice sounded over the TV. Gabriel's ears turned red. He tried to cover them up by rushing to put on his headset.

“Where are you?” Nikki asked as she put on her headset and leaned against James on the couch. Gabriel scooted down the couch and gave them some space. He turned his attention to the two 42” flat screen LCD TVs as they hummed to life.

The dark living room flashed with the opening video that showcased the lonely town of Maple Falls struggling to rebuild. A single zombie had survived and was shuffling down an empty hospital hallway.

“I knew it,” said James.

“They couldn't make a third game without zombies, duh. What were you expecting?”

“Super zombies?”

“Boys, shut up! You're missing the intro.”  The zombie rounded the hallway and lunged at an unsuspecting nurse. Blood splattered the TV screens and the zombie apocalypse began anew...

“Gabe, were you even watching? Who are you texting?”

“Uh...” Gabriel looked up from his phone and stared at the TV screen.

“He's texting Dawn! She is totally your girlfriend.” James grinned and narrowly missed the headset that was flung at his head by Gabriel.

“Are those police lights?” Nikki asked as she set her controller down and walked to the curtained front window. She pushed aside the curtain and revealed distant lights flashing red and blue. A police cruiser was parked down the block.  

“Oh, Gabe. You'd better turn yourself in. They've finally come to arrest you for your terrible taste in bootleg DVDs.”  

“You should be more worried about his porn collection—”

“Hey! If it wasn't for my superior taste in cinema, our apartment wouldn't even have 'Bad Movie Wednesdays' at all. Be grateful.”  Nikki watched out the window.

“Seriously, though, what are the police doing?” Gabriel eyed his DVD case suspiciously.

“I'm not sure. It looks like they're going door to door. I can see two of them.”

“Ignore it, we have games to play!” James waved her back towards the couch. Nikki closed the curtains and walked back to the couch.

“Ok, Dawn84, team SH4D0W inbound. Let’s go save Maple Falls.” James turned up the volume on his TV and Gabriel tried to match it. The boys would battle throughout the night for the loudest TV. Nikki passed a bowl of cheesy potato chips to Gabriel. He grabbed a handful in between shooting zombies. James one-handed his controller and finished his soda while Nikki drove their stolen ambulance through the devastated streets of Maple Falls in search of Dawn84.  

“These streets are too empty. Must be a boss battle coming soon.”

“Your mom is a boss battle!”

“What? She doesn't even—”

A knock sounded at the door.  Nikki paused the game. The knock sounded again.

"It's probably that police officer," Nikki said as she exchanged glances with James.

"We don't have to answer it, though, right? I mean, they don't have a warrant. It's not like they're going to break down the door." Gabriel paled visibly.  The knock came again, a little louder. James un-paused the game.

"If it's really important, they'll leave a note. It's a Friday night, they're probably just looking for a house party to bust or something. Come on, Dawn84's almost to level 7. We gotta catch up." Nikki stood up and disappeared around the corner in to their cramped kitchen. She came back holding a six-pack of cheap beer and a wine cooler.

"Then we might as well make it a party," Nikki said as she flopped back on the couch. Three beers and one wine cooler later and James had passed out on the couch. Nikki leaned against him and fell asleep with her hand in a bowl of chips. Gabriel sent one last text message just as the sun was rising and shut off the TVs. 230 miles and one time zone away, Dawn checked her phone, smiled, and fell asleep.

#

“What time is it?” Nikki asked as she pushed herself up from the couch. She wiped drool away with the back of her hand. Gabriel sat at the crowded kitchen table with his laptop, clacking away at the keyboard. He checked his watch and blinked, then looked out the sliding glass kitchen door.

“About 2 o'clock. James just left to get us some breakfast.”

“What, you boys didn't want to cook?”

Nikki stretched and yawned. Gabriel stopped typing for a moment to reach out and pet Jezabelle, who was curled up under a discarded magazine. Her white tail swished happily and knocked papers on to the floor.

“We tried. Don't go in to the kitchen.” Nikki's nose wrinkled and her stomach growled at the same time. She hoped that James wouldn't take too long.

“Do you smell smoke?” Nikki asked as she sniffed the air.

“That's probably breakfast,” Gabriel said as he went back to typing.  Nikki sat up and walked to the window.

“No, it's not. Look.” She pulled the curtain aside. Black smoke billowed up from a house down the street. Red and orange flames raged unchecked.

“Where the heck are the firetrucks? Or the police?” Gabriel asked as he pointed towards the house. “It's just burning like crazy.”

“I'm going to call the fire department,” Nikki said as she rubbed her nose to keep from sneezing. Gabriel shook his head.

“That place is gonna blaze before the fire truck gets there. That sucks.” He settled back down at the kitchen table. Nikki lifted couch cushions as she tried to find her cellphone.

“Gabe, have you seen my phone?” She asked as she tore apart the whole couch and left the cushions on the floor.  

“Nope.” He didn't look away from the computer screen. Nikki sighed and walked to the kitchen table. She spotted her cell sitting right next to Gabriel's laptop, stealthily hidden by a white cat tail. She ran her hand along Jezabelle's tail and then picked up her phone.

“I forgot to charge it last night, it's dead.”
“It's dead Jim,” Gabriel handed Nikki his phone without looking up. “Just don't read my text messages. I'll never hear the end of it from James.”

She nodded and took the phone.

“Oh hey, can you Google the number for me? I don't want to just call 9-1-1.”

Gabriel nodded and opened a new tab on his browser. He rattled off the number to the local fire department. Nikki waited as the phone beeped twice and disconnected. She tried again.

“Weird.” She handed the phone back to him. “It's not going through. It's not busy, there's just no connection.”

Gabe shrugged and set the phone back on the table.

“I know I paid the bill, maybe they're having,” he put up his hands to indicate quotation marks, “'technical difficulties,' as usual. I hate prepaid, man.”

“Well, 'man,' that house is gonna burn down and I'm not going to just blame the phone company. Let me try 9-1-1, that number isn't allowed to stop working.” She took the phone back and dialed again. The phone screeched loudly in her ear and she nearly dropped it.

“Something is wrong with your phone, Gabe. I'll just charge mine and try to call in a bit.” She glared at the phone and set it down.

Nikki plugged her phone in to the wall charger and waited patiently for breakfast. She stared out the window at the house fire and wondered if James could see it from the road. A half hour passed and the smoke continued to rise without any sign of help.

“Gabe, did he say where he was going? He's been gone a while.”

Gabriel looked up from the computer screen and adjusted his thick glasses on the brim of his nose.

“He muttered something about 'tacos,' grabbed my wallet and left. I assumed he went to Baja.”

“Saturday, right. Thanks.” She frowned and checked her phone. It had charged enough to turn back on. Her phone vibrated from new text messages and one old voice mail. She ignored them and tried to dial 9-1-1 again. Her phone screamed in her ear and disconnected, just like Gabe's phone.

Nikki decided to check her text messages instead. A picture message from James came in. She opened it and couldn't tell exactly what she was looking at. It was a line of cars and trucks, taken from the driver's seat perspective, backed up around the street. In the distance, it looked like someone was standing in the street, blocking the drive-thru window.

The accompanying text read: ''Cock-blocking my tacos. FML. Trying another place. <3 u” Nikki smiled. No one got between James and his 2 o'clock tacos. If Baja was out of the picture, he'd find someplace else. She just hoped he'd hurry, she was starving.

Thinking back to last night, Nikki checked the front door. There was no note from the police department. She blinked at the sudden sunlight and hissed, retreating in to the house. She heard the rattling engine of James' car as it smoked down the street. Her stomach growled in protest and she decided to open the front door for him. He carefully balanced three sodas in a drink carrier, two bags full of greasy Mexican food and a bag of caramel empanadas in his teeth. He gave her a muffled 'thank you' and stumbled in to the house. Gabriel tried to clear a spot on the kitchen table.

“We'll just eat in the living room,” Nikki said as she grabbed paper plates and napkins. James dispersed the bags and sodas and settled down to his usual space on the couch. Gabriel carried his laptop and sat down, reaching for a taco.

“Man, what took you so long? I'm hungry like a wolf.”

“Didn't you get my text? I sent it to you and the girls. Some bullshit, there was a tweaker or a drunk or something out in the drive-thru blocking the road. He was banging on people's hoods and wouldn't move. Blocked my entire route to Baja and I wasn't going to go inside. Didn't want to risk getting shanked.”

“What a way to die—killed in a parking lot of the best taco place in the world by a dirty tweaker.”

“Or a dirty hobo.” Added Nikki.

“I'd rather die saving Maple Falls. Shall we?” James held up his controller.

“Wait...” Gabriel stared at his laptop screen. “Check this out first. And you might want to stop eating for a second. Kinda gross.” Like moths to a flame, James and Nikki drifted across the couch towards the promise of disturbing news. He flipped the laptop around.

“What are we looking at?” Nikki asked as her penciled-on eyebrows knitted together crookedly.

“My friend from the U.K. posted this. It's nearly 11pm over there, this is a picture of the London skyline. See those dark lines? That's smoke.”

“What's so gross about smoke? Oh shi—” James dropped his taco. Nikki covered her eyes.

“And those are people walking out of it.”

“Warn me next time you show me burnt crispy bodies.”

“Not bodies. People. Like, walking... burnt crispy people.”

Nikki and James exchanged looks and then, the three friends spoke in unison.

“Zombies.”

#

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