Zombies

“BANG!” I hear as I’m walking slowly to my house. I start to hurry my walking pace. As I look at my house, I realize I’m only a block away. I hear another loud “BANG!” followed by another and another and another. I start to run home. I’m running as quickly as I can up my driveway. I get to my front door and fumble around in my bag for my house keys. I finally find them and start unlocking the door. I open the door quickly and rush inside.

Once I’m inside I flop down on my brown leather couch. I try to listen for noises, but I don't hear any. I slowly walk over to my blinds because I’m scared of what I might see outside. “BANG!” I hear as I’m almost to the window. I look outside and don't see anything. I start to think that my brain is playing tricks on me. I sluggishly walk back to my couch and sit down. I think about what the noise might be coming from. I couldn't think of anything. I decided that the only way that I would be able to figure out where the sound is coming from is if I go to it.

I look into my mirror. My outfit is pretty comfy. I’m wearing a purple floral shirt, dark blue jeans, and gold sandals. My shoes could be more comfy, but I don’t think I’ll be walking too long. “You can do this, Jen. You can do this.” I express to myself. I say this to myself a few more times until I get enough courage to go through with this. “I need to do this.”

I head to my door. I'm afraid of what I might find when I’m out there. I grab my jacket and bag and head out the door. I start heading down my driveway. As I’m walking the sun is beating down on my back, and I start to sweat. It feels like it is ninety degrees outside. I’m carefully walking down the street looking around to see if I see anything unusual. I don’t see anything. As I’m walking I feel a cold breeze. I’m confused as I felt so hot earlier, but now I have goosebumps all over. I put my jacket on and keep on walking.

I’m about five blocks away from my house and I still don’t see where the loud noises could be coming from. At this point, I’ve thought about turning around many times, but I don’t want to give up. As I’m walking, the noises are getting louder and louder. I decide to turn around. That’s when I see it.

I see a group of teenagers, banging pots and pans on metal walls. I start walking proudly towards them to kindly ask them to stop. But before I get there I notice they don’t look like the average teenagers. They all have pale skin and green-ish hair. I start thinking about why they would look like that. Then it dawns on me, they might actually be zombies. I don’t believe it. I’ve always thought zombies were made up, but what I’m seeing is saying another story.

Part of me wants to walk up to them, but the other part is telling me to run. Then I notice one of them is limply walking over towards me. Thoughts race through my mind, and tell me to run as fast I can away from him. He is almost to me when I go to turn around, and then I freeze.

“Hello, my name is Jeremy.” He states loudly. “These are my friends, and we are new here.” He points over to the direction of the teenagers. “I know we look different. We are zombies, but we sure are as nice as you humans!” He says excitedly.

“B-but I thought you guys eat brains or something.” I nervously say. I’ve always heard stories from when I was younger about zombies, but I don’t believe in them. At least until I saw you. When I saw you I didn’t know what to think.”

“Everyone thinks we are mean, but we aren’t. We’ve had to change towns for years now trying to find a town that’ll accept us. It isn’t easy being a zombie. We make it work by doing stuff we love, making music.” Jeremy says with a sad look on his face.

“I never knew you guys had it so hard. I feel awful that you zombies have to go through all of this. Maybe, I could show you around town, I think you will love it!  I can show you all of the best places to hang out with your friends, so you don’t have to hang out in an alley.” I say proudly.

“That would be amazing! We got here today, so we haven’t looked around at all.” Jeremy says excitedly. His face lights up at the thought of being shown around.

We walk around for an hour. By now I wish I would’ve put my comfier shoes on. I show him the best restaurants and stores to go to. I show him the best places to hang out with all of his friends. He tells me all of the cool things him and his friends do to have fun. Just then I remember the one thing that him and his friend love doing. They love making music.

“We have one more stop. I know you will love this one!” I say with a smile on my face. We keep walking down the street, slower than before. My feet are aching but I know that I want to show Jeremy this last stop. I keep on tugging along and hope he doesn’t notice that I’m so out of breath.

We keep on walking for around ten more minutes. Then we get to our destination. “We are here. This is the music store. You can have lessons or just play for fun in here. They loving having new people to enjoy music and I think you will love this place!”

“This is amazing! I don’t think I can thank you enough. My friends and I will surely love this place. We all love music and I can’t wait to come here.” He says very happily. He seems so excited just looking at this place and I’m glad I got to show him around this town.

We start walking back to the alley where we met. “Where are you guys staying while you are here in town?” I ask hoping he doesn’t think it’s creepy.

“We stay in the house next to where we met. It isn’t the best place, but it will work for the time being. We don’t care too much about how it looks as long as it keeps us safe.”

As he says that, I’m thinking about my home. I’ve always wanted my house to be in top shape. I’ve never really thought about that all I need is a house to keep me safe. I want it to be perfect. “Do all of you guys share the one house?”

“Yes, we do. We have all lived together for most of our lives. We had older friends who moved away on our last move. They thought we were holding them back. They moved to another town while we came here.” He says unhappily.

As he’s talking I think about the group of teenagers he is with. What would it have been like if the other people he was with were there? Were they nice? Did they all get along? I have so many questions I want to ask him, but I don’t want to be rude. “I’m sorry to hear that. If you guys ever need help while you are here in town my doors are always open.” I say with a smile on my face.

“Thank you, that truly means a lot. Usually we aren’t welcome in many towns, but you sure are making us feel welcome. As soon as we get to my home I’ll be sure to tell them how amazing you are.” He says cheerfully.

We arrive at his house and all of his friends are still outside. He walks over to them and start talking, but I can’t hear what they are saying. I start to turn around and he comes running up to me. He stands there without saying anything. “Do you need something?” I ask with a confused look on my face.

“Thank you so very much. We are so thankful for your kindness. We made you this song in honor of your kindness. I hope you enjoy!” He says joyfully.

They start playing music, and it all sounds so amazing. I start thinking about how amazing they all are at playing, and wonder what they would sound like on actual instruments. The song comes to an end, and I walk up to them. “Thank you all so much! I loved this song greatly. I can’t thank you enough!” I say cheerfully.