Stories # - L | M - Z | Authors
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Several
years ago… Deep within the shadowy concealment
of an abandoned warehouse, a young woman sat tied and bound to a wooden chair.
A thick strip of duct tape covered her mouth. Her eyes danced around at the
shadows of the room and shouting voices could be heard in the distance along
with the mechanical rack of the charging of automatic weapons. Rope looped
around her arms and legs tied to the chair by secured knots. She could not
scream, she could not move, helplessly she awaited her fate at the hands of her
captors. Her eyes moved to the doorway. The
door swung open to reveal the man who had seemed to take charge of her
kidnapping. The muscular thug wore the tell tale colors of the notorious street
gang known as the Outcasts. He stepped into the room with an air of fury she
had not yet seen. His eyes leered at her and he bared his discolored teeth at
her angrily. She looked at his right hand where he held a knife that caught the
reflection of light that poured in from the next room. The young woman whimpered
and shook with fear at the sight of the knife wielding man. He rushed forward
and tugged at a lock of her hair that he pulled and cut with the knife. The man
held the lock of blond hair out in front of her and shook it angrily. “They want proof!” he barked. “I’ll
give them proof! And next I’ll give them a finger. Your daddy dearest better
pay up or they’ll get you back piece by bloody piece!” The thug leader stormed back out of
the room slamming the door behind him. The bound woman’s sobs filled the room
but fell upon deaf ears as she was once again was alone in the dimly lit room. “Stop your crying you spoiled little bitch!” a voice
demanded from outside the room. She looked down at the once clean designer clothing
she was wearing, now smudged by dirt and smelling from a week of unbathing. Her
expensive jewelry had been removed and even her designer shoes were gone. The
young woman had never endured such terror and mistreatment. She had lived a
life of lush riches that could only be afforded by being the only daughter of
Boomtown’s billionaire industrialist Simon Stern. It had been almost a week
since she had been taken by force from a limousine that had been taking her to
her first class of her senior year in high school. “What could be taking so long?” she said to herself.
“What price wouldn’t he pay to have me back?” Her sobs continued until exhaustion finally took its
toll and she passed out. From high in the rafters of the abandoned warehouse,
a hero watched and prepared for his next move. David Fallen’s steel blue eyes
peered down from beneath his yellow mask that was shadowed by his signature
blue hood. A thick cape hung down from his shoulders and draped ominously from
the wood framing of the ceiling. His familiar symbol of a blue hand stood out
upon his chest, a reminder to those who dared to commit crime in his glorious
city of The hero dropped from the ceiling spinning his heal
into the face of one of the Outcasts who crumbled to the floor in a heap. “The Hooded Avenger!” another Outcast alarmed as he
too met with a boot to the sternum. Again and again the hapless Outcasts fell
at the Hooded Avenger’s feet until he was the only one left standing. The Hooded Avenger kicked one of his boots through
the door where Veronica was being held. Her eyes widened and brightened at the
sight of the superheroes colorful costume. The Hooded Avenger carefully pulled the duct tape
from over her mouth and wiped a gloved hand across her cheek smearing away the
tears, “You’re safe now young lady.” Veronica whimpered again her tears of fear turning
to tears of joy, “They were going to kill me…you saved my life.” “Just doing my duty,” the proud hero smiled then
began removing the ropes from around her. “Let’s get you back home.” Television media gathered outside of the warehouse
surrounded in yellow crime scene tape and law enforcement officers protecting
the scene. One by one, the members of the Outcast kidnapping crew responsible
for the kidnapping of Simon Stern’s daughter were lead out in handcuffs with
police escort. The crowd cheered as the reporters cast their live reports to viewers
across Boomtown. “Today in a glorious display of heroism,” the
beautiful channel 4 newswoman Gale Fairchild reported. “The daughter of
billionaire businessman Simon Stern was returned to the loving embrace of her
father. Just moments ago, Boomtown’s own Hooded Avenger brought these criminals
to justice and those responsible were handed over to authorities.” The criminals snarled at the media as they were lead
away in handcuffs televised by the reporting media. The Hooded Avenger’s blue
handprint was imprinted upon each of the arrestees’ chests displaying the hero’s
handy work to all of Boomtown. “Once again a life is saved by the Hooded Avenger,”
the reporter continued. “This is Gale Fairchild reporting for Channel 4 ‘Action
On The Spot News’, proud to say that we are lucky to have such a hero.” Gale handed her microphone to her cameraman and
looked up to see the Hooded Avenger perched upon the stoop of one of the
tallest buildings. She winked and gave the hero a beautiful smile. The Hooded
Avenger looked down smiling back and raising his hand in a salute. The reporter
and the hero had become very close over the past year, rumored to be dating,
with a flirtatious attraction between them that the two had come to savor. The
Hooded Avenger watched the crowds cheer for the arrest of the criminals and
chanted the hero’s name. He stood and basked in the glow of his praise. There
was no better gratitude in the world than the public’s chants of recognition
and admiration. Suddenly, the chants silenced as a dark shadow began
to loom over the great city. The crowds looked to the sky in amazement of
something that left them breathless. David too looked to the sky to see a sight
he thought was impossible. A fleet of massive space crafts loomed over the
city. The shuddering hum of their powerful engines shook the earth. The crowd
began to gasp as additional spacecraft began to drop from the atmosphere
blocking the sun and darkening the skies. The ships gathered together and
openings began to form beneath the ships. David’s heart sank as he turned back
to the helpless onlookers, standing helplessly witness to what could only be an
alien invasion. The Hooded Avenger cried down to them as the first hail of
alien laser fire impacted the city. The crowd screamed with terror and ran for
cover as explosions rocked the city and toppled skyscrapers. Explosions ripped
through the city streets and sent cars ablaze. The Hooded Avenger jumped down
to the street level and directed the citizens to move under cover. A city bus
stopped suddenly as he ordered some of the citizens to board and evacuate. A
massive chunk of concrete dropped from the sky on direct course for a young
woman holding her infant child. David reacted, leaping forward and saving the
woman and child from the falling debris. She thanked him as he moved her onto
the bus and turned to the bus driver ordering him to take the citizens to
safety. The alien ships continued to pummel the city with their
advanced laser fire. The hero turned to see Gale rushing for her news van as
skyscrapers continued to topple around them. The bus he had sent away slid to a
stop as a stack of rubble blocked its escape. Before there was anything he could
do, the bus was crushed by falling wreckage and enveloped in a fiery explosion.
He gasped then turned back to Gale who too became engulfed in fire and
explosions. The city was being completely obliterated before his eyes. There
were too many to save, too many people to save. The invasion was overwhelming
and totally devastating. The aliens had caught them off guard and completely
helpless. What kind of heartless monsters could enact such devastation? The Hooded Avenger leapt again in hopes of saving
the lives of any one in the city. A massive explosion rocked him from his
grapple and sent him falling to the earth. A deafening explosion rocked his
senses and fire enveloped around him. The pain of searing heat consumed him and
then there was nothing, silence, darkness…death. A great light then appeared before him. David
Fallen, the heroic Hooded Avenger stood in an empty darkness reaching out
toward the light. The light was warm and inviting, calling to him like a mother
would call to a child. He smiled and felt the warmth of the light upon his
face. For the first time in a long while he felt joy. An overwhelming joy
greater than anything he had ever left before. He stepped forward out of the
darkness toward the inviting light completely overwhelmed by his feelings of
total contentment, but suddenly he began to remember. The sight of the citizens
of Boomtown dying in pain and agony halted his assent into the light. He
stopped and looked back toward the darkness, the cold hateful darkness that
made him tremble with fear. “I can’t leave,” David said to the light. “I can’t
go yet.” The light called to him again, the feeling of joy
stronger now and almost unbearable to deny. “No,” David turned his back toward the light. “My
work is not done hear, I have to serve the people. Justice must be brought to
the innocent. I will not go into the light.” David stepped toward the darkness leaving the light
behind him. The warmth slowly began to fade and suddenly he was falling. The
cold darkness rushed around him spinning him and tossing him about. David tried
to reach out for something to hold on to but there was nothing there. The
emptiness was all that remained now and it engulfed him, swallowed him whole.
He screamed out into the darkness but his voice was gone as well. David
continued to fall endlessly. He called into the darkness for help again and
suddenly his falling stopped. David felt around him feeling that
he was trapped in some kind of box. The air was stale and a dead smell gagged
him. He punched and scratched at the box feeling it come apart and warm earth
falling in on him. David dug at the earth pulling him upward through the ground.
He pulled and clawed with his hands feeling an irresistible sense of freedom to
reach the surface. David’s hands breached the earth where he could feel the
open air. Frantically he pulled himself from the ground and opened his eyes for
the first time. The colors danced like they had never done before. Swirls of
light filled his vision and a colorful fog cast a haze over everything he
looked at. Thick grass was all around him and large stones with etched names
stood in columns. He looked up into the colorful sky where a ball of light
could be seen casting rays of light down upon the ground. David covered his eyes at the sight of the light
thinking for a moment that he was looking into the sun. He soon learned that it
was not the sun but was in fact the moon. David could see at night as brightly
as he could during the day. He looked down at his hands and saw that his body
had changed as well. His skin was gray and dead like leather, hard to the touch
and tight against his muscles. David’s muscles seemed tight and bound but they
did not ache. His face also felt tight pulling his lips from his mouth exposing
his teeth. David looked at his right hand to find that he did not have any skin
or muscle, just the horrific sight of bony fingers. The stifling rotting smell still
remained, the smell of death that emanated from his decaying remains. David realized
that he was somehow one of the undead, a zombie, reanimated by some unknown
force. He thought that he should be disturbed by this vision but he was not.
David couldn’t feel anything at all or remember anything from his former life,
but something called for him. He slowly began to walk finding that his balance was
not stable from the tightness in his joints. David’s head slung to the side
uncontrollably where he saw others like him walking alongside him. A mass of walking
dead followed him as he stepped out into the city streets. A fog surrounded
them and encompassed the city as they proceeded forward. David stepped through
an arched iron gate that read “ David directed more of his zombie minions to attack.
Hundreds of undead soldiers abided by his commands and sent more of the public
screaming in terror. David questioned why they listened to his orders but
seemed not to care about the answer. As if programmed, he continued forward on
his mission against the living sending them back and destroying everything in
sight. Suddenly David stopped as he looked ahead to see a news van and a
reporter covering the sighting of the undead upon the streets. “Mercy Stevens with ‘Action on the Spot News’ live
in David stared at the newswoman, something stopping
him from continuing with his assault. He groaned and fought against the orders
in his head to kill. David began to remember a hero who used to save lives in
the name of justice; a hero who used to stand for truth and stood against those
who would prey on the innocent. David began to remember those people who died
in Boomtown, the people he had tried to save and lost his own life in doing so.
He was once the Hooded Avenger, a hero, not a murderer. David fought against
the orders of destruction in his head refusing to obey them. “I won’t kill these people, I won’t listen!” David
screamed aloud causing the rest of the zombie horde to turn to him. Suddenly David fell to his knees a splitting pain
arcing its way through his body. A figure appeared before him through the haze that
encompassed “I not cast you from the abyss to fall back from
your duty!” the Voodoo Shaman ordered. “I bring you back to the living to lead
my army of the dead! You will do as I say zombie, or sending you back to hell I
will cast you.” “Who are your?” David groaned falling forward
succumbing to the pain. “I am Pappa Shaman, your master,” the evil Voodoo Shaman
informed. “After my army of the dead have darkened David fought against the pain and rose to his feet,
“I will not allow you to hurt these people.” Pappa Shaman laughed out loud exposing his rotten
teeth, “You have no choice Zombie, you are the general of my army of the
undead. You listen to me, I am your master.” “I am not a killer!” David demanded. “I am a hero!” The evil Voodoo Priest’s eyes widened seeing
something in David he had not expected. Pappa Shaman had found the fallen
hero’s grave believing that he could make him into a zombie slave, but he had
not predicted that David would have kept his soul. David refused to leave the mortal plane and go into
the light. In doing so, his soul fell into the Netherworld, a limbo between
heaven and hell, lost in a sea of darkness. Pappa Shaman had resurrected him
and in doing so had given the hero new life. “If you won’t fight the living then you will join
them in death,” the Voodoo Shaman proclaimed ordering the horde of undead
against the Zombie hero. “I’ll take your soul!” David felt a power build up inside him. He began to
think back to when he had left the light and fallen into the darkness. David’s
soul had become lost and merged with the Netherworld itself. The Voodoo
Shaman’s black magic had pulled him from the Netherworld and in doing so had changed
David’s soul. David was resurrected into his dead body’s Zombie husk but the
exposure to the Netherworld had been endowed him with powerful black powers.
David conjured these new powers and cast them upon the undead horde sending
their lifeless bodies into darkness. Pappa Shaman turned chanting and drawing
forth his black magic against David. The ground rumbled and the sky turned into
a powerful lightning storm. The evil Voodoo Shaman’s elemental powers irrupted but
were no match for David’s new gifts. Black tendrils of Netherworld power
surrounded the Shaman leaving him helpless to their embrace. Citizens of Mercy Stevens quickly set up her crew after
witnessing the amazing rescue by the undead savior. “Once again peace has been restored to The camera panned to the view of Pappa Shaman being
taken into custody by police a green skeletal hand print left on the bare skin
of his chest. “As witnessed by this reporter,” Mercy continued. “A
true hero rose today, regardless of how he came to us, the hero saved the
people of David stood over his own empty grave looking upon
the headstone that barred his name. David removed his glove exposing his
skeletal hand that he placed on his headstone leaving a print upon the stone. David
Fallen was no more, he was truly dead. David
had died a hero defending the innocent. But now he had been born anew among the
living as a legion of the undead, vowing to use his new powers to once again
protect the innocent. “The Zombie Avenger,” David stated aloud. He would accept his fate regardless of the penalty
to continue the struggle against injustice; to avenge the innocent and cast
fear into the heart of his enemies. Soon the evil of |