• Football && Heavy Metal

    Chapter One

    California Sunrise

    Lane Thierry

    May 26th 1:24 PM, Pacific Coast


    “You’re so slow! You’d never be able to survive the Zombie Apocalypse if you don’t get into shape, Lane,” Dylan, my best friend’s younger brother shouted as he raced ahead of me. I grunted, panting and huffing as I tried to pick up my speed. We had been running for almost twenty minutes straight, training for a zombie attack that would probably never come.

    The warm, summer’s sun beat down on my bare back and shoulders. Sand under our feet scorched us as we ran down the white shore. Sweat was nearly pouring off of my body and I could have sworn to loosing at least five pounds since this morning.

    Dylan laughed as he sped ahead of me. I only shook my head and slowed down. I didn’t know how the kid managed to keep going for so long. He must be on a serious sugar high because even though I was in semi-good shape and five years older, I couldn’t keep up with him.

    “I give…up!” I panted, hunching over and resting my hands on my knees. “I’ll just…stay here and get…eaten by the…zombies,” I said between deep breaths. Falling to my knees, my head fell forward, shielding my eyes from the blazing sun. Breathing heavily for what seemed like hours turned out to only be ten minutes.

    I felt a sharp nudged in my side and looked up.

    “Rawr, you just got eaten by a zombie.” My best friend, Trace Colton, said with a smile. He looked over his shoulder at his younger brother who was making his round and coming back this way. “I guess you’re not cut out for the zombie hunting business, eh?”

    He tossed me a bottle of water and I caught it in my hands. After draining three-fourths of it, I looked back up and smiled, handing him the remnants of the water. He rolled his eyes and told me to keep it, tossing it back to me.

    “I guess not,” I laughed, sitting back and leaning on my arms. I let out one last long breath before collapsing onto my back. “But it’s not like you could do any better. You gave up like, fifteen minutes ago,” I said with a grin.

    Trace shrugged and rolled his eyes.

    “Yeah well, I think being a zombie would kick a**.” He told me, taking a seat beside me, tugging at his spandex surfing shirt with annoyance clear on his face. “I’d go after Lacy Dayes first. I’d totally eat her,” he grinned. I laughed at his joke, pillowing my head against my arms.

    Lacy Dayes was his current crush, even though I suggested he go after someone less…pasty white and chubby. She wasn’t terrible looking but her apple-red hair and ivory white complexion didn’t do her any justice.

    “That’s lame. I’d bite Megan Fox,” I told him, opening one eye to see his reaction. Trace made a disgusted face and snorted.

    “Dude, gross. She has toe-thumbs,” he showed me, wiggling his toes as a demonstration. Trace pointed to his big toe and smiled. “She’s got that on her hand. How disgusting is that,” he commented and I smiled. He never had liked Megan Fox even though I thought she was the hottest thing around. Maybe it was because she looked like a younger, more filled out version of Angelina Jolie that was only good for sex in my eyes. I had taken a liking to her since the first Transformers movie.

    Sitting up, I wiped the sweat from my face and looked around the beach. Dylan must have been running around somewhere else because I didn’t see him. I sighed and stood up slowly, my legs aching as I did so. With a slight groan, I stretched and then looked down at Trace.

    “I’m going home,” I told him. “It’s too damn hot out here for zombie training.” He nodded in agreement, getting up as well.

    “Let’s go down to see Andrew. He said he got some new games for us.”

    Andrew, Trace’s older brother who worked at Game Stop, always got us free video games. We nearly worshipped Andrew because of that. And because he had six tattoos and lived on his own at the age of nineteen. Trace and I had been talking about moving in with him for years, but he would always tell us, maybe next year kid. Even though we knew it was never going to happen, we still campaigned for him to let move in. The closest we ever got was spending the night.

    I nodded. “I need to go change first. I’m like, friggin’ soaked in sweat. You’re brother is a demon spawn, I swear. How does he keep going?” Trace shrugged and shook his head.

    “No idea, he’s just a freak of nature. I’ll meet you there,” Trace told me, waving and shoving his hands in his pockets as he walked away.

    “Later,” I called, jogging—through the pain in my leg muscles—off and heading for home.

    A cool breeze hit me with all the force of a wave crashing against the shore as I walked into the house. I threw my arms up into the air, embracing the amazing air conditioning, crying out in triumph as I walked into the kitchen. I heard my mother laugh from the other room, getting up from the couch to come and talk to me.

    “Have fun in zombie training?” She asked, going to the refrigerator to find me a snack. Her wavy charcoal black hair was tied back in a white ribbon that matched her small party dress. I had forgotten that she had had a lunch date with a “friend” of hers earlier.

    “Yeah. Dylan’s a beast though,” I explained. “That kid can run for like, seven hours straight I think. And then he probably wouldn’t even be tired. He’s like the Chuck Norris of running.”

    My mom gave a short laugh and then rolled her eyes, pulling out a container of Dean’s French Onion dip and grabbing a bag of Ruffles off the counter. She spooned some dip into a bowl for me, then poured some chips into a different bowl. After resealing the container and shoving it back into the fridge, she turned to me and nudged the bowls toward me.

    “Well, eat up. Sounds like you’ve had a long day. It’s nice that you and Trace can get along with Dylan so well. I always used to fight with my sister.” She smiled, taking a chip and slightly scraping it against the dip.

    I grabbed the largest chip I could find and plunged it into the dip, completely submerging it before taking it out and shoving it into my mouth. I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

    “Trace suggested that we do it even though he gave up about fifteen minutes into it. He’s such a loser.” I grabbed three more chips, repeated my process and the got up from the table. “I need to go get a shower. Me and Trace are going over to see Andrew. He said he got some new games for us.”

    My mom nodded and wiped her hands on a napkin. “Okay well just be back before dinner alright? I need you to watch Skylar for me; I’m going out tonight.”

    I paused in the doorway. “Again? Don’t you think that’s a little to much? I mean, you’ve been going out with him every time I turn around, Mom.” I asked. For the past three weeks, my mother had been going on dates with the same man from her office. They had been getting serious lately, going out every time they got a chance.

    My mother turned and raised her eyebrow at me. “Yes, again. And I don’t think it’s any of your business, Lane,” she said with a surprised smile.

    I rolled my eyes. “Whatever, I’m going to shower now.” I told her, walking up the stairs and heading towards the bathroom.