The phone wouldn’t stop ringing but Tanner ignored it, heading down into the basement. He stepped on a few darts that were scattered on the floor in front of the dart board on his way over to the bar. Dropping some ice cubes into a tumbler he poured himself a whiskey. There was a pool table on the other side of the basement and a large TV with an old orange leather couch in front of it. Tanner took the vacuum cleaner from under the stairs and plugged it in near the TV, drowning out the incessant ringing of the phone when he turned it on. He took another long swig of whiskey, set the glass on a coaster that read “Dad”, and proceeded to vacuum the carpet.

Continue reading →

Hank hung onto the back of the garbage truck for about ten minutes before he was shot off by a volley of bullets. What was left of his body thunked to the ground and rolled a little as the truck peeled out, knocking over trash cans and sending garbage blowing all over the street. A couple of chubby gang-bangers reloaded their guns and went back down the alley to get stoned in the shadows.

Hank lay there, gaping holes in his chest and leg, blood quickly exiting his body. He thought about how perfect his chest once was, and his leg. Good luck picking up chicks now, he told himself. The blood kept flowing- he didn’t realize there was that much blood in the human body.

Continue reading →

Snakes writhed in a wicker basket and the blood that dripped down from a hole in the ceiling only incensed them and made them bite more. A boy, Candit, reached in to touch the human body that was curled under the snakes but they struck at him and he withdrew his hand just in time. There were some footsteps upstairs- heavy boots, it must be Carmen stomping around- looking for more soldiers to kill. Candit stared into the basket, keeping his distance from the snakes, trying to see if the girl in there was dead or just hiding. There was the thunder of large boots stamping down the steps and Carmen was in the room, a towering giant, with a torch in one hand. He looked around, not seeing Candit cowering by the basket. He swung his torch this way and that, kicking a few of the corpses that lay crumpled and maimed on the floor. He went and stood silhouetted in front of the window, staring out at the snowy fields blue in the dusk.

Continue reading →