SF Drabble #37 “All I Did Was Go For A Swim”

The Health Department was very apologetic. In their defense, they said, I am the first human to visit their planet, and the river creature in question is very rare, and the odds of anything like this happening, blah, blah. They say I’m in no danger.

But I’ve got to stay two extra months, which means I’ll miss my liner and the next one, for the gestation to complete. Then apparently about four hundred tiny baby alien fish things are going to come out of my... well, I’ll spare you the details. But next mother’s day I want a card too.

Zombie Drabble #64 “A Bridge Too Far”

The air force dropped the bridge three days ago. By dropped, I mean: the south side is in pieces at the bottom of the river. The north side is intact, just sitting up there, stretched out into thin air.

The zombies didn’t stop trying to get across though, they just keep on coming. They walk to where the bridge ends and just kind of step off. No arm waving, kicking, nothing. It’s like they don’t even notice they’re falling. Then there’s the smack of hitting the water.

One after another, day and night, three days. In the tens of thousands.

Fantasy Drabble #14 “I Will Never Drink Again, I Swear To Olidammara”

What a party. I don’t know what the spell was that they put on the wine, but it got a little wild.

The Faerie strippers were… very talented. A little small though; you really had to lean in real close to see anything good.

Using Orcs as door security may have been a mistake. A couple of guys that got a little out of hand were supposed to be thrown out, but I’m pretty sure they  got eaten. I didn’t really know them though, so no biggie.

Anyway, great party. Well deserved. After all, Princess Jilehyah only turns twenty-one once…

Zombie Drabble #63 “On The Roof of James K. Polk Elementary School”

“Where next?”

“Shh! Wait…”

When they were in their sleeping bags, and close together, he whispered to her, “All right, now, what?”

“Where next? Where are we going? Everyone else was going in the opposite direction…”

“They’re headed for high ground. We’re going to find a boat.”

She thought about it for a while. She’d never been on a boat. “Why not high ground?”

“They’ll be followed. They won’t have time to build walls. Even if they do, there won’t be room or food for everyone. There’ll be fights.”

“Oh.”

He kissed her on the nose. “Now go to sleep.”

Zombie Drabble #62 “Rules are Rules”

“I’m just doing my job, lady.”

“But I need to get through! My husband is already on the other side of the river!”

“Lady, you’ve got an open wound. Nobody with an open wound crosses the river.”

“The wound was from falling, I was climbing over a chain link fence…”

“I got no way of knowing if that’s true.”

“I’ve got a right to…”

“It’s martial law. You don’t have any rights. Now please step back from the barricade.”

“What about the baby?!”

“Give the baby to somebody else to carry across for you. Or don’t. Either way, you stay.”

Zombie Drabble #61 “Inner Monologue”

Wake up hungry. So hungry.

Feel bad. Feel real bad. Need food…

No food here. Kitchen. Why no food? Kitchen smells wrong.

Hurts. Blood on me. Head hurts.

Find food.

People outside. Must go outside. People help. People have food. Smell good.

People run away. Hurts. Why run away? Give food. Food in heads. People heads. Why not give food?

Can’t think. Everything hurts.

People won’t give food. Make them give food.

People in house. People have food. Get in house.

People scream. People hurt.

People give food. Food taste good. Feel better.

Find more people heads. Find more food.

Fantasy Drabble #13 “The One True Faith”

The house was nearly destroyed: the roof swept off as if by the hand of a god, the stone walls buckled and bent, the foundation cracked.

I despaired. I admit to weeping. I sacrificed my best goat and prayed to Orgu to send help or a quick and merciful death.

Orgu is the god of herders, which is how I come to him. But he is also the god of insects. Within moments of my prayer’s end, the ground blurred and darkened with the spiders in their multitude. The house is a black crawling mass. I think they’re rebuilding it.

SF Drabble #36 “Just A Bit Closer”

We’ve used up all our Delta-v. The orbit doesn’t seem to have grown measurably larger. We can’t see the point mass, but the math all checks out and the radiation is hammering our shields.

It’s odd: I don’t feel any different. A few hundred kilometers away, the universe is aging precipitously without us. I’d worry what it’ll look like when we escape, but we’ll never escape.

Dr. Franks thinks the heat death of the universe will occur in about a week, ship’s time. That is, unless something falling into the gravity well swats us like a fly in the meantime.

Zombie Drabble #60 “Fatherhood”

My daughter was four years old when it started. We got out of the city early enough that we made it out with supplies and a vehicle. Never did manage to hook up with the ex-wife, but that’s no great loss. Zoe’s mother was never really present in her life anyway.

Zoe’s seventeen now. She’s a better rifle shot than me. She can field strip a deer all by herself. She has a necklace made of zombie finger bones.

But hey, at least she isn’t pregnant, or dating some loser, or sneaking out to go to parties where there’s beer.

SF Drabble #35 “Pest Control”

We’ve just about cleared them out now. It’s taken a lot of effort, believe me. We’ve actually lost soldiers. It got quite a bit more difficult when they went underground: their planet is riddled with tunnels and pipes. They rise up out of the ground, attack, and then dart back down again. Since they’re so small, we can’t follow.

We’re using drones now, small enough to chase them down those holes. Some of them have nukes onboard. If we find a concentration, we send the drone down and blow them to bits.

Only a matter of time now. Filthy humans.