LannaCrowe
Sleepy Cacti
@AnarchistView attachment 229585View attachment 229586
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Sample Writing
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View attachment 229588Sample Writing
“Jo? Jo! Jo, look at me!”
This wasn’t happening, this wasn’t happening. That through repeated over and over again in Ann’s mind like a broken record. The metallic smell of blood clogged her nostrils as she pushed the blood-soaked cloth firmer against her sister’s thigh. The crimson liquid was a startling contrast against Josephine’s porcelain skin, and her raspy breath occupied the warehouse.
“A-Ann…? It’s cold…I’m so…tired…” she rasped, her eyelids drooping.
“No, Jo, stay with me. Don’t close your eyes. Stay. With. Me.” Ann punctuated the last three words through gritted teeth, trying to stay as calm as she could. She couldn’t lose Jo, not after what happened, especially not after what they just saw.
***
Everything was so normal, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The evening Sun spilled through the windows and made the shadows look longer, perhaps more menacing. But other than that, everyone in the Lee household was going about their daily lives. Her mom was out in the garden, checking their plants, her grandmother was hunched over the cashier thumbing through the day’s earnings, and Jo and Ann were stacking up the chairs in the café’s dining area, wondering what they were going to have for dinner.
“So, how did that date go?” Ann asked, her eyes flicking up briefly to meet her sister’s flustered gaze. “Fine, I suppose.” Jo replied, trying her best to seem aloof, “He has some pretty hot friends you know, I bet he wouldn’t mind setting a couple of them up for a date with you.” Ann made a noise that sounded like something between a scoff and a gag, which made Jo roll her eyes. “You need to get out more, Ann. Or else you’ll probably die a virgin.”
“My virginity or lack thereof is none of your business,” Ann replied curtly, wiping the dust from the furniture off her hands and onto her jeans. “Lack thereof? Pfft, please, you’ve never even dated you doof,” Jo smirked, jabbing her elbow at Ann’s side.
“Ay, what’s this talk about virginity? No sex until marriage!” Their grandmother called from the counter, rapping her cane against the table.
“Yes, po-po!” They replied in unison, each making a face as soon as she turned her back.
“I can see you, you rascals. Now go check on your mother and see if she needs any help outside.”
Jo scrunched up her brows and whispered, “I swear, that woman has eyes on the back of her hea-”
“AHHHHH!”
A blood-curling scream cut through the air, drowning out the rest of her words.
“What the hell?!”
Before any of them could move, her mother burst through the door leading to the garden, clutching onto her side that was slowly bleeding onto the polished wooden floors.
“Stupid…neighbour- he went nuts… bit me like some rabid beast... had to…the shovel…I-I...” she coughed out her words, her eyes darting around the room wildly.
“Shush, you did what you had to. Girls, go call an ambulance. I’ll bring her to her room. ”
As her grandmother dragged her mother into her bedroom, Jo picked up the phone and dialed 999.
“Crap. The line’s dead, what do we do?”
Ann’s mind was whirring, what in the world was going on? “Get the car ready, I’ll drive her to the hospital, pack some bandages, and maybe some water-”
“YU ZHEN, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! STOP IT! ” Her grandmother’s frantic voice cut them off, followed a loud commotion from her mother’s room. There was the sound of toppling furniture, and the sound of the bedroom door slamming behind her grandma as she practically ran down the stairs, with what appeared to be a bite mark visible on her cheek.
“Po-po..? What happened?! We need to bring you two to the hospital, immediately.”
“No…no, your mom is terribly sick…she’s not herself…” With shaky hands, their grandmother unlocked the hallway drawer and retrieved a small pistol. “You need to leave. Both of you know how to shoot a gun, right?”
Upstairs, loud banging on the door commenced, accompanied by muffled snarling.
“Yes, we do. But what’s going on? You’re not coming with us?” Jo pleaded, clutching onto their grandmother’s arm, only to have her grip forcefully shaken off. Their grandmother backed away, tears starting to well up in her eyes, “I’m afraid whatever happened to your mom, it will happen to me. Leave now, save yourselves. It is no longer safe here.”
“But-”
“LISTEN TO ME! Ann, pack everything you can, bring your sister and leave, trust me when I say your mother is no longer the woman you once knew. She’s gone rabid and she will attack you. And I dare say it’s only a matter of time before I turn out the same. I have already been infected. ” The old woman spat out the last sentence, pointing to her cheek. “ I’ll lock myself in the store room, but your mom’s bedroom door won’t hold for long. Leave. Now.”
The old woman thrusted a wad of cash into her palm and hobbled into the store room, and they heard it lock click behind her. Upstairs, the banging got louder and was accompanied by frantic scratching, like an animal in frenzy, struggling to get out. Jo rushed forward after her grandmother, but Ann held her back, her eyes locked on the bedroom door straight up the stairs that was shaking with every bang. “Jo, I think she’s right. Grab the emergency kit, we have to go. We have to move, now.”
After grabbing everything they could, they threw themselves in the car and locked the doors. The moment Ann pulled out of the alley and onto the road, they were greeted by chaos. From what she could tell, people had completely lost their minds. They were acting like cannibals – the girl that owned the shop across the street had pinned another girl beneath her, ripping her throat out with her teeth. But Ann could tell they looked different, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, something about them just looked off.
As if attracted by the sound of the car, a few of them turned in their direction, including a familiar face in the window on the second floor of the café. Their mom had lumbered to the window and was peering down at them with a blank gaze. Blood dribbled down her jaw and her head was tilted at an eerie angle. Her mouth open and closed as if she was trying to speak, but the way it moved seemed unnatural, almost mechanic. The sisters stared at the figure of their mother in the window, dazed by her odd appearance. Suddenly, the girl across the street got up and lunged at their vehicle, slamming into it with a loud ‘thump’.
The sight of her grotesque face gnashing her jaws at the passenger window and the shrill sound of Jo’s scream was enough to pull Ann out of her shock. The last thing they saw before she sped down the road was the sight of their mother’s pale face, still staring down at them, her eyes as dead as a corpse’s.
A few hours later they had ended up on the highway. “Zombies” – that’s what the radio had called them before the voice on the station fizzled out into static. The only way to kill them was to destroy their brains, whether by shooting them or stabbing them through the head. They didn’t know where was safe, all they did was continue down the highway until her car eventually ran out of fuel. That’s when shit happened.
While looking for supplies in an abandoned gas station, they were attacked by a group of zombies. They managed to escape to a nearby warehouse, but not before one had taken a chunk out of Jo’s thigh, which brought them to where they were now.
***
Jo coughed again, gripping onto Ann’s hand.
“Please…you heard what happened…after you get bitten by those…things…”
“You don’t know that, Jo. We’ll find a clinic. You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.”
“You saw what happened, we’ve seen it with our own eyes. It happened to mom, and it’ll happen to me too.”
By now tears were rolling down Jo’s cheeks. Ann knew what she was going to say before she even said it.
“No, Josephine. No. I won’t- I can’t.”
“Please, Ann… Please…”
“No! Jo. I can’t do it-”
“I DON’T WANT TO BECOME ONE OF THEM! I DON’T WANT TO BECOME A MONSTER!” Jo sobbed, pushing the gun into Ann’s grasp.
“I CAN’T, OKAY?!...I can’t kill you, Ann … You’re the only one I have left…” Ann cried, feeling the cold metal between her fingers.
“Please… Ann. I’m hurting, can’t you see? There’s no more hope for me…but you, you can survive…” Jo smiled weakly and guided the gun to her forehead.
“There’s one more bullet left, Ann…make it count.”
“Jo, I can’t…I can’t…” Tears blurred her vision.
“I was keeping count.” Jo drew a shaky breath and closed her eyes. “Do it Ann, make the pain go away…”
“You were always the smarter one…” Ann tried to smile, the gun trembling in her grip.
“The prettier one too. Take care of yourself…okay?”
Hearing her talk so normally, it almost felt as if they were back at home.
“I will, you too.” Ann tightened her grip, staring at her sister’s serene face. With her eyes closed, she looked like she was sleeping.
“I love you, Ann.”
“I love you too, Jo.”
Click.
This wasn’t happening, this wasn’t happening. That through repeated over and over again in Ann’s mind like a broken record. The metallic smell of blood clogged her nostrils as she pushed the blood-soaked cloth firmer against her sister’s thigh. The crimson liquid was a startling contrast against Josephine’s porcelain skin, and her raspy breath occupied the warehouse.
“A-Ann…? It’s cold…I’m so…tired…” she rasped, her eyelids drooping.
“No, Jo, stay with me. Don’t close your eyes. Stay. With. Me.” Ann punctuated the last three words through gritted teeth, trying to stay as calm as she could. She couldn’t lose Jo, not after what happened, especially not after what they just saw.
***
Everything was so normal, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. The evening Sun spilled through the windows and made the shadows look longer, perhaps more menacing. But other than that, everyone in the Lee household was going about their daily lives. Her mom was out in the garden, checking their plants, her grandmother was hunched over the cashier thumbing through the day’s earnings, and Jo and Ann were stacking up the chairs in the café’s dining area, wondering what they were going to have for dinner.
“So, how did that date go?” Ann asked, her eyes flicking up briefly to meet her sister’s flustered gaze. “Fine, I suppose.” Jo replied, trying her best to seem aloof, “He has some pretty hot friends you know, I bet he wouldn’t mind setting a couple of them up for a date with you.” Ann made a noise that sounded like something between a scoff and a gag, which made Jo roll her eyes. “You need to get out more, Ann. Or else you’ll probably die a virgin.”
“My virginity or lack thereof is none of your business,” Ann replied curtly, wiping the dust from the furniture off her hands and onto her jeans. “Lack thereof? Pfft, please, you’ve never even dated you doof,” Jo smirked, jabbing her elbow at Ann’s side.
“Ay, what’s this talk about virginity? No sex until marriage!” Their grandmother called from the counter, rapping her cane against the table.
“Yes, po-po!” They replied in unison, each making a face as soon as she turned her back.
“I can see you, you rascals. Now go check on your mother and see if she needs any help outside.”
Jo scrunched up her brows and whispered, “I swear, that woman has eyes on the back of her hea-”
“AHHHHH!”
A blood-curling scream cut through the air, drowning out the rest of her words.
“What the hell?!”
Before any of them could move, her mother burst through the door leading to the garden, clutching onto her side that was slowly bleeding onto the polished wooden floors.
“Stupid…neighbour- he went nuts… bit me like some rabid beast... had to…the shovel…I-I...” she coughed out her words, her eyes darting around the room wildly.
“Shush, you did what you had to. Girls, go call an ambulance. I’ll bring her to her room. ”
As her grandmother dragged her mother into her bedroom, Jo picked up the phone and dialed 999.
“Crap. The line’s dead, what do we do?”
Ann’s mind was whirring, what in the world was going on? “Get the car ready, I’ll drive her to the hospital, pack some bandages, and maybe some water-”
“YU ZHEN, WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?! STOP IT! ” Her grandmother’s frantic voice cut them off, followed a loud commotion from her mother’s room. There was the sound of toppling furniture, and the sound of the bedroom door slamming behind her grandma as she practically ran down the stairs, with what appeared to be a bite mark visible on her cheek.
“Po-po..? What happened?! We need to bring you two to the hospital, immediately.”
“No…no, your mom is terribly sick…she’s not herself…” With shaky hands, their grandmother unlocked the hallway drawer and retrieved a small pistol. “You need to leave. Both of you know how to shoot a gun, right?”
Upstairs, loud banging on the door commenced, accompanied by muffled snarling.
“Yes, we do. But what’s going on? You’re not coming with us?” Jo pleaded, clutching onto their grandmother’s arm, only to have her grip forcefully shaken off. Their grandmother backed away, tears starting to well up in her eyes, “I’m afraid whatever happened to your mom, it will happen to me. Leave now, save yourselves. It is no longer safe here.”
“But-”
“LISTEN TO ME! Ann, pack everything you can, bring your sister and leave, trust me when I say your mother is no longer the woman you once knew. She’s gone rabid and she will attack you. And I dare say it’s only a matter of time before I turn out the same. I have already been infected. ” The old woman spat out the last sentence, pointing to her cheek. “ I’ll lock myself in the store room, but your mom’s bedroom door won’t hold for long. Leave. Now.”
The old woman thrusted a wad of cash into her palm and hobbled into the store room, and they heard it lock click behind her. Upstairs, the banging got louder and was accompanied by frantic scratching, like an animal in frenzy, struggling to get out. Jo rushed forward after her grandmother, but Ann held her back, her eyes locked on the bedroom door straight up the stairs that was shaking with every bang. “Jo, I think she’s right. Grab the emergency kit, we have to go. We have to move, now.”
After grabbing everything they could, they threw themselves in the car and locked the doors. The moment Ann pulled out of the alley and onto the road, they were greeted by chaos. From what she could tell, people had completely lost their minds. They were acting like cannibals – the girl that owned the shop across the street had pinned another girl beneath her, ripping her throat out with her teeth. But Ann could tell they looked different, though she couldn’t quite put her finger on it, something about them just looked off.
As if attracted by the sound of the car, a few of them turned in their direction, including a familiar face in the window on the second floor of the café. Their mom had lumbered to the window and was peering down at them with a blank gaze. Blood dribbled down her jaw and her head was tilted at an eerie angle. Her mouth open and closed as if she was trying to speak, but the way it moved seemed unnatural, almost mechanic. The sisters stared at the figure of their mother in the window, dazed by her odd appearance. Suddenly, the girl across the street got up and lunged at their vehicle, slamming into it with a loud ‘thump’.
The sight of her grotesque face gnashing her jaws at the passenger window and the shrill sound of Jo’s scream was enough to pull Ann out of her shock. The last thing they saw before she sped down the road was the sight of their mother’s pale face, still staring down at them, her eyes as dead as a corpse’s.
A few hours later they had ended up on the highway. “Zombies” – that’s what the radio had called them before the voice on the station fizzled out into static. The only way to kill them was to destroy their brains, whether by shooting them or stabbing them through the head. They didn’t know where was safe, all they did was continue down the highway until her car eventually ran out of fuel. That’s when shit happened.
While looking for supplies in an abandoned gas station, they were attacked by a group of zombies. They managed to escape to a nearby warehouse, but not before one had taken a chunk out of Jo’s thigh, which brought them to where they were now.
***
Jo coughed again, gripping onto Ann’s hand.
“Please…you heard what happened…after you get bitten by those…things…”
“You don’t know that, Jo. We’ll find a clinic. You’ll be fine, you’ll be fine.”
“You saw what happened, we’ve seen it with our own eyes. It happened to mom, and it’ll happen to me too.”
By now tears were rolling down Jo’s cheeks. Ann knew what she was going to say before she even said it.
“No, Josephine. No. I won’t- I can’t.”
“Please, Ann… Please…”
“No! Jo. I can’t do it-”
“I DON’T WANT TO BECOME ONE OF THEM! I DON’T WANT TO BECOME A MONSTER!” Jo sobbed, pushing the gun into Ann’s grasp.
“I CAN’T, OKAY?!...I can’t kill you, Ann … You’re the only one I have left…” Ann cried, feeling the cold metal between her fingers.
“Please… Ann. I’m hurting, can’t you see? There’s no more hope for me…but you, you can survive…” Jo smiled weakly and guided the gun to her forehead.
“There’s one more bullet left, Ann…make it count.”
“Jo, I can’t…I can’t…” Tears blurred her vision.
“I was keeping count.” Jo drew a shaky breath and closed her eyes. “Do it Ann, make the pain go away…”
“You were always the smarter one…” Ann tried to smile, the gun trembling in her grip.
“The prettier one too. Take care of yourself…okay?”
Hearing her talk so normally, it almost felt as if they were back at home.
“I will, you too.” Ann tightened her grip, staring at her sister’s serene face. With her eyes closed, she looked like she was sleeping.
“I love you, Ann.”
“I love you too, Jo.”
Click.
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