This chapter is roughly twice as long as the prologue, so it should satisfy those who wanted more content. As for the characters a lot of time was spent on getting them just right, and making sure the characterization was smooth, so I hope you like them.This chapter came outa lot sooner than I had initially expected. Partially due to the encouraging reviews I got, and partially due to a driving inspiration. Hopefully you guys will like this chapter also. Enjoy!
Rise of the Dead: The Eleventh Hour
Chapter 1: The End Beginning – Dawn of a New Day
(November 10th, 2011. Approximately 23 Hours Earlier)
Clyde Williams awoke to the aggravating beep of an annoyingly persistent alarm clock. He lazily pushed the heavy sheets and blankets, aside, and propped himself up on the bed.
"Darn clock", he muttered as he bopped its head, finally putting the annoying drone to a stop.
"Just what was I dreaming about again last night?" Clyde wondered aloud, scratching his head with a frustrated hand. He hated it whenever he forgot dreams. Dreams, to Clyde were better than reality. He loathed it whenever he forgot what his precious time in dreamworld was spent doing. Clyde blinked a couple times to adjust his eyes to the bright light streaming in from the window, and shifted his thoughts to figuring out the plans for today. Now just what day is today again?
Clyde stared at the calendar with one-eye open. November 10th eh? With one eye still closed, he snatched up the alarm clock. It read 10:13.
"Oh crap! I'm gonna be late for the train!" he yelled, almost dropping the clock. He quickly pulled out of his sleeping clothes, while bounding across the room, franticly searching for his other clothes.
"This is what happens when you get used to summer vacation too quickly, and forget to set the alarm clock beforehand," Clyde chastised himself silently.
Even though school had already ended, he was still forced to get out of bed early, something he resented. But today's occasion was different.
He forced the bathroom door aside and slipped out of his shirt as quickly as he slipped out of his pants. Clyde quickly brushed aside the messy brown hair from his eyes, and stared into the mirror. Damn did he look like a sleepwalker. With lightning speed, he hurriedly brushed his teeth, showered, and pulled into his normal clothes. Jeans, a pair of beaten but reliable running shoes, and a plain 'ol tee. He wished he could've worn something more formal today, but he didn't really have much. His brother had promised him something fun, and when it came to his brother's definitions of fun, it probably had something to do with girls. Definitely girls. Sometimes that was all his brother could talk about. Or think about.
"Besides. It is my 18th birthday," Clyde grinned. Judging from the many years he had spent living with his bro, he knew he had cooked up some sort of special surprise. He wasn't too keen on finding out what the surprise was, but he looked forward to seeing his brother again.
He snatched his trusty messenger bag from where it lazily sat next to the doorway, got onto his bike, and headed off. It was time to go visit his brother. As he sped through the streets with the cool wind against him, Clyde raised his head towards the sky.
"Never though morning could be so beautiful." he smiled to himself, taking in the familiar but stunning sights of his neighborhood in the light of a new day. Clyde was in a hurry, but he decided to let himself admire the gorgeous beauty of everything. "It isn't often that I get to see the morning sky anyways."
He took one final gaze at the bright sky, and doubled his speed, zipping off past the streets of his home and into town.
In the darkened corner of a remote alley, death began to get restless. Axel "Sikth" Warren had already been staring into a blackened void for what seemed like an eternity, and he was beginning to get a bit bored. He lit up another cigarette and trampled the old one beneath his foot, the flame from the Zippo a brief flicker of light in the shadow of the back alley.
"Damn it. Just when is Jared that asshole going to get here." Axel cursed under his breath. He didn't bother checking his watch, he already did. About an hour ago. It was about time for him to get here.
Axel slipped the Zippo back into the pocket of his hooded jacket, and exhaled a large cloud of smoke. As quickly as the smoke had manifested, it had faded away and joined the rest of the air and congestions of smog. Axel pushed his dark, raven black locks to opposite sides, and shifted around.
"Goddamn is waiting hell," Axel muttered, his feet aching for rest.
He ignored their protests, his eyes still locked in a cold, steely concentration. Best to stay sharp. Jared would be here pretty soon anyways.
Axel let out another cloud of cigarette smoke, and glanced around his surroundings for about the hundredth time this morning.
"Who the fuck am I kidding?"
"Just what was I dreaming about yesterday?" Clyde questioned at himself in frustration as he pushed his bike onto the train. "Why can't I remember this dream?"
Sighing, he dropped himself onto the nearest seat and propped his bike up against a wall nearby.
"It's funny how I'm obsessing over stuff like this again," he thought to himself. Even though he had dreams pretty often, it was seldom that he worried this much about forgetting one. Maybe it was because he was going to see his brother again today. He often had dreams about big events the day before they happened. And this was a pretty big event.
It had been quite a long time since he had seen his brother, ever since he had moved to another city. The teenager had a bit of a problem adjusting to the lack of his brother's presence. It was lonely living alone. Well, not exactly alone. His mom was still there, though she was not home often, like his father. Both worked day jobs, and sometimes they didn't even return home on weekdays. They did return on the weekends, but it never quite felt like a complete family. Guess that made him quite "alone". Still, he learned to manage. It took a while but he still overcame that. He still felt lonely at times, and he was still somewhat lazy.
"Too lazy to even go after a girl!" his brother had teased him many times.
Clyde thought about that line for a while. In a certain way, his brother was right about that. He was lazy but laziness wasn't the reason for his never getting a girlfriend. It was his excuse yes, but not his reason. Definitely not his reason. The reason was caused by an emotion quite different from laziness, though it sometimes yielded the same devastating consequences. Well, more or less.
The train jerked to a sudden halt, sending the teenager out of his thought and almost out of his seat. He barely managed to catch himself and stop his bike from falling onto the girl that was seated across from him at the same time.
"I'm very sorry" Clyde quickly apologized, risking a shy glance at the girl.
"No, it's okay. Don't sweat it." the girl responded, flashing a reassuring smile at him.
"Oh okay" Clyde muttered, before shifting back into his seat. As the train resumed its journey, so did he resume his thoughts.
That emotion, he remembered. That emotion that had stopped him.
That emotion was fear."
"Number twelve" Axel thought to himself as he stomped out yet another cigarette, and pulled out a new one, the last one in his pack. It was while he was lighting the thirteenth one that a set of footsteps started approaching him.
"Finally here. Stupid motherfucker" Axel muttered under his breath as Jared strolled down the alleyway. Dressed in a suit and tie. Brought some dogs too. He didn't know Axel knew though. Jared underestimated him too much, sauntering in just like last time. So predictable. So painfully predictable.
"Sorry I took so long," Jared apologized. "There were some complications."
"Hrmph. You're lucky I stayed. "Axel growled, eyeing Jared suspiciously. "Be glad that I decided to wait."
"I'm really sorry friend. It is not like me to delay an appointment so. Anyhow, let's continue on to the transaction now, shall we?" Jared prompted, his tone still foolishly nonchalant.
Axel smirked.
"Getting to business already eh? Your appetite has not whetted one bit since I last met you, Boss Jared."
"I'm afraid not, dear friend. I'm afraid not. Some people change, but I don't. I don't," Jared laughed, before turning dead serious. "So do you have what I told you to prepare?"
"Do you have the money?" Axel retorted, voice dropped to an ominous low. "You'd better call your little pigs off as well. I don't think they're going to help this transaction happen any faster."
"Hehehehe. You have a sharp eye Axel. But you're no match against me. Hand over the item and perhaps you won't leave this place as a corpse." Jared threatened with his arms raised in a pathetic and misguided show of triumph. "I've got you all figured out. I know exactly who you are."
"Pfts…," Axel scoffed at the remark, turning his back towards his foe. "You got me far from figured out."
Boss Jared quickly grabbed his revolver, but in less than a heartbeat, Axel had turned around and put a bullet in the crime lord's head.
Jared's goons came rushing into the alley as soon as they heard the gunshot but they were too slow.
"Number thirteen" Axel whispered as he lazily tossed his final cigarette aside, and disappeared behind the cover of darkness.
Author's Note: For those of you who are waiting for gore and action, it will come I assure you. And in enormous amounts. I'm sure I love gore at least as much as any of you guys. It will be worth the wait, I give you my word. And as for the people who don't like gore that much, I'm not ignoring you guys. Plot and characterization is not something I just shove in carelessly. I pay very much attention to those things, and I treat it with the same degree of importance as I treat blood and gore with. Both things have their place in my story, and I assure you once again, one won't be ignored in the favor of another.