Nikon's breathing became unsteady, and his vision blurred slightly as panic began to set in.
"How could Mr. Wells do this to me?!" Nikon spun around. His eyes darted across the room, searching for a sign of the zombie, "I'm going to die. But I'm not ready!"
Nikon slumped to the floor, sweating and shaking. He squeezed his eyes shut, "must I really wait for death to come like this? There's no way I'd be able to kill it."
"Mmmm," a low moan drifted through the air.
In the silent room it sounded as loud as a scream.
Nikon jerked his head up, the panic washing away as his senses returned, "no, there must be a way."
Nikon realized that he was clenching something in his fist, looking down he saw the small kitchen knife, "hmm, I wonder. . ."
Nikon stood and turned to face the door. He slid the tip of the blade into the door's keyhole. He began slowly wiggling it back and forth.
"Ahhhh," a sigh came from somewhere behind Nikon. He began moving the knife faster.
"Some. . . thing smells. . . good," a dry rasping voice filled the air.
Nikon shuddered. His fingers moved furiously, almost dropping the knife. "Please, please work," he silently begged.
"Smells like. . . human?" the rasping voice wondered aloud.
That shock did it for Nikon. He jerked upwards, and the knife slid through his sweaty fingertips. It flew across the room landing with a metallic plink, followed by a quiet ringing.
Nikon stared down at his hands, dumbfounded.
"Huuuuummmaaaaaaaan?" the voice asked, "where. . . are yoouuu?"
Nikon gulped, slowly turning to face the direction of the voice.
"Does human. . . want to. . . play hide and seek?" the rasping was followed by a gurgling laugh.
Chills ran down Nikon's spine. He held his breath as he began formulating a plan, "maybe hiding isn't such a bad idea. Just until help arrives."
Nikon watched as boxes began shifting closer and closer to where the knife landed. He sucked in a deep breath, and began his second trip down the stairs, "if I survive this, I'm going to make Mr. Wells fix these stairs."
Just as Nikon's feet hit the concrete, the zombie spoke again, "huh? Human is not. . . over here?"
"Heh, dumb zombie," Nikon smirked proudly to himself.
"Human thinks it is sneaky. . . will just find you by smell!" the zombie stated proudly. It gurgled again, clearly enjoying this game of cat and mouse.
Nikon flinched at the horrendous sound, "this isn't good. Can it really smell me?"
As if to answer his question, a loud sniffing filled the air.
Nikon quickly ducked into an aisle of boxes, "this is going to be harder than I thought."
Nikon heard a stack of junk shifting to his right. He sucked in his breath and eased through the narrow pathway to his left.
"Huuuuuummmaaaaaan!" the zombie moaned, "come. . . oouut!"
Nikon flinched when he heard the voice getting closer. He sped up as he weaved through the junk. He scanned the piles hoping to find something to defend himself with. Mostly he saw old clothes and some holiday decorations.
This painfully nerve-wracking silent game continued for five minutes before the zombie spoke again.
"I. . . is getting. . . tired of games. . ."
CRASH! A pile of boxes toppled to the ground.
Nikon covered his mouth to keep from screaming.
CRASH!
With trembling legs Nikon staggered away from the sounds, "if this keeps going, I won't have anywhere to hide."
"Come. . . OUT!" the rasping had turned to wheezing.
Nikon racked his brain for any information about zombies that could help, "let's see. Their diet consists of human flesh, but I saw it eating mice. They are supposed to be very stupid, but this one seems to be pretty smart. None of this is helping!"
Nikon sighed in frustration. He immediately regretted it.
"Oh?" the zombie had paused its pushing and heard Nikon, "human. . . is that. . . way."
Nikon covered his mouth and stifled his breathing as best he could. He zigzagged through the maze, hoping to stay hidden.
CRASH! CRASH! More boxes fell, this time too close for comfort. The sound came from right behind Nikon.
"This isn't working," Nikon inwardly moaned, "wait zombies are strong, but slow and clumsy. I just might be able to outmaneuver it. However, the other things I've been taught about zombies have been inaccurate."
CRASH! This time along with the noise Nikon caught a whiff of the monster's rotting stench.
Nikon made his decision. He turned and shoved a stack behind him,"that should slow it down." He turned and began running through the junk, shoving piles behind him.
"Eh?" the shocked rasp sounded farther away again.
Nikon smiled in satisfaction, "that should be enough for now. I'd better be quiet for a while."
"Uhhh. . . human?" the zombie sounded dazed, "come. . . out? . . won't hurt. . . you."
Nikon almost laughed, "how stupid does it think I am?"
Nikon again checked his surroundings for a suitable weapon. His eyes landed on a ladder, "maybe I can see exactly where it is."
He easily pulled himself up. Nikon slowly peeked over the top of the boxes. He was dismayed to see that the zombie was only ten feet away. It was crawling over the mess Nikon made with ease.
Nikon quickly slid back down the ladder,"how is this possible? I thought they were clumsy! The Monster Hunters handbook couldn't be wrong, could it?"
This thought disturbed Nikon immensely, but he was reminded of his more serious problem at hand. A soft shuffling, followed by an, "Aha!", forced Nikon to turn around.
The zombie stood before him pointing a triumphant finger at him, "found. . . you!"
The rasping grated on his ears, and he covered his nose and mouth as the stench hit him again.
Fear swallowed him whole. Nikon's heart pounded against his ribcage, and his breathing came in shallow gasps. A cold sweat covered his body.
The zombie just stared at him, as if debating with itself.
Nikon sensed its hesitation, and his instincts took over. He reached for the nearest thing, which happened to be an old Easter bunny yard decoration, and threw it as hard as he could.
The zombie screeched, and Nikon ran. His feet pounded against the concrete with loud slaps.
He no longer cared about being quiet. The only thing in his head was to put as much distance as he could between himself and that monster.
"Waaaaiiiiit!" the zombie moaned desperately, "won't. . . eat. . . you!"
Nikon hesitated when those words reached his panicked mind, "what does it mean? Of course it wants to eat me." Nikon unconsciously stopped in confusion.
"Ah!"
Nikon turned when he heard the gasp behind him. This time however, the zombie didn't waste a second.
It flung itself at Nikon, knocking him to the ground.
Nikon tried to shove the zombie off, but it sat comfortably on top of him pinning him in place.
Nikon unconsciously trembled, as the zombie peered at him. Nausea hit him in waves, as the rotting stench enveloped him.
"You. . . look good," the zombie finally broke its silence. A strange light glimmered in its eyes, "I'm. . . lonely. . ." the zombie trailed off, staring expectantly at Nikon.
Nikon gaped in shock and confusion at the zombie. He couldn't utter a single word.
With no response the zombie continued, "be a. . . monster with me. I'm. . . very lonely." The zombie batted what few scraggly eyelashes she had charmingly, or so she thought.
Nikon swallowed his screams, and took a not so deep breath, preparing to answer this grotesque flirting.