BENEATH THE TOWN

What lies hidden beneath End House?
Familiar faces and bony countenances.
A cacophony of moans and sounds.

A community of creatures living in the tunnels.
Friends who might be returning to the living,
Or the living who might be joining The Dead.

David grabs hold of Tim’s hand,
One of his long lost friends.
Tim stands stiff and tall, not responding.

Howard shuffles forward.
Howard had been the daring one,
The one who’d saved Tim from the dark pool.

The town looks like Oasis, 
With its beaches, stores, cafes, parks, and hotel.
The forest looms dark and forbidding in the distance.

But where are the people?
The stores stand empty.
“There, they are!” Linda calls out.

A group of people walk down Main Street.
No smiles crossing their deathly pale faces.
No emotions from these sad replicas of humanity.

Something is wrong.
No one is happy to see us.
“Let’s get out of here!” Linda yells.

The group before them lurches forward,
Arms extended like bare branches in the winter cold.
Her friends back up in fear.

“But they’re our friends,” David says,
“We can’t leave them here.” 
His eyes plead for help.

Linda drags him away from the red-eyed mob.
“Our friends are gone.
These aren’t are friends any longer.”

A man grabs hold of Linda’s long hair.
She lets loose a heart-wrenching cry,
Frightening the pale creature away.

Linda takes one last look at Oasis.
They look like members of our town,
But yet they aren’t.

The door slams shut,
Separating them from the empty shells.
Linda follows her friends out of the dark. 

THE DEAD GAME continues in Book 2

to be released in 2017.