The Zombie in the Basement (3 page)

He was kicking the grass hard now, eager to be done and leave this yard of spooks, when he spotted the ball at the edge of the tall grass, near the overgrown shrubs that surrounded the foundation of the house. If the shrubs had been trimmed, there would be a foot or so between them and the house, but as it was, the thin, leafy branches reached out to touch the house here and there. But there was still room for a small boy to fit in the gap if he wanted to. Pushing through the grass, which was like walking in thick snow, Ricky waded out until he was standing over the ball.

With a happy grin he called out to Eric and Jimmy. “Found it!”

Ricky picked up the ball triumphantly, and was about to turn and leave, when he heard something odd coming from the shrubs next to the house. Though he should have run away right then, he was a curious boy and he couldn’t help but be attracted to the noise.

Then he heard it again.

“
OOOOHHHHH
,” filtered through the shrubs.

Cocking his head like a curious puppy, Ricky walked up to the shrubs and looked through them. He

saw a basement window, the glass covered in a film of dust and dirt.

Then he heard the noise again. “
OOOOHHHHH
.”

It sounded just like moaning. The kind of moaning he’d hear from the zombies in the movies he watched when his mom let him put in one of his dad’s scary DVDs. She didn’t like him watching them because they gave him nightmares and he didn’t like bad dreams either, but he liked being scared.

Well, usually. This was different, though. This was being
real
scared and that wasn’t any fun at all.

With the ball still in his hand, Ricky crouched low and moved up to the basement window no more than six inches off the ground. His heart was beating a mile a minute and sweat broke out on his forehead.

Pushing through the shrubs, he leaned down at the window.

Cupping his free hand to the side of his forehead, he placed his nose to the dirty glass and peered inside what looked like the basement of the old house.

The basement was wreathed in shadows, only the wan light filtering in through the shrubs and dirty glass

illuminating the large room. Ricky’s eyes went from the left to the right, trying to spot the origin of the moaning, but there was nothing there.

As he looked, he did see ominous shadows everywhere. They looked human shaped, some as tall as the six foot ceiling.

His heart was beating faster now as adrenalin filled his system. One shadow in the far right corner almost seemed to be human in shape. He could just make out the right ear on what would be the edge of a face, and then he saw what he thought was an arm, too.

Jimmy and Eric were calling him now, wanting to know where he was. His two friends couldn’t see him hidden in the shrubs. And then, as he stared into the basement, a face slapped against the inside of the glass.

Ricky stared in horror, not believing what he was seeing.

It couldn’t be, it was impossible, but yes! As he jumped back from the window, he knew he was staring at the face of a zombie!

Ricky was already moving out of the shrubs, a frightened scream on his lips. Even as he backed away, his eyes locked onto that horrible visage.

The zombie’s face was slack with cracked skin, the eyes sunken and white. Ricky saw no pupils, only a bright white, like two hardboiled eggs. The hair was matted, sticking to the skull like it was wet, and the mouth was partially open, the source of the moaning Ricky had heard.

Ricky stumbled out of the shrubs and tripped over his feet, landing hard in the grass. There was a small puddle beneath him and his butt dropped right into it, the water soaking into his underwear and pants.

Ricky barely noticed, his eyes wide with shock and his mouth open to yell like he’d never yelled before.

And then he was standing again, the ball still in his hand, though it was forgotten.

He spun on one heel and ran to the fence, where a waiting Jimmy and Eric were now laughing, not understanding what Ricky had seen. Ricky ignored the other found items, such as the football and Frisbee and he dashed across the lawn, the tall stalks of grass slapping his arms and waist.

When he reached the fence, he tossed the ball over it, Eric catching it, and then he began to shimmy up the bars to climb over.

“
Ricky, what’s going on, what’s the matter?” Jimmy asked when he saw the look of fright on Ricky’s face.

Ricky had both hands on the bars as he pulled himself up, muddy water dripping off his pants.

“
There’s a zombie in there, Jimmy! A real, honest to God zombie!”

“
What!” Eric laughed, that’s crazy, there’s no such thing.” But now Eric had seen Ricky’s look of panic and knew his friend was upset.

Ricky was on top of the fence now, trying to get his left leg over.

“
I’m telling you guys, I saw a zombie in the basement? It’s in there, all gross and stuff, the eyes were so white. It was a zombie!”

Jimmy waved his right hand in dismissal. “Oh, please, give me a break, a zombie? What are you trying to pull, Ricky?”

Ricky got his other leg over the fence and was now crawling down the sidewalk side. When he was five feet up, he let go, dropping to the ground. He landed hard, his sneakers slapping the cement, and he fell onto his butt. He looked a mess, his pants ripped and muddy. He knew his mom was going to kill him but he didn’t care. All he wanted was to get out of there.

Jimmy leaned down, and with an offered hand, helped Ricky up.

Ricky, now standing, shook his head back and forth. “No, I’m serious. I found the ball and was gonna leave when I heard this moaning.”

“
We didn’t hear no moaning,” Eric replied.

“
You couldn’t, you were way over here,” Ricky explained. He glanced back to the house to make sure it was safe, and when it was, he continued. “So I went to the basement window and I snuck a look. And that’s when I saw it. It was all dead and stuff. I’m telling you, it’s was a zombie!”

Jimmy and Eric laughed, thinking this was hilarious. Ricky was about to try and explain again to them when the front door to the old house opened and an old,

“
There it is! There’s the zombie!” Ricky screamed, seeing old man Rollin and thinking he was one of the walking dead.

“
Hey, you kids, what are you doing in front of my house!” the old man yelled, waving his cane like a weapon. “Get out of here before I call the police.”

“
Come on, let’s get out of here, that old guy gives me the creeps,” Eric said.

“
But…” Ricky tried, calming down when the old man spoke. That made him know he wasn’t a zombie because zombies didn’t talk. They just moaned a lot and shuffled around, looking bored. Well, that is until they spotted a nice, young boy. Then they chased you and tried to eat you, wanting to make you one of them with their infectious bite.

“
You don’t have to tell me twice,” Ricky replied and all three boys took off, running away from the wrought iron fence.

“
And don’t come back here again or I’ll call your parents!” the grouchy old man called after them. Then, satisfied the boys were gone, he turned and hobbled back into his home, slamming the door closed.

Ricky, Jimmy and Eric all ran back to the cul-de-sac, and once there, each agreed it was time to go home for dinner.

“
Well, at least you got the ball back,” Eric said as he tossed it into the air.

“
I’m tellin’ you guys I saw a zombie in that old house,” Ricky said, not letting go.

Jimmy waved his hand again. “Oh, would you give it a rest? It was probably just the old man. Did you see him? He sure looks like a zombie.”

Ricky shook his head again, too. “No way, that wasn’t what I saw.”

“
Whatever, I’m going home,” Jimmy said. “See ya at school tomorrow.”

Jimmy left and Ricky and Eric stood in the middle of the street. There was a small puddle of water below Ricky now, drips from his wet pants. Eric pointed this out.

“
Ripped your pants and stuff, huh? Man, you mom’s gonna kill you.”

“
I’ll deal with it. But what are we gonna do about the zombie? We can’t just leave it there. We have to tell someone,” Ricky said.

Eric’s eyebrows went up slightly. “Oh, yeah? And who are we supposed to tell? Wait, I know, let’s go to your parents. It can go like this. ‘Hi, there, Ricky saw a zombie in old man Rollin’s house. We need to go kill it’.”