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App-Arition: S1-E2- Zombie Run

"The cell phones are the devil's tools."

By Rand EinfeldtPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
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This is the script to episode two of App-arition called Zombie Run. At the end of the sript is the radio play vesion of it that you can listen to on Anchor. I hope that you will enjoy!

NARRATOR

I enjoy running.

RUNNING SOUND

I know it sounds crazy, but I actually do. I think I've been running ever since I learned how to walk.

BABY LAUGH

My parents saw my talents and seeked out opportunities for me to utilize my abilities so that I can succeed in it.

I was always literally the first in my PE class growing up in my grade school.

KIDS PLAYING

I had a few close calls here and there, but I was never really challenged enough. I had one teacher even ask me, "How do you run so fast?" I would jokingly say that I would picture a big dog chasing me.

DOG BARKING AND RUNNING

He then replied, "That is a really fast dog!"

Over the years I entered in multiple races and meets.

CHEERING

Winning ribbons and medals as I progressed as an athlete. I remember making goals to be in the upcoming Olympics, but they were all just dreams.

CHEERING. SNAP PICTURES. OLYMPIC SOUNDS.

But those dreams were nothing compared to nightmarish reality that I experienced not too long ago.

You see, it started with this app.

My younger brothers stumbled upon it one day and thought it would be fun to test it out one night. They told me about it and demanded I download it for them to play. After all, I was the only one with a phone at the time.

They told me, that it was kind of like a running app, but with an interesting twist. The app was called Zombie Run. It was fitting for the time. We were getting zombies in every form of media in modern pop culture. I guess zombies were in now. I didn't know how true that statement was, until my brothers and I played this game.

So we chose a park that was close to the base of a mountain. It felt like we were in the middle of nowhere, but it was perfect for the space we needed to run in.

I pulled up the app. It was amazing and creepy how it worked. It used the world maps as a layout for the playing field. Much like what Pokemon Go did.

You would pick what type of zombies you would be encountering, and the goal was to get from point A to point B without getting attacked by the zombies.

Seemed simple enough. We all decided to start with the beginners level, and see if we could level up as we go.

Once we were logged in, we saw the dotted path on the map in the phone, lead the way to our destination. Red silhouettes of zombie hordes appeared on the map. Some were far away, and others were closing in. Our first go around wasn't perfect. The phone was vibrating like crazy each time a zombie got closer to us, this added more to our anxiety as we ventured to our targeted area.

Each attempt brought us closer to the goal to level up, but we all fell short whenever the zombies closed in on us.

A pop-up screen would appear telling us that we failed. It became discouraging, but we were determined to finish the beginners level.

After a handful of tries, we were finally able to feel comfortable to move from easy to medium.

This level became more difficult as the zombies doubled in size and quickened in speed. Running to the desired location was more intense and adrenaline fueled.

PANTING AND RUNNING

It was the fun challenge that I was really looking for in a run.

After taking our eyes off the screen, my 8 year old brother said that he could've sworn that he saw a zombie coming out of the bushes. Kids' imaginations can run wild sometimes. We thought nothing of it, and concluded that maybe we were playing too many video games. Games can do that sometimes. Make you see things that weren't really there.

What seemed like an eternity, we finally reached its end so that we could level up to the harder level.

This time around, it was different. The map on the screen was blank. No dotted path to lead us to the new location, but more importantly, no zombies.

We tapped the screen a number of times thinking that there was something wrong with the app. We even refreshed it in hopes it would work, but the screen stayed the same.

We suddenly noticed something strange within our surroundings. Absolute dead silence fell upon us like a heavy blanket draped over an empty bed.

Each of us were too afraid to squeeze a syllable.

It was something about the atmosphere that made us feel like we were not alone. But the question was, who or what was with us?

Suddenly, a gradual groan came from the distance. Making us shutter and look to the source. As soon as we did, a louder groan came from the opposite direction. Soon we were surrounded in every direction by various groans and grunts; each getting louder until the sources were revealed.

One by one, red static square-like pixels began appearing all around us, forming into humanoid figures until it was clear that they were the living dead. They came in all shapes and sizes, inching awkwardly towards us with arms stretched out, or what was left of them.

We all huddled together trapped in the center, trying to find an easy exit as the zombies closed in on us.

Instead of a vibrating phone, it was the intense beat of our hearts magnified to eleven.

We saw an opening, and we took it. One of the zombies grabbed at my brother's hoodie, making it rip. He quickly unzipped his jacket and slipped out of the claw-like death grip.

We ran, trying not to look back.

With me being the only one with a phone, I tried to call for help, but the menu screen for the app was still frozen. Tapping, swiping, and even trying to turn it off and on again didn't help.

Everywhere we turned a zombie would digitally appear all around us giving out static-like groans each time they opened their mouths.

The first thought was to sprint to my car, but by the time we got there, it was swarmed by the glitching zombies. We decided to literally head for the hills.

Our toes dug deep into the earth's soil as we ventured upwards to the peak of the mountain.

Our breathing grew heavier with each incline. I could feel my heart pulsating inside, almost rattling my ribcage.

Some of us slipped on the loose rocks and branches, but we managed to pick ourselves up and kept moving forward. We made sure nobody was left behind, and tried our hardest not to look back.

The slope of the mountain became more steep. We were forced to jog. Having our hands press on our knees with each aching step. Luckily the zombies only had one speed. Unluckily our speed was about to match theirs.

Tired and fatigued. We advanced slowly by crawling on our hands and knees.

The digital screams from the zombies came closer and closer until suddenly I felt something tug at my legs. I looked to see a crawling corpse inching its way up to me. It had only one eye that was clouded over, while the other was missing from the cavity. Its jaw was dangling from a few strands of muscle, and a slab of skin on the right cheekbone. Its nose fell from its face and landed on my shirt as it pulled itself to my chest.

I quickly crawled backwards digging my elbows to the earth, as I pulled away from the decaying skeleton.

It caught hold of my ankle. I was pinned. My upper body was too exhausted. Attempting to lift myself up was excruciating. I couldn't do it. Suddenly I felt arms grabbing mine. At first I panicked, but then I saw it was my brothers pulling me to safety.

I was eventually free from the grip, and was dragged about twenty feet away from the living stiff.

The corpse moved in closer, but suddenly stopped dead in its tracks. In fact all the zombies were frozen in time like pixelated statues.

I whipped out my phone as a chance to call for help, but I had no service. I decided to move downward to see if I could get a better connection.

A single bar appeared, but so did another zombie trying to lash out at me.

I immediately jumped back. The zombie froze again. I looked at my phone once more, no service, and it was also low on battery.

I couldn't help but think that there was some coincidence between the app and these ghoul.

I slowly placed my phone down to the ground.

My brothers thought that I was crazy, but I wanted to test a theory. I beckoned them to come with me as we ventured down the mountain.

The digitized zombies didn't move, save the random glitches here and there. None of them made any advancement towards us as we got closer to the car.

I drove my brothers out of there like a bat out of hell. Peeling out of the parking lot leaving the zombies to eat my dust.

I remember looking at my rearview mirror and saw the undead disappear. I could only assume that that meant my phone died.

I got a new phone now. I'm really skeptical when it comes to downloading particular apps nowadays. I just pray that nobody finds my old phone and tries to recharge it…

urban legend
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About the Creator

Rand Einfeldt

I'm an inspiring story teller! When it comes to movies, books, music, you name it! I want to write about it, and give my own opinion on how they effect the human society that is constantly absorbed in nostalgic pop-culture!

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