Nellie - Issue 2

Nellie, Issue 2

In the middle of the ocean, south of America, you would be able to spot a small fishing boat. Once used by fishermen, trying to catch enough to make a living. The man controlling the fishing boat, didn’t used it to catch fish, but he still used it to make a living. To keep him alive.

This man was Eleanor Bayne. Sailling around the North Atlantic Ocean, he tried to spot an island with no or very few inhabitants. This might sound weird; a man sailling a fishing boat, trying to get away from the main land. The reason to this is pretty simple: The main land is overrun; filled with zombies.

Eleanor also looked at his machete. He knew what Nicky was thinking, but Eleanor wasn’t able to kill a man. He once drove a cat over; killing it. After that episode he did not eat meat for a year. Actually the cat wasn’t why he turned vegetarian. At that point, 26 years old, Eleanor had a girlfriend named Anna, who was vegetarian. After a few days of dating, Eleanor turned into vegetarian as well. After a year Eleanor dumped her as he found out that she cheated on him, and he also dumped the vegetarian diet.
“No way, man.” Eleanor said. He didn’t really know what to say; he just got told that a zombie is in the basement. How do you react to that?
“I just can’t let her... stay like this.” Nicky said, almost soft. His rough and crispy voice had almost disapearred and turned into a soft, kind and sad voice.
“I get it, but what if there is a cure? Then i’ve killed your wife, and i won’t do that.” Eleanor said, looking at the few remaining crackers on his plate. He was really hungry, but this talk had made him loose his apetite.
A click was heard and Nicky turned around to get the boiled water into the two green coffee mugs. In a drawer Nicky took two old Sterling spoons and gave one to Eleanor, along with the coffee.
“Thank you.” Eleanor found it awkward to say that at this point, talking about killing Nicky’s wife.
His mind was racing again; a bad habit caused by the apocalypse. On one side, he couldn’t stay at the lighthouse, knowing that there was a zombie in the basement. On the other side, he couldn’t kill a person. And with that thought, “kill a person”, Eleanor made his choice. The zombies were not people anymore, and since the news, radio and TV, was dead, Eleanor just considered that there weren’t no cure, and there won’t come any cure.
“Okay.” Eleanor said. Nicky removed a tear from his cheek and looked at Eleanor.
“Thank you so much.” Nicky said and tried to smile, unsuccesfully. From his pocket, Nicky took a pair of keys.
The basement was cold. The staircase going down there was old and made of some cold stone, now so old that mold had grown everywhere on it.
On a old wooden shelf, also with mold on it, a few books was standing, along with a tin box with tobacco. Eleanor studied the books for a moment, and one of them catched his eyes; Catch-22. He took it and from the faded light, he read on the backsite of it.
While being on the boat, Eleanor hadn’t really anything to do. He just sailed, so he thought it would be a good idea to bring some books if he decided to leave.
Moaning could be heard from the end of the staircase. As, Eleanor lay the book on the stairs, he raised his machete, and walked slowly down the old stairs. An old woman; probably around same age as Nicky, was laying on the floor, tied up with a blue rope, once used to moor boats.
“So you’re Vivian, huh?” Eleanor asked as he walked down the last stairs. Adrenaline was pumping through him. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he took the last part of the stairs, but caused by the mold, he fell and hit his head on the stairs.

It took Eleanor ten minutes to wake up, finding the zombified Vivian biting in his shoe. Scared, confused, Eleanor made a silent scream and pushed the zombie away.
He sat up on the mold-infected stairs. His hip hurt, but he ignored it for now. As he took off his shoe to check for bites, he saw blood going from his hip to the floor. A quick look on the foot and he concluded that there was no bites, but on his hip, he could see half of the machete. He other half was inside his hip.
“Crap.” Eleanor said quiet and closed his eyes. The zombie was laying helpless on the floor, so he didn’t had to worry about her.
The machete was a Ka-Bar machete; exspensive but good. It wouldn’t be a problem to remove the machete, so Eleanor just tried to pull it out.
While doing it, tears appeared in his eyes, as he tried not to scream in pain. He got it removed, sweating, crying.
The zombie was laying, moaning, looking at Eleanor, as he raised the machete. “I’m sorry, m’am.” He said, still crying, and took the machete into the zombified woman’s head.

Nellie - Issue 1

Nellie, Issue 1

In the middle of the ocean, south of America, you would be able to spot a small fishing boat. Once used by fishermen, trying to catch enough to make a living. The man controlling the fishing boat, didn’t used it to catch fish, but he still used it to make a living. To keep him alive.

This man was Eleanor Bayne. Sailling around the North Atlantic Ocean, he tried to spot an island with no or very few inhabitants. This might sound weird; a man sailling a fishing boat, trying to get away from the main land. The reason to this is pretty simple: The main land is overrun; filled with zombies. 

Eleanor picked up the pen; a Monteblanc Meisterstuck. The former owner of the ship might have been a collector, since this pen is pretty damn expensive, and not for everyday use. Next to the other lines, marking the days on the sea, Eleanor made another line and counted them; 9 days on the sea. Almost no fuel, almost no food, almost no water and no ammo at all, Eleanor knew that he was in trouble.
Before the zombie started to come, Eleanor was a middle school teacher, teaching history. The students often never listened when Eleanor talked, but Eleanor honestly didn’t cared; he got money for it. That was what it was for him; a job. Nothing else. He never looked forward to the history classes, but he didn’t hated them neither. It was his job and he got pay.
Eleanor looked at the empty can of beans next to him. He had to eat everything cold, since he could make a fire or anything out on the open sea.
The former history teacher was 33 years old. He actually had birthday the day the apocalypse broke out, but nobody seemed to celebrate it. Some of his student told him that he looked like Cal from Waitress. Eleanor never saw the movie, but knew that Cal was potrayed by Lew Temple, who actually looked like Eleanor; half long hair, a goatee. Eleanor refused this statement, though.
The old GPS, probably danish, named Garmin GPSMAP 600, showed an island nearby. Eleanor quickly turned the boat, and headed to the island. Even if it was filled with zombies, he would get off the boat and find something to eat and drink. Luckily for him, this island wasn’t filled with zombies. On this island was a sheep and goat farm, and a lighthouse. This island was one of the many islands from the island group, Esther Islands. 

Eleanor approached the island slowly. A dock was hidden behind the lighthouse, but thanks to the GPS, Eleanor found it. As he took the rope, that was used for the boat not to sail away, he also took the machete that he found on the boat. To a start, Eleanor wondered why there was a machete on a fishing boat, but he soon enough accepted it; it could be handy to fight the zombies.
While most people thought that the zombies was just sick people, Eleanor knew that they weren’t. They were dead people, who just had to be killed once again. Probably because of all the zombie movies that Eleanor had seen, he was very paranoid, and scared. He knew that a bite from a zombie would result in dead.
Eleanor jumped off the boat and moored the boat. He never hadmuch experience with boats; he sailed a few times with his friends, but nothing serious. The only knot he knew was the one you use to tie your shoes; he used that to moor the boat. 

Headed to the lighthouse, Eleanor had the machete ready, in case the ligthouse keeper had turned into a zombie. The first day in the apocalypse, the news was still up and running. They said that you would turn if you died, no matter what. If you killed yourself, you would turn and become a zombie.
The lighthouse was tall. Not as tall as other lighthouses that Eleanor had seen, but still pretty tall. Eleanor felt awkward standing at the doorstep; should he just enter or should he knock? He decided just to knock, so he did that.
At first sight the lighthouse keeper looked like a zombie, but if you looked closer you would see that he just hadn’t been taking a shower for weeks. You would be able to smell that too.
“Hey, son. Can i help you?” The lighthouse keeper asked tired. His eyes was half closed, half open. It looked like he hadn’t slept for days.
“I... Yes, you can. I am very hungry, and very thirsty.” Eleanor said. Happy to see other people alive, after 9 days on the sea, a smile appeared on his face. The lighthouse keeper smiled weakly back to Eleanor, and waved him inside. 

The lighthouse was old, and so was the small house where the lighthouse keeper lived. As Eleanor got guided into the small kicthen; a fridge, an oven and a table, he studied the house. It seemed like nobody had been there for days; maybe weeks.
“What’s yer name, son?” The lighthouse keeper asked as he took out some instant coffee from a closet. He turned around with a look that Eleanor knew asked if he’d like some coffee. Eleanor nodded.
“I... Um... I’m Eleanor.” Eleanor sat down on one of the two chairs that was placed under the kitchen table. It wasn’t really chairs, more like a stool. “And you?”
“Name’s Nicky Wonder.” The lighthouse keeper said and poured water in a sauce pan.
“You still got power?” Eleanor asked, and lay the machete at the table.
“Yea. No running water, though. Have to walk all the way to the Henderson Farm to get water.” The lighthouse keeper, Nicky, said.
Nicky turned on the plate on which the sauce pan was standing on, and turned to the fridge. “I hope ya like cheese and crackers. That’s pretty much what i’ve got.”
“I could eat anything right now.” Eleanor said and made a dry giggle.
Nicky opened a closet, and took out two plates and four cups. He poured water from a 2 liter bottle into one of the cups and gave it to Eleanor, who drank it instantly. Nicky then took out a 5kg cheese block and cut off four pieces. Turning around to grab some crackers from another closet, and placing the cheese on them, he gave the plate with two crackers with cheese to Eleanor, while taking the other himself.
“So you know everything about the apocalypse?” Eleanor asked, as he quickly ate the crackers.
“Pretty much. The people from the farm down there told me. They’re nice people.” Nicky said, and looked at his crackers. He took one up and took a bite, which he chewed slowly.
Eleanor took a break from the eating, and looked at Nicky. “Something’s wrong?”
“Yea... My... My wife turned...” Nicky said quiet, and turned around to pour instant coffee up in the cups.
“I... I’m so sorry.” Eleanor said, and lay the plate next to the machete.
“Yea... But that’s not what’s wrong...” Nicky said, and took the sauce pan, pouring the water into the cups.
“Then why?” Eleanor asked, still looking at the old, bald man with a santa-like beard; grey though.
“She’s still a zombie...” A tear appeared on Nicky’s face.
“What?” Eleanor was chocked by this statement. Why would anybody let their wife roam around?
“She’s in the basement.” Nicky looked at Eleanor’s machete.