Vampires, WereBears, and Zombies

By Marshall Miller

Nate was an average guy in an average rut until he met Kindra. Kindra was a lonely vampire girl on a mission, until she bit Nate. Together, they embark on an all-expense-paid road trip, and discover a world filled with creatures they thought were only fictional. The carefree journey soon turns serious, as each must use their new strengths and the strengths of their new friends to save themselves from a growing hoard of trained zombies.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marshall Miller
• Release date: Oct 25, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301288755

Marshall Miller

Marshall Miller lives nestled up against the foothills of the Rockies. He is a musician, a pro photographer, and a fiction and nonfiction writer.

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Vampires, WereBears, and Zombies

By Marshall M. Miller

Copyright 2012 Marshall M. Miller

Smashwords Edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover Art: Elijah Miller and Marshall Miller, 2012

Editor: Cindy Lapp

Table of Contents

Preamble

Vampires, WereBears, and Zombies

About the Author

Preamble: What hasn’t been said about vampires?

While I was taking my sweet time writing this book, other books came out, SOLD out, and then became blockbuster movies. I grew concerned that they might influence my story, so I avoided any exposure to them almost completely. I am really hoping that I might have some new ideas left to share here. I’m also hoping you will understand that any similarity to any movie or story published in the last five years is purely coincidental.

Chapter 1

He was riding into the entrance of a dark cave, leaving the sunlight behind. It appeared to be a man-made cave. On further inspection, it was the entrance to a mine. He was riding in an ore cart. At the end of the tunnel, lit by a single bare light bulb, was an elevator. He stepped out of the cart, and into the elevator. It started down, slowly at first, and then picked up momentum. He was curious to see what was below. Suddenly, the elevator lurched to a hard stop, and then started ratcheting back up again. It climbed a dozen feet back up, and he could see light from the top of the shaft. Then, it fell again, then jerked back up, then down, continuously reciprocating through the darkness. Between the jerks of reversing motion, he formed a lucid thought; Boy, Freud would have fun with this one!

Suddenly, he woke up, unable to catch a decent breath. His breath came in short gasps; his chest was rising and falling rapidly. It took a little time for Nate to realize that he was having an asthma attack. He fumbled around for the lamp switch, turned it on, and knocked his glasses to the floor as he swiped at the drawer of the nightstand. He then made a mad scramble to assemble his nebulizer. The saline canister was missing. He frantically fumbled through all his dresser drawers, and found it in the first drawer, under his socks. Why do I have to be so disorganized? Grrr! He thought. He was getting a little dizzy, and still gasping for air, as he finally inhaled from the nebulizer. Ten seconds, twenty seconds, and finally, after a small eternity, he could get a decent breath again.

After the panic settled, his heart pounding less noticeably, he recalled the dream. It made sense now, and Freud’s favorite subject had little to do with it. The reciprocating motion was his attempt at breathing. The cave was the trap of his ailment, asthma. The darkness was his fear.

Chapter 2

It was a rather dull day so far, overall. The early March weather in Chicago was overcast, gray, and windy. It was dark enough all day to qualify as gloomy. It was Monday, and there were no field trip buses arriving at the John G. Shedd Aquarium today. The ticket buyers were sparse. That was fine for Nate, because he had a headache, presumably a leftover from this morning’s attack, or from trying to see around the scratch on his glasses. The weekend had been blah and depressing, having spent it all alone.

Nate was an average guy in his mid twenties. Life was at the awkward stage, where he didn’t really make enough money to do anything, and didn’t know what he wanted to be when he grew up. He misses high school, where everyone was nearly the same age, and all were going through the same ordeals. Now, he is alone. He meets people every day, but never long enough to get to know anyone. He only needs one. If he could have a girlfriend who was friend and lover all rolled into one, then nothing else would matter.

His average looks, and continuous bouts of acne seemed to repel women. His acne scars had pockmarked his cheeks, to the point that he couldn’t stand looking at himself in the mirror. That caused him to neglect his often omni-directional, sandy-brown hair. He usually hid it under his favorite and only ball cap, but they wouldn’t allow him to wear it at work.

He is trying to be optimistic about his job. On a busy day, he gets to exchange money with hundreds of people, and occasionally, a pretty girl within his age group, but today was very slow.

At 4 p.m., he sold two admission tickets, one to an elderly man, and one to a young woman with jet-black hair, a petite figure, and beautiful dark eyes. She had longer eyelashes than most, he noted. She had a nice figure, he noted. She looked to be around his age, he also noted. He took her money without counting the singles, handed back her ticket and her change, and tried to think of something clever to say.

Hey, enjoy the aquarium, and come back to see me, I mean us, again. If you have any questions at all, I’ll be right here! Feel free to ask me anything! he stammered. Wow, THAT went well, he thought. I’m such a train wreck!

She looked up at him, giggled, and said Thanks! I just might! and walked past. Then, she stopped and turned, and asked, I do have a question. Where do all the fish come from?

Nate thought for a second, and realized that this was his chance to make her smile. Finland! He shouted, with his arms wide apart.

"You’re adorable! I hope they up your pay scale!" And with that, she continued in to see the exhibits.

He hoped that there would be an excuse for her to see him again, but she was out of view already. What did he expect? She had only an hour before closing to see all the fish, so she had no time to hang back and talk to the ticket-boy.

At a few minutes till five, Nate closed the booth, and counted his till. He lost count on the pennies, and had to count them again. His till was over by a dollar, so he had to count the singles and all the change again. He always found that frustrating. The missing dollar was probably a result of not counting the pretty girl’s money. I’m such a slobbering imbecile! I’m so easily blinded by the glow of a pretty face. And she appreciates puns, too, he thought.

It was almost dark when he left the building, and the bus just left. He could wait for the next one, but he decided to walk instead. It was in keeping with the dreamy mood he was in, and the wind was somewhat of a familiar companion.

Lake Shore Drive was rolling with traffic, and as he approached the pedestrian tunnel beneath it, he couldn't hear his own footsteps for the tire noise from above. As he entered the tunnel, he was surprised to see three scruffy teenagers in the middle of the tunnel. They wore hooded sweatshirts, and oversized pants that obscured their sneakers. One of them had gold hoops pierced through his lower lip. The thick stench from their cigarettes hit Nate before he even noticed that they were smoking. They were exchanging money, and the third teen was handing a bag of something to the other two. Nate hoped to pass unnoticed, but all three stopped to watch him.

Hey man, you got change for a fifty? asked the kid with the rings. Nate shook his head, and continued his attempt to walk past them.

Hey, you LOOK like the kind of guy that would have change. How close can you come to it? Check your wallet!

Look, Nate said as he adjusted his glasses, I don't even have lunch money, sorry.

"I think you are holding out on us. You wouldn’t be holding out on us, would you? That would not be nice. How ‘bout you show us what you got?" asked the ringleader.

How about I keep my money and keep walking, since two dollars is not worth anyone getting hurt over? He tried to sound intimidating, and failed.

Get hurt over? Are you going to kick all our asses, little man? mocked the tallest of the three. The three hoods moved as one, to corner Nate up against the concrete wall.

Look, I don't have any cash, today is not Friday, and it’s not payday. Just go about your business, and I'll go about mine, Nate's voice was starting to quiver.

You show us your wallet, and when it’s empty, we'll let you go. How 'bout that business? chided the oldest teen, as he flipped out his knife. At that, the other two teens started circling Nate, waiting for his answer. Nate froze, not really knowing what to do. His ego kept him from pulling out his wallet, at least not without some delay. Part of him didn't believe this was as serious as it looked. He had lied; he was protecting the hundred-dollar bill that he always kept in his wallet for emergencies.

Don't make me take that wallet from your ass said the one with the lip-rings.

Well, that's the only way you're going to get it, retorted Nate, in a sudden swell of bravery, or stupidity, he couldn't tell which. At that, two of the teens closed in on him, one on each side. You could almost hear all three of the punks take a breath, like cobras rearing back before a strike.

Suddenly, a short, human-sized blur of motion swept through the tunnel, and the two closing teens were punched in the kidneys, hard from behind. Before they knew what hit them, they were tripped, and pushed backward, almost simultaneously. As they were falling down, the figure stopped right between Nate and the teen with the knife. The figure was a young woman. Before the teen could react, she backhanded his knife-hand so hard, that his arm swung to the side, and the knife flew out of his hand. It clattered to the sidewalk several feet away. She punched the teen in the stomach so hard that he was thrown to the tunnel wall. She turned and faced Nate, and then looked over his shoulder at the two teens that were attempting to stand up again. She blurred out again, only to appear behind the two. She kicked them each in the knees, causing their knees to buckle. They fell back down again. Nate moved a few feet away from the scene, amazed at what was taking place. He was going to wake up any second now, he thought. The woman walked over next to him, crossed her arms, and watched the three teens stand up.

She asked Nate, while never taking her eyes off the teens, Are you okay? Her voice was small and sweet.

Uh, yeah! said a wide-eyed Nate. It took a few seconds, but Nate realized that she was the girl that he had attempted to flirt with earlier. This meant that he could no longer keep his eyes off of her. Her dark hair flowed over shoulders, over the short, padded, light gray winter coat with a fur-lined hood flat against her back. She had tight jeans with elaborate designs on the back pockets, and soft, knee-high boots. Nate was very impressed. I’m in love! He thought.

The three teens composed themselves, and took a good look at the thing that just handed them their asses. She lowered her chin, to give them her darkest glare, and in a suddenly surprising, ungodly deep and growling voice, she commanded, Leave NOW! The hoods froze for a second, and then suddenly turned and clumsily ran out of the tunnel. They were not sure what had just happened; it weirded them out of their confidence, so they collectively agreed to obey. She watched them as they left the tunnel, and she could hear their footsteps fade in the distance. Nate half felt the urge to run himself, but didn't this Wonder Woman just rescue him from a tough spot?

Thanks, um, thank you! stammered Nate. How did you…?, he made a quick figure eight with his index finger.

My doctor says too much caffeine. It sounded like you could use some help. Surprise was on my side. I'm Kindra. Her smile was warm and soothing. She had already recognized him. She was flattered by his attentions back at the aquarium. Pretty girls get flirted with, but seldom in the right way, and Nate’s spontaneity followed by humility was refreshing.

I'm Nate. I owe you. An idea popped into his head. Can I at least buy you dinner? There's a few restaurants right across that street.

I'm not really hungry, and I don’t have much time, but I could go for some hot chocolate, if that's okay? She batted her eyelashes twice, just to be cute and coy. Then she shot a glance over her shoulder at the path the hoods had taken, and frowned to herself, for some reason.

Sounds like a plan, Nate gleefully replied. This