The Modern Day Pied Piper

May contain bigoted language. If your not okay with it. You don't have to read it.

Well it happened - the zombie apocalypse. Luckily, everyone knows the basic about zombies due to radio shows, books, television, and movies. The largest number of people died during the first few weeks; due to overall shocked that this is the way the world is ending.

  Food, water, medicine, and personal hygiene were the first supplies to disappear off the shelves. People fled the city to check on distant family, and left their houses filled with supplies. Soon enough people started to form groups. Either they are decent people, who build communities, wanting to survive ,or bandits that will kill anyone not from their group on sight. I was one of the lucky ones that found a community, and live a somewhat comfortable life. I am a scavenger, and I raid abandoned... anything really, in order to help the community. With my trusty coal shovel and my secret weapons against the zombies ,I can achieve anything I put my mind to.

(Someone singing)"Come to me my little canary;

come to me my little songbirds.

Hear my cries and  hear my pleas,

please come to thy.

Come out from your hiding places;

come out from the willow tree's leaves.

Come and sing with me my little canary;

come and sing my little songbirds.

Hear my cries and hear my pleas;

ooooooh please come to thy.

{soft sounds of rustling and low growling}

Come to me my little canary;

come to me my little songbirds.

Hear my cries and hear my pleas;

Please come out and sing with me"

{The growling is much louder and rustling is louder as well}

(The singer) I found you my little songbirds, and now its time to sing.

That's right; my secret weapon is my voice. I always liked to sing when I grew up, but never did anything with it. Now, I use my singing to lure out of hiding zombies. Zombies like loud noises, for instants: air horns, car alarms, vehicles in general, and people. I like to think I'm sending them off in style. That's why I got the nickname Songbird.

(Songbird) Thank goodness, there was only three of them. Now let's see what type of treasures you were guarding: some can food, glass jars, candles, clothes, wooden furniture, toys for kids, and some mechanic tools. Seems like a good haul; I will load up what I can carry in the cart and leave the heavier stuff for someone to pick up in the truck. Overall this block has been picked clean; well it's time to head back to base.

Our base of operation is the neighborhood closest to the community center. Along the way back to the base, I stumbled into a couple of zombies. Didn't take a few minutes to take care of them; "Take care of them today, less to worry tomorrow." I see my neighbors Mr. Greene, Ashly, Law, and Cornelia are out and about, as I enter the safe area.

(Mr. Greene) Good afternoon Michael. How much were you able to find today?

(Michael the Songbird) Good afternoon, Mr. Greene. Your vegetable garden looks wonderful today. I was pretty lucky to find a couple of abandoned house filled with supplies; I also found a bunch of glass jars for pickling and preserves.

   How is Martha doing today; I don't see her out that often anymore?

(Mr. Greene) Oh, Martha bursitis is acting up again; so she is lying down today... Thank you for founding some more Mason jars. With these we will have plenty of extra provisions during the winter.

(Michael the Songbird) I'm sorry to hear she still isn't well. You should ask Doctor Law to check up on her; maybe their is something he can do. I better drop off what I gathered up today and tell the others what I need picked up in the truck. See you later, Mr. Greene

(Mr. Greene) Take care, Michael.

Mr. Greene and Martha are an older couple from the county that moved here to spend more time with their family. However, their family had a horrible accident, and they were the only ones left. Death can be such a cruel thing.

   They were originally farmers in the country and, with their knowledge, we started small farms in fenced yards. They also know how to pickle and make preserves. It does  come in handy with our gardens produce. Martha hasn't been out and about for over two weeks, and people are suggesting.... Never mind, I better hurry up and drop off my haul for today; this cart is pretty heavy.

(Savannah) Back already, Michael? Did you find anything for the Day Care?

(Michael the Songbird) I hit the jackpot today! I found some cool toys, coloring books, puzzles, art supplies, and a couple of DVDs so you can take a break.

(Savannah) You are a lifesaver, can't wait to show the new stuff to the kids! Also thanks for the movies; this job can be quite exhausting at times. Especially since I can't get around well with this wrapping around my ankle. I can't wait to get back out there and  be useful to the community again.

(Michael the Songbird) Hey! Being in charge of the Day Care ,plus managing the group supplies are very important assignments. Besides its your own fault for twisting your ankle like you did. Doctor Law said you should fine by as early as next week, and someone needs to watch over the kids while we are out scavenging.

(Savannah) I know, I know. However, I have never been the type to sit on my hands and

 do nothing. Well judging from your filled cart you have; I'm going to be busy until suppertime.

(Michael the Songbird) Yeah, you might be. Oh, I have couple of things that I need to be picked up in the truck over on Maple drive. Would you be a lamb, and tell that racist prick to stop messing with his truck and do his job?

(Savannah) I see your relationship with him still hasn't changed.

(Michael the Songbird) First impressions are important, even more so during these time, and his first words to me were ' Who let the fairy join?' I can get along with everybody, but not with that man. Just seeing him makes my blood boil over. Even after all this time, he has never once said my name. It's ' fairy', 'no good', 'f*g', and 'that guy'.  I swear that man might go missing one day if he keeps his act up.

(Savannah) Alright, Alright! I get the picture; Here, sign here: what needs to be picked up, its location, and which room of the house it's in. Maybe one day, he will warm up to the idea of being a part of the team?

(Michael the Songbird) And maybe one day, it will rain pork chops like  it did in that movie. I'm going to wash up, and take a nap before supper and the meeting tonight. See you later, Savannah.

 

Author's Note

I hope people like my first mature like story, and I hope I gave enough warning about the possible language.

Reviews

[Shannon]

I thoroughly enjoyed this story. Songbird is an earnest, kind, hardworking, pleasant character. The world you have created is vibrant and full of interesting avenues to explore.. I hope you explore why the colony accepts the bigot's behaviour. The concept is a unique take on a zombie story.

The song is remarkable and a fun sort of read.

An excellent start! I can't wait to read more.

[Splatman73]

Maybe just me but I don't think "homophobic" is an accurate tag. Maybe "homophobic characters" as this indicates it's a character rather than the story itself that is homophobic.

The narration at the beginning works ok, but the transition to the action feels disorienting. Like one moment I'm looking over the (metaphorical) forest in a helicopter and the next I'm on the ground. You get what I'm saying?

So a struggle from my own writing that others hav been gracious enough to point out (hopefully you won't mind and occasion of the grass calling the leaf green): there is basically no description during dialogue sections. I am terrible at this when I'm writing dialogue so I get it. Definitely a problem for rewriting.

Lastly, I know that usually you're not supposed to make a big deal out of a character's sexuality but as one character's introduction is based on your POV being gay you may want to make it slightly more obvious. I don't know maybe I'm just blind but I probably wouldn't have known that Michael is gay if I hadn't had some background on the story before reading.

Just my thoughts, take them with enough salt for your French fries. Also send the wonderful S. Mi a thanks as she sent me your way. Good luck with the rest of this.