ozma914 | Entries tagged with the walking dead

You know what this year has been like? This year has been like The Walking Dead characters finally got used to zombies, only to find themselves attacked by dinosaurs.

Look out, Rick! Velociraptor!

I'm just sayin'

Tags:

So, I saw a familiar semi trailer on an episode of The Walking Dead last year:

Turns out it is the very same trailer that was part of Bandit's semi (although if you ask me, it should have been called Snowman's semi, since he drove it through most of the movie). Well, that got my creative juices flowing. How did that trailer end up on the side of the road, during the zombie apocalypse?

So I wrote the story, and you can find it on the newsletter:

https://mailchi.mp/2abeb8e942f2/what-do-the-walking-dead-and-smokey-and-the-bandit-have-in-common?

Which, for some reason, seemed to erase the comparison photo above after I sent it out. So people are saying, "What's that funny little icon, and what semi trailer are you talking about?" And I apparently can't edit my newsletter once it's sent, which kinda makes sense since it's been sent since (say that three times fast), so I'm posting it here, too.

One of the fun things about fanfiction is that you can merge two worlds that would otherwise never exist. My old fanfiction can be found under Ozma914 over at fanfiction.net, and includes such things as a meeting between Doctor Who and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

ONE LAST LONG HAUL

“Bandit, this is the Snowman. Looks like those deadheads got the highway backed up all the way up to the 360. C’mon back.”

Snowman released the mic before letting his frustration out with a series of curses. Not that anyone cared about cussing on the radio anymore, but old habits, and all. He braked the eighteen wheeler, looking for a way around the sea of walking dead that stretched across the two lane highway as far as the eye could see. Suggesting the herd stopped at the 360 mile marker was wishful thinking.

“Snowman, we’re working on it, son. But the interstate’s a no-go—full of parked cars to the Carolina state line. We gotta find a way through ‘em, even if you dent my rig.”

Well, then. Attracted by the truck’s rumbling diesel engine, the walkers had started moving his way. Snowman put the rig in reverse and started backing slowly, while considering his options. This was the part where he’d talk to Fred, if his poor old dog hadn’t passed away years ago.

Maybe it was for the best.

He was down to an eighth of a tank. The trailer, still decorated from the glory days with its bandit and stagecoach décor, was empty after a failed supply run to the south. He could always abandon it and try to hike around the herd, to get back to his friends and family.

It would take forever.

For a moment Snowman rubbed his three day stubble, then picked up the mic again. “Bandit … you find a place for the group?”

“I did, but we used up about all our gas getting there. Safe place, Snowman—I already dropped off your wife and kids, they’re fine. Guy in charge there’s got a tiger. A real tiger! You gotta see it. I picked up some more friends, too.”

Snowman chuckled, but he also understood Bandit’s underlying meaning. He had to see it. Had to get there, and with their fuel about out, that would be their last stop. No more long hauls across the countryside. Well, they were getting too old for that, anyway.

But first he had to get there.

“Now, son, don’t do anything stupid. We’re on our way.”

“Heh. Bandit, son, I think ‘stupid’ and ‘get through’ might be connected.” Snowman backed up more, being careful to stay between the lines. No tow trucks, not anymore. After some mental calculations, he backed up another hundred feet. It was all about force versus control.

There were thousands of them, shambling toward him. Thousands. And what if they someday turned north, and headed toward his family’s new sanctuary?

“Bandit, you make sure they get taken care of, y’hear?”

“Snowman, now, we’re almost there--!”

Almost there in what? That light little Trans Am? It wouldn’t make it past the first row. Snowman checked his safety belt, jammed the truck into gear, and hit the gas.

As he worked through the gears, the empty truck picked up speed quickly. He barely even felt the first impacts, as bodies flew right and left, but soon the rig began to shudder and lose momentum. The steering wheel jerked as bodies piled up beneath the semi. Snowman gripped it harder, his foot still hard on the accelerator.

There were so many dead. He got only a glimpse of one before it hit the corner of the cab—the guy was a giant, probably this biggest man in Virginia, or maybe the whole Southeast. At least, that was the instant impression Snowman got of him—six foot eight easy, closing in on 400 pounds. He must have been an easy target for the walkers, but he looked freshly dead … or as close to fresh as the dead got, these days.

The giant disappeared, and the big rig veered to the right.

The steering wheel spun out of Snowman’s hands. Without the seatbelt he’d have been thrown across the cab, as the semi launched itself across a ditch and into a field. Cursing, he hauled the wheel to the left and hung on as the truck jounced its way back toward the road, losing speed way too fast. Suddenly it surged forward—he’d lost the trailer in the grass behind him.

For a moment he thought he’d get control back, but now the engine began stuttering as he steered through a grassy area, looking for a good place to regain the pavement. When the front wheels hit the ditch again, they stayed there. Somehow he’d kept the truck upright, but as its engine went silent Snowman knew this was the end of the line.

He’d made it maybe three-quarters of the way through the herd. Now those that could still walk did, headed toward where they’d last seen noise and movement.

“Took a lot of 'em with us, though.” He had a knife, strapped to his belt. There was the metal bar by the door, the same one Bandit had used to check tire pressure since he hauled his first load, all those years ago. But when Snowman reached for it, it was gone, maybe bounced somewhere behind the seat.

“Well, now.” Snowman scooped up the mic. “Bandit, this is the Snowman, you got your ears on?”

“Snowman, you keepin’ the sunny side up and the bloody side down?”

Snowman gave a short laugh. “Son, I’m still up, but the rig’s down for the count. Didn’t quite make it through that crowd of deadheads, they’re worse than hittin’ Atlanta at rush hour. Don’t think I’m gonna make our rendezvous.” So close. His hand closed over the knife hilt, but already the dead were approaching the cab door, clustering up by the dozens. At least Bandit and Frog would take care of his family.

Then he heard a sound he’d never imagined hearing again. A sound he used to hate.

A siren.

“What?” Far ahead, through spatters and streaks of blood on the truck windshield, red lights flashed. A truck engine roared as it plowed into the herd. It moved forward relentlessly, the gore collecting on it blending with its red paint job.

A fire truck.

“Okay, Snowman, if you can’t make the rendezvous, we’ll just have to bring the rendezvous to you. Ten-four?”

As the truck got closer Bandit’s grinning face—how did he keep that handsome mustache in this mess?—appeared behind the wheel. He had two passengers, a small female in the front and someone he couldn’t make out in the back. The truck knocked down the closest walkers, then stopped in line with the semi cab. Bandit had to keep a little distance to allow for door clearance, and a few walkers stumbled forward until the figure in the back opened his door and drew a revolver.

Holy crap. It can’t be.

“What are you waitin’ for, you sumbitch? Get your ass in the truck!” Hanging from the cab, Sheriff
Buford T. Justice took one-handed aim and blew a hole in the nearest walker’s head. Three more shots, three more dead-on hits. Then he scooted across the back seat—pretty quickly, for someone his size—to give Snowman room.

It was an easy jump from semi to fire truck. Well, easy when you didn’t want to touch what was jumbled across the pavement between them.

As soon as the door closed, Bandit put the truck into reverse. His legendary driving ability served him well as he backed up in the same path he’d entered, using only the side mirrors to navigate. A few more walkers had stumbled into that route, but proved no problem for the fire engine’s powerful motor. Through it all, Bandit still had time to flash his friend a grin. “You all owe me for that truck!”

“But how--?” Snowman flailed his arm toward the uniformed man beside him, who he now
realized had lost a lot of weight. “How--?”

Justice made a dismissive wave, then realized he still held the gun and holstered it. “You think the gol-durn apocalypse is gonna keep me from tracking you and the Bandit down?”

Snowman glanced at Frog--no, Carrie, since CB handles hadn't mattered for a long time. She'd turned to kneel on her seat so she could see them. He saw the sympathy in her eyes, which made him look at Justice more closely and see the hangdog look, the dark bags under his eyes. His hat was gone, his hair pure white. “Sheriff … um, where’s Junior?”

Justice made a scoffing noise. “After my wife passed on, Junior wasn’t worth a bag of hair.” He squared his shoulders. “He went down fightin’ though, I’ll give him that.”

“I’m sorry, Sheriff,” Carrie said. “He was a good boy.”

“Yeah, well. After that, seemed like there wasn’t anything left but pursuin’ you all. So that’s what I did.”

“You caught us, sure enough.” Having made it through the horde, Bandit turned the truck around and accelerated away. “We’ll be out of gas by the time we get back to that crazy king and his tiger, so looks like our chasing days are over.”

They were all silent for a moment, as the truck roared down the road. “Guess my wife will be glad about that,” Snowman finally said. “So, how did you find that place, anyway?”

Bandit laughed. “Got waved down by a guy who looks exactly like Jesus, he pointed us that way. Said we’d fit right in.”

“So—you let Jesus take the wheel?" Snowman couldn’t help laughing. "Ten-four."

"I'm not going down there. I hear zombies down there."

Tags:

I have a really stressful full time job, but it’s the TV show The Walking Dead that’s going to send me into therapy.

Usually I choose escapism and/or humor for my entertainment, but every now and then something really dark captures my interest (coughFargocough). Humor happens on The Walking Dead, but as with anything else on that show it’s usually a shock.

I don’t like getting invested in a character, knowing he/she has a better than even chance of not making it through the current season. I don’t like extreme gore. Heck, I’m not even a zombie fan. Yet there I am, week after week, cringing and yelling at the TV and unable to look away.

They really did me in last episode. (I predict he/she’s gone. Face the bitter truth, DeadFans, we lost another favorite.)

It’s all about character. As a writer I love creating new characters, and as a fan I love good writing and great characters. (Much as I love Daryl and Michonne, Glenn’s my favorite.) So I keep watching, and I keep screaming “Why? Why?!”, and next week I’ll come right back for more.

As with any addiction, the stress is taking years off my life.

Tags:

Rick and Daryl have a velociraptor. Your argument is invalid.

Tags:

Well, I did say I’d post fanfiction to celebrate new writing milestones (and for fun!). So for the release of Slightly Off the Mark here’s an unusual crossover for you; I almost titled it “The Two Ricks”. One universe, as you’ll see, is in prequel territory.

Title: Speed Trap
Author: ozma914
Summary: Castle's road trip from Atlanta to New York gets sidetracked when Deputy Rick Grimes takes a bite out of crime. Luckily, Castle has an unlikely fan.

Rating: PG
Length: 1,075 words

SPEED TRAP

( Richard Castle was not unfamiliar with the sight of flashing red and blue lights in his rear view mirror. However, having it happen in rural Georgia gave him pause. )

Tags:

Am I so much of a geek that I care when actors from some of my favorite shows come together in one movie?

Yes. Still, this movie doesn’t need the help.

The consensus was that Guardians of the Galaxy, based on a comic book that most people who don’t read comics have never heard of, would be blockbuster or complete bust. Chris Pratt, the guy from “Parks and Recreation”, as a leading man action hero? Marvel going into space? A raccoon with a gun? Disaster looms.

But this is Marvel. And yes, Marvel is bound to have another huge dud sooner or later … but not this time.

Despite being known for its humor, the movie actually starts out with a tear jerking scene in which a little boy named Peter Quill sees his mother die of cancer—then, immediately after, he’s abducted by a UFO. Fast forward 26 years, and we find the adult Quill dancing—literally—into what looks like an Indiana Jones set on an alien planet.

There Quill finds a strange orb that you just know everybody’s going to want. He’s ambushed by a bad guy who also wants the orb, and from then on it’s a slam-bang series of fights and flights as just about everyone in the galaxy battles for the power that resides inside the artifact.

One of the most fun fights is also where most of the fellow guardians gather for the first time, all intent on taking the orb. Zoe Saldana’s performance as Gamora is killer—literally. But even she loses the screen when Rocket and Groot—an engineered Raccoon and a walking, talking (a little) tree—show up.

Rocket Raccoon should have been ridiculous. Instead, the sarcastic rodent, voiced by Bradley Cooper, makes everyone else step up their game just to keep up. Later we meet the last member, Drax, played by a pro wrestler—apparently wrestling really is fake, ‘cause the guy can act.

All the GotG members are damaged anti-heroes, who reluctantly decide to protect the orb from various bad guys. (Their motivation? For one thing, they do live in the galaxy, after all.) You have to pay attention as characters come and go, motivations are revealed, and wises are cracked. Luckily, paying attention is fun.

Guardians is certainly the best I’ve seen this year, and I’ve seen some pretty darned good movies. Why? It’s a good story, and funny, and naturally the special effects are amazing. I’m fairly convinced at this point that they really did find an intelligent, if mean, raccoon and a slightly less intelligent moving tree to play Rocket and Groot.

But in the end it’s the cast that makes the movie. Chris Pratt is a revelation as Quill, fighting and cracking wise with equal skill. Saldana is amazing, and we get great performances from actors such as John C. Riley and Glenn Close, among others. I take it Close thought she was slumming for this roll, but she gives it her skill and it shows.

On a note relating to my earlier comments, it was great fun seeing Michael Rooker, playing an intergalactic version of his redneck bad boy character from “The Walking Dead”, and Karen Gillan, playing someone just as tough but way more evil than her “Doctor Who” role.

Oh, two more things: First, Peter Quill’s oddly timed abduction as a child does make sense. Second, there is indeed an extra scene at the end of the credits, which I suspect will leave many younger movie goers scratching their heads.

Entertainment Value: 5 out of 4 M&M’s. My review, my rules.

Oscar Potential: 3 out of 4 M&M’s. Hollywood muckity-mucks hate SF, especially funny SF, although they don’t hesitate to take the money. Just the same, it would be a shame if Guardians of the Galaxy doesn’t get nominated for something, even if it’s a technical Oscar.

Side Note: If Guardians is sold out, check out Lucy or Planes: Fire and Rescue. One is thrilling and mind blowing, the other truly fun family fare. On a personal note, whoever scripted the Planes movie took the time to research firefighting, which I appreciate.

They look a little different in the movie ...

Tags:

I’ve missed writing fanfiction, which has the fun of writing without the stress of selling and promoting. So I came up with an idea: To write a new fanfic whenever I reach a major milestone in my writing career, such as selling or publishing a new work. What do you think? A good idea for relaxing a bit?

This one’s to celebrate the contract with Whiskey Creek Press to publish my Storm Chaser sequel, The Notorious Ian Grant. And, while we’re at it, why not celebrate finally getting another season of The Walking Dead?

Title: Things Go Better
Author: ozma914
Summary: A new weapon is found in the battle against zombies. A very strange weapon.
Rating: PG
Length: 500 words

THINGS GO BETTER

Daryl Dixon stared down at the bubbling brown lumps on the concrete floor before him. “What the hell was that?”

He slowly lowered his crossbow, still unsure of what he’d just seen. A moment before, they’d faced a horde of walkers … how many walkers in a horde? At least three dozen, far too many for the four of them to have handled. And almost all, curiously, dressed the same.

“I don’t know …” Rick holstered his pistol and slowly approached the pool of brown liquid, which spread slowly as molasses. It smelled sweet and acidic, with only an underlay of rotting undead. “Guess I never thought about what hazardous materials might have been left behind.”

“This ain’t supposed to be hazardous materials.” Daryl looked up at the huge silver tanks, one of them now split open. “Rick, that .44 packs quite a punch.”

Rick, supposedly one of the best trained of their group when it comes to weapons, looked away. “Yeah, well … I got startled.”

They turned at a noise behind them, but it was Michonne and Herschel, returning from the water spigot the old man had found still working near one end of the factory floor. Michonne kept staring at her sword, specifically at the brownish stain that hadn’t rinsed off and the almost invisible pitting near the tip. She looked close to tears.

“Maybe you can get another one,” Daryl suggested. He took a step back at the glare she sent in return.

The liquid mass began to thin out, leaving the concrete scoured and a little pockmarked.

“I don’t get it.” Shaking his head, Rick skirted the edge of the spill and examined the closest tank. “Well, maybe over time it … changed. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky.”

“Yeah.” Daryl grinned. It felt strange. “We should just have … a smile.” Those poor souls must have been trapped all along. Then his friends entered, the tank split from an accidental shot, and the starved walkers just kept walking right into the spray. Weird.

“We were fortunate,” Herschel agreed. “Imagine what that stuff does to your stomach.”

They turned to look through the big windows along one wall, at the red and white logo outside. Daryl had actually been hoping for a little refreshment during their supply run to Atlanta, but now that didn’t seem like such a good idea. Still, they’d found a new weapon, which he was already thinking of as The Real Thing.

They looked at each other. Then they smiled, all of them, even Michonne. “Guess we’ve got some trench digging to do,” she said. “This could be a safe place, for awhile.”

“Well, not right by the tanks,” Daryl told her. Then he grinned again. “I’m thirsty. Think they got any Pepsi here?”

Tags:

Midwesterners have a way of just dealing with it when disaster strikes. Even in a zombie apocalypse:

http://strangexgirl.livejournal.com/134129.html

I’ve mentioned that I wanted to do some crossover fanfiction involving the Storm Chaser universe, to mark the release of my short story collection. Although I do have a rough draft of a Buffy the Vampire Slayer story done, my wife Emily beat me to the punch with an alternate universe story crossing some characters from Storm Chaser Shorts with The Walking Dead universe. At least, I hope it’s AU! No spoilers.

Here’s the link on my website:

http://www.markrhunter.com/2012/06/27/crossover-fanfiction-storm-chaser-and-the-walking-dead/

Tags:

Slightly Off the Mark

Walking Dead With Dinosaurs

Walking Dead/Smoky and The Bandit crossover fanfiction. No, really.

The Walking Dead are killing me

Why I no longer fear the Walking Dead

"Speed Trap", a Castle/Walking Dead fanfiction crossover. Seriously.

Review: Guardians Of The Galaxy

Walking Dead fanfiction: Things Go Better

crossover fanfiction: Storm Chaser and The Walking Dead!

Profile

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags