My Big Fat Toga Party

It started with a knock.

Kevin heard three raps on the door of the frat house and opened it. A corpse stood there waiting for him. Before he could respond, the corpse’s hand reached out for him. Tissue died where the hand touched Kevin, and the corruption spread quickly. In heartbeats, Kevin had lost his, replaced by cold, unfeeling flesh. He turned around and sought out doors within the house. The other corpse joined him. Within minutes the number of zombies had increased; as his frat brothers answered their doors, they were likewise taken and turned.

Fraternity brothers in the common areas and kitchen were slain without mercy, their surprise at the zombies’ appearance giving the zombies the needed moment to tear at the brothers’ necks, opening up the carotid arteries. In moments, their life had drained and the zombies stabbed into their abdomens and extracted their livers, which were promptly, if messily, eaten. The zombies that ate were sated and stopped moving.

Not all of the fraternity in their rooms were turned. Some were sleeping or had their headphones on and so missed the first knock on their doors. Those who heard the second knock on their doors opened their doors to nothing and closed them. This was a mistake as it allowed the zombies another chance to convert them; the zombies simply kept knocking at doors, growing in numbers, until there was no response.

Then the zombies began their second phase. They began opening the doors that hid life behind them. The remaining brothers were killed, their necks ripped open. Then their livers were extracted and eaten, resulting in more unmoving zombies. Within fifteen minutes, there were no living brothers remaining in the house. Not sensing life, the zombies soon stopped milling about and virtually froze in place.

Kevin should have waited until the second knock.

* * * * *

Charlie punched Boyd in the shoulder. The blond young man smiled at him. “Tonight’s your night!”

The redhead smirked. “About time.” He sighed and patted his violin. “Are you sure bringing this will help?”

Charlie smiled. “It’s the whole ‘Nero’ thing. Girls love the alpha dog, and Nero was definitely an alpha.”

Boyd’s eyes rolled. “Okay.” He breathed in. “So, let’s do this.”

The two guys unbuckled and got out of the Toyota. Charlie motioned for Boyd to hold up, grabbed something from the car, and tossed that something at Boyd. Boyd caught it, “That’s part of the vibe.”

Boyd put it on. “This is going to get weird.”

They walked to the frat house, which was surrounded by a large group of people all dressed in togas, from tied bed sheets to re-enactment replicas. They were milling about; every so often, someone would try the main door, but it remained locked. There were no lights from within, and the running debate in the crowd was whether to leave or charge the door. Charlie and Boyd saw a young Japanese man leaning on a van marked “DJ Akira” with a caricature of the Akira slide on it. Charlie motioned at the young man, Boyd nodded, and the two walked over to him.

Charlie put out his hand; the young man shook it. “I’m Charlie, this is Boyd.”

The young man nodded. “I’m DJ Akira.” He let go of the proffered hand. “A few minutes later and we wouldn’t be doing this.”

Boyd looked at the house then back to DJ Akira. “Total radio silence, then?” The DJ nodded. Boyd looked at Charlie. “Looks like we’re on the clock, then.”

Charlie nodded at Boyd. “Wonderful way to spend a Saturday night.” He looked back at DJ Akira. “Thanks. Too bad it looks like tonight is a bust for you.”

The DJ sighed. “Yeah, feels that way.” He pushed off the van and started heading to the driver’s side. “Hope your night goes better, gents.”

Charlie sighed. “Same here.”

* * * * *

After a trip to the car so that Charlie could grab his pistols and hide them underneath his toga, the two had walked to the rear of the house. Surprisingly, no one was there. The two were able to slip inside. Inside, they found a number of bodies on the floor with blood covering their mid-abdomen. Surrounding them were frat brothers just standing. Charlie looked at Boyd; Boyd just raised his eyebrows. He then looked at the bodies. He poked at one or two. He gulped.

“We need to get out of here. Now.”

“That good, huh?”

The standing bodies began to twitch. Boyd sighed. “Change of plans. Zombie protocols.”

Charlie nodded and grabbed his pistols. He took them off safeties and began firing at the ones around him. “Anything of note?”

Boyd put his fiddle up to his chin. “Today is Saturday, right?”

Charlie put two more down. “Yep.”

Body brought his bow to bear. “Then we have one thing in our favor.” Boyd plucked a string; he smiled at the single note. “These things can be killed, but today only.”

More bodies were coming alive. Charlie’s pistols started clicking. “Interesting sort of sale.” He looked at his pistols. “Out of ammo."

“Okay, we need to get to a better area.” Charlie gave a curt nod. “I need a few minutes to get warmed up.” Boyd started playing his violin. Charlie motioned for Boyd to follow him. He began looking for an easily defended spot while Boyd followed him. As they passed the standing bodies, they started to come to life. Soon, even those ahead of them showed signs of life. They found a room and locked themselves in.

Charlie smiled as he saw a baseball bat. “So, what are we up against?” He grabbed the bat.

Boyd’s eyes rolled. He whispered, “Vrykolakas. Greek zombies.” Charlie tilted his head in incredulity. Boyd sighed. “They eat livers instead of brains and are killed only a Saturday night.”

Charlie glared. “You’re just making this up, aren’t you?” Bod smiled as he continued playing.

They heard a knock on the door. They looked at one another. Boyd whispered, “Answer the next one.”

There was a second knock. Charlie opened it, and there was nothing there. “Okay.”

Boyd looked at him. “Now watch this.” A faint blue glow started emanating from the violin. Boyd stepped through the door, and the zombies started walking towards him. He looked up, and a blue power arced from the violin. As it passed through the zombies, they fell backward. Boyd motioned for Charlie to follow. “And, we’re running!”

They were soon outside the house with sirens coming toward them. Charlie looked at Boyd. “Someone must have heard my pistol shot and called the police.” He pulled out his own smartphone. “Neat trick with the violin, by the way.”

He put the violin down. “It’s what I’ve been doing on Thursday nights: Learning a little magic. That was my fifth song, one that puts others to sleep.”

“Interesting.” Charlie sighed. “Too bad we didn’t get you laid.”

Boyd smirked. “But I did get screwed.”

Charlie smiled and then talked to the police about their new problem.