If I had known the eggs would hatch into flesh-eating zombie chickens, I never would have brought them to school.

The experiment started like always; twelve chicken eggs kept warm in a school incubator. We rotated the eggs daily, checking the temperature every hour to make sure it remained constant. The kids, eager to watch the chicks hatch, checked on the eggs every morning. So it was that today, right after the Pledge of Allegiance, we excitedly watched the first egg crack.

Normally, the first sign of a crack heralds several hours of tense waiting while the tiny chick struggles to break free of its shelled prison. But not this little fella. It took him less than fifteen minutes from the time the first crack appeared until he was completely free of the egg. A record hatching, and it should have set off alarm bells, but it was a Monday. What can I say? The hangover hadn’t quite worn off.

Anyway, Destiny first noticed the cracked egg right after the morning bell rang. Although I cautioned the students that it normally takes hours for a chick to hatch, we all gathered around to watch. And so it was that we all saw what emerged from the shell….and it was no fluffy ball of yellow down.

One kid screamed. I don’t blame him, even though he screams over everything. The chick….there was something wrong with it. It wasn’t just the black down that clung wetly to its skin, or the extra long talons on its perfectly balanced feet. Nor was it the toothed beak (toothed! That should have been a clue) that opened and closed like a fish gasping for air. No, what bothered me the most was its eyes.

They were red. Dark red.

Like blood.

“What’s wrong with it?” Miguel asked nervously, tugging on my skirt. But I didn’t answer. I couldn’t. I simply could not tear my gaze away from those deep red eyes.

The thing cocked its head to the side, raised its wing buds, and coughed. That’s the only way to describe it. It certainly wasn’t the sweet peeping sound the normal chicks make, but a deep, gravely rumble. I felt the hairs on my arms raise up.

“I’m not sure, Miguel,” I heard myself say. My voice sounded miles away. “Maybe we can go online and…”

“There’s another one cracking!” someone shouted. I’m pretty sure it was Destiny, which is ironic, considering what happened next.

The thing coughed again, and suddenly every egg began to hatch. It was almost like a timer going off; first the cracks appeared, then the egg rocked back and forth as its inhabitant tore at the shell. The entire time, the kids were exclaiming with excitement, placing bets on which chick would emerge next.

I said nothing. My gaze was firmly locked with the black chick’s red stare; the sounds around me seemed so unimportant. Were the other chicks the same? Were they, too, like this deformed….monstrosity? What did it matter? All that I needed to do was look into its eyes, those deep red eyes, like pools of blood….

The first scream broke the paralysis. I blinked, and focused on the scene in front of me with horror.

Destiny, ever impetuous, had removed the incubator’s lid. Normally this wouldn’t matter, as the chicks were exhausted from the ordeal of hatching. But not this batch. One of the chicks, its feathers a mottled brown and gray, leaped onto the edge of the incubator. From there, it was a short hop onto Destiny’s face.

It ate her nose first. For a second I couldn't believe what was happening, and the panicked screams seemed like the last vestiges of a nightmare. Then Destiny reeled backwards, her hands swatting at her face and blood pouring through her fingers. The chick had tumbled to the floor, where it threw back its head and tried to swallow the nose in its beak. The nose was simply too big, and I watched in detached horror as another chick, this one a sickly white color, made a grab for part of it. The tug-of-war was furious and one sided; the brown chick won.

Then the classroom erupted into chaos, with kids running in terror away from the incubator. I fought the numb surrealness that threatened to take over, and glanced at my students.

Even as I watched, Destiny fell to the floor. Two more students tripped in the pool of blood and went down. Almost immediately, black and gray chicks swarmed over the children. The sound of flesh ripping was loud, even with the screaming.

Miguel screamed my name as the white chick tore at his face. That scream broke my paralysis, and I ran to the door. My instinct was to get the kids out of the room, but those….things….they moved so fast! In the room they were contained, but if I set them loose in the school….

I grabbed a broom and called to my students. As they ran to me, screaming in pain and panick, I swatted at the chicks that clung to their clothing and ripped at their flesh. The chicks tumbled to the floor, apparently unfazed, and leaped towards other students.

“Get out!” I cried, pushing chick-free students out the door. “Go to the office and get help! Run!”

As the last mobile student stumbled out the door, I swept it closed behind me and turned to face the carnage.

Seven students lay immobile in growing pools of blood, chicks perched on their bodies, happily eating. Two more students were trying to crawl away, chicks tearing at their scalps and the backs of their hands. With a cry of revulsion, I advanced on the monstrosities, my broom raised to deliver a crushing death blow.

Then came that coughing sound again, and every one of those mutant zombie chicks froze. I froze, too, my gaze roaming the room until I saw the first black chick.

Horror streaked through me as I noticed the open window behind it. The chick coughed again, and suddenly the bloody floor was swarming with mutant chicks as they flocked towards the open window and the promise of freedom behind it.

I tried to shut it, I really did. But I slipped in the pool of blood and could only watch as, one by one, the chicks hopped onto the window sill and out the window.
The last one to leave, of course, was the black chick. I swear, the bastard winked at me.

Then it, too, was gone, and I began to crawl towards the door even as I heard the school alarm began to sound.

Now THAT'S a horror story!

Well done! S&F

I'm with Beezzer on this one: Now THAT's a horror story! (with extra cheese)

Any story about mutant zombie baby chickens gets a huge from me...
...plus a S&F (of course)...

(and a humble request for a part II...I may not sleep until I know where those dang chicks
have run off to...)

Thanks, guys. I was afraid it might be a little too....much.

Originally posted by smyleegrl
Thanks, guys. I was afraid it might be a little too....much.

Are you kidding me? You've see my writing.

I START at "over the top" and go on from there!

You go girl!

Great story, SmyleeGrl.

Where do you come up with this stuff? You must come from a weird family!

S&F

Ahem. Aren't you a teacher? I KNEW you guys wrote horror stories about kids being devoured in your spare time.

That was a great read, thanks for sharing it!

Originally posted by Domo1
Ahem. Aren't you a teacher? I KNEW you guys wrote horror stories about kids being devoured in your spare time.

That was a great read, thanks for sharing it!

All I will say is, writing can be therapeutic....

Yes, that was a perfect example of a B-Horror movie! Totally amazing, you nailed the genre.

However, I thought the story would be about flesh eating cheerleaders, like turned zombie and eat the town. Like, Chicks=adolescent teens. Fooled me there. SnF.

I'll agree with the others, like the "gremlin" franchise, you should pursue this. That dang red eyed chick has SOMETHING up it's sleeve, uhm, wing? Awesome indeed.

Want. More. Please!

and that's the whole reason why us purple-ninja-chitenz exist... to fight off the zombies!!!

S&F!! Great job!

My kids are teens and young adults, can I choose which ones the chicken zombies attack?

Aha, all I could imagine through the story was Purplechitens little purple chich goin on a killer rampage! LOL.

SnF

S&F from where i'm Trambling....

Originally posted by Sinny
Aha, all I could imagine through the story was Purplechitens little purple chich goin on a killer rampage! LOL.

SnF

That's what happens when you expose me to water and feed me after midnight!!