“Saw who? The bodies?” The sergeant asked. Chris shook his head.
“They were the villagers but they weren’t… they were pale and their eyes were black. They we slow, then they were fast. They ate them! All of them!” Chris screamed and wailed.
The sergeant looked at him in surprise. This was not what he was expecting and he wasn’t sure if he should believe Chris or if Chris had some sort of mental break. The sergeant watch Chris as he brought his hands up to his head and tried to shake the horrors out. That’s when he noticed something that convinced him. Chris’ hand, the one attached to the bandaged forearm, was completely white. He backed away and Chris looked up at him as he moved. His eyes, the irises, were black and the whites of his eyes were yellow.
“Chris… how are you feeling?” The sergeant asked slowly. Chris looked down at his hand to see its paleness.
“No. no. no. no!” He screamed. Chris clawed at his hand and realized he had no sensation in it though he had complete control over its movements. “Cut it off!” He screamed and thrashed around on his bed. The sergeant ran out of the room and locked the door. He walked into the room to look at Chris through the two way mirror. Chris flailed around and thrashed on his bed screaming for ten minutes. Finally, the Sergeant ordered for a medic to give him another sedative. Four medics went in to hold him down and one gave him another shot. As his body relaxed they left him and relocked the door.
“Shut off the lights, let him sleep. Let’s see if the CDC has any idea what this could be. We will keep him sedated until we have a cure.” The sergeant said.
“Yes sir.” One of the soldiers in the room replied as he turned off the lights. Another soldier called the CDC to start the process of air mailing a vaccination and the Sergeant began making calls to the Vietnamese military to explain the real effects of the chemical weapon. He instructed them to evacuate the nearby villages immediately but they were giving him a lot of excuses.
“I understand that…” The sergeant said into the phone. “But they are in real danger and this could turn into an epidemic…. I know that it costs money to relocate people but if you leave them there you are basically sentencing them to death… I don’t know if there is a cure… I see. Fine.” He hung up. He picked up the phone to call Washington DC.
“Yes we have a potential hazard in Vietnam. My boys went out to check this morning. Only one came back… President Quan is unresponsive to my suggestions… Yes sir… we have the boy in the infirmary now. In a locked room…. We are working with the CDC… Yes sir.” And he hung up. The sergeant leaned over to check something on the monitor in front of him. Then a noise came from the dark room in front of them. The sergeant stood up from his chair and walked to the mirror. He couldn’t see much because the room was so dark. But then they heard another noise. The other soldiers stood and walked over to the mirrored window too.
“Turn on the lights Ed.” He said.
“Yes sir.” Said the soldier closest to the switch. He flipped it and the soldiers jumped back in horror. There standing directly in front of the sergeant, staring through the two way mirror, was Chris. A very pale, black eyed, drooling version of Chris. His IV had been ripped out and his bed was upside down and shoved against one of the walls. He was so close to the glass that the sergeant could see his hot rotting breath fog the glass.
“Dear God.” The sergeant exclaimed quietly as he stared back at the undead soldier. He wanted to know if Chris could see through the mirror. He waved his hand close to the glass and Chris’ black eyes shifted to the movement. The sergeant stopped and turned pale in fear.
“We need to shoot him!” One of the soldiers yelled, but the sergeant was frozen. Just then, in one swift motion, the undead soldier drew back his fist and landed it on the glass, shattering it as if it was a thin vase.
“Shoot him! Shoot him! Shoot him!”
Those were the last words the Sergeant heard before he died.
THE SOUND OF ZOMBIES by George De La Torre
The radio static faded in and out mixing with the sounds of the stations as Todd turned the dial to the right frequency. Sue Ann listened intently, trying to hear the familiar voice who broadcast the afternoon news. Finally Todd stopped moving the dial and the group of friends pulled up their lawn chairs close enough to listen to the half hour broadcast. Bobby had just walked up with five glasses of his moonshine when the program began.
“Hello listeners, welcome to today’s program. I am Monica Robbins, the host of ‘Today, Right Now’. For those of you who are new to the program, we want to welcome you to a broadcast that is devoted to keeping you informed on the news from our fallen country and from the rest of the world. Now we bring you ‘Today, Right Now’. September 15th, 2058. With the help of the Mexican government at our southern border, the Infected Human problem has been completely wiped out of the Western half of the country. In a new treaty with Mexico, we have given back land from Texas to California that will drastically change the landscape of this country. More British and French forces have arrived in New York and Florida to help stabilize the regions before moving further into the Midwest. They have brought supplies and machinery to help rebuilt the Unites States’ factories and farms. The drought in California has yet to see relief and our nation’s current state is not equip to assist the Californian farms. The president released news today of a task force made up of the remaining CIA and FBI agents who will begin checking state by state for any Infected Human populations. The task force did a test run of their mission and cleared Massachusetts of any Infected Human Corpses. The task force then set up a new police team and trained them to continue to search. Their goal is to have New England cleared within three weeks. Residents seem hopeful and most haven’t had contact with an Infected Human corpse in months. The last sighting nationwide is believed to be in Northern Kentucky. In other news, China has invaded the Eastern province of Russia and seem to have very little opposition. The Russian Govern…”
Todd flicked off the radio and leaned back against his chair. Mary Beth shot up from her chair, “Hey! I wanted to hear that Todd.” She whined.
“Why do you care about Russia? It ain’t got nothing to do with us. Besides didn’t you hear what she said? The last Zombie sighting was here in Kentucky. Don’t cha think maybe we ought to figure out what to do about it? It might be the last one. If we kill it, then we can start rebuildin’ our lives.” He said in an annoyed voice. Mary Beth slumped back in her chair and pouted.
“So what should we do?” Sue Ann asked. Bobby smiled and leaned toward her.
“We gotta hunt it down an’ kill it.” He said with a laugh. Sue Ann rolled her eyes.
“Yea? And how we gonna do that when we don’t know where in Kentucky it is or if it’s even still here?” She asked poking him in the ribs.
“They said Northern Kentucky. We know that the Zombies tend to stay in the forests until they are hungry enough to hunt.” Todd said.
“Oh. Why didn’t you say so? And since there is only one forest in Northern Kentucky we can find him no problem.” Sue Ann said sarcastically. Todd glared at her but knew that she was right.
“Why don’t we set it a trap?” Joe said quietly. The other four looked at him in surprise. Joe didn’t talk much. He had seen too many horrible things since the outbreak and silence was his way of dealing with it. The others had changed too. Each had their own way of making sense of it. Bobby made it into a hunting game. Todd had out bursts of rage mixed with general unpleasantness, Sue Ann had long since blocked off any emotions and Mary Beth pretended that her world hadn’t changed. The five of them never talked about the past. They avoided discussing any dead relatives or friends and they never talked about the future. For so long it had been too uncertain. Now there was hope. Though each of his friends were acting like everything was going to be normal, he could see desperation on their faces.
“What kind of trap?” Bobby said with a coy smile.
“Well, it will come out when it’s hungry and will attack
the first human it sees. We can track it enough by looking for its left over meals and then trick it by parading a buffet of human flesh in front of it.” Joe explained. Bobby smiled.
“Why do we have to kill it? Why don’t we just let someone else do it? It’s too risky.” Said Mary Beth. She was scared and had the right to be. She had watched her little sister get eaten in front of her by the zombies. She wanted to stay as far away from them as she could.
Bobby turned to her. “Are you kidding? And let someone else be the hero who rid the world of Zombies for good? I don’t think so. I want to kill the last one myself.”
Joe nodded. “I agree with Bobby. I want to know that it’s over first hand. The sooner we kill it, the sooner this is all a distant memory.”
Todd slammed his glass down on the arm of his chair. His friends were so used to it that they didn’t even flinch. “Let’s get the son of a bitch.” Then they all looked at Sue Ann. Sue Ann looked at Mary Beth and saw the fear in her eyes. But she had lost her ability to empathize. She knew that Mary Beth had a point. If it wasn’t them, it would be someone else. It was only a matter of time. But really what was there to be afraid of. Their lives had been over for years. Sue Ann wasn’t suicidal but she also looked at her life objectively. There was no pleasure left in it. There was nothing real to hold on to. She shrugged.
“Whatever.” She said plainly. The three boys cheered and Mary Beth hung her head in her hands. The guys planned the trap and discussed the supplies they would need and how to get them. Mary Beth let tears roll down her cheek for a moment then turned the radio pack on to catch the rest of the program. Sue Ann just looked out over the rolling hills of long green grass. They had been living out of an abandoned farm house out in the countryside. She remembered the first day they got there. She was shaking but felt nothing. Todd and Bobby had helped her into what was now her bedroom and kept asking the same thing. “Are you ok?”
She heard them ask her at least ten times but their voices had been fuzzy. What did Ok mean? Did she know what it meant that morning? Before it happened. She and her boyfriend, Rick, were getting supplies from a looted store when the attack happened. Out of nowhere four Zombies were walking towards them. Sue Ann’s boyfriend fought them off while she escaped and ran for the car. Rick jumped in the driver’s seat and slammed the door, not moments after Sue Ann had buckled her seatbelt. He sped off down the road and lost the zombies easily. Though they could run surprisingly fast, they weren’t as fast as a car.
But that’s when it started. He coughed a few times. Then he threw up blood on the steering wheel. Sue Ann knew in that moment what was happening. She saw a small bite on his arm. He pulled over and looked at her with terror and fear in his eyes. Through the blood oozing from his mouth he managed to say, “Shoot me in the head.” She hesitated and he slammed his hand on the dash. “Do it!” He choked. She pulled out the gun and ammo that they had just stolen from the store and put it on her lap. She didn’t know if she could make herself shoot him. The gun was loaded and heavy in her hands. She looked him in the eyes and remembered all the good times they had had together and how much she loved him. She started to put the gun away when Rick let out an unearthly growl and gnashed his teeth at her. Without thinking, she raised the gun and shot him squarely in the forehead. Survival mode had kicked in. She opened his door and pushed his limp body out onto the road and took his place in the driver’s seat. She managed to drive to the meet up place before going into shock. She recovered her faculties but remained numb to any feelings.
Sue Ann looked out across the farm land and wondered what would happen to her once they killed the last Zombie. Would she feel again or would she be like this forever? The sunset and Bobby grilled up some deer meat from his last hunting excursion. One thing he appreciated about the zombie epidemic was that hunting laws were null and void. That night, each of the five friends laid awake wondering what this hunt would mean and what they would do when this was over. It was the first time since the beginning of the epidemic that they had even considered life after this.
The next morning, they loaded up the Ford truck with supplies and headed out. Joe drove and the girls sat in the cab with him. Bobby and Todd sat in the bed of the truck and watched for large animals they could shoot. They had decided to start in the part of the forest that was closest to a small town. The reported sighting had come from one of the locals and the friends figured that the zombie wouldn’t stray too far from the easy hunting ground. When they arrived in the small town they stopped at the store. Many small stores had reopened selling what it could manage to get. Every single store they went to, Todd would check for potato chips.
“Finally! See this trip is a great idea already.” Todd sang as he ripped open his chips. Sue Ann and Mary Beth both rolled their eyes but little smiles spread across their face. They knew that Todd was much easier to be around when he was in a good mood. They didn’t care if it was chips or shooting at trees. They indulged him when they could. “Alright, let’s do this!” He yelled and Joe took the dirt road to the entrance to the state park and forest. They pulled in and immediately saw rows of abandoned cars. Most of the cars had plants growing around them and looked like they had been there for a while.
Some of the car doors were open and picnic baskets were haphazardly strewn on the ground. It looked like a time capsule. From the way the cars were parked and which doors were open, it looked like there was a massive attack and the zombies killed all of the park goers at once. But there were no bodies. Somehow, Mary Beth felt like it was much creepier without bodies. They all walked slowly through the parking lot. They checked each car to make sure nothing was hiding. Wind blew through the trees above making the branches dance a melancholy dance over the car graveyard. Slam! The car door from the chevy behind them slammed shut making Mary Beth and Todd jump out of fear.
“It’s just the wind.” Sue Ann said flatly. Mary Beth stared at the car door. Something didn’t feel right and the hair began to stand up of the back of her neck. She felt something watching her. She looked around but couldn’t see anything. Bobby, who had been talking loudly quieted down too. Each of the five felt the same eerie presence. They looked around in every direction and behind every car but they couldn’t find anything or anyone. They tried to shake the feeling but they couldn’t. Bobby looked at Todd and said, “Maybe it’s time we got our guns?”
Todd’s mood had changed dramatically from his euphoric experience with the chips. “Yea, let’s just find the damn thing and shoot it.” All five of them headed to the car. Each chose a different kind of gun and took the matching ammo.
“Alright, I say we search the perimeter of the parking lot. That way we will find any trails they may have created.” Said Bobby and the rest nodded. They split up in two groups. They walked slowly around each side until they met at the far end of the parking lot.
“We didn’t see anything…” Said Todd. Sue Ann looked around them and noticed something. There was a swarm of flies coming from a tall patch of grass at the bottom of a nearby tree. She grabbed Todd’s arm. “What’s that?” She said pointing. She and Todd walked over and found a bloody human leg. It had been gnawed off at the knee and was still wearing a tennis shoe. The blood looked pretty fresh. Fear washed over the group as the reality of their hunt sunk in.
“It looks like it’s already eating.” Said Joe. Bobby looked at the leg then noticed a trail of blood leading away from it and farther into the forest.
“Yea and we have a trail.” He said pointing at the blood. He took a step forward to follow the blood trail when Mary Beth grabbed his arm.
“You said we were setting a trap, not wandering through the forest hoping he doesn’t find us first. I say we make the trap here. It’s obvious that he will hunt here.” She said with overwhelming fear in her voice.
“Yeah but look at the leg. It’s fresh which means the zombie just ate. They can go a week without eating again. I ain’t waiting that long.” He said as he started off into the fores
t. Mary Beth looked at Todd and Joe. They both shrugged.
“We have a better chance of killing this thing and staying safe if we stay together. Just think of how you will feel tonight knowing that there are no more zombies.” Joe reasoned. Then he started to follow Bobby. Sue Ann followed Joe and Todd walked behind her taking Mary Beth’s arm in his.
“Come on. It will be over soon.” He said in an uncharacteristically kind voice.
As they walked the trees became denser which blocked out a lot of the sunlight. It was darker and felt cooler. Mary Beth seemed to be more effected by the changes than the others and began shivering. After about ten minutes Bobby stopped suddenly. He found the lower part of an arm. It seemed to match the skin tone of the leg they had found and the trail of blood continued. The smell of the rotting flesh wafted up to their noses and they coughed and quickly covered their noses. They stared at it. They wondered why the zombie hadn’t eaten the flesh from the arm or the leg.
“Why do you think the zombie left pieces behind?” Todd asked. He was obviously freaked out by the trail of limps. Usually the Infected Human Corpses ate everything. They had never seen a zombie leave behind things they could eat.
“Maybe this person didn’t taste good.” Bobby joked. No one laughed. Mary Beth just glared at him and the smile disappeared from his face. Sue Ann crouched down to look at the arm. There was a tattoo on the wrist and its nails were yellow and chipping.
“I think this person was sick. Maybe Infected Human Corpses can’t eat people with a specific illness. I wonder what they had…” She said leaning over the arm to get a closer look. Suddenly, the arm jerked and wiggled on the ground. In a snake like motion it squirmed over to Sue Ann’s leg. They all screamed and ran back towards the parking lot. When they ran past the place where they had found the leg, they noticed that it was gone.
Our Dead Bodies [Anthology] Page 15
