by A. Giacomi
“Well if you’re not here, I guess I can just bleed all over your wife’s tombstone. You won’t mind, I’m sure.”
Still no sign of him, but I can swear I hear some bushes rustle slightly behind me. I guess I will have to be a little meaner.
“Hey, Henry! Your stupid wife called. She’s dead tired of your drinking. Get it? ‘Dead tired.’ Pretty funny, right? I’ll be here all week.”
I hear a growl in the distance. Oh, he is nearby alright. It is working. I need to egg him on just a bit more and then he will make his appearance. I am certain of this.
I try to think of the worst thing I can do to piss Henry off.
I take hold of Cam’s shirt and push him to the ground. “Just go with it, okay?” I say to Cam, but he still looks terrified as I hold the knife above his head.
I begin to yell again. “Henry, your son’s gonna be my next meal. I will make sure there is nothing left of his face. That’s my favourite part.”
I wait a few seconds before the next blow. “Well, I guess you care less about your son than I thought. Are you just going to sit back and watch him die? What a poor excuse for a father you are! You just keep failing him, don’t you?”
That last one must burn a bit because the growl in the distance intensifies and gets closer.
I whisper to Alex, “Get ready. He’s coming.”
I stay put, still holding the knife over Cam.
It goes oddly quiet. He must want to use the element of surprise before he attacks. I stand, trying to sniff him out, but I am too late by then; he is already behind me.
I get a quick glance of him before he knocks me to the ground and sends the knife in my hand flying. He’s so strong and so putrid smelling. I try to hold his mouth away from my flesh; I don’t know what being bitten again will turn me into.
I don’t want to be a full-fledged zombie-like Henry, with all the rotting flesh and growling; it doesn’t sound appealing.
Henry keeps trying to chomp at me as I keep trying to shove him off. Alex hits his back with a crowbar, but he doesn’t release me. It only angers him further, and he smacks her with one arm, sending her soaring backward. Henry notices the crowbar on the ground; he releases me and grabs it. I try to crawl out of the way before he figures out how to use the thing. It doesn’t take him long; he slams it down on my back with such force I feel one of my spinal discs crumble.
I scream in agony, and that sends Cam into action. He hits his father in the head with the baseball bat. It sends Henry stumbling back a bit, but it isn’t hard enough of a blow to kill him.
“Hit him again, Cam,” I grunt through a clenched jaw.
Cam tries, but Henry catches the bat and throws it away. He continues towards Cam.
I need to get up, but after a few more tries, I realize I can’t. I will have to wait for my spine to heal itself before I can stand again.
I glance over at Alex, who is also trying to rise. I guess she hit the ground pretty hard. She looks a little disoriented.
“Alex! Help Cam! I can’t move.”
She nods and grabs the nail gun. She shoots a few nails at Henry, causing him to howl with annoyance, but he still continues to walk towards Cam. Henry grabs Cam’s head and licks his face; it almost looks like a kiss. Alex runs up to Henry and smashes the whole nail gun onto his head.
“Take that, you deadbeat dad!”
Henry turns and grabs Alex by the throat with his other free hand. He’s so strong he raises her in the air.
Henry has both my friends in his hands, he holds all the cards, and all I can do is watch.
“Leave them alone, Henry! Pick on someone less human, huh? Come get some!”
I think he gives a zombie laugh. He knows there is nothing I can do.
Alex is starting to turn a bit blue. I just keep screaming, “Stop! Stop!”
I feel dizzy from screaming so hard.
Alex keeps fighting; she claws at him and tries to kick her feet. Cam is trying to break out of his headlock and get to Alex, but he isn’t having any luck.
My fear intensifies when Alex stops struggling. I watch Cam with a brief glimmer of hope. His foot finds the crowbar. He is struggling to break free. Cam is able to twist his arm away, and I hear a loud snap as Henry’s arm falls awkwardly to his side. I hold my breath and pray.
Cam doesn’t hesitate; he knows Alex will be dead if he doesn’t do something right now. Cam takes the crowbar and spears it up through Henry’s chin all the way out the backside of his head. Henry’s hand releases Alex, who collapses to the ground and desperately takes in air. Henry cascades to the ground with no further movement. It is finally over.
Cam sits beside his father’s body a little breathless as well. He looks Henry over, making sure he is dead. He notices something in Henry’s pocket and pulls it out. He briefly sobs and then places the object in his pocket. He tries to compose himself and crawls over to Alex.
“Are you both okay?” I yell over since I can’t see for myself.
Alex nods, still trying to recover.
Cam starts walking towards me now that he knows Alex is okay. “Can you stand, Eve?”
I shake my head. “No, not yet. He crunched my back pretty good.”
Cam lifts me off the ground and carries me over to Alex. He’s about to put me down, then rethinks it. He looks into my eyes with longing. I return the gaze; I can swear my pulse is racing as he places his lips on mine. I feel all those things you should feel when the right person kisses you. Sparks, fireworks, and however else they describe it.
When it ends, I’m left a little beside myself. Cam places me on the ground next to Alex and doesn’t speak another word. He has unfinished business to attend to.
Alex and I watch as Cam lifts his father and places him in the grave that has been waiting long enough to receive him. Cam pulls a shovel out of Alex’s duffle bag and begins covering his father in dirt. Each pile feels permanent, and that’s a good thing. We will never have to worry about Henry again.
Alex and I hug as we watch Cam say goodbye to his family for the final time.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
EVE
It is time to head back to school. It feels like we have been home longer than a little over a week. However, I am glad this god-awful week is over and we made it out alive.
The cops notified Cam that his father’s body had been returned, and they promised him that they would continue to search for the grave robbers. I’m not so sure they will ever discover that zombies are to blame. That will be way too far out of the box to even consider.
Cam and I never speak about the kiss we shared, but Alex brings it up whenever she can. Alex keeps harassing me about dating Cam, but I can’t wrap my head around any of that right now. I have too many issues, and a relationship will add too much chaos to my already spinning head. I haven’t actually seen much of Cam over the past few days, which is probably for the best; he has been really busy studying.
Back to school means midterms and facing Dr. August’s slew of tests. For a moment, I thoroughly consider zombie hunting as a viable career choice. I can do that for the rest of my life; it doesn’t sound like too terrible an idea. I just don’t want to deal with reality. I still don’t want to believe that I will never be the same again.
***
I have a midterm the day after we return to Guelph. It is a math exam in the MacNaughton Building. A big concrete building with many windows, it looks too modern and out of place here. I hate the building but hate math more. The course is part of my program, and I have to take it. I’m not a terrible math student; I just find it a little boring. Dr. August always tells me how important mathematics and collecting data is to the study of anthropology, but I really just want to find cool stuff.
The exam takes me a couple of hours to complete. I would have been done sooner, but the stupid profess
or decided to add an essay question at the end, which throws me for a loop. I don’t expect to write a short essay on “the importance of math in everyday life,” but my professor is kind of a hippy math lover, so it isn’t unusual for him, I suppose.
After handing my test in, I make my way to Dr. August’s office. I have a date with science next.
I arrive solo this time. No Alex or Cam to back me up or calm me down. Dr. August said he wanted a very quiet environment for testing. I have no idea what is in store for me, but my spirits are very low. I don’t have much faith that this virus can be cured.
As I walk into Dr. August’s office, I notice that he has already set up everything for the tests. There is something that looks like a dental chair in the middle of the room and a tray of tools and test tubes beside it. I am never fond of visiting the dentist, so this is a bit off-putting.
“Oh hello, Eve. Would you have a seat, please? I’m just going to finish my preparations.”
That’s what I was afraid he was going to say.
I have a seat in the chair, and it begins reclining. This is starting to feel very much like an alien abduction as a spotlight blinds my vision from above. Dr. August comes to sit beside me after a few moments.
“Now, Eve, the first part is very simple. I need some blood samples.”
I give him the thumbs up in a very bemused way. He cleans the skin where the needle will be placed and then pokes the needle in my arm and attaches the collection tube. Nothing comes out.
“That’s strange. Let me try another vein.”
Dr. August tries a few more veins with the same result.
“Eve, it appears that the wound heals immediately, making it impossible to withdraw blood in this manner.”
I roll my eyes. “Dr. August, the wound is too small. A bigger wound takes longer to heal and you can get more blood.”
I grab a scalpel off of the metal tray and slit my wrist. “See, now it’s torrential. Grab your little test tube and go for it.”
He turns a bit green at the sight of all the blood pouring out but doesn’t hesitate to drip some of it in a few test tubes before it heals.
Once the wound is closed, there is nothing but dry blood on the surface of my arm. Dr. August grabs a moist towel and rubs the blood away. Underneath is a perfectly unharmed wrist.
“Remarkable,” Dr. August says as he stares in disbelief. “You know, Eve, if we could control how the Azrael Virus worked, we could save so many lives. People could even grow back missing limbs.”
He is getting that crazy mad scientist look in his eyes; I need to bring him back down to earth. “Listen, the virus is unpredictable and could even be used as a weapon if given to the wrong people. These sorts of suggestions come with consequences. Consequences that I don’t want to have to think about.”
Dr. August looks down at my wrist as he replies, “You’re probably right. I just think it’s a shame that some good can’t come of this.”
His comment irks me. “If something seems too good to be true, then it is probably more dangerous than anyone can even imagine. Just think of Pandora’s box. Good and evil are often infused together. The only safe way is to stave off any curiosity here.”
I hope Dr. August will listen and not try anything crazy. He will be putting me at risk too, which I’m sure he will never want to do, but I suppose the idea of winning a Nobel Prize is tempting to such a scholar. I truly hope I can trust him.
“Okay, let’s move onto the next test, shall we? This is a fun one, I promise. I wanted to see how you react to different foods. You mentioned that it was becoming difficult to keep down food. It makes you feel sick, yes?”
I nod, and Dr. August continues to explain the test. There are three metal serving platters with a dome covering each of them. He reveals each meal one by one. I feel like I am watching The Price Is Right as he addresses each “prize.”
“I have prepared some lasagna, some chicken salad, and the piece de resistance, raw beef.”
I pick up a fork and try a small piece of the lasagna; it tastes like manure in my mouth. I begin to choke and spit it out immediately.
“I don’t think that one is going down, Dr. August.”
He frowns. “That’s one of my best dishes. I’ve never had anyone spit it out before. How heartbreaking.”
He succeeds in making me laugh. I’m sure it is tasty to the ordinary palette, but I am craving something a little less cooked. The salad is next; I pick up a few leaves and some chicken and chew on it slowly. It doesn’t taste as bad as the lasagna, and I am able to swallow it. Dr. August waits with anticipation; I don’t know what he expects to happen next. We sit in awkward silence, and then my stomach grumbles so loudly it scares both of us.
“I guess I’m getting a bit hungry.” This worries us because we both know what that will mean.
I reach for the last taste test. It looks amazing, and I drool over it. It’s cold and squishy as I hold it in my hands. I take a bite of it, and it’s heavenly. I am quickly sent into a frenzy and tear into the raw steak like an animal would do. Dr. August stares with his mouth agape, but it doesn’t concern me until the steak is gone.
“Sorry, I can understand how gross this must look,” I say as I lick the blood off my fingers.
Dr. August smiles. “No, this is good. Raw meat seems to satiate you.”
My stomach rumbles again, this time, louder, and it starts to hurt. I grab at my stomach and grimace.
“Eve, what’s happening? What are you feeling?”
I’m finding it hard to concentrate; it feels as though a bus has hit me. “It hurts, it hurts.”
I get out of my dental chair and begin looking around, I don’t know what for, but my gaze settles on small cage next to Dr. August’s desk. I go towards it and see that there is a little mouse inside. He is happily sipping on his water feeder. I immediately open the latch and grab him; he is down my throat before Dr. August can say, “No!” He runs over to me and opens my mouth, but it is too late. I’ve already crushed and devoured the mouse.
“I feel so much better,” I say as I rub my tummy.
Dr. August stares at the empty cage and whimpers. “Marty? Oh no, Marty. You ate Marty.” He looks at me with disbelief.
I don’t really know what to say, so I just reply, “Oops.”
Dr. August sits at his desk to think for a moment.
“Okay, what I think is happening here is that you need living meat. That’s what your body craves. When you eat food that is cooked or less than recently dead, it only makes you hungrier.”
That seems like a good theory. I will either throw up my food or eat it reluctantly, and my body will ache with desire for something human.
“Here’s what I think we should do, Eve. I think you need a few pets, and by pets, I mean animals that you wouldn’t mind eating. We need to stop you from eating humans, so this might be a good alternative. Try that for a few days, and then I want you to come back and let me know how that is going. I think that’s enough testing for today. Poor Marty didn’t even know he was a part of the experiment today.”
I would feel bad about eating Dr. August’s pet if he wasn’t so darn tasty. I leave without a word; I figure I should at least let him mourn his tiny rodent friend.
***
I return to my dorm room a few hours later with a cage full of hamsters. Alex comes over to see the cage, and she is beside herself with cuteness overload.
“Oh yay! They are so cute. What should we call them?”
I place the cage down on my bed. “How about we call them dead, dead, deader, and deader still?”
Alex looks at me, confused.
“Al, I have to eat them, so don’t get attached, okay?”
“Eww, you’re going to eat them? That’s so gross. Please make sure I’m not looking when you do.”
I sigh as I tak
e a hamster out to play with. “Trust me, I don’t want to eat them, but Dr. August said this might be the only way to stop me from eating people. It’s a little easier to swallow, I mean, forgive myself for eating animals.”
Alex understands, but I can tell it still creeps her out.
“What’s Cam been up to?” I am avoiding him since our kiss, but I still care about how he is doing. He has been through so much tragedy; it is hard not to cry when I think of him.
“He’s okay. He’s been acting a little weird. I think you guys need to address the elephant in the room and move on. He can’t concentrate on his studies. I’m sure he’s just thinking about your hot lips.”
I toss a pillow at her with my hamster-less hand. She chuckles as it misses her.
“Well, when are you going to tell him how you feel, Eve?”
I shrug. “I don’t know how I feel yet. I love Cam, I want to be with him, but I’m realistic enough to know that we couldn’t make each other happy. He needs a normal girl. I would feel forever guilty if I took away any possibility he had for a normal life. I want him to be happy.”
It hurts a little bit saying that out loud. Of course, I want Cam all to myself, but it feels so selfish I can’t bear it.
Alex comes over and takes over playing with the hamster I was holding.
“Listen, Cam is a big boy. He can decide what he wants. I think you should be honest with him. He seems so miserable right now.”
Maybe Alex has a point.
“Okay, I’m going to go talk to him right now. I have to just get this over with.”
Alex smiles in support of my decision. “Go get him, Eve!”
I leave the room with a smile on my face. I can’t wait to tell Cam that I love him; I can’t wait to kiss him again. For the first time in these few miserable months, I feel a bit more human; I feel a jolt of hope.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CAM
My eyelids feel as heavy as rocks. The piles of books and scribbled notes around my bed make me dizzy.
Yes, I still handwrite all my notes like I have been living under a rock all these years.
