Hungry Series_Book 1_Hungry_Origins of Red

by L. H. Tide

  Something interrupted him by running towards him through the door which had suddenly opened. This provoked a reflex reaction of the Japanese who dragged his saber at the speed of lightning, causing the weapon to make a swirling motion which made its blade...

  ... land on Red's neck.

  "Stop!" Mei shouted stressfully.

  Fortunately her father had stopped just in time to not decapitate the adopted daughter of his offspring.

  Hiroto lost his legendary calm and impassivity and became red with anger, shouted at the red-haired girl, "You're crazy, I could have killed you!"

  "Excuse me," the teenager exclaimed, swallowing, as she still felt the sharp-edged blade resting on the skin of her neck, continuing, "I was passing a blow of brush around the dojo and inside it, to deserve the Kenjutsu lessons, according to the ancient Asian tradition... But I hadn't expected to have to clean by myself... That!"

  "What is it?" Johnny asked slowly and unconvincingly, frowning as he looked at her, as if she were an idiot.

  Murmurs and grunts erupted from behind her, through the wide-open door. She turned her head to look, like all the people in the dojo. A frightful odor of rotting flesh invaded the room.

  A partiallyS decomposed zombie appeared and stopped, standing at the door. It was wearing what was left of tattered Bermuda shorts and a T-shirt, all tinged with brown, because of the rotting of its skeletal body. The thing had only one apparent glowing eye, the other, as though it had been sunk in the depths of his skull, perhaps with a fine stick, resembling rather a dried, reddish grape.

  But its unique eye contemplated them all with much interest.

  The thing then groaned wildly and walked awkwardly towards Hiroto and Red, its open hands stretched out towards them.

  The blade disappeared from the edge of Red's neck to spin in the air with the old Japanese man, who passed on the side of the creature and slashed its outstretched arms.

  That was while four other zombies passed through the door, and put their hands on Hiroto's back.

  He circled again, decapitating another creature and then planting his blade in the other's rotten lower abdomen, visible under its rib cage.

  He turned the blade in the abdomen of the thing but it showed no pain, trying to catch his face with its gaunt hands, with their sharp bony phalanges which were free of flesh.

  Hiroto was able to avoid the hands that tried to grab him only thanks to the fact that he pushed the creature back with the blade, preventing it from moving further towards him. He was now battling to extract the blade for the purpose of terminating the living dead, but his saber remained blocked in the purulent flesh.

  The old Japanese man looked anxiously at the other two creatures which, slowly but surely, were circumventing the nearest ones. They were about to catch him, their jaws with rotten teeth already opening to tear off a morsel of flesh.

  A very shrill cry was heard and the people in the room saw Mei jumping toward the things surrounding her father. She was wielding a naginata, an old weapon composed of a saber fixed at the end of a long stick. Hitherto it had only been a decorative item used in the dojo that she had unhooked from above the open door.

  She cut the legs of the two creatures by making very large swinging motions with the long weapon, avoiding hurting her father through her skills and practice.

  The two living dead, no longer supported by their legs, collapsed on the ground, and the young Japanese woman, with two new cuts, decapitated them one by one. During that time her father continued to struggle to extract the blade of his saber, while preventing his ugly opponent from getting closer to him.

  A new, even shriller cry was heard in another part of the room, and everyone looked towards where it was coming from.

  The little blonde was struggling with another zombie, which had been a modest-sized fat woman, taller than her, who must have been in her forties during her transformation. Overweight, seeming to have Hispanic origins, she had probably been an adorable "Mama" in her former life, but today, there was no more motherly love. The creature's jaw had been partly torn away, showing teeth and flesh rotten to an ear. It opened an avid mouth with rotten teeth and looked with appetite at the little girl that it was trying to reach.

  The kid pushed the thing back with all her might with her stick, to which the creature clung with its emaciated hands, trying to snatch it from Beth's tiny hands. While doing this, the living dead leaned over and tried to bite the little girl in the face. The latter, shouting and groaning, kept trying to stay out of reach as much as possible.

  Two male zombies entered through the open door and swayed toward the child and their female counterpart.

  "Beth!" exclaimed Mei, seeing her difficult situation and running towards the two new undead, which were readying for a blood bath.

  "Noooo!" cried Red, who slashed the handle of her broom onto Hiroto's partially exposed blade. The remaining wood of the broom was cut diagonally and sharply by the cutting blade.

  Having checked it with a very brief glance, the girl leapt towards the child and the female zombie.

  When she reached the fat female creature she lifted what remained of her broom and drove the sharp end of wood into an eye of the thing.

  The zombie stopped fighting with Beth and froze, still holding the little wooden saber of little Beth in its rotten hands.

  The little blonde, struggling one last time, succeeded in pulling harder on the handle of the little saber, thus extracting a small blade which had been inserted into what had, in fact, been a wooden sheath.

  Jumping into the air Beth arrived at the zombie's face and, with a cutting motion, slashed at the thing's throat.

  The head was almost separated from the neck by the short blade, but not completely. The head swiveled backwards, retained by a piece of bloody flesh, with the handle still driven inside its eye.

  Relaxing with what was left of her broom in her hand, Red looked with the little girl as the head finally completely detached from the neck. It rolled away on the floor, the wooden stick protruding from its eye hindering its rotation.

  It was then that Red, who had the rest of the broom in her hands, and little Beth, saw the other two zombies approaching them, hands outstretched and their avid jaws open.

  One of the two, tall and emaciated, his bony face with empty sockets, placed its bony hands on the red-haired girl's shoulders, while the other tried to circumvent her to reach Beth, who, crouching, was hiding behind her. Shaking with fear, the little girl squeezed the handle of her little sword, so much so that her fingers' skin had become chalk-white.

  The emaciated living dead emitted a little grunt seemingly filled with contentment, as it forcefully pulled Red towards itself. Approaching, its opened jaw showing rotten teeth, ready to devour the teen's nose.

  Moaning because of her efforts, she resisted by leaning back, in precarious balance, feeling the little girl curled up behind her.

  The wide open jaw which approached totally filled the red-haired girl's field of vision, who felt nausea while smelling the thing's fetid breath, a mix of blood and rottenness.

  With a great sound resembling that of a violently cut cloth, the open jaw was torn in two from top to bottom and, surprised, the girl was on the verge of receiving a slender blade in her nose. Reclining her own head she saw that the creature had been cut in two from the top of the skull to the top of its neck, realizing that it was the blade of a saber that had cut it in two.

  Hiroto's saber's blade.

  Hiroto had arrived behind the things after he had finally been able to pull his blade out of his opponent's abdomen, which lay further away on the floor. Lying on its stomach, it was clinging to one of Johnny's legs, who, a wooden sword in his hand, was striking the emaciated hands to make them let go.

  Mei, meanwhile, was fighting two other zombies in baseball uniforms with her naginata, knife-cutting while rotating on herself like a fury and shouting a warrior cry.

  Standing behind the zombie with the head having be
en vertically cut in half, the old Japanese, struggling, was again trying to free the blade of his stuck saber. It was jammed between the two parts of the upper neck. The zombie was trembling now, while the left and right sections of its head parted, and hung down, on both sides, by their weight. These two parts were pending lower and lower, and now were almost in a horizontal position.

  Hiroto didn’t have to fight a smirkZ, because of his disgust while watching the details of the anatomical parts of the head and brain, which were now clearly visible.

  The creature's hands grabbing Red's shoulders relaxed, showing that the zombie had definitely ceased to "live".

  It began to sag on its legs, now only supported by the blade of the saber still buried in its neck.

  Hiroto continued to struggle to free his blade from the neck, and he was embarrassed by the weight of the body. Surprisingly, he was unable to lift the blade and get it out of the wound. Red bore part of the weight of the zombie, its hands weighing on her shoulders, tending to immobilize her.

  Beth gave a cry of frustration; the other zombie that had bypassed Red was now at her side.

  The creature raised the little blonde off the ground, with both of its rotting, stinking hands sunk into the collar of her strong little kimono.

  The little one cut one of the hands at the wrist level with her saber, but through her action she involuntarily let go of its handle.

  Her little saber fell a little distance away on the tatami.

  The sliced wrist detached from the creature's arm, but, not in the least disturbed, it continued with its other hand to move Beth towards its open jaw, turning her a little so that it could plunge its teeth into the tender flesh of her neck.

  The little girl screamed louder, kicking the top of the thing's chest, causing only a groan of discontent from the zombie.

  The creature received a large side kick from Red.

  This unbalanced the zombie, making it drop on the tatami, its little prey still captive in its remaining hand.

  Hiroto shrieked and finally freed his blade.

  He leapt toward the zombie lying on its flank as it continued to bring the little girl's neck closer to its gaping mouth.

  With a brisk sword movement he cut off the zombie's head.

  It fell on the ground and rolled in front of Beth's face.

  Disgusted, she saw the mouth of the thing open and close while watching her with its reddish glowing eyes, still impatient to bite her. Fortunately for the little girl, the thing's head was now unable to move from where it had landed, and it had to content itself moving its jaw without reaching her.

  The decapitated body trembled and Beth, feeling the hand that held her weaken, finally released herself, rising to retreat, horrified.

  The head was finally cut in two halves thanks to the blade of Mei's naginata, as she had also moved closer.

  The two parts of the skull of the thing, now separated on the ground, oscillated for several seconds, while Beth watched it, fascinated and disgusted by it at the same time.

  Finally, the two parts ceased to move and remained immobile, as a little pond of dark and stinking blood was expanding on the dojo's mattress.

  Frustrated male groans were suddenly heard.

  Red, Hiroto, Beth, and Mei looked at Johnny, who continued to strike the prone zombie still clinging to his leg, striking it with all his strength.

  He gave a last wooden sword thrust on the wrists of the thing which broke.

  The two forearms separated from the arms and fell on the tatami, their hands remaining clinging to his leg while the zombie emitted a little growl.

  Johnny drew back and, striking one last time with all his strength, knocked the head of the thing.

  It detached from the neck, and the head went rolling into a corner of the room.

  Hiroto, panting, said, "Bravo, Johnny, quite a blow," and he then looked at the three females people near him before saying, "Bravo to you three too!"

  He looked at the group of students of all ages who had sought refuge on the other side of the room and said, frowning, "You, on the other hand, I don't congratulate for your lack of courage and team spirit!"

  "Dad!"

  Mei's voice made him turn towards her.

  She was pointing an index finger to the bodies of the two baseball-zombies she had slaughtered, and she said, "Look what they have in their mouths!"

  The old Japanese shook slightly because of the surprise when he saw a bloody chicken leg, still protruding out of the mouth of one creature, and a rabbit's head torn from the jaws of the other.

  "Poultry and rabbits... This means that the agro-building has also been attacked!" exclaimed Hiroto, who toddled off as fast as he could toward the half-open door; Johnny, his daughter, and granddaughter on his trail.

  ***

  Voracity

  "Larry!" Johnny called, as the sliding doors of the agro-building slid open.

  His old master, Hiroto, breathless, came up behind him with his saber brandished, followed by Mei and Red.

  Worrying grunts were heard everywhere, while they all walked as fast as possible in an alley of trees, shrubs, and bushes, standing on guard.

  They saw before them, in the distance, an open door, and, as they approached, plaintive groans and cries of rage.

  When Johnny, standing on his guard with his large wooden sword, walked through the door, he saw a spectacle that made him feel sick.

  Two male zombies were pulling on the arms of a bloodied and decapitated, stripped naked human trunk, each one trying to take advantage on its side. The trunk was dark-skinned, and Johnny, who was looking at the scene, murmured, "Oh, no… Poor Larry!"

  One of the creatures, to the left of Johnny, was taller than the other on his right. The bigger thing, obviously a former American footballer according to its ragged clothes, was pulling hard on the arm on its side, seeming to win the battle over the other who, according to its short dress, must have been a cheerleader.

  The latter moaned, pulling on the other arm with all its might, to retain the bloody trunk with its bloody hanging viscera, devoid of any pelvis.

  Pulled more and more strongly with the trunk towards the big zombie despite its efforts, the female one shouted hoarsely.

  The arm on its side detached, and the great undead, carried away by its own strength, fell on its back on the ground, with the trunk and the remaining arm it was pulling on its side.

  Johnny, Red, and Mei, who witnessed all this, were pouting, disgusted, while Hiroto remained stolid.

  And it was with an impassive air that he approached the two creatures, his sabre drawn.

  The zombie cheerleader, its back to him, was chewing the pulled-off arm when suddenly it turned around toward him.

  Bits of bloody flesh flowed from its mouth when it opened it to grumble, as the old man quietly approached.

  A brief whirling movement of the man's saber blew the creature's head into the air.

  It rolled a few yards further down to a bush while the decapitated body trembled, immobilized.

  Finally falling to its knees, then on its chest, still holding the torn arm in its hands the torn arm, in which could be seen a gaping, bloody wound.

  A roar was heard coming from the level of the ground.

  It was the other zombie lying on it, with the trunk, and it had witnessed the scene.

  It stood up awkwardly and looked at Hiroto with its glowing eyes. It and the human being looking at each other for many seconds.

  Then it roared again, staggering towards him. Red was surprised at the behavior of the creature. It was as if it was furious because of what Hiroto had done, as if, unlike usual zombies, it wasn't just in it for itself. Had there been something between these two beings, before their transformation? Some part of that relationship that remained?

  The answer seemed to be 'yes', when the big footballer zombie angrily flung the maimed trunk in the old man's face.

  He had tried to avoid the bloody mass but it had arrived on him in a fl
ash, due to the Herculean force of the zombie. He had received the trunk in the face and, under the impulse, fell back on the hard floor, striking it with the back of his head.

  The old man fell unconscious, his face covered with the blood of the trunk that had fallen beside him.

  "Grandfather"! Red yelled, while Mei and Johnny were about to intervene.

  But they stopped, to the surprise of the red-haired girl... Who understood, turning around as they did, that there was something wrong...

  A dozen undead had entered behind them through the open door.

  Then the door shut all at once, slamming, shutting them all up with the creatures.

  A metallic noise made the three conscious humans jump.

  They looked at the door, from whence came the noise.

  And they all understood that it had been a key that had been spinning inside the lock.

  All the remaining conscious human beings became tense.

  These zombies were particularly decomposed, practically skeletons, with small quantities of rotten flesh on their bones. But despite being much affected by the degradations, they were also, by experience for many persons, the worst kind of living dead; the reason was that, because of their extreme lightness, this more than compensated for their awkwardness, and one always had to expect blows of their deadly claws. These had bony phalanges, each becoming, with time, sharpened like the razor of a blade.

  They surrounded the group of humans, placing themselves in a circle more and more tightened around them, with slow, but surprisingly calculated gestures. They looked like wild beasts standing on the alert, ready to melt on their prey, at the slightest gesture...

  A deafening roar filled the room.

  The standing human beings had been startled, but miraculously remained immobile, and looked to where the cry had come.

  The zombie-footballer had uttered this roar, which sounded like one of victory, when it leaned over Hiroto, still lifeless, and it took his head in its hands, starting to raise it toward its ugly, bony face.

  Red opened wide, horrified eyes and said to herself that the undead was preparing to snatch the head of the father of her adoptive mother, her grandfather, whom she had learned to love so much.