Marionette Zombie Series | Book 13 | What Remains

by Poe, S. B.

  “STOP IT, THERESA, STOP!!!!” But she didn’t stop.

  He backed away from the woman he married as he tried to understand why she was biting at him with every chomp of her jaw. He pushed her hard against the bed and jumped to his feet. The blood from his hand made the floor slick and he almost slipped again. The thing came towards him as he backpedaled through the door. He pulled it shut and stopped. He heard her slam against it. The door shook. The sound of splintering came the second time she slammed into it. He backed down the hallway, pausing just long enough at the bathroom to grab the first aid kit. He knocked on Abby’s door. The thing in the master bedroom slammed against the door again but it sounded weaker.

  “Abby. Open the door.” He said. The lock turned.

  “Daddy.” She swung the door open and backed away. “What is happening?”

  “I don’t know honey. I don’t know.” He shut the door and looked around the room. He grabbed a t-shirt from the closet and began wiping the blood off his hand.

  “Mom?”

  “That’s not your mother. She didn’t do this. It’s the virus. What they have been talking about on the news. The thing in Madagascar. Marionette.” The bite was deep and he could see the bone of his little finger sticking out. He opened the emergency kit and found the splint.

  “The rabies thing? Marionette? How did mom get rabies?” She asked.

  “Here, take this. You’re going to have to fit it around my finger.” He said.

  “Like this?” She put it against his hand and held it.

  “Yeah, but I’m going to straighten it out a little. Just put it around it as soon as I take my hand off and hold it tight until I get the tape on. Okay?” He asked.

  “Okay.”

  He pulled the end of his finger until it somewhat straightened out. The pain was almost more than he could take. He held it in even as he felt himself start to shake. “Put it on.” She worked the splint onto the half straight finger. “Hold it tight.” He felt her squeeze and he wasn’t sure he was going to finish. He steadied himself and wrapped the tape around as tight as what strength he had left let him.

  “Okay.” He took a deep breath. The sweat dripped from his forehead. “Let me have a second.”

  “How did mom get rabies?” She asked.

  “The wreck. Outside. There was a kid. He bit her.”

  “Bit her?”

  “She didn’t want you to worry.”

  “Daddy, she bit you. She bit me too.” Abby said.

  “Turn around. Let me see.” He said.

  She turned and pulled her shirt up. The blood was still fresh. He grabbed the towel hanging on the doorknob and wiped it clean. There was a scoop of flesh missing. But not deep.

  “This will sting a little. Sorry that’s a lie. It’ll sting a lot.” He said.

  He tore open the alcohol wipe from the kit and touched it to the wound. She winced. He dabbed until she quit wincing and then he wiped. The large size bandage fit almost perfectly. He added a couple of pieces of tape.

  “Okay.” He said.

  “Okay?” She asked. “Are we going to be like mom? Are we infected now too?”

  “I don’t know.” He said. He looked at her as she sat down on the bed. “I’m sorry.”

  “For what?” She asked.

  “I didn’t know it had already started.” He said.

  “What?”

  “I promised your mother I would keep you safe. I promised. But I didn’t know. Didn’t know I’d have to keep you safe from her. I’m sorry.” He felt the tears roll down his cheek.

  “Can’t we go to a doctor? Isn’t there something we can do?”

  “Is that what you want? Do you want to leave and go try? I’ll do whatever you want.”

  “It won’t matter will it?” She asked.

  “No, I don’t think it would. I’m sorry.” He said.

  “So we stay here?” She asked.

  “If that’s what you want.”

  “With Mom?” She leaned forward and slid off the bed next to him. They both leaned against the wall. He held out his hand.

  “With Mom.” He said. He wrapped his arm around her.

  “So we just wait?” She leaned against him.

  “I don’t know what else to do. I wish I had been better. I wish I had done better.” He said as the tears rolled down his cheek.

  “We’re all together. I think she would have wanted that.” Abby said.

  “Yeah, she would have. She loved you so much. I love you so much. We worked, she worked, so hard to get you here. You are everything we always dreamed of.” He said as he brushed the hair out of her eyes.

  “She said the same thing. Just before…” She started crying.

  “Shh. It’s all okay now. We’ll rest and we’ll wait. And we’ll be together.” He pulled his arm around her a little tighter and she settled her head against his shoulder. He could hear a cicada buzzing in the morning sun outside the window.

  They sat in the bedroom until the sun had left the eastern sky and fell towards the west. He felt her head against his shoulder and opened his eyes. He didn’t know how long they had been asleep but he did mark the different angle the light was coming into the room. More than a few minutes for sure. He thought about how long it had taken Theresa to go from bit to biting. A few hours. He looked at Abby’s arm but didn’t see the ashen color he had seen on Theresa. He lifted his shoulder slightly.

  “Hey, wake up.” He whispered. She lifted her head. He looked into her eyes. They were clear.

  “How are you feeling?” He asked.

  “Okay, I guess.”

  “Hand me that mirror off your dresser.” He said. He watched her as she stood. She seemed okay.

  “Here.” She said.

  He looked at his own reflection and other than the red-rimmed eyes he seemed normal. Maybe in need of a shave but still passable. No ashen skin. No sunken eyes. He handed the mirror back.

  “You sure you feel okay?” He asked.

  “Yeah, yeah I do.” She said. “What does that mean?”

  “I don’t know. Your mother got sick pretty fast.” He said. “We’ve been asleep at least that long.”

  “Maybe we don’t have it. Maybe it goes away. Maybe mom…” She turned towards the door.

  He hadn’t expected it so he hesitated. She swung the door open before he could stop her and was down the hall before he could catch up. He came up behind her just as she swung the door to the master bedroom open.

  “Mom?” She said.

  The thing stood in the middle of the room. The smell of death filled the air. It raised its head at the sound of her voice. He could see the things pale yellow eyes and the ashen, blue veined skin of its face. The lips were pulled back and its teeth were filled with bits of bloody things. Black drool slid from the corner of its mouth onto the floor. He grabbed Abby’s shoulder.

  “Stop.” He said. The thing glanced briefly at the sound before its eyes settled back forward.

  “Mom?” Abby said again. The thing never moved.

  “It’s not your mom. She’s gone. I’m sorry.” He said as he pulled her back into the hallway. He shut the door.

  “We have to….” He was interrupted by the sound of a police siren.

  For Safekeeping

  It was a quick burst. Like a cop trying to get through a red light. Just a quick little half sound but an unmistakable one. He turned and looked out the window. A sheriff’s deputy was parked a few yards down the road behind the wrecked car. He could see the door opening.

  “Stay here. Stay inside. And don’t open that door. No matter what.” He pointed at the door he had just shut.

  “Okay.”

  He grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around himself. The temperature had dropped as the sun slid towards the west. He opened the door. The deputy turned at the sound and reached for his gun.

  “Whoa.” Joel raised his hands in the air and the blanket fell away.

  “Step outside, s
ir.” The deputy called.

  “Sure.” Joel walked into the yard.

  “What happened here sir?” The deputy asked.

  “Last night, there was a wreck. We tried to call but there wasn’t any service.” Joel said.

  The deputy stepped around the front of the car and the small body in the road moved.

  “Watch out. I don’t…” Joel started to yell. The sound of the pistol shot blasted through his ears. The thing in the road jerked backwards and its head disintegrated on the asphalt.

  “Jesus.” Joel said.

  “That’s the fifth one so far.” The deputy said.

  “Fifth one?”

  “Dead thing I’ve had to shoot.” The deputy said.

  “Dead thing?”

  “I don’t know how else to put it. They should all be dead. Wrecked, shot, stabbed, burnt and all past the point they should be alive. They can’t be alive. They have to be dead. But I have to keep shooting them. I have to keep shooting them all.” He said as he stared down at the thing in the road.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. Yeah.” He shook his head and looked at Joel. “How about you? What happened to your hand?” He nodded.

  Joel looked down at the t-shirt wrapped around his hand. It was bloody. He held it up.

  “Busted it last night. The power went out when this happened.” He motioned at the wreck. “I got out of bed and tripped. Fell into the mirror on the dresser.” He stopped himself. He knew that too much detail would just as telling as too little. His penchant for detective novels was paying off.

  “You need some help? I have a good first aid kit.” The deputy started walking to the back of his patrol car.

  “No, no. I’m fine. We’ll probably head to the hospital and get it looked at.” Joel said.

  “Hospital?” The deputy said. “There ain’t no hospital. There ain’t nothing.”

  “What do you mean there ain’t nothing?” Joel asked. “What’s going on out there?”

  “Out there? Jesus man, it’s right here. Did you not just see that shit right there? I had to shoot that thing because it wouldn’t die. And that is happening everywhere. Everything is dying. But the dead won’t stay dead. All over the city, all over the country, hell, all over the world.”

  “What are we supposed to do?” Joel asked.

  “The army began broadcasting on all the police bands a few hours ago. They are talking about refugee centers. There’s one out at Stone Mountain.”

  “We’d have to cross half the city.”

  “There’s another one west, towards the state line. It’s a lot further but there’s not a couple million people between here and there.” The deputy said.

  “Can you help us?” He asked.

  “Nope. I’m officially retired. I decided to take the patrol car, the weapons and anything else I went to work with yesterday evening with me as a pension. I got a tank a gas, another ten gallons in the trunk, a load of food and I am getting as far away from people as I can.” The deputy said.

  “Why?” Joel asked.

  “Because people are the problem. The infection spreads through biting. Scratching. Hell maybe breathing for all they know. All I know is the fewer people, the fewer infected trying to infect me.” The deputy said. “But I will help you a tiny bit.”

  “How so?”

  “I can see that hand.” The deputy said. “I can see the bone sticking out of the side of that splint.”

  “Yeah. It’s pretty bad.”

  “Here.” He handed him a small bag from the large medical toolbox in his trunk.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s a local anesthetic. Just use the little syringe and jab it around it. It’ll deaden it.”

  “For what?”

  “You’re gonna have to cut it off. There ain’t no setting that back. Better to cut it off, wrap it up and use the antibiotics in this bag and hope it doesn’t get infected.” The deputy handed him another bag.

  “Cut it off?”

  “If you don’t, it will definitely get infected. And you’ll run out of antibiotics. And then you’ll die. Cut it off and wrap it up. It’ll be better. But your call.” The deputy said.

  “So that’s it?” Joel asked.

  “I guess. More than I intended when I stopped.” The deputy tossed his hat into the passenger seat.

  “Thank you. My name’s Joel. Joel Patterson. Maybe I can pay you back someday.” Joel said.

  “Maybe. Goodbye Joel. Hope you make it.” The deputy slid into the seat. The car pulled away.

  He watched the car pull around the bend and disappear. He stood in the yard for another minute listening. He could still hear sirens blaring towards downtown. He heard helicopters in the distance. He turned and went back in the house.

  “Abby?” He looked into the living room. “Abby?” He turned towards the kitchen. He spun around. “ABBY!!!” He ran to the bedroom. The door was open.

  Abby stood in front of the thing. It hadn’t moved from where he had last seen it.

  “Abby.” He whispered harshly.

  “She won’t do anything.” Abby said as she looked at the woman in front of her. “She looks like Mom, but it’s not her. Maybe it’s her body but her spirit is gone or something.”

  “It’s not your mother.” He said. He slowly stepped into the room. The thing stood almost motionless except for a slight rocking of its head like a baby that has just about mastered holding its head up.

  “She’s different.” Abby said.

  “Different?” Joel stepped a little closer.

  “When she bit us she was angry. Like a rage or something. Now she’s practically asleep.” Abby said. “Like she doesn’t even know we’re here. Look.” Abby poked the things arm. It didn’t react.

  “Abby stop.” He stepped beside her.

  “What does it mean?” Abby asked.

  “What does what mean?”

  “This. All this. Why is she different? Or is there something different about us?” She asked. “I mean shouldn’t we be like her by now?”

  “Like her?” Joel tilted his head.

  “Yeah, it’s been almost all day now. And we’re both still okay. Shouldn’t we have, I don’t know, turned into that by now?” Abby pointed.

  He wasn’t ready to answer her question. He didn’t have an answer. But she was right. Something was different. They should be at least feeling sick or something. Something.

  “We have to leave.” He said. “We have to go.”

  “Why?”

  “Because we can’t stay here and the sooner we get going, the better it will be.” He said.

  “Okay. What about her?” She asked.

  “I don’t know. We’ll figure that out. Right now we need to get some things together.” He said as he turned towards the door. She paused, looking closely at the woman in front of her, and then turned and followed. She shut the door behind her. He led her into the kitchen.

  “We need to get all the food worth carrying together. I’ll try to see if I can dig out some backpacks.” He said.

  “Okay.”

  “But first, I’m going to need you to do something.”

  “What?” She asked.

  He held up one of the bags the deputy had given him.

  “I’m going to need you to, well, I’m going to need your help.” He smiled.

  “Okay.”

  Two hours later and he still couldn’t feel anything. He had jabbed all around his hand because he didn’t think it was working. It was working. He hadn’t felt anything at all. He had ended up having her stretch his finger out so he could snip the broken part off with the wire cutters. The short end of the bone was just under the surface of the remainder of his finger. He had wrapped everything up tight. He had enough bandages to redress it several times and enough antibiotics to fight off all but the worst infections. The queasiness that settled in his stomach as he cut his own finger off had waned. She had seemed morbidly fascinated as she helped him. The blood didn
’t seem to bother her as much as it had him.

  “You could be a doctor.” He said as she plopped down on the couch next to him. “Really, you could.”

  “I didn’t do anything.” She said. She popped open the bag of chips.

  “You did a lot. And you did it well. I couldn’t have done that at your age. I would’ve passed out or something.” He said.