The Need For Flesh (Apocalyptic Cannibalism Book 1)

by Matthew Hawking

  He got up and rushed over the road where he was greeted by the group, not in the most welcoming of voices, he saw some of their faces – it was sad. The army man came rushing over.

  ‘Are you hurt? What is your name?’ The army man said.

  ‘My…my name is Brian Amsden.’

  ‘How old are you sir?’

  ‘I am…thirty-one.’

  ‘How many fingers am I holding up with my hand Brian.’

  ‘F-Four. Yes four.’

  ‘Ok Brian. Have you been attacked by one of them?’

  ‘No-no I have not.’

  ‘Are you–’

  ‘Oh wait yes I have. It was a young girl…’

  When Brian said it was a young girl, he could see some members in the group hold their mouths. They looked horrified.

  ‘How badly are you hurt Brian?’

  ‘It is just a scratch.’

  Brian was lying; it was not just a scratch. That bitch took a whole mouth full of flesh before going for a sky dive.

  ‘Ok. Brian. My name is Sergeant Galvin. I am here to protect you and get you out of here, do you understand that.’

  ‘Yes…yes I do. Where are the others?’ Brian asked.

  You could feel the energy drop. Almost everyone looked down simultaneously. One woman wearing a cap that said: J.A.K, broke out in tears.

  The Sergeant put his arm on Brian’s shoulder. ‘I am afraid we got split up. We got attacked by a whole bunch of them. We never saw it coming, it was like flash mob. They…they came out from nowhere. We lost a lot of people.’

  The woman in the cap squealed and was about to scream, luckily another member wrapped his hand around her mouth.

  There was a group much larger than the one Brian was in, that was now exiting an apartment building. Brian was starting to recognise the psychos easily. It was just the way they walked. Occasionally they would stare up at the sky as if someone is shining a torch on their faces.

  The group now exiting the large apartment building (not far from Brian’s group), was getting larger and larger. It was a steady stream of flesh eaters, Brian thought.

  ‘Everyone keep your head down!’ Galvin said.

  And that is exactly what everyone did. Everyone was now breathing distance from the floor.

  But it was bad news. The large group was heading straight for them.

  (19)

  Everyone looked panic stricken, even Sergeant Galvin. He was one man, one man with a gun. Even though it was nice looking firearm, everyone knew that there were just too many of those…things. Even if Galvin could kill one, two even five, what would that help? There was still going to be at least ten storming the group with their fangs out. Brian decided that they were fucking vampires, because that is what they did was it not? Eat humans.

  But this far from your normal ‘vampire’, these people could walk in sunlight. They were now very close. The lady next to Brian had her face washing down with sweat. Even Galvin, he looked confused, unable to come with anything to do.

  This was when Brian heard a man say something.

  He was not that old, maybe around forty, forty-five. If Brian had to describe the man in one word, it would probably be: farmer. Yes, some farmer from Alabama. Brian could imagine him chewing straw and shouting at animals.

  While the man spoke, he kept touching his head temple, he looked like a man that was planning something big…something…

  Then Brian heard him, he said: Guys, It was a pleasure, please tell me daughter I love her dearly. He then got a picture from his chest pocket and gave it to the lady in the cap.

  Farmer man got up from his knees. He ran the opposite direction. He then shouted something down the lines of: Hey fuckers. Ova here! Yeah that is right. Yeah you guys.

  Then Brian heard something he has heard before. It was the same screeching howl he heard from that woman when he got chased in the alley way. The first time Brian heard it, he concluded that it was some sort of calling. And what happened next only confirmed that it was some sort of call.

  No one dared to peek and see what was happening. But you could hear farmer run his ass of. The man was a God damn hero. Not long after the howl, you could hear all of them running after farmer. Not only that, there were a lot more that came from all directions. Three even jumped out from the bushes of Central Park. There was even one that ran past straight Galvin’s group. He was wearing blue overalls, it was stained with oil. All that he needed was some fucking spanner in the hand Brian thought. But the man was so hypnotised, (Brian was sure it was because of the call), that he did not even notice them.

  Brian knew in his heart, that farmer would have almost no luck in getting away. He has seen those things run. He had first-hand experience with that young girl. Even she outran him.

  A few minutes later Galvin got up to check if the coast was clear. It was.

  ‘Ok guys, let’s move. We need to get indoors.’ Galvin said.

  He raised the gun to his chest and everyone followed.

  (20)

  Brian wishes he could take a picture. It is as if the heavens opened up, smiling. The sky above was a hot pink that had dashes of yellow stripes all over. It is as if a child took a box of crayons and took their time to color in the sky. While birds flew overhead, Brian felt at peace; his mind was focused on something else just for once. As he took two deep breaths, someone stood next to him.

  ‘Howdy. Do you want to be alone…or?’

  Brian looked to his right. It was the woman that waved at him when he first saw them. She was still wearing her black dress. She did however smell very nice.

  ‘Yeah sure, have a sit.’ Brian said.

  As she sat down Brian noticed for the first time how beautiful she actually was. She had a small nose. Her eyes forest green. Her hair shoulder height and black. He did not know if it was her natural hair color or not.

  She was now looking at her hands and this was when Brian noticed her red nail paint. One finger nail had its paint completely removed.

  ‘Oh, I tell you what. The first I am doing after all of this is getting my nails done.’

  This was the last thing Brian thought he would hear, and could not help but chuckle. ‘Yeah, think I will do the same thing.’

  She smiled. ‘How are you holding up with everything?’

  ‘I, I am doing fine. Just very, surreal.’

  ‘Yeah…I know what you mean.’ She looked down, sad.

  ‘How are you holding up?’ Brian asked.

  ‘I lost…people close to me. I have not really had the time to deal with it yet, that is the hardest part.’

  Brian had a bump in his stomach. What she said connected with him; he knew exactly how she felt. He even had the urge to tell her about Mason. But he thought that it was not the right time, she probably just wanted someone to talk to.

  ‘What is your name?’ Brian asked.

  ‘Sarah.’

  ‘Well Sarah, I know what you mean.’

  ‘You do?’

  [Another urge to tell her about Mason, but he ignores it]

  ‘Yeah, sometimes you lose people you care about. I get what you are saying, it makes sense, with everything that is happening, there is not much time to deal with your own pain.’ Brian said.

  She smiles. If only for a little.

  Brian tries to change the subject. ‘It’s a beautiful night is it not?’

  ‘Yeah, can’t believe how beautiful it is. I think we are lucky to have found this apartment building empty. Not to mention its added balcony.’ Sarah said.

  Brian nods.

  ‘I work as a paralegal down at Lower Manhattan. Always so-so busy. Never get any time off. Well I don’t really mind. I am a bit of a work alcoholic. My family and friends are always complaining.’ She smiles. ‘“Sarah come have a drink with us, Sarah you are always working, Sarah when are you coming down for a family dinner”’ She laughs, but only a little. ‘But now, I regret it. I should have. I should have spent more time with my family and friends.’
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  ‘Don’t blame yourself Sarah. No one could have predicted all of this. No one.’

  ‘Yeah…I guess you are right. It just happened all so fast. My boss asked me to head up to Upper Manhattan for a meeting. We were all in the conference room when we heard screaming outside. Then gun shots.’ Sarah said.

  Brian was about to say something when they got interrupted by Sergeant Galvin. He asked Brian if he could come inside, he needed his help on something.

  Brian got up and just before he left Sarah said: Hey, you know what, there are working showers here you know. I just had one.

  Brian smiled and walked inside.

  (21)

  Everyone had their own room. As Brian walked down the corridor and past the doors – it was as if each door had a story to tell. One room had a mother dressing her child, and kept telling him to stand still. Another room had a woman crying on her husband’s shoulder. One room in particular pulled Brian’s heart strings. The room was big, too big for one person. It was an elderly white woman sitting on the edge of the bed, looking at a crumpled picture. Brian thought of Veora, and wished with all his heart that she was ok, and her husband…what was his name again…oh yes, Veora’s words: “JACOB, the most handsome man she ever knew”.

  Brian walked past the room and stopped. He walked back and knocked on the door. She looked startled, but then, gave a warm smile.

  ‘Can I come in?’ Brian asked.

  ‘Of course you can my dear.’

  Brian walked in and sat next to her.

  ‘Thought you could use some company.’ Brian said.

  ‘Oh…dear, that is so welcomed. Goodness me.’

  ‘I saw you looking at a picture, who is it?

  ‘Oh this?’ She picked up the crumpled photo from her lap, and gave it to Brian.

  The picture was of a baby, smiling.

  ‘Who this?’

  ‘That my dear, is my granddaughter. Is she not beautiful?’

  ‘Yes. She is gorgeous.’ Brian said, and was just about to ask her if anything happened to her. But, he opted not to.

  ‘Do…do you know what is going on out there..uh­–’

  ‘Brian.’

  ‘Brian. What a nice name. Brian do you know what is going on out there?’

  ‘I have no idea…the last thing I heard was that it was some sort of gas leak, and that was on CNN a few days back. But I think we both know that that is far from the truth.’

  She nods. ‘Dear. It is absolutely grotesque. I am sixty-two, never in my life have I ever seen something like this. It is as if the world has gone mad. Totally mad.’

  ‘Yeah I agree.’

  The lady stuck her hand out. ‘My name is Elizabeth dear.’

  Brian shook her hand and felt like saying: You don’t look a day over forty Elizabeth.

  But he thought that it would not really be an appropriate thing under the circumstances. And besides, she looked like the kind of woman that did not really enjoy flattery that much.

  Then, if you could listen carefully, there were moaning coming from outside.

  Brian got up, he went over to the window, and sure enough there were a few of them walking in a line, luckily walking away from the apartment building.

  ‘Well Elizabeth, it was a pleasure talking to you, but I better be going now.’

  ‘Thank you so much for taking the time to spare some thought for an old lady dear.’

  Brian gave a nod. And then just before he walked away she grabbed his hand. She looked at him with a serious face. A facial expression moulded through pain and suffering.

  ‘Brian. I want you to have this.’

  She rummaged her pockets and got out a golden bracelet. It had little stars and hearts woven all over it. Brian instinctively knew what this was – and for whom it was.

  ‘Dear, please take this and don’t you say no. It was meant for my grandchild. But now that…now that…’

  Tears started to roll down her face one by one. ‘Please take it Brian. I want you to have it. It will bring you good luck.’

  Brian saw that she was not going to take no for an answer. And even felt like if he said no, that it would truly hurt her. So, he took it and thanked her with all his heart.

  As he walked away he could feel his eyes getting watery.

  (22)

  The apartment building they were now hiding in was a large bed and breakfast complex. They were lucky enough to find it empty; they checked every room and every nook. Most rooms had an eerie abandon look to them, as if people got up and just ran out; almost every room had clothes spilled across the floors like people did not even need them anymore. The roof above had an open terrace that was very welcomed; a few members of the group volunteered to keep watch – and it even gave a nice bird’s eye view of all the shit going on.

  Brian was slowly walking down the stairs on his way to Galvin when he heard moaning. He stopped.

  The moaning was coming from just around the corner. It almost sounded as if…as if…

  Brian had to check it out. He walked the rest of the steps down, and was just about to peek around the corner. When, the moaning stopped. Brian frowned with confusion. He jumped around the corner as if playing peek a boo with a small child.

  In front of him was a long thin corridor. The light was a lot more relaxed down here than upstairs. The corridor also led all the way down to a door - that had a green sign above that said: FIRE EXIT.

  Brian took two steps forward when he heard the moaning again. This time the moaning was a soft howl; it even sounded like sobbing now. He was sure that it was coming from somewhere down there. He was sure of it.

  The aisle was long, but Brian already made it half way down to fire exit sign – when – he heard it again, it was definitely sobbing. It was near now. There was a door on the left not far from him. It was an ugly brown door with a steel knob that looked cold. Brian walked over, and saw that it was not a room meant for customers, on the side it had writing on the wall that said: DO NOT ENTER. EMPLOYEES ONLY.

  Brian stuck his hand out and thought the steel knob was not as cold as he thought.

  His feet however, had a chill touch gliding over it. There was cold air soothing out from the slit of the door.

  The knob turned half way – and made a CLUK sound. Brian stopped, he saw in his peripheral vision - someone staring at him from the left.

  It was Sergeant Galvin. ‘Hey Brian, I will be downstairs in the foyer.’

  With misty breath, Brian replied: ‘Sure Galvin. Be down in a sec.’

  He was now staring at the door again, with hand still firmly planted on the knob. He turned it, and this time it went all the way.

  The door opened up. It was not a room, it was a closet with a lot of junk inside. Brian could see a hoover, a lot of broomsticks, cleaning detergents and–

  –A little boy crying.

  He did not actually see a boy cry, but he heard it as clear as it was possible. It was as if a kid was standing right in front of his face, and crying. The kind of tearful sob that would break anyone’s heart; tears would flow and then stop, then start over again with snot hanging out.

  But there was nothing in front of Brian other than broomsticks, detergents and a dusty hoover.

  With cold sweat stalling over his face, he rummaged the closet furiously, even spilling green cleaning liquid. Absolutely nothing was in here, he was sure of it.

  He walked backwards and slammed the door shut. With face frowned, he turned his back and walked away.

  This was when he heard these four words whisper on the side his neck as if someone was just behind him:

  “Run. They are coming”

  (23)

  ‘You look like you have seen a ghost. Everything alright?’ Galvin asked.

  Brian came strolling next to him, face white. ‘Yeah, yeah everything fine. Just – uh – still getting to grips with everything going on outside.’

  ‘Ok. Well Brian, we got work to do.’ Galvin said. He picked up his talkie and began ch
anging the frequencies; nothing came out other than static. ‘Dammit. We are totally cut off from the others.’

  ‘Others?’ Brian asked and looked to his left, where he saw how securely they were “blocked off”.

  The main entrance was blockaded with many suitcases. The windows shaded with blankets. Even the light in the foyer was but a candle.

  ‘Yes others. The rest of the army. The safe zone.’ Galvin said.

  ‘Oh yes, about that, I am actually amazed that I have not seen much resistance?’

  ‘Brian, I will tell you the truth. I don’t know much myself, and to be honest with you, I don’t think anyone knows what the hell is actually going on. The only orders we got was to evacuate Upper Manhattan and parts of Bronx. Then a few hours later we were ordered to set up a safe zone in Lower Manhattan. We still did not know exactly why, we just follow orders Brian. It is not like we know everything.’

  Brian sighed. And shook his head. ‘I don’t understand Galvin, it…it is not right what is going on out there. Those people are…attacking others and fucking eating them as if they are lunch.’

  The Sergeant looked down. This was the first time Brian saw him show any kind of weakness. The way he looked down made him also think that the shit he has seen was almost nothing compared to Brian.

  ‘Brian, I think we can definitely confirm it being no gas leak.’

  ‘But why would the government lie like that. It is…it is like in the movies, they always keep the information–’

  ‘And for a good reason. Think about it, if the government announces that something big is going to happen, and not to mention that there is always the possibility of them being wrong, think of the consequences, people will go crazy and start running down streets. It is sad but true. I have seen it with my own eyes Brian. You go to work every day thinking how marvellous human beings are, but when the shit hits the fan, people freak out, and when they freak out they don’t think straight.’

  ‘Yeah, I guess you are right. So what is your plan?’ Brian asked.