After Life

by Jaron Lee Knuth

  The alley behind the diner was flanked by a wire fence that separated it from a small park. A dumpster was sitting right next to the back door and bags of trash lined the wall. Alex and Morgan both looked around cautiously, scanning through the blowing snow for any of the murderous men. Screams could be heard from inside the diner. Horrific screams.

  Alex moved to the right when a moan erupted from around the corner and a decrepit old man staggered from the side of the building into the alleyway. He held his arms the same way as the others, reaching for the two of them with his mouth hanging open, but his body could only carry him so fast. Matching his age, he dressed in clothes from the early 1940s. Half his face was gone and only bone showed through. The old man moved toward them.

  Alex called out, “Hey! Hey, just leave us alone!”

  Morgan added in, “We don’t want any trouble.”

  The man continued approaching them. Behind him, out in the street, Alex saw a man get tackled by a woman. She tore into his chest with her teeth. Alex looked into the panic stricken eyes of the girl he cared deeply for, hoping for an answer.

  “Run,” was all she said.

  Alex saw a piece of fence that hung loose and he knelt down to it. Pushing it aside for Morgan, he said through gritted teeth, “Come on, through here.”

  Still holding onto each other’s hands tightly, the two of them ran into the park and over the small hill that a tree sat at the top of. Their feet slipped on the snow-covered grass periodically, but their momentum kept them moving forward. When they reached the top they both spun around, surveying the streets that surrounded them. They could see random groups of people moving near the park and a few people running away from them. Screams and moans were carried on the howling wind. The sound of sirens could be heard faintly in the distance. The chaos was scattered, but grew with every passing second.

  “What is happening, Alex?” Morgan panted, out of breath from running up the hill. “Why did those guys attack each other like that? This can’t be just a flu virus.”

  “They were eating each other.” Alex rubbed his eyes, no longer trusting them. “Why would they do that? What could make somebody do that?”

  Morgan shook the snow from her hair and looked down. “I want my car. We need my car. We can’t stay here.”

  “You’re right.” Alex looked around as smoke started to pour into the air from surrounding buildings that had caught on fire for unknown reasons. The chaos was spreading out in waves. His paranoia showed him the end of the world. Morgan screamed his name, shocking him out of his fantasies and alerting him to a small child running toward them. She was missing her arm and growling through bloody teeth.

  “Oh my god, I’m going to puke.” Morgan covered her mouth.

  Alex looked down at the one-armed girl as she tried to lift her feet high enough to walk through the deep snow. She kept coming toward them, wearing torn, stained, pink snow-pants. The sight of the blood-covered child chilled him to his bones. His instinct was to help her. She was eight at the oldest.

  Morgan had never seen a child so young with that look on her face. She ground her teeth together, making up her mind. The little girl posed no physical threat to her. A swift kick to the head and the kid would be tumbling down the hill. If the parents wanted to sue her, they could go right ahead.

  “You’re not going to eat us.” Morgan stepped up and kicked as hard as she could, almost slipping on the ice but managing to fumble her arms in the air to keep her balance. Morgan’s foot connected with the little girl’s face and her tiny body went rolling down the hill, casting off the snow all around it. She never stopped hissing the entire way down the hill.

  Morgan shrieked, “Oh my god. What did I-”

  Without answering Alex grabbed onto Morgan’s wrist and he pulled her toward the street. She resisted at first, but gave in easily, following his pull. When they reached the sidewalk, he ran in a straight and determined line back toward the parking lot.

  “I kicked that little girl!”

  “These people are insane and they're trying to kill people,” Alex was speaking in a focused monotone explanation. In his mind, there was no room for error in his judgment. “You did the right thing. You were trying to help me.”

  “You’re right.” She breathed heavy and grabbed his shoulder, turning him so he was looking at her. “Thank you.” He had reminded her of her strength. He had pulled her back into the space in her mind she was most comfortable. A cold place.

  Alex turned back around, leading them toward the front of the diner. A small group of older women moaned in front of a hair salon and they turned toward Alex and Morgan, lifting their arms outstretched in front of them. Alex started running again, pulling Morgan’s arm behind him. One block later the three women became distracted by a family who was trying to unlock the doors of their minivan.

  When Alex and Morgan finally reached the corner of the diner and peeked around at the parking lot, they saw it was beginning to fill with the infected. Morgan recognized most of the customers from inside the diner. All of them were badly wounded, one even missing his leg. They all stumbled about, mindlessly staggering through the snow and broken glass.

  Alex knew they couldn’t get into the car without getting near at least some of the infected people, but he hoped Morgan could.

  “I’m going to run through the parking lot and cause a distraction,” Alex said, squinting his eyes to scan the entire lot. “When they come after me, run for your car. I’ll circle around the back of the diner and you pick me up at the end of the alley.”

  “Alex, no…”

  Without listening to her, he took off running. Her instinct was to yell at him, but she caught the words about to burst from her throat and she stayed hidden.

  Alex ran into the lot, and before he made a noise two waitresses shrieked into the air. One of them was missing her bottom jaw and a tongue wriggled around in the exposed throat. She started moving toward him, climbing over knocked over chairs, still shrieking. The rest of the infected people turned to face him, alerted by the high-pitched noise. He ran past the first two truck drivers easily, slamming his fists on the hoods of the cars to draw their attention.

  Soon the whole lot was moaning, turning to run toward Alex. He leapt up onto the ice-covered hood of a car, slipping, and almost falling off. Once he regained his balance he looked over the mass of people moving toward him. Some of them walked, some were running, and in the distance he saw Morgan spring from the corner of the diner and start for her car. The people stayed focused on him. Smiling, he leapt off the hood and he ran for the side of the building, turning around to keep yelling at the infected people, drawing them closer.

  He made his way to the back of the diner and he slid around the corner into the alleyway. Between him and the road stood the old man dressed in a suit from the 1940s. The old man moaned when he saw Alex and started walking slowly toward him. Alex looked back and he saw the mass of diner customers still following his trail.

  He looked down at the dumpster against the brick wall and he saw a plank of wood hanging loosely from a crate. He grabbed the wide board and pulled on it, trying to break it off. His first pull didn’t budge the board, but once he planted his foot into the side, the board pulled free. As he stepped back from the release, he saw the customers behind him round the corner, their moan reaching a sort of crescendo.

  Alex ran toward the old man, swinging the board behind his head like a baseball bat. Right before he reached a swinging distance in front of the flesh hungry old man, Alex's foot slipped out from underneath him and he found himself lying on his back with the wind knocked out of lungs.

  As he stared into the sky, trying to suck air into his chest, the old man stepped over him, leaning down to grab him with long, skinny fingers. Alex rolled to the side and scrambled to his feet. He saw the customers running into the alley and he stepped back as the old man lunged for him.

  He found himself with his back against the chain link fence and the old man wa
s still coming. He dove under the old man’s outstretched arms and ran for the street. He felt the old man’s fingers scrape against his back as he ducked by him and broke away free.

  As he neared the opening of the alleyway, he saw Morgan’s Volkswagen pull up. She leaned over and opened the door so that he could jump in. He did and he slammed the door behind himself. Alex hammered the lock with his fist and Morgan stomped on the gas as the mob of people slammed into her car, splattering their blood across the windows. The wheels spun in the ice before finally catching and launching them down the road. Alex realized then that he had been screaming the entire time. He was still screaming. His lungs tried to stop.

  “Don’t ever do something like that again,” Morgan yelled and she started slapping his arm.

  Morgan spun the car around on the ice, making a sharp right turn at high speed. She spun the car out straight again and she headed for the city limits, dodging around the random person running through the street.

  She stopped herself from crying as they drove past a woman yelling for help. The woman was holding off one infected person, but two more were almost on top of her. No matter how many times Alex told her she did the right thing by continuing to drive, Morgan would never forgive herself.

  Day 1

  12:32 pm

  The radio offered nothing but speculation as they turned onto I-94, heading back to Alex’s apartment. Morgan’s house was closer, but she brushed off Alex when he asked why she didn’t want to go there. The interstate was surprisingly empty and Morgan pushed past the speed limit without hesitation. She needed safety and she needed it fast. Alex tried his cell phone over and over, but only got a recorded message about high call volume. His body was starting to feel weak as the adrenaline wore off. His arms felt tight and his tongue was dry.

  “The President has issued a general health warning for all the 48 states.” The hosts on the radio acted calm, which Alex felt guilty about wanting to believe. He wanted to think this was normal. He wanted to think if they just got home and locked the door, it would be no different than a bad blizzard. He felt guilty that he could offer no solace, or comfort to Morgan. He wanted to badly. He knew they both needed it.

  “Is it really only fear that stops me? Fear that I would make her uncomfortable if I touched her,” he thought. “Or is it the fear that the temptation of simply touching her is too much for me?”

  Morgan bit her lip, her mind thinking of Christopher. She wondered if he was okay. She wondered if he was sick, or if these crazed people were at the airport. She wanted to voice her concern, but she held it in. She was unable to show Alex any vulnerability.

  The radio filled the silence. “The number of dead is still an unknown factor at this time, but eyewitness accounts lead us to believe the number is very large, possibly reaching into the tens-of-thousands. Those suffering from fever, disorientation, suicidal or homicidal thoughts, or any type of psychotic behavior are urged to visit the hospital immediately. You can also visit our website and check our FAQ – that’s frequently asked questions – about this new health phenomenon. And now we have an expert in the field joining us. Dr. Julian Randolph, author of ‘The Sickness of Madness.’”

  “I’m scared Morgan.” Alex had held that in since he saw the first person die.

  Morgan had an unlit cigarette hanging in her mouth. She stared out the windshield, gripping the steering wheel tightly. Alex grabbed her lighter out of her hand on the steering wheel and he lit her cigarette for her.

  “Thank you.”

  He tried to start a sentence, but spoke in fragments. “I’m... I don’t mean... I just... This isn’t just some sickness, you know? People weren’t feeling pain. They were missing limbs, but the were still walking around.”

  “I know,” she said dryly, taking another drag from her cigarette.

  “They were attacking each other, but they didn’t just want to hurt people.”

  “I know, Alex.” She blew out her smoke hard, angrily.

  “They wanted to bite you! To eat you!”

  “I know, Alex!” That part she yelled. “I get it, okay? I was there. This is fucked up. This is totally... this is a total mess. I get it.”

  “I’m sorry.” Alex shrunk into his seat. “You know me. I have to figure shit out. It always helped when I could do that. With you.”

  There was a silence in the car as those words hung in the air. Morgan let the sweetness of the comment sink into her chest. She took a deep breath.

  “Alex.” She took a drag of her cigarette. “Thanks for… thanks for everything back there.” She reached out and grabbed his hand, squeezing it for only a moment.

  Alex smiled and looked at Morgan, hoping to catch the look in her eye. She stared out the windshield, letting go of his hand. Alex turned away from her and looked out his window. The sky over Minneapolis was beginning to fill with clouds of smoke. Small fires had broken out all over. Homes, businesses, cars, all of them sent plumes of billowing black pillars into the sky. The city looked like a war zone.

  When they reached the exit, Morgan let out a whispered curse as they both noticed a grouping of people wandering down the middle of the ramp. The people turned as the car approached and started running as fast as they could, screaming in a bloody, gurgling growl. Morgan instinctively pressed on the brakes and the car slowed.

  “No!” Alex yelled, pressing the palms of his hands against the dashboard. “Don’t slow down!”

  Morgan screamed in disgust as a woman leapt onto the hood of the car, her eyes gouged from her face and her shirt torn open exposing her ripped apart chest. The woman’s ribcage was opened wide, vital organs missing from the cavity.

  Morgan pressed on the gas and the car sped forward, slamming into the side of a mailman with a red stained uniform. It continued on, knocking over a large man with no shirt, whose arm dangled at the elbow by a few layers of skin.

  “What the fuck, Alex! Look at these people!” Morgan spun the wheel when they reached the top of the ramp, turning onto the two-lane road at high speed. The bloody woman atop the hood slid off, her fingernails digging into the windshield leaving behind a smear of red blood.

  The road in front of them was scattered with people, many of them running at the car and beating their hands against the side as Morgan swerved in between them.

  They reached the parking lot behind Alex’s apartment, and both gasped a breath of relief when they saw no infected people. Morgan slammed on the brakes, hopping up onto the curb of the parking spot. They both jumped out of the car, and keys at the ready, Alex unlocked the back door to the building. Holding the door open for Morgan, he nearly fell into the doorway as he saw an infected man from the street come running around the corner, trying to spot what happened to the inhabitants of the Volkswagen. The stairwell door slammed shut, auto locking, just as the enraged man saw Alex in the doorway.

  Alex started the climb up the three flights of stairs, leading the way. He bounded up the stairs, taking at least two stairs at a time. By the second floor Morgan called out: “Slow down” in between heaving breaths. Alex trotted back down a few stairs and put his hand on her back. He immediately yanked his hand away like he had touched a hot pan, instead just walking at a slower pace alongside her.

  When they reached the third floor, Alex pulled the door to the hallway open and peeked through the opening as quietly as he could. The hallway looked empty so he pulled the door open fully and waved his hand at Morgan, motioning for her to walk through.

  She ducked under his arm and he followed her down the hallway once she passed through. They made their way to his apartment as quietly as possible, but he fumbled with his keys once they got to the door. Finally he got the large key to slide into the lock and the door fell open. They both rushed in, gasping for breath they didn’t realize they had been holding, and Alex shut the door behind them. He locked the doorknob and the deadbolt.

  Morgan took off her coat and sat down on Alex's couch. She rested her head in her hands and let her ha
ir fall to the sides of her fingers. Alex walked into the kitchen and leaned against his counter top.

  “We should turn on the news,” he said quietly, not sure what he should say. A thought dawned on him and he began digging through the cupboards. Morgan pushed her hair behind her ears, adjusted her glasses, and reached out for the remote. As she clicked on the screen, Alex came back into the room with a small bowl. “You can use this as an ashtray.”

  “No. No. I’m not going to smoke in your apartment.” She pushed the bowl away from her.

  He laughed uncomfortably as he sat down in a recliner next to the couch. “Seriously. I’m not going to make you go outside.”

  Morgan chuckled and let out a sigh of defeat. She smiled when she thought of how nice he was being. She lit a cigarette.

  “You should try to call you parents,” Morgan said.

  Alex cringed. Morgan’s mother and father had died in a car crash fourteen months ago. His concern for his own parents felt selfish, but he picked up the phone. There was no dial tone, just a busy signal.

  “Oh my god!” Morgan was staring at the TV while covering her mouth with her hand, but she didn’t look away.

  Alex looked at the screen and saw a home video of a man missing the lower half of his body crawling down a sidewalk. Intestines and hunks of flesh dragged behind him, but he left no blood trail. This man had lost all his blood a long time ago.

  His flesh was mottled and saggy. He dragged himself at a slow pace, but continued pulling his upper half toward the cameraman. He had the same milky white look in his eye that all the infected did.

  Across the bottom of the screen in blocky letters it read:

  DEAD MAN STILL MOVES!

  Morgan shook her head. “No way. There is no way. It’s a hoax. It has to be.”

  Alex just kept watching the video, which they replayed over and over. “It looks real, Morgan. The people we saw on the street were almost as bad as he looks.”