by Lee Dunter
At a loss for words, Ryan asked the first thing that came to mind. “Who are you?”
“We asked first,” said the other figure, with a much deeper voice. This scenario reminded Ryan of petty elementary school arguments.
“Well, uh, I’m Ryan . . . but that doesn’t really do you any good does it?”
“No, I suppose not,” said the first voice. “What business do you have here?”
Joe Replied, from somewhere behind Ryan, “It’s fucked up out there, and we barely made it in here with our lives. What do you care? Last time I checked, we were here first. What’s your business here?”
Ryan heard the strangers whisper to each other. The, the lights came on, and Ryan blinked rapidly to adjust his eyes. As he did, one of the newcomers came into focus, one hand on the light switch, the other hand wielding a hammer. He raised the hammer and pointed it at Ryan’s face. The man was tall and pudgy and going bald on the top of his head. He wore glasses that magnified the size of his eyes, which sunk deeply under his brow. The other man was much smaller, mousy in all his facial features. He held a baseball bat, it looking out of place in his arms. Why is he the one with the bat? Ryan wondered, his mind, even in danger, going to strange places.
“So what do we do about this?” the taller man asked.
“Well,” his companion said, pausing, pondering the situation. “We have no reason to distrust them. After all, they just walked in here, they weren’t exactly looking for trouble.” He turned to Ryan, now smiling. “We thought you were zombies. It’s really quite a nice surprise you’re here. Not sure how much longer we would have lasted alone.”
Ryan gave him a quizzical look. “Wait. What?”
“It’s a joke,” he said, and he continued, but Ryan wasn’t listening.
Zombies–there’s that word again. Ryan reflected over the whole day. How Deborah looked, how she was impervious to pain. The way she acted, the way she moved. The monster’s cruelty in the streets. Then Ryan saw clearly, like she was directly in front of him, the little girl from the street and the horrified look on her face as she watched her father fall to the ground dead. But he didn’t stay dead, did he?
Holy shit! Ryan thought. Zombies! Now that he understood, Ryan couldn’t believe it took him so long to realize what these monsters were. His mind raced. Zombies. The word echoed in his head, over and over, as if reputation would make it more plausible. But the zombies he had seen today looked nothing like the ones he was familiar with, the ones had seen in “Dawn of the Dead” as a child. Those zombies slowly lumbered around in decayed flesh. But these zombies looked so . . . human.
The storeroom started to spin. Cam, who had approached during the conversation, caught Ryan as his legs buckled, both of them collapsing onto the floor.
“Whoa there Bessie!” Cam said. “You all right? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” He paused, chuckling. “I guess that isn’t so ridiculous these days.”
Ryan lay there on the ground while Cam inched his way out from under him. Ryan found every breath difficult, a struggle. His heart raced. Wide-eyed, he looked up at Cam and said, “Zombies.”
Cam gave him a puzzled look. “No, they’re not zombies. Are you high? Look at them.” He pointed to the strangers at the door. “Just as much human as you and me.”
“He might be in shock,” said the mousy stranger. “Don’t worry, he’ll come around.”
It was clear to Ryan that everyone already knew, that he was the last one to realize. How could Ryan be the only one? Whatever the reason, he had now made himself look like a fool. Ryan was grateful that they mistook his ignorance for shock, but it still bothered him that it took him so long to realize what these creatures were. He didn’t consider himself to be naïve. So what had taken him so long? After thinking for a moment, Ryan came to a possible answer. He remembered the night when his parents allowed him and his friends to watch “Dawn of the Dead.” This had been his first encounter with zombies. His friends had enjoyed it, but Ryan had to force himself to finish it. Nightmares haunted his sleep for almost four months afterwards. Ryan supposed, in some way, his subconscious had removed zombies from his vocabulary, so now that they actually existed, he didn’t recognize them. But he could no longer escape reality. Zombies were real, here and now, regardless of how much he wished otherwise.
Ryan suddenly became aware that he was still on the floor and that his companions were gathering around him. He sat up and felt fine, so he stood, looking towards the window. Monsters–no, zombies–surrounded the building. “Zombies,” Ryan repeated, pointing towards the window. Zombies lined the glass, attracted by the sounds and light inside. Some pushed on the glass while a few others beat their fists against it. Tiny cracks were beginning to appear. Ryan could read the expressionless fury in their faces and blood-shot eyes through the glass.
“They’re not going to break the glass anytime soon,” the mousy man said. “And even if they do, the gate should hold them. There are apartments upstairs. We’ve been camping out in one, and there’s plenty of space.”
Joe spoke for the group. “We should go up with them. We’re attracting a bit too much attention here.”
After turning off the lights, Ryan followed the group out of the room, closing the door behind him, up a flight of stairs to the fourth floor, and into a small apartment. The men spread out in the living room, some taking furniture and others sitting on the floor. It was a small space, and cheaply furnished, but it would be safer for everyone to stay in one room. Ryan sat in between Joe and Cam on the couch. The mousy man came back into the living room with Poptarts and potato chips. Hungry, Ryan took a pack of Poptarts. As they all ate in silence, Ryan’s thoughts drifted. All day he had wanted to know what was happening and what these monsters were. Now that he knew, he wished he had never known. His worst nightmare, his childhood demons, alive and walking the streets. Hunting him, chasing him . . . married to him.
The tall man walked back into the living room and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall. “So, you all right, er, Ryan was it?” he asked.
“Ya, it’s Ryan. And I’m fine, thanks. I’ve just kind of been through a lot today. We all have.”
“Yes,” he said somberly in reply.
Ryan fought back a smirk. He doubted that this man, or any of the others, could truly empathize with what he’d been through that day.
“I’m Kyle, by the way. Kyle Shorter.”
Cam leaned forward on the couch and turned to face Kyle. “Wait! Kyle Shorter, like the preacher Kyle Shorter?” Kyle nodded. “No way! My parents go to your church. They go every–” He stopped. His sudden cheerfulness and surprise drained away instantly, and he spoke the next words as if he knew they’d be painful, that they could no one any good, especially himself, yet the thought had already been formed and their release was needed. “Well I guess they went every week.”
Ryan looked down at his lap. Of course he wasn’t the only one who lost someone. They had all been through hell.
Kyle nodded empathetically towards the nerdy looking man, who said, “Right, um. My name is Albert.”
“I’m Joseph, call me Joe,” said the twin with the strong southern accent.
“And I’m Roland, but call me Roe.” The two smiled at each other, still finding amusement from their joke. Despite having vastly different accents, it was clear to Ryan they were inseparable.
Everyone looked at Cam. Aware of their eyes, he wiped away tears with his arm, trying his best to look as if he had never cried. “Cam.”
“It’s nice to meet all of you,” Kyle said. After a moment, Albert murmured his consent.
With this, all fell silent. Gloom hung in the air, as palpable as the wind on a spring day. Introductions had failed to kill the tension. What exactly do you do in the spawn of a zombie infestation? Ryan wondered.
After finishing his food, Ryan placed his trash on the coffee table and broke the silence: “So, do you two know each other?” They shook their heads. “Then How’d you end
up here together?”
They exchanged a glance, and then Albert cleared his throat and began. “Well, I’m a biology professor at Georgia Tech. I was working in the lab when–”
“But it’s summer,” Cam interrupted, his composure now fully regained. “Why were you at school?”
“Science doesn’t take a holiday, and neither do those who make it happen.”
Is this guy listening to himself ? Ryan thought.
“Um, Right,” Cam said.
“Anyways,” continued Albert. “I was in the lab when I thought I heard a car accident outside. I was at a good stopping point in my work, so I went out to see if I could help. Well, there was indeed a car accident. A woman had hit a pole. But what I didn’t expect was a riot of people attacking her car. When I got close enough, I was astonished to find that the riot was actually a zombie attack.”
Ryan blushed. Even the scientist had enough imagination to pin these creatures as zombies.
“Of course, I thought I was losing my mind. Zombies don’t exist. They’re a product of fiction. And as entertaining as some might find this nonsense, they simply just don’t exist.” He gathered his breath. “But a theory is naught if it contradicts data, and what I saw in front of me were zombies. Or at least something close enough to zombies that we can label them as such.”
“Never ask a professor a question unless you want the long answer,” Cam said. Albert glanced sternly at Cam, who quickly dropped his smile and looked away. Ryan couldn’t help but laugh. Eventually the others joined in, and the noise filled the apartment. Laughing felt good. Ryan was glad they still remembered how to, despite the surrounding chaos.
When the laughter ended, Albert said, “All right, Cam. Here’s your short version. The woman in the car was already dead, so I left. I didn’t know what to do, but I was worried about my x-wife so I headed to this building, where she lives. On the way, I got into some trouble, and Kyle saved my life. When we got here, she was already gone . . . the whole building was empty, in fact. We secured it.”
Kyle nodded, adjusting his glasses.
Ryan wasn’t ready to relive his story yet. To avoid being asked his own question, he said, “So, zombies. Actual zombies, walking around us.”
“I know,” Albert said. “I can’t believe it myself.”
“You’re a scientist. Have any idea what might have caused it?” Ryan asked. Of course not. How could he know that?
To Ryan’s surprise, Roe chimed in. “Well, we gotta few ideas?”
“Really?” Albert asked. “At ground zero were you?” The disdain in his voice was obvious.
Roe shot him a nasty look. “No. You see, I guess we are what you might call . . . ”
“Zombie enthusiasts,” Joe finished for his twin.
“Uh-huh,” Albert sneered, “and what exactly does that entail?”
The twins exchanged a look, appearing to regret that they spoke up. Roe then said, “It’s not like it’s a definition to memorize or anything.”
“We just like zombies.” Joe said. He shrugged. “The fictional ones at least.”
“Ya, we’re not too fond of the real ones,” Roe agreed.
“We watch the movies, read the books–typical fandom.” Joe paused. “Don’t think we’re too big of nerds, now. It’s a lot better than being a trekkie or worshipping George Lucas.”
“Sorry Bro, we kind of are nerds,” Roe said. “There’s a whole community of us. We’d get together and discuss zombies, and sometimes we talk about different things that could cause an actual zombie apocalypse.”
“And, of course, we planned for when the zombies attacked,” Joe finished.
Ryan threw his hand out to pause them. “Wait a minute. You have a zombie attack plan?”
“Well, yeah, why the hell not?” Roe asked. “It’s not like we actually thought zombies would attack. It was all in good fun. But, Jeff, well, you saw him. He took that shit a little too seriously.”
“Yep,” Joe said. “We thought he was as crazy as you probably think we are. But when zombies actually did attack, oh damn, did we get an ear full. And you saw how he reacted. Like all of our games had somehow prepared us for this madness.”
Ryan wanted to feel that the twin’s planning was nothing more than a childish, silly game, but zombies actually attacked, and now half the group owed their life to these two. Instead, Ryan felt gratitude, for they could’ve left him and Cam behind any time.
“Okay. So is this all part of your zombie plan?” Ryan asked.
“Sweet Jesus, I hope not,” Cam said. Kyle stared at Cam, as if asking him to choose his words more carefully. “Uh, sorry pastor.”
Kyle hid his smirk well, but Ryan noticed it, again finding comfort in humor.
“Whether we like it or not, this has become part of the zombie plan,” Joe answered. Ryan was strangely comfortable with that. He did decide to follow the twins, after all. “If an attack occurred in Atlanta, we would come here to stockpile weapons. After that we’re headed north up I-85 towards Harpersville, a small town northwest of here.”
“And we need to get out as quickly as we can,” Roe added. “This city will be put under containment soon, and who knows what will happen then.”
To Ryan, A small, unpopulated town sounded much safer than this overpopulated, urban wasteland. The others agreed.
With the plan established, Albert sat back in his chair, comfortable, crossing one leg over the other. Smirking, he changed the subject. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are some of these theories you two have formulated?”
“Do you promise not to be a dick about it?” Joes asked.
Albert shrugged. “I’ll try not to. If I do, I apologize; it’s the near-death experience and all.”
Joe nodded. “Tight, well, make no mistake about it: We’re nowhere near smart enough to come up with this stuff. We just read about it.”
Oh God, you’ve to be kidding me, Ryan thought. They’re really going to get into it here? The zombie plan, fine–it could save lives. But how could knowing the cause of the outbreak help anyone? And somehow, even though Ryan had seen the horror and death the zombies brought all day, talking about their scientific feasibility scared Ryan.
“Are you familiar with mind controlling parasites?” Roe asked.
“Of course,” Albert said, looking surprised that Roe knew what they were.
“Well, shit. I’ll try not to sound like too much of an idiot then. The one we know about is Toxoplasma gondii.”
Albert cocked his head and raised his eyebrows. Maybe the twins weren’t as dumb as they had been letting on, Ryan thought.
“Do you guys know about this?” Joe asked the rest of the group. Ryan was glad to see both Cam and Kyle shake their heads.
“The parasite, uh, has been shown to have mind control when inside of mice.” Joe’s confidence was boosted by Albert’s approving nod. “Lots of studies have shown that the a mouse infected with Toxoplasma loses its fear of cats. And it will even seek out cat urine in mazes. You see, the parasite wants the mouse to be eaten so that it can live out its life inside the cats intestines.”
As Roe waited for Albert’s nod, Ryan couldn’t help but feel they had stepped into the realm of science fiction. But in this world where zombies roamed the streets, does a line between science and fiction really still exist?
“Other studies have shown that they have an effect in humans too. There is a correlation between Toxoplasma and schizophrenia, and mood swings, and probably some other stuff I’m forgetting.” He paused. “Really freaky shit.”
“Well, yes, all of that’s true,” said Albert. “The schizophrenia correlation is still controversial. But it is a bit unnerving, I’ll give you that.”
“God has created some rather odd things, hasn’t he?” Kyle chuckled. Albert glared at Kyle, and Kyle met him with a confident look. Silence. Kyle continued to stare. Ryan could sense a tension between these two, who were obviously on opposing sides of the cosmological debate, and Ryan didn’t
like it. He had always shied away from this argument, dismissing it as irrelevant. But it has never been more irrelevant than now. The group couldn’t afford any unrest.
Besides, Ryan thought, Kyle was going to have a difficult time explaining God’s grace during these zombie attacks. Had God truly given the okay for this one?
Cam ignored Kyle’s comment. “So maybe it’s some sort of super evolved parasite?”
“No I don’t think so,” said Albert. “First of all, this has spread rapidly. In less than one day, it seems as if almost all of Atlanta has been overrun. No way a parasite could replicate quickly enough to be responsible for this. And it would take quite some time for a newly introduced parasite to consume a specimen’s body.” He began to trail off as he spoke. “I’ve seen a few people change right in front of me.” Albert glanced left and found Kyle still looking, showing he wasn’t afraid of a debate. Albert dropped his eyes, turning back to the group. “This would be remarkable for a virus as well, but less unlikely I suppose. My other concern is this: how would a parasite benefit from forcing people to attack each other? It seems to serve no purpose.”
The twins looked at each other, and reluctantly nodded. “It makes sense,” Roe said. “Could it be a virus then? A strain of mad cow or rabies?”
Albert looked into the air for a moment, and then shook his head. “Probably not mad cow disease, for the disease to spread it literally requires one to consume infected brains. Being bit by someone who’s infected won’t do it. Rabies, on the other hand . . . ” He paused, and stroked his hairless chin. “Yes, that could make sense. You see–”
“Okay, stop me if I’m wrong, but how the fuck does any of this matter?” Ryan asked, annoyed, but also afraid: They were closing in on a potential explanation for Deborah’s infection, and for some reason, he felt better not knowing how it happened.
“Well, we need to know how to fight it,” Joe said. Roe and Albert nodded.
“Oh, come on,” Ryan said. “This is far from helpful. It’s nothing more than bullshit. We know how to fight it. Destroy the brain. Don’t get bitten.” Saying these words brought the mental picture of a Hollywood zombie slumbering towards a victim and ripping a chunk of flesh into its mouth. Feeling like a kid again, he shuddered as a chill ran down his spine.
