by Crist, J. D.
Emily turned to face the wall. Chad was not good at comfort, and soon she could hear the sounds of him sleeping next to her. She could not help but feel frustrated with him. She was scared, none of them knew what happened, and he fell asleep fast. She laid staring at the wall, knowing that if she found sleep that night, it would not be any time soon. Emily felt a cold nose touching her toes that were sticking out from under the blanket. Somehow Marley always knew when she needed to be distracted from the thoughts inside of her mind.
Emily put one of her hands over the side of the bed and soon felt the touch of his soft fur on her palm. As she pets the dog, she reminded herself that Chad was trying. Neither of them was perfect, and they both had things that they needed to work on. Then she remembered that the message on the television had said that the light had affected some people. Perhaps, Chad had been affected in some way, or maybe he was just really freaked out. Either way, Emily could not blame him for whatever he was going through right now.
Emily felt herself releasing the tension she had built up and petted Marley on the head. With that, the pup laid on the floor next to her. Emily pulled her hand back under the blanket and made herself as comfortable as possible. She did not want to toss and turn and disrupt Chad. Soon she was as comfortable as she could get and was back to staring through the darkness at the wall. Sleep was not going to come easy, so she would have to lay here and wait for it to find her.
Chapter 6
Emily laid in the dark for what seemed like hours. Every time she closed her eyes, she was back in the yard, looking at the bright light that filled the sky. She couldn't push it from her mind and had to open her eyes to see the darkness that surrounded her. Suddenly, she felt Chad move in the bed behind her. He had been still since she laid down and was not known for tossing and turning during the night. It felt as if he was sitting on the edge of the bed when he stopped moving. Emily felt confident now that he was struggling with what had happened just as much as she was.
Emily was getting ready to roll over and talk to him about it. Just as the thought crossed her mind, a soft light shined from where Chad was sitting. Emily knew that the glow was from his cell phone. However, who he would be trying to call, she did not know. He did not have any family to speak of, and he was not close with anyone. Emily did not know why but she laid still and pretended to be asleep. Emily listened as Chad clicked on his phone, and then the light dimmed as he put it to his ear. Emily's heart sank as Chad began to speak.
"I know it's late, but I had to make sure you were okay. Don't worry. She's asleep."
Emily continued to listen to his conversation as tears began to flow silently down her face and onto her pillow.
"You know I am only here to make sure I don't lose everything. You know how I feel about you."
Emily continued to lay still even though it felt as if her heart were breaking in two.
"As soon as this craziness is over, I'll end it. It will be you and I like it should be."
Emily found that she did not have the strength to move or even say anything. Chad hung up the phone and laid back down in the bed behind her. Emily listened as he fell asleep, as if the conversation did not happen. Emily replayed all of the talks they had over the past few months and all the times that he said he wanted no one but her. Who was this mystery person that he knows that he is supposed to be with? It was as if something else had taken over her body. She watched as she folded back the blankets and slid out of bed. She stood for a moment, looking at Chad in the dark to ensure that he was asleep.
Once she was sure he was asleep, she walked gently to his side of the bed and took his phone from his nightstand. Once she had it, she slipped out of the bedroom and into the bathroom. Inside, she unlocked the phone and looked at the name last called "Veronica." Emily tried hard to remember anyone named Veronica but came up with nothing. She began to scroll through his call log, and the tears started to well up once more. Chad was calling this one at least once a day. She quickly clicked over to his text messages and found Veronica there once more.
Emily sat on the edge of the bathtub and began to read through the messages. The tears started to flow freely as she read. The conversations were more personal and warmer than anything he had ever said to her, even before they were married. There were several messages where Chad stated that he was only pretending to want to be with Emily to talk her into adding his name to the house to get to keep something in the divorce. He had even already met with lawyers and picked the one he wanted to handle his case. The lawyer said he would get more if he went through the steps of counseling.
Emily closed the text messages and opened his photos. She scrolled through all of the pictures, and there were many of Chad with a blonde woman. Emily knew that it must be Veronica. Emily began to grow angry with herself. She loved and trusted Chad so much. It was these very qualities that had allowed Chad to get away with doing this. He was not even trying hard to hide it. Emily closed the photos and clicked the phone so that the screen turned off. She sat and allowed the hot tears to run down her face with no end in sight.
All at once, the tears disappeared, and the anger took over. This was not her fault, and she was not going to blame herself. He had treated her like shit, and she had stood up for herself. She had opened her heart and given him a second chance. He had played her, and she wasn't going to let him win. She walked to the sink and washed her face with cold water. After drying her face, Emily turned off the light and walked back into the bedroom. She put the phone back on Chad's nightstand and headed for the bedroom door. As it opened, she felt a cold nose touch the back of her leg. She had forgotten that Marley was in the room. She opened the door and held it open to allow him to follow.
Emily made her way down the hall in the dark. She stopped at the closet and grabbed a blanket. The house was pretty much packed with her family, but she could not lay in the same bed with that man. She made her way down the hall and walked into the kitchen. Not the most conventional sleeping room, but it would do. She laid down on the floor and stretched the blanket out over herself. When she went to put her arm where her head would be laying, she touched soft fur. Marley had laid right where he knew she would place her head.
"Good boy," Emily whispered as she ran her hand over his fur. After a few moments, she laid her head on his belly. For a moment, she thought she would begin to cry again, but instead, she laid listening to Marley's breath and feeling her head gently lift up and down. Before she knew it, she was asleep, and thankfully it was a dreamless sleep.
"Wow, I didn't think you'd feel the need to guard the kitchen. I know I can be a pig, but I think I deserve a little more credit than that, Em."
Emily opened her eyes to see Joe standing above her.
"Trust is something that I give too freely, it seems," she replied as she stood up from the floor. Joe was confused by her comment, and he just stood silently as she folded her blanket and placed it on the table. Emily then walked to the back door and opened it to let Marley out. She was not ready to talk about Chad's affair just yet. Joe could tell that something was wrong, though. As Emily walked out the door, she saw him heading to the living room, probably to tell her parents about what she had said.
Emily stood on the porch and allowed the cool morning air to wrap her up while Marley walked around the backyard. Marley seemed to be enjoying being out here, and Emily was in no hurry to go back inside the house. Emily walked into the backyard and sat in one of the lawn chairs. She had been out here for quite a while when she heard the back door open. Emily turned to see Joe coming down the back steps towards her. He looked to be visibly flustered, which changed to surprise when he saw her.
"Em, what are you still doing out here?" he asked as he rushed towards her.
"I needed some time alone," Emily quickly responded and turned away from him again.
"It's not safe out here," Joe answered. Emily turned back towards him and could see him looking around with worry on his face.
"It's fine
. Marley is here, and the only neighbor who didn't go on vacation is Ms. Tilly. I don't think she is a threat." Emily turned back in her chair and closed her eyes.
"Do you guys have anything like a crowbar or tire iron?" Joe quickly asked.
"If we do, it's in the shed. What do you need it for?" Emily was caught off guard by his question but didn't turn to face him.
"We'll explain inside," Joe said as he turned and headed for the shed. "I'm going to go look, but when I'm done, your going back in with me," Emily closed her eyes to show him that she wouldn't be moved. "You're going if I have to throw you over my shoulder and carry you." With that, Joe headed into the shed. Emily opened her eyes once she was sure he was gone. She kept hearing him say it wasn't safe out here, but what could be dangerous, she didn't know.
Just then, she caught sight of her neighbor, Ms. Tilly, walking towards the fence line. She laughed at the idea that the old lady could be dangerous.
"Good morning Ms. Tilly," she called out. Ms. Tilly did not respond and appeared to stumble and grabbed onto the fence to stabilize herself. Emily jumped up from her chair and ran towards Ms. Tilly.
Emily reached the fence in seconds and began to reach for the old lady to check on her. Suddenly, Ms. Tilly turned and grabbed hold of Emily. Emily could not even muster a scream as she tried to get the older woman's hand off of her. Ms. Tilly's once blue eyes were now white and cloudy, she had open cuts on her face, and Emily could swear that she was trying to bite her. Marley was barking and trying to attack Ms. Tilly through the fence. Emily struggled with the older woman as a crowbar swung down and hit Ms. Tilly in the top of the head. The older woman's grip released, and she fell to the ground, lifeless.
Emily looked back to see Joe holding the crowbar. His face was pale white, and he was visibly shaking. Emily could not find the words to say to him. Instead, she reached out and grabbed his arm, which was still holding the crowbar, ready to swing again. Joe looked like she had shocked him out of another place as he looked at her and lowered the crowbar.
"You killed her," Emily muttered as she looked down at Ms. Tilly's body.
"No," Joe responded firmly. "She was already dead Em." Emily looked at him and felt herself take a step back. Joe had just killed a sweet old lady and now was talking like they were in some horror movie.
"What are you talking about, Joe? She was a person, not a."
"Zombie," Joe cut her off. "Yes, she was Em. She was a damn zombie.
Emily looked down at Ms. Tilly once again. Remember the cloudy white eyes, the cuts on her face, and that Ms. Tilly had been biting at her. If this had been a movie, Emily would have been screaming at herself that it was a zombie. But this wasn't a movie. This was real.
"How did you know?" Emily asked while continuing to stare down at the corpse.
"Dad and I stepped out front to talk about me finding you on the kitchen floor and what you had said. I didn't want the kids to hear. We saw someone walking up the road, and dad tried to greet them, you know how he is. A few moments later, a woman across the street came out of her house and started to run at us, screaming for help. Dad and I took off, but the stranger on the road got to them first. They started eating her Em like it was thanksgiving dinner they started chowing down." Emily looked back at Joe and could see the tears in his eyes. "I pulled the stranger off the woman, but it was too late. There was so much blood, and the woman was already gone. I checked for a pulse myself and swore she was gone."
"So this lead you to believe it was a zombie that attacked the woman and not just some crazy person?" Emily could not understand.
"No, my first thought was that the person was crazy. That they must have been affected by the flash like the announcement warned. But then the woman that was killed, she started to move Em. She started to stand, and her eyes were milky white, just like this woman's." Joe motioned towards Ms. Tilly's corpse. "I tried to help her, I did. But when I reached for her, she started trying to bite me. Dad ran to the truck and hit her a couple of times with a jack handle, but she wouldn't let go. The one I had knocked to the ground joined, and they both were trying to bite me, Em! They didn't stop until Dad hit them in the head. Tell me what else it could be!?
Emily stood silent for a moment, studying Joe's face. Everything he described sounded just like a zombie movie, but zombies weren't real. They couldn't be.
"It's okay if you don't believe me," Joe spoke, "I don't know if I believe it. Dad sent me out to look for weapons. Let's get back inside." With that, Joe turned towards the back door, and Emily felt herself follow him. Marley stuck close to her as they walked into the kitchen. Emily closed the door behind them and turned to see Chad heading into the living room.
Emily searched for something to do. She walked over and grabbed Marley's bowl. She knew she was useless, but she could still make sure that Marley was taken care of at least. She filled his food and water bowls and set them down when everyone began to file into the kitchen. Chad was with her family, a look of shock on his face. He walked around everyone and headed straight for her. As he reached out to touch her in an attempt to pretend he cared and loved her, she recoiled from his touch. Marley looked up from his breakfast and let out a low growl. Chad took a step back, looking between her and Marley. Once he was far enough back, Marley returned to enjoying his breakfast.
"So, whatever is going on has driven the dog insane as well?" Chad's pointed question was more than Emily could take at this point. “We should put him down before he starts trying to eat people.”
"No, he just doesn't want a piece of shit like you near me, and I agree with him." Emily suddenly remembered the children and looked towards her family. She breathed a sigh of relief to see that they must still be in the living room. "No yelling," she told herself, "They don't need this right now."
"Look, Em, I know you have been through a lot this morning, but I am not the bad guy." Chad sounded like he was speaking from the heart, but Emily knew the truth. With everything going on, this was not the time, but she could not hold it in any longer, or she would explode.
"Why don't you go check on Veronica?" she responded. The look on his face told everyone what was going on. The shock was more about what she knew than anything else.
"How do you, I mean, what are you talking about, Emily?" Chad clumsily muttered.
"You are only here to make sure you can say you did everything you could and get the most out of a divorce. I'll tell you what, as soon as the world is working again, I'll gladly sign the paperwork, and you can go to hell."
"I can go to hell?!" He was beginning to yell, which only made Emily angrier because now the children could hear. "You want to play the victim here, Emily? You could have played the role of a good wife. You could have given me everything that a wife is supposed to. But instead, you chose to make everything about you. You couldn't even carry my child into this world. Veronica, she gives me everything, including a son."
Emily's heart stopped. She played back the pictures she had looked at on his phone in her mind. There was one taken a few weeks ago that looked strange, but she had not thought much about it at the time. There had been a picture of Veronica standing sideways with her shirt pulled up, exposing her stomach. There was no noticeable baby bump, but it was apparent now that he was taking pictures to watch the baby grow.
"You are a bastard." A weak response, but it was the only words she could find. She watched as Joe began to take giant strides across the kitchen. His purpose was clear. Chad was going to feel real pain. But before Joe could reach him, Charles stopped him.
"This is not the time. We need to get some where safer. Once we are there, you can kill each other for all I care." Charles's words echoed through the room. He had not yelled, but he had used his dad's authority to make them all stop in their tracks.
"Finally, someone in this family has a damn brain in their head." Chad cheered, thinking that Charles was defending him in some way.
"Don't get me wrong, boy. You will pay for what you've done. I wan
t to make sure that the dead walking outside don't hear you scream." Emily had never seen Charlie look so angry, not even when he had caught her smoking when she was seventeen. Chad seemed to suddenly realize that no one was going to stand next to him in this situation. Emily watched as his shoulders dropped in defeat, and he finally stayed silent.
"We should see if there is any update," Christine suggested and ushered everyone back to the living room. Emily followed and sat on the arm of the couch next to Rachael as the television came to life. The screen from the night before appeared, but the words had changed.
FINAL PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT
THE ORIGINS OF THE FLASH ARE STILL UNKNOWN.
THE FLASH APPEARS TO REJUVENATE DEAD TISSUE.
THE REANIMATED CAN AND DO TRANSMIT THE CONDITION THROUGH THEIR SALIVA. SYMPTOMS BEFORE THE CHANGE INCLUDE FEVER AND DECREASED MOTOR FUNCTIONS.
TO END THE REANIMATION, THE BRAIN TISSUE MUST BE DAMAGED.
PEOPLE ARE ENCOURAGED TO STAY IN A SAFE LOCATION UNTIL A CURE IS FOUND.
MAY THE GOD YOU CHOOSE TO OR CHOOSE NOT TO BELIEVE IN HAVE MERCY ON YOUR SOUL.
Emily finished reading the message and sat in silence. The words might not have said it, but Emily knew what they meant. They were on their own, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. She watched her family and could see on their faces that they all thought the same thing. She could not even bring herself to look at Chad. She really could care less about how he was feeling.
