by James Evans
“Stanley Williams. It’s a good name. But the councilman’s going to think we named the baby after him. He’s likely to get a big head.” She moved the chair and slid onto the hospital bed to snuggle with Kevin. “Stan’s head isn’t the only thing that might get big,” she said as she moved her hand to his crotch and gave him a playful squeeze. “But not tonight. You need your rest and this bed isn’t big enough for the three of us,” she said.
“Three of us?” Kevin asked. “Oh, right.”
She kissed him on the cheek and slid back into the chair. Kevin muttered something about her being a tease.
“Play your cards right, mister, and tomorrow I may turn zombie on you,” she said coyly, then slowly licked her lips. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to get the torture cot.”
By the time she wheeled the cot into the room, Kevin was asleep. She quietly made her bed and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. His coloration was almost normal and his lab work looked good. She crawled into bed and fell asleep listening to him breathe.
The next day there were more visitors. Most of the town council came by, as did a couple of the pastors who prayed for Kevin and thanked God for sparing him and using him as an instrument to end the zombie disease. A few strangers came, curious to see the man who survived a zombie bite.
Rick and Brian visited. They told him to stop faking it and get back to work. When they started brew-talk, Michelle got bored and left.
“Once you’re back at work, we’d like you to help us with a new recipe. We’re calling it Kevin’s Backbiter UPA.”
“What’s a UPA?”
“Undead Pale Ale! It uses Phoenix hops! I was looking for an excuse to use them!” Brian said with a laugh.
“You know people are going to call it a Yooper, right?” Rick asked.
“Fine with me!” Brian said. “I might even make that part of the name. Kevin’s Backbiter Yooper, Eh?
“But I’m not from the UP,” Kevin protested.
“Well, there is that. I guess I’ll stick with UPA.
Eric and John came by. Kevin was curious about how they finally discovered the cure.
“It was almost by chance,” John said, “but then again, you know the old axiom, chance favors the prepared mind. We’d been running experiments and had some promising results, but were nowhere close to a cure. We knew how important our research was, so we were working in shifts around the clock. We tried different antifungals, combinations of antifungals, different ways to administer the drugs . . . we believed we were close, but close wasn’t good enough.”
“The zombie subjects were under constant surveillance,” Eric said. “We even had a camera recording them. One night on my way out—I was literally falling asleep while observing them—I turned off the light, which was a stupid thing to do, because the camera didn’t have any light and couldn’t record. We’d always left the light on until then.”
“The next morning when I got to work,” John continued, “I noticed the light was off and wondered what Eric was thinking. When I turned the lights on, I found two of the zombies had become deanimated. They were dead, if that’s the correct term. It turns out they need light to survive once they’ve been exposed to the serum.”
“Many people think mushrooms only grow in the dark, but it’s not true. Most saprophytic fungi need light to fruit, and even though this is a parasitic fungus, it appears to be heliotropic. Remember how the zombies pretty much quit moving after dark? Somehow light sustains them. They’re weaker in the absence of light. The serum alone wouldn’t kill them, but when administered in the dark, the fungus couldn’t survive. It’s a lethal combination.”
“We were the toast of the town when you survived and the zombies died!” Eric said. “I’ve had more free drinks this past week than a big-busted sorority girl at a wet t-shirt contest!”
“Jake and Lee had us over,” John said. “We enjoyed their hospitality, including their various libations and medicinals, and started figuring out how to mass-produce the serum and how to release it into the air at night. Eric was talking about using hot air balloons. Jake and Lee were laughing at us. They’re used to living in an altered state, but it was an unusual experience for us.”
Eric lowered his voice. “Did you know Lee is an exhibitionist? The longer we were there, the more unbuttoned her blouse was. I’m kind of fuzzy about the end of the night, but I’m pretty sure she was walking around topless.”
“She was,” John confirmed. “They invited us to spend the night. It was too weird.”
“So did you?” Kevin asked.
“Yes and no. I was so intoxicated I was seeing double. I could barely move. I crashed in one of their spare bedrooms. Thank God Lee made her yaupon tea the next morning. I was in bad shape.”
Kevin noticed Eric keeping silent about where he spent the night. He was busy fiddling with a digital tablet.
“Where’d you get the tablet?” Kevin asked. “I didn’t think any of those worked!”
“Lee gave it to me,” Eric said with a blush. “To help me take notes. Jake gave me a solar charger for it.”
Kevin wondered if Lee gave him the tablet complete with a gallery of photos, but didn’t ask. It was none of his business, and he tried to keep from imagining what her photos would look like.
Two days later Kevin was released. He didn’t feel well, but he felt better. He couldn’t do even the simple things, like tying his shoe. He tired easily and had strange dreams. He was frequently depressed but sometimes euphoric. This is normal, they told him, for anyone who’s suffered serious physical trauma.
He finally got to explore the house with Michelle and was happy with what he saw. But by the time he’d seen the entire house, he was so exhausted he fell asleep on the bed without a single thought of breaking it in matrimonially.
chapter thirty-five
John and Eric began the next phase of research: how to distribute and administer the serum. An aerosol-based solution, administered in the dark, left most zombies dead by daybreak. A few survived longer, but a second dose eliminated them.
Crews began releasing the aerosol at night. First, they sprayed everywhere within the fenced area, then began to expand. Their first taste of victory over the zombies came when Crystal Lake and Lake Ann were declared zombie-free. Boats filled with serum traveled up and down the coast, looking for survivors during the day and spraying at night, as long as the wind was from the west.
The town council voted to change the radio broadcast to announce the cure. The looped recording said, “This is the civil authority in Frankfort, Michigan, USA. We have found a cure for the zombie plague. I repeat: we have found a cure for the zombie plague. We have a sprayable serum which destroys existing zombies overnight. It also prevents bite victims from turning. We are offering this serum for free. We can provide instructions for manufacturing the serum. The zombie plague is over. Humanity has won!”
Other small colonies of survivors were found, and word began to spread. As areas were cleared, radio stations were reactivated with generators and word spread faster. HAM radio operators picked up the message and spread it across the world.
Frankfort saw an influx of visitors and new residents. Many of the visitors brought goods to barter. Boats began to overwhelm the marina, so they added twice as many slips. Within a few months they had to add more.
With the influx of bartered goods, the town council offered Kevin, John, and Eric a generous stipend. John and Eric spent much of their time on the radio, giving instructions on making the serum and answering questions.
Kevin’s wrist healed quickly, but his shoulder, even after it healed, bothered him. It ached, especially when a change of weather was coming. I guess I’m like Frodo suffering from the Black Rider’s knife wound, he thought. When the elves write songs about me, I’ll be called Kevin of the Wounded Shoulder!
Wisely, he didn’t express these thoughts aloud. And unlike the hobbits in Tolkien’s story, Kevin detested mushrooms the rest of his life.
/> Just as serious accident victims slowly recover, so did Kevin. He was working at Stormcloud and with Jake by the end of July, but only part-time. He tired quickly and used his illness as an excuse to spend a lot of time beach walking. His new Petoskey Stone collection grew.
On September third, Michelle gave birth to a healthy baby boy. During the last six weeks of her pregnancy, Doc prescribed magnesium sulfate for her preeclampsia, and Doctor Nunn also recommended it during labor. She was bedridden for the final two weeks with early contractions. Doctor Nunn and Doc both complained about having to work harder during her absence, but their complaints were mostly light-hearted.
Kevin and Michelle named the baby Stanley. Councilman Stan was very proud of his namesake.
John and Eric continued to research the fungus, and refined the serum once they had better equipment and facilities, but by then most of the zombies were gone. There was still an occasional zombie outbreak, but they were few and usually in remote parts of the world.
Kevin was simultaneously revered and abhorred. He’d been bitten by a zombie. His blood was tainted.
Why him? some people accused. Why wasn’t it my son, my wife, my mother, my friend who was spared?!
He worked in the background at Stormcloud. He could have been a server, but people always stopped him to ask questions: What did it feel like when you were turning? Was it true mushrooms were growing out of your head? Were they psilocybin mushrooms?
There was even the occasional joke: Why doesn’t Kevin want a bigger house? Because he doesn’t need mushroom. Kevin didn’t mind. He thought some of the jokes were clever: Why is Kevin so popular? Because he’s a fungi!
On the one-year anniversary of Kevin’s resurrection, he, Michelle, baby Stanley, and Lee went for a hike down the beach to have a picnic. Kevin carried Stanley on his shoulders as he walked at the edge of the surf, always looking for Petoskey Stones. The stone he found in Betsie Bay when he was dying was now a beautiful pendant he wore around his neck on a gold chain.
Michelle took over minding the baby when Kevin complained about how hard it was to pick up Petoskey Stones with the baby on his shoulders. She placed Stanley in a stroller especially made for the beach, and soon the motion of the stroller along with the sound of waves put the baby to sleep. They decided to take advantage of his nap time to have their picnic.
Kevin munched on a ham sandwich as he slowly strolled the beach. His shoulder ached, but he’d gotten used to it, and ibuprofen helped. Trade had been established with other cities, so a lot of the things they’d done without for over a year once again became obtainable, including ibuprofen, flour, and coffee. Michelle and Lee were chatting about a book they’d just read.
Kevin’s pockets weighed down by the stones he’d collected, not just Petoskey Stones but other fossils and some rocks he thought were pretty. He decided to take a break and headed back to the girls and the stroller. He offered to watch the baby while they went for a walk.
He lay on the beach towel, the sound of the waves and the warmth of the sun making him drowsy. He dozed for a few minutes, then heard Stanley begin to cry. He gently lifted the baby out of the stroller and gave him a bottle. He stood there, feeding and rocking the baby while he looked out over Lake Michigan.
He heard one of the ladies laugh and looked over. They walked toward him, topless, proudly displaying themselves, neither of them marred by tan lines. They arched their backs and struck a pose, demanding his undivided attention. With a broad smile, Kevin gazed at them.
The beach had never looked better.
EPILOGUE
Rick and Penny reopened Lake Menekaunee and Kevin immediately made reservations for the fall. He wanted to spend time at the resort beach with Michelle and the baby, and knew it was mostly deserted in October. He was also determined to swim out to the raft at night, lie on his back and look at the stars.
Tony did what he could to help Laura, but she was badly scarred by her lengthy time in isolation followed by Sammy’s sexual abuse and torture. She never fully recovered. She disappeared a few months after her ordeal; six weeks later Tony found her hanging from the ceiling fan of her parents’ house. She didn’t leave a note.
Doc and Carolyn got married and had a wonderful twelve years together. Carolyn died unexpectedly of pancreatic cancer, and Doc grieved himself to the grave five months later.
Jake and Lee continued to live their hippie lifestyle. Their reputation was already established: they were the couple who had provided food, medicinal herbs, and power to Frankfort. Jake slowly began to manufacture both solar panels and greenhouse hydroponic systems. Lee died of breast cancer at the young age of 75. She enjoyed sunbathing nude up to the day of her diagnosis at the age of 67. She treated her cancer with a combination of marijuana tincture and hemp oil. She lived twice as long as predicted.
Jake crossbred three strains of marijuana, and the result was an herb high in both CBD and THC. He called it Kevin’s Petoskey Stoner.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
James is a writer and graphic designer who enjoys photography, singing bass in several choral groups, hydroponic gardening, and perfecting his Zombie Blood hot sauce (“Reanimate Your Taste Buds”). He lives in Athens, Georgia, with his wife, Gretchen.
For news about the continuing saga of Love in the Age of Zombies, including bonus material and a preview of Love in the Age of Zombies Book Zero, join the author on www.jameskevans.com.
ABOUT PETOSKEY STONES
Petoskey stones are composed of fossilized Hexagonaria percarinata, a type of coral which thrived 350 million years ago during the Devonian age, when Michigan was covered by a shallow and warm inland sea. Petoskey stones are unique to northern Michigan.