genuine smile I’d had in a great while. “I see you found your anger.”
The farmer was sweating profusely and heaving deep breaths, likely from sheer panic. “What are you going to do?”
“I’m going to leave. I suggest you do the same. Someone will be along sooner or later. Burn the house. Leave the bodies. Don’t take anything off them. Is the girl okay?”
He nodded. “She’s shook up is all. Thank you for what you did, sir.”
I waved him off. “I should have done it a long time ago. Call me Jameson.”
“Jameson, sir. You’re one of the King’s Blades… What just happened?”
I smiled back at him. “I quit.”
Life After
I heard the moaning and stopped.
It was the last sweep of my shift. My feet hurt, my eyes burned. I needed sleep, but it looked like it would be a long time coming. I moved slow and quiet, peering down the next alley.
The zombie was crouched over someone, munching away on their arm. Shit. Attacks weren’t uncommon, but this far into the safe zones they were pretty rare. Molly lived not far from here. I shook my head, focusing on the corpse in front of me.
I raised my flashlight and pistol. It was a woman. She had on makeup, her hair was clean and her clothes were new. She was even pretty, in a girl next door kind of way. Except for her hungry, blood-red eyes. That and she was chewing on someone’s arm. That was definitely a red flag.
The man she was eating cried out, waving his other arm at me.
“Stop! Don’t shoot! She’s my wife!”
Christ. Why did I get all the crazies? I didn’t move, didn’t lower my weapon.
“Sir, is this consensual?”
“Yes! We were coming back from a friend’s house and she got hungry. I couldn’t make her wait and I left her snack at the party by accident. She’s almost done now.”
“Sir, I’ll need you to come back to Central and fill out a report.”
He looked shocked. “Are you serious?”
“All attacks must be documented.”
“This isn’t an attack. She was just hungry.”
“Sir, she is eating your arm.”
“It’s just a few bites!”
Two men stopped by the alley, curious. I kept my attention on the alley. “Move along. This is a Central Defense matter.”
“Really? It just looks like a man feeding his wife to me.”
I turned around. One of the men was a zombie. He stood there, dressed in a polo shirt and khakis, looking at me like I was a piece of steak. Another one? You’ve got to be kidding me.
“I said move along.”
“What two people do together is their own business.”
“They’re not people anymore. They can’t speak. They EAT people. They’re dangerous.”
Polo growled at me. The man put his fingers on his lips and made a shushing motion. The damn thing tried to bite his fingers off.
“You’re going to tell me they’re not people? You hurt his feelings.”
“He wants to eat me.”
The man rolled up his sleeve, showing off bloodied bandages. “That’s a lie. He’s already eaten.”
Insane. They’re all completely insane.
“Fine. You want to slowly feed yourself to these things, be my guest. My shift’s over. I’m done.”
“You don’t understand anything.”
“You’re right. I don’t. Bon Appétit!”
I holstered my weapon and walked away. Why did I get all the crazies?
Eater of Bones
She knelt, sobbing, still cradling her son.
“Great one, have mercy. Bring him back to me. I will do anything.”
Khazad sat on the dirt floor of his hut, weighing her words.
“Let me see him.”
She did as he asked, whispering thanks like a prayer. He still breathed, deep and slow. No bites. No marks. No fever. He lifted the boy’s eyelids. The whites of his eyes were dark with blood.
“What happened?”
“They got lost while playing and ended up at the ruins. He was like this when they found him.”
“Stupid child. There are things there, old things, evil things. They broke our temples, our magics and scattered us to the wind.”
She sobbed again. “He is just a boy. My only son. Please.”
“Very well.”
She choked back her tears. “You can save him?”
“I can. My price is steep.”
“He is everything to me.”
“I am lonely. You are young, pretty. You are Shara, yes? I know of you and Pakka. His father died hunting the great cats last winter. Become my wife. Attend me until my last breath. This is my price.”
He saw the terror in her eyes, but it was quickly strangled. She was strong.
“Til last breath. As you say, my husband.” She bowed her head.
“Wait outside. You cannot be here for this.”
There was worry in her eyes, but she left. Khazad sighed, an old man’s sigh. He dropped somemoku on the brazier and inhaled deeply. He exhaled, his spirit flowing out with his breath. He didn’t look like an old man anymore.
He wasn’t Khazad the Bone-eater.
He was Asha’khan, the great cat he had hunted in his youth. He always took this form when leaving his body, so fast and fierce it was. He leaped through the wall and padded silently through the jungle, following Pakka’s scent.
The ruined temple rose around him. A great web stretched between the crumbling walls, like woven starlight. Pakka struggled, his arms and legs tangled. Khazad breathed out, a thick mist forming and as it touched the web, the sticky threads melted like so much wax. The boy fell and Khazad caught him in his arms, once again himself.
He heard an angry hiss as the spider crashed through the brush. It halted, sensing Khazad’s presence.
“He is mine by right, Eater of Bones. Take him and I will break the peace. I will slaughter every breathing thing this side of the Great River.”
Pakka cringed, but Khazad just smiled. He lifted the necklace from around his neck and placed it on Pakka.
“Go, child. Let an old man do what old men do.”
He touched the amulet. The boy vanished.
“Come, He Who Waits. Take me. I will not run. The peace will be kept.”
It rushed forward, a mass of legs and dripping fangs. Khazad smiled and closed his eyes.
Shara rushed in when she heard her son. He was sitting up on his own. She threw her arms around him and hugged him tight. She called his name and ruffled his hair and kissed his face. He was alive.
In the distance, a great cat roared in anguish. She looked around fearfully and saw, then, the old man lying on his side. Blood was wet on his lips. His chest rose and she heard a wet sound in his chest. He let out a slow, pained sigh, and did not stir.
Til last breath.
She wept then, for joy, and for him.
Micro Fiction
The following stories come from a collection I manage called One Minute Reads, which can be found on Medium’s website and is completely free. The object of One Minute Reads is to challenge the writer to craft the most compelling, powerful, creative piece they can in one hundred words or less. This also creates bite-size stories that are great when you only have a few minutes.
If you have not visited One Minute Reads, I hope this piques your interest. Please enjoy!
Dragon Slayer
He came home to a village of char and ash. The smell of death and burnt flesh still hung in the air. Skeletons gaped at him with empty sockets, their dead stare heavy on him as he limped through the ruins.
The three graves were just as he left them. He still had that same red dirt under his fingernails. He reached into the bloodstained bag and pulled out the dragon’s eyes, placing one on each grave.
His bed already made, he lay between his wife and daughter and slept. When he woke, they were together again. Forever.
Hell’s Hatter
He
hated being summoned out of Hell. The air burned his lungs and his skin itched. He strained against the magic, but the little man held fast.
Grakkus roared in anger. The maggot didn’t even flinch.
“I’m going to make a hat out of your skin.”
The wizard smirked. “Quiet, you! We’ve got work-“
He tripped, stumbling inside the summoning circle.
Grakkus let out a sigh as Hell’s heat washed over him.
The guard at the gate nodded at him. “Nice hat.”
Grakkus gave him a toothy grin. “Thanks. It itches a bit. Damn humans. Don’t even make decent hats.”
Mute Terror
He was scared. He hurt everywhere. His body wouldn’t move right, jerking in spasms. It made it hard to walk. His tongue was swollen and he couldn’t speak; only moans and grunts came out.
There were others like him, huddled together in the hospital. He felt better when he wasn’t alone.
He tried communicating with normal people, but his twisted body scratched, bit and tore at them. He couldn’t stop it. They didn’t try to help him.
The doors opened, letting in searing daylight.
“Zombies!”
Zombies? What was a zombie?
It was his last thought before they cut him down.
A Small Mercy
When the last dragon fell, our chance of survival died with it.
The beasts sundered the earth with their savagery. Thousands died during the Awakenings. We thought we were saving lives.
We were such fools.
They came from deep underground, skittering monsters full of claws and teeth. They devoured everything. Nothing we did harmed them.
It won’t be long. I can hear their screeches and clicks echoing through the castle.
My son sleeps the final sleep. I sent him ahead of me, so he would not see and be afraid. It was a small mercy. I will never forgive myself.
Lost
The doctor tells me I have ADD. That’s why it’s hard for me to focus.
Mom says everything will be okay. It’s for the
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