Deadburbia
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Kim slowly opened her eyes, cracked her neck, stretched. It was dark outside, but then, it was always dark outside so that was no reason to lounge around in bed all day. She slipped into the terrycloth robe she'd discarded on the bedroom floor last night and walked to the window. Outside, the streets, as usual, were deserted. She knew they were out there, the dead, crouched behind fences or burrowed into crawlspaces, or maybe just lurking out of sight, but since her arrival she'd only seen them, en masse, once, when they'd poured out of their hiding places in response to those people who had inexplicably appeared in the neighborhood wearing scuba gear. They'd actually killed one of these people right in front of her house. She'd closed her blinds and locked the door until he'd stopped screaming.
Locating her shopping basket, she stepped outside and then hesitated. Could she really walk to the store in just her robe? Well why not? Who was there to see? In fact, why not give them a show? She let the robe fall open and then began to walk, barefoot, down the street. She was showing now, her belly round and tight, but she was still sexy. Eric certainly thought so. Reaching the store a few minutes later, she frowned as she inched around the car that was still wedged in the front windows. Someone should really do something about that, she reflected. In her current condition it was getting difficult to squeeze past. As it had turned out, there were plenty of legitimate edibles in the store. You just had to know what to look for, and what to avoid. And it was constantly restocked, apparently, because they never seemed to run out of anything. Selecting a few of her staples – apple juice, peanut chips, bottled water – she waved goodbye to the check-out counter as she exited. "Thank you, I'll come again!" she chirped. Her little joke.
Once outside, she decided to ditch the robe entirely and walk back naked.
She was almost home when she spotted one of them – a zombie – furtively ducking into some bushes. She dismissed it. She had nothing to fear from them. They wouldn't hurt her. At least not until... she let the thought scamper away. Stroking her swollen belly, she reflected on how well everything had ultimately turned out. She had it all, really. A house in the suburbs. A baby on the way. Eric. They never talked, of course, but he had... other uses. Family, security, and, soon, a purpose. She stroked her belly again. Everything she had ever wanted...
Oh, rapture...