Decaying Humanity

by James Barton

  I gave him a sarcastic laugh. I was praying that the virus had changed or shifted in the last four hours. Otherwise, Desmond you might not be cracking jokes much longer.

  “What’s your plan?” he asked.

  “I don’t have one,” I replied.

  “Me, neither. Why don’t we see if we can stay at that motel for the night? We can let things calm down and then figure out our next move in the morning.”

  “Sounds feasible,” I agreed.

  “I didn’t catch your name,” he asked.

  I paused for a moment. “My name is Shay.”

  Chapter 11: No Turning Back

  “That’s a hell of a story,” I said while running the blade of my machete across my palm.

  “Aren’t you mad at me for lying to you?”

  “It wasn’t so much a lie as an avoidance of the truth. I knew that was you in the picture. I mean, well, I was pretty sure,” I said while watching my palm slowly heal over the cut.

  “I never wanted to lie to you. I just didn’t want to get turned in to the Army. When I realized how much I liked you, I was already Shay.”

  “No, I get it,” I said.

  There was a moment of silence and she kept looking at me, waiting for something. “I’m pretty sure you are supposed to be pissed off,” she said.

  “That’s pointless filler for the movies, right? I mean, I get mad and leave you, only to later realize that I still love you. I already know that I love you. I knew that the first time I saw you. I love the way you laugh and smile and even how you scoop out people’s brains and eat them like candy.”

  She shoved me playfully, “Stop it, that’s embarrassing.”

  I laughed. “Seriously though, we only have each other. You saved my life by taking a gamble that our DNA would be compatible. Injecting me with your blood, that’s romantic … in a way, right?”

  She just cocked her head to the side slightly. “Really?”

  “What were the chances that I wouldn’t just explode from those injections?”

  “Well, it was called Regeneros-8 and each test group had at least ten people and I was the first to survive. So I’d say maybe, what, one or two percent?”

  “How many couples can say that? God, I just can’t believe that you cried on my shoulder when I brought up your parents. Did you lie-cry on me?” I accused, while running the blade across one of my fingertips.

  “Maybe,” she said smiling innocently at me.

  “You really had me going. I’ll admit, that was a pretty convincing,” I said while watching my fingers heal up.

  “Would you stop that, please?”

  “Stop what? Oh, the cutting?”

  “Yeah. That.”

  “Well excuse me. I’ve never had super powers before. You know, this power would be an emo-teen’s nightmare.”

  Shay busted out laughing, “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

  “So, are you Tiffany or Shay?”

  “Shay,” she responded quickly.

  “How come?”

  “I don’t know. I just feel like a different person. I want to move forward and forget my past.”

  “I get it; you want a cool alias. I want one, too. From now on you will call me Mij.”

  “That’s just your name backwards,” she said rolling her eyes.

  “I know; brilliant right?”

  “No Jim, it’s not. I’m not calling you that.”

  “Well, it was worth a shot,” I said before jamming a screwdriver into my stomach.

  “Holy shit, stop that!”

  The sun told us it was nearly noon as we finished gathering the last of our supplies. We laid them out on the table. The bright side of being assaulted was that we had amassed quite the armory now. With the massacre of all those raiders we acquired their truck. We now had enough weapons for each of us to carry a sidearm and a rifle or shotgun.

  Shay had been preoccupied with my condition all night, but now I felt fine. I would say better than fine—I felt like I could pick up a car. Now that everything had settled down, it was time to focus on saving Desmond.

  “So this healing stuff, what happens if we get shot in the head or something like that?”

  “It hasn’t happened to me yet. I’d imagine it’s game over.”

  “So, no adamantium skull?”

  “I don’t think so, Logan. No metal claws, either.”

  “Damn, so we still have to be careful. I didn’t survive the apocalypse, meet the girl of my dreams, and transform into a ghoul, just so a redneck can take me down with a rifle.”

  “Ghoul? Should I be offended?”

  “No, not at all. In my old game, zombies were level 3, but ghouls were level 10. So basically we are amped up super were-zombies.”

  “Wow you’re a nerd. I’m stuck with you … forever?” she jabbed.

  “I hope so.”

  “So, you are saying we are walking, talking, shape-shifting, were-zombies? Just like in…”

  We both hesitated. “I don’t think I ever saw a movie with those,” I said.

  “Yeah, huh, what a shame,” she responded.

  “We need to hurry, Desmond needs our help,” I said, snapping back to our serious task ahead.

  “Yeah, save him…” she said unbelieving.

  “We have to try, he would come for us,” I said.

  “I know he would, I just don’t expect this to have a happy ending.”

  She was right. As much as I pushed it aside, I was afraid Desmond was already dead, or worse.

  Pablo stepped up and said, “Desmond es familia.” He nodded to us and pumped the shotgun.

  “Oh, Pablo, I don’t think you should go with us,” Shay said. Pablo nodded and pointed at his gear. He had made us three makeshift pouches full of ammo from one of the pillow cases. There was even a plastic bottle stuffed with dryer lint taped over some of the pistols. He pointed at them and smiled making a whispered bang, bang sound. I was impressed, like always.

  “You are a regular MacGyver, aren’t you? I just think we need to do this alone,” I said looking over to Shay for support.

  “I know that, we just have to figure out how to tell him that,” she replied.

  We found a map at the front desk and we played a long game of charades. We pantomimed driving to the woods, cutting down trees, and planting seeds. We drew a line to the area that we thought would make for a decent permanent camping spot. It was no national forest, but it was about 20 or so acres of somewhat dense woods off a side road.

  We made the motion of hunting and eating. It was a very frustrating ordeal for everyone. After trying our hardest to explain with our hands that we needed to split up for a bit, he understood. He handed us one of his silenced pistols and said, “Help Desmond,” with a thick accent.

  We looked at each other and nodded. Pablo pointed at the duffle bag on the floor that was now filled to the brim with everything we owned.

  “Wow, that’s everything we have,” I said.

  “Does that make you upset?” Shay asked.

  “Nope, all I need is you,” I said smiling.

  “Alright, let’s not overdo it,” she responded rolling her eyes.

  Pablo reached into the bag and pulled out a small can of chili. The only food item we found rolling on the floorboard of our attacker’s truck. He placed it in the center of our once bustling dinner table. It sat there alone, as if it were the last can of food in the world.

  “That’s it?” Shay asked.

  Pablo simply nodded and pushed the can in her direction.

  “I can’t eat that, you need it.”

  Pablo then tried to offer it to me.

  “You eat it,” I urged. After everything that has happened, I wasn’t sure if chili was the thing my stomach was growling for.

  As Pablo prepared the truck I slowly surveyed the main road. I hadn’t been on the other side of the fence in a while. On the ground was Desmond’s hammer, sitting alone a few feet from the gate. I bent over and picked it up. “I’ll make
sure you get this back,” I said to myself.

  Pablo waved us over to the raiders’ truck. He had fixed it up the best he could and the engine idled with power. We loaded up the truck and Pablo jumped into the front seat. I looked at him for a moment and thought to myself, you’re a great guy. He worked hard to help us with repairs and tried to make weapons, not all of them panned out, but you had to give him credit for trying. He never stole from us, never complained, and never left us when we were weak. I couldn’t say the same for some of our previous residents. I wish I knew how to tell him that I appreciated everything he did.

  We jumped in the truck and drove off, putting the Budget Motel in our rear view mirror. That was it, no turning back now.

  “There it goes,” I said.

  “Yeah, even though it has been rough, I might miss that place,” Shay said.

  As I sat in the seat, a dull pain began to flare up. I had felt invincible and reenergized ever since my transformation, but there was a constant nagging itch in my back. It throbbed and burned, but I tried to shrug it off. It was probably just … transformation pains.

  We had cruised along dodging the occasional zombie. We passed the video store and drove up the large intersection that would take us on separate paths. We came to a stop at the large four-way that always caught everyone with a red light. People coming and going from work would always get stuck at this crossing, even if it were only for a minute. There were no cars here today and the lights dangled lifelessly from their thick black wires. It was just another reminder of how the world had changed.

  We sat idling in the center of the intersection. To the right was Pablo’s path and straight ahead was ours. Pablo looked around at the handful of zombies we had stirred up on our drive here. Even at their impressive distance, they still staggered towards the vehicle. They reached out hungrily for Pablo as they grew closer. He looked down at the map and pointed at the circled area.

  “We will meet you there. Stay alive,” I told him.

  He nodded and shook my hand with a firm grip. He gave Shay a small hug and then we were standing in the middle of the highway watching the truck hum off down the road. The zombies started to follow him as he sped off. As he disappeared around the corner the zombies simply stopped in their tracks. They stood aimlessly for a moment and then began to close in on us. I had misjudged their numbers at first, something that was easy to do when you were behind a metal truck door.

  They began to reach and hobble towards us. There had to be at least twenty or more.

  “Uh, what are they doing? I thought we were carriers and they would leave us alone,” I said with a hint of worry.

  “Well, I know I am,” she said.

  “Wait, I might not be ignored? I just assumed…”

  “I did, too, but you know what they say about assuming,” she remarked.

  “I never thought the saying was, ‘It will get you eaten by zombies.’”

  The zombies began to close in and she effortlessly twisted her hands into jagged claws. I tried pathetically to make my hands do something and they just, well, did nothing. So there I was, squeezing invisible stress balls, looking like an idiot.

  “Cheater,” I said while pulling out the two machetes.

  “This is going to make things a hell of a lot more difficult,” she said.

  The zombies got within ten steps of us, the distance they would normally frenzy. This was it; I was going to have to fight through a mob of them to survive. I began to raise my machete to swing and a sharp pain in my back caused me to hunch over, nearly dropping my weapon. I looked up only to see them frozen in place, staring blankly in our direction. I took a step backwards and the horde shuffled forward. I took a deep breath and put my arm a few feet from a zombie in khakis and a button-up shirt. It kept its gaze on the ground and sometimes looked through us. They weren’t really seeing us and it was rather apparent.

  “Hot damn!” I shouted. The zombies heard the noise and perked up slightly looking around.

  “Phew, so you are invisible, like me,” Shay said while walking in the direction of Allmart.

  “Sweet, let’s go,” I said while waving my hand in the zombie’s face.

  We started walking and left the intersection. It was a mile or less from here.

  “So how do I get claws?”

  “I don’t know; it just kinda happens when I feel threatened. I guess I’m just a higher level than you,” she teased.

  “That’s emasculating…”

  “Ungh!” a zombie groaned from behind us.

  I turned around to see what was going on. Behind us was a misshapen horde of staggering dead. They were following us. In the distance ahead, I could make out more hobbling over to us. There were over a hundred now and I pondered what was suddenly drawing them out.

  “Are they following us?” I began.

  “No. They have never done that before. I think they are following … you,” Shay finished with a devilish smile.

  “Now who’s the higher level ghoul?”

  “I think we can find a use for them where we are going,” she said.

  “Yeah, I think so too.”

  We made our trek through the streets and closer to our destination. There was a stink in the air that was inescapable. The eighty degree heat made our mob of companions reek like rotten meat, which I figured was pretty accurate. Some of them hung back and others managed to keep our pace. What was truly impressive was that some of them actually walked in front of us, making small adjustments to our path without ever looking back.

  A few blocks from the Allmart was a car with its engine running. It just sat on the side of the road half-cocked onto the street. The vehicle was pointed in our direction and I swear the man behind the wheel had eyes of pure insanity. I held out my arm to stop Shay from going any further as he revved his engine. She stopped in her tracks and stared at the man waiting for his next move. The zombies began to move towards him like a river of dead, being channeled in a new direction.

  The man slammed on the gas and his vehicle lurched forward like a sick beast. His engine screamed of worn parts. Then he began to plow through the undead. The impacts had been more damaging to his car than I would have imagined and it made me glad we had always avoided them on the roads. They were pulled underneath his car and some went sailing into his windshield. The car almost immediately struggled to push through the group. They were just too thick. The corpses jammed under his tires and the flailing creatures began to pile up on his hood. Quickly his mad dash had brought him to a puttering halt. The zombies threw themselves at his car, reaching in through the broken glass and gripping parts of his shirt. He just sat there, honking the horn and pumping the gas. The car roared and spun in place without any results.

  “Can we save him?” Shay asked quietly.

  I took a quick look around for emphasis, “I don’t think so.”

  We were frozen in curiosity as they ripped him from through windshield. Half of the zombies were dragging him out and the other half were taking bites. He didn’t scream at all; instead he was laughing a maniacal laugh. One of the undead sunk its teeth into his cheek and tore the skin from his face. He was still laughing out of insanity, with his teeth exposed through the side of his face. This man must have lost his mind a long time ago. The sounds of his laughter were truly haunting as they pulled him down to the ground.

  I started to step towards the man. I had to see it. I could feel my chest heaving rapidly with excitement. I just needed to taste it, just a little piece. Shay grabbed my arm and pulled me back. She could see the huge smile on my face and only looked sad. Her upset look snapped me out of my trance.

  “You need to hold it back,” she said.

  “I, I wanted to go over there.”

  “I know. We have to resist the urge. We aren’t one of those things.”

  “I’m sorry, you’re right.” I knew she was, but my concentration had faded into only one thought. A new smell drifted through the air that cut through the rot. That s
mell was fresh and intoxicating, but I managed to pull myself away.

  As we continued our trek to the super store, I tried to learn more about her, and our condition.

  “So, have you ever?” I asked.

  She paused for a long time, opening her mouth to start sentences and stopping herself. Finally she said, “I did once and it was horrible.”

  “What happened?”

  “I went out looking for food, and I found a small restaurant named Ella’s Drive In. I banged on the door and told them that I didn’t want to steal. I just wanted them to respond and then I would leave. I didn’t hear anything, so I crowbarred the door open. There were two zombies that had just been standing there, but the noises I made seemed to draw their attention. I stepped inside and started rooting through some of the boxes.”

  “Then what?” I asked.

  “My attention had gone straight to the small storage room. I should have searched the place entirely before digging through those boxes. A waitress had locked herself inside and must have been too scared to respond when I knocked. I didn’t even notice her until they were already on top of her.”

  “Oh,” I said.

  “I just stood there, paralyzed as they began to eat her. I was ashamed of letting them in and not stopping them. Beneath those feelings was a dark craving that I couldn’t shake. I ripped the zombies off of her and smashed their brains in with the crowbar. Then I was standing over her as she bled profusely onto the floor. I knew that she was never going to survive. I watched as she clenched at her bleeding neck wound. She looked up at me and just asked why.”

  “Why?”

  “Yeah, just that single word. My fingers cracked into those monstrous claws and then I opened her skull like a briefcase. Darkness clouded my vision and I was trapped watching a movie, a terribly dark film that I couldn’t look away from. I cried for hours afterwards, lying in a pool of her blood. I sat there as the sun set and I dreamt of killing myself. The only difference between me and undead was that my heart was still beating. I knew I had to die; I was a danger to everyone around me. I couldn’t go on knowing that I was a dangerous monster.”