sober!”
“I am. I’ve been sober, this is my third clean year, but all that drinking pickled my system.”
“What about the others?”
Martin shrugged, “I’ll bet frat boys everywhere will survive this.”
Harley and Fehny laughed.
“People here fled to Sandy’s Beach. I haven’t heard anything about it, but I’m sure that you’ll just find more walkers there.” Martin paused, eyeing his daughter’s long pig tails. “You should cut your hair.”
Harley protectively stroked one of her pig tails. “Why?”
“They’re grabbers. The walking dead will grab you and hold on. It would be best for your safety.”
“I’ll cut it for you,” Fehny added, smiling at Harley.
“But I like my hair,” Harley whined.
“Harley,” Fehny said, “You need to do what you can to survive.”
Harley pouted at her boots, thinking about her promise to Christian. “You’re right,” she mumbled.
That’s when Harley’s stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten anything since her sausages and beans. Fehny set her project aside and stood up.
“Dinner time.”
*****
Sitting around the table, eating Taco Hamburger Assistant, and having dinner time conversation brought about the illusion that things were fine.
“So, the thing I don’t understand is why it’s all spreading so fast,” Harley said in between bites of food. “Like, shouldn’t the victims die before they turn? Missy Roulette just puked her guts out and boom, she was a vicious, flesh eating monster.”
Fehny pointed her fork at Martin and replied, “Marty has a reasonable theory for this.”
Martin blushed and drank some iced tea. “Well,” he swallowed. “This is the age of I-want-it-now. No one waits anymore. I bet the virus adapted or was altered to match the changing times. They can’t pinpoint the source, even though they say it festers in meat. That's merely a media cover up. Plenty of vegetarians, vegans, and those who refuse to eat fast food became infected. Like the Milford’s? They're diehard vegans, but they were the first family in Derby to get the plague.”
“Huh.”
“The symptoms are vaguely similar to a virus called ‘Solanum’. Solanum takes 24 to 48 hours to develop, but Missy Roulette turned in a matter of minutes. It definitely mutated for one reason or another. Once the heart stops, that‘s the end of it; the body regurgitates and becomes a walker. This new strain is definitely a parasite.”
“A parasite?”
“It kills you, but keeps the vital part of your body maintained enough to know to move around and spread the strain. A parasite.”
Fehny paled. All the talk about vomiting and parasites had made her ill.
“Or, it could be improperly cooked food,” Martin continued with a shrug. “We all know how the ethics of cooking went out the door with the coming of the microwave.”
Harley chuckled.
“All I know is that finally, drinking too much has come in handy, and I have a feeling that we will all survive this.”
*****
That night, Harley stayed in the bathroom for a half an hour trying to learn how to appreciate her new hair. It wasn’t too bad, but she had worked for years to get her hair the right length. She began to wish that her birth mother was black, because then her hair would be cute and poufy instead of being wavy, yet too
“I am. I’ve been sober, this is my third clean year, but all that drinking pickled my system.”
“What about the others?”
Martin shrugged, “I’ll bet frat boys everywhere will survive this.”
Harley and Fehny laughed.
“People here fled to Sandy’s Beach. I haven’t heard anything about it, but I’m sure that you’ll just find more walkers there.” Martin paused, eyeing his daughter’s long pig tails. “You should cut your hair.”
Harley protectively stroked one of her pig tails. “Why?”
“They’re grabbers. The walking dead will grab you and hold on. It would be best for your safety.”
“I’ll cut it for you,” Fehny added, smiling at Harley.
“But I like my hair,” Harley whined.
“Harley,” Fehny said, “You need to do what you can to survive.”
Harley pouted at her boots, thinking about her promise to Christian. “You’re right,” she mumbled.
That’s when Harley’s stomach growled. She hadn’t eaten anything since her sausages and beans. Fehny set her project aside and stood up.
“Dinner time.”
*****
Sitting around the table, eating Taco Hamburger Assistant, and having dinner time conversation brought about the illusion that things were fine.
“So, the thing I don’t understand is why it’s all spreading so fast,” Harley said in between bites of food. “Like, shouldn’t the victims die before they turn? Missy Roulette just puked her guts out and boom, she was a vicious, flesh eating monster.”
Fehny pointed her fork at Martin and replied, “Marty has a reasonable theory for this.”
Martin blushed and drank some iced tea. “Well,” he swallowed. “This is the age of I-want-it-now. No one waits anymore. I bet the virus adapted or was altered to match the changing times. They can’t pinpoint the source, even though they say it festers in meat. That's merely a media cover up. Plenty of vegetarians, vegans, and those who refuse to eat fast food became infected. Like the Milford’s? They're diehard vegans, but they were the first family in Derby to get the plague.”
“Huh.”
“The symptoms are vaguely similar to a virus called ‘Solanum’. Solanum takes 24 to 48 hours to develop, but Missy Roulette turned in a matter of minutes. It definitely mutated for one reason or another. Once the heart stops, that‘s the end of it; the body regurgitates and becomes a walker. This new strain is definitely a parasite.”
“A parasite?”
“It kills you, but keeps the vital part of your body maintained enough to know to move around and spread the strain. A parasite.”
Fehny paled. All the talk about vomiting and parasites had made her ill.
“Or, it could be improperly cooked food,” Martin continued with a shrug. “We all know how the ethics of cooking went out the door with the coming of the microwave.”
Harley chuckled.
“All I know is that finally, drinking too much has come in handy, and I have a feeling that we will all survive this.”
*****
That night, Harley stayed in the bathroom for a half an hour trying to learn how to appreciate her new hair. It wasn’t too bad, but she had worked for years to get her hair the right length. She began to wish that her birth mother was black, because then her hair would be cute and poufy instead of being wavy, yet too
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