died, the first time I mean.
While I’d been snug as a bug inside my house less than fifty feet away, they had been torn apart by former members of their own species.
The word coward wormed its way into my head and I couldn’t get it out. I hated to think I was a coward. I tried to justify my failure to protect the Robertsons or any of my other neighbors by being cold and logical. It had truly been an every man for himself situation. I guess if we’d all been better prepared maybe the outcome could’ve been different. I am sure if they were still alive to share their thoughts, they would admit they hadn’t considered that the cannibal rumor had meant flesh-eating zombies any more than I did.
It had been rioters and looters, those were the clear and present dangers and, of course, the Sickness. My neighbors would’ve agreed with me. That was a guess though, as I stated earlier, I’d been a drunken asshole most of that time.
I still felt like a coward. I should have tried to do something for them.
Dave had done his best to include me but for the most part left me alone. They’d respected my privacy in life and donated food and weapons to me in death. For this I could not leave them unburied.
I would drag Brenda, Dave and the five zombies I’d put down to my front yard and figure out a way to bury them in the morning. As much as I deeply wished someone else was around to take care of it, I knew it was the right thing to do.
I finished every last morsel of my food, cleaned up my mess and retrieved my leather work gloves from the garage.
The next hour was pretty awful but I managed to get Dave and Brenda out of their house and my five new friends to the corner of my front yard where they laid in an undignified heap. I left my gloves on top of the pile as I would not be using them again and headed inside. It was very early on the morning of what would be my first full day as a killer and I was really damn tired. I locked my door, changed my clothes and was sleeping as soon as I hit the stinking pillow.
Chapter 11
“Creepy Doings”
The next morning I awoke with the sunrise, refreshed and reinvigorated. Aside from being physically dirty and probably very smelly, I was well fed and watered and therefore somewhat happy.
A cup of coffee on the front porch would’ve been the cherry on top but I settled on a warm diet soda instead. I nestled into my chair, popped the tab on my soda and basked in the gentle heat of the sunshine.
The morning dew was a blanket of diamonds on the tall grass. Somewhere close, a bird sang loudly into the crisp autumn air and two squirrels chased each other up and down the large oak tree in my yard. It was so easy to forget the world had been overrun by zombies.
Fuck! I ran inside and snatched Dave’s shotgun from the table. I poked it barrel first out the door and did a full zombie scan everywhere that I could see. The street was clear, I’d gotten lucky. I hadn’t been thinking and once again I’d forgotten about the undead.
No zombies, I thought as I sat down and went back to my soda. I was relieved but troubled for some reason.
No zombies was a good thing, right?
I leaned forward and looked again, slowly and carefully from right to left, still there was nothing. I was considering this information when it hit me, the bodies were gone!
I bolted out of my chair, grabbed the gun and raced down to the edge of my front lawn. I could see trampled grass and some dried blood where I’d laid them but they were gone. I stood there like a moron for a few moments
While I’d been snug as a bug inside my house less than fifty feet away, they had been torn apart by former members of their own species.
The word coward wormed its way into my head and I couldn’t get it out. I hated to think I was a coward. I tried to justify my failure to protect the Robertsons or any of my other neighbors by being cold and logical. It had truly been an every man for himself situation. I guess if we’d all been better prepared maybe the outcome could’ve been different. I am sure if they were still alive to share their thoughts, they would admit they hadn’t considered that the cannibal rumor had meant flesh-eating zombies any more than I did.
It had been rioters and looters, those were the clear and present dangers and, of course, the Sickness. My neighbors would’ve agreed with me. That was a guess though, as I stated earlier, I’d been a drunken asshole most of that time.
I still felt like a coward. I should have tried to do something for them.
Dave had done his best to include me but for the most part left me alone. They’d respected my privacy in life and donated food and weapons to me in death. For this I could not leave them unburied.
I would drag Brenda, Dave and the five zombies I’d put down to my front yard and figure out a way to bury them in the morning. As much as I deeply wished someone else was around to take care of it, I knew it was the right thing to do.
I finished every last morsel of my food, cleaned up my mess and retrieved my leather work gloves from the garage.
The next hour was pretty awful but I managed to get Dave and Brenda out of their house and my five new friends to the corner of my front yard where they laid in an undignified heap. I left my gloves on top of the pile as I would not be using them again and headed inside. It was very early on the morning of what would be my first full day as a killer and I was really damn tired. I locked my door, changed my clothes and was sleeping as soon as I hit the stinking pillow.
Chapter 11
“Creepy Doings”
The next morning I awoke with the sunrise, refreshed and reinvigorated. Aside from being physically dirty and probably very smelly, I was well fed and watered and therefore somewhat happy.
A cup of coffee on the front porch would’ve been the cherry on top but I settled on a warm diet soda instead. I nestled into my chair, popped the tab on my soda and basked in the gentle heat of the sunshine.
The morning dew was a blanket of diamonds on the tall grass. Somewhere close, a bird sang loudly into the crisp autumn air and two squirrels chased each other up and down the large oak tree in my yard. It was so easy to forget the world had been overrun by zombies.
Fuck! I ran inside and snatched Dave’s shotgun from the table. I poked it barrel first out the door and did a full zombie scan everywhere that I could see. The street was clear, I’d gotten lucky. I hadn’t been thinking and once again I’d forgotten about the undead.
No zombies, I thought as I sat down and went back to my soda. I was relieved but troubled for some reason.
No zombies was a good thing, right?
I leaned forward and looked again, slowly and carefully from right to left, still there was nothing. I was considering this information when it hit me, the bodies were gone!
I bolted out of my chair, grabbed the gun and raced down to the edge of my front lawn. I could see trampled grass and some dried blood where I’d laid them but they were gone. I stood there like a moron for a few moments
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