interviewed in what appears to be a bomb shelter. “We have moved past the point where science alone can offer answers to our predicament. It’s grown too large for that.”
“What’s he talking about?” Nora whispers to the staff lady. The lady doesn’t respond or move her eyes from the screen.
“My question for you, Doctor,” the host says, “is whether you felt this way yesterday, or if this is simply a reaction to today’s news.”
“Today’s news?” The doctor chuckles bitterly. “This is not today’s news. This is us finally acknowledging what’s been happening all over the world for years.”
“And when did you learn about it?”
“Last summer. A few days after my wife died in a car crash, when I woke up and looked out my bedroom window and saw her standing in the front yard, gnawing on a human head.”
“What’s he talking about?” Nora asks more loudly. Still no one looks at her. Signal interference spatters the screen with red pixels. She hears low laughter in the girls’ restroom.
“What is our reaction to that? How can we understand it? In the space of a few decades we’ve suffered nearly every catastrophe we ever imagined and now, with civilization already on the brink, we’re given this . Our friends and families, all the casualties of all our conflicts, getting up again to keep the tragedy flowing. To consummate it.”
The signal sputters and cuts off, detaching the two men’s heads, scrambling their faces in a flurry of pixels and ear-piercing noise. Someone clicks the TV off and there is silence.
“What’s he talking about?” Nora shouts, but no one answers her. Her friends stand with their backs to her, staring at the blank screen, unblinking. A warbling hum begins to fill the room.
She glances out the window and sees her baby brother playing alone in the mud of the playground. A gaunt black wolf stands behind him, tongue lolling out, grinning. Her teachers and teammates stare at the blank TV, ignoring her screams as the wolf’s jaws stretch open.
• • •
“ {gn=e wor Nora !”
Her eyes snap open just in time to see Addis shutting the window curtain and dashing back to the bed, his eyes wide with panic.
“It’s okay, Addy,” she murmurs groggily.
“There’s a…there’s a—”
“I know. He was there last night. He can’t get in.”
She climbs out of bed and approaches the window, fingering the Colt’s trigger. She opens the curtain. The big man doesn’t seem to have moved all night.
“Go away!” she shouts, her face mere inches from his. No reaction. She waves her hands in aggressive shooing motions. “Get the fuck out! Leave us alone!”
Nothing.
She raises the pistol and points it at his forehead.
Addis jams his hands against his ears. But before Nora can give her brother his next lesson on the brutality of modern life, the man pulls back. His expression remains blank, but he backs away from the window and steps aside like a gentleman holding a door for a lady. It unnerves Nora more than she would have expected.
“Get your stuff,” she says to her brother, still aiming the gun.
“Aren’t you gonna shoot him?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because he backed up.”
“But isn’t he a zombie?”
Nora hesitates before answering. “I don’t know what he is. No one does.”
She slips her backpack on and undoes the door locks, keeping her eyes and pistol trained on the man through the window. Addis huddles close behind her, gripping his hatchet.
“We’re coming out!” she yells, having no idea if the man still understands language. “You stay away from us or I’m shooting you!”
She opens the door a crack. He doesn’t move. She opens it the rest of the way and steps out, keeping him firmly sighted. “All clear, Addis?”
Addis runs to each corner of the motel and peeks around, securing the perimeter like a seasoned police officer. His father taught him at least one thing well.
“All clear.”
Nora walks backward
“What’s he talking about?” Nora whispers to the staff lady. The lady doesn’t respond or move her eyes from the screen.
“My question for you, Doctor,” the host says, “is whether you felt this way yesterday, or if this is simply a reaction to today’s news.”
“Today’s news?” The doctor chuckles bitterly. “This is not today’s news. This is us finally acknowledging what’s been happening all over the world for years.”
“And when did you learn about it?”
“Last summer. A few days after my wife died in a car crash, when I woke up and looked out my bedroom window and saw her standing in the front yard, gnawing on a human head.”
“What’s he talking about?” Nora asks more loudly. Still no one looks at her. Signal interference spatters the screen with red pixels. She hears low laughter in the girls’ restroom.
“What is our reaction to that? How can we understand it? In the space of a few decades we’ve suffered nearly every catastrophe we ever imagined and now, with civilization already on the brink, we’re given this . Our friends and families, all the casualties of all our conflicts, getting up again to keep the tragedy flowing. To consummate it.”
The signal sputters and cuts off, detaching the two men’s heads, scrambling their faces in a flurry of pixels and ear-piercing noise. Someone clicks the TV off and there is silence.
“What’s he talking about?” Nora shouts, but no one answers her. Her friends stand with their backs to her, staring at the blank screen, unblinking. A warbling hum begins to fill the room.
She glances out the window and sees her baby brother playing alone in the mud of the playground. A gaunt black wolf stands behind him, tongue lolling out, grinning. Her teachers and teammates stare at the blank TV, ignoring her screams as the wolf’s jaws stretch open.
• • •
“ {gn=e wor Nora !”
Her eyes snap open just in time to see Addis shutting the window curtain and dashing back to the bed, his eyes wide with panic.
“It’s okay, Addy,” she murmurs groggily.
“There’s a…there’s a—”
“I know. He was there last night. He can’t get in.”
She climbs out of bed and approaches the window, fingering the Colt’s trigger. She opens the curtain. The big man doesn’t seem to have moved all night.
“Go away!” she shouts, her face mere inches from his. No reaction. She waves her hands in aggressive shooing motions. “Get the fuck out! Leave us alone!”
Nothing.
She raises the pistol and points it at his forehead.
Addis jams his hands against his ears. But before Nora can give her brother his next lesson on the brutality of modern life, the man pulls back. His expression remains blank, but he backs away from the window and steps aside like a gentleman holding a door for a lady. It unnerves Nora more than she would have expected.
“Get your stuff,” she says to her brother, still aiming the gun.
“Aren’t you gonna shoot him?”
“Not yet.”
“Why?”
“Because he backed up.”
“But isn’t he a zombie?”
Nora hesitates before answering. “I don’t know what he is. No one does.”
She slips her backpack on and undoes the door locks, keeping her eyes and pistol trained on the man through the window. Addis huddles close behind her, gripping his hatchet.
“We’re coming out!” she yells, having no idea if the man still understands language. “You stay away from us or I’m shooting you!”
She opens the door a crack. He doesn’t move. She opens it the rest of the way and steps out, keeping him firmly sighted. “All clear, Addis?”
Addis runs to each corner of the motel and peeks around, securing the perimeter like a seasoned police officer. His father taught him at least one thing well.
“All clear.”
Nora walks backward
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