The Ghosts of the Zombie Apocalypse (10 page)

  "Oh like those little groups I found? Boy were
they
...creepy."

  "Something like that. But we were a much bigger group. When we ran out of stories I tried to make up new ones. But I couldn't keep that up so I took charge and sent people out to find others to tell everyone stories but..."

  Mike went quiet for a moment. The air felt tense.

  "But...He already found us." Mike continued

  "So you sent people out and they brought him back?"

  "No. He was already in the group. Watching and waiting. His eyes creeped me out so I sent him with the search party...It was really working, it really was! We were going to find all the lost fallen people and bring them back! And no one would be lost because we had each other."

  Mike paused.

  "He killed the search party. He killed those who were already dead! And then he killed everyone else but me. Said I amused him. Made me his pet. Made me tell stories on command like some neat trick while he ate more and more people in front of me, taunting me with their ghostly flesh. It made me sick!!...And there was nothing. Nothing I could do! It was like reliving the zombie outbreak all over again! No, I take it back. This was much worse. I may not have been a good person in life...and maybe I abused my position, a bit, of a great story teller in death, but I am not...
That
!"

  Mike shivered with rage in Henrietta's arm. It was the first time she realized that he didn't weigh anything. Being a ghost herself she would have thought it would be at least something. Thinking about that took her mind off things.

  "I got your arm here." Mike said

  Annnnd my minds back in.

  "He wanted me to eat it. Said I hadn't eaten in days. I don't know what the hell he's talking about. As if I could eat someone's arm like he does..."

  "Just hold on to it for now. We can deal with that later." Henrietta said while keeping her eyes forward

  "He also said It'd be gone soon. Without a body that is."

  "Damn! How long?"

  "Twenty more minutes maybe."

  "Damn!! Hold on!"

  "Wha-?!"

  Henrietta picked up speed like a gunshot. She didn't know where it was coming from but she imagined it was because she never tried. There was so much more to being dead than she though.

  It was ten minutes later when Henrietta arrived at Mist's cabin. The place was torn apart. It looked like no one had been there for days. If there had they might have scooped out all the deer shit.

  "What happened here?" Mike asked

  "Zombie deer."

  "Oh that's original. I definitely wanna hear about that. But does this mean your person is already dead?"

  "She was gone when it happened. I was hoping she was going to be here. It’s been a few days. Have a look around and see if you can find anything. And give me
my
arm back!"

  Mike looked down at her arm still clung to his chest like a teddy bear and felt embarrassed for it. Sheepishly he handed it back to her then went to look around before he froze at the doorway.

  "Uh..."  Mike moaned

  "What is it?"

  "I can't leave your sight."

  "What?" Henrietta said in disbelief

  "I'll forget as soon as I leave your sight. I...I don't want to lose myself! Not after all that! I...I can't, I won't do it. I'm...too scared!" Mike said with his eyes clenched tight

  Henrietta sighed then went over to him.

  "Come with me." She said softly

  Mike followed Henrietta upstairs to where thankfully the spirit bed was left untouched. The deer didn't seem able to handle the stairs very well.

  "Take a nap in there. I'll be back for you in a bit. I'm not going anywhere," she said quickly before Mike could protest "I'm just going to have a look around. You'll not lose yourself here. I promise."

  "But your arm-"

  "-I will be fine. Don't worry about that. Just get some sleep. You deserve that much."

  Reluctantly Mike got into the bed. Henrietta stayed there a moment before she went back down stairs.

  "Well said missy." Mist said

  Henrietta jumped startled as she span to see Mist crouched with her back to the wall with a thin trail of blood coming from her head. Mist cocked her shotgun sending a spent shell bouncing across the floor.

  "Oh God Mist! You look like hell!"

  "You're no prize yourself missy. What with your arm being gone and all."

  Mist slid her butt down to the ground and cradled her shotgun. She looked like a fierce forty year old warrior rather than the disheveled old woman she first met.

  "Do you ever stay the same age?" Henrietta mocked.

  Mist cringed as she laughed holding her side.

  "Age is just a number that you can change to suite your needs. Why do you think women always lie about it?"

  They both laughed heartily for a moment.

  "Are you going to be alright?" Henrietta asked like a long lost buddy.

  "This? Nooo. I'll be fine. Got banged up when the deer broke through the floor. Zombie deer are frightening enough but they can't handle a decline. It was like whack a mole with a shotgun."

  "But that attack was days ago! What happened to your head?"

  "Oh this?" Mist said wiping her head clean. "It's chicken blood. I can't have zombie chickens running around my farm. It's unsanitary!"

  "Hunting chickens...made
you
out of breath?"

  "Yea! Those little suckers will damn near peck your shins off! Any farmer will tell you that's no joke even for normal chickens. Evil buggers they are even before they go undead."

  "Mist, you are just the best kind of...stuff." Henrietta said while giggling

  "It's good to see you too missy. Now let's talk about that arm. How on God's green earth did you lose that?"

  "Not by ghost chickens I can tell you that."

  "Come now, it’s serious time."

  "Sorry."

  "You just lost it too."

  "It's more...it...lost me."

  "That's a new one even for me sweetie. Not many things go after ghosts you know. At least not usually. I've heard the old rumors and stories. But when most of the population cares more about the living and can't perceive the dead you don't get much in the way of research. On top of the fact that we're now living in the zombie apocalypse, everyone is spending all their time trying to survive than to care for the departed. That's why all these ghosts are here."

  "Were."

  "Excuse me?"

  "Past tense. Someone's ate them up. And me too with them."

  "But there's something to that ain't there."

  "Yea...your friend says hi."

  "I'm pretty sure I don't have friends who eat ghosts. At least none I'd call friends, anyways that's another story for later."

  "No, not the one who ate me…This guy was different." Henrietta said in a far away voice

  "Oooh.
That
kind of friend. What did he look like?"

  "Like, I could see him perfectly but not at all like he wasn't there."

  "Hmmm."

  "He tapped me on the forehead. The earth shattered like the sound of a gong." Henrietta spoke like she was reliving a dream

  *Gong*

  “Yea just like that.” Henrietta said dreamily

  "Earth to Henrietta! Hello!"

  "Wh-what?"

  "You drifted off there a moment. Anyways you put your arm right. Look."

  Henrietta looked down at her left arm that was back where it had always been. She flexed her fingers; it felt as if it had never left.

  "Did...did you do that?" Henrietta asked

  "No sweetie, that one was all you."

  "But you saw what I did, right? You heard that gong?"

  "Sweetie I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I can't really see you. Eyes aren't built for seeing ghosts. And no bells went off in here."

  "But you saw my arm was off!"

  "That's different. Come on now, don't go worrying about what this little old lady can and can't see. It'll give you a headache if you think too hard about it. Now let's go make some tea for our guests."

  "Oh! Where is that crazy man?"

  "Oh him? I got him burning those dear carcasses out back. It took forever to get them out of the basement and the meat's no good once they go zombie."

  There was a huge explosion of fire that glowed through the window from behind the chicken coop. Bits of smoldering flesh rained down like sleet bouncing off the roof.

  "I'll expect he'll only have a few second degree burns when he gets back in." Mist said nonchalant

  Henrietta nodded then felt silly for it.

  "You don't have to feel all embarrassed over nodding dear." Mist said getting up

  "But I thought you couldn't-"

  "-Don't try to wrap your brain around what I can and can't do. We'd be here all day trying to untangle you. So why don't you go fetch me some tea from the cabinet while I put the kettle on and clean up a little."

  Feeling flummoxed Henrietta rushed over to the tea cabinet and pulled out the tea tin before she remembered she was a ghost and dropped it. The tin burst open spilling the tiny leaves all over the floor.

  "I'm sorry!" Henrietta said shocked and embarrassed

  Mist sighed and said "It's ok dear. I wanted to see how far you would get with it. Seems you did pretty good. Now if you're feeling confident could you sweep that mess into a pile with your hands? Take your time now. There's no rush when it comes to boiling water."

  "I don't think a ghost moving stuff is like boiling water."

  "I meant the kettle I put on dear."

  "Oh!"

  "-And yes it is. When it comes to boiling water, it boils when it damn well wants to boil, not when you want it to. At least not without a whole lot of heat. But that's a metaphor for another time."

  There was some banging at the door.

  "That'll be our luckless friend then. See if you can open it for him if you can. I'm sure he's having a bit of trouble."

  Putting the tea tin aside, without realizing it, Henrietta went over to the door and struggled with the latch. The door banged a few more times enthusiastically.

  "Alright already! It's not like I'm a ghost or anything trying to move objects."

  *Click*

  "There!"

  Henrietta moved back as the door opened and then felt her stomach drop like a stone. There standing in the doorway, stood herself. Time stood still for just a moment.

  "MIST, LOOK OUT!!!" Henrietta shouted.

  "Hmmm?"

  Henrietta's corpse lunged into the house and was upon Mist before she could react. Knocked to the ground, Mist fought to right herself just in time to hold Henrietta lifeless head back from giving her a fatal bite. The corpse screeched and flailed her arms clawing madly at Mist.

  Henrietta felt sick. She has seen her corpse do this too many times to too many other people. She knew what happens next. What always happens next. But not Mist. This can't happen to Mist!

  Henrietta screamed as she grabbed the kettle and beaned her corpse across her head. Her own head. Can't think like that now. But too late, she lost grip of the kettle which slipped through her fingers to the ground. Her corpse however was momentarily thrown off as Mist rolled to her side.

  Mist lay coughing for a moment as she held her injury from the other day, before she forced herself through the pain and on to her hands and feet, trying to craw frantically away. The corpse grabbed hold of her ankle and pulled her back toward its mouth. As it went in for a bite Henrietta smacked herself with a broom handle alongside her head giving Mist barely enough time to kick herself free.

  Crawling backwards Mist kicked repeatedly at the advancing corpse. Furiously screaming, Henrietta threw anything and everything she could grab. She might as well have been throwing ping pong balls because that's what her corpse looked like she was getting hit with. Furry boiled over and Henrietta took a swipe at herself with her fist.

  The muscles on her face twitched.

  The effect was like an explosion and threw Henrietta through the wall and out of the house. She got up quickly and rushed back in. Pinned up to the cabinet Mist was barely holding the corpse back at the end of her feet. Henrietta took another swipe at its neck.

  The corpse's head jerked madly toward where she hit its neck.

  Henrietta then madly rained blow after blow on the corpses back making it spasm and jump like fire crackers exploding under its skin. The effect was tremendously explosive to Henrietta sending her fists bouncing back like she was hitting a ferociously exploding rubber wall.