The Zombie
Upon awaking, he slowly sat up on the metal tray. He felt groggy; unable to concentrate. He couldn’t even remember where he was or what he was doing there. He sat up and looked at his hands. They were a sickly, pale blue color. The skin resembled a wet, deteriorating paper bag. His clothing was not in much better condition.
He put his feet on the floor, feeling the cool tile on the bottoms of his feet. He tried to stand up, but stumbled, heard a cracking sound, and had to prop himself up using the metal tables. Looking around, he saw other sick-looking people doing the same thing. He looked at his feet, and saw the source of the cracking noise that he heard earlier. The big toe on his left foot had broken off. Either he hadn’t felt it, or he didn’t care, because he continued lumbering on towards the door, acting more on instinct than conscious decision. The other people in the room did the same.
~ ~ ~
Eminor looked out of the window, at the room full of his creations. He had finally done it; he had brought a human being back to life. Sure, the first few tests did not go well, but he had FINALLY found the solution. Not only that, but he had successfully brought back over a THOUSAND people. There were a few problems, but that was unavoidable. He couldn’t regenerate their muscle mass, there was a lot of nerve damage, both body and mind were weakened, and they were not exactly
pleasant to look at, but his work was REVOLUTIONARY! NO ONE would make fun of him now! NO ONE could call his work crazy! NO ONE would call him crazy! ALL the years of DISRESPECT from his peers, and ALL THE YEARS of ISOLATION had finally paid off! He could finally PROVE that he wasn’t insane! With time, he had PERFECTED his lightning-powered machine. One bolt, he had calculated, could bring back almost TEN THOUSAND people. He could not afford to make that many tables, at least not yet. Now, Eminor had proven himself. Now, he had shown his worth. NOW, he could get the funding for his project that he so obviously DESERVED. With an appropriate budget, he could perfect the small…flaws in his design. Now, it was time to show the WORLD what he had done. The world, which had previously SCOFFED at his ideas, would finally see what he was capable of! He was tired of all the disrespect. He could finally show the world the GENIUS that is EMINOR ROMONO!
~ ~ ~
Eminor gazed out again over his creations. Some of them had not left their platform yet. It was likely that vital parts of their brains had deteriorated, so he could not bring them back.
He looked back towards the successful creations, those that he was able to save from death.
Why are they doing that? He wondered. They had gathered by the door, and were trying to push it open. Eminor chuckled. They were trying to get out.
“All in good time,” he reassured them, although they could not have heard him through the glass. “But not yet. First, I have some things I need you to do.”
But they were extremely determined. The thick metal door creaked under their combined weight, and finally gave out. Those in front slowly stood, and led the way out the door. Many of the creatures left parts behind, those that were no longer attached well. Eminor stood, shocked at their combined force, and, having recovered from the shock, rushed for the door. Before he opened the door, he remembered something.
The gas . The gas that Eminor had used to aid in the rebirth process was highly toxic. Anyone who came close to the subjects for too long would die in a matter of minutes from the fumes. He pulled on a pale blue gas mask, then threw open the door and chased after his creations.
~ ~ ~
In everyone’s rush to open the door, he lost the pinky and ring finger on his right hand. Still, he felt no pain. On his way out the door, he tripped over a leg, and, after checking to make sure that it was not his leg, pushed himself back onto his feet. He stumbled along, following the hundreds of other people that had left with him.
He caught up with the others quickly, moving back up with the group in front. Still feeling sluggish, the group stumbled slowly away from the building. They followed a dirt path, rain pouring on them, lightning illuminating the horizon. The crackle of thunder make it difficult to distinguish the screams of “STOP, STOP,” in the distance behind the group as they continued down the path, coming to a small park. He saw some dark figures gathering under the streetlamps, and the group levitated towards them.
“Hey, who are you?” The tallest figure asked. “Some kinda parade?”
The group continued towards the light.
“Hey-” the tallest one spoke again, as the group’s features began to become distinguishable. “You’re a bit late for Halloween, freaks!” His friends burst into laughter. It was the last thing they did, as they inhaled a fatal breath of the toxic gas.
The group continued on.
~ ~ ~
There was little that Eminor could do to stop his creations. They paid him no heed, even when he tackled them to the ground. They just stood back up and continued on their way.
He decided that the only thing that he could do was alert the authorities. However much he hated to admit it, it was his only option. He left his creations, far enough away to not risk inhaling the toxic gas, but close enough to keep an eye on them. He pulled off his gas mask so that he could speak easily. He dialed the number on his cell phone.
As soon as they picked up, he began. “Dead people,” he explained, “are invading the city”.
The person on the other end sighed, said, “Sure. I’m certain that they won’t cause any trouble,” and hung up.
Eminor sighed an equally frustrated sigh, pulled on his gas masked, and ran after the group.
~ ~ ~
Mary Holtmer was used to listening to prank 911 calls. What she could not understand was why people made them.
Why would anyone be so stupid… she lost her train of thought when the phone rang again.
“Hello,” she began.
“They’re all dying!” the caller said. “these gross people are killing everyone!”
“You mean the dead people?” Mary asked.
“Yes, I guess you could call them that,” the caller replied, obviously stunned by Mary’s nonchalant response.
“Sorry, we are only authorized to arrest living people,” Mary said, then she hung up.
I’m so glad my shift is almost over , she thought.
~ ~ ~
He still had no idea where the group was going. It seemed just to be crawling along a road going through the middle of the town. He tried to think of where he was, but could not concentrate. He decided to try to remember his name. It started, he decided after several minutes, with a pointy letter. Definitely not round. Maybe “W”? What names started with “W”? He considered it for a while, his brain working very slowly on the puzzle that he had given himself. The only one he could think of was Will. He must be Will.
“Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiillllllllllll,” he groaned, content with the sound the name. Following his lead, others in the group began groaning with him.
Will looked around. People were staring at them.
Maybe they think that we are a parade , Will thought, his mind struggling to reach his conclusion. As the group drew close to people, he noticed, they began to fall to the ground.
They must be really tired , Will justified. “Goooooooood niiiiiiiighhhhht,” he wished them, the rest of the group following suit.
It was at that point that people began to scream.
Where are they going? Will contemplated, only completing his thought long after the people were gone.
~ ~ ~
By the time Mary’s shift was over, she was completely infuriated. Dozens of people had called, all claiming that these “dead people” had invaded the city.
Who , she wondered,
has enough time on their hands to start a prank that big? She decided that some people just really need to get a life,.
She pulled on a coat and headed home as quickly as possible. She did not feel like putting up with anyone after her long day of work.
As she turned the corner, she saw a huge group of people about a block away.
What is this , she wondered.
Some kind of parade? She decided to take the long way home rather than push through the slow-moving crowd.
When she got home, she fell asleep immediately, unaware of the chaos occurring not even three miles away.
~ ~ ~
Eminor caught up with his creations again, after a short detour. He had decided that he needed someone who would trust him to help clean up the mess. As it just so happened, the only person who Eminor could call his friend could also help with his problem. In less than an hour, Eminor’s friend Jacob, the only person who did not consider him insane, had pulled a few strings with the media. As most people know, once the media fixates on a problem, that problem is going to be addressed.
Eminor pulled on his pale blue gas mask, and dove into the herd of his creations. He HAD to save at least one specimen. Otherwise, it would all be lost when the SWAT team arrived to eliminate the problem. Fortunately, Eminor had Jacob’s help in securing one of the creatures. Jacob pulled on Eminor’s spare gas mask, the same grayish-blue color as Eminor’s, and went to help.
~ ~ ~
By now, Will had figured out that something was wrong.
Skin is definitely not supposed to be that color , Will had concluded.
We must all be sick . What he couldn’t figure out was whether it was contagious or not. Then, he saw several strange-looking vehicles. There were a few people, all of them wearing black, standing behind the vehicles. They wore gas masks, and were holding guns.
It must be contagious , Will thought when he saw the gas masks. He tried to quicken his pace, so that he could get to the people in black.
They must be here to help us!
~ ~ ~
The SWAT team’s leader had already told his men what to do. “Kill all the blue people,” he had told them, “before they can kill anyone else.”
Now it was time. He was about to tell his team to open fire, but then something strange happened. One of the blue people began to walk faster, almost reaching a normal walking pace. He was coming straight towards them!
“Open fire!” yelled the SWAT team leader.
~ ~ ~
Will could not feel the bullets ripping through his flesh. He simply stumbled, slowing as he approached the people in black. By the time that he reached the row of vehicles, he was crawling. He grabbed the vest of one of the people wearing black.
“Help…us…” he moaned. It was the last thing he said.
~ ~ ~
“No!” Eminor screeched through the filters of his mask. They started too early! Gunshots rang through the air. Eminor and Jacob tried to drag the specimen into a side street. The bullets continued to fly. He looked down at his creation. It was limp in his hands. He looked at its face. There was a hole on its forehead. Eminor screeched again. Jacob looked down, and immediately dropped the twice-dead body. Both of them knew that it was not worth it. Eminor would just have to start again. They took off, doing their best not to get shot.
~ ~ ~
The SWAT leader pushed the dead blue person off of himself, and continued firing. He noticed two figures trying to escape. They were especially fast in comparison to the others, but they were a similar pale blue color. “Get the fast ones!” he yelled to his team. “Don’t let them escape!”
The last two blue people fell to the ground, riddled with bullets. One of them tried to pull itself to its feet, but a shot to the head from the SWAT leader fixed that problem.
“Good work, people,” he told his team. “Saved the day again.”
~ ~ ~
“After much investigation, we have finally found the person who successfully alerted us of the strange outbreak that occurred early last week. Her name is Mary Holtmer, and she tells us that she received numerous calls about ‘dead people’ invading the town. She apparently knew that no one else would take the calls seriously, so she investigated herself. That was pretty courageous of her, don’t you think, Bob?”
“Definitely, Sue. I don’t think I would have done it.”
“I know I wouldn’t have. Now, over to James, with the weather.”
