FLASH FICTION:-- HORROR, SCI-FI, HUMOUR, CRIME, SLICE OF LIFE, ETC.

Friday 17 September 2010

A Zombie's tale

The bark of the tree felt rough against my back and the damp from the grass had soaked through my trousers bringing a cold chill to my buttocks and thighs, no matter, I wouldn't be in discomfort for much longer.

I looked once again at the small bite mark on my forearm, strangely there was no pain, and though it was a freshly opened wound, there was no blood. I could feel an odd sensation like mild pins and needles radiating from the wound along my arm to the shoulder, and starting now to infiltrate my chest. The virus was spreading, I wondered how long it would be before it encompassed the rest of my body.

Once I had reanimated there would be no hiding place for any of them, the virus would wash over them like a tidal wave, engulfing them all. Within a few short days their impregnable fortress would become a charnel house, its rooms and corridors spattered with blood and strewn with shreds of meat, the walls echoing the screams and overlapping moans and howls as the carnage intensified.

Oh yes there would be resistance, the fighting would be fierce to start with, decreasing as the infected gradually outnumbered the healthy, eventually they would all succumb.

And they deserved it.

*****

The castle, once the property of a wealthy land owner was the gathering place of over four hundred of the nations rich and privileged, a stone fortress that had survived the outbreak. Its high walls and thick solid gates had kept its smug residents safe from both the zombie hordes, and the living survivors. There was much partying and hedonism going on inside the walls, whilst the cities outside one by one fell prey to the ever-growing army of the infected as they swept across the land like a wild fire, unstoppable, uncontrollable.

*****

I had begun to get the bad thoughts again, the kind of thoughts that I used to get before I was diagnosed, before the medication.

I used to do bad things, to think bad things, they said it wasn't my fault, they told me that my I.Q. Bordered on genius and that's what made me behave strangely.

My parents were rich, very rich, they bought me the very best treatment, they bought me out of trouble, paid people off to keep me out of prison.

And when the dead started rising they brought me here....

And eventually the medication ran out....

*****

The easiest way would have been to simply open the gates, but they were sealed shut, braced with massive beams and rocks, and anyway, this was going to be my party, and I wanted to be the guest of honour.

I began the preparations for the fun and games....

from the parapet I lowered the rope down and into the shambling mass of inhumanity that pressed continuously against the castle walls, before long I managed to flip the noose over one of the heads, and dragged the writhing wretch upwards until the head and shoulders appeared through the castellated gap. As the decomposing hands reached for me I picked up the axe and hacked both arms off at the biceps, I didn't want the damn thing grabbing hold of me, I could hardly start my own party if I was torn to pieces could I?

The head twisted and turned, snarling and snapping, the stumps of its arms still trying to reach out with non-existent hands. I thrust the corner of the axe blade into its mouth to prevent it from biting me too deeply, then pushed my forearm against the teeth, as the mouth clamped down on my arm the axe blade allowed it to bite down just far enough to puncture the skin, opening the wound....

And letting the virus in.

phase one accomplished.

I let the creature fall back into the seething throng below, rope still attached, then threw the arms over the parapet after it.

As I walked down the stone steps, and made my way across the garden to the trees I had a warm, happy feeling inside me, I smiled, and rejoiced at my own cleverness.

I walked through the garden and found a nice shaded spot, sat down against a tree trunk, and savoured the idea of the coming party.

Tomorrow wasn't my real birthday, that was months away. No, tomorrow I would be reborn, as something else. So in effect it would be my Birth Day.

I didn't much enjoy being me, and I didn't like the way people treat me. They looked at me like I was a freak, they spoke to me in condescending voices as though I were stupid or retarded. Well, we would see who looked stupid when the celebrations began wouldn't we?

*****

I watched with a quiet detachment as a small spider climbed my thigh and started to make its way up my leg, it reached my hip at the same time as the tingling sensation that was spreading downwards through my body did. The spider suddenly seemed to lose its footing, falling back into the grass, then hurriedly scuttled away from me.

I wondered if there was such a thing as zombie insects, or birds, or fish.

It would be time for me to make a move soon, I wanted to be in my bedroom before my whole body was infected.

The first thing my parents did every morning was to check in on me, anyone would think they didn't trust me. Mind you they had been keeping a close eye on me since my tablets had run out, but I was smarter than them, I was a good actor, even the doctors had said so.

Oh well, time to get going, I could feel my shins tingling, and I was ready for bed.

I didn't want to be too tired to greet my parents tomorrow morning when they came into my room to help me begin my Birth Day party did I?

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Zurvivor. (A Zombie's tale. Part 2)
Zigourney. (A Zombie's tale Part 3)

©2010 Stephen. J. Green.

26 comments:

  1. Ooh, what a nasty guy he is. An interesting take on the zombie story line.

    Welcome to #fridayflash.
    ~jon

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  2. Yikes.

    This was my first zombie story ever.

    Well written. Did I mention YIKES?

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  3. Now that's devious planning. Good work; I know some people who'd do something similar if off their medication and in such a situation. :)

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  4. Excellent story. Even though you've foreshadowed the outcome perfectly, naughty me still wants to see what happens next. But that's me. I'm always greedy for more. Great character here. Quite the nasty boy, but he's already infected by something else, mental illness, a sociopath, you don't say. Happy Birthday indeed.

    Welcome to #fridayflash

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  5. Thank you for the kind comments, and for the warm welcome to my Friday Flash debut.

    I have a few more written stories of varying content to publish yet, but after those I think I would like to concentrate on Sci-Fi/Horror, as this gives a totally free rein to my overactive imagination.

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  6. Awful character, and awesome story. His twisted sense reminded me of the main character in A Clockwork Orange.

    And welcome to fridayflash!

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  7. Quite a wonderful debut story to add to the #fridayflash community.

    Really well done!

    Welcome. :)

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  8. In the midst of all of that horror ...this bit was especially chilling:

    "I used to do bad things, to think bad things, they said it wasn't my fault, they told me that my I.Q. Bordered on genius and that's what made me behave strangely."

    Too bad he didn't channel those thoughts into a lucrative writing career...
    Nicely done.
    Welcome to #fridayflash!

    Karen :0)

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  9. A new thing: a juvenile, sociopathic Mask of the Red Death retelling. Very nicely done sir. Welcome to our little nest of cheerful vipers.

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  10. Reminds me of Columbine. I was initially thinking why is he doing this, but the story does a good job of answering that question. Well written. Welcome to FridayFlash.

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  11. Definitely a different sort of zombie tale! Revenge is sweet, like rotten fruit :D

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  12. Tried to post a comment earlier Steve, but Blogger is picking on me. It was a really good comment too and now I've forgotten what I said....
    Welcome to #FridayFlash Look forward to reading more. When are you joining us on Twitter?
    Hope this posts this time....

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  13. Thanks guys, for all you people who have taken the time to read my story.

    I'm feeling quite at home already on Friday flash. I have spent most of today getting familiar with different writers and their styles, there is some very good stuff on there.

    @Rachel, I don't think I'll be joining twitter, I tried facebook for a few weeks but it wasn't my thing either.
    Thank you for reading and posting. :)

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  14. Quite the creepy tale here. Welcome to Friday Flash.

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  15. Ah it's already been mentioned but yes a good rendition of the Red Death concept :)

    I really liked this story though from an artistic point of view I felt that some of the foreshadowing was not needed ;)

    Thanks for the read

    Sarah

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  16. Creepy good fun. Welcome to #fridayflash. Nice debut.

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  17. Very creepy and what a horrible character he is!

    Welcome to #fridayflash, Steve, good to see you here. :o)

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  18. Thanks again for the comments and for the welcome to #Fridayflash, I just hope that I can produce something worth reading each week. There is a lot of talent out there to rub shoulders with.

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  19. Gotta love zombies. Great take on the genre.
    Welcome to Friday Flash! :)

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  20. Thanks Melissa, it has been a warm welcome too.

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  21. Cool take on zombies. This sort of reminds me of Mask of the Red Death, but with zombie plague...

    Nice!

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  22. Thanks for reading Ganymeder, I just love zombies, I can watch the resident evil films and such time and time again.

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  23. You know, if this is what it takes to take out a castle full of fat cats and capitalists, well so be it! I particularly liked the detail about the spider, in some ways the most chilling description in the piece.

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  24. Thanks Jason, I know there have been zombie dogs and birds in the Resident Evil films, and I have wondered if the virus could pass down to the lower life forms.

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  25. I really don't like this guy! But I want to know what happens to him. I'm zooming off to part 2 now...

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  26. Hi Peter, and thanks for dropping by, I hope you enjoy the following instalments.

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