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.