AUTHORS NOTE:-
April is zombie month on The Twisted Quill, ZWEETMEAT is the fourth of the five April zombie #Fridayflashes.
* * * * *
Donnie Sheldon had been shambling along for several hours now, he had no sense of the fact he was moving, just the same as he had no recollection of being attacked, infected, dying, awakening.
Anyone observing Donnie's route would probably come to the conclusion that he had a definite destination in mind, Donnie would neither agree nor disagree to this, as his mind no longer functioned on any kind of conscious level.
He paid no attention to the screams and sounds of slaughter, the scenes of panic, mangled cars, and even more mangled bodies, the rapid tattoo of fleeing footsteps, the occasional gunshot rising above the lesser noises.
At the intersection he turned left, shuffling past several fellow undead biting huge mouthfuls of flesh from a still living, still struggling, screeching young woman, and although on some basic instinct he felt the lure of the feast, and his being burned with a ravenous hunger, he ignored it and carried on walking.
Trudging along, glass from shattered store fronts crunched beneath his shoes, the fragments shining like rubies in the mixture of coagulating blood, bits of flesh, and body fluids.
Turning right at the next intersection he was narrowly missed by a speeding car, rocking dangerously from side to side as the driver fought to control both the vehicle, and the snarling, snapping passenger beside him.
Two blocks later, Donnie walked through the shattered doorway of an expensive-looking restaurant, the place was wrecked, broken furniture, china, silverware, and glassware littered the floor.
His attention was attracted to a tangle of writhing limbs, and the sounds of a violent struggle coming from the far corner of the room.
Donnie mindlessly plodded across to the melee, kneeling, he joined the other diners in their wriggling meal of what used to be the haughty Maitre'D of the very exclusive place.
Of course, Donnie had no memory of his long walk to get here, or took any relish in his meal.
Bibby's was the swankiest restaurant in town, and eating there had long been one of Donnie's desires, but he could never afford it when he was alive.
©2011 Stephen. J. Green.
Wow, the things people have to do to get into an exclusive restaurant!
ReplyDeleteI love the fact that despite his inability to form rational thought, he still knows what he wants.
Fun, as ever!
Zweet indeed!
ReplyDeleteI hope, bearing I'm caught and turned rather than devoured in the zombie apocalypse, that I bust into the ritziest establishment in town for my big meal. Just desserts!
ReplyDeleteHa! =D
ReplyDeleteHaughty cuiZine? ;)
I love the way you build the zombie apocalypse around him, the chaos and the panic, and his one-track ignorance of it all.
Ha! Great twist - especially after the build of anticipation. I thought you were going to reveal exactly where he was - guess you did in a way!
ReplyDeleteHilarious! You had me from his name - I love anyone named Donnie, just because it's such a working class name...perfect for the guy who could never afford Bibby's.
ReplyDeleteExcellent, well-written and fun with a capital F!
A zombie with purpose! All of these have been great so far.
ReplyDeleteHaughty Maitre'D, serves him right.
ReplyDeleteSounds like he got a table with excellent service! It is fascinating though when thinking of Zombies to think that, perhaps, there is still some small kernel driving them. That there's some fundamentalcomponent still driving them through the unconcious hungering. Short, satisfying, and fascinating.
ReplyDeleteHe may not be satisfied, though. I hear the portions at those swanky places are quite small. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat addition to Zombie month, Steve. I've enjoyed them all so far.
Morbidly interesting!
ReplyDeleteThat is one good look into a zombie's mind, or lack thereof. Well done!
ReplyDeleteYour month long Zombie mission could have been a hard one in which to maintain freshness (well, what with all the rotting flesh, you know)but it seems to be getting more vibrant every week! Love that he remained unaware and true to his single minded zombieness, yet in the end managed to cross one off his bucket list even after kicking it.
ReplyDeleteAnd how great is this line?
"Trudging along, glass from shattered store fronts crunched beneath his shoes, the fragments shining like rubies in the mixture of coagulating blood, bits of flesh, and body fluids."
Well done Zteve!
Nice zip & great ending line.
ReplyDeleteHe hee the price you pay for a good meal! I really liked this piece, it reminded me of a series I've recently watched called Walking Dead. I think you have captured the zombie mind very well.
ReplyDelete@Icy – Thanks Icy, the whole month has been fun for me, I do like to put some humour into my horror wherever possible.
ReplyDelete@Louise – Haha, I'm hoping he saved a bit of room for when the Zweet trolley came round. :)
@John. W. - I'm with you on that one John, one VERY rare steak, hold the veg. :-D
@John. X. - Thanks John, I actually started with the ending, added the start, then filled in the bits. The hardest part about this one was deciding on a name, I changed it about a dozen times before finally ending up with Zweetmeat.
@Deb – Hi Deb, and welcome, I don't want to un-nerve you, but it was just down the road from your house. :-D
@Cathy – Thank you, I'm not even sure where I got the name from, I visualised this zombie shuffling along, and the name just popped into my head.
@FAR – Thank you, you have my daughter (Louise, up there ^^^) to thank for these stories, I commented that I found zombie stories “Quite easy to write” and so she threw down the gauntlet for me to make April a zombie month, and I have enjoyed every moment of it.
@Tim – Yeah, I'll bet he doesn't have that superior look on his face any more. :-D
@D. Paul – Thanks, looking at it in a logical way, I think there would have to be SOME kind of brain activity going on, I think Donnie was just a bit more focused than most other zombies.
@Chuck – Thanks Chuck, you may be right, but Donnie can always call in at a McD's later if he's still hungry. :-D
@Storytreasure – Hi, and welcome, I hope you enjoy next weeks too. :-)
@Mari – Thanks, I probably have very similar brain activity as Donnie, especially first thing in the morning. :-D
@Harry – Much appreciated words Harry, thank you, I like your line too, “Managed to cross one off his bucket list even after kicking it.” I may steal that one for later use. :-D
@Aidan – Thanks, a lot of my stories do tend to hang on the punch line.
@Helen – Thank you Helen. I am currently watching “The walking dead” episode 3 is on tomorrow night, I love zombie movies, the really scary ones are ones where the zombies can run. Another great serialised zombie programme was made a year or two back and was called “Dead set” It was set against a “Big brother” scenario.
Great build-up and visuals. Last part was menacing and funny.
ReplyDeleteGrisly with a capital "G" ... but this is a fun zombie romp. I wonder where he'll turn his attentions next ...
ReplyDeleteI loved this story from the zombie's POV and his single-minded desire. You mix such great lines with the horror and humor and mayhem: "glass from shattered store fronts crunched beneath his shoes, the fragments shining like rubies in the mixture of coagulating blood, bits of flesh, and body fluids."
ReplyDeleteGreat job, Steve.
It's interesting how the desires of the heart carry over into the undead instinct. Some things never die. A great story, Steve.
ReplyDeleteHi there Steve -- very well written.
ReplyDeleteI liked the fact your Zombie was doing some un-zombie-like things on his journey to the restaurant -- a model of zombie restraint, in fact (instantly interesting). I liked your deft and delicate touch handling the still-living being attacked, and I very much liked your premise: a half-remembered need to eat somewhere swanky. Small things are much more poignant than a derivative zom-pocalypse.
Perhaps he can pop on over to the Zom-Jazz-Club afterwards. :)
St.
@Lara - Thank you Lara, I'm really happy that people who have read this have seen the underlying tongue-in-cheekiness that was intended.
ReplyDelete@P.J. - I think he may decide to top the meal off with a glass of very,very red wine. :-D
@Danielle - Thank you, that particular line is one of my personal favourites in the story.
@Stephen. B. - Thanks, I think Donnie's desire to eat at Bibby's must have been nearer to obsession that desire for it to control him so deeply. :-)
@Stephen. H. - Thanks Stephen, throughout this month I have tried to stay away from the usual flesh-shredding zombie stuff, and aim for something slightly different.
I'm sure Donnie would really enjoy an hour or two listening to the Zomband too, of all these stories that one is my favourite, even now, after reading it through dozens of times, it still makes me laugh. :-D
It's to your credit that this is the first of your stories this month which feels like a traditional zombie tale. You take obvious relish in describing the cannibalistic fall of civilization ... like one who is secretly craving it. Hmmm, fess up?
ReplyDeleteHi Jason, Haha, I've been rumbled!
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say I crave it, but I do have a liking for apocalytic fiction and films though, I recently read a book called "The Passage" by Justin Cronin, a kind of vampire apocalyptic story, if your into this stuff I would recommend it.
loved it, this has got to be one of your most in depth ztories yet with the added kick of last weeks story as well I imagine a more people like breed of zombie, or our current civilisation being more like zombies than people.
ReplyDeleteI'm guna miss zombie month as much as hes going to miss washing machines (I should imagine the eating there in a haunte-d restront would be quite the mess) cya grandad looking foreward to this week's facinating fiction
Hiya Jason, thanks, yeah zombie month will end after this week, and I'm probably going to miss it too, it's been a lot of fun for me.
ReplyDelete