Joseph Talluto - White Flag of the Dead

George climbed the porch, and immediately fell between the boards, his body wedging in between the support beams. He thrashed and groaned, smacking his head on the boards, trying to free himself to take another shot at food that was nearby. I looked around for a weapon and spotted my hammer.

Not liking what I had to do but knowing it had to be done, I grabbed the hammer and reversed it, so the claw end was forward. I moved over to George, who was still flailing about with his free hand and kicking with his feet. I worked my way around to his head and looked into the eyes that found me and locked on. His struggles increased, and I could see he would eventually free himself if I left him alone. Not wanting to let that happen, I raised the hammer, and with a genuine “Sorry, George.” I brought the hammer down and split George’s skull. He immediately stopped moving and went limp. I pulled the hammer out of his head and noticed that the blood was mixed with some blackish material which I assumed was a serious concentration of the virus. I wiped the hammer off, and tossed it into the grass, resolving to put some flame to it to kill any remnants.

I went inside and grabbed my gloves, stopping for a minute to make sure Jakey was okay, then came back to get George. I grabbed him by the collar and pulled him out of the porch. I dragged him to the edge of the fence and tried to figure out how I was going to get him outside the fence. I could throw him over, but I didn’t want to make too much noise. I could drag him out, but I was worried about attracting more attention.

A shuffling noise turned my head and I managed to see another zombie walking through my open gate. Dammit! I forgot to close that thing. Here we go again, I thought. This one was a smaller female, probably a teenager, although her gray-blue skin and bloody clothes made it hard to tell. She stumbled towards me and was halfway across the yard when I moved.

I ran at her and ducked under her hands, scooting by her and knocking her a little off balance. I felt her hands brush my back as I bolted for the fence and secured it shut, making sure no more surprises wandered through the gate. The zombie followed me, reaching out and lurching towards me. I grabbed up the chair and using it like a big fork, rammed it into the teen’s chest. Her teeth slammed together at the impact and she flew backwards. I ran with her and when she fell, I was on top of the chair which was on top of the zombie. The legs of the chair imbedded themselves into the soft ground and when I jumped off, I realized that I had pinned the girl to the ground, and she couldn’t get up. She struggled like a turtle that had been tipped over, but she lacked the strength to pull the chair out of the ground. I’m sure I could probably have gone inside and she would still have been there in the morning. I went over to where I had thrown the hammer and picked it up off the grass. I went back to the zombie who was still struggling, and finished her off with a well-placed hammer blow to the top of her head. A twisted part of me wanted to yell “Fore!” before I swung, but I hadn’t gotten that far gone yet with my humor.

I went inside to check on Jakey and found that he had rolled under his swing while I was outside dancing with the neighbors. I washed my face, hands and arms, just in case anything had gotten on me, and then retrieved Jake from the swing. He was still happy, but needed a change, since he smelled slightly worse than the girl I had just killed. I changed his diaper and put him in his saucer, where he was able to bounce around and play with toys, while pretending he could stand up. It was one of his favorites, and I used to spend a good amount of time just watching him and marveling that I had helped bring such a joy to my world. I set my teeth and swore once again I would not allow anything to happen to him. I had nearly bought it out there, and if I hadn’t moved fast enough, I would have been infected and Jacob would not have had a chance. I realized that what had happened out there was probably how a lot of people bought it. A neighbor or relative was infected, managed to get close to the living without them thinking anything was amiss, and just like that, they were infected or eaten. Either way, they wound up dead.

I went to the counter and pulled out a large garbage bag. I pulled it over my head after I had made holes for my arms and head. I went back out and pulled the chair off the dead girl. I dragged her over to where George lay and grabbed her by the ankle and wrist. Swinging her around, I heaved her over the fence after I had gained enough momentum. I then grabbed George and did the same, although it was a lot harder, since he weighed a good one hundred-seventy. His head hit the top of the fence and he cartwheeled over, landing with a thump on the other side. I briefly wondered what it must have looked like to see two bodies suddenly sailing over a fence in the middle of the suburbs. Shaking my head at the way the world had become, I stripped off my big baggie and went back inside, retrieving my hammer from the grass again.

Putting the hammer in the garage I figured it was about time to give Jake his dinner. I put him in his high chair and fed him his baby food. He looked so small in his big chair, but we had recently moved him out of his bouncy seat, as his legs were hanging off the sides. I put the TV on to see if there was news, and not just more of the same. I managed to catch the President in mid-speech.

“…a crisis which could not have been predicted or prevented. We simply did not know in time to save the millions of infected. We do know that the infection is spread through bites of infected individuals, and fluid transfers as well. You have all heard the reports that individuals infected with the Enillo Virus are dying and coming back to life. I cannot deny this inexplicable phenomenon, and experiments by our scientists bear this to be true. We do know that those returned to life can be stopped by severe trauma to the brain. It is apparent that the virus needs the brain to operate the host, and when that no longer functions, the individual ceases to be a threat. Our scientists also note that because of the length of time between death and reanimation, infected individuals do not possess any intelligence, and are unable to complete simple tasks and complex motor functions. We do know they can climb stairs, but ladders are beyond their capabilities. However, we urge all citizens not to underestimate them. They exist to spread the virus and feed on living flesh. This has been proven time and time again in our experiments. We therefore urge all citizens to go to protection centers set up in each state. National Guard units have been recalled in each state to protect the citizens of each state. State Governors are called upon to pool all necessary resources for the survival of the citizens of their states. Federal help at this time is unavailable. Congress has been released to states with functioning governments to help coordinate rescue and survival efforts. If citizens are able to travel to these centers, they are encouraged to do so for their own safety. We do not know who is capable of hearing this message, but please remember this. If only one American survives, America and what she stands for will not die. May God watch over us and deliver us from what is our darkest hour.”

I gave Jake his fruit and turned off the television. “I don’t think we need to go to a center, little buddy.” I said to Jake as he grinned at me. “I get a bad feeling about things like that, and it sounds more like a situation rife with potential problems. When was the last time the government took over something and didn’t make it worse?”

Jake waved his arm at me, a signal that I wasn’t shoveling the fruit fast enough. He only warns once, then he yells at me. He should be a load of fun when he becomes a toddler. He wasn’t a great conversationalist, but as a listener, he had no peer.