Tim Meyer - Less Than Human

She felt the bullet penetrate her leg, but kept running until the strength abandoned the lower half of her body, causing her to fall. She ate a mouthful of freshly-dewed grass. Anthony screamed—a silent version of one. He fell to his knees next to her, flapping his arms wildly in confusion, not knowing what to do. The other bullets had just missed them, a few landing in the earth a only feet away. Panic set in. The only thing that made sense to Anthony in that moment was to cry and try to help his mother to her feet.

She wouldn’t budge. She groaned in agony, flailing around on the ground like a fish in need of the ocean. Anthony helped flip her over and she shrieked, attracting the attention of a few nearby zombies.

“Son…” she rasped.

Anthony nodded, tears flowing steadily from his eyes. They gave his face a spectacular sheen.

“I love you…” she spoke softly, moving her lips slowly so he would understand. “With all my heart.”

Anthony nodded. Then he felt pressure on the muscle between his shoulder and neck. Then pain. All around him the dead appeared. They lunged for him, taking bites out of his arms and legs. He heard his mother scream as she thrashed around, trying to dodge the horde’s attacks, failing. She, too, fell victim to their savagery.

The flock of zombies smothered their quarry, shredding through their tender flesh.

Behind him, the zombies gnashed their teeth in his ears. Ross turned, pushing away the closest corpse. “Run,” he told Landry. “Toward Ben and the others.”

“I’m not leaving you!” Landry shouted back.

Ross turned to him, his face contorting. “Now!” he commanded.

Landry didn’t disobey his father twice. He sprinted toward Ben, Paul, and the fallen hunter. He glanced over his shoulder and saw his father battling the zombies as they grew closer. The zombies fell like uncoordinated children. However, they immediately rose to their feet after stumbling to the ground. Ross realized his efforts were not only futile, but apt to get him killed. He followed his own advice.

A runner came sprinting out of the woods, moaning loudly. Blood caked the front of his tattered shirt. Ross noticed half of the fast zombie’s face was missing. It had been stripped away, revealing puss pockets and decayed muscle. An eyeball hung from its socket, bouncing around spastically while on the run.

Ross noticed its target.

Landry.

“Hey!” Ross shouted. “Over there!” He was pointing to the runner, hoping that Paul heard him. He was the only one currently holding a firearm. “The runner!”

Paul looked up and saw Ross pointing, but it was too late. The runner had closed in on Landry, its arms outstretched and grabbing. Paul raised his gun, but by the time he steadied his aim, the zombie had tackled Landry to the ground. Screaming his son’s name, Ross took off without caution. He prayed what he was seeing wasn’t real, that this was all some strange nightmare they’d soon awake from. But it wasn’t a nightmare and the zombie didn’t hesitate sinking its teeth into the meaty flesh on Landry’s shoulder. The kid screeched, a terrible cry that rattled Ben’s nerves. The zombie twisted its head back and forth, making sure it had a firm hold of Landry’s muscle. Then it snapped its head back, taking a mouthful from the kid’s shoulder. Blood and sinewy matter flew in the air. Landry let out a scream that could’ve been heard in neighboring counties.

Ross stumbled, fell to his knees, tears spilling from the corners of his eyes. “No…” he muttered mindlessly. “No…”

Something that sounded like a crack of lightning interrupted the following silence. Ross flinched as the zombie’s head jerked. Blood spurted out of the hole that appeared in the back of its head, the dead body falling onto the grass beside Landry. The boy squirmed back and forth, holding his shoulder. He whimpered, holding in screams.

Ross dug for strength. Once he was able to feel his limbs again, he hurried over to his ailing son. Landry wailed, unable to suppress it any longer. His blood soaked the ground beneath him. He was losing a lot of it, and fast. Ross took his shirt off. It wasn’t exactly clean, but there were no alternatives. He tied the dirty shirt around the gaping hole in his son’s arm.

“He needs medical attention,” Ross said. Sobbing made his words almost impossible to understand. “We need to take him to a hospital.”

Ben and Paul looked at each other. Neither of them spoke.

“Now!” Ross screamed. “I said right fucking now!”

Josh came over to them. Victoria emerged from the tree line. For a minute they had forgotten about her and where she escaped to once they had disarmed Otis. They crowded around Ross and Landry, carefully keeping their eyes on the approaching zombie herd. They didn’t have much time to waste. Zombies stumbled from the shadows the woods harbored, into the morning sunlight. They came from every direction, the shuffling crowd quickly gaining mass.

“What are you people standing there for?” Ross asked. “Do something!”

“What would you like us to do?” Josh asked. “I don’t mean to come off as insensitive, but what exactly can we do?”

Ross turned his attention back to his son. Blood had already soaked through the shirt he had used as a tourniquet. It flowed from the wound steadily with no signs of yielding. Landry’s eyes fluttered. The kid fought the darkness that invaded his vision.

“Stay with me, son!” Ross shouted. He slapped his son’s cheek lightly. Then he put pressure on the wound with both hands. The bleeding continued despite his efforts. “Please…”

There was little that could be done. Except to wait out the inevitable.

Landry was dead within minutes.

“Ihate to suggest this,” Paul said, “but we really should be moving.” He looked around. The dead encircled them. Their moans grew louder, their stench intensified. The group listened to the shuffling of many feet with instant dread.

“I can’t leave,” Ross muttered. He pressed his ear to Landry’s chest. Nothing there. He raised his head, tears pouring down his face. He closed Landry’s eyes. They would never open again.

Unless he comes back…

Yes, he would come back as one of them. Wouldn’t he? Wouldn’t he become a member of the dead parade that seemingly outnumbered the living? Ross couldn’t allow it. He couldn’t watch his son transform into a monster trapped between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

Like his mother.

Ross assumed she was out there somewhere, eating her way through the rest of her days. A thought inappropriately popped into his head, triggered by the memory of his wife; what would happen when there’s no more food left? Sooner or later, all humans would become zombies. Or the humans would regain control. However, judging from what he had witnessed, Ross placed his money on the first scenario.

The entire East Coast… Gone…

That’s what Ben had said. It was overrun. The government was going to blow it to hell. Maybe there are doctors in the west that can help Landry, he thought, looking down at his son’s corpse. Don’t be stupid. He’s gone. Dead. Ain’t coming back. At least, not as the Landry you knew and loved. Ross didn’t want to witness his son’s reanimation. He closed his eyes, tears still finding their exit regardless.

“We really need to go,” Josh said. “C’mon.”

“You guys go. I’m… staying.”

“Ross, he’s dead,” Ben said. “I know it’s hard, but there’s nothing you can do about it. Now come on.”

He shook his head. “What would you do if you got to Pittsburgh and your kid was dead, Ben?” Ross asked. “Don’t tell me you wouldn’t do anything different.”