Tim Meyer - Less Than Human

“I’m looking for my son.”

“Well he sure as shit ain’t here.”

“I know. He lives on Crown Avenue. My friends and I were searching the neighborhood, hoping to find a map. See we hoped—”

“No map here either,” the toad-like man croaked.

“I see. Perhaps—”

“Two streets over.”

Ben stared at him blankly, his lips trembling softly.

“That’s what you were going to ask, wasn’t it?” The man sat down on a nearby chair. “Where Crown Street is.”

“Yeah…” Tears glistened in the corners of Ben’s eyes.

The toad-like man coughed. He scratched the wound on his neck. Ben backed away slowly.

“Goddammit.”

“Were you… bit?” Ben asked.

The man’s eyes broke away from Ben’s. “Jack Runion from Hollow Court. Five blocks down. Was chasing a dog when I went to get my paper the other day. Crazy fucker turned direction and attacked me. Bit pretty hard. What the hell is going on with people?”

“And you didn’t… change?”

The man’s face twisted like a pretzel. “Change? Into what? A zombie? Fuck no.”

Ben shook his head disbelievingly. “How is that possible?”

“Dunno. Maybe I’m immune.” The toad shrugged. “Lost power a few days back. Haven’t really left this room. Only for pissing breaks and food. What’s going on out there?”

“Nothing good.”

The man started coughing. Ben covered his mouth and backed away. The toad waved at him.

“Don’t get your panties in a bunch. I’m just getting over this damned flu.”

Ben’s heart stopped momentarily. “Did you say… flu?”

“Yeah. Flu season in the middle of fucking summer. Can you believe it?”

Ben thought of Jake and what he said on the phone. That he had been sick the past week. Same as Ben. Same as the toad-like man. What was it the doctor told Jake? Lots of people were coming down with it?

“Fuck’s your problem? Look like you saw a goddamn ghost.”

Ben shook his head. He tried to add it all up, but couldn’t. The flu. People catching it at the exact same time. The zombie apocalypse. These things seemed like they intertwined, but Ben couldn’t figure out how or why.

“Anyway… best be gettin’ along,” the toad said. “You have a son to find, don’t you?”

Ben nodded. “Yes. Thanks for your help.”

“Not sure I did anyth—” The toad erupted into another coughing fit. “Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out.”

“This way!” Ben shouted, running across the toad’s front lawn.

“You found something?” Victoria asked.

Ben didn’t reply. Running to the street corner, the rest of the group took off after him.

Please, God. Please be there…

He rounded the corner. The first thing he looked for was the street sign. Yorke Avenue. Next one over. He heard Victoria yell something, but ignored her. Josh said something about waiting up , but he ignored him too. “You don’t know what you’ll find!” Ben heard him yell. He didn’t care. He needed to find his son. He needed to hold him again. God just let me find him in one piece…

He quickly thought back to the dream he had, the one where Jake joined the dead.

Please…

He sprinted past Yorke, focusing on the next sign. He could just make out the letters on the green plate—Crown Avenue they spelled. It fueled him, injected him with vigor. Ben never felt faster. Not in his entire life, youth combined. He ran like Hell itself was burning behind him.

God…

Shouting from behind him, but he didn’t care.

Jake…

He prepped himself for the corner, already focusing his eyes toward the houses to see which way the numbers ran. A bush to his right blocked his vision. He readied to round it, his heart feeling like it would explode in his chest. He took the corner the fast, almost too fast.

No…

He skidded to a halt. His heart plunged into his feet.

God… no…

Before him, the street was filled with the dead.

Jake…

They slowly turned to him, their faces long and unsatisfied. Hungry.

God… please don’t let this happen…

Behind him, the women screamed.

“Wait up!” Victoria yelled after Ben.

“Ben! You don’t know what you’ll find!” Josh shouted. It wasn’t the most convincing argument for Ben to stop, but it was the best he could come up with on the fly. He ran after his companion, his lungs aching something fierce. Cold sweat poured off him.

Ben disappeared around the bush. Josh stopped.

Victoria noticed he had fallen behind. “Girls, wait.” She slowed to a stop, her daughters doing the same.

“Why are we stopping? Ben needs our help,” Brittany stated.

Josh slowly caught up to them, attempting to catch his breath. The two young girls appeared to have no problem with sprinting down the street. They acted like they hadn’t been running at all.

Victoria put her hands over her head, sucking wind. “Guess I should renew my gym membership, huh?”

“Ben’s gone,” Josh told them. “We won’t catch him.”

“He could be walking into a deathtrap,” Brittany replied. “His mind isn’t right, Josh. He’s not thinking clearly.”

Josh knew. The man was so desperate to find his son that nothing else mattered. Especially his own safety. One small misstep in this dangerous new world and…

“Okay. We’ll follow. But let me catch my brea—”

Something darted behind him, heading straight for Victoria. Josh turned in time to watch a middle-aged man in a three-piece suit tackle her to the ground, snarling bestially. The man had recently taken a bath in someone’s blood. His expensive suit was heavily stained, torn and tattered.

Victoria screamed. So did her daughters.

Josh rushed over to her, reaching for the zombie’s shoulder. He grabbed the dead man, but it was too late; he already clamped his mouth down on Victoria’s throat. A blood-curdling scream roared from her open mouth as the monster tore a gaping hole in her neck. Ruby fluids spurted out excessively.

“No!” Brittany screamed, rushing to her mother’s side.

Emily froze, looking on expressionlessly. Her jaw dropped open, remained there for the duration of the carnage.

Josh yanked the zombie off Victoria with the strength in his one good arm. It was surprisingly light for a corpse. Tumbling across the pavement, the zombie growled. Josh kicked its teeth in before it had the opportunity to rise to its feet. The corpse took the blow without protecting itself. Josh kicked it again, this time aiming for the side of its head. The zombie’s head dented. He kicked it again, this time in the knee. Its fragile bone cracked and the zombie fell flat against the street. Clenching his teeth together, Josh stomped on the zombie’s head. Blood splashed the asphalt, pooling around the corpse’s nearly-crushed cranium. Josh repeated this act over and over again, until the zombie’s head caved in like a rotten pumpkin. Brains and other pinkish matter oozed from beneath his foot.

Josh turned to Victoria and her daughter. Brittany was holding her hands over the cherry cavern in her mother’s neck. Blood seeped through her fingers. She glanced at Josh, looking for help he couldn’t give.

He stared at her forebodingly. She shook her head slowly, her eyes growing wet.

“Is Mom going to be okay?” Emily asked innocently. Tears stood on the rims of her eyes.

Sniffling, Brittany uttered, “Yes. She’ll be just fine, sweet pea.”

“Don’t call me sweat pea,” Emily said under her breath.

Brittany stared Josh in the face. Tears poured down her face. She was able to keep her outburst internal. “Take Emily. Get out of here.”