Tim Meyer - Less Than Human

“What are you going to do?” Josh asked.

“I’ll wait with her.” She looked down at her mother. Victoria’s mouth hung open like she had something to say but couldn’t speak. “Then I’ll catch up.”

Josh exhaled. “You sure?”

Brittany nodded.

Josh looked at Victoria one last time. Life was beginning to fade from the middle-aged woman’s eyes. He knelt down. “Thanks for the sling,” he said.

She didn’t respond, remaining frozen in her final moments.

Josh sprung back to his feet. A stinging sensation found the corners of his eyes. It felt good feeling something again, although he wished it wasn’t sadness.

“Come on, Emily. We’re going for a walk,” Josh told her.

“I want to stay with Mom,” she sobbed. Her face glistened in the sunlight.

“Your sister will take care of her.”

Emily sprinted past Josh, crying and screaming. He didn’t stop her. Physically drained, Josh watched the girl hug her mother for the last time.

Zombies. The street was full of them. Emily swallowed air. Josh felt his knees grow weak and almost give out.

“Where’s Ben?” asked Emily, still sobbing.

“I dunno.”

“Do you think he made it?”

“I dunno.”

“What number was the house?”

Josh clenched his teeth. “I do—”

A swaying corpse lunged for them. They stepped away. The zombie tripped, falling to the asphalt. It crawled after them, growling and gnashing its teeth together.

“Was it 732?” Emily asked.

“That sounds right.”

They danced around the crawling corpse.

“What do we do?” Emily asked.

“Does it look like I know?”

Emily winced. Tears flowed from her eyes once again.

“Shit. I’m sorry.” Josh felt the need for drugs pumping through his veins. “I’m just… not feeling too good.”

“Well, my mother just died. I think I have you beat,” she said harshly.

“She’s not dead.”

“I’m not stupid.”

Josh nodded.

“How are we getting through this?” Emily asked again.

Josh looked ahead. There was no way they could maneuver through the horde without being torn to pieces. They could try to go around them, but if the dead caught on, they’d converge on them within seconds.

“We’ll try to go around them,” Josh told her. “We’ll head for that house.” He pointed.

“The tall gray one? With black shutters?”

“Yup. We’ll hop the fence and travel through the backyards, until we find the right house.” Josh squinted, trying to see the house number. “Looks like that’s 542. So it’ll be on that side of the street, a little ways up.”

“Okay,” Emily said, wiping teardrops away from her eyes.

“You going to be okay?” Josh asked.

Emily shook her head. “No.”

Josh nodded.

Ahead, they heard someone who sounded like Ben Ackerman scream in agony.

Walking through the sea of hungry, living corpses wasn’t the smartest idea Ben had ever come up with. He knew that. Even as he dodged some of their lame attacks with ease, he knew there had to be a better way. But instead of planning an alternative route in his head, he thought of Jake. He thought of his boy and how his face would illuminate once he saw his father again. He wondered what he was doing right now. Was he huddled next to his mother? Safe? Protected from the evils which now ruled the streets? Ben hoped.

The dream. This is my dream.

The street he had dreamed was this street. Crown Avenue. It looked exactly as it had within the dreamworld. As he jogged through the gathered, he surveyed the faces of the dead. He didn’t recognize a single one of them. There was a man dressed in a shirt and tie. A policeman with bloody slaver dangling from his mouth. A girl clinging onto her stuffed bunny-rabbit. An middle-aged woman in her underwear, splattered with bright-red speckles. They moaned, aching for nourishment. Ben dodged them easily. He looked on, half-expecting to see Jake stumble from the flock, bloody and dirty, eager to rip his father apart.

He glanced at the house on his right. 724. Only a few more houses to go. He did some quick math and found the house Melissa had purchased with his money. It was painted sage-green, wore brown shutters with a wooden stockade fence stained walnut surrounding it. Quite possibly the ugliest exterior decorating he had ever seen. Ben smirked. Oh, Mel. You never were good at this. He found himself able to produce a chuckle, despite his current predicament. Then, realizing how close he was to seeing his son again, Ben picked—

Pain suddenly occupied his right arm. It quickly ran down his arm, into his hand. He whipped around and looked down, finding the little girl with the stuffed bunny-rabbit tasting his flesh. Her mouth was peeling back a sliver of his skin.

Ben screamed. He wrenched his arm free, the little girl temporarily content with chewing the bloody scrap of skin. Once she swallowed, she jumped at him, snarling furiously. Ben kicked her in the chest and sent her tumbling to the street. Behind her, zombies flocked in his direction. Ben looked to his right and left, the herd closing in.

How could I be so stupid? Ben asked himself. What was I thinking? He knew the answer to that—he wasn’t thinking. Not at all.

The horde grew closer, encircling him like a school of sharks. There was no way out. The wall of corpses was ten zombies deep. He could break through the first layer, maybe without getting himself killed, but after that they’d converge on him. He’d seen it before. If he had just kept moving, never slowed down, he might have had a shot.

“Ben!” he heard Josh shout from somewhere close. “Ben, over here!”

Ben peered through the dead bodies. He saw Josh and Emily standing on the front lawn of the nearest property. He shook his head. Closed his eyes. Waited for death.

“What is he doing?” Emily asked.

“He’s giving up,” Josh replied. Feeling ill, Josh walked toward the crowd of corpses.

“Where are you going?” Emily asked.

Josh ignored her. Instead, he ran full speed at the famished throng. Josh jumped when he was close enough, landing on top of the crowd like a rowdy fan at a rock concert. The living dead weren’t strong enough to support his weight, and four of them fell to the ground. They tumbled into their mates, knocking them over like weightless bowling pins.

Josh’s arm throbbed. He rolled over, crying out in pain. One of the fallen zombies attempted to take advantage of Josh’s current situation, latching onto his leg. It tried to bite down on his ankle, but Josh kicked himself away. As the pain radiated up and down his arm, Josh scrambled to his feet. He looked at Ben.

Ben reached for him. Josh met him halfway, yanking him to his feet. A few zombies darted forward with an unexpected surge of quickness, but the two men were able to sidestep their attempt. They helped each other further down the road, leaving the horde behind them. Emily followed them, running across the lawns of Melissa Ackerman’s neighbors.

Once they were a safe distance from the horde, Ben turned to Josh.

“Are you okay?” Ben asked. “Is it the arm?”

Josh shook his head. Grimacing, he sat in the middle of the road. Emily rushed over to them.

“I think…” Josh started to say, rolling up his pant leg. A hunk of his calf was missing. The edge of the wound had purpled, the infection already spreading. “Fuck me,” he muttered.

“Oh shit, man,” Ben said out loud. “Jesus Christ.” The wound was already beginning to stink.

“I’m a fucking goner.”

Emily started bawling again.