Jason Jones - Trailer Park Zombies

I cried out and fell to the ground. He stared at me, arm still reaching out for where I’d been standing. Something crawled over me and I looked down at my body, crying out in disgust as I saw the maggots streaming from the ground to crawl on my flesh. I slapped them off in panic and scrambled to my feet again, running back in the direction I’d come from.

I ran, breathing heavily. The air seemed so thick and I was so tired. I couldn’t hear him behind me anymore but I knew he was still there. Watching and waiting. Smelling the blood that coated my hands.

Wait! What’s what? I could see a campfire in the distance. Not too far ahead, actually. Thank God. Maybe I’d get out of here yet. I ran even harder, feeling my chest burn with the exertion. My throat was sore and dry and every inch of my body was pounding. I needed to stop and rest but I knew there was no rest for such as me.

I stumbled into the clearing and saw my friends by the campfire. They were sitting with their backs to me but I could see their shoulders and head moving as if they were talking to each other. I would recognize them anywhere: Fannie Mae with her braids and her father’s coat and Barrett towering over her. I breathed a sigh of relief and ran past them, stopping a couple feet from the flames. The warmth felt so good on my face and hands. I was chilled to the bone and beyond and it felt like I’d never get warm again.

Fannie Mae grabbed my hand and squeezed gently. Barrett put his hand on my shoulder. It felt so good to be with my friends again. I basked in the warmth of the fire as I leaned back into their cool embrace. I turned my head to thank Fannie Mae and apologize for ever being mean to her and that’s when I finally saw her face.

Her right eye was missing and a strip of flesh hung loosely down her cheek. A quick tug would take care of it ripping it free. Her mouth was open and her tongue was missing. Only a rotten piece of flesh lay where it used to be. Her other eye rolled wildly in its socket and I couldn’t tell if it was looking at me or not. But I could feel her gaze resting heavily on me nonetheless. Her hand still squeezed mine gently.

Barrett looked even worse. His face was nothing more than a grinning skull. All the flesh was missing; having been eaten away by God knows what. His very big, very white teeth grinned at me gently. It was surprisingly recognizable as a Barrett grin even with his face gone. His clothes hung on him in tatters and I could see wounds covering most of his chest and body. Knife cuts and slashes, small holes as if from a gun and even what looked like pockmarks from a shotgun blast.

I shuddered helplessly, feeling the warmth of the fire being leeched from my flesh. I looked beyond them and saw Mason Smith not 20 feet away. He was just standing there watching his children do their work. Barrett’s fingers dug into my shoulders and with a wrench and a tearing sound he pulled away a hunk of flesh. Waves of pain rolled through me. I felt dizzy and heavy and my breath was coming in quick gasps. Only Fannie Mae stepping forward kept me from falling into the fire.

She put her arms around me in a tight hug and pressed her cheek against my chest. Gripping me tightly with one arm her other hand snaked down to my pants, undoing my belt buckle. Doing what I’d always known she wanted to do and pulling my pants and underwear to the side so that she could grip my penis. Her cold, dead hand caressed it gently and then cupped my balls. I was, not surprisingly, repelled by this and my penis hung limply in her palm and tried to shrivel up inside my body.

I almost didn’t feel the pain as she yanked gently and tore my equipment from my body. Endorphins rushed through my head and I felt lightheaded as I rose above the pain. She raised her hand to her face and I could see my penis lolling gently in her palm as she slipped it in her mouth. She didn’t even bother to chew it, just raised her head back and let it slither down her throat. Then she cradled me in her arms again.

My legs could no longer support me and she and Barrett gently lowered me to my knees. They kneeled next to me and both hugged me tight. They were done with whatever feeding they wanted to do from me. I could feel the change begin to work its magic in my flesh. Darkness skittered across my vision and shadows flitted just out of the corner of my eye. My brain stopped pumping the chemicals through my body and yet there was no pain. My limbs stiffened and yet I could still move. Peace was over me and then quickly left my body to be replaced with an implacable hunger. It felt like I’d never eaten before in my life and only flesh, flesh, and more flesh could satisfy me. A small part of my brain wanted to fall backwards into the fire, to try to free me from this prison, but the rest of me wouldn’t let it. That small piece withered and died with the rest of me.

I woke up screaming.

Barrett and Fannie Mae were inches from my face, so I decided to scream some more.

Barrett put his hand behind my neck and lifted me out of the water a little ways. Fannie Mae’s face was bright red and blushing but it was very obvious that she couldn’t take her eyes off of what I was showing underneath the water. That only recalled the dream even more vividly for me and I quickly reached to cover my genitals.

“What the hell are you guys doing?”

Fannie Mae opened her mouth to speak but she was too mortified or embarrassed or whatever to even get any words out. She finally threw her hands up in the air and ran back to the doorway, turning her back on me and Barrett.

He looked at her and rolled his eyes at me, the ghost of that familiar grin crossing his face.

“Don’t start, Barrett. What are you guys doing in here?”

“You’ve been in here for about an hour, Duke. We were getting worried that maybe you’d done something or gotten hurt or something. We heard the water running and then nothing.” He looked at me sheepishly.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and then sat up fully, pushing his hand away. “Worried about what? What’d you think I’d do?”

Fannie Mae spoke from the doorway, “You were pretty distraught over Tamara and Mason. I thought maybe you’d hurt yourself.”

“Like kill myself? Geesh, Fannie Mae, give me a little bit of credit.”

“Sorry, Dukey. It’s just been one of those nights.”

“Yeah, whatever. Can I have five minutes to myself to get dressed?”

Barrett backed up and shrugged at me, then turned to shut the bathroom door. That’s when I began shivering, either the cold from the bathwater or the dream finally hitting me. I’m not really sure which it was but either one alone was enough to do it. I could still feel the cold wind pulling at me and didn’t even want to think about what Barrett and Fannie Mae had done to me in the dream. I pushed it to the side as much as I could and pulled the drain in the tub.

I stood up, testing my weight on my hurt leg. The swelling had gone down significantly. It was still tender and hurt to put my weight on it but at least I’d be able to put pants on and be able to walk on it. I went to the mirror and inspected myself again. The dream had been so vivid that I expected to see hunks of flesh missing from my body. Thankfully all the equipment was there and in working order. I even field tested it by taking a piss in the toilet. It felt awesome although everything was all shriveled from the ice cold water.

I dried off as quick as I could, trying to will away the cold. Light was shining in the window but it was very murky and dark. I should have known it was going to be one of those days. I’d forgotten to bring clothes in with me so I peeked out the door to make sure Fannie Mae wasn’t lying in wait and went to my bedroom and quickly got dressed. I put on one of my old gray hoodies and a pair of jeans that was at least marginally cleaner than the ones I’d been wearing the night before. As I slipped my socks and shoes back on I thought about our situation and what – if anything – we could do about it. Not much really came to mind.