Mark Tufo - A Plague Upon Your Family

“I don’t think we should go back there, Mr. T.” Tommy said. “Is Cash going to be alright?”

I couldn’t fathom how to even begin to answer that question, because first off he was dead. He had bled out after having his crotch savagely ripped from his body. Was he going to turn into a zombie? Odds were against it, I had seen a small dog pile of the living dead making short work of his remains. Would he get to pass through St. Peter’s gate? If I was so inclined to believe in this path, I’d probably say yes, but then what God would allow this situation to be unfolding on its present course. Oh yeah, God can’t have direct involvement, how heretic of me. Wouldn’t want some omnipotent being that basically can control ALL of creation to lend out a helping hand. God helps those who help themselves, you know. Okay enough deity bashing, I was under the false impression that once we got out of Denver we would have put the worst of it behind us, silly me, the fun was just beginning.

CHAPTER 7

Justin slept on, in the back seat of Brendan’s truck, barely acknowledging the quick jerky maneuvering as Brendan evaded first one and then another speeder that had sped out from a gas station at the outskirts of town. His dark dreams were bothered only by the incessant buzzing that pervaded every aspect of the tortured vista his fevered mind had drummed up. A brigade of zombies had stormed mankind’s last holdout, as they overwhelmed the humans piss poor defenses the zombies had planted a flag that consisted of an unnaturally large femur for a pole and a flag when unfurled, looked entirely too much like a weathered flap of human skin. Justin smiled in his sleep, the final victory of zombie kind resonated strongly in the deep recesses of his mind.

‘Justin’ – Justin jolted awake at the sound of his name being spoken out loud.

“What?” Justin answered groggily.

Nicole looked back, her features looking paler than should be right, even in the dead of winter.

“Huh?” She answered back.

“What do you want?” Justin said annoyed. “I was sleeping.”

“Nobody said anything.” Brendan chimed in, before his fiancé and his friend got into it. He’d known them long enough to realize it didn’t take much more than a cross eyed look to get them at each other’s throat and right now he just couldn’t take it. This new development of fast zombies was fucking with his head and there was no room, at least not right now, for any more bullshit.

Tommy stared through the back window of the speeding Jeep and directly into the windshield of Brendan’s trailing Ford. “Oh no.” He muttered solemnly. He turned back around, his hands visibly twitching. The tic went completely unnoticed from the rest of the occupants in the car. The horror of Bennett was still fresh and everybody was doing their best to assimilate the new information in the best manner available to them.

“Fine.” Justin said as he laid his head back down.

“Justin.” Again with his name being called out. Even though the voice was loud this time somehow Justin knew enough not to wake up. A warm breeze flitted through Justin’s hair, the sun as large as a ripe cantaloupe blazed high overhead. Justin spun in a slow circle, chest high golden wheat swayed all around in a gentle current. Curiously the growth flowed in a different direction from the prevailing breeze, even Justin’s shadow stretched in the same direction as the wheat though the sun was at high noon. Something inside him knew enough that to stay here was dangerous but leaving might be worse. In the hazy mist of distance Justin saw something coming. It shimmered in the sun much like a mirage. Even as he watched it, no her, come closer, the wind at his back picked up in a vain attempt to try to slow her progress. The wheat arched further back in a futile attempt to get away, if the stalks could have miraculously grown legs it would have been the biggest crop exodus since the great dust bowl of the 20’s. Justin had legs and his shadow was showing him the way he should be going, his higher psyche just couldn’t get the transmission in gear, for all the revving the engine was doing.

Justin looked down at his feet wondering why they were betraying him so. When he looked up, death was inches from his face. That feeling was quickly replaced by euphoric feelings of love and devotion. The girl, no the woman, that stood before him was the epitome of beauty, grace, black bottomless cruelty, and awe. ‘Wait, go back one.’ Justin thought. But as soon as the doubt crept into his mind it was washed away in the glory that was Eliza. ‘Eliza! Eliza!’ His mind screamed in triumphant joy.

“Where are you going my love?” Eliza said without moving her mouth. Her soft angelic hand caressed his cheek.

“How are you talking in my head?” Justin answered.

The sound of the loud crack was quickly followed by the sensation of pain in his cheek. She had moved so fast he hadn’t even seen her hand strike. Justin’s heart seized for the briefest of seconds as Eliza let her true visage show. Soft smooth skin faded into sallow pale cheeks, her sky blue eyes transformed into twin black pools of death and destruction. Her soft hand that a moment before had stroked his cheek was now a gnarled, calcified hideous claw of bone. In an instant she once again became the object of a cold ethereal beauty. Justin couldn’t hope to keep up with the transformations. His mind could not make sense of the events as they unfolded before him.

“I asked you a question Justin.” Eliza smiled. Justin could tell it was not a gesture that came easily or willingly. A cobra would have had an easier time pulling that off.

Justin was scared and with good reason. “I don’t know.” He stammered.

The smile never left her as she struck again. The blow burned on the side of his face. “I think you’re lying to me Justin. But we’ll talk more.” Justin shivered. Eliza looked over her right shoulder and then was gone.

“Justin! Justin! Wake up.” Tommy shook his friend a little harder than he meant to. Justin’s head bounced off of the car window.

“What the fu…? Oh hey Tommy. What’s going on? Did we stop?”

“What happened to your face Justin?” Tommy asked.

Justin sat up and looked at his right cheek in the rear view mirror. Angry red welts the size and shape of a slender woman’s fingers, were clearly outlined. “Shit, hell if I know.” Justin said as he gingerly pressed along the edges of the contusion. Justin had never been so scared about a nightmare in his life.

“I think you’re lying to me Justin.” Tommy said with a sad disappointment in his eyes. Tommy had stepped out of the car and headed back to the Jeep.

“I’ve heard that before.” Justin said as he wrapped the blanket tighter around himself.

CHAPTER 8

We had traveled fifty miles east of Bennett. I thought my bladder was going to burst. I was looking for any excuse to pull over and relieve myself. So when Tommy said he needed to talk to Justin I was all for it. I flashed my high beams until Alex acknowledged me with a quick toot of his horn. The big rig stopped in the middle of the road. There really was no reason to pull over into the shoulder. The beauty of being this far east of Denver is that the landscape is much like Kansas, flat and unremarkable. We’d be able to see zombies for miles, unless of course they were hiding in snowdrifts or scrub brush. ‘Great’ I thought to myself. ‘I’m not even going to be able to enjoy this piss, I’ll be so busy looking for the damn things I’ll probably end up pissing on myself.’ That was number 33 on my list of hang-ups, but who’s counting. Obviously I am, I answered.