I bury my face
in her shirt, sobbing. Her scent insinuates itself into my tingling nostrils
and draws me toward her, even now. I resist the siren call of her screams and let
the crumpled garment drop from my useless fingers into the flames. And I step
off to join it.
***
It had all
started so easy; a trip to the pharmacy to replace her dwindling supply of meds.
A quick in and out; no more dangerous that the monthly trip to forage for food.
I’d nailed the
door shut and slid a note ringed with kisses under the weathered oak. I’d shrugged
to adjust the familiar weight of my ballistic vest and checked that I was
locked and loaded before dropping down the hatch and crawling out to meet the
watery, winter dawn.
It had all gone
to hell. Newly blocked streets had made for massive detours and delays. By the
time I had all the drugs, I was running dangerously late. Lengthening shadows swarmed
across every street, growing fast as the sun fled, phantom fingers reaching to
pull me into the dark.
In movies in the
old days, how many times did you shout at someone who got into a car in the
dark without first checking the back seats? What can I say? I was in a rush to
get back to her – and more than a little spooked by then. Hey! It’s not like
they would steal the car. They don’t drive.
I jumped in and
gunned the engine. The roar of the unsilenced V8 echoed off the concrete.
I felt a hand grab
at my shoulder and threw myself flat on the bench seat. The hand scrabbled for
a hold before falling away. I swung the shortened twelve gauge on its strap and
fired blindly through the seat.
BAM! BAM!
I rolled out onto
the road, and lay there, ears ringing and hands shaking from my narrow escape,
gulping for suddenly scarce air. No injuries.
Jumping to my
feet I snatched open the rear door to clear away the remains of my stowaway. I
should have grabbed another car, but the old sedan had been hers in happier
days and I wanted to hang onto it. I dragged the shredded body out onto the
road. As I turned to get back in the front, the body heaved and snatched my leg.
I kicked out and, as I wrenched away, I felt nails scratch down my leg as my
Levis rode up above my boots.
BAM! BAM!
The body jerked
across the asphalt like a gaffed fish being landed and lay still – for now. I fishtailed
away and took three tries to get the flame near enough to my Camel to light it.
The tingling in
my calf started almost straight away. I rubbed it hard with the side of my
boot, hoping it was just an adrenaline twitch. By halfway home, my whole leg
was burning and the other was tingling. I figured I had a couple of hours at
best. I needed a plan.
***
I skid to a halt
on our drive and fall out of the car. My whole body feels like it has been
flensed and dipped in salt. My legs are numb and I move now with their characteristic
shamble. My neck tingles. I can sense her presence.
Inside, I call “Honey,
I’m home!” Like always.
“Quick, out the
window, my husband’s here!” comes her accustomed reply.
After bumping
legs that no longer belong to me up the stairs, I lean my head against her door.
“Baby. Listen
carefully. We’ve got a problem.” My tongue tingles and I feel like my mouth is
full of dry crackers. I hear her wheelchair cross towards the door.
“What’s
happened?”
“One of them’s
here. In the house. No. I’ll kill it. Remember, you’ve got a revolver on the dresser.
Love you Babe...”
The flames from
the paraffin splashed about the lobby crackles and flickers, consuming the
stairs. The smoke swirls, dancing with me, beckoning me to destroy the thing
that will surely kill her if I wait. I grab blindly at the laundry pile. I bury
my face in her shirt, sobbing.
700 words
@nickjohns999
This story was the winner of Jeff Tsuruoka's Midweek Blues Buster #39 and was inspired by this week's song 'Heavy in your Arms' by Florence and the Machine
Judge Jenn Monty said:-First Place goes to @nickjohns999 – ZOMBIES! very creative and
unexpected while still fitting the song perfectly. The descriptions of
the disease spreading through the MC were excellent. Great job. And I
just want to add – always double tap!
