"CHARRED"

By TG REAPER

"Is it over?" Michelle asked, her body soaked in sweat, blood and soot. I tried to reply but only choked on the ash. Smells of burning flesh draped the air. The burning heap in front of us was once a sprawling mansion of a good man turned evil. He filled the walls with unspeakable evil. We were lucky to cleanse this place with fire, and escape it with our lives. I started to walk away and prodded Michelle to follow. She didn’t budge. She stared at the wreckage, eyes wide and dripping with fear. I heard something move in the ruins and turned to look myself. I wished I hadn’t.

The dead were starting to stand up. The fire hadn’t killed them like it did in the movies. Charred bones shuffled amongst the burning wood as the creatures staggered towards us, flesh and cloth still covered in flames. There were four of them on foot, and a fifth one was crawling, intestine trailing behind it like a tail. The one in front started weaving as if it was drunk. Suddenly, the skull exploded, spraying brain chunks and boiling fluid all over the yard. The creature, no longer having a brain, finally dropped, fully dead. The other zombies followed suite. Showering us in hot ooze and brain matter. Michelle dropped to her knees, vomiting freely. I knew I should have knelt down beside her to make sure she was okay, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the grotesque fireworks display. Michelle let out a loud hack, then sat quietly, looking down at the ground.

"My God, what is George Romero going to do once he finds out we blew up his house?" I asked, the realization settling in. I thought I heard a low growl, but the only thing still alive besides me was Michelle, who was slowly getting back to her feet. She kept her head pointed down, which I was thankful for. I really didn’t want to see her with vomit dripping from her mouth.

"Uh, are you okay?" I asked, trying to sound compassionate. She shook her head in such a way that I thought she had put it in a light socket. Shock and realization dripped from my soaked body. She must have been changed. The matter must have gotten into her mouth or something. I picked up a sharp, charred stick from the debris and rammed it into her chest. I knew it wouldn’t kill her, but it would buy me some time to find something else to kill the creature. She looked up at me with very human eyes, her expression one of shock and betrayal. Blood poured from her vomit stained mouth. She stared at me as her body slumped to the ground.

"Oh my God. What have I done?" I felt tears running down my cheeks as I turned and walked away. I let fear and anxiety get the better of me, and it cost me the life of someone near and dear to my heart.
"I’m sorry," I said over my shoulder, then stopped. Fear seeping back into my veins. Michelle was gone. Just blood where her body once was. Tiny fingers started rubbing my shoulders from behind.

"Thank God! I have to get you to the hospital!" I turned to face her and stared into her dead, emotionless eyes. The stick was still protruding from her chest, even though the heart had stopped pumping blood out around it. She embraced me tightly, the wood finding it’s way deep inside me as well. I was going to die the way I lived, in the arms of my lover.

©2008 TG Reaper