zombie myth; part I.

Alexander grumbled a list of profanity at his cell phone as it was happily buzzing along the edge of the nightstand, telling him it was time to get up. He reached out of the blankets and grabbed the annoying vibrating box, planning on hitting the snooze button. As his eyes tried to focus he stared at the phone and noticed the green alert light flashing in the corner, along with a smiling box at the top of the screen.

            “Wha’ the fuh’?” he mumbled, opening the text message.

           

Hey baby, had to get to work.
C U 2nite for dinner??

xo~Des~xo

            He had been completely unaware she was even gone. Instinctively he rolled to the side, half expecting to feel lingering warmth on her side of the bed. No such luck.  The lack of snuggling gratification propelled Alexander out of the covers and into the kitchen to make coffee. He zombie shuffled his way to the counter, clicking on the news as he made his way past the T.V.

            “There have been reports of yet another attack in Charlotte, North Carolina,” the reporter was saying. Alexander barely registered it, he wasn’t fully awake till after a substantial caffeine intake. He flipped the switch on the Mr. Coffee and the orange light illuminated. Satisfied that his morning was off to a fairly decent start, he walked back across the living room and towards the shower.

            “And now to our reporter in the field. Karen? Are you there?”

            “Yes Jack, I’m here. It seems that at 8:05 this morning Principal Allen Perkins was attacked by a student outside of Ash Tree middle school. Witnesses say the student appeared intoxicated, stumbling across the parking lot and bumping into cars. Perkins attempted to restrain the student, Ace Cross, a 6^th grader. As he grabbed Cross by the arm the student turned and savagely bit into his arm. Parents standing nearby pulled the student off the principal and he staggered off, but not before biting the hand of one of the two parents. Perkins was rushed to the hospital after suffering massive bleeding. The parent, name unknown, was treated in the nurse’s office and sent home later that morning. As of now, Perkins is in stable condition, but we know nothing of what became of the student."

           The report followed Alexander into the shower, slowly filtering through the early morning haze. 

            "Stupid kids and their bath salts," he mumbled to himself as he climbed out. He screeched as his feet hit the cold tile and he slid forward into the sink. His shin hit the toilet, throwing his balance off and he fell back into the cabinet. His other foot slid backwards, bashing his heel painfully into the paneling under the sink. He flailed his arms, trying to correct himself and his head flew into the mirror, bouncing off the glass and cracking it. He slid to the floor, and leaned against the cabinet. He sat there, cradling his head in his hands for a few moments, trying to figure out what had just happened. 

           Around the time he had finally decided to get up and assess the damage he heard a knock at the door. Using the sink for leverage, he maneuvered his way off the floor and wrapped himself up in a towel. He hobbled across the living room and tore the door open.

          "What?!" he barked at the person standing there.

          "Woah bro, what happened to you?" his best friend Daemon asked as he stood in the doorway. Alexander looked down as three drops of his blood hit the floor. 

          "Uh..." he murmured. Daemon forced his way into the apartment, grabbing Alexander by the arm. 

           "C'mon dude, we need to get you cleaned up and take you to the hospital."

         The hospital was a total madhouse. There were people lining the halls of the emergency room, some injured, some taking care of their loved ones as they waited for the doctors. Daemon and Alexander stopped a few feet past the door. 

          "I'm not sure this is such a good idea," Alexander said as he surveyed the room. "I don't think a minor head gash is going to be anywhere close to the top of their priorities." 

          Daemon nodded his head in agreement. 

         "Sorry for dragging you out here, let's get you back to the house. I think we got it cleaned up enough you should be fine. Nothing some aspirin and a bottle of whiskey won't cure." 

          Alexander smiled weakly at his friend and they turned to leave. Suddenly, a shrill scream cut through the air and they were slammed into the glass doors as everyone ran for the exit. The doors spasmodically opened and closed, the sensor overloading at the unusual patterns of movement. 

         Daemon and Alexander were finally carried through them in a wave of panic and pushed towards the left, away from the main stream of human traffic.

          "What the hell was that?!" Daemon yelled.

          "I don't know, but I'm not about to stand around and wait till somebody decides to inform us. The car's over there, let's get out of here," Alexander replied.

         He gimped towards the far side of the parking lot where Daemon's beat up Jeep Cherokee was parked. Seconds after they locked the doors and heard the rumble of the engine a body slammed into the passenger door.

          "Cripes!" Alexander shouted. It was a mangled nurse, missing the upper half of the left side of her face. Her blue scrubs were soaked with blood and her hands clawed at the window. The duo's eyes rounded and Daemon threw the truck into reverse, quickly backing away from the terrifying figure.Streaks of red ran along the window where her fingers had been.         

         Alexander grabbed his cell phone and frantically started dialing numbers. The first was his girlfriend, Desdemona. He hadn't heard from her since she left for work that morning. She answered on the first ring.

         "Baby are you okay? I'm so glad to hear from you, I've been so worried!" 

         "Yeah, I'm fine. where are you? Do you know what's going on?"

          "According to the news there's been some kind of viral outbreak. No one knows where it came from or how soon it'll be contained, but they're sending us to the military base. Can you meet me there?"

          "I'll do my best to get to you. Just be safe, call me as soon as you get there."

          "Be careful Alex. I love you."

          "I love you too, Des."

         Daemon tapped Alexander on the shoulder, waking him from a restless sleep.

        "It's your turn bro," he said, handing him the shotgun. It was a month after the initial outbreak and the two men had been holed up in the top floor of Alexander's apartment building, struggling to survive. Less than a week after the killings started all contact with the outside world had been cut off. All internet, cell phones, television... everything. Gone. Neither one of them had heard from their girlfriend's since that first horrible day. Alexander stood up and stretched, accepting the gun from his friend. Lately they'd been sleeping in turns. There had been a scare a few days earlier when a few of 'Them' had made their way past the makeshift barricades. The men had cleared all of the apartments on the floor as the minor dilemma reached crisis status. Luckily, all but one had been empty. But there were thousands of 'Them' milling around in the streets, ready to attack anything alive.

          "You okay Alex? You were talking in your sleep again," Daemon asked, the dark circles under his eyes accentuated by concern.

          "I'm fine. I just keeping having these crazy dreams. This woman comes to me, all dressed in green. She keeps whispering things in my ear and as soon as I think I'm about to understand what she's saying, I wake up."

         Daemon rubbed his hand across his forehead, looking up to meet Alexander's eyes. "Maybe it's just the stress. I think we're about to reach critical breaking point, man. We've got maybe a week left before we need to seriously think about moving on. We're almost out of food and ammo. We aren't doing ourselves or anybody else good hiding up here in this apartment. Plus," he paused. "No offense, but man. You're starting to stink. So am I. We need showers and fresh water." Their supply of water was getting dangerously low. The bottled water they'd accumulated from the other apartments were almost completely gone. Both men had commented on the fact that it hadn't rained since before the outbreak started. The only thing in the sky these days was the unrelenting sun and the occasional heat lightening that streaked across the sky at night.

         Alexander managed a smile. "If things don't get better in the next couple days we'll come up with a plan B. Besides, I miss Des. I'm ready to stop hiding and find out what happened to her."

          The next night Alexander slipped into a deep sleep. He found himself standing in his parent's home as it was the last time he'd seen it. Standing in front of him was the mysterious woman in the green dress.
          "Hello Alexander."
          "Hel...loo..." he responded. He stepped back and tripped over an ottoman. The dream was so vivid he could feel the texture of it. The lady in green smiled slightly.
          "This isn't so much a dream as an... what do you mortals call it? Out of body experience?"
          "If that's the case then what is it you want? You've been hanging around in my head for the last week."
          "Straight to the point. I like that about you. It's part of the reason I've chosen you."
          "Chosen me for what, exactly?"
          "You're it. You're the one that can end all of this. There's just a few... tests you must pass in order for me to fix things."
          "Me? Why me? I'm not even a very good person. I have like three unpaid parking tickets in my glove box right now and I cheated on my taxes last year."
         The lady in green laughed. "In the grand scheme of things, those don't matter so much. You, Alexander, are a true warrior. You can choose to make your heart and your mind work together when necessary, not against each other as so many mortals' do." She paused and her face took on a sad, wistful look. "My children have been a disappointment to me in the last few hundred years."
         "Your children?"
          "Don't you realize who I am? I'm the Creator. The be-all-end-all. Mother Earth. God. Gaea. Whatever name you choose to give me, I am it."
          Alexander's eyes widened and his mouth made an O of surprise. "But... you're a chick."
          Her eyes blazed and she suddenly seemed to fill the whole room. "You arrogant child! Why is there this persistent belief that the power of life comes from a man? It is an asinine idea! Who gives birth? Is it a man? No! This is yet another factor into your self destruction! You have brought this upon yourselves! Year after year, pumping garbage into the air and water. Destroying what I have made for you, neglecting to realize the true value of life. And like naughty children who break their toys, I have taken them away."
        Alexander dropped to his knees unwillingly as the lady in green forced him down before her.
        "You will undergo a series of trials, and, if you pass, I will give you the power to rebuild your world. But if you fail, the destruction will continue. One by one the remaining survivors will die until everyone you have ever loved is gone. Then I will wipe the slate clean and start over."
          "This new world will be a fresh start. It is my will that you take from this experience the knowledge that life is precious. There must be balance in all things to maintain harmony with your environment. If you take care of me and give me the respect that is my due, I will in turn take care of you." She drew in a breath and seemed to shrink back into her previous size. "I will continue coming to you in your dreams. Doubt me or disregard my instructions in anyway and it's, what is the phrase? Game over. No more extra lives. Tomorrow, I want you to leave your apartment and start gather the remaining survivors. There is a facility not far from here, take them there."
           "Wake up Alexander, wake up..." he heard as the room began to fade.   

           The next day found the men standing at the top of the fire escape, looking down five stories. There were only a few of the Creeps, as they'd taken to calling the undead, standing around the alley. As far as Alexander could tell, they hadn't been noticed yet.
          "You ready for this?" he asked Daemon.
          "As I'll ever be," his friend replied.