“If anyone’s out there, send help! Please, I’m begging you...”
After God knows how long, I finally returned to my senses.
I decided to go downstairs in search of help.
While I might’ve stopped myself from retreating into the deepest recesses of my mind, I wasn’t exactly stable. From an outsider’s perspective, I was nothing more than some antisocial shut-in who’d lashed out at his very own mother for undeniably petty reasons. No one was going to bring her back to life, so calling for help would only accomplish one thing: getting me thrown in jail for matricide. Needless to say, I wasn’t thinking straight.
If I had been in control of my mental faculties, I would’ve noticed one teeny, tiny discrepancy: how did Mom’s condition go unnoticed? Pretty funny now that I think about it, in a dark, twisted kind of way.
“Dad, is that you?”
As I mentioned earlier, my family was an uptight bunch. Before leaving for work, Dad would always take the time to meticulously shine his shoes. Maybe if the cheapskate bought a new pair instead of holding onto the worn-out ones, he wouldn’t have to waste his time doing that.
And wouldn’t you know it—there he was, shining his shoes like any other morning...
“Grarrrgh.”
...except for the fact that he was making those same weird growling noises as my mom.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Luckily, he didn’t notice me. I snuck past him and into the living room, where my dear little brother, Yoshiaki, was watching TV.
“What on earth are you doing?”
No response. He just kept giggling and giggling at, presumably, some comedy show.
“Mom and Dad are acting all weird, and you’re just sitting there on your ass watching... TV...?” My voice trailed off as the realization hit me.
There was nothing on. The screen was pitch-black, save for a tiny “no signal” message tucked away in the corner.
“In that case...” I gathered the courage to sneak up behind him.
I peeked over his shoulder and noticed that his hands were caked with some sort of fleshy chunks. It took me a good few seconds of mental processing to realize that they were leftovers. As I tried wrapping my head around it all, I noticed our Shiba Inu’s collar resting at his feet.
“This has got to be some sort of sick joke...”
That being said, this kind of thing was to be expected. With both parents being afflicted, it only made sense that their middle-school-aged child had fallen victim as well.
I decided to leave him be and made my way to the kitchen. I intended to leave the house through the back door. I couldn’t stomach this place for even a second longer. I didn’t know where to go, but I needed it to be anywhere but here.
“Where’s that foul stench coming from?” I wondered aloud as my nostrils were assaulted by a horrific smell. The power of it made me reflexively squeeze my eyes shut.
When I opened them again, I saw our desecrated kitchen. Blood, chunks of flesh, and guts were spilled everywhere; not a single inch of the tile had been fortunate enough to escape the mayhem. The fetid odor wafting out of the open fridge was a cut above all of that. There wasn’t a single item inside that hadn’t spoiled to some degree.
“Here goes nothing.” I pinched my nose shut, squinted, and scanned the room for any items of interest.
I noticed a kitchen knife, so I went and picked it up. Loose pieces of flesh fell to the floor with a smack. What was supposedly a stainless steel knife was now peppered with spots of rust. It must’ve been left out unwashed for more than a day. Three days? Five, maybe? I couldn’t say for sure.
“I think I’m about to hurl...” Before I had a chance to, I heard someone behind me.
“GraAaagh!”
Shit! They found me!
I turned around and saw my father and brother heading into the kitchen, arms outstretched.
Maybe they just want to give me a nice big hug for finally stepping out of my room? Oh, how I wish that were the case.
“Stay back or else!” I pointed the knife in their direction, but they kept on coming.
Just like my mother, they either didn’t feel pain or were incapable of processing language, or both. Either way, they were a force to be reckoned with, if not for...
“Grrrgh... Grr.”
“Grgh, grgh, grgh.”
...their limited intellectual capabilities.
While trying to barge into the kitchen at the same time, they both got stuck in the doorway. It wasn’t about who would get dibs on some fresh human meat—they were just that oblivious to their surroundings, kind of like a fly repeatedly bashing into a window to make its way outside.
“Haha... Hahaha! Just look at you; you’re pathetic! Pathetically stupid that is!” I couldn’t help but laugh at the unexpected turn of events.
This isn’t real, this can’t be real, tell me it ain’t real, why won’t anyone tell me it ain’t real?
“You guys are killing me! Ahaha...haha... Wait, what the...?”
They started making an awful lot of noise, so I looked up and saw them trying to break down the walls by punching them repeatedly. Even after breaking every bone in both of their arms, they persisted, their legs in constant motion so as not to miss the opportunity to squeeze through.
Whatever those things are, they’re not human. No sane human would ever seriously consider destroying their body to accomplish a task as meaningless as getting through a doorway. At least, not as far as I’m concerned.
“I can’t... This is too much.”
I step out of my room one day, and it turns out my whole family has been zombified. Sounds like some scrapped B movie premise.
“To hell with all of you!” I cried.
I turned back one last time, and after taking a good, hard look at what I once considered family, I left through the back door and into the outside world.