Our Undead (6 page)

Through tear-filled eyes
and a sore red nose, the girl nods in agreement of her mother's
words. Mariam looks down at her husband, Gary. His eyes are
blinking half-heartedly, and his mouth opening and closing like a
beached guppy.

Mariam:
(breathes in deep)
There are
some flu pills in the cabinet, back in the washroom. They might
help his temperature even out. I'm going to go and get them. I'll
be right-

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
No, mom. It's okay. You stay here with dad. I'll
go get them.

Mariam:
(reluctantly & sniffing)
Um,.. okay.. It's just in the washroom. You get the pills,
and you come right back.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
All right, I will.

She gets to her feet as she
reassures her mother, and Mariam reaches up to her daughter with
her left hand. The girl takes it in her right.

Mariam:
Thank you, baby. Be careful.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
(smiling the best she can)
I will...

The women release their
hold on each other, and the young girl picks up one of the oil
lamps. She leaves the room in search of the pills. As she makes her
way through the cabin, we see that there are no other lights on.
The place looks old and quite run down. Some walls are broken
through, and the floors are unfinished, either that, or they are
far beyond finished to the point of being dilapidated. The cabin
must have been abandoned long before the outbreak, and this young
girl and her family must have been lucky enough to come upon it,
doubly fortunate that it was abandoned with running water, and
triply fortunate that some supplies had been left behind. They had
found some dirty but usable comforters in some of the bedrooms and
a few antibiotics in the bathroom; left behind by the owners who it
seems chose to never return. The cabin appears very ominous as she
wanders through it with the oil lamp, creating shadows that dance
with the ones created by the lightning that is now striking with
the fierceness and sound of an electrically endowed whip of the
gods.

She makes it to the
washroom where she checks the cabinet below the sink using the
light from the oil lamp to see the contents inside, moving around
the toilet and tile cleaning products she finds, but there is no
sign of any pills. She stands back up right and notices the mirror
in front of her. Maybe her mother was talking about the medicine
cabinet. She brings the oil lamp up to the mirror and sees her face
in the dark reflection. It looks horrible. She looks old, dirty and
tired. A disgraceful sight to behold. Unable to stand it anymore,
she reaches up with her free hand and, voila, the mirror pops open.
Inside, she sees a half empty tube of toothpaste, and other pills
for other types of problems, but nothing to bring a fever down, so
she closes it and meets her confused reflection staring back at
her. She goes to the door of the washroom and calls out to her
mother.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
Mom!!! I can't find the pills!!! Are you sure
they're in the washroom!?

She doesn't receive an
answer. The storm, that is now fully brewed, is far too loud for
her mother to hear her from the room she is in with her father.
Regardless, the girl tries one more time.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
MOOOOM!!!!!

No answer. She steps out of
the washroom and into the cabin corridor, looks both ways and goes
into the opposing room, deciding to continue her search for the
pills.

<><><>

Inside of the sickroom,
Mariam sits on the floor beside her dying husband, Gary. His
shivers have slowed down now that he has the comforter over him,
but his fever is still at an all time high, and it grows worse by
the minute. She sits with her hands on top of Gary's chest, her
head dipped down, and her eyes closed, looking as if she is praying
over him. His eyes are also closed, but slowly begin to open. And
then he speaks.

Gary:
…Mariam…

Mariam's head swiftly rises
and her eyes open.

Mariam:
Yes…? Gary…

Gary:
I… I
know I said I was going to be fine, but… I don't… I don't know
if…

Mariam:
(sniffs)
I know, I know… Baby,..
just relax. I want you to be comfortable.

Gary:
I
want you to know… that… I love you… and ********.

A break of lightening and
thunder prevent us from hearing what their teenage daughter's name
is or making it out on Gary's lips.

Gary:
I..
I don't know… what to expect, but… if I can… I swear I'll be with
you both forever…

Mariam:
Gary…
(sniffs)
I believe that… and we love you too..
Forever…

Quick footsteps can be
heard behind Mariam, and then a voice.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
Mom!?
Is
everything okay?

Their teen stands in the
room's doorway with a look of concern. Mariam turns to see and
reassure her daughter.

Mariam:
(sniffs)
Yes, sweetheart.
Everything is fine. Your dad has just come to…
(sniffs)
Come and
say hi…

Mariam tries to put on a
smile as their daughter walks over to them, and then looks back
down at her husband. When she gets over to them, their daughter
remains standing.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
Daddy?

She gets down on her knees
beside her mom and smiles at her father. Once again, lightning and
thunder block out her name when her father speaks it.

Gary:
********, I love you so much. You've grown up to be such a
beautiful young woman. I'm so proud of you.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
Heh,..
(sniffs)
Thanks,
daddy.

She rubs her grimy
not-so-beautiful face, remembering how it looked in the
mirror.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
I love you too, and I couldn't be prouder of you
if I tried. I don't know what special thing I could've ever done to
deserve an amazing father like you. I'm the luckiest daughter in
the world.

A bit of ease washes over
Gary's face and body now that he has been able to say to make peace
with his family, and in feeling their compassion returned. He
relaxes his head with the faintest of smiles, but his daughter
stares down at him and notices the favorable expression. It is the
first positive emotion she has seen from her father in a while, and
it brings a genuine smile to her face as well. Her mother looks at
them both and smiles, but a slightly sadder one, and then she
realizes something. Thunder and lightning strike.

Mariam:
********, were you able to find the pills?

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
Oh!.. No mom, I couldn't. I checked the washroom
and even some of the other bedrooms, but I couldn't find any,
nothing that would help with a fever at least.

Mariam:
Dammit, I think I left them in the living room. Stay here,
I'll get it.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
Are you sure?

Mariam:
Yes. Stay here and talk to your father. They're just in the
living space. I remember now. I had a headache earlier and took a
couple in there. I'll get them.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
All right… be careful.

Mariam:
I
will, baby.

Mariam gets up and grabs
the flashlight this time instead of one of the oil lamps. She
leaves her daughter and husband, walking out of the room and
through the dark corridors toward the living space. Almost
immediately upon entering it, Mariam sees the bottle of pills
sitting on the dresser near a large window that looks out on to the
front of the cabin. The family hadn't taken the extra precaution of
boarding up their windows and doors. Maybe it's the solitude they
feel, being in such a isolated cabin in such an isolated area, that
gives them such a sense of safety. They didn't need to bar the
doors and window, because what zombie could ever find them out
here? It is a completely unwarrantable decision considering the
current state of the world. Some might say, downright
irresponsible.

The light of the moon, and
the lightning that continues to strike at a very frequent rate,
glares on the large front window of the cabin. The wind blows the
branches of the trees, and their dancing limbs create beautifully
terrifying silhouettes in the window. The patterns they create are
quite menacing. One of the shadows even seems to be alive, not
moving as naturally in the wind as the others do, as if it has it's
own mind.

Mariam approaches the table
with the pills sitting on them, and her eyes are drawn to the
patterns created on the window. She thinks she sees something
weird, but dismisses it as illusion and grabs the bottle of pills.
Not too far from where the pills had been, sitting on the same
table, is the half full glass of water Mariam had used to swallow
the pills she took earlier. She looks at the little bottle of pills
and shakes it. There still seems to be a good amount left, so she
decides to take another couple. She pops the cap off and shakes it
a bit until a couple of pills fall from the bottle into her hand.
It is at this very moment that one of the shadow patterns in the
window begins to distinctly move. It is now very clear that this
shadow is truly not like the others. Unlike the branches, it moves
independent of the wind. It moves on it's own accord and through
it's own will, but Mariam doesn't seem to notice it's shape growing
in the window frame.

She exhales, tired and
frustrated by what life has become and pops one of the pills into
her mouth. She uses her other hand to drink some water, letting the
pill slide down her throat. The shadow in the window continues to
grow larger as Mariam pops the second pill into her mouth, and the
looming figure begins to take a recognizable shape. It looks as
though a man is approaching, but Mariam still doesn't notice as she
takes her second swig of water. She doesn't even notice when the
menacing shadow has shrunken into the finite black figure of a man,
now standing right outside the glass.

<><><>

The blonde haired, blue
eyed teenage girl is knelt down beside her father. She wipes his
forehead gently with the damp washcloth and speaks to him, even
though his eyes are closed, and she isn't sure if he can hear
her.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
(sniffs)
Remember
that time, last year when you and mom came back from your vacation
in Maui a day earlier than I had expected?
(sniffs)
You guys barged into
the house and were met by a bunch of us girls in our panties. Ha
ha.
(sniffs)
Totally
crashed the little
lingerie party I threw for all my girlfriends. We were all so
embarrassed.
(sniffs)
I mean, we were only sixteen, there in our
delicates, talking about our lives, boys and a bunch of other
sexual things our parents were never supposed to hear us talking
about… complimenting each other on all of the new pieces we chose
to wear for the night, and then, out of nowhere, you and mom just
burst in.
(sniffs)
Ha ha. I swear Alexis's
whole
body turned bright red.
She's always had a little crush on you.
(sniffs)
I thought I was in a
nightmare. I'll never forget all the screaming… heh.. especially
from mom. She was completely freaking out. She probably thought her
daughter was hosting a lesbian party, or something. I've never seen
her that upset. I thought she was going to kill me. I thought
you
both
were going to kill me. Especially you,.. You can be so..
aggressive and intimidating sometimes… especially with boys… but
that night when you guys came in and caught all of us.. as we
were,… mom went insane.. but you… you just laughed at us and
starting dancing around the living room.

She laughs through her
tears at the thought of her father dancing around in their old
living room amongst her friends. Gary remains still with his eyes
closed.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
You were such a hard-ass… sometimes even scary…
but you were also lighthearted. You knew how to be silly …and you
knew we were just being silly little girls.

She inhales her sniffles
deeply as she calms down from laughing, and sighs just as deeply,
as she exhales.

LongBlondeHairedGirl:
It was so awkward. There's no denying that,
but
so
so
funny… I couldn't believe it when you started to
stri-

Before she can finish her
sentence, a loud crash followed by a shrill scream sends a shock up
her spine. She instinctively dives head and arm into her father's
breast, the brunt from his daughter startles Gary awake.