Zombie Pink (11 page)

"Probably not," Gina's Dad said.

H
owever, the way he was wrinkling his brow made Gina believe that her dad might be lying. Her dad certainly looked scared, even though he was trying hard to hide it.

Now the man on the front yard
was pulling the woman’s hair.
The monstrous woman
kept rearing around shrieking, which scared the man off.
The man's wife was just lying there in the grass, motionless, like she was dead
.

"Let's turn on the local news," Gina’s Dad finally said. "If this is some kind of promotion for that stupid show, maybe they got wind of it. Close the curtains, Gina."

"If it's nothing bad, then why do I have to close the curtains?" Gina asked.

"Just do it!" her father ordered.

Gina sighed and closed the curtains on the grim scenario that was unfolding right outside the window
.

The family moved away from the window. As they settled onto the couch, they heard the sound of someone trying to open their front door, followed by a man screaming, "HELP! I THINK MY WIFE IS DEAD! OPEN UP IN THERE!"

"It's a trick," Marie DeFazio confirmed. "They always try to get you to open the door
. But it's just a trick, so they can kill you too. I saw it on some movie. They play on
the people's sympathies... the people in the house become the real victims."

"Good God, Marie!" Frank DeFazio exclaimed. "This is a decent neighborhood! We've lived here seven years and haven't had a single issue! These are mostly nice decent middle-class families living here!"

"Well someone did egg the mailbox last year on Mischief Night," Gina reminded them.

Gina's parents ignored their daughter's comment since egging a mailbox didn't really compare to what was going on at the present moment.

The doorbell rang numerous times as the confused and helpless family sat staring at each other.
This was followed by a series of angry banging and more yelling.

"OPEN UP IN THERE! THERE'S BEEN A MURDER!"

"But what if it's not fake?" Gina whispered. "What if that person is telling the truth? How can we just sit here and do nothing?"

"Let the police handle it, Gina," Gina's Dad warned her. "That’s what they’re trained to do. Marie...turn on the local news."

Marie DeFazio tried the local news channel. The family stared at a blank screen.

"That's weird," Gina said. “Just like 9-1-1.”

"Must be the satellite," her father said. "Okay, try CNN or something."

Marie DeFazio switched the TV to CNN. There was a big red box on the screen that read SPECIAL REPORT.

A newscaster Gina recognized was sitting at his desk looking as scared as Gina felt. As the family huddled onto the couch, the strange eerie words coming out of the newscaster's mouth sounded like they were stolen straight from a cheesy horror movie script.

"The latest report from the CDC indicates that the rabies-like virus has mutated in such a way that it is less fatal and more easily spread," the bleary eyed man was saying. "The first
victim was brought to a hospital in Madison, Wisconsin exactly two weeks ago today.

Since then, hospitals all over the country have reported
receiving patients with similar symptoms, although there are areas of the country where the outbreaks are more concentrated. The virus is spreading extremely rapidly and progressing to the epidemic stage."

Some young guy in jeans
brought in a notecard and placed it down on the announcer's desk in front of him.

"Oh. Okay. I'd like to bring in Dr. Jose
Branos from the CDC," read the newscaster.

An older man in a white coat was ushered in by the young guy wearing
jeans. The man awkwardly took a seat behind the desk.

"Hello, I would like talk about the virus. First of all, I don't want anyone to panic. We are doing all we can to come up with a vaccine," the older man in the white coat
reported
.

"If you have just tuned in, we are talking about a virus where patients exhibit the same symptoms of rabies, from early infection which includes anxiety, confusion, and delirium...often accompanied by hallucinations.

The virus has an incubation period of anywhere from twenty four to forty eight hours. As the virus progresses, victims will experience headache, fever, and fatigue at first... typical flu-like symptoms, along with avoidance of bright lights.

Now I want to make it perfectly clear that this is
not
Ebola! So please, do not even think that it has anything to do with Ebola, because it does not!

If anyone is experiencing these symptoms, it is vital that you get yourself to the nearest hospital....the final stage of the virus may include hydrophobia and paralysis, but we are yet to discover anyone who is exhibiting these classic rabies symptoms. Patients must be sedated and contained..."

"Is this for real?" Gina's Mother asked. "Come on! This has to be a hoax, like that War of the World's thing....who was that..."

"Orson Wells," Mr. DeFazio supplied. "If this is a hoax, they sure have gone through a lot of effort to make it look real!"

“Well at least it’s not Ebola,” Gina said. “If that helps any.”

Gina's Dad grabbed the remote control off the coffee table and switched to The Bloomburg Report.
Fr
ank DeFazio always had to be the one wielding the remote control.

The overly pale woman on The Bloomburg
Report was talking in a very high-pitched nasal voice, and looked like she was about to burst into tears.

"It would seem that the virus has evolved and mutated," she stated, in a quivery tone. "It presents itself as a persistent infection, not unlike Herpes.

Although the virus appears to shut down the cortex, which is the seat of civilized thought in the brain, it leaves the part of the brain that controls basic motor function and primitive instincts intact. In other words...the brain stem. We are doing all we can to contain this virus."

At this point, the screen switched over to a scene outside of a hospital where health care workers in yellow Hazmat suits were washing something down with a hose.

"Oh come on!" Gina's Dad said, switching the channel yet again. "Who's writing her dialog
? This is cheesier than Dawn of the Dead!"

Gina's Mom ran over to the front window, peeking through the curtain.

"Marie! Get away from there!" Gina's Dad instructed.

When Gina’s Father couldn't control a situation, he at least liked to control his family.

"Nobody's out there anymore," Mrs. DeFazio confirmed.

"
Marie
!" Frank DeFazio warned.

Gina's Mom tried calling 9-1-1 again.

"Still not going through," she announced.

Gina felt like she was trapped inside of a bad dream. She pinched herself, so she could wake up.

"OUCH!" she cried.

“Stop being so dramatic, Gina,” Mr. DeFazio warned.

It wasn’t a dream. She was still on the couch, hearing yet another news broadcast on MSNBC. Unless this was still just part of the dream…

"We do not believe the disease is airborne
, but this is not conclusive as of now," an older woman with a crew cut proclaimed. "According to unnamed sources at the CDC, one theory is that the virus is spread by infected mosquitoes, not unlike Malaria or West Nile Virus.

Another theory is that the virus somehow controls the brain of the infected person, instructing that person to bite others so the virus can then be spread through human saliva or blood. I realize the reality of this is difficult to grasp...it's just a possibility from what we have observed."

On Fox News, a disheveled man who kept rubbing his forehead informed them that the National Guard had been dispatched, and that everyone should lock their doors and not venture outside for any reason whatsoever.

He also suggested that everyone turn off outdoor lights and dump out any free standing water so as not to attract mosquitoes, and if you absolutely must go outside, make sure you stay on the alert for any “threatening persons” and that you are armed with plenty of bug repellent.

”
A state of emergency has been declared!" he stated, in an overly dramatic voice. "Due to wide-spread panic, many federal and government workers along with those at the local level have abandoned their posts. Please try to stay calm even if you cannot get through to your local police.

We have no idea how global this pandemic has become, but we will keep you abreast as soon as we find out. We are experiencing difficulty getting through to the White House.

The best course of action is to stay inside and lock your door! Oh, and....please do not go outside with a weapon attempting to shoot people you believe are infected. You will be arrested! Let me repeat that. You will be breaking the law, and you will be arrested!"

"How are they going to arrest anyone if the police are all hiding under a desk?" Gina's Dad asked, sarcastically.

"Brilliant!" Gina's Mom agreed

Frank DeFazio sighed and flipped to yet another channel.

"What if you have to kill them in self-defense?" Gina asked, a look of sheer terror on her face.

Gina's parents just stared at their frightened daughter, unable to answer her question.

"Since the virus creates a light pink to bright magenta hued rash on the face and affects the brain in a drastic way, many are dubbing this the Pink Zombie Virus, which definitely does not imply that the victim is "dead" in the traditional “zombie-like” sense," the newscaster went on.

"However, the term implies that a large portion of the brain has died, and of course, "pink" comes from the many shades of pink along with the pink pustules that encompass the rash. Whether the condition of the brain is permanent or if the brain has the ability to bounce back such as with a stroke, is yet to be determined..."

Here the reporter paused, as though he could not believe the words that were coming out of his very own mouth. He just stared down at the desk, as though he was praying. When he looked back up at the camera, Gina could see the terror in his eyes, though he tried to hide it.

"In other words, victims act like classic zombies, yet they are not dead," he added, shaking his head.

"Seriously? Pink zombie virus?" Gina asked, scrunching up her nose like she smelled something foul. "Sounds like some kind of lame cartoon for girls."

"Oh, look!" Gina's Mom said in a relieved tone as her husband continued to channel surf. "It's
Spongebob
. Would
Spongebob be on if something really serious was happening out there?"

”
SOMETHING REALLY SERIOUS IS HAPPENING!" Gina yelled. "DID YOU SEE THOSE PEOPLE IN OUR FRONT YARD? DID YOU SEE WHAT THEY WERE DOING?"

"Gina DeFazio!" her mother warned. "Keep your voice down, please!"

"Your mother's right," Gina's Dad chimed in. "Panicking is the
worst thing you can do in any situation. Just stay calm and get all the facts. Now I want you to focus on breathing out of your diaphragm...take a nice deep breath... count to ten... then slowly let it out."

"But..." Gina started.

"DO IT!" her father commanded.

Gina sighed. Then she did as her father ordered, although it didn't really help anything. Gina let out her breath. Her dad nodded, pleased that his daughter was obeying.
What Gina really wanted was to wake up and find out this was all some stupid dream.

The channel surfing continued. On the IFC channel, a bunch of young people were sitting in a lounge with graffiti on the wall, appearing to be goofing around.

"See? More regular TV," Gina's Dad exclaimed.

"So yea, that's the scoop, people!" a young guy with Justin Bieber hair was saying, a huge grin plastered to his unconcerned face. "If you have a mosquito bite, you're doomed!"

"YEA, IT'S ZOMBIE LAND FOR YOU!" a girl with long straight brown hair and a big nose shouted. "LUCKILY FOR ALL YOU LADIES, YOU GET TO BE PINK ZOMBIES!"

"Oooo, how pretty!" another girl with frizzy black hair and an arm full of tattoos chimed in. "I wanna
be a pretty pink zombie! I would hate to be an icky old gray zombie!"

"I can just see the product lines popping up!" Justin Bieber Hair exclaimed. "Let's see....pink zombie hoodies, pink zombie bobble heads..
pink zombie shot glasses..."

"Ridiculous!" Mr. DeFazio scoffed.