Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

Its voice was low and dry like a trickle of gravel.

"You boys shouldn't have come here." It ran its spindly fingers, like the legs of spiders, through its long, greasy hair, and its ashen face was gaunt, almost skeletal. Behind the milky cloud, its blue eyes appraised the boys steadily.

Simon and Isaac huddled together in the basement of the house watching the creature limp to the back of the basement and rummage through piles of tools.

The sun was about to set, which cast an orange glow into the concrete basement through the single window vent. Carcasses of eaten animals littered the floor, and the air felt thick and humid.

"It's been a long time since I've seen anybody around here." It had its back turned to the boys, intent on finding something. "Can't really say how long it's been. My memory… isn't what it once was." It found what it had been looking for and returned to the boys. In its hand was a rusted hook knife, normally used to skin animals.

"But I still remember when all of… this started happening. Thought I was going insane." It laughed, which came out like short dry coughs. "I drove into town that morning but many of the people had already turned by that point. People I knew. Friends. Family. It was… madness. So I drove back, wanting to take my family far away, like others were trying to do, but it was too late. At least for me." It had been been staring at the floor, reliving those moments, but it returned its gaze on the boys.

"Where are you boys from? You're not from around here, are you?"

Isaac gave a quick shake of the head. Sweat glistened on their faces and arms.

The creature noticed the sweat and looked at its own hands with gnarled, crooked fingers that resembled claws. "I don't feel much of anything anymore. No heat. No cold." It took the hook knife and cut into its forearm, drawing black blood. "Nothing."

With a grunt, it sat down cross-legged, placed the hook knife on the concrete before him, and appraised the boys with a slight tilt of the head. "But why haven't you turned?"

It stared at them unblinkingly for a long while.

"It starts with a thirst, you know. So much thirst that no matter how much you drink, the burning doesn't go away. And then your skin lights up like hot oil is being poured all over you. And then everything goes away… except the hunger. I started eating everything in the house. When that was gone, I started eating everything I could get my hands on. I've seen others like me out there who seem to like the taste of dead flesh. I tried it once. Now this is going to sound funny to you boys, coming from me, looking the way I do, but… I didn't like it. Funny, right? Like I'm some goddamned restaurant critic or something." It gave those short coughing laughs again. "No, I needed living flesh. Animals are good, but human flesh… living human flesh... makes you feel alive."

It picked up the hook knife from the floor and tested the sharpness by sliding a thumb across its edge.

"I want you boys to know that I'm not a bad person. And I tried to fight the urges for a very long time. But whatever it is that's been happening to me has gone here too." It tapped its head with the point of the hook knife. "I feel parts of me, of who I was, slip away, every single moment, more rapidly than the day before, replaced by this… this rage, this never ending rage!" It gripped the hook knife tighter as it glared fiercely at the boys.

"It won't take long. I promise," it said.

With that, it hissed and lunged. Simon and Isaac screamed.

"Daddy!" A girl, about Isaac's age, stood at the top of the basement stairs. She wore a winter coat, and underneath, a dirty sun dress. "Daddy, please don't!" Tears flowed down her cheeks.

The creature stopped and wheeled. Seeing the girl, it hissed again and leapt up the stairs to her. The girl turned around and sprinted away. She hurried down the hall until she got to the stairs and ran up to the second floor and down the hallway to the farthest door. She rushed into the same room where Simon and Isaac had been and sped into the closet where they had hid. But now, a ladder led to the attic. She climbed up and was about to yank in the ladder when the creature grabbed the last rung and pulled it down roughly. She screamed and fell backwards, and scooted away from the opening as the creature climbed up and emerged from the hatch like a lizard, its belly close to the floor, hissing when it saw her.

Simon and Isaac ran out of the basement and rushed out the kitchen door and out into the fields. It was dusk, and the wind had picked up again, strong enough for the dirt to swirl, but the boys kept running.

The girl backed up slowly until her back hit the attic wall. Next to her was a thin mattress with blankets and various dolls and books.

"Daddy, please, no. Please, no, Daddy," she said softly, shaking her head.

But the creature didn't stop, approaching her on all fours, and baring its teeth.

The girl closed her eyes and turned away.

The creature was close enough to sink its teeth into her neck, but it stopped, and for the first time, it blinked. It stared at its hands and gasped, horrified by what it was about to do. "Sweetie. I'm so sorry. I… I..." It straightened up and backed away, only to stagger and fall to the ground.

"Daddy!" The girl scampered to her father and hugged him and cried.

"It's okay, Sweetie. It's okay," he said, caressing the girl's hair.

The girl held him tighter and cried more furiously.

"I need you to do something for me. Are you listening?" asked the father.

The girl nodded.

"Go get the gun I gave you. It's time to do the thing we talked about."

"No! I can't! I can't!"

"It's okay, Sweetie. We don't have much time. Go get the gun. Hurry…"

The girl left her father's arms and went to the mattress. Under the blankets was a shotgun, which seemed as big as she was. Still crying, she picked it up with both hands and returned to her father who had crawled to the wall of the attic and was now leaning his back against it.

"Don't give it to me," he said. "It's too late for that. You have to do it."

"I can't! Don't ask me to!"

"I can't hold on much longer… Hurry… Hurry!"

The girl raised the shotgun and aimed it.

"I love you… so much," he said.

Simon and Isaac had made it to the edge of the field, close to the road. At the foot of the hill was a small pile of their supplies. Isaac knelt by a bag and took out the chef's knife.

"Wait here," Isaac said breathlessly. "I have to go back."

"Isaac, no! You promised!"

"We can't just leave her behind!" Isaac turned and started to sprint back when a window near the gable of the roof flashed and a blast like distant thunder came from the house.

Isaac stopped and tried to gauge the situation. A moment later, the aluminum screen door of the kitchen opened and the girl came out, dragging the muzzle of the shotgun behind her.

She stepped off the porch and walked across the field, the wind fluttering her sundress around her thin legs and her long brown hair across her face.

She walked up to Isaac who hadn't moved from his spot. They stared at each for a long while in the swirling dust. And then, she spoke.

"I'm Katie," she said.