So here it is. The day before
Halloween. All Hallow's Eve...Eve? And with it comes the final
installment of my contribution to the zombie craze. I hope you have
enjoyed this little month long departure from the everyday life on
the Coast of Illinois. Watch out for those little ghouls and goblins
tomorrow night and come back on Friday November 1 when the Coast
returns to normal...
Birth
Part Nine
The infant took a tiny breath, coughed
and began to cry. Mary and Debra joined in. Downstairs, Jake heard
the crying and gave one last look outdoors. The female zombies jumped
up and down excitedly with each cry.
In the bedroom, Deb hurriedly rubbed
the crying baby dry. Ordinarily a newborn’s skin begins to pink as
it is rubbed dry. This baby seemed to turn grey. Debra leaned in
closer. Its breathing was deep and even with no sounds of
obstruction. Its cry was healthy. She felt certain the color was not
due to lack of oxygen. As she handed the baby to Mary it opened its
eyes. They were flat and lifeless yet seemed to look directly at her.
Debra shuddered. The baby was so cold.
Mary took her baby and held it close.
Tears streamed down her cheeks as she moved the blanket. Its tiny
grey body shivered. “It’s a boy! Oh Jake, come quick. Our son is
here!” Mary called out as she placed the infant to her breast. In a
whisper she said, "It's just as Jenna said." She looked to
Debra and nodded.
With a deep breath, Deb returned the
nod. A wave of nausea hit her and she stepped back. It was too much
to take in. Mary sat curled on the bed, the tiny grey infant with
blank eyes open and staring around the room gave a final cry and
began to suckle gently its grey flesh dry and peeling like the paper
of an old letter. He closed his eyes and in the dim light of the
bedroom Debra could see how much Mary loved her son.
Crashing outside the bedroom window
brought her back to reality. Jake raced into the room as Debra moved
the curtain. The two females from downstairs were peering into the
bedroom window. They had climbed up the downspout. Neither touched
the wired window nor did they make any attempt to push closer than
necessary to see inside. Their heads dipped back and forth as Mary
swayed with her nursing infant.
“They want to see him. Mary, hold the
baby up. Let them see him,” Deb spoke quietly. Births had a way of
changing people. The females looked concerned almost hopeful. Debra
had seen that look many times …on the faces of worried grandmothers
standing outside the nursery windows.
“God, no! Mary…” Jake stopped at
the bedside as he saw the baby for the first time. His face went pale
as horror washed over him. The baby fixed its lifeless eyes on Jake
and began to scream.
Debra stepped back, away from the
window. The zombies stopped swaying as Mary held the baby up for them
to see. She pushed the bedroom door shut as Mary announced to the
room and those beyond it, “His name is Adam.”
“Deb, help us.” Tears welled in
Jake’s eyes as he reached out to stroke the crying infant’s head.
It lunged towards him; tiny white teeth glimmered in the darkened
room.
Debra nodded her head as she slipped
her hand into her sweater pocket, her fingers closed around the
handle of the small gun she carried with her ever since the sickness
began. These people had been her friends for so long. They had waited
for this baby for so long. Her eyes began to tear as she moved
towards the terrifying family but the infants screams brought her
into focus. She had to do this.
“Give me the baby Mary,” Jake said
as he held out his hands. Mary looked up, smiling.
“No Jake.” Debra answered as she
raised the pistol to the base of Jake’s neck and squeezed the
trigger.
Jake fell to the floor. His eyes rolled
up in his skull, a mass of bone, blood and brains spattered the wall
and his body collapsed. The baby fell silent for a few seconds before
returning to its hungry cry. Mary slid off the bed, baby held tight
in her arms. She propped herself on the floor, leaning back against
the bed next to her husband.
“Oh Jake. I knew you would always
take care of us,” she cooed as she scooped a tiny bit of grey
matter from the side of his skull and placed her fingers with the
bits of brain into Adam’s mouth. The baby gurgled contentedly as he
began to feed.
Outside, the females hummed and slowly
slid back down the drainpipe to the ground below. Debra watched from
the bedroom window as they joined the group. The witnesses gestured
wildly towards the upstairs window and the group pulsated excitedly.
As they moved away from the house, Deb pulled the curtains.
From downstairs Dave called out, “Deb?
Deb, are you okay?”
Mary looked up at her friend as the
baby began to doze. “Go on, we will be fine,” she said. She
looked at her husband's body. “We can freeze him later.”
On shaking legs, Debra went downstairs
to her husband. Dave remained on the couch, head propped up on his
right arm. “Man, my head is killing me. Did I hear crying? And a
gunshot?”
Deb smiled as she told Dave that mother
and baby were doing fine. “His name is Adam.”
“That’s perfect,” Dave smiled and
patted Debra’s rounded belly. “Maybe in another month we can
introduce him to Eve. Do you think you're ready?
“Yes,” Debra answered. "Of
course. A new mom knows exactly what to do the minute her child is
born." She leaned forward and kissed Dave on his left temple and
pressing her hand deep into her sweater pocket never releasing its
grasp on the handle of the pistol hidden within.
The End.........?
@Laura.Ehlers2013
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