Teeth

Others Stories | Feb 17, 2012 | 4 min read
40 Votes, average: 4 out of 5
No one is really sure how it started, but I suppose that's irrelevant. Honestly what isn't when people are running through the streets feasting on each other as if they were guests at some sickening macabre smorgasbord. It could have been anything really...some government experiment gone horribly wrong, an alien virus, or some radioactive meteorite. How it began will always be an unanswered question...how it ended, that's a different story. We know how it ends. With teeth.

At first people were skeptical, thinking it was some freak isolated incident. I can understand that speculation. Even with all the insane things going on in the world most people are going to have trouble believing that the dead have risen...until the truth sneaks up behind them and bites them in the ass (literally).

By the time people realized this was the real deal, it was too late. We were outnumbered by cannibalistic eating machines. The beginning was odd, even slightly humorous in a dark sort of way. They didn't kill when the outbreak first began, taking only little bites and moving on to the next free range human. It was as if they subconsciously knew they needed to propagate the species in order to survive (If you can call this twisted version of immortality "surviving") . They were creating each other, purposefully.

Eilis Gallagher scowled as she looked down upon the scene from her second story window. Nearly her entire world had been burned to the ground amidst what she had come  to refer to as "Outbreak Z". The skyscrapers towering over the city skyline had been reduced to smoldering pillars of ash. The smoke had left them in a perpetual twilight having cloaked the sun in a death shroud. The sweet honeysuckle that had once wafted pleasantly through the window had been replaced with the sickening smell of death, which was hardly surprising given that most of the world was dead.

As Eilis' gaze turned to the street in front of the house, she saw him. Her boyfriend Keegan. It had taken him three hours, 38 minutes to die. She had watched helplessly from the second story as his body writhed in agony. The sounds of his tortured screams had wracked through her body, chilling her very core. He had only left the safety of their home when they had run out of food.  They had tried to wait it out but Eilis had become weak and Keegan was afraid she would starve to death if they continued to wait.

Eilis turned away from the window and sat down with her back against the wall. Pulling her knees into her chest, her body trembled as she began to sob. Though the hunger pains had subsided the trauma of losing Keegan was  a raw open wound that she was sure would never heal. She wasn't sure what she hoped to gain from watching him. It didn't make her feel better, if anything it made things more painful by compounding her guilt.

Keegan had always been fascinated by the thought of immortality, ironically. He and Eilis had often talked of what it would be like to live forever with each other. At the time it was something they had fantasized but now, in the harsh light of day, the prospect was horribly frightening. She wondered if Keegan still knew she was here, or if any part of him had survived his death and subsequent resurrection. It had all happened so fast in the beginning, no one was sure if the zombies retained any part of who they had been before they died, or if they were simply mindless shells. She wanted so desperately to run outside and wrap her arms around him but, as painful as it was, she knew that wasn't an option.

Eilis was jolted back into reality by the sound of feet slowly climbing the stairs. She stood up quickly, glancing outside. She could no longer see Keegan. Trembling with fear she crossed the room, kneeling in front of the locked door. Peering from the key hole she watched in terrified anticipation as the sound drew closer and closer.

"Eilis?"the voice asked. "Eilis, let me in. Hurry, I have food."

Eilis fell backwards onto the hardwood floor as she realized it was Keegan's voice calling for her.

"Keegan, what are you doing? I saw them bite you!" she said her voice quivering with confusion.

"I'm here now. I'm back. Please let me in. You need to eat." Keegan begged.

"This doesn't make sense. I know what I saw."

"Eilis?" Keegan asked in a soothing voice. "You need to let me in, we both need to eat. I have food. Now unlock the door, please?"

Eilis' mind raced as she tried to make sense of the situation. Five minutes ago she had been sure she had seen Keegan die, but now she found herself questioning whether she had really seen it at all.

Standing up Eilis slowly turned the lock and took a step back, pulling the door open. Relief washed over her as Keegan stepped into the room. She threw her arms around him and began sobbing into his neck, overwhelmed by happiness.

It wasn't until Keegan brushed her hair away from her neck that she noticed the smell. She  opened her mouth to scream but her voice was silenced by an intense searing pain, followed by a sickening ripping sound. She felt the blood began to drain from her body as Keegan relaxed his grip and she fell to the floor. Unable to speak she looked up at him, her eyes wide with terror.

"I'm sorry, love. I was so hungry. I brought you some food. When you're ready, your friend Irene is downstairs. She smells delicious." Keegan said with a smile. He sat down next to her and wrapped his hand around hers.

"Together forever?"

Eilis looked at Keegan, smiling weakly.

"Together forever." she whispered.

 

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Reviews

Victoria Shank Mar 28, 2012

Wonderful story!!! The ending was twisted and I like that... Hehe

Major Feb 29, 2012

Great story I love the whole zombie genre

Soniya Feb 22, 2012

Thats a good piece of work Diana..

Amit Feb 18, 2012

one of the nice stories i have ever read.:)

Cardwell Feb 18, 2012

Love this one! I like how you put a sense of reality in your stories.

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