the corner of my eye. My brain stopped pumping the chemicals through my body and yet there was no pain. My limbs stiffened and yet I could still move. Peace was over me and then quickly left my body to be replaced with an implacable hunger. It felt like I’d never eaten before in my life and only flesh, flesh, and more flesh could satisfy me. A small part of my brain wanted to fall backwards into the fire, to try to free me from this prison, but the rest of me wouldn’t let it. That small piece withered and died with the rest of me.
I woke up screaming.
Barrett and Fannie Mae were inches from my face, so I decided to scream some more.
Barrett put his hand behind my neck and lifted me out of the water a little ways. Fannie Mae’s face was bright red and blushing but it was very obvious that she couldn’t take her eyes off of what I was showing underneath the water. That only recalled the dream even more vividly for me and I quickly reached to cover my genitals.
“What the hell are you guys doing?”
Fannie Mae opened her mouth to speak but she was too mortified or embarrassed or whatever to even get any words out. She finally threw her hands up in the air and ran back to the doorway, turning her back on me and Barrett.
He looked at her and rolled his eyes at me, the ghost of that familiar grin crossing his face.
“Don’t start, Barrett. What are you guys doing in here?”
“You’ve been in here for about an hour, Duke. We were getting worried that maybe you’d done something or gotten hurt or something. We heard the water running and then nothing.” He looked at me sheepishly.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and then sat up fully, pushing his hand away. “Worried about what? What’d you think I’d do?”
Fannie Mae spoke from the doorway, “You were pretty distraught over Tamara and Mason. I thought maybe you’d hurt yourself.”
“Like kill myself? Geesh, Fannie Mae, give me a little bit of credit.”
“Sorry, Dukey. It’s just been one of those nights.”
“Yeah, whatever. Can I have five minutes to myself to get dressed?”
Barrett backed up and shrugged at me, then turned to shut the bathroom door. That’s when I began shivering, either the cold from the bathwater or the dream finally hitting me. I’m not really sure which it was but either one alone was enough to do it. I could still feel the cold wind pulling at me and didn’t even want to think about what Barrett and Fannie Mae had done to me in the dream. I pushed it to the side as much as I could and pulled the drain in the tub.
I stood up, testing my weight on my hurt leg. The swelling had gone down significantly. It was still tender and hurt to put my weight on it but at least I’d be able to put pants on and be able to walk on it. I went to the mirror and inspected myself again. The dream had been so vivid that I expected to see hunks of flesh missing from my body. Thankfully all the equipment was there and in working order. I even field tested it by taking a piss in the toilet. It felt awesome although everything was all shriveled from the ice cold water.
I dried off as quick as I could, trying to will away the cold. Light was shining in the window but it was very murky and dark. I should have known it was going to be one of those days. I’d forgotten to bring clothes in with me so I peeked out the door to make sure Fannie Mae wasn’t lying in wait and went to my bedroom and quickly got dressed. I put on one of my old gray hoodies and a pair of jeans that was at least marginally cleaner than the ones I’d been wearing the night before. As I slipped my socks and shoes back on I thought about our situation and what – if anything – we could do about it. Not much really came to mind.
The only things we really had in the house that could be construed as weapons were the knives in the kitchen and my old aluminum baseball bat from my short days in Little League. I’d briefly thought I’d be the next Hank Aaron but those dreams were quickly dashed by my dad. Not only did he berate me at every opportunity but he actually came to a couple games. Drunk, loud, and full of piss and vinegar. It only took a few games before the coach told me I was no longer welcome on the team.
I made a conscious effort to wall the dream off in my brain and try to box it in with bricks and mortar. Not sure how successful I was but I hoped I’d at least be able to look Barrett and Fannie Mae in the face without thinking about it. I kept seeing my penis disappear down her throat and it only made me want to crawl into bed and hide, but I steeled myself for it, threw it all in the back of my head, and went out into the living room.
They were both standing in front of the window staring out at the trailer park. They had the curtains drawn a little bit and were standing far enough back that they couldn’t be seen from the outside. Hopefully, anyway. They stood about two feet apart and from their stance I could tell they’d been arguing yet again. I chose to pretend I didn’t see it and strode up to stand between them at the window.
“Anything going on?”
Barrett answered me. “Not really. Old man Simmons came out about an hour ago for his morning walk. We saw him strolling out back toward the middle of the park but he hasn’t come back yet. Fannie Mae and I were arguing whether or not he should be back by now but haven’t come to any conclusions. What do you think, cahuna?”
I shrugged. “I’m never up this early, so I have no idea. I’d think he’d be able to walk around the entire Acres in an hour, though. I guess he could be walking in the woods or something.”
He nodded. “That’s what I was thinking, too.”
“Anything else?”
“Not really,” Fannie Mae said. “A couple people took off in their cars. I’d guess to go into town and get supplies or go into work. The power’s still out. It’s still pretty quiet. It’s only 7:30, after all.”
“Any sign of,” I swallowed, barely able to get the words out, “Mason?”
They both shook their heads at me. “Nothing that we’ve noticed,” Barrett said. “No shambling zombies.”
Fannie Mae smirked, “And no zombie hordes, either.”
I sat down on the couch, as far away from mom as I could get. I’d studiously ignored her since I came into
