Exhumation

Reanimation

Savannah violently tosses and turns while sleeping. Her body is keeping warm by being cocooned up in sheets and blankets. She can't hear the creaking sounds coming from her mouth that resemble old floorboards being trampled on. The commotion is emitting from her clenched jaw in combination with her teeth. She periodically did grind her teeth at night, her dentist told her it was a concern but she ignored his claims. If she keeps these actions up, it may become a bigger problem. She is experiencing a vivid nightmare. Sweat starts to percolate around her body and her bruxism worsens as she delves deeper into her dream.

It's dark and she's surrounded by dense dampness. Her limbs are unexpectedly flaccid but she's able to shuffle the substance around, it shifts and replaces itself. Her body is not going anywhere. Fear escalates as a feeling of suffocation takes over. Fright arises as soon as she realizes she isn't the only thing moving. Tiny creatures were moving around her, and even inside her. At this realization she scrambles upwards until her hands break through to a surface. With some more struggling and time, she gets her whole body free. The radiant moon was first to catch her attention. It illuminates the sky to the point of visibility. As she calms her emotions, a decent sized beetle creeps onto her face. She swiftly smacks it with her right hand. The insect finds itself unharmed as it crawls through a fleshy gap to the top of the woman's hand. In a panic she flicks her wrists and sends the bug flying.

As the insect is flung in a direction away from her, she brings her hand up to eye level for a closer look. It's difficult to verify what she is seeing but it looks like a festering cluster of white rice within the opening on her hand. As she prompts her left hand to investigate, she stops before poking at the baffling substance. That's when she first notices the discoloration on her hands. They appear to be bruised but with more of an ashy crimson hue. The skin around her fingernails is sunken in and has exposed much of the nail bed. Pushing that information aside she pokes her right hand anyway. The white granules of rice begin to move and inch up her defiled finger. 'These are maggots.' Savannah realizes and tries to make an audible gasp, but she doesn't hear her voice. 'I can't speak.' She fills her thoughts with worry and disbelief. Before examining her face she shakes off the larvae from both hands and makes sure the gash in her right hand is free of pests.

Her fear turns into curiosity as a few strands of straight dark hair become entangled into her hands as she explores her face. Savannah thought it was odd that her hair isn't the curly brown locks she owned but resumed her exploration. Her mouth is already open and her jaw appears to be loose enough to fall off. Her nose is shriveled and almost flat and her eyes are just sunken fleshy sockets. She didn't question how she could still see without eyes. It appears that all of the orifices on her face were crowded with a variety of insects, instead of scrambling to remove them, she started walking her shambling corpse towards a broken down barn in the distance. 'I'm a zombie.' Savannah ponders her situation as the barn draws near. 'And this is just a dream.' The relieved woman convinces herself that none of this is real, but she is still interested where her subconscious will take her.

A sudden gust of wind whistles past her which whips her hair and clothing back. Until that moment she didn't realize she was wearing a dress. It was tattered and littered with decomposition stains but she could tell from the fabric that it was made out of jean like material. The wind batters her more. She's about fifteen yards away from the building when she loses her balance and abruptly falls to the ground. Her body fails to use its reflexes to stick a landing. She finds herself bent awkwardly, staring at the weathered barn and its surroundings. There's a field of mint not too far behind the barn. She watches the wind wisp between the leaves and becomes entranced, she had always loved everything about the herb. Right now she wishes that she could smell in her dream because mint brought her back to her childhood. Her parents would take her to the mint fair that Station held every year. She always got two scoops of mint chocolate ice cream after she rode all the rides. She had to eat it quickly though, because it would begin to melt immediately on those hot August days. As fast as the wind came it died down completely, but the blades continued to move. Savannah snaps out of her preoccupation when she starts to hear animalistic screams.