Teeth, bloody and covered with flesh.
No
Growls, the noise...not human.
No, no
Screaming, agony filled screams.
No, no, no
The eyes, filled with no recognition of right or wrong.
No, no, no, no
The eyes, not seeing yet seeing everything.
No, no, no, no, no
The eyes, hungry.
"NO NO! STOP!" I thrash out of my bed, falling to the floor with my comforter trailing behind on top of me. I struggle out of it, crawling to the middle of my room. I breathe heavily, gasping, actually. My hair sticks to my forehead and the back of my neck from sweat.
I barely notice that I'm shaking.
Those eyes! I can't get them out of my head! The growls, the screams, the flesh-none of it leaves my mind! But the eyes. The eyes haunt me. They were filled with nothing. No recognition of what was around them. No light. Nothing that suggested that that thing, which was once human, had lived a life.
They were filled with nothing, on the exception of one.
Hunger.
I shake my head, trying to rid my mind of those horrid thoughts and the terrifying memories of what went down not so long ago. I need to pull myself together, especially today. For Jamie, for Mrs. Kopp. For myself.
Today was the funeral for Mr. Kopp, and I think being a little out of my mind at the service may be just a BIT rude.
I take a deep breath in, exhale loudly, stand up, and tell myself to suck it up.
I walk over to my blanket on the floor and pick it up, tossing it on to my bed.
Eh, I'll make my bed later.
Walking into my bathroom, I can't help but notice looking in in the mirror...I look like a mess! I turn the shower water on and wait for it to get hot. Stepping in and letting the water pour over me relaxes my tense body. But I'm alone. With my thoughts. And being alone with my thoughts isn't good at the moment.
The funeral isn't actually a funeral. More of a...memorial, I guess. Official authority won't let Jamie's family have Mr. Kopp's body. Even after all the threats to sue, and tears from Mrs. Kopp, they wouldn't give him up. They disclosed some information to Mrs. Kopp, but she wouldn't tell me and Jamie, which confused me.
What would be so bad?
"I quit my job because I deemed it so unsafe..."
"We've found a virus..."
I shake my head to rid myself of the thoughts. I don't need the added stress.
---------
Vincent Aaron Kopp
April 4 1970 - June 9 2010
A loving father and husband
Silent tears fall down my face and I frantically try to wipe them away. I need to be strong for Jamie. If he sees me this way, like a wreck....
I feel a hand on my shoulder. I turn, expecting it to be my father, but it's Jamie.
"I miss him so much. Rose, what do I do now? I don't have a father anymore! And when I come to visit his headstone, it'll be like he's not even there. His body wasn't buried. It's empty. What do I do, Rosie?"
I pull Jamie into a tight hug, letting him sob into my shoulder. I whisper gentle "It'll be okays" and "we will get through this togethers". But in the sad reality, it'll be a long time before he's okay. It will be a long time before I'm okay. But the simple truth lay in plain sight: we WILL get through this together.
We've found a virus...