Non-Believer
By RaeKitano
The retching sound coming from the other side of the door tantalised the senses and Vera knew only the desire to feed. Whimpered cries of fear lured her against the door, hands pressed against the white paint, blood trickling from her fingers. Fresh meals were easy to come by, fuelling the frenzy within Vera as she smashed her fists against the door. Flesh flaking, skin cracked and peeling did not deter Vera from getting to her meal. Screams penetrated the house as the door splintered. Again and again, Vera did not relent her attack until the door gave way. Cowered in the corner of the blue-tiled room, a plump woman held a stick in trembling hands.
"Don't... come... any... closer."
The words meant nothing to Vera as she approached.
"Please... Vera."
Vera paused at the sound of her name. The sound was foreign, yet Vera understood its reference was directed to her. Yet, no recollection came and Vera continued forward.
"Vera... please remember?"
Once more she paused, hands now outstretched ready to consume her meal. There was something about this woman quivering in terror, something Vera realised.
"Vera. Remember the can of peaches." Marcy called out from the kitchen.
Vera rolled her eyes and called out, "I'm not senile yet. I won't forget."
Marcy's grey-haired head peered around the doorframe. "Like when I asked you to buy milk, and you forgot?"
"I remembered everything else."
"Yes you did, Vera. I need the peaches for tonight's meal, so please don't forget."
"I wont, my love."
Marcy entered the hall, leaning heavily on her walking stick.
"You don't have to come to see me off," Vera told her, concerned Marcy should rest rather than preparing dinner.
"Not goin' to keep this ol' girl down. While I'm still alive, I'll come kiss you goodbye."
Vera raised an arthritic finger and caressed Marcy's weathered face.
"I love you," Vera murmured.
Marcy smiled, placing her hand over Vera's. "I love you, too. Please be careful. If you see any of those undead they're talking about, come straight back home."
Vera huffed, "Undead. What has this world come too?"
"Vera, please. The national guard are televising warnings, so it must be serious."
"Like the time they warned us about the possible terror attack last month, or the month before that. People have been watching too much of that Buffy Vampire Slayer, or whatever it's called."
Marcy laughed, "Silly. They're undead, not vampires."
"Thank god for that." Vera rolled her eyes, seeing no difference in the imaged imagined threat.
"Don't fret Marcy. It's all a ploy to control us through fear. Obviously, nothing was working and now we have the undead."
"Be careful. Take the car." Marcy looked up at Vera, a look of pleading on her face.
"Never fear my love. I intend to take the car. This old body couldn't walk the four blocks even if I wanted too."
Vera pressed a kiss against Marcy's lips and left the house. In their old reliable white sedan, Vera reversed out the drive and into the deserted street.
At the end of their street, Vera noticed the Lester's busy packing their two cars, along with their two children into Mrs. Lester's car. For the five-minute trip to the shops, Vera continued to speculate the reason behind the Lesters' hurried departure. Surely they had not fallen for the news reports streaming over the past week. Vera shook her head. If it wasn't one thing, it was another.
Convinced the world teetered on the brink of collapse through its own stupidity, Vera pulled into the shopping centre car park. Surprised to find it near empty, Vera had to calculate the date and time in her head to check the shops were indeed open. As she drove closer to the few cars parked near the entrance, a man jumped out in front of her, banging his arms against the hood of her car.
Vera hit the brakes, hands clenched tightly to the steering wheel, about to yell when the sight made her recoil. Covered in blood, the man's eyes were white, his teeth bared. Within the car, Vera heard emaciated breathing. What look like the insides of animals laid waste down the front of his clothing.
The sight was sickening, but thinking it a joke, Vera called, "What's wrong with you? If you think this is funny, it's not."
There was no response from the man as he slowly lumbered towards the driver's door, his bloody hands smearing blood on the car.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Vera growled in annoyance, locking the car door for protection.
As the man approached, the odour of decay drifted into the interior of the car, and Vera's face screwed in distaste. When he reached the driver's door, she refused to glance at the grotesque hands and the nails dragging against the window. The tapping of knuckles grew louder, drawing Vera's attention. Fear paralysed her, until the ringing of a single gunshot startled her. The man ceased his aggravated attack and fell to the ground.
Vera leaned forward to look through the blood-smeared glass. The man's head was blown clear off. Hand over her mouth; Vera contained the vile pooling in her mouth.
"Hey," yelled another man on the opposite side of the car.
Vera quickly turned, fearful of another attack. From the passenger-side window, a burly man sporting a long red beard and wearing a black basketball cap glared at her. He wielded a shotgun, smoke lingering from the end.
"You need to get the hell out of here, you stupid old bat. Are you looking to become one of them?"
Vera had never been spoken to in such an abrasive manner before and found the gentleman extremely rude. Before she could fire off a retort, the man banged against the window.
"I said get out of here. There are more of them around. Do you have a death wish?"
"Now see here..." Vera didn't have time to finish.
"You're prey in the open. Go back home, pack, and get the hell out of here until the all clear is given."
Vera continued to shake over her ordeal, furious at the outcome of her trip. However, she did as told, taking her foot off the brake and moving the car forward. Several metres away, Vera glanced in her rear vision mirror; the rude man was gone, but the dead body remained. Only during her return home did the events take hold. Vera's hands shook so violently, she had to pull over.
The sound of a car speeding towards her spooked Vera, and she watched a VW Camper racing towards her. The engine whined in an effort to accelerate faster and the faces of the young couple as they passed looked petrified.
Vera put the car in gear and returned home. Marcy would be mad she had not purchased the peaches, but not as mad as she would be when she saw the state of the car.
Vera pulled into the drive and turning the engine off, listened to the birds in the nearby trees. Nothing about the environment had changed, yet the blood on her car said otherwise.
"I'm too old for this shit," Vera murmured before getting out.
An inspection of the car showed an awful amount of blood bleeding down the panels. Vera ran her fingers across the red sticky substance and drew it to her nose to sniff. A vile putrid odour tainted whatever it was, prompting her to remove the handkerchief from her pocket and wipe off her fingers. Another glance at the car and Vera realised she would need to clean it before Marcy saw.
Vera tracked across the front yard and grabbed the hose before turning on the tap. She hosed down the bonnet and driver side panels, using her hand to scrape the chunks stuck to the surface. It was disgusting work, causing her to dry retch twice, but when the car was clean again, Vera felt satisfied.
With a deep sigh, she ventured back inside to face Marcy. In the front hall, Vera removed her sodden shoes and socks as Marcy appeared in the hall, walking stick tapping against the floor as she approached.
"What happened to you?" Marcy asked.
"You won't believe it."
"Vera, are you all right? You don't look well."
Marcy took Vera by the hand and Vera stood to face her.
"I'm fine. No peaches though."
Marcy's concern deepened the lines on her face, and Vera said, "Let's sit down and I'll tell you what happened."
If Vera thought Marcy would be angry, it was far from the truth. Fear etched Marcy's expression and when Vera finished telling her what happened, she took Vera's hands and examined them.
"You didn't get any on you, did you?"
She winced, remembering the stubborn chunks she'd touched. "Only when I washed the car down."
Marcy gasped. "Oh, Vera. You should have left it alone."
"But it was all over the car. I couldn't leave it there."
"Come with me, we should disinfect your hands in case it's contagious."
Vera didn't understand the fuss, but followed as Marcy made her way to the bathroom.
"Here, give me your hands." Marcy lathered anti-bacterial soap over Vera's hands, carefully cleaning between her wrinkled fingers.
"Not as supple as they use to be," Vera said.
"Oh, shut up. They're as beautiful as the day I met you."
Vera smiled, watching Marcy gently massage one hand after the other.
Marcy turned the taps on, holding Vera's hands under the warm water, speaking quietly, "When we're done here, we'll pack some things and go like I suggested. We can stay with my brother until it's all clear to return."
"I don't see any problem staying. We can lock the doors and windows. I doubt they'll be able to get in. That is if they are real and not actors."
"Oh Vera." Marcy shook her head. The sadness on her face wasn't missed by Vera.
"Sorry about the peaches."
"Nonsense," Marcy sharply replied. "Sorry I sent you out. I should have known better."
The pounding in Vera's head grew, and she gripped the vanity as pain rippled through her body.
"Are you okay?" Marcy asked, taking hold of Vera.
Vera shook her head, her eyes focusing on Marcy. There was an expression on Marcy's face Vera had never seen before and a flash in Vera's chest left her mouth dry and a headache brewing.
"Go rest in the living room. I'll quickly pack," Marcy said.
"You don't believe all this, do you, Marcy?"
Marcy walked Vera back into the living room, almost pushing her into the old blue reclining chair next to the pink floral recliner.
"Doesn't hurt to be safe. They've been reporting this outbreak for months now, spreading across the country. If they can contain it early, then they have a chance of stopping it. The least we can do is listen to the advice."
Vera huffed, her palms clammy, the headache fogging her thoughts.
Marcy bent over Vera, patting her shoulder. "You rest up. It won't take me long, then we'll go."
Vera gave a nod and as Marcy turned to go, Vera reached out and grabbed her hand.
"I love you," she said.
Marcy squeezed Vera's hand gently. "Do you need anything?"
The sound of blood beating in Vera's ears grew louder, and she shook her head to clear it. Marcy took that as an answer to her question and left Vera, returning to the other end of the house. Vera's body burned as a raging fire spread beneath her skin. The flesh on the back of her hand began to blister and Vera tore her nails against the skin as blood flowed - then slowly came to a stop. Vera clenched her hands on her lap, forgetting her purpose. Despite herself, her thoughts turned to hunger. An insatiable urge tore through her mind. From the bedroom, the rhythmic drumming of the heart had Vera salivating. The smell of fresh food enticed her from the chair.
The path forward was cluttered with obstacles, but Vera pushed them aside as her determination grew. Movement from the bedroom drove Vera forward until the prey appeared before her.
"Vera, what the...?"
The sound of the beating heart intensified. The prey fled to the bathroom, and enticed by the smell of fear, Vera staggered on.
Two more hearts beat, theirs as loud and violent as her meal, approached the end of the house. Crouched on the cold tiled floor, entrails in hands hovering between cracked lips, Vera crammed the blood-drenched flesh into her mouth. Blood stained her hands as she dragged her fingers from her mouth, diving in again to the lifeless aged-body crumpled in the corner of the room. There was no need to move, as the food came towards Vera, supplying her more than enough to feed in the coming days.
"Holy shit man. You were right."
Two men stood in the doorframe, staring down at Vera. Their appearance was lost on her as the steady beating of their hearts pounded inside her mind. Vera retracted her hand from the body at her feet, forcing the dripping flesh from her fingers into her mouth.
"Disgusting," the man spat.
The rude man nodded. "Told you the stupid old bat would want to wash her car when she got home. Touched the blood no doubt."
"Hurry up and get it done. We need to head over to Main and North, they're reporting an outbreak there."
The man lifted the metal rod in his hand as Vera lowered her hands, ready to pounce on her prey. As she launched forward, a single shot rang out.
-*-*-