FLESH - Ch. 1

The images on the TV had us all in silence. It was coverage of the outbreak in Vancouver. Realization that all our worries were becoming reality before our eyes was making my stomach ache. I stole a glance at my parents, seeing the concern on their faces made it that much more real. This really was happening. My little brother caught my gaze, but he looked a lot more shocked than afraid, and I wondered if he realized what was happening. It was one thing to see an outbreak in a city far away like New York, but seeing people being ripped apart in a parking lot of the grocery store your family usually shops at, was another thing entirely. He was eight, and pretty bright, but even I was having trouble taking this in.

On the screen, a very sickly man was biting into a woman’s leg as she desperately tried to kick herself free. More half-dead-half-alive-half-demonic people were chasing healthy people in their hobble-y walk. People were screaming and the cameraman was having trouble keeping the camera pointed at the action, and was muttering some profanities.

Not sure what to do, I slowly stood up, and biting my lower lip I said “Me and Liam are going to watch some Netflix.”

Mom cleared her throat and nodded. “That’s a good idea- I might join you in a bit.”

Dad was still in a trance with the TV. I could guess what he was thinking but I didn’t want to. I was worried he was thinking we were doomed. In a time like this I was almost thankful for being a kid- even being nineteen, I was under my parents roof and therefore they called the shots. Or at least, I didn’t mind if they did. I wanted to curl up in a corner and eat cheesies until my eyeballs turned fluorescent orange, but I’m a big sister, and that means I have to think about not only my own emotions, but that of my baby brother. Which means Adventure Time. Lots and lots of Adventure Time.

Liam got up without me having to say anything else, but his eyes were still fixed on the screen. “Let’s go, bud.” I said, walking out of the living room. Liam padded after me, and we made our way up the stairs to my room, which was a total mess. I was planning on cleaning it earlier that day, but after hearing on the news this morning that the city was being put on lockdown, I couldn’t really think of why cleaning my room would be important.

I switched on the light and we both nestled into my bed, wrapping my quilt around both of us. Because of the age difference, me and Liam never really fought. He always kind of knew that I, being the older one by eleven years, had the power to ruin him. But besides that, we just got along well.

*

Flinn and Jake were off doing what they do and Liam seemed entranced, but my mind was still racing. Were my friends alright? What would life be like now? Would we ever be allowed outside again? I couldn’t calm my stomach down. Every time I thought of the images on the news it felt like there were tiny ants in there munching and crawling around like they ruled the world.

We were three and a half episodes through season two when the power went out. Liam grabbed my arm and started saying something about not letting the zombies eat him, but I was just frozen with fear. Now we were in the dark, there was no way to know what was going on in the city, and there was none of the normal comforts. Maybe I was being too dramatic. Power outages generally don’t take too long to fix. But then, who’s going to bother fixing the power when there’s zombies roaming the streets, eating people?

“I don’t think it will be out for too long,” I say, trying to use my most encouraging, confident voice… though I’m not sure I’ve ever had one. A woman’s scream breaks the silence of outside, killing any sort of hope I’d given my brother.

“We’re going to die,” He says the statement so plainly I have a hard time telling myself that’s not true.

“I don’t think so…” I say, not very convincingly.

The door creaks open and Liam grabs me tighter. Mom steps in and Dad’s not too far behind. I can barely see them as they make their way to my bed. Mom takes a seat next to Liam and wraps her arms around the both of us.

“We’ll just have to wait this out.” Dad says. He’s got one hand on his hip and the other’s on his forehead. That’s his universal what am I going to do pose. He does it when the car needs expensive repairs, he did it when his buddy ended up in the ER due to a boating accident, and when I was determined to quit guitar lessons. It’s generally due to him giving into defeat, and it scares the hell out of me.

“Can they get in?” My brother asks what I’m too afraid to.

Dad sucks in a big breath of air and holds it, then releases it. “Well, all the doors are locked and the windows are locked as well. So hopefully that’ll keep any unwanted visitors out.” He exchanges a look with Mom that says there’s more to this story that they don’t want Liam to hear. They’ve never been the kind of parents to lie to us about bad news, but if they’re not sure about things they don’t like worrying us unnecessarily.

A car alarm goes off in the distance, and one of our neighbours is yelling at his wife from their yard. Please go inside, I think. Please, please, please go inside. Making sure your lilies have enough water is not worth your life.

My dad walks over to my window. “What on earth is he doing?” He says, incredulous. And after a moment we’re all over at the window, fighting for a view of our crazy neighbour. I caught a glimpse of him chasing down a cat and then Liam pushed in between mom and me and I lost my spot.

“Oh he’s getting Amber in.” Mom says, stepping away from the window and sitting back on the bed. Dad was mumbling something about irresponsible people, still looking out the window.

“Alright guys.” Mom started “We were talking… and we’re thinking that if they start letting people out we’ll head to the lake.”

Liam let out a joyous sound, and flopped on the bed. On second thought, maybe it was a sarcastic sound, sometimes it’s hard to tell with him. The lake would be good though. We had inherited a cabin on a nice swimming lake from my grandparents when I was in my pre-teens. We spent most our summers out there, and if we brought enough food maybe we could last out all the craziness. Something seemed chilling about waiting out an outbreak in a rural area though, even if it did sound smarter to avoid the city.

“So pack a bag.” Dad says, finally moving away from the window. “Who knows when they’ll open the Coquihalla.”

“Would you help your brother pack?” Mom asks me. I nod.

After that mom and dad leave and me and Liam began the task of pondering what we’ll possibly need on such a venture. And after I’ve figured out mostly what he’ll need and have talked him out of bringing every XBox game we’ve ever owned, I get started on mine. Somehow packing for someone else is so much easier. You have the clarity and common sense that allows you to say no, you probably won’t need more than a couple pairs of pajamas without the voice in the back of your head saying BUT WHAT ABOUT THE PAIR THAT GRAMMY GOT ME?

So naturally it took me twice as long to pack for myself, however, if I hadn’t packed for my brother, I don’t think my head would have been as clear. Somehow forcing your baby brother to leave unnecessary things behind leads you to making more conservative choices as well. Even so I pack my camera, makeup bag, and every pair of underwear that’s structurally sound. Not sure why I’ll have a need for makeup in an outbreak, in the middle of nowhere- but hey, maybe there’ll be a cute zombie… 

A/N: If you'd like to yell at me and get updates and such, there's a club: right here c: