Flesh Ravenous (Book 1) (4 page)

“The man had to do it, Therese,” Joni told her mother, or stepmother. It was unlikely a child would call a parent by their first name, and Ally had noticed that the mother and daughter shared no resemblance. “When it happened to Caitlyn…Daddy had to do it.”

“Who’s Caitlyn?” Ally asked.

“My daughter,” Therese said. She seemed to have mellowed from her earlier hysteria. “She was so young.”

Ally sat beside Therese and rested a hand on her shoulder. The woman was still a stranger to her, but Ally sincerely wanted Therese not to suffer. “Therese…” Ally began, but wasn’t sure what to say next. “Everyone here has lost someone. Don’t think that you’re alone in this. In this house, we look out for each other and take care of each other. Please don’t hate Lawrence for what he had to do. I know it really hurts him now. He had to do it to my brother, too.”

“And to my husband.” Kasey added. She came over from behind the couch where the three sat and took a seat on the coffee table to face Therese. “I was never able to have kids. My husband Darren and I so badly wanted to, but doctors said I couldn’t. The man was everything to me. He was all I had in this world, but he’s gone now. I still live on though, because I got Ally, and Sonya, and Lawrence, and everyone else here. These folk care about me. I haven’t even known some of them for a year, but I thank the Lord for all of them.”

Therese’s head was down, but her weeping had stopped.

“Now look at me, girly.” Kasey tilted her head closer to Therese.

Therese looked up.

“You still got your child, this beautiful little lady next to you, and I know that she’s gonna want you to keep going. You got me, girly?”

Therese looked at Joni and ran her fingers through the girl’s blonde hair. Joni moved closer to Therese and rested her head on her stepmother’s shoulder.

“Like Ally said,” Kasey went on, “we all look out for each other.”

Lawrence

“I’m not seeing it, Lawrence,” Tristan said, “his fucking skin looks completely clean to me.”

By now, Lawrence and Tristan had stripped dead Richard to his boxer shorts. Lawrence examined the body’s thighs, legs, and feet, while Tristan examined all parts from the waist up.

“Try his scalp,” said Lawrence, “maybe his hair’s covering it.”

Tristan got started on the scalp.

This poor guy,
Lawrence thought.
This poor fucking guy was a heroic firefighter, now he’s dead and in his underwear, and two guys are pretty much fondling his corpse.
He lifted one of Richard’s legs and searched the back thigh and calves for the fourth time. “Oh fuck me, oh fuck me. I don’t see it. I don’t fucking see it anywhere.”

“Maybe he got some of the diseased blood in his mouth,” Tristan started to sound just as frantic. “That had to be what happened. Lawrence were you fucking positive he was turning?”

“Fuck, man, I don’t know anymore.” Lawrence dropped the leg, lifted the other leg, and examined it again. “Maybe this fucker was bitten on the cock, I don’t know.”

“If your plan is to check his cock, you’re on your own.”

3

Rule Number One

Lawrence

The
bite was on Richard’s ass cheek.

“Thank God,” said Lawrence. He lay on the bed, mentally exhausted yet relieved. Two feet away from him, dead Richard was on his stomach with his boxers down to his ankles. “I came close to shitting my pants.”

“I
did
shit my pants, Lawrence.” Tristan was on his feet, bent over slightly, clutching his stomach. There was too much pressure…I just…”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

“You shit your pants? That’s fucking disgusting. Why are you standing there? Go and clean your ass!”

Tristan let go of his stomach and stood up straight. “Nope, just kidding.” He laughed.

Lawrence joined him. It wasn’t an appropriate time to laugh and joke while a guy lay dead with a bullet through the brain, naked, with boxers down to his ankles, and his wife and daughter crying and mourning him downstairs. But Lawrence knew laughter was necessary to have in the house, a blessing, a part of survival…
Wait! I shouldn’t be laughing!

“Hey asshole,” said Lawrence, “you shouldn’t be
laughing
.”

Tristan stopped laughing. His face straightened. “I’m trying to make light of the situation here.”

“His wife and daughter are downstairs crying and mourning him, so don’t laugh and make jokes.”

“All right, okay. So what next?”

“We let Therese and the kid know about this, about the bite. We should ask them if they need a moment with Richard over here.” Lawrence sat up from the bed. “We’ll have to get rid of these covers, the comforter, and even the sheets beneath. Maybe we should throw them out the window.”

“Why, because Kyle and Sonya used to screw in those blankets?”

“No, dumbass. This guy’s infected blood is all over them. It’s not because Kyle and Sonya—Oh! Gross! I slept on this bed last week—had blankets over me and everything. Ugh. The blankets were over my face.”

Lawrence told Therese and Joni about the bite. Therese, all cried out, went upstairs with Joni and spent a few minutes with Richard’s body. Perhaps to say a prayer or some personal words that would help them come to terms, or perhaps, just to say goodbye to the husband and father.  Afterwards, Lawrence, Tristan, and Miles carried Richard’s body, said a small prayer, and dropped the body off the balcony of the master bedroom. When it hit the backyard ground, six of the dead swarmed it. They tore it apart with fingers and teeth, devoured parts of Richard greedily and wildly, and within minutes, Richard’s body was a mishmash of blood, organs, bones, and skin. Lawrence forced himself to watch the gruesome scene. It was to motivate him, strengthen his will and stomach, and give him the drive, the
need
to protect everyone close to him.

He didn’t want anyone else in the house to die that way.

Kasey

That night, Kasey sat with Miles and Helena at the dining table to give Therese a briefing on house rules and the current living situation. Kasey didn’t trust Lawrence or Sonya to conduct it. Lawrence was, at times, hard to take seriously and Sonya was pushy and seemingly unfriendly.

“I know you got that pistol your husband gave you,” Kasey said to Therese. “You should only use it for emergencies, for desperate situations. There are a lot of tools here to use as weapons, if the time comes.”

“I know,” Therese said. “The gun’s loud, it attracts them. I know nothing about firearms other than how to shoot, but Lawrence and Richard had the same type—well, those guns looked the same to me. Richard did keep spare bullets in his pack, maybe Lawrence could use some.”

“That’s some luck for us,” said Miles, “though we haven’t had need for guns here until today. I hope it stays that way.”

“Food must be rationed,” Kasey continued, “so everyone gets three spoonfuls per meal. One in the morning, one in the afternoon, and one in the evening. You’re gonna lose a whole lot of weight, but we got to eat sparingly. As for water, we have tons of bottles around the house, but still, everyone only gets three and a half glasses per day. One with each meal and the half you can drink on your own time. If you feel the need to bathe, you can only do so once a month with a half-gallon bottle, soap, and a sponge.”

Therese nodded. “Okay.”

“Now, if those things outside don’t kill you, boredom will.” Before, Kasey didn’t feel entertainment was necessary for survival. Lawrence had explained to her that keeping busy meant distractions from grief and insanity. “We got lots of batteries here, and we got radios and portable CD players. There’s a whole lot of music to listen to. The collection is upstairs in the storage room. We also got tons of books, magazines—outdated of course—we got board games, puzzles, paper and pens if you wanna draw or keep a journal of your thoughts. We also got DVDs, but ain’t no place to watch them, so you can just look at the cover if you want.”

Therese smiled. It was a beautiful smile. The first one Kasey had seen on the girl’s face. Therese was indeed a beauty. Plump, heart-shaped lips, and eyes that appeared lost in an endearing way. Kasey knew that soon, Lawrence and Tristan would be after this woman, this newly made widow.
Girl, you better watch out for those boys,
Kasey wanted to tell her.
Those two haven’t got any pussy in months—maybe years or not at all for that Tristan fella.
Kasey laughed quietly to herself.

“What’s so funny, Kasey?” Helena said.

“Nothing. What was I saying now? Oh, yeah, I wanted to mention that we’ve been able to catch rainwater. We set about thirty empty bottles out in the balcony, and it should be raining again soon. It’s November, leaves are falling and the sun ain’t gonna stay. The rainwater we use to wash dishes and brush our teeth—we got toothpaste, lots of it. You got any questions, Therese?”

“Yeah,” said Therese, “I do. I know that the toilets don’t work. So, how or where do you use the bathroom?”

“We have a lot of toilet paper,” said Miles. “It’s a necessity.”

“Miles,” said Helena, “I don’t think that answers her question. We have a bucket in each of the three bathrooms, Therese. I know it’s not a five-star hotel, but it’s better than pooping in the middle of the kitchen.”

Kasey giggled. “We got a bucket in each of the three bathrooms. After each use, I repeat, Therese,
after…each…use
, fling that sucker out from the upstairs window, the one facing the side of the house. Not the one facing the front of the house, because we still plan on going out the front someday. You got that, girly?”

Therese smiled again. “Yes, I do.”

Kasey gave Miles a hard look. “You got that, Miles?”

“It wasn’t me that one time,” said Miles.

“It was more than just once, dear,” said Helena. “You have to empty it out after each use, and don’t try to blame it on Charlene again.”

“What?” Miles’s eyes went wide, as he attempted to feign the look of surprise and confusion. “It was Charlene that time.
She
forgot to empty the poo bucket”

“Miles, I heard your grunting that night in the bathroom. At first, I thought it came from one of those
things
—I thought one of
those things
found its way into the house—I was so frightened.”

“Um…No, it must’ve been Charlene. I don’t know what you’re talking about, woman, and we’re getting quite far from the topic right now.” He looked to Therese. “So Therese, have you chosen a room here yet?”

Therese shook her head. “Not yet.”

“There are five rooms in this house,” said Miles. “Helena and France occupy the room at the end of the hall upstairs, the rest of the girls sleep in the downstairs room, and Lawrence, Tristan, and I each take a couch down here. One room you’ll recognize as a storage room, so you don’t wanna take that, not a lot of space. You and Joni can take the other room, or the master bedroom even, no one uses that one either.”

“I’ll have to think about it with Joni.”

“Do you have any other questions?” said Kasey.

“I do.” Therese folded her arms on the table, to Kasey it looked like an uneasy fidget. “What’s going to happen when all the food runs out?”

Joni

Joni sat in the corner of one of the upstairs bedrooms, in between a bed and a shelf that held numerous graphic novels and a few books on history and psychology. The room was unlit, but she didn’t mind the dark anymore. She was on the carpet with her knees to her chest and arms wrapped around her legs, pretending she was a snail in its shell. She wasn’t sure how long she was in that position, staring at the wall and forgetting to blink occasionally. It must’ve been an hour or two. She was no longer upset about what had happened today, but she felt like hiding. She would disappear if that were possible. Her stepmother Therese was downstairs talking to the black lady and the married couple. Earlier, Charlene and France had invited Joni to play some game that involved stacking small blocks of wood and taking them apart one by one until it fell apart. Joni had politely told them “I don’t want to be bothered right now.” Charlene then offered Joni a can of fruit cocktail. Joni had no appetite, yet she would’ve loved to eat the fruit cocktail anyway. She refused the treat, feeling too shy to accept it from Charlene. She liked Charlene, the teenaged girl was funny and friendly and reminded Joni of a cartoon character. The other girl France looked mean at first because she didn’t smile, or never seemed to smile, but she was also friendly. Everyone in the house was nice to Joni, and she knew it was because they felt sorry for her. The man who shot her dad hadn’t spoken to her yet, hadn’t even apologized for what he did. Charlene had told Joni, “It’s because he’s scared of you.” That made Joni think.
Why is he scared of me? I’m just a little girl.

There was a knock on the door. Joni didn’t respond. She hugged her legs tighter and put her head upon her knees, trying to make herself smaller.

The knock came again. “Joni,” said a girl’s voice.

Again, Joni didn’t respond. She wasn’t sure if she wanted the girl to come in and talk to her.

“Joni, it’s me, Ally. Can I come in?”

“Okay,” Joni said.

The door opened and Ally walked in with a lit candle. “Joni? What are you doing in Lawrence’s room by yourself?” With the light she carried, she went over and lit two more candles that were atop the dresser.

“I think I’m shy,” said Joni.

Ally giggled. “It’s okay to be shy, but isn’t it scary to be here alone in the dark?”

“It’s not scary like outside. It’s not scary like what happened to my dad.” Joni regretted bringing him up. She didn’t want Ally to be sad, too.

“That’s true.” Ally took a seat at the foot of the bed. “It sounds like you’re braver than me. There’s a lot of stuff that still scare me.”

Joni lifted her head from her knees and faced Ally. “What are you scared of?”

“Besides those things outside? I’m scared to look at blood, I’m scared of sleeping sometimes because I get nightmares, I’m scared of headless mannequins, I’m scared of wire hangers for some reason—I forgot why. And I’m scared right now.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m also shy. I’m scared that you might not want to be my friend.”

“But I do wanna be your friend.”

“You do?” Ally smiled. “I guess I’m not scared anymore.”

Joni smiled and loosened the clutch she had on her legs.

“How old are you, Joni?”

“Nine. How old are you?”

“I’m twice your age, little girl.”

“Eighteen?”

“Yup.” Ally patted the space next to her. “Sit up here with me.”

Joni got up from the floor and sat next to her new friend.

“How about tomorrow we look for fun things to do? Maybe we can play hide-and-seek or we can try to do some puzzle together.”

“Me, Caitlyn, and my dad use to play hide-and-seek.” The sadness hit Joni again, and her smile went away. “Caitlyn was my best friend.”

Now Ally was sad, too. To Joni, she looked ready to cry. “My big brother Kyle was my best friend. My mom died when I was young and my dad had to go away a lot for his job. He’s gone now, too. My brother took care of me, mostly.”

“We can be sisters,” Joni said, hoping it would make Ally smile again. “How about you be my big sister and I be your little sister?”

“Yeah,” said Ally, “that’d be excellent. I would love to be your big sister.” She put an arm over Joni’s shoulders and squeezed her.

That made Joni laugh.

“There you are, Joni,” said Therese, coming down the hallway toward the room. She had two backpacks, one on her back and one she carried by a strap. “And I was looking for you, Ally.”

“Were you?” Ally stood up from the bed. “What’s up, Therese?”

Therese entered the room and set the backpacks down against the wall. “I understand that this is your house.”

“I guess you can say that. But, really, this is everyone’s house now.”