Rotten Luck

Rotten Luck

I stared out to the foamy sea, the sunlight's bane evident on my nose and cheeks, the wind whipping my hair, and I thought, Where the fuck is he?

The salty gale momentarily increased its velocity and drowned out my frustrated sigh. It also swept sodium chloride flavored sand into my mouth. That was it. He was past the rendezvous time. Spitting, I sat up and dusted my stain-littered jeans free of sand, but before I could walk away, I heard his voice.

“Nadi!”

Sean was running up to me, his figure wobbling abnormally as the wet sand oddly parted under his weight. A huge duffel bag bulged under each arm. I waited until he reached me before punching his shoulder. Hard, like my dad had taught me. With the knuckles, honey. It’s all about the delivery. As always, Sean took his punishment like a champ.

“Come on,” I said and grabbed his shirt to tug him towards the water.

One black eyebrow rose over his earthy brown eyes. “Yeah. Hi to you too.”

I continued to pull him, glad the beach was empty and free of observant eyes. That’s why this isolated spot was chosen, of course. The patch of sand we were standing in was encased with towering rocks. Glimmering seaweed and stuck corpses of miscellaneous sea life clung onto the enclosing black-green pillars. When the tides come, its entirety falls under water. It creates its own hiding place.

“Sorry I took so long,” Sean said, allowing himself to be lead. “I had to drive back home when I found out I forgot to pack the flashlights.”

“You idiot! Fuel is precious. Besides, what if they had followed you?”

“ First of all, we have enough gas on the boat, and it's not like we're gonna use the car anymore. Second, I shot the only one that did.”

I stopped pulling him and faced him with serious hazel eyes. “You shot one?”

“Yeah, but it was the only—”

A dry, decimated cry was heard, followed by a long hiss. Sean and I anxiously looked at the direction of the sound and then at each other. Run! our eyes ordered to one another.

We took off. It was going to take them awhile to climb over the rocks, especially if these were the kind that were already half rotten. But there were also fast ones. Agile fuckers that danced to death’s fast-paced symphony and descended upon the living with the black wings of the Grim Reaper. Unfortunately those were the ones that had followed Sean.

Quickly scaling the high stones, they jumped from atop of them and landed in front of us. We jarred to a halt. There were only three, but that was still three too many. They were fresh, too. Clothes hardly stained with blood. Only one was missing a limb –an arm. The meaty stub still retained a red, fleshy color. Despite the ribboning skin and veins that dangled out of it, there was an absence of blood flow.

“Go. Try to reach the boat,” Sean told me. There was no worry that they understood what he said.

“No,” I told him, but he had already thrown both of his bags at them. Despite Sean’s strong, true-target shot, it did nothing to chase them away. Their bodies jiggled with the impact, but they remained standing.

“No!” I repeated as if it would command them to leave.

This time Sean was pulling me into a run for the water. We didn’t get far. Three pairs of arms tore him away from me.

Sean dropped to the floor. Through groping, scratching, digging arms I saw windows of gore. A slimy, shiny blue intestine being drawn out like a thread. The forceful punch of undead hands raking out bloody flesh. Red, red canines snapping into Sean’s tender neck, their jawful pull causing a purplish, squishy tube to angle out and spew a thick, rubicund waterfall.

I must have been screaming because one immediately turned towards me. Its eyes –golden yellow, a beautiful hue, one that the virus gave to all– bore into mine. 

~*~*~

When I opened my eyes, I saw a bowed head over my chest.  It was spasmodic as if chewing. When it finally lifted and went away, I saw how my torso was an open, fleshy cave. Lines of ivory bones, etched with blood, peeked through decimated meat.

I didn’t understand how it was possible for me to see this and still be alive.

Then, I felt extremely hungry.

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Author's Note: I came across a writing challenge I found in a writing website. It said to write a story starting with the phrase I stared out to the foamy sea, the sunlight's bane evident on my nose and cheeks, the wind whipping my hair, and I thought...

This is the result. Hope you enjoyed it. I had so much fun writing it! This is also one of the few times I've written in first person. I think I may continue, but it'll probably be a lengthy short story cut into parts. Maybe...

Hope to hear from ya!