Red Eyes

Part 1: Burning

Flames flickered higher underneath the oak bed her father's body laid on. She watched the edges of the cloth slowly burn to expose his unfeeling flesh to the flames. Well, Devyn hoped he did not feel. If even a finger flickered, they would have to put a few bullets in him and contain him until the flames took him from undead to ash.

Devyn hoped her father knew how to die right. He always talked about it after returning from his rounds as a protector. Sometimes a hunt had gone wrong, and one or two of his friends became infected. They hoped the vaccine would help, but becoming a failed vax and partially undead (or alive, depending on your philosophical view) seemed worse.

"Might as well just kill 'em," her dad would mutter.

She didn't judge him too much for those words. After all, he survived the first wave as a child, the second as a teenager, and the third as an adult. After mom transitioned to undead and ran into the woods, he became a single father to Devyn and her brother, Jim. Now, his body became ash, and a piece of cement laid in the grass outside the walls. It read:

Jonathan P. Palmer

2035-2080

May the surest shot rest in peace.

She wanted to add something about her dad knowing how to die, but Jim told her that wouldn't be appropriate. Apparently, propriety still mattered even after an apocalyptic event. 

Devyn looked over to her mother's gravestone. Her mother remained the only undead to have a marker amongst the once living. It came in handy for dad to be part of the council.  

She's probably fully dead now after a few hunting seasons. So, they're probably technically together now. Devyn thought.

A figure few inches taller than her came and put a hand on her shoulder. Devyn turned to see the tanned skin and brown eyes of her brother. A soft stubble of brown hair grew on the side of his head where he had shaved it before his last hunting trip outside the walls.

"Well," Jim sighed. "The old man got his wish, and he didn't die of an infested critter bite."

Devyn let air exhale from her nose as she smirked. "A true survivor. He died right. How is your bite doing? Get it checked?"

Jim nodded and adjusted his leg. "They've poked and prodded me to make sure the vax took care of it. No urges. No changes."

She nodded. A few strands of her dark brown hair blew into her honey brown eyes, and she quickly brushed them away.

The flames caught the accelerant on the cloth, and her flesh instantly heated. They instinctually took a step back as the smell made her eyes water and her stomach twist. She heard her brother swallow.

Jim cleared his throat of their dad's burning flesh and any leftover emotions." Well, are you heading back to the labs now?"

"Yeah," Devyn sighed as the initial rush faded into a slow burn. "We're still trying to tweak the vaccine to keep ahead of a possible fourth wave. Some blood samples out of the Rocky Mountains showed signs of mutation. Do you think it's okay for us to go now? This won't start a wildfire, will it?"

Jim shook his head. "We've gotten enough rain lately. Let's head back before we attract any critters."

Gold and red leaves fell around them as they walked along the path. Brown branches reached from large stumps like arms breaking through the dirt. She heard stories of the first and second wavers rising from the ground like old oaks. The post-traumatic scars remained from the initial survivors. So, they burned the bodies a mile outside of the city wall. Anything to keep the living safe. Anything to survive.