Corn, Cows, and the Apocalypse

Shot Through the Heart...

Devin crushed me in a bear hug after he lifted me out of the truck. We had arrived at the Qwest Center, the event center that was home to the tournaments. Judging by the number of cars crammed into the parking lot, it was a big deal.

The sun had just gone down and the cool night air was chilling me, but it was nothing compared to what it should have been in October.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Devin squeezed me with his python grip. I usually appreciated his enthusiasm, but I could barely breathe, and I was pretty sure Haden might explode if she had to wait one more second to get checked in.

This month's tournament venue was firearms, and Haden was planning to compete. Or I should say, she was planning to win. I had tagged along to support and observe. I needed to determine if this was something I wanted to partake in myself.

"I haven't agreed to anything yet," I said, muffled by his shoulder.

"You will." He released me and pulled me along with his arm wrapped around me.

"Come on!" Haden growled.

Devin wrapped a firm arm around her as he walked by. I could tell she wanted to squirm away, but just like me, she settled into the bathing attentions of our beautiful second sidekick. August waited for us to catch up. She smiled at our trio, linked by our pivotal man.

"Oh, August," Devin said as we caught up to her. "Why can't I have three arms?"

"I could always sit on your shoulders," she suggested, walking in stride a step ahead of us.

"That you could." He smirked. "I do enjoy having your thighs wrapped around my head."

Haden and I both smacked him. "TMI," Haden scolded him.

"Oh, ladies, you know there's enough of me to..." Even before he trailed off, Devin released us both and ran ahead to playfully wrestle and noogie some guy he recognized.

Haden and I slowed and looked at one another as if we had been simultaneously dumped for a better offer, which was kind of true.

"Well, that's just bully," Haden griped. "I'm going to go get checked in." She jogged ahead to the main entrance where a line was forming for the competitors.

The din of a second crowd drew my attention to the north. A quarter mile beyond the parking lot, I could see the border of the grim containment. The rotating lights, the pacing military men, and the circling helicopters, was just about as prison camp as it got. Even from several blocks away, I could see the grim pressed against the fence, reaching out to scratch, mar, or just plain rip the throats out of the passing guards.

"What are you thinking about?" August stepped up behind me. I had to resist the urge to lean back and rest my head on her shoulder.

"They're so close. Why do they even bother with them? They could bomb the whole section."

"It's not an easy decision for everyone," she said diplomatically.

"Do you suppose the rest of the world is having that same debate? Desecrate the dead, or struggle with containment?"

"I think so. Some people just can't let go. Some still believe they are saints. They believe the bodies should be bathed in holy water and buried in the earth."

"That's a lot of bodies to bury." I turned around to look at her. "What would you do? I mean, if it were feasible to keep them around. Would you bury them?"

She shook her head somberly and pressed on my back, gently urging me back into motion. I walked on with her, letting her decide the pace. "Do you know why we don't bury the crystalline dead?"

"Because digging sucks and they don't rot anyway, so why bother?"

August nodded. "Initially, we didn't know that though. We thought that they were just like any other bodies." I got the sense that she was speaking for the entire human race when she said we. "After the apocalypse, we did bury some of them. Do you know what happened?" I shook my head. I loved story time with August. "The ground spat them back out," she said with slight merriment.

I laughed, but she didn't. "Wait, what do you mean? They..."

"A few weeks after we buried them, regardless of how deep, the bodies rose to the surface, expelled from the graves."

I shook my head, and she quirked an eyebrow, daring me to question her. I parted my lips to ask a thousand questions. Her eyes settled on something behind me, and she smiled. "Garrett, perhaps you can back me up on this?"

My eyes widened and I whipped around.