The Gifted

Chapter 6 - Lois

The mutilated face of a young girl stared down at me. Amy. From down the road. Oh god!
A shriek of terror ripped itself from my throat. Her face had been carefully applied, strip by strip, like some sort of gory puzzle. This wasn't right. Why did it want me, if it already had found itself a face? And either way, it should have done it already. They don't keep people for later, don't waste time. Just pull off faces then and there. So why not me?The creature wobbled towards me. Something else shadowed it. Another thing. This one didn't have it's own face. Just a patch of raw, scabbing mess. 

Seeing that, the raw, bloodied flesh, I knew Jamie had been right. Jamie! Was he okay? What about Oli? Was she alright? Awhh... I'd been so busy thinking about these things, that I'd completely forgotten what was really important! Apart from my own, non-zombified, life. 
Inching myself backwards, away from the things, I realised that I was utterly cornered. I closed my eyes as the shadowy second figure reached a delicate hand towards my face.

Having the flesh torn from one's face is not pleasant at the best of times. Having it ripped off, carefully, bit by bit, in little strips... is agonising torture. Long, once-tidy fingernails dug into my forehead, just at the hairline. It tore away like a wax strip. But the pain was magnified a thousand times over. I was paralysed, frozen. Couldn't get away, couldn't pass out like I'd love to have. All I could do was scream. And scream I did. My throat was screaming in pain along with my actual voice. Eventually my voice went hoarse and muffled, and I closed my mouth.

It was at about this time that I realised the pain wasn't so bad. The creature was beginning to pull scraps of flesh from my nose. I was just over-reacting as usual. There was just a light sort of mumbling sensation on my upper face. And my lower face tickled as liquid ran down it, and dripped off my chin. The creatures weren't that bad either. I shouldn't be so judgmental. They were like birds, chirping and fussing. Or adoring relatives, giving me a gift. And watching my eyes light up as I opened it. A beautiful gift. Uh... What had I been saying? I... it didn't matter.

It didn't matter because I had been given a gift. The gift of all gifts. The gift of all gifts. The gift of the Gifted. And that was the way it should be. Happy and content. I had to tell... Jammy. Jammy? Yes, Jammy. And Lolly. Those were nice names. Like food. But of course, I didn't like foods like that anymore. They shouldn't either. I would share my Gift with them. With the other poor unGifted, too. I would give them the Gift of the Gifted. And they would all thank me.