Experiment Undead

As Nate and James dig graves. Oscar helps me to carry the bodies outside. They’re light to carry because they’re badly decomposed. Oscar tries not to look at them and keeps staring at me instead. He constantly holds his breath to minimalize the foul odour coming from the dead. Flies buzz loudly and fly over us as we move the bodies. There’s a trail of maggots that have dropped off of them that I’ll have to sweep up as well.

We place them in the graves and cover them in the dirt. As I’m about to say a few nice words as we stare down at the graves, Carrie storms out the back door, ‘There’s no water! I tried all the taps and nothing, zilch,’ she says, annoyed.

‘What do you want us to do about it?’ Nate asks.

‘What do you mean? You’re men, aren’t you? You should already know what to do about it. Fix it,’ she quarrels.

‘We’re not plumbers, Carrie. We’re soldiers, and you’re also sexist. You have hands too. Nothing is stopping you as a female from trying to figure it out,’ Nate tells her.

Carrie screams and stomps her foot in frustration.

‘Carrie, will you shut your cakehole!’ I snap at her, ‘There could be soulless wandering around nearby, and you’re practically inviting them over to infect us and kill us,’ I add.

‘You brat,’ she shrieks.

Nate steps in front of me and then takes a few small, insidious steps toward Carrie. The look of irritation she shows turns to one of fear. I can’t see the look on Nate’s face from behind him, but from Carrie’s reaction, it isn’t pretty.

‘If it weren’t for this brat, you’d still be wading in your own shit back at the recreation reserve. You need to start showing Penny the respect she deserves, Carrie, otherwise so help me God,’ he says.

Todd runs out the back door, waving something happily in his hand, ‘Carrie, I found soap,’ he shouts.

Carrie approaches him and hugs him, ‘Oh Toddy, you’re the sweetest, kindest man ever. What would I do without you,’ she coos at him, takes the soap, turns and glares at Nate.

Nate acts unfazed by her stare, ‘Let’s go to the lagoon,’ he says to me.

James and I follow Nate into the house. I open the linen closet in the hallway and give everyone a towel. We proceed as a group to the lagoon.

‘Wow, it’s so beautiful,’ Nancy says.

‘It sure is,’ I say with hands on hip, standing by her side.

‘Girls,’ Kate says, ‘You can all bathe over here while Oscar and the men can bathe further around.’

Oscar runs off to catch up with Nate, Todd, and James, but Carrie keeps whinging behind me about something, but I refuse to pay attention to her.

There’s a small island of rock, but it’s high enough to give us privacy from the males.

We strip down to our undies and crop tops. I remove the bandages from my hands and place them with my dirty clothes. Emma holds my hand, and we jump in together. The water feels cool against my skin. It ripples as I float. I sway around in the water and breathe in the smell of gum nuts and eucalyptus in the air. It’s so calming and relaxing that I almost fall asleep until Emma pokes me out of my near slumber. I splash water towards her. Emma laughs and splashes back.

Nancy struggles to wash as she tries not to get the bandages on her arm wet. As Kate is about to help her, Carrie has a meltdown, ‘Why won’t it come off? I can’t get it out of my hair,’ she says and bursts into tears.

Kate rolls her eyes and wades over to her, ‘Carrie, let me wash your hair for you,’ she says kindly.

‘Oh, please, would you,’ she says, slapping the soap bar in Kate’s hand before spinning around and tilting her head back.

I gesture to Emma to follow me.

We approach Nancy, ‘Since your mum is helping that crybaby over there, I’ll help you,’ I tell Nancy.

‘Thank you,’ she says with relief.

I rub all the dirt from her good arm and upper back, ‘Here, I’ll clean your face too. I’m not sure whose face looks worse. Yours or mine?’ I joke.

’Yours, ’Emma says, pointing at me.

We laugh, ‘Thanks, Emma.’

‘No worries,’ she smiles.

I use my thumbs to wipe her cheeks. Her brown eyes are so pretty. Emma has the same eyes. I wish mine were pretty like theirs.

Emma, Nancy and I hop out of the water and dry ourselves with the towels.

‘There you go, Carrie, all clean,’ Kate tells her.

‘I’m glad someone around here is nice to me,’ she says, giving me a cold stare.

Nancy leans in and whispers, ‘I think Carrie is jealous of you,’ she says.

We burst out laughing. ‘What did you whisper about me? Go on, say it?’ Carrie shouts.

‘I said, you’re jealous of Penny. Why else are you always a bully to her,’ Nancy smiles.

‘Nancy,’ Kate growls, ‘What have I told you about whispering and being rude?’

‘But, Mum! Carrie is a bi- ,’ Kate narrows her eyes at Nancy before she can complete the word, ‘bully,’ Nancy says, quickly changing the word.

Emma and I giggle.

‘Just so you know, I am not jealous of Penny. She’s a kid for crying out loud. Why would I be jealous of that freak,’ Carrie points at me.

‘Carrie!’ Kate growls at her. ‘Now you are being a bitch,’ she says and abruptly turns and hops out of the water.

Nancy, Emma and I cover our mouths in shock, ‘Mum, did you just curse for the first time ever?’ Nancy asks her.

Kate winks at us, ‘Certain times, call for certain words,’ she says.

‘Go, Mum,’ Nancy cheers.

As Kate dries herself off, I notice something floating in the water near Carrie. At first, I think it’s just a piece of debris, but as I focus on it, I realise it’s one of the soulless. It’s floating face down in the water. Its limbs splayed out.

‘Carrie, get out of the water now,’ I say urgently, motioning towards the soulless.

Carrie looks at me like I’m crazy, ‘Let me guess. There’s a shark in the lagoon? Nice try, Penny, but I’m not falling for any of your tricks,’ she says and proceeds to splash water onto her face.

‘Carrie, I’m not joking,’ I say in a serious tone.

Kate looks over to see what I’m worried about. Carrie then notices the colour from Kate’s face drain. The soulless floats into her back. She slowly turns around and sees the soulless and shrieks in terror. The other girls look over and gasp in horror as well.

Nate, James, Todd and Oscar come running over with their weapons drawn, ready to attack. Thankfully they are already washed, dried and dressed. The soulless shows sign of life as its arm and face lift from Carrie’s loud shriek.

Carrie turns and runs through the water toward us. She scrambles out and hides behind Todd. James approaches the soulless as it reaches the grass and stabs it in the head, and drags it out, tossing him behind a tree.

‘I think it’s time we get back to the house,’ Nate says, his eyes scanning the area for other soulless. ‘There will be more of them around,’ he adds.

Wrapped in towels, we quickly gather our belongings and head back to the house, our hearts pounding with fear. As we walk, I can’t help but wonder how the soulless ended up in the lagoon. Did it fall in by accident, or did it intentionally seek out the water to try and catch us off, guard? It isn’t the first time they’ve tried to outsmart us.

I quickly change into the fresh clothes Nate had scavenged earlier, grateful for the opportunity to be clean and comfortable. The track pants are a perfect fit, but the grey shirt and jumper are a little big on me, but I don’t mind. As I look down at my pile of old clothes, I realise how dirty and worn they’ve become. I feel a bout of sadness for how much my life has changed. But I also feel grateful for the little moments of comfort that still come my way. I’m lucky I have Nate and the others with me. I have a great sense of appreciation for them all. Well, except for Carrie.

With my rifle in hand, I sit by the back door, watching for any signs of danger. My mind wonders about my past life before the world fell apart. The fun things I used to do with Liam, Jane and my Dad, even though Liam was a jerk most of the time. The memories are still fond. Like when we went to have a picnic at a lake, and I pushed Liam into the water, or how we were chased by ducks for our food. How I’d go ice-skating every Friday after school and roller-skating each Saturday, and Dad and Jane would watch me jump in the air and twirl around for hours. Ice and roller skating were my favourite sports; I excelled at them. The first Christmas I had with the Toughin family, I couldn’t believe all the gifts they bought me, but my favourite gift was the roller skates they bought me.

They took me the following Saturday afternoon for my first lesson. I was a natural and went every Saturday for two years until the virus happened. I started ice skating about a month after I started roller skating. I think of my precious ice and roller skates in the back of our car at the supermarket, where we had to leave them.

Nate can see that Carrie is still shaken up by the close encounter with the soulless. Todd is trying his best to comfort her, but her being in nothing but a towel makes it difficult for him. He is more concerned about keeping her covered up.

James approaches Nate and gives him a spoon with an open can of baked beans, ’Sorry, there’s no power to heat it, and I think we should avoid making outdoor fires unless we have to. It’s not just soulless we have to worry about now, but scavengers too. If they are desperate or hungry enough, they will kill us for what we have. An outdoor fire might draw unwanted attention from other groups.

Nate nods, and sits on the couch, looking out the front window, watching for any signs of the soulless as he eats his cold beans.

Kate walks over to Carrie and gives her fresh underwear, jeans and a shirt.

Carrie takes them and leaves the room to dress but doesn’t thank Kate for her help. It doesn’t go unnoticed by the others.

Oscar, Nancy, and Emma are also shaken, staring out the window.

‘Where’s Penny?’ Nate asks.

‘She’s keeping guard by the back door,’ Oscar replies.

‘Of course she is,’ Nate says, not sounding surprised.

Nate walks down the hallway to the back door and sits beside me. I yawn and smile at him.

‘What are you thinking about?’ he asks me.

‘I was thinking about the past, but now I’m thinking about the future,’ I frown.

’Penny, ’he says. ’I know that the world we live in now is harsh, unforgiving, and dangerous—the last few months since the outbreak has caught us all off guard, and every day will be a struggle to stay alive, ’he says, dismayed but then smiles. ‘You have adapted so quickly to this new way of life. You should be proud of yourself. Maybe one day we will reunite with our loved ones, and if we ever find a safe place to settle down, maybe, just maybe, we can rebuild our lives. It’s my mission to see you have a great future, Penny. I will do everything I can to protect you and keep you from harm,’ he confesses as he stares into the distance night sky of stars.

Nate hears me snore.

Nate smiles and shakes his head as he sees I’m asleep against the door frame hugging my rifle. He sets aside the rifle, scoops me up and carries me into the second bedroom and onto one of the single beds, hoping I get a good night’s sleep.