Bloody innocence

The sun shone brightly over the grassfield, cooking the passengers alive in their cars. There was a lot of meat roasting that day, as the file of cars waiting to enter the parking place grew to staggering length by the end of the morning.

I swept my hand across my forehead for the hundredth time and sighed deeply, making sure my parents would notice. The heat intensified with every passing hour up to the point it got unbearable. I think that point passed some hours ago, since the smell of sweat hang everywhere. So I did the one thing young kids should do when bored; complain.

"So why are we doing this again, to visit a zoo on a tropical Saturday with a car that has no air conditioning?" I was very proud that I knew what air conditioning did.

"Oh, shut up Oliver," snapped my big sister, arrogance all over her face, "We don't need you to screw up this family day." She would always favor my parents their point of view. In fact, she opposed me in any matter, screaming her disapproval without even knowing what I was talking about.

"You seem to handle that on your own." I replied quickly, giving her a brotherly smile,

"Oliver, Kate," came the voice of father, "please behave this one time. I understand the weather isn't very favourable, but at least show some patience and don't spoil this day already." Father always spoke calmly. I cannot recall the last time he got angry if it ever happened at all. 

Luckily, it took only a few more minutes to park the car and buy tickets into the zoo. The only reason I was still eager to enter the park came from the new animal specie that everyone got so excited about; Homo Moritus, also known as Zombies.

Zombies are supposedly descendants from mankind and still own their humanoid like shape. But their organs and brains developed completely different.

I asked dad whether I could go there already and as he approved I ran off quickly, before mum would change his mind. I promised to meet them in ten minutes at the elephants. The heat had me sweat like a pig before soon. So I slowed down to a walk and continued my way at an easy pace.

The creatures, or Zombies as I should call them, were grouped together on a wasted patch of ground. They simply stood together, their heads lowered to the ground, sleeping on their feet. There was nothing but mud and the occasional rotting carcass. So this is what everyone got freaked out about? What a disappointment.

The zombies could just as easily have been statues. Not one of the creatures bothered to move an arm, a leg or raise its head to watch the public. They just stood, their arms hanging beside their bodies as if they didn't know it could be moved. The sun's light burned through their ragged clothes, possibly given to them by the zoo keepers. The scent of decay was heavy in the air. Their skin was extremely pale.

"They should be taken care of better, they look very sick," I said to a tall man standing beside me. But the man just laughed and walked off.

I was just about to leave too when an idea came to me. Perhaps they were hungry, many animals in the zoo would remain still and wait patiently for them to be feeded. They look hunrgry enough, I thought, though I couldn't be sure what they ate exactly. Yet, the scent of decay hinted towards the zombies being scavengers. I had read a lot about scavengers lately. But where was I going to find carrion?

Perhaps some exploring would prove useful. I loved exploring, especially when there was nothing else to do. That's when I stumbled upon this very old wooden hut, with a sign above it reading: "DO NOT ENTER, STAFF ONLY". The best places to go exploring were always the places adults told me not to go. The door didn't open when I pulled the handle, but there was a window that stood open just slightly at the side of the building. I moved around to the side and inspected the window a little closer. It was fairly high, so jumping would not get me there. Perhaps that wooden barrel near the back could help me out. The barrel proved to be far too heavy, but rolling could do it. As I put all my strength and weight against the barrel it topped over and the wood shattered, and from behind the gap spilled out all sorts of fish. Great! I had found my carrion.

As I marched back to the dirty patch of earth, which required me only to follow my nose, there was a zoo keeper talking to the public. I cursed softly to myself, as it meant I couldn't execute my plan. I studied the surroundings and noticed that the left side of the open field was closed off by a low fence and behind that several trees and bushes. The plants would provide perfect cover for me to feed the Zombies.

I made my way over to the small wood, carefully hiding the fish behind my sweater. Nobody noticed me crawling to the fence as I hid behind an especially thick oak. I grabbed the fish in my left arm and used my other arm to lift myself of the ground. As I climbed the fence and swung the fish above head, some people began to scream.

I paid them no heed and yelled to the Zombies: "Hey! Zombies! Over here, I have nice fish for you all!"

More people screamed. The Zombies reacted to my pleas and raised their ugly heads. Rows of yellow teeth came in vision, eyes filled with a disturbing red colour gazed at the food. Their dead arms were motioned to life and long, thin fingers grabbed for the fish. Their long, sharpened nails glimmering in the sunlight.

Suddenly they ran, or sprinted more like. Shot away like a cannonball, heading for a boy on a fence. They were too fast, I couldn't believe how quickly they had crossed the distance between me and their original standstill. Fear took hold of me as there claws embraced me. 

In a flash I was dragged to the ground, ripping jeans and sweater alike. But instead of fish there was boy's flesh, my flesh, in their mouths. Blood sprayed out of the wounds, running down the Zombies their faces in great rivers. I closed my eyes, wishing it was all just a bad dream.

Gradually, the noise became a faint whisper, the pain subdued and only the taste of blood remained in the back of my mouth. A taste unlike any I had before. The flavour consumed me, it was all I could think of. It felt like the sweetest treat I had ever had in my life. Delicious, exquisite, divine. 

I opened my eyes and the world looked different and felt different. Somewhere far off a girl was screaming, tears running down her cheeks. "Oliver. NO! Oliver!" Her voice sounded familiar, but that was not important. 

I lowered my head and thought back to that lovely taste on my tongue. That was important. 

Blood, blood, blood, echoed through my mind.

Author's Note

Written for "The Zombies Chronicles" Contest.
Thank you for reading.