A Zombie Story

Chapter 7: Bloat

August 7th, Monday, 11:00 a.m., Wantuki Forest Camp.

At this point, for lack of better words, Finn had only one brain cell left. Its sole mission? To remind its owner to shout “Sam” whenever possible.

Finn was currently in an underground bunker with the sibling trio: Franklin, Adara, and Jimmy. Going through various tests and scrutiny.

For the last hours, he was under Franklin’s watch, a quite obsessive one; it was almost frightening when finally, there was some progress.

“How many fingers am I raising?” Asked Adara while raising a finger in the air. Her oldest brother tasked her with testing Finn’s remaining intelligence and to measure his responsiveness too.

“Saaaaaaam!” Still with his phlegm-filled, rockstar wannabe scream.

Adara had the urge to pull her hair in frustration. “Very well,” she hissed and turned to her oldest brother. “So much for stopping the transitioning process, Franklin.” She sneered.

“Heh! But look carefully, Adara.” Said he as he pointed at Finn. He was currently seated on the floor with his back against the wall, his left foot rested on a headless freeze dried zombie. Jimmy passed out an hour ago from extreme exhaustion from having to hunt, gather water, loot malls, and defend the place nonstop for days and finding the “perfect” zombie for Franklin on top of it all.

“Ha?! You’re delusional. He still looked like a zombie to me.”

“Of course, he would! We ain’t turning him into some shapeshifting abomination, Adara. Just now, he looked at your finger. Do it again.”

Although having the urge to roll her eyes and walk out, she still did it anyway. This time, she raised two fingers. “How many fingers am I raising?” She asked for the second time.

And like how he responded for the last hours, Finn simply growled the only word he knew. “Saaaaaaaaaam.” Although this time was lower and more primal.

“Try moving your hand.”

Adara did as she was told and Finn was indeed following her hand.

“Okay, that’s enough. I have a guess.” Said Franklin. “I think he could understand us. Only that the rabies had done quite a damage in some part of his brain responsible for speech and motor-related activities. I am no brain expert but there is one way to put this theory to a test.”

“And… How do you plan on doing it?”

Franklin laughed, quite amused with his idea. “What better test would there be other than give him chores and see if he does a good job?”

***

August 7th, Monday, 11:29 a.m., Wantuki Forest Camp.

A pair of slightly decaying hands gathered all the freeze dried zombies strewn across the floor and put them inside the box.

The hands belonged to Finn and just ten minutes ago, the sibling trio had freed him after instructing him to clean the place.

Jimmy was woken up and was now aiming his gun to Finn’s head, ready to shoot at any moment.

However…

Finn simply did as he was told all while growling “Saaaaam” from time to time.

Franklin was grinning so much, he could hardly contain his excitement while the two were in total disbelief. They just went along with their oldest all this time as they owe him their lives. But who would have thought he would actually succeed? Who would have thought he actually knew what he was doing?

Not just Adara, but Jimmy had started to suspect him as well.

***

August 7th, Monday, 11:40 a.m., Downtown Coliranto.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Muttered Dr. Martinez in terror. “This can’t be happening, right? Surely, this can’t be happening, right?”

After he was denied access in Lucena, he waited till his car was fully charged and then he headed to Salamangka.

As he reached Coliranto—the city between Lucena and Salamanka—he instinctively slammed on the brakes, unable to ignore the bone-chilling sight before him.

A zombie, a type he hadn’t seen before, as huge as three grown men merged together with an inflated body it might as well be called Bloat. Dr. Martinez just saw it literally tear a human in front of him. But what came as a shock to him was the fact that it spoke. Unlike the mindless zombies he had seen so far, this one seemed to possess intelligence.

“I hate humans,” it said.

And then BAM! It punched the building so hard that it crumbled like sand!

‘I’m dead. I am really dead this time.’

The Bloat casually picked up a car and flung it, which soared into the building behind, triggering a massive explosion.

“You really can’t be serious. That thing’s gotta be a joke.”

Dr. Martinez felt sweat drenching his back as he observed the situation. ‘Everyone has to know about this,’ he thought and started thinking of ways to escape.

Instinct took hold as he floored the gas pedal, swiftly turning the solar powered car and drove off the fastest he could, easily reaching 205 km/h.

What the heck did I just see? What the heck did I just see?’

His heart threatened to burst from his chest, pounding loudly. He glanced in the side mirror and swore he made eye contact with it. It didn’t follow him. Grateful? Heck yes! But he had to warn the others. Even though he promised not to help thankless people anymore, his safety was at stake. That abomination was far from a laughing matter!

‘Anything. Just—Just do something about that thing. Humans will perish if that thing is allowed to roam free.’

Three hours later, he arrived in Lucena and desperately honked at the gate. Witnessing a terrifying sight made him stop fearing the mindless zombies. It didn’t matter if his noise attracted them, they didn’t come close to that thing.

‘Come on! Just open the gate already. What’s taking you so long?’

It wasn’t long until the same soldier he had spoken to had come to see him again. He was Brad, standing at six feet nine inches, with a smooth, bald head and a tan complexion, wearing a dirty field uniform.

“I already told you, sir. We really won’t—”

“I know. I know. I know that already. I know. Stop shoving the same thing down my throat!” He cut the soldier off. “I’m not an idiot and I understand. I have something very, very important to say and depending on how you respond to this will affect how people will fare from now on.” Despite knowing the Bloat was far away, he couldn’t stop himself from trembling.

The soldier didn’t believe him immediately, thinking it was perhaps another strategy to get inside but he didn’t see any sign of deceit in Dr. Martinez’ eyes so he simply sighed and allowed him to get inside.