Preparation

By Amanda Lawrence Auverigne

     Gary entered the living room with a loud clearing of his throat.  He stopped in the center of the chamber and turned around in a slow circle.

     "Well, what do you think?" Gary asked.

     Holly shifted her form atop the comfortable couch.  She looked up from the large screen television in front of her before focusing her sight on Gary.

     Gary wore a faded gray jumpsuit that hung from his form in wrinkled tatters.  The garment was covered with bright splashes of scarlet. Large holes, slashes and rips adorned the jumpsuit. 

     The words ‘Ridgeland State Correctional Facility' were imprinted across the front of the garment.

     A large metal axe was perched atop Gary's left shoulder.

     "I think it's awesome," Holly said.

     Gary lowered the axe from his shoulder and said, "You think the axe is too much?"

     "No, Gary. I think the axe makes the outfit. You'll win first prize at the party for sure," Holly said with a nod.

     "Thanks, you know it's too bad you're not going with me. It's going to be fun. Lots of booze."

     "No, I think I'm gonna stay in tonight."

     "Okay, I'll see you later."

     Gary lifted the axe in his hand and placed the tool atop his shoulder. He winked at Holly before he turned around and walked across the room in the direction of the door.

     "Gary, wait," Holly said.

     Gary stopped walking and turned around.

     "What is it?" he asked.

     Holly bent forward on the couch and she snatched a severed arm from a pile of fake body parts that rested in a pile near her bare feet.

     "You almost forgot this," Holly said.

     Holly sat erect and she shook the rubber arm in Gary's direction with a light laugh before tossing it across the room.

     The flying limb soared across the space.  The severed arm shook violently and loud flapping noises poured from the object during its flight.

     Gary took a small step forward. He raised his free hand and caught the flying arm with a quick smooth motion.

     "Oh yeah my prop. I knew I was forgetting something." Gary said. He looked at the limb. "I should have sprayed more fake blood on it though...hey wait a minute."

     "What?" Holly asked.

     "There's some bite marks on my arm," Gary said softly while gazing at the gray hued flesh of the limb in his grasp.

     "What bite marks?" Holly asked.

     Gary moved to Holly and thrust the severed arm in her direction.

     Five large ragged bite marks rested on the upper portion of the limb's forearm. Small chunks of the gray flesh had been ripped from the upper portion of the arm and the apertures contained a copious amount of thick viscous liquid.

     The sound of a loud burp filled the room.

     Gary and Holly turned to Mark.

     Mark was seated on the couch beside Holly. 

     The young man's skin possessed a sickly grey hue. His eyes were red.  His arms were folded across his chest and he gazed at the television screen without expression with his head bowed slightly.

     A large scar in the shape of a circular bite mark marred the left side of his throat.

     "Mark? Did you do this?" Gary asked.

     "Huh?" Mark asked.  He raised his hand and scratched at the left side of his neck absently.

     "Mark!" Holly shouted.

     Mark turned from the television and looked at Holly.

     "Why are you screaming? I'm sitting right here," Mark said casually.  He turned from Holly and focused on the television. "I'm watching my show."

     "Mark, man. Did you bite my prop?" Gary asked.

     Mark lowered his hand from his wound. He turned from the television and looked at Gary.

     "What prop?" Mark asked.

     Gary snatched the severed arm from Holly's grasp and thrust it in Mark's direction.

     "This prop. The one I was going to take to the Costume Gala tonight," Gary said.

     Mark looked at the arm. He smacked his lips and said, "Yes."

     Mark turned from the limb and stared at the television.

     "You just totally screwed up my look, man. I was going for axe murdering psychopath. Not cannibal freak.  Thanks a lot, man." Gray said.

     "Okay," Mark said.

     "Mark," Holly began.

     "Huh?" Mark inquired softly.

     "Why did you bite Gary's prop?" Holly asked.

     "I dunno," Mark said.  He shifted his sight from the television and looked at the severed limb in Gary's hand.  "It just looked so real and tasty."

     Mark smiled and a small tendril of dark red blood oozed from the corner of his left eye and dripped down his cheek.  

     Holly rose from the couch and rushed to Gary.

     Gary tossed the severed arm to the floor.

     The gray limb landed atop the floorboards with a loud slapping noise.

     Mark gazed at the fallen limb and his smile widened. Holly and Gary stood in front of the couch and they stared at Mark with expressions of anxiety across their features.

     Gary lowered the axe slowly in his hand.  He continued to stare at Mark.  He grit his teeth while slapping the flat edge of the axe blade against his palm.

     Mark raised his sight from the severed arm and he looked at Holly and Gary.

     "What's wrong with you two?" Mark asked.

     "Mark, man are you feeling okay?" Gary asked.

     "Yeah, just a little tired," Mark replied.

     Mark turned from Gary and stared at the television. He closed his eyes for a brief moment and released a low sigh.  His body became suddenly rigid before he opened his eyes with a start.

     Blood oozed from his eyes and thick tendrils of saliva gushed from his lips.

     Mark released a low growl before he leaped from the couch and rushed towards Holly and Gary.

     A loud clanking noise filled the room.

     Mark stopped running after a few paces and he grabbed at the thick metal coil that encased his neck.

     A long steel chain dangled from the front portion of the cuff.  The linklet was attached to a large metal bolt that had been attached to the wooden floor on the left side of the couch.

     Mark lowered his hands from the cuff and thrust out his arms while attempting to move forward.

     The tethered chain attached to the metal cuff around Mark's neck prevented a further advance and the young man clawed at the air in front of him while gazing at Holly and Gary with hunger.

     Mark shook his head from side to side in a rapid unnatural fashion while emitting a series of unsteady growls and gnashing his teeth.

     "We should have killed him after he got bit," Gary said. He looked at Holly. "You and I both knew that it was just a matter of time."

     Holly stared at Mark with a shiver.

     "I thought he was immune. We got ambushed two weeks ago and he's been fine. I guess he just didn't' turn right away like the others," Holly said.

     "No one's immune anymore," Gary said.  He looked at Mark with narrowed eyes. "And it's just a matter of time before everybody's dead."

     "That's not true."

     "It is true. Face it, Holly. The whole thing about the cure was a myth."

     "I don't believe that. It worked. It stopped the plague."

     "The cure worked for some people. For others, it just made the incubation period for the virus longer."

     Mark fell onto his knees with a loud howl. He slammed his head against the floorboards several times before leaping to his feet and grabbing the chain.

     He pulled the steel chain roughly and the metal rung attached to the floor near the couch snapped free from the floorboards with a loud cracking noise.

     Mark dropped the chain in his grasp.

     The steel coil struck the floor with a loud clank.

     Mark charged across the room with a fierce snarl.

     Holly leaped in front of Gary and raised a large shotgun in her hands.  She aimed the weapon at Mark's head and fired.

     The sound of a loud blast filled the room.

     Mark's head exploded in a burst of brains, blood and bone.

     The headless young man staggered across the room in a macabre dance before he fell to the floor atop his belly in a motionless heap. 

     The steel cuff that encircled his neck slid from Mark's form and it the metal object fell to the floor in front of him with a loud clank.

     "Thanks." Gary said.

     Holly lowered the smoking shotgun in her grasp with her gaze fixed on the blood-covered corpse in front of her.

     "You're welcome." Holly said.