The Rest of David -- (Short Story/Flash Fiction contest entry)

 Here is my submission for a short story contest sponsored by the Short Story & Flash Fiction Society. It is a horror story based on a serene image (right). More details can be found here:

http://www.shortstoryflashfictionsociety.com/flash-fiction-contest-8/

Enjoy,

LLH

The Rest of David

By L.L. Heberlein

@Heberlann

(about 460 words)

“This is the last place they’ll look for us, David. We can rest here. We’re safe.”

But I knew it wasn’t true.

I caught my breath at the base of a narrow tree, one in a line of many narrow trees surrounded by a blanket of bushes, thick and green and growing. The wind kicked up, and the breeze brought with it the smell of fresh earth, like spring turning into summer. Like living hope.

Rows upon rows of narrow trees, tiny and new, lifted their leafy arms straight up toward the sun. It was peaceful. Quiet. Green and growing and full of life, far removed from anything ruined. A good place to stop.

It didn’t matter. They would look for us here. They would find us anywhere.

I clutched the old coffee can to my chest and closed my eyes. I wished all of him could have come with me, but I had only this, and it was all that was left of the rest of David. 

If I could have, I would have had him cremated. I’d have burned him to cinders and gathered the ashes and put them in the coffee can instead of just this. I’d had neither the time nor the facilities for such luxuries. And when the time came to kill him, I kissed his purple lips, wrinkled and rotten, and struck my shovel against his wilted, blackened head. But it felt like a betrayal to leave him behind. So with my sharpened shovel I dug deep into his chest, cracking ribs and sternum with the pointed end. I dug down until I came to his heart, still red and fresh and full of blood. I cut it from his purple chest and placed it in the coffee can to take with me. To keep it with me until the end.

It was mine, after all. He had given it to me.

A wave of wind blew through the trees, whispering a random chorus as their delicate leaves danced, brushing their bodies against one another. I listened.

Listened.

Then the rustling turned rhythmic, becoming something more steady, like the sweep-sweep of legs moving through tall bushes, leaves brushing against bodies. So many bodies.

I’d have screamed, if there had been anyone to save me.

I’d have run, if there had been anywhere else to go.

But this was it. The last place they’d ever look for us. Brilliant and bright green and unaffected. The very last place.

I let that thought take me as their bruised and blackened faces appeared. I closed my eyes to the sight of their rotting fingers as they brushed my skin, and held tight to the image of a perfect row of trees as they stole the rest of David from my purple hands.

###

@Heberlann

Zombie Juice (flash fiction)

Here is a one-page writing challenge that I did in 2007. We didn't call it "flash fiction" then. The challenge was to write a one-page story based on a first-line prompt, "Zombie juice is an acquired taste." Here is the result. 

"Zombie Juice" 

By L.L. Heberlein

(copyright 2007, published 2015 by L.L. Heberlein. All rights reserved.)

"Zombie juice is an acquired taste," said the old man in the dirty lab coat. "You may not like the feeling of your first dose, but by the second or third, it's quite soothing."

I shrugged as I looked over the vials of purple and green liquid. I was trying to pick a color. The doctor had assured me it didn't matter. "I really don't care," I said. "As long as it does what it's supposed to."

"Oh, yes, miss," he said. "I assure you, it works exactly as advertised."

"Then hit me up," I said, grabbing a purple vial.

He took the vial and inserted the purple liquid into some gun-thing with a long needle. He looked very professional with the latex gloves and the lab coat. It did nothing for the fact that we were in a damp, brick-lined basement and not an actual hospital. It made no difference to me.

I sat on the gurney and took off my black sweater. My tank top alone did little to protect me from the cold. "Can we hurry?" I asked. "I'm freezing."

"You're about to get much colder," the doctor said. "Now sit back and close your eyes."

I lay back on the table, but kept my eyes open as he wrapped the thick rubber band around my upper arm. "My, we are veiny!" he said as he tapped the inside of my elbow.

He didn't ask if I'd changed my mind. Having already paid the thousand dollars, I wasn't turning back. 

I'm sure he was used to that. The needle went in with a sharp bite, then cold spread up and down my arm. It traveled into my chest where it seemed to explode freezing cold throughout my body.

"How are we doing?" The doctor asked. We, as if this involved him, too. I just nodded my head and closed my eyes.

The sensation was chilling, not just to my body, but to my brain, my emotions. Slowly, I felt that painful spot at the center of me, that place that had felt like a giant hole for so long, slowly disappear. Not that it was gone, I just couldn't feel it anymore. All that heartache… gone. I tried to make that pain react, tried thinking of all those images that hurt me. Names. Places. Certain songs. Things that had always made the pain worse, like I was bleeding inside.

Nothing.

I opened my eyes and smiled. Shivering, I smiled the biggest smile I had in months. But it wasn't a real smile. The truth was, I felt nothing. Not happy, not sad. Not in pain. Just… nothing.

"It works," I said. "Just like you said."

The doctor smiled back with that same untrue smile. "See you next month?"

I nodded, grabbing my things. I walked up the steps, out into the rainy night. I felt nothing. Blissfully numb.

I'd be back.