Day 05: Flesh and Blood

“Georgia, please! Let me in,” a panicky, gruff voice shouted on the other side of the door. “Help me, please!”

“Wait,” Georgia stood and moved closer. “It’s Mr. Collins, my neighbor,” she said, peering through the glass side panel. “Let him in.”

“What? Are you sure?” Josh asked, still forcing his weight against the door.

“Yes, I’m sure! Let him in!”

Josh stepped back and Georgia quickly unlocked the door, allowing her neighbor to enter. Katrina, too, pushed away, moving towards the others. “Thanks for the help, asshole,” she huffed in Jake’s direction. “You just gave me another reason to throw your ass to the cannibals.”

“Try it, little girl, and we’ll see which of us is left standing!”

“What did you call me,” she snarled and took another step forward. But cooler heads prevailed as her cousin grabbed her by the arm and pulled her with him towards the living room. 

“Calm down, Kat.”

“Calm down? Are you kidding me? They just stood there and watched while who knew what was trying to force its way inside. UGH! I should have let you run him over!” she threw her hands up in frustration.

“Probably. But nothing can be done about that now. We have to try and work with these people. It’s the only way we’re going to make it out of this thing in one piece.”

“That guy is going to be more of a problem for us than those monsters outside. You’ll see,” she grumbled and walked off in search of the kitchen.

“Thank you!” Phil replied as he dropped onto the bench beside the door. “It’s crazy out there. I was attacked while bringing my groceries in from the car.” He turned his head and for the first time, Georgia, Elise and Jake could see the large bite mark on the side of his face.

“Ew,” Elise frowned. “That looks nasty.”

Georgia disappeared briefly and when she returned, she was carrying a large first aid kit with her. “Where’s Marie?” she asked of Phil’s wife.

“She…they came out of nowhere. I tried to save her, I did. But…” he sobbed as Georgia dabbed his cheek with an alcohol swab. “They tore her apart with their bare hands! I couldn’t…I wasn’t fast enough to save her.”

“I’m sorry, Phil,” she sighed and lightly dabbed his face. “It’s ok, I’ll take care of you.”

“Thank you, Georgia,” he continued sobbing, rubbing his eyes on the cuff of his shirt. “The worst part…her eyes; they stayed focused on me the entire time those savages ripped her to shreds. They were like animals. Digging, clawing…eating! THEY ATE HER ALIVE! What kind of monsters would do that?”

“Come on, please have something to drink besides fruit juice and milk,” Katrina spoke aloud as she searched Georgia’s kitchen for something stiff. Opening the last cabinet near the back door her eyes hit on a large bottle of Skyy Vodka. “Jackpot!” Unconcerned with the pretense of civility, she quickly popped the cap and drew a large gulp straight from the bottle. Her eyes closed briefly as she let the warm liquid slowly soothe her unraveled nerves.

“NO!”

Katrina heard screaming and the sounds of panic coming from the front of the house. She dropped the bottle to the countertop and ran swiftly back to the foyer. “Josh?”

“I’m fine, I’m ok,” he assured her as she rounded the corner. “It’s Mr. Collins. One minute he was talking and the next…”

“He’s dead,” Georgia confirmed and stepped away from him. “Phil’s dead.”

“What happened?” Katrina asked, wiping her lip and glancing at her cousin for an answer.

“I don’t know. He seemed fine at first and then his face…it started festering. He went into convulsions and fell to the floor.”

“We need to move him outside,” Jake suggested, holding his hand over his nose.

“Are you crazy? I’m not throwing him outside to those…creatures!” Georgia protested.

“He’s going to start stinking soon and, I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m not spending the night in a house with a dead body. He needs to go!” Jake returned. 

“This is my house and I say who stays and who goes. I’m not setting my neighbor of seven years outside so that his corpse can be desecrated by those things! You can't treat flesh and blood human beings like trash!”

“N-not…not possible…” Elise muttered, ignoring the arguing when the man on the floor flinched then moaned. “Guys, look!” They all turned in the direction Elise pointed, gawking in surprise as Phil’s eyes slowly opened.

“Oh my god, he’s alive! Phil?” Georgia called.

“No he’s not,” Jake replied in hush tones.

“Watch out!” Josh pushed Katrina out of the way as Phil sprang to his feet and charged forward.

“He’s not dead!” Georgia exclaimed and took a step forward.

“HE IS DEAD!” Jake insisted and jerked her arm hard. “Look at his eyes! Does that look fucking normal to you?” He grabbed a tire iron from a pile of stuff beside the door.

“It’s the bites,” Elise concluded. “The bite on his face.”

“The bite killed him and the bite brought him back. Those people out there are ALL infected with something and once they bite you, you’re infected too,” Katrina replied, grabbing the closest weapon she could find. “He needs to die.”

“What? No! You can’t kill Phil! He’s my neighbor!”

“Are you stupid, lady? He’s not Phil anymore! Look at that thing! He’s not fucking human!” Jake yelled in response to Georgia’s rationalization.

“Kill him!” Katrina shouted at Jake.

“Me? Why me?” Jake asked, swatting at Phil with the tire iron. “I’m not going near that thing!”

“Well I’m not doing it! I don’t want to get bit! Besides, you’re the one with the crowbar!”

“Will somebody please do it! Kill it!” Elise screamed and pushed herself against a wall.

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