Experiment Undead

We arrive in the street where Nate’s father lives and where Nate grew up. We park out the front. It’s an old wooden brown house with a charming appearance, albeit weathered, structure that looks like it has stood in the same spot for many years. The house has a distinctive vintage quality typical of old homes in the area. It is two stories tall, with a peaked roof and a chimney on the right side. The exterior walls are covered with dark, worn wooden shingles subjected to years of exposure to the elements, giving the house a rustic and slightly worn appearance.

The windows on the front of the house are tall and narrow, with black frames that appear original to the house. They are fitted with clear glass panes; some have small cracks or chips. A wooden porch extends across the front of the house, with a railing made of ornately carved wood. The porch has a statue of a child holding an umbrella, and a few potted plants sit in the corner.

The front door is a simple wooden door painted brown to match the rest of the house. It has a brass knob and a small, square window with wavy glass that lets in some natural light. A few small dents and scratches on the door indicate years of use.

Exiting the car, Nate doesn’t move from the driver’s seat. He’s looking at the steering wheel in thought. Maybe he’s having second thoughts. Either way, I’ve come here to support him, so that’s what I need to do. I walk around to the driver’s side, open the door, and bow, ‘After you, milady,’ I smile teasingly.

He smirks at my playfulness and steps out of the car but stares troubling at the house.

‘What is it?’ I ask him.

‘It’s just that now that I’m here, I’m wondering what I would say to him if he is still alive?’

‘Tell him whatever it is that comes to mind. Tell him whatever you feel in your heart, but at least tell him he’s a dickhead for not realising what a wonderful son he had in you,’ I say.

Nate looks at me endearingly, ‘Thanks, Penny,’ he smiles.

As we walk up to the house, I can see a few missing shingles on the roof, and some paint is peeling on the porch railing. But despite these signs of wear and tear, the house has a certain charm and character that makes it feel welcoming and cosy. Although behind its closed door, living here was a whole different story.

Nate stops at the front door and stares at the gap. It’s already open. It creaks loudly as he pushes it. We wait to hear any sound, but there’s only silence. Nate nods at me, and we walk inside.

I follow him into the loungeroom and kitchen, and then he checks the three bedrooms. I remain in the kitchen checking the cupboards. I find a can of mixed vegetables and a can of chickpeas. I take them along with two forks. The house has already been ransacked and searched. I guess whoever looted the place didn’t like vegetables.

I decide to check on Nate. I find him standing in his bedroom. He has posters all over his walls of tanks, soldiers, planets, and one of a young woman in a bikini kneeling in the sand with her boobs half hanging out. Man, I wonder if I’ll ever have boobs like that when I’m older.

Nate seems lost in thought, his expression a mixture of nostalgia and sadness.

Model planes are hanging from his ceiling.

‘Wow, these are really cool,’ I say, looking at the detailed miniature planes.

Nate snaps out of his reverie and turns to face me, a small smile on his lips. ‘Thanks,’ he says, walking over to join me. ‘I’ve had these for years. They were my grandpa’s. He used to make them with me when I was a kid, and then he died from a heart attack when I was ten.’

I can see the sadness in his eyes as he speaks, and I can only imagine the memories flooding his mind. I place a hand on his shoulder in a gesture of comfort.

‘I’m sorry, Nate,’ I say softly. ‘This must be really hard for you.’

Nate nods, his gaze turning to the poster of the soldiers on the wall. ‘Yeah, it is,’ he says quietly. ″But I’m glad you’re here with me. It means a lot.′

I smile at him, glad to be able to offer him some support. ‘Of course, Nate. I’ll always be here for you.’

We stand there in silence, lost in thought for a moment. Nate then removes his army shirt, opens a drawer, puts on a black shirt that says Metallica on the front, then flings himself back on his bed and stares at the ceiling.

I walk over to Nate’s desk, the wooden surface slightly creaking as I place the cans of food down with the forks. The room is quiet except for the sound of our breathing. As I turn around, my eyes wander to the small pots of paint on the desk with tiny figurines that have been half-painted. I pick one up and inspect it, turning it over in my hand. It looks like a goblin of sorts, with sharp features and a mischievous grin.

Then, my gaze shifts to a strip of photos taken from a photo booth. I pick it up and look closer. It’s of Nate with a girl. In the first image, he’s kissing her cheek, and I can almost feel the tenderness in the air. The second, they’re hugging, and the next three, they are pulling different silly faces. I’ve never seen Nate look this happy before, his smile wide and genuine.

‘That was my first girlfriend,’ he says behind me, startling me. I turn around to face him. His eyes are fixated on the photos in my hand.

‘What was her name?’ I ask softly, staring at her picture.

She’s pretty, with neat brown hair on her shoulders and wears a navy-blue headband that compliments her blue eyes.

‘Layla,’ he says dismally, his eyes flickering with pain.

‘I take it she broke your heart then?’ I ask, my voice barely above a whisper.

‘Crushed it,’ he says and breaks eye contact looking away. ‘We dated when we were both sixteen, then not long after we were seventeen, I came home from soccer practice early and found her sleeping with my brother in his bed. I wondered why she was suddenly acting weird and distant, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with my brother coming home from the army for the weekend. I locked myself in my room and never saw or spoke to her again. She tried to message and ring me many times for a couple of months but eventually gave up. Even if I could forgive her, I could never be with her again after betraying me with my brother of all people. Whenever Allen returned home for holidays, he always referenced Layla and would tell me everything he did to her that would make her run back to him for more. I know he was provoking me, I wanted to punch his lights out so badly, but I knew any reaction meant he won.’

My heart aches for Nate, and I can see the pain etched on his face. I reach out and place my hand on his shoulder, offering him a small smile. ‘I’m sorry, that’s terrible, but if it’s any help, you’re a great friend Nate. One of my closest friends, Layla, is an idiot to have cheated on you. I hope she realises what she lost, and your brother sounds like a douchebag and a massive downgrade,’ I add, trying to offer some comfort.

Nate flicks his head back and bursts into laughter. He then looks back at me, his eyes shining with amusement.

He pulls me into his chest and continues to laugh, ‘What would I do without you, Penny? You always know the best things to say,’ he hugs me.

I can’t help but laugh with him, relieved that I can bring some happiness into his life. As we pull away, I can see a small spark in his eyes, a sign that maybe, just maybe, he can move on from his past and that his heart may one day heal.

I return the smile, delighted I’ve cheered him up. He gestures his head at his desk, ‘What food did you find?’ he asks.

I pull away to grab the tins and forks, ‘Which one do you want? Chickpeas or mixed veggies?’ I offer him.

‘Er, the chickpeas, I guess.’

I toss the tin and then the fork for him to catch. He sits in the middle of his bed and peels the lid back using the ring on the can. I sit facing him on the bed and open the mixed veggies. We quietly eat together, occasionally unable to help ourselves from sniggering and laughing here and there, until we hear something through his bedroom window coming from the backyard.

We bolt from his bed but are cautious as we open the back door to see Nate’s father with a chain around his neck and the end padlocked around a tree.

Nate freezes in his tracks as he takes in the sight of his father turned into a flesh-eating monster. His eyes widen with horror, and he steps back, bumping into me. I place a hand on his shoulder to steady him, but my own heart is racing.

His father groans, and we can see his eyes are completely dark, like ebony. He shuffles around aimlessly, dragging the chain along with him. Nate doesn’t say a word. He just stares at his father and processes that the man who never showed him any love, who constantly gave him shit, is now soulless.

His father has about five metres of leeway to walk around. I notice the bin nearby Nate’s bedroom window has been knocked over, which caused the noise we heard.

Nate’s father moans and walks towards him, half hunched over, but the chain stops him from getting any closer as he is about to swipe at Nate.

‘You always had an ugly personality,’ Nate says to him. ‘Now it matches you on the outside,’ he says, staring his father right in the eyes.

‘How can you turn soulless when you never had a soul in the first place?’ he asks his dad. ‘You were already infected with hatred. I bet you’re even pissed right now to see I’m still standing, to see I’m still human and you’re not,’ he adds.

He looks his father up and down, ‘You always disgusted me. I may be eighteen. I may still have a lot to learn, but you’ll never be half the man I’ll ever be,’ he says and pulls his handgun out from behind him and presses it against his father’s forehead.

His father snarls, flailing his arms around in an attempt to rip his decomposing fingers and claws into Nate, but Nate only smiles at him and pulls the trigger. His father falls back to the ground. I step closer, and we look down at the dead body together.

I nudge him with my foot, only for the sliminess of his green and grey flesh to stick to my shoe.

‘Gross,’ we both say in disgust.

‘So, what do we do with him?’ I ask Nate.

‘He doesn’t deserve to be buried. How about a bonfire?’ he smiles.

I nod with a big smile, ‘Yes! Let’s do this!’

‘Come on,’ Nate says happily, heading back inside the house. He turns a battery-operated cassette tape player on and puts it up loud. He then runs into his bedroom, ripping the posters off his walls and grabbing whatever else he can carry. I follow his motions piling random items up from his room and carrying them out behind him as we laugh and sing to the music. We throw it all over his father’s body and light him on fire.

We dance the silliest moves around as the fire grows. We laugh at each other’s moves before returning inside for more stuff. Nate adds all the family photos from the house’s walls and other items that bring him horrible memories.

Puffed out, we stand together, watching it all burn, and stare at the strip of photos of him and Layla he holds in his hand.

He drops it, and we watch it slowly float, land in the fire, and disintegrate. Nate’s shoulders drop heavily as if the weight is gone.

‘I think I can move on now,’ he whispers.

My hand holds his, and I give it a gentle squeeze of reassurance. He looks at me and smiles, ‘Come on, Penny. Let’s get out of this shithole,’ he smiles.

I nod, let go of his hand and follow him back through the house, but he doesn’t go to the front door. He enters his brother’s room, opens the wardrobe doors and pushes the clothes aside to find a plastic crate with two unopen beers inside.

‘Jackpot,’ he says, taking them. As he walks out the door, he flicks his lighter on, tosses it onto his brother’s bed, and walks out. We exit the house through the front door and get in the truck.

Nate turns the engine on and parks the car so we’re facing the house. He opens the two beers and passes me one as he watches the house burn.

‘I’m not legally allowed to drink, Nate,’ I laugh at him but take the beer anyway.

‘Is it illegal when there’s no law anymore?’ he asks.

‘Well, that’s a good point,’ I say, taking a swig and scrunching my face.

‘Er, it tastes terrible,’ I say, but continue to drink it anyway.

‘Meh, you learn to like it after a while,’ he says.

‘We’ll see,’ I reply as the roof of the house caves, crumbling to the ground.

The house becomes a pile of ash and debris, the flames are out, but smoke still smoulders.

‘We better get back to the others,’ Nate says. ‘Plus, I’m sure James will be missing his truck anyway,’ Nate laughs.

‘Oh man, I can’t wait to see his reaction when he sees all the shit you’ve done to it,’ I tell him.

‘Yeah, he’ll be pissed, but this was worth it,’ he says, looking at the smouldering ash.

The drive back to Ballarat is quiet, but it’s a comfortable silence. A few people tried to wave us down, but after what happened to that woman and two men earlier. There’s no way to tell who truly needs help and who’s pretending and waiting for the moment to attack and rob us.

We do notice a few large groups on the outskirts of town. They all wear black jackets, coats or shirts with the word “Wolves” painted on the back in white paint, with grey bandanas wrapped around their heads. There are men, women, children and teenagers among them. They are armed with handguns, knives, baseball bats and axes. They’re heading towards the inner town of Ballarat.

We don’t stop the vehicle, but when they see we are random civilians, they smile and wave at us, posing no threat.

‘It’s probably a good thing I changed my shirt at the house. If they saw me wearing my army shirt, we may have received some trouble from them,’ Nate says, and as a precaution, tucks his army tag into his shirt to hide it.

‘Well, considering the army has been holding their loved ones hostage in camps. I wouldn’t blame them. Do you think they’re from Rokewood? Or maybe from other towns? That would mean Commander Bryant may have acted under orders after all and hadn’t gone rogue if other commanders are doing the same thing?’ I reply with a look of horror at the thought of the government initiating and allowing this treatment of us.

Nate sees my unease, and the thought also has him looking worried, ‘Best you start praying that it isn’t true, Penny,’ he says, ‘coz if it is, then soulless and raiders aren’t our only worry,’ he frowns.

***

As we drive onto the sports factory grounds, James walks towards us with his hands on his head in shock. The rest of the group runs outside as they hear his profanities. They are all wearing sports armour over their clothes to protect against bites. Nate parks the truck next to James, hops out and throws the keys to him, ‘Thanks for letting me borrow your truck,’ he says casually.

‘What the hell happened?’ he asks.

Nate and I glance at each other with guilt, ‘Well, you see,’ I say to James. ‘We hit an infected kangaroo, shot it, and its brains splattered all over the windscreen, as you can see. Oh, look, here’s its eyeball!’ I say, pointing at the proof stuck under the wiper. ‘Then we had three men try and hijack the car, but we put them back in their place. Let’s just say, even on foot, they wouldn’t have gotten far,’ Nate and I laugh at my pun. The others appear to be confused. I continue the story, ‘Then we saw another group of men pretending to hurt another man. A car pulled over, and people got out to help the man, but they were all shot dead, and their car was taken. They then sped up and pointed a gun at us, so I may have used your grenade, James, to blow them up. The blast forced us through a brick fence, and then one of the men’s arms landed ablaze on the bonnet,’ I say the last part enthusiastically.

‘Woah, Penny!’ Oscar says.

‘What! You got to use a grenade?’ Nancy asks.

Kate frowns at Nancy’s response.

James crouches in front of his truck and stares at the dints, shaking his head, ‘This is going to take some work to fix.’ He stands, crosses his arms and glares at Nate and me. ‘Just for future reference, if either of you asks to borrow my truck again, the answer will be no!’ he says.

‘But I can’t even drive yet,’ I protest.

‘It’s still a no,’ he replies.

‘Fine!’ I pout, walk around to the back of the truck, and drag the hay bale off.

Oscar helps me to carry it over to Dreamer while everyone returns inside the warehouse. Dreamer doesn’t waste any time and starts eating. I pat her momentarily before facing Oscar, ‘Before I left this morning. I heard you and your uncle arguing. Are you okay?’

‘He wants to leave the group, but the problem is Carrie has agreed to go with him, but he said I have to also go with them.’

‘What!’ I say too loudly before covering my mouth and whispering, ‘You don’t have to do shit!’ I tell him.

‘I know. I told Uncle Todd I’m staying here with the group, that it’s safer with you and the others and that going with him would be a stupid and reckless idea. Carrie and I cannot stand each other, and this morning, he was smoking shrooms before everyone woke up. I told him he isn’t fit to protect himself, let alone me.’

I smirk, ‘Yeah, well, no one can stand Carrie. I don’t even know how your uncle can stand her. She’s like a succubus, you know. A creature that seduces men and steals their souls.’

Oscar laughs, ‘Yep, that’s a pretty good description of her,’ he smiles.

‘So, it’s sorted then? You’re staying here with the group?’

Oscar frowns, ‘I made it clear to him he’d have to use force for me to go, and he said when the time comes if he has to, he would.’

I turn around and march angrily towards the warehouse, ‘I’m going to knock his block off myself! Who does he think he is, putting your life in danger?’

Oscar grabs my arm and swings me around to face him. He stares intensely into my eyes, ‘You can’t tell anyone, Penny. It will only make things worse between him and the others. I’m not going anywhere, and he can’t make me, even if he uses force.’

‘You promise you won’t leave me?’ I ask him, my eyes glistening.

‘Penny, you and me will stick together forever,’ he smiles.

I wrap my arms around his waist and hug him. He returns the hug but lifts me and whirls around before we crash to the ground laughing.