Experiment Undead

As we sit by the tranquil lake in Beeac, Emma, Nancy, and Liam, express their discomfort from the prolonged walk with pained expressions and tired slumps. Although their complaints resonate with me, I keep them to myself, concealing my own weariness.

Amidst the serene scene, the ducks waddle along the grass, emitting quacks, while swans and pelicans gracefully swim nearby. The warm rays of sunshine seep through the trees, casting rippling reflections on the water. I release a long exhale, my shoulders dropping as I feel a sense of relief washing over me from the serenity before me.

As Emma approaches, she settles herself on my lap. Without conscious thought, I hum, gently rocking her as my fingers run through her hair. My body language indicates my comfort and affection towards her.

Despite the calmness we experience, our dishevelled appearance and torn clothes speak of the chaotic world we now inhabit. I glance behind me to witness abandoned cars and the countless lifeless bodies of soulless who met their end at the hands of Nate and the soldiers. Nevertheless, the serenity of the lake masks the apocalypse occurring behind me.

Footsteps crunch on the ground behind us, ‘All right, everyone up,’ General Maywood orders. We moan in protest. ‘Don’t be so dramatic. There are houses up the road. Hopefully, we will find more survivors and can sleep in one of the houses for the night,’ she says.

Emma squirms off my lap and stands. She hugs Molly tight against her chest with one arm whilst reaching her other hand to take her mother’s.

As we walk through the deserted rural town, the gusts of wind push open and slam shut the creaky doors of the abandoned houses. My eyebrows furrow with concern as I observe the run-down cars scattered in a nearby paddock. General Maywood scans our surroundings and issues instructions to her soldiers. Greg and Alice are ordered to clear the houses for survivors or soulless, while Nate and Clive are tasked with checking the cars.

As the soldiers begin to execute their orders, my anticipation grows. Alice emerges from an old white house, signalling us to follow her inside. The small entrance creaks with every step, causing my muscles to tense as I cautiously approach the kitchen. The lounge room is on my right, revealing a peeling floral wallpaper contrasting with the old fireplace’s half-burnt wood and soot.

I drop my duffel bag and sleeping bag onto a grey recliner in the corner, the soft thud breaking the silence. Oscar follows suit, placing his bags on the adjacent chair. Meanwhile, Nancy and Emma opt for the three-seater couch, their body language indicating their exhaustion as they slump down with a sigh.

‘Looks like the rest of us are sleeping on the floor,’ Liam frowns.

‘Liam, be grateful we at least have a roof over our head tonight, and the carpet will be more pleasant than the ground outside that I’m sure we will be spending many nights on to come,’ Jane says to him.

Liam rolls his eyes at her and walks back outside.

The adults potter around the house. General Maywood, Clive, Greg and Alice claim the bedrooms, and the rest of the adults set up their sleeping bags on the floor in the lounge room.

We slump ourselves on the chairs and couches, our bellies rumbling with hunger. I use the last of my energy to push myself out of the recliner and walk into the kitchen. There isn’t much food left in here. It’s obvious the people that were living here packed quickly. The drawers and cupboard doors have been left open, and everything has been knocked over and left in a mess. Oscar, Liam, Nancy and Emma walk into the kitchen and look for food while Jane enters the nearby bathroom.

Opening the pantry, I frown at the spilt rice all over a shelf. There is half a packet of pasta shells and at least a dozen cans of tomato soups.

‘Well, someone obviously loves their soup!’ Oscar says in my ear. I jump in fright and turn to glare at him.

‘Obviously,’ I say to him. I turn and point, ‘Are there any big pots in those cupboards?’ I ask the others.

‘There was one in here,’ Liam says, opening a broken door. He pulls out a decent-sized pot.

‘Jackpot,’ I smile and approach the stove. ‘Put it up here so we can cook the soup.’

Liam places the pot on the stove. At the same time, I realise it’s electric, and there’s no power.

I tap my fingers on the bench while thinking, ‘The fireplace! Let’s start a fire, and we can use the fireplace to heat the soup!’ I run into the lounge, grab the lighter from my duffel bag and take a book from the dusty bookshelf. Kneeling in front of the fireplace, I rip out pages from the book and scrunch them up. I take the last page, set it alight, and add it to the rest.

‘You’ll have to put the pot on something over the fire,’ Liam frowns. Holding my chin, I think, until an idea comes to mind.

‘I got it!’

‘Of course, you do...’ Liam says nonchalantly.

‘There were some red bricks in the front yard. Take Oscar with you and bring me at least eight of them.’

I run to the kitchen, open the oven and pull the steel rack out. I return to the lounge and take the bricks individually while Liam and Oscar pass them to me. I stack the bricks into four walls, using two bricks for each wall to create a square and then place the steel rack on top.

‘I would never have thought of that,’ Liam says, crossing his arms.

‘I know,’ I smirk.

Everyone in the room laughs. Liam glares at me.

‘I’m joking, sheesh. Grab the cans of soups, will yah!’

Nancy and Emma follow Liam to the kitchen and return with a dozen soup cans. I open and pour them into the pot. The fire crackles in the background, and the aroma of soup and the scent of burning wood fill the air.

Jane enters the loungeroom carrying candles, ‘That smells so good. You, kids, are so clever using the fireplace like that. Just be careful you don’t burn yourselves, though.’

‘We won’t,’ I reply.

Jane looks out the window, noticing the sunset, and turns back to Liam with a hopeful expression. ‘Could you help me light them and hand them around?’

Liam nods, stepping forward to take some candles. He places them on the coffee table, pulls out his lighter, and carefully lights each one. As he hands them out, Jane moves around the room, lighting the other candles. Meanwhile, I stir the soup, the aroma wafting around the room, making our stomachs rumble even more.

The adults patiently hold out bowls they found in the kitchen, waiting for their serving of soup. Jane approaches, takes the ladle from me, and stirs the soup once more. ‘You kids, get yourselves some bowls too while I ladle servings out to everyone,’ she smiles.

We search the kitchen, but there are no bowls left. I climb onto the bench, open the cupboard up high, and find a bunch of mugs. ‘Bingo!’ I exclaim, placing them on the bench by my feet before reaching back up for more.

We take a mug and queue behind the adults, eagerly waiting for our turn. Sitting silently, sipping our soups, we watch the flames flicker from our candles, adding a warm glow to the room.

Jane then takes my empty mug and rinses it out in the kitchen, along with the rest of the dishes. I curl up in the recliner, feeling cozy and content after our warm meal. I throw the sleeping bag over myself and close my eyes, letting my thoughts wander to the Safe Hold.

In my mind, I imagine a vibrant community, a playground surrounded by houses. Children laugh and play while some climb the trees. Parents converse and laugh with one another while others trade goods. A frisbee flies towards me, and a friendly dog chases it. Just as I’m about to catch it, my eyes open to Liam’s face hovering above me, the sunlight blaring over my face.

‘Wake up, Penny. Everyone is up already,’ he says with a smirk.

‘So what? I was having the best dream, and you woke me up!’ I grizzle, groaning as I sit up.

Oscar chuckles at us, and I throw a pillow at him.

‘I see you woke sleeping beauty up,’ he smiles.

‘Eww, Penny, a beauty? More like a slimy slug to me!’ Liam laughs, teasing me.

I glare at him and grab another cushion, throwing it towards him. ‘You’re an ass, Liam!’ I say with a huff.

‘Penny!’ Jane storms into the room, scowling at me. ‘What have I told you about calling your brother names?’

I cross my arms and turn away from her. ‘You said I can’t call him a dick anymore, so I called him an ass instead!’ I retort.

Jane runs her hand over her face, sighing deeply. ‘Just... behave, Penny...’

‘Ugh, fine!’ I say, storming off and slamming the door behind me.

I hear Nate’s laughter as I bicker to myself, trying to imitate Jane’s words. He is leaning against one of the old cars, covered in grease. ‘So, you heard that?’ I frown.

‘Uh-huh, but don’t worry, I know what family can be like,’ he says with a grin, returning to work on the motor.

‘Have you had any luck with any of these cars?’ I ask, watching him work.

‘None of them will start, but Clive and I have been taking parts out of some of the other cars and putting them into this ute over here. The station wagon over there only needs a couple of parts to get running. Fingers crossed, we will have them up and running by the end of the day,’ he explains, wiping his hands on his shirt.

Liam, Oscar, Nancy, and Emma walk out of the house towards me.

‘I better get back to fixing these cars up. I’ll see you later, Penny,’ Nate waves.

‘Sure,’ I reply, walking up to the others. ‘What are you guys up to?’ I ask them.

‘We’re bored. Got any ideas of something fun we can do?’ Oscar asks.

I look around for a moment, taking in the scenery. The only things I see are the large trees along the nature strips of the street and the old farmhouses. Liam kicks stones along the dirt road, clearly unimpressed.

‘Let’s go hang out in one of the other houses, so we don’t have to worry about the adults boring us any further,’ I suggest.

‘Okay, let’s go,’ Oscar smiles, and we walk towards the abandoned houses.

We run up and down the dirt road, playfully pushing and shoving each other and laughing. I spin around in a circle with my eyes closed and point to a random house.

‘That one,’ I say and run towards the front door. The others follow. We enter a hallway and enter the first room on the left. It’s a bedroom with a Queen size bed. A set of mahogany-coloured draws sit opposite the bed with a jewellery box, hair brush and mirror. The bedside table has a framed photo. I pick it up and look at the image of a woman with two little twin boys in the photo sitting on her lap. Nancy and Emma hold hands and jump on the bed, giggling. I place the frame back down.

‘Join us, Penny,’ Emma says.

I don’t hesitate and jump on the bed with them. Liam and Oscar join us and grab the pillows.

‘Pillow fight,’ Liam shouts as he whacks Oscar.

We squeal and duck each time a pillow flies across the room. We continue to jump on the bed and throw pillows for half an hour until the pillows rip open, causing white feathers to fly everywhere. We dance around in the feathers and then collapse with laughter on the bed to catch our breaths.

‘I haven’t had so much fun since... well, before... you know the virus came,’ Oscar says.

We all go quiet at Oscar’s words and lay still on the messed-up bed, thinking about our lives before the virus.

After a few minutes, I feel my eyes water, thinking of how good life was with the Toughin family, except for Liam being a dick, of course. It’s strange how much he has changed since the virus came, like he actually cares about me. I like the new Liam, but I miss Doug. I miss my father.

I abruptly sit up, not wanting to think about it anymore.

‘Let’s check out the other rooms,’ I tell them.

We enter the next room. It’s the little boy’s bedroom, with two single beds with blue quilts and matching pillows. Emma runs straight to the toy box and opens it.

‘Woah! Lightsabers!’ Liam says, holding one up and throwing the other to Oscar. They begin swinging the Lightsabers towards each other and dodge each other’s blows.

Nancy opens the wardrobe and lets out a horrific scream. Oscar runs across the room and pushes her out of the way before the soulless little boy can bite her. He falls back, and the soulless boy topples onto him.

Oscar holds the lightsaber against the boy’s neck, with both hands preventing the soulless boy from biting him. His arms tremble as he loses strength. I quickly pull my knife from the back of my jeans and swiftly stab it into the skull of the soulless boy. His movements stop. Oscar rolls the dead boy off him and looks up at me with wide eyes, and I offer him a hand to help him off the floor.

Emma runs, screaming out of the room as Nate, General Maywood, and Jane barge into the room and freeze in horror.

‘Oh, my goodness!’ Jane yells and pulls Oscar and me away from the soulless boy laying limp on the ground. ‘What happened?’ she asks, letting Oscar go and grabbing both my arms tight before searching my face for answers.

‘It’s fine. I killed it,’ I reply calmly.

Jane’s face pales, ‘Penny, you could have gotten hurt.’

‘But I didn’t get hurt. I handled it.’

’You’re just a child, Penny. You shouldn’t be handling these things,′ she growls.

‘If I didn’t kill it when I did, Oscar would have become infected,’ I explain, folding my arms in defiance.

‘Penny, I don’t know what has gotten into you, but you, Liam and your friends are to return to the other house immediately!’

‘Fine,’ I huff.

General Maywood places her hand on Jane’s shoulder. ‘I’m sorry Jane, I told Clive and Alice to clear all the houses in this street and they obviously didn’t think to check inside wardrobes. I’ll get them to do another check, but more thoroughly, in case the kids wander off again.’

‘Oh, they won’t be wandering off again. You can mark my words,’ Jane says, giving me an angry look.

We follow the adults outside the room, but I walk back in.

‘Penny! What on earth are you doing now?’ Jane growls.

I place my foot on the boy’s head and pull my knife out. ‘I forgot this,’ I shrug and wipe the blade clean across the arm of my jacket while everyone looks at me in horror.

‘What?’ I say.

‘N-nothing,’ Liam says and is the first to leave.

Nate tries not to smile and follows Liam.

‘For the first time in my life, I have no idea what to say,’ Jane says.

‘How about... who wants a cup of tea?’ General Maywood says, also unsure of how to handle this situation.

They nod and leave the house with Nancy, Emma and Oscar. I trail behind them.

As we return to the house with the other survivors, Jane turns to General Maywood, ‘I think I need something stronger than tea,’ Jane replies.

My face brightens with a smile, ‘Oh, I think I have just the thing,’ I say excitedly.

Glad to be doing something helpful for a change, I rummage through my duffel bag and grab a pack of cigarettes, ‘Catch,’ I say, throwing the packet to her.

Jane catches it, looks at the smokes in her hand, and then glares at me, ‘PENNY!’ she shouts.