Delayed Zombie-fication

When I woke up this morning for work it was still dark out.  I live in a small town.  My neighbors are not too close, which is one of the reasons I picked this house to buy.  The moon was not even out.  As I looked outside I couldn’t see anything.  Not even my car in the driveway. 

As I do every morning I finished my shower, got dressed, and began to make myself breakfast.  I packed my lunch and remotely started my car.  As I saw the headlights flash on, I noticed a shape move across the yard.  Curiosity got the best of me.  I knew it must have been an animal. Maybe a neighbor’s dog.  I opened the kitchen window, just a bit and turned off the music.  I heard shuffling across the grass.  Small dragging steps.  I put my ear closer to the window’s opening.  I heard low groans.  Almost painful.  I looked out at the night where my car was parked in the driveway and pressed the door lock button which also turns the headlights on.  I dropped my keys at what I saw.   There were two people walking across my yard.  Heading for the car.  I recognized them as the people who just moved in next door.  I thought this was odd, but hell, who was I to judge.  I was about to go outside and confront them when I noticed the woman’s arm was missing. Where her arm should have been tendons hung. Black blood was still dripping from the open wound.  Her face was pale in the glow of the headlight. Her eyes seemed distant and void.  I finally looked at the man beside her.  His face was covered in blood.  He appeared to be missing his bottom jaw.  I must have made a noise.  They both looked at me at that precise moment.  I could feel my heart in my throat.  Quickly I hit the light switch with all my power.  Making the inside as dark as the outside.  But they still came.  The car finally turned off.  The lights shining no more.  But I could still hear them.  I could still hear the shuffling of feet dragging across the grass. 

“Oh god.  The internet was right.  Zombies.  What do I do?”

This thought kept repeating over and over again in my head.  My wife was upstairs asleep.  Do I wake her? No, I can’t.  The motion light on the porch flared to life.  They made it onto the porch.  What do I do?  I would have to fight.  I had to protect my home.  I crawled into the crafts room.  I grabbed my wife’s hatchet.  She does a lot of wood work.  It was a blessing today.  I tried to calm my nerves.  I jumped as they banged on the door.   I had to do it.  I crawled to the living room and left the house through the patio door.  I hugged the wall as I quietly made my way to the back door.  Their groans got louder the closer I got.  I stopped just outside the light of the porch.  Surveying the dark for any sign that there was more.   Nothing.  I gathered all my courage and ran up the porch stairs.  Before he had a chance to turn I buried the hatchet deep into the male zombie’s head.  He twitched one last time and dropped to the deck.  The one-armed female turned and lunged at me.  I side stepped and tried to pull the hatchet from the rotting corpse in front of me. She came again pushing me to the ground.  Blood and other vile things dripped from her mouth onto my chest and throat.  The smell was unimaginable.  I held her back with one arm as I reached for the hatched.  I brought the hatched in one swift strike.  Severing her head.  I pushed her body off me and stood.  Coughing at the smell of her stench.  Her severed head was still snapping its teeth.  I stomped on the head until there was nothing left.  

The sun began to rise.  A light fog began to roll in.  I went inside to clean up.  Trying to make sense of all that just happened.  I checked on my wife.  Thankfully she still slept.  And that Mr. Kripke is why I am late.  

Mr. Kripke stood quietly listening to everything Steve had to say.  “So, you’re telling me, Zombies came and attacked you this morning.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“You want me to believe this.”

“Well sir, I wish I could prove it to you but when the cops showed up they made me sign a disclosure agreement.  I technically shouldn’t have told you anything. But I thought you deserved the truth.”

Mr. Kripke looked Steve up and down.  Shook his head. “Steve, go to work.”

“Yes, sir.  As soon as I get my coffee.  I am useless without my coffee.” 

Mr. Kripke begins to say something as Steve leaves his office.  Then stops himself and just watches.