Authors: S.G. Harkness
Episode 9
It’s the next morning, and it’s storming outside. Norman is still standing above me. I absolutely love the sight of him. He's like my guardian angel. He doesn’t budge as he stares at me and groans like a dog. I get up and find something to eat. I think I will have a can of peaches for breakfast. I offer Norman some, but he won’t take it, and he just looks at me funny. I guess Norman just likes to consume human flesh. Norman is a carnivore. I open the front door to get some air, and I notice some dead bodies on the street that Norman might want. I show Norman the dead bodies.
“Look at all the dead bodies, Norman. Look at all that flesh for you. There’s a bunch of yummy jerky out there. They are entirely for you, Norman. It’s breakfast time, Norman. You need to eat something, sweetheart. I bet you want to sink your teeth into all of that yummy looking flesh. Aren’t you hungry?”
Norman growls and he won’t budge. Norman must want some fresh meat to eat. He doesn`t seem to want the dead bodies that are outside. It’s likely because they are already very chewed up. Even Norman seems to have some standards. If he wants fresh meat, then I will have to help him with that. I will have to go hunting for animals. I wonder if animals will satisfy his hunger. I wonder if Norman prefers raw human flesh. I can’t exactly run around killing innocent people for Norman. That's just plain crazy. I need a very good reason to start killing people so that Norman can eat like a king. I’m still not sure what he actually desires. Norman starts walking around the house as I sit in the living room. He has nothing better to do with himself.
An hour of sitting around feels like forever. There is not much to do in the new world. I can hear the noise coming from outside. I look through my window. I see a couple of boys outside. They seem like a pair of goons. They possess long hair, and they wear caps put on backwards. They both carry baseball bats and they seem like bad news. They are checking out the dead bodies near my house. They stand around and seem interested in the houses around them. They seem to have a sudden interest in my house as they talk to each other. I know that they will try to break in. They continue to talk and point around at the other houses.
They begin to make their way to my house so I should greet them instead of getting into a hostile situation. I open the front door for them, and I make sure the door is open slightly so that we’re able to speak to each other. They’re shocked to see me. I notice the resemblance of the two boys.
“You two guys seem like you’re a long way from home. Are you staying in one of the houses around here?”
“Holy smokes! How long have you been living around here? I’m Stew, by the way, and this is my brother Ken. The world can’t get any worse than this. We’ve been exploring the area for survivors. We heard different stories about what’s going on, and we don’t know what to think. The corpses that are walking around the city are famished. Our sister was killed by one of the dead. They tore her body up good. We were definitely outnumbered. There was not much we could do about that. They all deserve death.”
If these two guys see Norman, it will be over for Norman. They might even kill me for having him. I have to get rid of these two before it’s too late. Norman doesn’t stand a chance. He’s helpless without my protection.
“Nice to meet you guys. I’m April. I’m sorry to hear about your sister. I have so many theories about the world. I'm not actually sure why this is happening. I’m staying in this house for now. You should both find a home and stay safe. It's not very pleasant to be outside. I suggest you find a place to stay before it gets dark. Well, I should probably get going.”
I attempt to close the door, but Stew stops me with his baseball bat. He seriously pisses me off. He holds the door open.
“Hold up a second, there are no corpses walking around right now, so it’s safe outside. What could you possibly be doing that is so important?” Stew asks.
“I just don’t think anyone should be walking outside at any time of the day, so you should stay indoors. You’re holding my door up with your bat, do you mind?”
Ken steps in front of Stew and makes his way closer to my door.
“Slow down beautiful sister, this isn’t your home. Remember, this is everyone's home. The world we all once knew is gone, and we're all trying to survive out here. We are truly all in this thing together, and we want to see what you have inside because we need supplies as much as you do. We should all be working together. We should share everything. I’m sure you can give us something,” Ken says.
Ken is a clever little shit, and he’s the first one I want to kill since I don’t like smart asses. I have no idea where Norman is, and I wonder where Norman wandered off to. I feel so tense right now, but I have to play it smart, and I have to act as if nothing is up.
“Everything is cool. I just don’t see why you guys care so much about coming inside my house. I don't know you guys at all. There are dozens of unsearched houses surrounding you. I haven’t searched them yet, but I’m sure those houses have a lot of supplies. I can still spare some food since I have some canned food that you guys can take. I will go out after to search some houses. I just got here yesterday, and there’s not that much inside, but the big houses should have a lot of stuff that you can use.”
“Sounds like a plan. We are so down for that,” Stew says.
“Cool, let’s go!” I say.
“Wait a moment, and just slow down a second. We want to see what this house has inside first because it must be something special since you're living in it. Step aside beautiful sister, we want to see the inside,” Ken says.
Ken’s intelligence level is going to get him killed. They have no idea what’s inside, and if they find Norman, things will get very ugly.
I step aside to let them in the house since I really have no choice. I don’t want them to have to force their way inside. I look around to see if Norman is around, but I don’t see him anywhere. I question where he’s hiding as my heart races. The brothers look around the living room, and I quickly close the front door.
“If you don’t mind, we prefer that the front door stays open because it smells like someone died in here. It smells horrible,” Ken says.
“That is a sick smell dude. How do you live here with that sick ass smell? You should open the windows, and get some air in here. You don’t want to make yourself sick. I wonder why it smells so bad in here,” Stew says.
“Well, I’m sure every house has a bad smell, especially with all the dead bodies everywhere. The smell was already here when I arrived, and it is just a total mystery,” I say.
“Let’s check out the kitchen, dude. There must be loads of food in there,” Stew says.
“I bet that’s where she hides her stash. Let’s check it out,” Ken says.
The brothers make their way to the kitchen as I slowly follow behind them, and I have no idea where Norman is. The brothers are checking out the kitchen, going through the food supply, and I don’t care about what they take. I just want them out of my house because I can’t let them discover Norman. Stew and his brother Ken are pushing their luck.
“Look at all this stash! She has been holding out on us, dude. I say we take half of it, man. This stuff is gold!” Stew says.
“Take whatever you want. I have too much food here,” I say.
They continue to ravage my kitchen. I just want them to go away, and I have a hunch where Norman might be. I don’t think he’s upstairs because I left the basement door open, so he must be wandering in the basement. I have a plan, and I can’t let the brothers leave since they might give away my location. Norman must be starving, and I wonder if the brothers would satisfy his hunger for human flesh. I can’t let my guard down again. A girl has to do what a girl has to do. I’m sure Norman would enjoy eating the flesh off the bones of Stew and Ken. There’s only one way to find out. The brothers seem to be having the time of their lives.
“You should pack up and come with us. We can move all this stuff out of here. Our camp is much safer, but we didn’t want to tell you sooner because we’re just cautious,” Ken says.
“I just remembered something that I forgot to tell you guys. I found a load of supplies down in the basement, and I bet you guys are going to love everything down there. I bet your camp will appreciate it too. Therefore, I think that I will consider checking out your camp. There is a lot of stuff in the basement so go ahead and check it out,” I say.
“Let’s do this! I wonder what goodies are down there,” Ken says.
“Sure, we can do that after. Let’s eat first. You don’t mind if we have a little something to eat first, do you?” Stew asks.
“I will join you guys. The can opener is in the drawer, so make yourselves at home. We can certainly check out the downstairs after we eat,” I say.
I sit at the kitchen table with Ken and Stew. They make themselves at home, and we eat canned goods.
“You don’t mind if I have a smoke first, do you?” Ken asks.
“Be my guest, Ken. I always thought people smoked after they ate,” I say.
Ken giggles as Stew begins to eat.
“We lost most of our family when everything went crazy. Ken is lucky because he has a girlfriend back at our camp. She’s been pregnant for about six months, and all this nutritious food will really help us out. You should come with us,” Stew says.
“We had it so easy before all this happened. Our father was wealthy, and we just bummed around all day. We never worked a day in our lives. We were used to getting everything handed to us. We also had our own personal chef, maid service, and everything else that rich kids get these days. Now we have to work to survive. This really sucks,” Ken says.
Ken blows his cigarette smoke in my face and giggles. His sense of humor makes my blood boil.
“The world is in the shitter. There are no more fancy barbeques, pool parties, video games, and no more getting your asses wiped for you guys. I’m a lucky girl. I never had much before the world turned on us. I’m used to working my ass off to get what I want. I suppose we are now all on the same boat,” I say.
“We are in this together so you should join our camp instead of being alone here. We would love to have you,” Stew says.
“My girlfriend would love to meet you. She needs a friend like you, and we can help take care of each other. That would be so cool to have you with us. We can always come back here to get more supplies,” Ken says.
“We like living away from the city. The air is better, and it feels safer too. We have a nice set up,” Stew says.
Ken and Stew are already finished their canned food, so I should try to get them off their asses because I don’t want them to get too comfortable.
“That sounds like a nice camp. I need some fresh air, so I will consider the offer, thanks. It looks like you two guys are done with your canned meals, and I hope you enjoyed that cigarette, Ken. Are you guys ready to check out the basement?”
“Thanks for the food, babe. We are ready to check out the basement, so let’s do this,” Stew says.
We all stand up and walk to the basement door. I walk behind them and prepare for what is about to happen.
I’m hoping Norman is in the basement. I grab some candles, and I light up the candles. The brothers take a candle and make their way down the basement. Stew walks down first, and Ken follows him. They slowly walk down with the candles, and I slowly follow behind them as the candles light up the dark basement.
“You can’t see shit with these candles. We should light up a bunch of them,” Stew says.
“Sure, no problem!”
I shove—Ken and he immediately falls on Stew. The candles go out, as they tumble down the stairs into darkness. I quickly run up the stairs. I run to get my assault rifle since I’m going to shoot them. Suddenly, there are loud screams! The brothers scream like a couple of girls as I quickly make my way to the basement door. I put down my assault rifle because I know that I’m not going to need it. Norman is taking care of Stew and Ken. The screams continue, and I can hear Norman tearing the flesh off their bones. I close the basement door so that their screams are not heard past my front door. They scream in agony as Norman tears their bodies apart.
The sound of the bodies being torn to pieces makes me want to vomit, but I take deep breaths. This is so nasty. The screams suddenly stop, but I wait a couple of minutes to make sure that there is no more screaming. I open the basement door, light up a candle, and I make my way downstairs. The brothers are on top of each other, and I can’t seem to tell them apart because there’s too much blood.
Norman eats the intestines of one of the brothers. I try not to vomit as I look away, and he doesn’t waste any time. I take a deep breath, look back at Norman, and I continue to watch Norman gobble the flesh. He takes a hand, bites off the fingers one by one as the fingers crackle, and he starts to tear off the skin from the thigh and chews off the bloody flesh. It looks like he’s tearing off raw chicken with his teeth. He rips out the liver and munches away at it as some chewed up liver oozes out of Norman’s mouth. He loves liver so much. He’s very fast at devouring the flesh. The human body is like candy to Norman. I enjoy watching Norman feast on the flesh since it really turns me on, and I want Norman right now. He picks up a body, grabs the head, and he slowly twists the head. I hear a grinding sound as Norman twists the head. He starts to pull the head from the body, and I hear the flesh tearing apart as he manages to tear the head off. He drops the head and eats away at the neck area. The flesh from the neck area is extra bloody.