Dark Realms(167)

Her voice was getting hoarse, so I offered her a bottle of water.

“Thanks,” she said. “Anyway, I was leaving the backroom of the store when I heard Paul yelling at someone by the register, so I hurried to the front, to see what was going on. Well, it was one of those…freaks and it was making these weird garbled noises, and trying to grab on to Paul’s arm. From the back, I thought it was just some angry fellow, so I hollered at him to leave the store,” she sighed. “But instead of leaving, he turned around and tried attacking me! Thank goodness Paul was there…oh Paul!” she cried bitterly.

Sara handed her a tissue and squeezed her shoulder.

“I’m sorry. It’s just the thought of never seeing him again, you know?” she sniffled.

We both nodded. Sara handed her more tissues.

“Anyway, Paul grabbed the thing before it got too close, and it bit him in the shoulder!”

“You keep calling it a thing. What do you mean? Are you sure it wasn’t just some crazy lunatic?” asked Sara.

Hannah snorted. “I wish it was. No…this thing’s eyes weren’t…normal. Something was wrong with the pupils. And its skin looked grayish-white, almost like skin when it’s decomposing. In fact,” she said, sitting up straighter. “That’s what these things remind me of…dead people.”

“Dead people…like zombies?” I whispered.

“Exactly like that! You know, my father owned a funeral home back in the seventies. Once I snuck down to the basement and saw a couple dead bodies,” she shuddered. “Yep, that’s what those things reminded me of tonight; dead people walking around, without their souls.”

I’m not sure why, but I believed her. From Sara’s expression though, she wasn’t convinced.

“What happened after your husband was bit?” asked Sara.

Hannah sighed. “Well, Paul smacked it on its head, repeatedly, until it finally let go of his shoulder and fell to the ground. Then the damn thing got back up and rushed at Paul, growling at him.”

“Did you kill it?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

“Hell yes. I grabbed the gun behind the register and shot the thing in the head,” she declared proudly.

Sara and I looked at each other, not sure what to say.

“Did you call the police?” Sara asked.

“Well, we tried calling the sheriff, but the lines were busy. So, Paul called a buddy of his on the police force, Jim Nielson. Jim was around, amazingly. He said these things were attacking people all over town.”

I shuddered. “All over the entire town?”

Hannah nodded. “Yes. And what’s even more disturbing is that the ones that turned into these….zombies, they were normal people just a few hours ago, people who live here in town.”

Sara rubbed her forehead. “So, what you’re saying is that normal people are turning into zombies?”

Hannah’s eyes narrowed and they darted back and forth, looking at both of us. “First, let me ask you something. Did either of you get the flu vaccine?”

We both shook our heads.

Hannah released a sigh of relief. “Good, then I don’t need to worry about either of you turning.”

Sara frowned. “Turning? Hold on. You’re saying that the people who are turning into…zombies…are doing so because they received the flu vaccine?” she shook her head. “You can’t be serious.”

Hannah laughed bitterly. “I am as serious as a heart attack. I wish it weren’t true, that Paul was still…alive. But Jim, he told us everything, the entire ugly truth. The truth the government is desperately trying to conceal and now fix. They’ve even shut down most of the power to try and contain these things.”

“They’re responsible for the power being shut off?” asked Sara.

Hannah nodded. “Personally, I think someone high-up was already losing their mind when they approved ‘that call’”.

“Nothing makes sense,” mumbled Sara.

“What exactly are they trying to hide?” I asked breathlessly.

She touched my shoulder. “Right now, anyone who’s been vaccinated is doomed. They’ve all been issued a death warrant. Only it’s their soul that dies, their bodies live on.”

I expected to hear a clap of thunder after her terrifying revelation. Instead, Sara laughed out loud.

“That’s ridiculous! There’s no way the government would release a vaccine that would create millions of…zombies!”

“Well, that was our reaction when we heard the story. But you see, the newest vaccine was never tested thoroughly before it was released. The FDA actually never even approved the vaccine, but it was still released.”