Brain-Dead

The early sunlight poked through the trees surrounding the campsite. Damien unzipped the opening of his tent and poked out his head of black, scruffy hair. “Yo, do you guys hear that?” he said groggily as he rubbed his eyes. He stumbled out in his PJs onto the grassy area in the middle of their campsite.

“I do!” Stevie shouted. He came out of his tent with his phone in his hand as he frantically started scrolling. His breathing became shallow the longer he stared at the screen. “What…” he trailed off.

Charlie scrambled out of her tent wearing a tank top and red pajama shorts. “What the hell is that?” She looked over at Stevie. “Stevie? What’s wrong?” She rushed over to him and grabbed his shoulders. Sarah came out to join them as Damien dragged behind.

“Besides the usual?” Damien laughed. “What’s up, dude?” Stevie looked up at all of them with frightened eyes. He slowly showed them his phone’s screen as they read the headline “City Under Attack From Outbreak.” Everyone gasped.

“What outbreak?” Charlie exclaimed. She grabbed the phone and skimmed the article. “New virus wreaks havoc on downtown area as it rapidly infects population?” They listened intently as she continued reading, “Once person is infected symptoms do not show for a week but includes: high fever, vomiting blood, nausea, hallucinations, and rabid-like rage.”

Sarah covered her mouth. Damien had a look of disbelief. Stevie had his hands on his head.

Charlie scrolled through the screen. “Another common symptom shown from an infected person is their need to bite at people…” Her voice became quieter. Then, the forest became still.

“They mean EAT humans!” Stevie shouted into the trees. He paced back and forth in front of his tent.

“Okay, I don’t like to use the word ‘zombies’ but are we sure this is what this is? I mean, remember that guy who got high off of bath salts?” Damien snickered as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck.

Sarah looked at Charlie who kept staring at the floor. Damien threw up his hands, “No! I don’t buy it. Let me see the phone?” Charlie handed it to him, but Stevie grabbed it.

“I’ll set up a hotspot for my laptop,” he said. Stevie ran back to his tent.

“Sure, bring a laptop to a camping trip,” Damien mumbled.

Stevie came out with his open laptop on one arm as he typed with his other hand. “There’s another headline that says ‘The CDC Declares Virus as a Pandemic’!” Sarah’s pulse started racing as she wiped her forehead.

Damien marched toward Stevie and peered at the laptop. “Dude, this is from DEF News. They overplay everything! I bet that’s the same news outlet that wrote that dramatic article we read.”

“No way! I trust DEF News, they reported about that outbreak of salmonella from lettuce that caused temporary blindness.” Stevie explained.

Damien impatiently grabbed the laptop and searched the news articles. “Here,” Damien showed everyone the screen. “This is from FAX News and it says ‘Virus A New Outbreak of the Flu’.” Charlie and Sarah squinted at the article.

“How do you go from one extreme to the other?” Charlie asked. Damien shrugged, “I knew this would be made into a big deal when it clearly isn’t. Guys, we’re fine!”

Sarah looked out into the trees. “Then what’s that noise in the distance?” They all listened for a moment.

“I hear explosions,” Stevie trembled.

“I hear helicopters,” Charlie declared.

“I hear…a conspiracy!” Damien exclaimed. “Think about it!” Everyone looked at him with puzzled expressions. He threw his hands up in defeat. “We’re actually being invaded! I bet it might be China, maybe Russia, or North Korea---wait! I’m positive it’s Canada! I knew this day would come.” Sarah felt the need to sit at a nearby stump.

“Our military is too great, anyone who tries to invade us will definitely lose.” Damien said. “We’re like the Arnold Schwarzenegger of countries!”

Charlie didn’t listen. She grabbed her phone from her tent and looked up more news articles.

“You can’t deny science!” Stevie shouted. “The CDC themselves just declared that this virus is a ‘pandemic’! And we’re listening to the chaos right now!”

Charlie held a hand up. “Okay, I just read that everyone is urged to evacuate from urban areas and move into rural areas, so I guess we’re good there. But they’re also saying we should keep moving so let’s start to pack up--”

“The virus is a cover-up, they’re saying to evacuate so you’re not taken hostage by Canadians,” Damien interrupted.

“It’s a zombie outbreak!” Stevie said.

“It’s a cover-up!” Damien retorted. Both of them kept arguing while Charlie tried to intervene. Sarah watched them in a daze as everything around her began to sway. She started to see a multitude of colors and she could hear her heart beat in her ears. Then, she heard Charlie say, “Guys! It says here that ground zero was at a restaurant called ‘Outbreak Steakhouse’ that served adorable, fuzzy koalas. None of us have been there!”

Sarah’s stomach dropped. “Oh no…” Then, she vomited blood. Charlie, Damien, and Stevie stepped back and looked on in horror. Sarah dropped on all fours and began to violently writhe on the ground while her eyes rolled to the back of her head. She then stopped and lay still on the ground. Charlie slowly stepped forward, “Sarah…” she whispered. Charlie laid a hand on her shoulder but Sarah suddenly sprang up on her feet. Her eyes were bloodshot and the irises were swirling with a frenzy of colors from the virus. She let out a raging scream and lunged forward biting at her friends.

“It’s a virus released from Canadian scientists!” Damien screamed as they started to run.

Note: This was my first entry for NYC Midnight's Flash Fiction Challenge 2020. My assignment was genre: political satire, location: forest, and object: laptop. I will find out if I made it to the second round on August 26th!

Update: I didn't make it to the second round, but the fight continues!