This is the first part of my zombie story. I am not yet finished, but I figured I would at least post what I had.

The Flesh Eaters

Something seemed somehow off while I was walking Polo. It was a nice day. Warm, green, and there was a nice breeze coming from the west which kept one from becoming sweaty. Some bothersome birds were twittering their heads off at each other, but other than that, it was quiet.

It was quiet.

That is what was off. It was a beautiful Saturday, and yet not a soul was out. Not a car, or pedestrian, or bicyclist. Normally, the park would be littered with kids, and one could not go on the path without every five seconds having to step to the side to allow a jogger to pass. It was pleasant without the crowds, but now that I realized the deadness of it all, it was also quite eerie.

I passed the McDonald’s and noticed on the sign that they had come out with the triple McManwich. The sign had a cartoon of three cartoon Ronald McDonalds tucked inside of a bun. I just about gagged at the thought of someone eating one of the things. The double was a sufficiently disgusting portion as it was.

I continued my walk until I reached my porch. As I unlocked the door, my next door neighbor Laird stepped out of his house, and without even closing the door, ran down the street. I yelled to him, asking what his hurry was, but he continued his path, as if not even hearing me. I was just stepping in when several other front doors around the neighborhood opened, and the residents followed the same path as Laird.

I thought this odd, sure, but it did not seem to concern me, so I stepped inside, wiped my feet, and sank into the couch. Expecting to watch last night’s recordings, I found it very disappointing to find the president giving a speech to me on every channel. It took me a moment to fully process what he was saying. Apparently the country was in a state of emergency. He was saying something about the meat factories, but the whole thing was out of context.

I looked at the news on my iPad, and what it showed was extremely disheartening to say the least.

I read the article and it said that CannaTech, the only human flesh producer in the world, had shut down production completely. They were not going to make any more shipments, and they gave no reason as to why. The article showed footage of huge masses of people huddled around restaurants and grocery stores. No one was let into the stores, and fights were breaking out everywhere. The police had arrived, it appeared, but it would be like holding off a lion with a toothpick if things came to force.

I put down my iPad, and turned off the TV, soaking in all of the information. I had to leave this place, lest my door get knocked down and get torn apart. As quickly as I could, I packed an overnight bag, a box of canned food, survival gear, a first aid kit, clothes, and finally, a doggy bag for Polo. I piled all of this stuff, and Polo into my SUV, and opened the garage.

Since I had been inside, a large crowd had amassed outside of the grocery store, with hundreds, possibly thousands of people all trying to claw their way inside. I tried to ignore them, by driving right on by, however the crowd was so large that many people flooded into the street. Those on the outskirts of the crowd began to gather around my car, pounding, and shouting. I continued driving however, and fearing getting run over, the sea of lunatics around me stubbornly parted. I was almost out when Laird came up to the driver’s window, and with a heavy smack, cracked the window, nearly shattering it. I floored it.

Perhaps I should explain.

Several years ago there was a major outbreak of a peculiar disease which affected approximately ninety- five percent of the world’s population. This disease, had no symptoms, except for giving the afflicted an all- consuming desire to eat human flesh. If the afflicted was fed a sufficiently satisfying fill of human flesh, then they were completely fine. However, if the afflicted was for any reason denied human flesh, he or she would gradually become more and more desperate, eventually coming to the point of attacking anyone who was unfortunate enough to cross his or her path, tearing the flesh right from their body. There was clearly a high demand for human flesh, but no obvious means of acquisition except through murder.

Then, as if from nowhere a corporation called CannaTech declared that they had found a way to humanely mass produce human flesh. Nobody really knew their means, for no one really wanted to know. Since then, they have had a monopoly on the human flesh industry, the largest industry in the world. Clearly, something that huge simply shutting down without any warning whatsoever would shake the world.