Chems ~ a short story (page one)

Chems ~ a short story (page four)

I’d barely crashed into my seat when I saw my dad exit the house.  He waved once from the front porch as he adjusted his windbreaker and picked up his lunch box.  I thought I saw the kitchen curtain twitch as if Mom might be waving, but I wasn’t positive.  I kept watching though, even after we’d passed the next house and the next and the next.  And I kept right on watching until I could see nothing more than the flash of sunlight reflecting off the tin roof of the old toolshed.

*

As soon as I got there, I couldn’t wait for school to be over.  I think I aced the math test; I almost always did.  But I couldn’t tell you what Mom had packed in my lunch.  I just remember being surprised when I looked up and all that was left was a half-gnawed apple core.

“S’wrong with you, man?”  Kenny Coruth sat across from me in the cafeteria. Usually we were cuttin’ up and creatin’ havoc, but that day all I could think about was what might or might not be waiting for me in the shed when I got home.  I guess I’m a bit slow because it wasn’t until we were done eating that the thought hit me like a sledge hammer to the temple: zombies eat people!  Here I’d been worried about it (him) getting after my chickens when what I should have been worried about was how I’d given him water and then left him alone with my mom.  I’d seen Dad come out on the porch, so I was pretty sure he’d gotten out safely.  But Mom . . . what had I done?  I’d even told the thing she was in there alone.

I had to come up with a plan.  I couldn’t just waltz into the office and demand to use the phone to call my mom and see if she was still alive.  Nope.  I would have to concoct some sort of excuse.  Maybe it would be easier to borrow the phone in Coach’s office during PE.

            So I lied to Coach.