The Haze [Watty's Shortlist 2021]

The Haze (Chapter 8)

Chapter Eight

The city park was visible after climbing over the hood of the last car in my path. A city bus was stuck sideways in the street ahead. I made my way towards it, climbing up a tire and shimmying my way on to the roof. From here I could see the expanse of the park laid out before me. I noticed some movement and slowly laid down on the roof to make myself less noticeable to the figure. I wasn't sure yet if this person was reanimated or alive. They went behind a group of trees and I lost visual of them for a few moments, but when they reappeared, they were running. Running at breakneck speed towards something small on the ground. A squirrel. The squirrel scampered in confusion at the threat and made its way into the branches of an oak tree. I could hear its angry chirping from where I was and the figure continued reaching for it, bumping into the tree and stumbling backwards with its arms extended in reaching.

I hopped down off the bus and hurried towards the bushes outlining the park, ducking to stay out of sight. The reanimated was about fifty yards away from my location. I could see he had probably been some sort of business man before the haze hit. He was wearing the majority of a suit. The jacket was torn and shredded in places, the ribbons of material waving behind him as he followed the squirrel. Hives raced up his neck and towards his face. His eyes had a yellow tint.

I was looking at about a football field's length before I could hide among the expanse of houses beyond the park, but I had a few good spots to hide if the reanimated lost interest in the squirrel. There were large oak trees scattered about, some playground equipment, and a fountain I could duck behind.  Then, right before the out of the park there was a building that held restrooms and an inside party room that would be rented out for birthdays and what not. The building was an L shape, with the bathrooms making up the small portion of the L and the party room making up the length of it. I remember my fifth birthday was held there. My dad invited the whole kindergarten class and I think we ended up with about a handful or so kids running around. He had even rented a clown for the event, but I could see the sadness in his eyes. He was never quite able to shake the darkness of losing my mom.

Trying to push the memory from my mind, I began my travel through the park.

I was about half way, crouched behind one of the many park benches when I noticed some movement out of my peripheral vision. A woman was standing with her back to me. She was gently swaying with the wind. Her skirt was town down one side and her once white blouse was a stained mess. Pieces of grass decorated the back of her head. I did my best to maintain my quiet pace to keep from drawing attention to myself. I felt a bit of sweat form on the back of my neck. I had killed a few of the reanimated. I had fought them face to face. Felt their dead hands on my neck, there foul breath invaded my nostrils. I stared into their cold eyes and saw.... Nothing. They were unpredictable opponents. Their driving force was their hunger for violence. To hurt their adversary, and this made for a very unpredictable bout. I was almost away from her point of sight when I heard something hit the ground close to my back foot. I heard a strange hiss, I looked up into the tree branches where it had fallen and saw a set of icy blue eyes staring back at me. With a little wave and a smirk, she climbed higher into the tree out of sight. Then the pops began.

Firecrackers.

Pop! Pop! Pop! Instinct had me rolling away from the explosions quickly. Before I could really comprehend what has happening, the woman with the torn skirt was reaching down for me. She tripped over my feet and fell over the top of the park bench. She collapsed in a heap and was trying to regain her footing. The man chasing the squirrel came running from across the park. I whirled my head around quickly, accessing my options. I didn't have many. That's when I saw them. A whole horde of the reanimated were forming. Funneling in from all directions. I had never seen this many in one place. They tended to roam by themselves or in smaller groups than this. This was very unusual.