The Herd

The Herd

By Eric O’Neal

Copyright © 2015 by Eric O’Neal

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to my parents for their incredible support. To Blake, for all the help and encouragement you provided me. To Katherine, you are awesome and amazing, and I owe you my soul. And finally, to Tobias, thanks for being you.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter One

David sat in his own little world completely unaware of his surroundings. His fellow members were talking, but to him it was merely static in the background of his thoughts. He looked down at his feet examining his shoelaces and turned his shoe and head in rhythm. He closed his eyes briefly trying to imagine himself anywhere but the group therapy he was in.

David, the group counselor said in a slightly loud tone of voice as David’s eyes sprang open. David shifted in his seat uncomfortably as everyone in the group turned to look at him. What do you think about what Ronnie just said? Stephen asked as he looked over his glasses already knowing that David wasn’t paying attention.

David avoided Ronnie’s gaze, shook his head and said to him, That’s, uh, rough, man, sorry to hear that. Ronnie smirked slightly with a bemused expression.

Stephen let out a little sigh, David, Ronnie was just talking about getting married to the love of his life, David put his hand on his neck.

I um, you know, good for you man, I’m glad for you. Ronnie arched his eyebrows up and gave a slight nod.

Well, David, let’s hear from you. What have you been up to since last week? Stephen gave a genuine smile earnestly interested in one of his patients. David could appreciate that even though he had called him out, Stephen had a sincere interest in talking to him. David however, still wasn’t able to share just yet.

You know, just the same old same old, nothing interesting to report I’m afraid, David leaned back in his chair hoping that Stephen would move on, but knowing that there was probably more. David was one of the newest members of the group and wasn’t too keen just yet on sharing his feelings.

David, we’re all here to heal in some way. What you’ve all been through is extremely traumatic and difficult to understand and accept, David nodded somewhat reluctantly, I volunteered for this job because I knew I had the skills and the experience dealing with people who have been subjected to extreme situations. It was true, Stephen in a previous life had been a therapist for soldiers with ptsd issues. Now I know it’s not quite comparable to being recently dezombiefied, but I still feel as though it’s my job and my passion to help people come to terms with their situation.

As much as David believed Stephen was sincere, he couldn’t help but think that Stephen’s training and degree wouldn’t help too much with coming to terms with eating his family. Stephen had volunteered to do this because his colleagues were afraid to take on the challenge, but he was learning on the fly with how to help people cope with zombie cannibalization. He split time with helping the survivors of zombie attacks. David was only resurrected 26 days ago. He was brought back to life and simply dropped back into the scrum like he was just supposed to pick up where he left off. A lot of people didn’t have too much love for a former zombie. They always looked at David like he was some kind of monster. David had joined this group to try and find something to fill the loneliness he felt. Just something to bridge the gaps in between returning to a post zombie world.

Stephen continued, So, David, is there anything you might like to share with us, perhaps about how you’re feeling lately?

David crossed his arms and lied, No, I’ve been doing pretty good doctor, you know, I’m just taking things one day at a time.

Stephen gave a slight smile and moved on to another more willing patient, So, Leanne, how about you?

David left his car and absentmindedly made his way up to his old house. It used to be his parent’s house before they died. As he got to the door and reached out his hand, he came to his senses. He had done this for years when visiting his parents, but he couldn’t bring himself to go in anymore. This was the place where David had killed them. Inside were the stains and pain he had left behind. He turned and walked to his garage. David opened the garage door and made sure to close it behind him.

This was where he lived now. Inside the garage, he had set up a small bed and chair set. David had a small table with his tv on it. He went to his mini fridge in the corner, grabbed a bear and sat in front of it. He took a drink and sighed deeply. David turned the tv on prepared to go about the rest of his night the way he had grown accustomed to, alone with nothing but the tv to keep him company.

David’s parents had very smartly invested their money and in their will left everything to him. So when David unexpectedly returned from the living dead, he inherited all of his parent’s savings and also their former house. David had stayed in the hospital for several days after he was cured. His apartment had since been given away to other tenants as the landlord probably believed that David would never be back. David couldn’t quite believe it himself.

He ran his hand through his dark brown hair and tried to let himself drift away into primetime television. David was okay with that as it gave him a sense of something familiar to grab onto. He couldn’t bear yet to go back into his old house and face his guilt. The very first thing that David was told when he went to his first group therapy sessions was that he was not responsible for what he had done while zombified. That particular mantra hadn’t quite been absorbed yet.

David sat staring at the television. He watched the figures moving on the screen, but as always inevitably happened he began drifting backwards into his thoughts. The shapes slowly became a blur meshing together into a mix like an ink blot test. Then he saw the blood. David snapped back to reality as the memories of his former life returned to him. He got a slight bit of nausea as he took a large swig of beer. Whether it was from the drink or from the memories catching up to him, he wasn’t sure. David knew that this wasn’t going to work. He couldn’t stand to be alone with his thoughts. Sleep was rare for him. It was when the aches of his past came back to David the most clearly. Frustrated, David grabbed his coat and decided to take a drive into town.

He was tired. Unable to sleep through the night, he often awoke to his night terrors. David would often have to exhaust himself to even gather up the courage to attempt to lay in his makeshift bed. So, he would usually make his way to a bar or a club in order to drink and drown himself in the sounds of the city. It proved a nice distraction from the prospect of being trapped inside his own mind.

As David drove deeper into the city, he spotted his favorite haunt. Wyle’s Bar was your classic dive bar; a few pool tables dotted the room with a mixture of clientele ranging from bikers to truckers, and the standard alcoholics. It wasn’t quiet, but you weren’t likely to be pestered. That was just the way David liked it. He pushed the door open and was happy to see the booth at the end of the bar empty. He walked to the counter and offered a brief nod to the bartender who knew exactly what drink David would order. A nice mix of orange juice and vodka, and David was set. He removed his jacket, took his seat at the lonesome booth, and began to watch as all the other patrons went about their night.

Occasionally sipping from his drink, David’s eyes darted in between a game of pool and a pointless sporting event on the television, above the counter. David wasn’t interested in either only interested in keeping his mind as unfocused as possible. Suddenly, he noticed a man at the counter looking in his direction. As the man took a large gulp of his beverage he continued to stare at David unwavering. David knew what he was looking at. He could see it in the man’s sad eyes. When David had removed his jacket, he had exposed his scar at the bottom of his neck. The man could tell where it was from, and it seemed to be stirring his own unfortunate memories. David, even though he had never met the man, desperately wanted to say he was sorry. For whatever had happened to the man, he was sorry.

From behind David, a hand suddenly appeared on his shoulder causing him to jump and nearly turn the table over. He looked up and saw a young girl with deep dyed black hair shaved on the sides of her head and spiked into a strong mohawk. She had piercings up and down her face and tattoos covering her arms. Hey man, nice scar, the girl said in an excited voice as she reached over to pull down the collar of his shirt to get a closer look.

David reached up to push her hand away and asked, I’m sorry, can I help you? David wasn’t very comfortable being touched there, in fact, no one had since he had the final stitches removed from his neck.

The girl with no invitation, sat in the seat across from David, Yeah, I mean check you out, it’s not often you meet a former zombie. David let out a small laugh purely from the disbelief he was currently feeling. He looked around the bar almost expecting everyone to be staring at this scene with the same level of bemusement he was experiencing. Listen, I got a little business proposition that you might be interested in, the girl said, and before David could even begin to respond she continued on, I know what that scar is. I’ve seen that kind of bite before, now unless you got into it with a biter who didn’t like you that there is the very distinctive mark of the walking undead.

David dragged his hands across his face in sheer amazement at the bluntness of this young woman. A huge grin came across the girl’s face as she got her answer without David saying a thing. She pushed on, "Check this out, now I know a couple of guys who would be willing to pay for a bit