89.4 Zombie Radio

Last night I had a dream. It was about a world where everybody finally got it. There was no more war, no more oppression, no more cruelty. Everyone was finally happy. We realized that there was no need to kill harmless animal for our own personal gain. We all finally realized that we have the intelligence to live off the land and not eat the poor, defenseless creatures that never even had a chance. All the major corporations went under, and we laughed as their skyscraper hideaways fell to the ground. It was a perfect world, filled with perfect people, and then, sadly, I woke up.

I had to wake Celeste up and tell her about this. She wasn't exactly happy I woke her, given it was merely two hours ago that she finally went to sleep. We both had a bit of trouble sleeping, today was the day we had been waiting for and we were both filled with a sort of nervous excitement. Today we put a wrench in the spokes of the system. Today was the day we fought for what was right. First, however, we had business to attend to. Celeste and I ran a vegan restaurant in the city, and hopefully after today we'd be much busier. We showed up at the usual time, to the usual crowd waiting. The little scene girl Jesse, the stoner hippie who only went by the name Sunshine, and the girl who never talked, so we never knew her name. Overall it was a painfully average day.

The time passed slower than normal. I could feel the tension rising deep within my brain. I wondered about the consequences of what I was about to do. I tried not to, but it was impossible. It wouldn't matter if I backed out now anyway, the wheels were already in motion. If I didn't do it, someone else would, besides, it was my idea in the first place. You see, Celeste and I started a group a while back called "Citizens Against Serving Treachery." (C.A.S.T.) Basically a group against the food industry and everything it has become and currently represents. Gradually we grew to a small army and decided it was time to take a stand. A scientist within the group developed a new kind of parasite. One that has never been seen by anyone else. All we had to do was put it in the food at any chicken farm and it'd spread like wild fire. Infecting the entire poultry supply overnight, given that they live in such tight quarters and are barely monitored. It was almost too easy.

Closing time came and we locked up, eager and still nervous about what would happen. What if there was something we had overlooked? Or some unforeseen consequence we didn't expect? It was worth the risk, these animals had suffered too long, and it was due time for the people who were part of this cruel system to be the victims for once. We took the long trip out of town, about an hour or so, to the farm which we were assigned. It was horrible, the chickens didn't know day from night, given they lived in coops with no windows. The living trampled over the dead, all struggling for a drink of water that came from the dirty spouts placed strategically overhead. It only made what we had to do easier. We dumped the vial we had been given into the food supply and left as quickly as we came.

The ride home was filled with a feeling of victory for Celeste and I both. "Baby" she said, "I feel like finally, something I've done has made a difference."

"I feel the same way." I replied.

We shared a kiss in which I managed to swerve into the oncoming lane of traffic for. A semi truck blared it's horn and I quickly swerved back.It took us both a bit to catch our breaths but when we finally did, we both laughed with delight at our near death experience.For once in our lives we felt like the good guys won. Nothing could bring us down. God could make it rain razor blades on us, and we'd just giggle with every cut. We did it. We finally made our stand.

A week later it was clear that our actions were noticed. The news had no answer for where the disease had come from. They speculated that perhaps it was from a foreign country. Or perhaps it was a new type of terrorist attack. They didn't even know what hit them, all their theories weren't even close. Every night the news had a new story about the new "epidemic" that was spreading across the nation. Every one of them just trying to guess where it came from. I felt a little bad about the stories with sick children. But it was a guilt I could live with. Soon I knew they'd figure out the cause and the lid would be lifted on the entire corrupt food industry. Everyone would soon see the light and we'd later be looked upon as silent saints of our time. Unsung heroes that changed the way we looked at everything. I really had no problem with the people who ate meat, but I just felt like they should know what was really going on. Everyone should know that.

I knew they'd eventually figure out the source, and figure out a cure or vaccine. They always did, it was just a matter of time. I couldn't wait for the big reveal. I just hoped things would finally be set right and they wouldn't try to hide it anymore. Or at least it would make people mad enough to take a stand. However another week passed and nothing had really changed. It kept getting worse, which was predictable, but it may have been just a bit more than I expected. I knew people would get sick, but this was more serious than I thought. I never expected to hear the words "quarantined" and "death count" in conjunction with what we'd done. The more details I heard, the more I started to feel I made a mistake. Perhaps I Should have researched this parasite a bit more before unleashing it on the unsuspecting masses. It was much more wicked than I ever could have imagined. The details were gruesome. It started with small sores in the roof of the mouth. Then a fever develops, followed by rashes all throughout the body. Slowly the rashes would get worse, resembling bad cases of the flesh eating virus. The sores in the mouth became so bad, that people were constantly bleeding. Victims started looking like they were wearing cheesy vampire Halloween costumes, the type with too much fake blood running from the mouth. Only this blood was real, they weren't vampires, and there wasn't candy to be obtained door to door.

Another week passed and still they couldn't pinpoint the disease. They just knew it was something most people were ingesting. I figured out about this time that it probably wasn't just the chicken that we had infected, but the eggs too. Eggs were one thing that were almost unavoidable to eat. Only a true vegan or complete weirdo was gonna avoid the epidemic at this point. I started to become nervous myself. Especially when the news stopped coming on. Places stopped opening one by one. Admittedly something's wrong when we're the only place still getting business. Jesse was still there every morning, but Sunshine was nowhere to be found. The quiet girl stopped coming around too. I was getting more worried every day, and so was Celeste. We decided maybe it was time to close up shop ourselves and get away from the city for a little while. That was the day we got attacked for the first time.

It was right on the edge of the city, minutes away from freedom. Driving along we saw a girl standing in the middle of the road. So we slowed to a stop. The girl looked up at me, dead in the face, she smiled a grin the likes of which I've only seen in comic books by super villains. That's when I saw the blood running down her mouth. She charged full speed at our car. I tried to throw it in reverse, but she was way faster than I could react to. With a blind rage, she plunged her fist through the windshield. Which came as a complete shock to me, she was maybe 5'3 and 100 pounds at best. No way in my wildest dreams would I have imagined a girl so tiny could do that kind of damage. I punched the gas and did my best to shake her off. it took a wild 180 degree spin to finally throw her off the car and into the front seat of a parked hummer.

"What was going on?" I asked myself. Part of me remained in shock. I glanced over at Celeste who had surprisingly remained silent throughout the attack. I could see she was just as horrified by the events that had just transpired as I was. She looked over at me, the look frozen on her face.

"that was her." She said.

"That was who? What are you talking about?" I asked.

"The girl, from the restaurant. The one that never talked. That was her." She answered.

I quickly realized that she was right. It was her, I didn't recognize her from the fountain of blood cascading down her face. I knew it was the quiet girl, there could be no mistake about it, but what would prompt her to attack? And where on Earth did she acquire this type of strength? Was it possible she had been secretly lifting weights all this time? I mean, it was possible, I had never really taken the time to get to know her. My thoughts were interrupted by a sharp scream from Celeste. I glanced over and seen the girl's broken body clawing her way out of the windshield of the hummer. I wasn't sticking around to see what happened next, so I floored it out of there. It didn't take long before I seen a group of people huddled around something. When the crowd finally moved I seen the lifeless corpse of a young woman, half eaten, left for dead on the curb. I kept driving, I started to realize what was going on. It had to be the parasite. Something it did caused people to behave like this. What had I done? I knew the rest of the U.S. was in the same state right now. That night when we had struck the farm was the same night the other members of C.A.S.T. were going to strike too. This was nationwide. Had we gone too far? Perhaps in our trying to make the world a better place, we instead ended it.

I knew it was bad, but there was no time to worry about it now. If it really was the end, there was no turning back, and if there was a hell at the end of this life, there would be a very special section reserved for me there. Celeste didn't say a word as we weaved our way out of the city. Going around broken bodies and cars alike. A ten minute trip out of the city took forty five, and in our situation forty five minutes seemed like days. We finally made it out, we were alive and that had to count for something. The question then became "Now what?" Where to go? What to do? Should we try and make things right? Or leave them as is? Perhaps it was best the world be punished. It was after all, a corrupt and evil place. I had always been a firm believer in the phrase, "Everything happens for a reason." There was no point in looking back, what was done was done. So we kept driving, not knowing what to do, but knowing that eventually, everything would work out, for better or worse.