ZombAIDS!: A Short Story

As Fabienne read her letter one last time before she sealed the envelope, she asked herself if this was truly what she wanted. By sealing this envelope, was she sealing her fate? Deep within her heart, she knew it felt right, but she was scared. She had never feared death before, but she had also never contemplated suicide. However, the torment of being in love with a married man was too much to bear. So with that in mind, she quickly swallowed her pills of sweet release. Hours went by as her lifeless body lay still, until the silence was broken by a knock at her door.

"Fabienne..." The voice shouted through the door. "Fabienne, it's James, I got your message. What did you want to see me about?" The man at the door waited for a response, his impatience grew obvious in the tone of his voice. "Fabienne come on! I don't have all day; my wife is waiting in the car. She thinks I'm talking to client." As he continued to bang on the door, he realized that it had been left unlocked. He quickly threw open the door only to feel his legs give way to the shock of the sight of Fabienne as she lay deceased in the middle of the floor with an envelope tightly grasped in her hands addressed, "To James." The man fell to floor as a sudden paralysis suddenly took over. He sat still, oblivious to the world around him, until the sound of his wife calling his name as she approached the doorway quickly sobered him up.

"James, what's taking so long? We're going to be late for our reserva...WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!?"

"I don't know, she was like this when I got here." Replied James.

"Did you call 911?" His wife asked.

"Not yet."

"Well what are you waiting for?"

"She's already dead Sharon. What's the hurry?"

"I don't know... what's that in her hands?" Sharon slowly walked over to the corpse and carefully picked up the letter. "It's addressed to you James." She swiftly tore open the envelope and read Fabienne's final words.

Dear James,

I've finally come to the realization that you and I can no longer live a life run by deceit. It's amazing to me how something as small and insignificant as a ring on your finger can spoil something as big and substantial as the feelings that we have for each other. Your lovely wife seems wonderful,, yet I hate her with every bone in my body for I covet what she possesses. I'll never forget our first time, as well as the countless times since, but I can't live like this anymore. You are the foundation that I can stand firmly upon, the wind in my sails and the fire in my veins. As cliché as it sounds, you're my reason for living. This is why I am writing you tonight. My heart belongs to you, and without you, I have no heart. Therefore, I cannot live. I'd rather die with you in my dreams than live without you in my arms. I don't want you to dwell upon my absence, but I don't want you to forget me. Someday, we'll be together again, just not in this life.

Forever & Always,

Fabienne

"You cheating bastard." Sharon softly whispered under her breath. "How could you?" Sharon's breathing grew heavy as anger filled her veins. "After three long years of fidelity you repay me by FUCKING SOME WHORE!"

"I can explain." James said, "Just calm down so we can talk about this like adults."

"DON'T TELL ME TO CALM DOWN JAMES!" Sharon shouted, "I DON'T NEED YOU TO TELL ME ANYTHING RIGHT NOW!" Sharon's anger then quickly turned to despair as she fell to floor with tears running down her face. James attempted to comfort her, but was pushed away by his unforgiving wife. So he sat down, and pondered how one instant could destroy everything he had done right in the past. As the two of them continued to drown in their self grief, Fabienne's rigid corpse suddenly rose from the floor and began to stumble across the room towards the couple.

"Fabienne," James looked up with a puzzled look on his face, "are you ok?" Fabienne then lunged her body towards James and sunk her teeth into his neck. Sharon screamed as she watched her husband get ripped to shreds by his own dirty secret, and then froze once she saw Fabienne look up and make her way towards her. She turned and ran towards the door, only to slip on a remote control that had been left in the floor, causing her to fall while simultaneously turning on the television. Fabienne immediately began to feast on Sharon's flesh while the voice of a T.V. News reporter echoed through the hall.

". . . are returning to life! I repeat the corpses of the recently dead are returning to life! Doctors have discovered the cause of this epidemic, but are still unsure of the source. They claim that the re-animation of the recently deceased are due to an STD known as Post-Mortem Re-Animation Syndrome, or what is commonly being referred to as ZombAIDS. All who are sexually active are at risk; therefore, anyone who is sexually active is being advised to seek immediate medical examinations. . ."