what

There is no zombie here, but there is something. Something monstrous. It is similar in scale to the zombie in your nightmares, a vast swelling of the senses, an increasing appetite for anything good and wholesome, a desire to believe that all is well, to forget that all is not well, to believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel, and to not fear the abyss that way. It is not flesh, but it moves like flesh, has a taste of flesh, and grows ever stronger. It is the shadow of a man who talks to you, but his voice is the softest, most seductive voice you have ever heard, and he was never more convincing. And he brings all of your loved ones back with him.

“Daddy?” your mother says, and you can tell that she is rejoicing in your absence. “Oh, there was someone we were going to invite over. I thought he was my friend … ”

“You were! But then … now he is not. I came back, remember?”

She looks at you and smiles, the brittle filigree of her smile, and her brown eyes shine. “Of course, baby brother. Why wouldn’t I remember?”

“We are all going to die, aren’t we?”

Your father nods. “Of course we are. But I have one question for you, Frank. Am I a real man, or are you just some swordsman?”

“Don’t you remember the hunger, Frank? The need? I can give you back your father, and everything he had ever done in your life, and you will know now who you really are. Not a swordsman, but a man.”

Then you and your father are silent.