Lisa Sutton continued making brush strokes on her recent painting in progress. It was of a man sitting outside of the back of his van selling dog-like muzzles for humans. Months ago, this man would have been selling watermelons or maybe even tomatoes but now he was selling muzzles meant to prevent humans from biting one another. She stared at the half finished painting, fussing over forgotten details and cursing herself for not taking a picture when she’d had the chance.
Lisa heard a knock at the door to her studio and yelled for the person to come in assuming it was her boyfriend, Randy. The door creaked open and her boyfriend walked in with a smile on his face and still dressed in his electrician’s uniform. “Hello my artistic girlfriend.” He said crossing the room and kissing her gently on top of her head. She turned to him. “Hey babe, how was work?” She asked. “Fortunately, I’m staying busy. Whether it’s the end of the world or not, turns out people want electricity right up to the last day. What are you working on?” He asked. “Oh just something that captures everyday life for people now.” She said, turning back to the painting with a critical eye. Randy straightened his back and put his arms straight out in front of him with his hands vertical; making fun of the new sign language that told people at a distance what you were, and then he shouted dramatically, “The new normal!”
“Ugh, do you have to say that in here? I’m going to lose it if I have to hear that phrase for the rest of my life.” Lisa said. Randy laughed. “Have you gotten your tests confirming your diagnosis yet?” He asked. Lisa shook her head. “I haven’t and it’s really upsetting me. It’s been almost three weeks since I was bitten and I still haven’t heard anything. Meanwhile, my mother is begging me to visit her in Egypt before things get worse.” She said.
Randy pulled up a chair next to her so he could talk more comfortably. “It’s really a shame that you were bitten, if people simply wore their muzzles in public like they were supposed to then this zombie virus wouldn’t have spread so much.” He said, gently stroking her shoulder. Which had already turned a dark grey, and as soon as Randy touched it; promptly fell off. Randy stared at the small piece of flesh on the cement floor. And then glanced back quickly at Lisa like he’d been caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar. But she was throwing her head into her hands and hadn’t noticed that a piece of her shoulder was missing. “I wish you wouldn’t call it that. Zombie virus. It makes me feel like we are living horror movie.” She said through muffled tears. “Umm… my love… um…” Randy said, pointing down at the floor. Lisa turned and looked but her eyes did not widen as Randy’s had. She simply bent down and picked up the flesh. “Yeah, this started a couple days ago.” She said, and then gently pushed the flesh back into her shoulder. “Have you begun to show any symptoms?” Lisa asked. Randy leaned back. “Um well. I’ve lost taste for everything except red meat but I’m still able to eat it cooked.” He said. Lisa burst into tears. “I’m.. so ….sorry I gave this to you. I..I…” She stammered. Randy shook his head. “It’s okay, Lisa, we are young. We will be fine. We can survive as zombies as long as we wear our muzzles when we go out and stay away from our grandparents and my parents until they find a cure.” Randy said in as comforting a tone as possible. The problem was that he wasn’t so sure that he believed his own words. America had not done a good job containing the virus and they were currently being quarantined without any end in sight. He put his arms around her and pulled his decaying girlfriend in for a hug.
Closed System 