No Flesh Shall Be Spared by Carnell Thom

Author:Carnell, Thom [Carnell, Thom]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Horror
Publisher: Crossroad Press & Macabre Ink Digital
Published: 2010-11-19T05:00:00+00:00

The Corral

Before…

An immense flock of birds circled high in the air over the rag-tag compound set up in an open field on the outskirts of town. The spiraling cloud was made up of aggressive crows and seagulls mostly, but smaller robins and sparrows flew alongside the larger birds like Pilot Fish. They shadowed their larger brethren and eagerly picked up any bits of meat left discarded. Having been reduced by their hunger and fear to a ravenous scavenging horde, the avian multitude wheeled about in the early morning’s sky like a pulsating Rorschach inkblot. Their mass cavorted in the air like kites set lose from their tethers, whirling reminders of an innocence now lost.

The green pastures spread out below were once fertile farm land, but now the fields lay forsaken and well on their way to seed. The hills rolled like emerald waves; terra firma breakers created by the undulating spasms of the Earth. Abandoned farms punctuated the silent and foreboding landscape like forgotten play sets, their crops left to rot now that no one was there to tend the fields. Half-starved farm animals milled about the hills and glens aimlessly; lost livestock dutifully sought the care of farmers, most of who were either dead or still in hiding. Cows and sheep grazed on low-lying grasses. Milking cows lowed with discomfort as their udders swelled to almost bursting. Columns of acrid smoke billowed dark and pungent from smoldering fires on the ground, their onyx plumes obscuring any view. Deep within the flames, corpses lay smoldering.

The flock lazily spun above the mass of activity which ebbed and flowed within the roadside encampment. The birds’ small, obsidian eyes locked in on the commotion as they continually scanned the landscape for any remnants of food left behind by Men—either living or dead. In truth, they weren’t in any position to be picky. Food was food and when the world went as crazy as it had, both man and beast were grateful for whatever provisions they could find.

Groups of heavily armed men and women roaming the countryside had become a common sight in the past few weeks; masses of humanity whose sense of dread could only be calmed by the possession of their weapons and by the safety of their vast numbers. In reality, it was their fear that brought them together and—like glue—kept them that way. An uneasy alliance had been forged more out of necessity than any real desire or sense of camaraderie, for when The Dead crawled from their moldy graves, men became afraid and their fear hung in the air like the black smoke from their fires. Every species responded to this fear in its own way: birds took flight and searched from overhead for food, stray livestock searched in vain for their owners, and Man had come together into a tribe and did what it had always done best—fight.

The militia was more than a hundred people strong and they wandered the camp in fits of nervous energy. More and

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