by John Xero
“I thought Private Jones was dead.”
“I thought Private Jones was dead.”
“He was. Is.”
“Right, well, he’s looking remarkably awake for a corpse.”
They looked at Jones through the reinforced glass. Jones looked
back. He was unusually pale and the whites of his eyes were grey. Black tears
ran down his cheeks.
“Is he crying?”
“It’s a side effect, waste material.”
“Waste material?”
“He’s been colonised by alien bacteria that breed in
necrotised flesh. The individual cells network. They only take a few days to
achieve sentience.”
“Didn’t we send the rest of his squad home in body bags?”
“I’m afraid so, Colonel.”
Jones smiled.
If Ray Bradbury wrote a flash, I expect it would sound a lot like this!
ReplyDelete*thumbs up*
Wow, thank you, Larry. Mega high praise! ^_^
DeleteI don't know about Ray Bradbury but it's an excellent example of John Xero's work.
ReplyDeleteVery tight. You really make those words do a lot of work. Last line great too.
Thanks, Pete. =D
DeleteAnd thanks for the tweet. =)
Yup, what Pete said. Nicely done.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Emma. ^_^
DeleteLove it!
ReplyDeleteYay! =D
DeleteI can picture the smile on Jones face and...it creeps me out!
ReplyDeleteGreat piece! Flash fic at it's best ;)
Thank you, Cindy. =)
DeleteMaybe those tears are successful copulation. Evolution at work, in your head.
ReplyDeleteThat's nasty, John...
DeleteI like it! ;D
Great visuals. I imagine those at home aren't going to have a lot of survivors.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly ain't gonna be pretty...
DeleteThanks, Aidan. =)
Oh this is scary, loved that very last line - I could see that smile! You've created such a large scenario with so few words - very well written. ^_^
ReplyDeleteThank you, Helen. =)
DeleteSeems that smile got a few people...
Now, on The Fast Show, this would be one of those "Ohbuggerahknewthatwargunnerappen" moments.
ReplyDeleteLove it John, darkly humourous.
Ha ha! Thanks, Steve. ^_^
Delete"This week I have mostly been eating... dead people."