Nina pulled into the driveway and hauled herself out of the Jeep. It was much too high as she came into her forties, as little as she’d like to admit it. She looked up at the white house nestled in the nooks of trees where a Hobbit Hole could easily fit in around the corner. There were no birds though, there haven’t been for a long time. “I’m home!” Nina turned around and popped open the back seat stuffed with rows of groceries. “Anybody want to give mom a hand?!”

Silence.

Nina sucked on her teeth and forced a smile. “Okay.” She slipped her arms inside the thin plastic handles till she was more ornate than a Christmas Tree. She trudged across the lawn, kicking up dead leaves in her wake. A mound of newspapers John let rot on the steps gave her heel a slip. She caught on to the brass knob before milk and ground beef met their demise in a murky brown pool. She pushed the door open, and the heat of the room swallowed her up. “Thanks a lot for helping.” She turned to her husband, who held his position at the head of the table with a solidity reminiscent of a concrete sculpture. She half expected a plaque to be at his feet, reading off his snore of a family history.

Here stands John Weatherby, father, husband, and waste of space. He worked tirelessly within a cubical before fooling poor Nina to slip a ring round her finger, and in sank the hook.

“Good morning, dear.”

“Mhmm.”

Nina bit her lip and finally collapsed all the groceries on the floor. "I can't stress enough how busy it is down at the store. The lines simply refuse to budge, I swear. I feel like cattle all corralled down this chute just so I can slap a few eggs across a scanner and be done with it.” She fiddled with a paper bag. “Oh, here. Pills.” She tossed a box to John, but he didn’t budge to even move them from his brooding over a newspaper. “Are you ever going to finish that newspaper? I don’t know how many times you can read that miserable sludge.”

“You’d like it. There’s some deals on stuff back in town.”

“Well, I’m not going back anytime soon.” Nina took a deep breath and began unpacking everything. “This is a one and a million trip.”

“How so?”

Nina’s nails crushed in on a bag of Lays making the brittle dried potatoes shatter like glass. “Dear,” she sighed, exasperated, “how many times do I have to repeat myself?” Spit turned to acid in her jaw, the heavy putrid air snaped into her skull and down her lungs for a sigh to banish it back out.

“Just one more time, it seems.”

Nina slammed the milk down and slid it towards the pile of pots and pans. “I thought you said you were going to do the dishes while I was gone?”

“I forgot.”

“You always forget.” Nina’s jaw trembled. She hung to the counter edge like a climber’s lifeline. “We are having my parents over this afternoon, remember now?”

“Ah, yes. And what are you making?”

“My favorite. It’s our last one before the winter.” Nina finished stacking the eggs in the little plastic rows inside the fridge when she heard the wretched mind melting box come alive. She turned and stormed off down the hall, flinching at the unusual cold jumping out of nowhere. The unusual cold nipped at her shoulders and toes, as if a pack of wild dogs took turns snatching up the heat from her body. She entered the living room and saw the TV static bathing her boy in eerie blue. “Coal, what did I tell you about the TV?”

“But mom. I did all my schoolwork.”

Nina stomped over and ripped the remote from his hand. “What about chores?”

“Aw, mom. Come on. Please?”

“No TV till you clean your room. We have grandpa and grandma coming, so you clean up.”

“Fine.”

Nina stood there in the living room. She scanned across the stone fireplace where stories would fling from mouth to ear. Some embarrassing. She knew that for a fact, but family bonding time, nonetheless. Her pride engorged on the delightful color pallet of blue and white accent. Her imprint of home care signed in the smell of pine cleaner. She ran her finger over the banister, enjoying the sensation of the polished wood beneath her touch and the lack of dust. “Okay, baking a cake. Chocolate. No.” She stomped her foot down. “Know what? Lemon cake. It’s not like John cares.” She walked back off down the cold hallway.

A set of four long beeps and a harsh dial tone screamed from the TV. The ceaseless static rush faded away, unveiling a dull gray background with conspicuous black type declaring, ‘EMERGENCY ALERT SYSTEM FOR ALL STATES.’ “The national department of health issues a warning for all residents of the United States,” The robotic speak and spell voice said. “At nine A.M. Today Central Standard Time a large and extremely dangerous and life threatening-“ The image and sound was eaten away by static but between the shimmers of black and white a Biohazard symbol was beaming bright yellow. “This message will now repeat.”

Shattered living room windows revealed dust suspended in the air. The couch laid overturned, and the mantelpiece clung together with twisting webs laced with dead bugs.

=========

With a clean slide, the knife sliced through the tomatoes and slammed onto the cutting board. It was decided. Hamburgers were safe. The best option when conflicted with a picky husband and a high-class cook as of her mother. Nina hummed along with the tune in her head and tore open a bag of frozen fries. “I’ll sure get it for using frozen food.” She could already hear her mother taking a bite and staring at her with those dead, gray eyes.

“I raised you better,” she would say. “You didn’t bother to bake your own bread? Even for your mother?”

Then the arguing. Then the big hooks of her mother’s mind would sink into the ground of their past and pierce any rotten memories to hang up above the surface. Like dirty laundry facing the neighbor’s windows.

Nina pressed down the ground beef and let the soothing sizzle calm her mind. “I better go get ready. It’s the last meal before...” Nina’s voice hitched, but her smile remained etched into her skin. She turned to John. “Please, please, please. Watch the burgers for me. You can do that, right?”

John was quiet behind his newspaper.

Nina walked over and leaned into his ear. “I’ll really let you have at it tonight if you do. Come on, babe.”

“How about another newspaper on your way out?”

Nina kissed him on the cheek. “You keep your promise. I’ll keep mine.” She opened the front door and brushed a newspaper off on her apron. “Umm. Here, this one looks good.” She went back in and brought it to him.

Across the top in bold black lettering it read, Tensions Rising after biochemical disaster in Texas sweeping across the nation. The President has sanctioned an emergency meeting of Congress.

“Yikes. Good thing we’re up in Maine.” Nina sat the newspaper down at his place and slid a hand across his thigh to his crotch. “Love you, babe. The burgers, please.” She pulled her hand away and dirt smeared her palm. “These flies just won’t leave me alone.”

=========

Nina pulled the car up to her parents’ house and the two of them were already on the porch. She got out in a hurry. The unforgettable smile of her father warmed her more than the cranked heating in the Jeep did. She hugged him and tried to hug her mother, but she was having none of it.

“Darlin’ hug yer’ daughter,” Dad said.

“Fine.”

Nina gave her mother a hug. “I’m excited to have you guys over. It’s been so long.”

“Not long enough,” Mother said.

Nina rolled her jaw and collared her tongue with her wall of teeth. “I know Coal misses his grandma. Are we ready to go?”

“I’ll just be needing some help getting’ down them steps,” her dad said.

Nina helped her dad down into the car and turned back for her mom to still be rocking on the porch. “You coming mom?”

“Well, I’m waiting!”

Nina trudged back up and helped her down.

=========

Nina sat down at her place beside John. He had already put the meal together, very unlike him, but welcomed. “Alright, dig in everybody. I’m famished.” Nina piled some fries on the rim of her plate and popped a few in her mouth before making her burger. They hurt to bite, crunching against her teeth and snapping with a gross numb flavor. She put a tomato on her burger and cheese. No onions, that’s for crazy people. She raised the burger to her mouth and sunk her teeth halfway into it before glancing around.

Nobody moved. John, Coal, mom, and dad. They all just sat there. Just watching. They always watched. Judging....

“What’s wrong with the food?” Nina bit into her burger and something moving inside it, a few things crawled and crept in to her cheek before her teeth struck it dead. “Why aren’t you eating anything?” She pulled off the bun and saw a burned beyond blackened patty. “John!”

He slumped over.

“What is wrong with you?” Nina slammed down her plate and tore the newspaper from his hands. “You can’t do anything, can you?!” She turned to her mother and scowled. “I did, mom, I did! I worked so hard on it. Please, just... I know. But... I know.” She looked at her son. “You like it, right, sweetie? You always loved mom’s cooking.”

His head drooped.

“Come on.” Nina picked up his spoon. “You’re nothing but skin and bones, sweetheart. You gotta’ eat something. I know mama is not the best cook, but food is food, right?” She sank the spoon in the burger and it melted apart. The raw meat sat there, its vibrant red color almost pulsating as flies feasted upon it. There was a second, a single twitch of her eye. “Come on darling, open up.” She rode the airplane into his mouth and the food fell through his jaw cavity and onto his lap. “Don’t you dare spit it out!” She jammed the spoon into his eye socket, causing the rotten egg-like shape to spill murky brown. Settling back down, her gaze shifted towards her mother. “Oh, you know,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “Kids... They never listen. Right dad?”

Her father’s head was gone, only the boney stump of spine and tattered clothes caught in a masquerade of spiderwebs.

Nina laughed and smashed her plate on the table. “Why can’t we just have a normal dinner together!” Her throat whined and turned into squealing breaths. The sounds burrowed into her ears, the vicious quiet. It’s been quiet for a while now, hasn’t it? Nina thought. No birds flew with song among the tree limbs, no crackle of the seaside, no... Nobody. Nina’s throat tightened as she forced herself to swallow the acidic lump, the taste lingering on her tongue. She stared into her son’s broken face. He’s fine! He’s just a little tired. That’s all. She couldn’t ignore the flicker behind her eye sockets, signaling red sirens, but there was no danger, none, no danger. She leaned forward and her heart clamped down on her veins, shooting pain into her lungs.

A wind slipped in from the tortured kitchen wall and pushed the blinds. Streaks of light fed through John’s ribcage and illuminated the maggots writhing in his abdomen.

Nina’s breath sparked and she clung to the table. She swayed towards her parents and a foul odor gripped their bones. A subliminal crack formed. As she scanned down the table, her eyes deadened, and her body jerked involuntarily. She glanced at her palms caked in blood and scabs. Up her arms ran boils and discolored splotches as flies tormented her. “One last meal...” Nina chuckled and picked up her fork. “I’m just famished.”