Melancholy Memories

Day 2,297, 10:18 • Published in USA USA • by wookyjack


Jerry sat, staring at the letter M on his keyboard. Days blinked by. The first three hours at work always expired before the first cup of coffee. He wished the rest of his dismal day ticked away as fast, but today he really didn’t have much else to do. The floor his cubicle was on was scarcely lit; this made him more comfortable.



There was a horrific stench in the building that would normally sting the nostrils except Jerry was born a congenital anosmic. He was born with no sense of smell. It took years before doctors recognized his condition because he appeared as normal as any other young child whose father was based out of Annapolis Naval Academy.

Jerry had no siblings. His father was rarely around. His mother was a chronic smoker. As a kid it benefited Jerry to not be able to smell the smoke second hand, but no one really knew new how deadly the smoke could be for a small child. He never anticipated the arrival of food. Common phrases like 'It smells so good' were trivial.



Jerry was also single. He tried dating, but to no avail. He had no issue making it to the bedroom with the other sex because he was fairly handsome, charming and witty. However, being with a woman never felt right. At the least, it was permissible and socially acceptable. In his younger years Jerry seldom hung out with other boys. He only developed a fondness for one particular boy named Shelton. Maybe it was more than a feeling? Shelton’s Mom often dropped him off at Jerry’s house for company. Jerry always looked forward to these visits. The families got along for the most part because Jerry’s father and Shelton’s father were friends at the Academy. But Jerry’s mother always did her best to be as cruel and demeaning as possible to Shelton. She could see how her son clung to some aspiration of love when Shelton was around.

Eventually Jerry ended up hating his mother altogether when he learned years later it was her prejudice towards other races that led to his parent’s divorce. His upbringing with Shelton only fueled his mother's hate. Jerry's father blamed him. When his dad began drinking every night and physically abusing Jerry it seemed any hope of a decent life had evaporated. Therapy could not subdue the monster that terrorized his adolescence.



Before Maryland was overrun by the infection, Annapolis was more famously known for its Naval Academy and the prestigious location near the District of Colombia. As Washington D.C. became one of the most prominent cities in the history of America, it also infamously succumbed to the descending hordes of walking dead. This was the last stand.

Each ship docked in the Chesapeake Bay eventually became tombs for any remaining survivors who thought boarding any type of ship would be the safest place to hide from the dead. Not everyone was born a sailor. Jerry was born to a sailor. When an initial report stated that the disease was crossing the continents, he never felt so much as a shiver of terror while the shores were consumed. Sailing to safety? Unlikely. And even now, the world was brought to its knees, he still stared at the letter M.



A smell.

This new smell aroused his senses. He looked up from the computer monitor, over the cubicle wall and turned toward the floor's emergency exit. Was there really a smell?

Footsteps. Voices in the stairwell were growing louder. His nose stung and twitched. As the smell grew closer, a voice yelled.

“This is the floor! This should be the Academy’s medical wing!”

The door burst open. Jerry’s nose devoured the new smell and his mouth dropped at the site of the visitors. The voice cautioned its followers as soon as he saw Jerry staring at them with pale, milky eyes. Clacking his teeth, Jerry was famished for flesh.

“There’s one right there!" the voice erupted. "Shoot it! Shoot it in the head!”

Jerry snarled, hungrily into a moan. The voice transcended into a shotgun blast that splattered Jerry's head all over his work station. The keyboard was soaked on every letter, every letter except the letter M.