Bogleech.com's 2013 Horror Write-off:
"Hairworm"
Submitted by Brooke Van Kampen
July 4th, 2012Dear Journal,
It’s finally happened. The zombie apocalypse! I say it happen right in front of my eyes a few days ago! I’m so bored, and that’s the only reason I’m even writing in this old thing. I’ve been stuck in my little house for almost a week now. But I guess I should write my name down before I start to fill this up. Just in case.
My name’s Matthew Harisson. I live on Lake Road. As you can imagine, I live next to a lake in a lake community. I’m not right on the lake, but I’m across the road from it, so I still get the extra bonuses of the private ‘beaches’ and the docks. And that’s where I saw it! About 3 days ago, one of my neighbors went CRAZY!! I don’t know his name, I never really went outside much (of course, the one day I did, the APOCALYPSE HAPPENS), but he lived right on the lake. All I say was him swimming in the water, and then he started retching and foaming at the mouth and flailing I SWEAR HE TRIED TO BITE ANOTHER GUY IN THE WATER BUT I GOT OUT OF THERE BEFORE HE TRIED TO GET ME!!! When I looked behind me he was just floating there, he looked dead but I bet he was faking! Zombies don’t drown! No one was panicking as much as they should have but they probably regret that now! And then I saw other people jump into the water! Foaming and flailing and growling gibberish! I got home as quickly as I could and sealed everything entrance.
I have to go now, it’s getting dark. I don’t use the lights, it’ll attract THEM.
How ironic, the day that we celebrate our freedom is the day that I’m locked up here, possible the only survivor in this town! Maybe the world, already!
July 8th, 2012
Dear Journal,
I’m running out of water. I have stocked plenty of canned food (I’ve been prepared for the zombie apocalypse for a long time! NO REGRETS) and the first thing I did after defending the house was fill all of the sinks and any bottles and buckets I had with water. But my house is pretty small, I don’t even have a tub, just a shower, and one bucket. I have two sinks and a few empty water bottles. I didn’t plan this as well as I thought.
July 10th
SOMEONE IS KNOCKING ON MY DOOR I CAN HEAR THEM I THINK THIS IS THE END
July 12th, 2012
The knocking happened at about 7 AM two nights ago, I spent yesterday reinforcing the doors and windows just in case they came back. I think it was a hoard. Thank goodness I boarded up the doors AND the windows! They were persistent, too. How did they know I was here? Maybe they smelled me… but I’m leaving soon, so I’ll have to be careful. I’m packing as much food as I can and I have a few bottles of water left. But I found an old wind-up radio I used during a power outage a few years ago. Winding it up for a minute gets you 30 minutes of power! I’ll listen to it later, I need to prepare. If the lines are still on air, maybe I can get info on a safe spot and other survivors.
July 22th (?)
I’m very far away from home, I’ve been too busy to write so I’ll document what happened. I looted some houses and found some water bottles, so I was good for a while but I’m running out again. I followed a river that’s flowing from my old lake but now I’m near the main road, on the other side and following another stream. I didn’t drink the lake water, obviously. The zombies were in that water! GROSS. I did see a few of them, but the most memorable were the pair near the stream. I think they were trying to drink or something, because there were two of them, a male and a female (Siblings? Spouses?) who were gurgling and coughing and pushing their faces into the water . It wasn’t even deep enough to cover their faces, but they kept doing it anyway. They didn’t LOOK like zombies, they weren’t rotting or anything, but they were foaming and flailing. But I don’t really care, all that matters is that I got out. It’s a miracle they didn’t see me! I have been more careful since that day. Don’t want any “accidents”.
It’s also been getting a lot hotter.
July 26th
It’s so hot, it’s BOILING. It was nice before, but now it’s just BRUTAL. I already drank all of my water. I’m following another stream now. I might have to drink from this, but I think it’s safe. I haven’t seen any more zombies. Maybe they all died? If they aren’t magic or nuclear it’s been thought on the Zombie Survival Forum that they should follow the normal rate of decomposition and die (again), especially if it’s really cold or hot. But the ones I say two days ago weren’t rotted. Maybe they were bitten, or however they spread the infection, and are new.
(Undated entry)
So thirsty. Going to drink from the stream. Rest. Maybe listen to radio and learn stuff. Should be safe, haven’t seen any zombies for days. But have been avoiding roads just in case.
JULY 28th 2012
The Center for Disease Control announced today that eradication of Nematomorpha hominis or "human horsehair worm" has been widely successful and further outbreaks highly unlikely. Household castor oil has been proven effective against all stages of infection and should now be available free of charge at your local pharmacy. Citizens are reminded to drink filtered water and repeat treatment if experiencing an unusual, persistent thirst or sensation of heat.