Story Entry for the MWC9 Punkoween Contest
Word Count: 3,916
Genre: Garbage Punk

Eric pulled off his gas mask and looked at the progress he and his team had made. Not too bad, he thought to himself as he scanned the garbage lines. This year's Stash the Trash Day was bound to at least get some garbage off the streets. But even then, it wouldn't be enough. Eric and his team of five workers had managed to clear a pathway one fourth of the way down the town's main road. With piles of garbage lining the street, this was no easy feat. Eric looked out behind him at the work they had accomplished in the last six hours. He raised his eyes to the horizon line in the distance. For miles on end, all that could be seen were mountainous piles of trash. How long had it been since Eric had seen a green hill covered with flowers? It had certainly been much too long. Eric shook his head and brought himself back to reality. The hill right in front of him was piled high with broken glass bottles, torn papers from books, candy wrappers, moldy pieces of bread, a dark plastic bottle with a Gatorade label partly torn off, and rotten apple cores with tiny worms crawling through what was once a crisp and sweet fruit. As he scanned the pile higher, he almost retreated from the overwhelming task that loomed before him. Eric took a deep breath, gagged, and put his gas mask back on. It wasn't safe to keep it off for long. Not here, not now.

Amy Hanover stepped out from the tunnel onto the newly cleared pathway on Main St. It was so wonderful to see the blackened concrete even though the pathway was barely wide enough to hold two people across. "Amy," called Eric. "Off to see Zach in the hospital?"

"Hello Eric! Great job clearing the path. It is so nice to see the street again." Eric stood a little straighter, his eyes swelling with pride. He had always had a bit of a crush on Amy. Her dark brown shoulder length hair was always neat and shiny, yet never seeming to fall quite into place. It amazed Eric that even in this disgusting world, she remained beautiful and untouched by its horrors. Most of all, he loved the sparkle of her olive eyes when she smiled. Amy walked closer to Eric and for a moment he believed he could smell her cherry vanilla perfume. But the reality of the gas mask hit him first. "Yeah, Zach is not doing any better so I am off to see him in the hospital today." Eric had always been a little jealous of Amy's relationship with her husband. Even years ago when he was much younger, she wouldn't have gone for his rugged look. Now, he was an ungainly shell of the man he once was. Love it seemed had passed him by. Still, in his mind, he imagined that Amy and Zach shared food, talked about books, and tasted rare vintages of wine together--all the things he dreamed of doing with Amy himself. Amy walked along the stretch of clear path and climbed the makeshift stairs made of plastic bottles bonded together with wads of used gum. She turned back one last time to look at Eric and smiled. Eric could see the sparkle he loved through the clear plastic of the gas mask.. He watched as Amy turned around and crawled away through the tunnels. Not far beneath where they had been standing, a steady drip from a corroded pipe was increasing in frequency.

Zach's hospital room was as clean as could be conceived of in a world where garbage fueled day-to-day living. A generator outside the building converted some of the trash into fuel which powered the breathing machines, allowed oxygen to be pumped into the building, and provided light and electricity to flow into the patient rooms. The hospital was the only place in the area with its own generator. All the other houses and buildings had to share the city's common generator. Workers were always being sent out to collect the trash and bring it back to the main generator so that the city could have power. Amy brushed off the top of a partially broken plastic cart and turned it over so she could sit on top of it. Zach's breathing was slow and steady and Amy wondered how it had gotten this bad. Zach was part of a water conservation volunteer team that was working to clean up the town's water supply. They had successfully cleaned and blocked off Water Way 1. The water in that part of town was now deemed drinkable. Two weeks later, Zach started complaining of an upset stomach and extreme exhaustion. Amy, desperate to help her husband in any way she could, had taken him to the doctor to see what they could do.

Doctor Gordon stepped into the room and placed his tablet on the patient's bed. "Dr. Gordon, how is he doing?" Amy asked impatiently. "Do we know what it is yet?"

"Amy, I am afraid that I don't know what it is. The truth of the matter is that the hospital can no longer afford to hold him here and we need the beds for others. There is nothing we can do."

"But Doctor, he is dying. You have to do something." Amy was pleading with the doctor. She did not want to see her husband, her love taken from her.

"My suggestion Amy is to take him home and spend whatever time he has left in your presence. Let him know the comforts of your own home." With that, Doctor Gordon picked up his tablet and left the room. Amy stood by Zach's bed still in shock from what she had just heard. She collapsed back onto the crate and buried her head in her hands. She finally wept the tears she had long held back. Outside in the hallway, a voice called out to Dr. Gordon about a patient that had begun to eat his own fingers. There was a sound of scurrying as nurses and doctors ran to the patient's room to determine what was occurring. Amy perked up when she heard the phrase Water Way 1. Maybe it was another member of the volunteer water team. Amy turned her attention back to Zach upon hearing him call her name.

"Amy?" Zach's meek voice called to her from the bed. "Amy, take me home. A man should die in his own bed." Amy nodded and called for the orderly to help her husband into the rolling chair so that she could take him home.

Home for Zach and Amy was located in the housing part of town. Here, shacks made out of cardboard, wood, and scraps of metal, were piled on top of one another in an overlapping style. Thus, one had to crawl over other's houses in order to get to his own house. Even if his house was at the bottom of the stack, he still had to travel up a small portion of the garbage mount on top of which was his house. Amy brought the rolling chair to the bottom of the mountain and located their shack midway up the hill. It was quite a climb and Amy sensed that Zach would be relying on her even more than he already was. Amy seeing no other way of getting her husband up the hill, took him out and supported him all the way up. Zach was able to put weight on his feet and seemed to gain some strength back. Amy wrote it off as merely being excited that he was coming home. By the time they had reached the top of the hill, it was past dinnertime. Amy pulled off their gas masks, set them on the hook near the door, and then flipped the switch so that the filter system would kick in. Outside gas masks were needed but inside, they would be okay thanks to the town's shared generator. Amy sat Zach down on the old garbage can they now used as a chair and pulled over the table made of wooden crates glued together. She lit the fire in the orange basin that she and Zach used for cooking and she pulled the rat out of the food box. She picked up the spike from the corner of the room and struck the pointed end in between the rat's eyes. The rat squealed as the spike drove through its body and out its back side. Blood dripped to the floor creating a small pool of red liquid. Amy ignored the blood and placed the rat over the fire turning the spike so that the rat would cook evenly. When the rat was done cooking, she placed it on the boxes and turned to get their supply of salt from the food box. By the time Amy turned to sit down at the table, Zach had already eaten two thirds of the rat. He smiled shyly. "Sorry Amy. I was hungry. Maybe next time we can make it a little more rare though." Amy's eyes widened and her mouth slowly opened as she struggled to find the words to describe her shock.

"That's fine dear. I am glad you are feeling better. I guess I'm just surprised that you are feeling better so suddenly." Zach pondered his wife's last comment. He did feel a lot better but there was still something that had yet to be satiated. There was some desire, some hunger that did not feel like himself. He looked down at the rat's blood on the floor. For a moment, Zach wanted to lick up the blood. But then he shuddered and turned back towards his wife.

"It must just be being at home that made me feel better." He shrugged his shoulders and smiled. She looked so beautiful. Even when she was confused or shocked, she exuded radiance. Amy sat down at the table next to her husband and picked up the last part of the rat that he had not eaten. The blood had dried now but there was still a line of red between the eyes on its head where she had originally driven in the spike. "Can I cut your rat for you?" Zach asked. Amy smiled and nodded glad that she had her husband back by her side. He picked up the rat and began to carefully carve its head into slivers so that Amy could eat. As he was cutting the last sliver, the knife slipped and cut a portion of his thumb. Zach put his thumb in his mouth to stop the bleeding just as Amy got up to get a bandage for Zach's thumb. While Amy was searching for the bandage, Zach discovered that a portion of the flesh had come off on the knife. He picked up the knife and sniffed his dying skin. Amy's back was still turned so he lifted the knife to his mouth and licked the piece of thumb. Satisfied with the taste, he drew the knife temporarily away but then brought it back up to his mouth and ate the piece of flesh that had been stuck on the knife. A grin grew on his face. Zach looked down and saw that his thumb was still bleeding and since he had needed to take it out to eat the piece on the knife, it had become red with blood. He put his thumb back into his mouth and savored the taste of his own blood. Wanting more, Zach bit down on his own finger and let out a moan in pain. Amy came back with the towel to stop the blood. Zach pulled the thumb out of his mouth and placed his hand in his wife's so that she could administer the bandage. Amy nearly retched. A rat's blood did not bother her, but to see her husbands cut thumb with a portion of the bone protruding out of the leftover skin, which was still spouting blood, was almost too much for her. Still, right now she had to be here for her husband. She had to help him. Amy placed the bandage on his thumb and then went back in the tiny back room to throw away the scraps. This usually meant throwing them out the window and landing them on someone else's house. Then it was someone else's problem.

Zach sat on the floor next to the table and wondered what was going on. It seemed odd to him that he should want to bite his own thumb. Yet, the taste and the desire to eat raw flesh could not be denied. He looked down at a piece of dried skin on the bottom of his foot and wondered if he would like that too. Zach peeled a piece of dried foot skin off of his heel and took a small piece of it in his mouth. He decided that it tasted alright but raw flesh was much tastier. Zach looked at his own body and felt a surge of energy rush through him. He wanted skin and blood and bones. He wanted to taste everything. Mostly, he wanted to taste her. In his mind he had this idea that she would taste even better than he did. Amy came back into the room and saw her husband now standing next to the table. He had a wild look about him that she had not seen since they had been married six years ago. She flashed him a sly smile and walked over to his side. Zach looked at his wife wondering if she could guess what was actually going through his head. Whether she knew what he wanted. He pulled her by the wrist and ran with her down the hill to the side of Water Way 1.

Zach pushed Amy down onto the pile of dirty newspapers on the side of the garbage mountain. "Won't we need our gas mask?" she breathlessly asked. Zach just shook his head. He wanted her and this was not a time to worry about the toxins in the air. This was the last time he would ever take her. His ravenous eyes scanned her delectable body up and down. He pulled at her shirt and tore the buttons exposing her black lacy bra beneath. Zach's hands hungrily grabbed at her breasts and her naked skin beneath him. He could almost taste the joy and anticipation. He took her ring finger in his mouth and sucked on the skin. He watched as she shivered pulling him closer to her. Amy moaned as she felt his mouth moving along her fingers and up her arm. It seemed like Zach wanted to taste every part of her body. His mouth moved over her body like it was the last time he would ever have her. Zach pulled up her denim skirt and removed the black lacy underwear she had been wearing. He groaned as he placed himself inside her. Their motions together were perfect and Zach couldn't help but think that this was how he wanted it to end. Zach placed his lips near her neck and licked the skin just below her ear. Amy shivered in anticipation and pulled him closer to her. His mouth moved up to her ear and he put the lobe of her ear in his mouth and nibbled at the skin. Her nervous laughter fueled his sex drive even more. Zach's smile was villainous. This time he bit down harder and tore a bloody piece of her ear entirely off. Thick, red, velvet blood flowed from the side of her head. Amy's screams and hysterical crying annoyed him. He remembered hearing about an artery in the neck that when severed caused the person to lose consciousness. Although Zach did not know exactly where this artery was located, he decided it would be better than hearing her screams. He leaned down and bit at Amy's silken white neck and watched as her head fell back to her shoulder. Now, Zach could enjoy his food in peace and quiet. He picked up the piece of ear cartilage from the ground eyed his treat. He chewed that portion of her ear and then went back for the piece that was still hanging from the side of her head. Zach was so turned on by the site of her skin falling off her body, that he reached his orgasm even before he took the second bite of Amy's skin. Zach pulled himself off of his wife and eyed her delicious and smooth looking skin. It was so white and pure against the contrasting piles of trash beneath her body. He lifted up the arm that was still holding onto the ear and again sucked on her finger. When he bit down this time, he did not taste the chewy sensation of the cartilage but rather the crunchy taste of bones. It was like each part of her had a different taste and a different consistency. Zach glanced down at her half naked body. Amy's bra had been thrown away and was now lying on top of a half eaten bag of moldy pretzels and next to a wrapped twinkie. Zach looked hungrily at her breasts and brought his mouth down upon her luscious flesh. The fatty consistency was undoubtedly his favorite. Blood covered the ground around him and stained his lips bright red. Her chest was now a flat wasteland of blood and bone. The more Zach tasted of her, the more he needed, the more he craved.

Eric was just about to call it a night and send his team home, when he heard a distant scream. He recognized Amy's voice and went running to help her. Eric desperately looked around trying to locate where her voice was coming from. He heard another scream and then silence. Eric feared he was already too late. He continued to run as he followed where the voice had been coming from. As Eric ran, his foot stepped on something squishy. Eric convinced it was a piece of garbage, continued on without much notice. It was not until he realized that the squishy object was attached to his shoe that he stopped and lifted his foot. It appeared to be a round slimy ball. In his quick look, Eric noticed a familiar glint of green. He walked over to it and picked up the ball. Immediately he realized how he knew the glint of green. He pictured her smile and the sparkle of her olive eyes. By the time Eric arrived on the scene, his eyes grew in shock and terror. What had once been a beautiful human being was now a sight that made him want to throw up. Amy's body was in three distinct locations with various parts scattered in between. It seemed the main part of her body was against the mountain of newspapers on the far side of the water way. Her arm and part of her leg were about one hundred feet away down the hill. The rest of her parts were half bitten and had chew marks in them to the other side of her body. Zach was crouched over what might have been a leg and was ripping chunks of flesh off of it before going back for more. Eric walked towards Zach with a thunderous rage building up inside him. His steps were slow but purposeful as he approached the savage being. Disgusted, he threw the eyeball at Zach who was still munching away at the leg. "Was this not good enough for you? Did you not like her eyeball? Why didn't you eat it you sick fuck?" Zach slowly raised his eyes to the man who was standing before him. His smile spread side to side revealing a grin tinted with red splotches of blood.

"Come join me friend and feast!" Zach gestured to the body parts that were strewn all around him. "It is far too good a body to waste on one man alone."

"I will cut you down and feed you to the crows. You don't deserve to even touch her. Get the fuck away from her body!"

"My friend, why the hostility? There is plenty for all. We should share in what we could all have. After all," before Zach could finish, a fist landed on the side of his face knocking him to the ground. Zach smiled and wiped his own blood from the side of his face with the back of his hand. He licked his own hand and watched as his adversary cringed. "It's really not so bad. You should try it. In some ways, it tastes just like chicken but so much better." With that, Zach picked up a bone from Amy's arm and smacked Eric on the side of the head. Eric stumbled and fell back towards the water way. Amy's blood from the arm soaked into his hair and dried in chunks giving him a crazed look. Eric mustered up his rage and threw his entire body at Zach. As Eric's body came at him, Zach opened up his arms and grabbed a hold of him. Zach was in reach of Eric's neck and located the same spot that had caused Amy to lose consciousness. He moved his mouth towards Eric's neck but Eric moved his head just in time and Zach's bite did not severe the artery. The blood that came from Eric's neck was now staining his shirt and hand. He fell back onto the trash pile and tried to catch his breath. Before he could gather his strength again, Zach ran at him swinging Amy's arm over his head. Blood was splattering out of the arm as he threw it about and brought it down hard on Eric's head. Eric reached out to grab at Zach but only manage to grab hold of his shirt before he was hit. The impact of the hit caused both men to be pulled into Water Way 1. Eric started sinking as soon as he hit the water but the cold and new sensation brought him back to his senses. Eric was enraged and he grabbed at Zach's head and shoved it under water. The area around the two was turning a murky red. Bright red ripples were flowing out into other parts of the water way. Zach was struggling to come up for air as Eric continued to hold him under water. Zach's body began to spasm as he lost oxygen and finally went still. Eric pulled himself out of the water way and crawled on the side. He coughed up water and blood and then collapsed. He was sickened by everything that had happened. His body had ingested the water and he was exhausted. He slowly stood up and made his way to the hospital so that he could clean up his wounds. Eric placed his hand up to the side of his neck where he had been bitten by Zach. His hand came away stained with red. Eric looked at his hand and licked the thumb in order to clear away the blood. Not too bad he thought to himself. Sucking the fingers of his hand so that he could taste the blood, Eric continued on to the hospital a maddened look in his eyes.