100-Word Flash Fiction by Sci-Fi Thriller Writer Daniel P. Douglas
The Lost Hiker
By Daniel P. Douglas
Hidden moon, so nothing lights the way. Still, I crouch on scabby knees, watching an intruder prowl the mountain grove. No breath or pulse betrays me. The virus liquifies lungs and hearts.
He shatters beloved peace. “Hello?”
I rise, neck bent, arms draped afore. Itchy, dry puss holds strips of rotting skin atop hungry muscles.
“You’re,” he stammers, “alive?”
I lunge, striking with muddy nails and gaping, yellow teeth. I tear, puncture flesh, and spill blood.
“Please, no!”
The hiker topples. Screams perforate the forest. When I crack open his fragile skull and taste his moist brain, beloved peace returns.