Revenge on the Zombie!

Naegleria fowleri is a free-living, bacteria-feeding amoeba (single-celled living organism) that can cause a brain infection called Neigleriasis, also known as primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).

It is usually found in bodies of warm freshwater, such as ponds, lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is a ‘thermophilic’ bacteria, meaning, the higher the temperature, the better it thrives. It occurs in three forms – as a cyst, a trophozoite (ameboid), and a biflagellate. The trophozoite is the feeding, dividing, and infective stage for humans.

It usually infects people when contaminated water enters the body through the nose. Once the ameba enters the nose, where, after eating away the olfactory bulbs, the amoeba travels along nerve fibers to the floor of the cranium and into the brain.

Once there, the organism starts eating brain cells. However, swallowing contaminated water does not cause the infection. Miltefosine, an experimental drug, saved the life of one patient, though similar treatment in others has not been effective.

Sunny mornings at Grandpa’s Texas farm were bliss for Lance and Lilly, because it meant they could go and play outdoors in the hay, ride on ponies, feed the horses and brush them down, and in general, have a good time. Though rain was not a frequent feature, being in the sub-tropical region of Texas subjected them to frequent showers. And rain meant having to stay indoors and work on Math sums.

The brother-sister duo hated having to work during the holidays, but their grandfather insisted on it. “Doing Math builds character”, he told the kids earnestly, when they protested. “I wish I had done it myself in my childhood”, he said, “I might have become the President of the United States by now!”

Lance and Lilly did not think that Math sums could help them become the President of the United States or even the President of their local Rugby club, but could not argue, as Granddad would have none of it.

It finally ended with a compromise- sunny days would be kept aside for fun, while rainy days would be devoted to character-building arithmetic. Lance and Lilly were more than overjoyed when their cousins, Hilda and Fred, joined them after a week.

This of course, meant, double the fun and double the mischief. Granddad soon found that none of the kids were interested in character-building and slipped out on rainy days as well. On one such rainy day, a game of hide-n-seek was in full swing. Lilly, being “It” had to find the others. She found Lance and Hilda within no time.

Only Fred, the youngest of all, was left. She looked in at the stables, the hen coop and just about every other place she could think of, but still couldn’t find him. “Fred!” she called, “Come on out! I give up!” Fred heard her, but he giggled and squeezed himself a little more into the hedge he was hiding in.

He was so engrossed in keeping away from Lilly that he did not see the shadow looming up behind him. “Eat….. your……brains…..” said a husky deep voice behind him. “I want to…eat your BRAINS!!” Fred was startled. He slowly looked around, thinking it was one of his cousins. Instead, he saw a tall boy, lanky and pale, his hair messy, his clothes dirty, and with what looked blood, dripping from his mouth.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!” cried poor Fred, grabbing out at whatever he could, as he fell down on the ground while trying to get away from the monster. The monster kept advancing, an evil grin on his face. “Yo….ur brains…..” it drawled. Fred madly clawed through the dirt as he tried to stumble back onto his feet, and started wailing loudly.

Lilly, who heard the commotion, ran up to them, not noticing the Zombie first, and picked up Fred, who was howling for all he was worth. “Calm down”, she ordered. “Fred, what’s wrong?”
“Z-Z-Zombie… behind you”, stammered Fred, tears still flowing down his cheeks.

Lilly turned around to find herself face-to-face with the monstrous creature. By then, Hilda and Lance had caught up with them. Hilda gave a loud scream, while Lance just stared open mouthed, his glasses sliding down to the end of his nose due to profuse sweating. However, the “Zombie” no longer seemed interested in eating anyone’s brains.

He was laughing, clutching at his stomach. “Oh, you scaredy-cats”, he panted, while Lilly stared at him indignantly. He wiped off the red tomato ketchup from his mouth, and straightened his clothes and hair. He was at least twenty, yet seemed to enjoy frightening kids.
“Exactly what do you think you were doing?” demanded Lilly. “Why did you scare Fred like that?”

Lance, who was quite the nerd, pushed his glasses back and spoke. “You could have scarred him psychologically for life”, he remarked seriously, like a professor talking about the philosophy of life.
“Why, you’re all just a bunch of nincompoops!” sneered the older boy, bursting into peals of laughter again. “Poor, hapless, amoebae- swimming around blindly, playing hide-n-seek—!” He made weird faces at the kids.

“You’re so horrid!” cried Hilda.
“Ah there you all are”, came a voice behind them. It was Granddad. “I’d asked you all to stay in and have a go at those sums. What are you doing out here?” he seemed annoyed.

“Hello, Mr. Rendall”, said the young man, putting on his most polite expression. “Why, Carl, you’re back for your summer break!” exclaimed Granddad, all his irritation forgotten. “Kids, meet Carl, our neighbour’s son— he’s a smart fellow, and he goes to grad school. Now isn’t that wonderful? Shake hands with him and say ‘how do you do?’”

All four of them muttered their greetings as they shook hands with Carl, who smirked at their discomfort. “You kids won’t get as far as me if you don’t stay indoors and do your math”, said Carl, wagging a mocking finger at them. Granddad laughed appreciatively. “That’s the way to build character”, he beamed.

The following days were a nightmare for the four children. Carl, the insufferable neighbour, had decided to make life miserable for them. He would sneak up on them in his favourite guise of a zombie, and try to frighten them out of their wits. No matter how hard they tried to avoid him, he turned up at the most unexpected of places.

If he wasn’t laughing at them, he would play the ‘smart-alec’ in front of Granddad. Apparently, he had no other source of entertainment that summer. So tired were they of him that all four of them actually turned to arithmetic for solace, much to their Granddad’s joy.

Then one day, Granddad came with a bit of news. “Poor Carl”, he tut-tutted, “Down in bed with flu and food poisoning. The boy went for a fishing trip with his friends and he fell into the lake, not to forget the unhygienic food he ate on the way. You kids should go and see him.”
The children looked at each other. “Time to teach him that amoebae aren’t as weak as he thinks”, muttered Lance.

The children trooped next door with flowers and cards, to see Carl in bed. Carl was surprised, knowing very well that the children hated him, but he was gratified that Mr. Rendall had sent them.

The children put on grave, sad faces as they sat down around him. “We’re really sorry for you Carl”, started Lilly, “forgive us if we’ve done you wrong.” She looked away, as if she didn’t want him to see her crying.

Little Fred burst into tears. Hilda hugged him, whispering “its okay, baby, you know everyone has to die some day! Hush now.”Carl was a little taken aback. “Now, look here”, he stuttered, “What’s all this? Who’s going to die?”

“We know its terrible Carl”, said Lance. “It’s only a matter of five days and it will all be over—”
“Shhh! Granddad told us we weren’t supposed to tell him!” hissed Lilly at Lance. “What aren’t you supposed to tell me? And what’s this about five days?” asked Carl, properly scared now.
“Well, we might as well tell him Lilly”, said Lance gravely. “Every dying man has the right to know that he’s dying!”

“WHAT?” screamed Carl.
“Couldn’t you make out from the symptoms, Carl? I thought you were very bright!” said Hilda.
“It’s the dreaded infection of the amoeboid parasite- Neigleria fowleri” said Lilly. “Surely, you must know about it?”

Carl had never heard of it, but he was not going to admit it. “It lives in warm freshwater pools and ponds—” began Lilly.

“—and gets inside your brain through your nose—”, said Fred.
“—and then starts feeding on your brain cells”, completed Lance. “And when your brain is eaten up, you die. And the symptoms you’re showing now—”
“Fever—”, whispered Hilda.
“Nausea—”
“A stiff neck!” cried Fred.
“All point to the same- Neigleriasis”, said Lilly triumphantly.

“I don’t believe you kids”, he cried. “There’s no such thing!” His heart was however beating fast in fear.

“Yes, there is”, said Lance firmly. “Why don’t you ask any Biology major at your grad school? Then you’ll know we aren’t lying.”

“And don’t forget— you have just five days more to live”, said Lilly ominously, as they trooped out.

Carl hurried to call his friends at college. They confirmed that such a condition, did indeed, exist, and there was unfortunately, no cure for it. Carl no longer had any wish to frighten the children, who went about having fun in the farm. He stayed home, gloomily awaiting his death.
Five days passed. Carl’s fear didn’t allow his symptoms to subside.

“It may take a few more days for the final hour”, he thought, as he lay on his bed, thinking about when death would creep up. Another five days passed. Why couldn’t he just die and get it over with, he wondered. Another ten days passes, but nothing happened.

Carl no longer felt nauseous, and felt he could move about, though he was still weak. He opened the front door and stood on the porch, and breathed in the fresh air, realizing suddenly that he wasn’t going to die after all!

A car seemed to be revving up on the road. As he craned his neck to look, four kids waved furiously at him from the car. “Goodbye, Mr. Scaredy Cat!” they called. “We can eat your brains too, if we want to!” they cried gleefully, as the car sped away.