by Jesse Gagnon
What are the odds of ending up here again? Maybe subconsciously the body was directed there from a memory in his past, leading it towards a potential host that the virus could spread to? What if the virus feeds on memories as he slept searching for places humans could be hiding? That’s just crazy to think such a thing. If that’s true then the Norton’s were killed due to his own memories of them. Maybe upon seeing his body, they let their guard down and quite possibly their deaths were his own fault? Guilt had overridden his senses and he became furious. He punched himself, beating on his face, chest, and stomach. He wanted to experience pain. He didn’t deserve to live. He was an abomination, a monster. He felt each blow; however, the pain wasn’t enough. He wanted to end it all and charged back into the barn. He found Francis and removed the gun from her hand. He placed it on his skull and pulled the trigger.
Click…Click…Click…
The fucking gun was empty. He couldn’t even kill himself. He threw the pistol against the wall and it connected with a loud thud. A small voice spoke.
“Hey mister, what’s wrong?”
Where was the voice coming from? He scanned the area.
“Hey, why do you smell like the zombies?”
Again the voice seemed to appear from nowhere.
“Up here.” The boy said. Jason looked up and found the child. The boy became terrified when he saw Jason’s eyes.
“It’s a zombie! It’s a zombie!”
Three more kids cried out.
Jason put his hands up and walked away backwards calmly.
“Aren’t you going to eat us?” The boy asked noticing Jason’s actions.
Jason shook his head, no.
“Are you a nice zombie?”
Jason shook his head.
“But you’re not trying to attack us. What’s wrong with you?”
Jason shrugged.
“Can we come with you? We’re alone.”
Jason shook his head, no.
“Can’t you talk? What’s wrong with you?” The boy asked with frustration.
“Zombies don’t talk stupid.” A little girl said.
“This one’s different. Not like the others that killed Mr. Norton.”
“You don’t know that?” The girl said.
“Hey zombie, do you want to eat us?”
Jason shook his head, no.
“See, it don’t want to eat us.” The boy beamed.
“You don’t know that. He could be trickin’ us.”
“Trickin’? It’s a dumb zombie. They don’t trick people.” The boy assumed.
Jason grunted and nodded his head yes.
“They do? So are you trickin’ us?” He asked while cutting his eyes at Jason.
“He won’t tell you if he was stupid.” The girl said.
“He doesn’t look like he’s lyin’ to me.” The boy admitted.
“Peter, he’s covered in blood and look, his tummy’s all full.” The girl pointed.
“Did you eat someone Mr. Zombie?” He asked.
Jason shrugged.
“Maybe he was the one that ate up the deer out there.” The boy suggested.
Outside hanging from a hook was a half-eaten deer. It looked like it was bitten into by human teeth.
“I don’t know Peter. He’s awfully dirty.” The girl worried.
“We can wash him up. Give him some clean clothes.” The boy recommended.
“I don’t know. I don’t much like this.” The girl said.
“I’m coming down.” Peter exclaimed.
“Peter don’t!” The girl shouted.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Peter, you don’t know for sure he ain’t no flesh eatin’ zombie.” She continued.
“He is a flesh eatin’ zombie. But maybe he only likes eatin’ animals and not people.” Peter speculated. He finished descending the wooden ladder and hopped on the straw bale below it. Jason stood still. Peter approached him.
“See! He’s not attackin’ me.” Peter said.
“Not yet.” The girl responded.
Peter walked over and caught a big whiff of Jason.
“Whew, you smell awful Mr. Zombie. Do you want a bath?”
Jason shrugged. He never really had the desire to clean up since becoming an Azrael. He did urinate and shit when he needed to, but even then he didn’t wipe up afterwards. Peter grabbed Jason’s hand and started to lead him towards the farm house.
“Come on, let’s clean you up.”
“Wait Peter, I’m coming too.” The girl had an inaudible conversation with someone else. “Oh, okay. We’re all coming. Don’t leave us.” The girl insisted.
“Alright Cindy, Karl, and Jordan can come too. I’ll wait.” Peter said. As the other three landed on the ground Karl and Jordan hid behind Cindy.
“Don’t’ get behind me! I can’t save ya.” She said walking slowly towards Jason. They each poked Jason to see if he was real.
“He stinks.” Karl scowled.
“He does. He needs a bath, really bad.” Jordan added.
As if by some weird miracle, Jason was saved by these children. He was ready to kill himself and a taste of humanity returned into his life for once in a long while. They all tugged at his hands and he followed. What was he going to do when his mind needed to sleep? How would he tell them that he would become dangerous when his mind slept?
Cindy walked over to the well and started pumping the manual pump. There was a large metal bucket behind the house and the others led Jason to it. He stepped inside.
“Good. Cindy’s gonna pump the water from the well. I’ll hose you down, all right?”
Jason nodded, yes.
“All right Cindy, release the valve.” Peter hollered.
“Okay!” Cindy shouted back.
Water gushed out of the hose and the cold water stung as it collided with Jason’s body. Eventually, his body adjusted its temperature. Peter put his thumb over the nozzle to give it more pressure to get the grime off more effectively.
“Sit down Mister Zombie.” Jordan asked politely. Jason sat down.
Jordan grabbed a brush and dipped it into a pail of water that had soap in it. Karl brought it over moments ago. He began scrubbing Jason’s face, neck, back, and chest. The water in the big bucket quickly turned brown.
“All right Cindy! That’s enough.” Peter shouted.
“Okay.” She replied and closed the valve. The water gradually slowed to a trickle a few seconds later.
“Go get a set of Mr. Norton’s clothes. Top drawer are the shirts and second is the pants.” Peter instructed.
“Got it, I’ll be right back.” Cindy answered and hurried into the house to retrieve the items.
“You’re probably wonderin’ why we don’t seem so sad to see Mr. Norton and his family dead huh?” Peter asked.
Jason nodded, yes.
“They took us in a few weeks back. We’ve been livin’ on our own for a while before then.”
“Since Mommy and Daddy were eatin’ by zombies.” Karl added.
“We’ve seen so many dead people ya know. It’s kinda normal these days. Lucky for us, we’re small and hide really well.” Peter explained.
“They wouldn’t let us sleep in their house, though. Said they don’t know us. They didn’t trust us so we slept up on the loft in the barn. It wasn’t too comfy but it was a place to sleep out of the rain.” Peter admitted. Jordan continued to scrub Jason’s body.
“Okay. Stand up Mr. Zombie.” Peter asked. Jason stood up.
“Hit ‘em with it.” Peter added. Karl tossed a pail of water at Jason washing away most of the suds. Cindy came out with a towel and clothes for Jason.
“Here, put these on.” She urged. Jason took them, walked into the barn and shut the door. He dabbed the towel over his body, removed his soiled clothes and dabbed the towel on him again. He dressed and walked out. The clothes fit just fine.
“Now that’s one clean zombie.” Peter proclaimed. “We should call him something.”
“That’s a weird name. You like it zombie?”
Jason shrugged.
“How about Ace?” Karl proposed.
“Like your dog? No, he’s not a dog.” Peter protested.
“James.” Jordan recommended.
“You like James zombie?” Peter asked.
Jason shrugged.
“He doesn't like it. Hey, see if he’s got a wallet in his pocket of his old pants.” Cindy suggested. Karl sprinted into the barn.
“Good idea sis.” Peter said. Karl returned with a soggy wallet a minute later. He opened it up and saw a picture id. He handed it to Peter.
“Wow, this looks nothing like you Mister. You steal this wallet zombie?” Peter joked and Jason didn’t catch it. Jason leaned in to see the picture. “Just kidding, I can kind of see the resemblance. Says here your name is Jason, Jason Stone.” Peter read while squinting at the blurred words.
Jason nodded and smiled. Peter lifted the picture in the air and compared it to Jason while looking back and forth at both.
“All right Jason, says here you’re with the Highwaymen.” Peter read.
“Aren’t those the people who were learning about the zombies?” Cindy asked.
Jason nodded.
“Mrs. Norton talked about you guys a lot. Said that they were riskin’ everything just to learn more about you zombies. How come you’re not like the others?” She continued.
“His name’s Jason, Cindy.” Peter griped.
“How come you’re not like the others Jason?” She corrected.
He shrugged.
“Can we stay with you? Is it safe?” Peter asked.
Jason shook his head, no. As bad as he wanted the company he didn’t trust his body while he slept.
“Why?’ Peter asked.
Jason thought hard about how to gesture his malfunction while he slept. Jason mimed lying on a pillow.
“Sleep?”
Jason nodded and then gestured a zombie that you would see in some cheesy Horror movie.
“Sleep zombie?” Peter asked.
“Sleep monster?” Cindy asked.
“Sleep Frankenstein?” Karl asked.
Jason shook his head, no. He directed to his head.
“Head?” Peter asked.
Jason shook his head.
“Brains?” Jordan asked.
Jason shook his head.
“Mind?” Cindy asked.
Jason nodded, yes and smiled. He indicated to his head again and then gestured sleeping on a pillow with his hands.
“Mind Sleep?” Peter asked.
Jason shrugged.
“When your mind sleeps?” Cindy asked.
Jason nodded yes and grunted. He began to act crazy and gestured biting his arm. They all backed up and wondered if he was still playing the game. When he stopped and looked up at them they realized it was part of it.
“When your mind sleeps you get crazy?” Cindy asked.
Jason nodded, yes and grabbed her hand and raised it as if she were the winner of some game show. The others clapped and cheered for her. She beamed.
“Do you sleep like us? At night?” Peter asked. Jason lowered her hand and turned to Peter.
He nodded, yes.
“We could lock him up in the barn at night.” Cindy suggested.
“Yeah, we’ll lock you up and in the morning we’ll let you out.” Peter added.
Jason nodded with approval.
“Well, how will we know when he’s not crazy anymore?” Karl asked.
“That’s a good question Karl…hmmm.” Peter thought for a while on it. After a long pause, Cindy had an idea.
“Have him tap on the door like a beat of a song or something. Something a zombie wouldn’t do.” Cindy advised.
Jason nodded, yes. He smiled. Finally, he could communicate with someone and maybe he had a solution, well a temporary one, to his sleeping curse. They couldn’t stay there forever of course. Eventually, they needed food and other resources. But for now, he’ll just enjoy today as a step in the right direction. Win one for team Stone.
CHAPTER 13: BACK FROM THE GRAVE
Giselle sat up after opening her eyes. Her senses returned to her all at once and she had a sensory overload. Her eyes scanned the area for signs of familiarity. Sounds merged into an unidentifiable mash up of noises. She could smell everything around her. Nothing was recognizable. She tasted her morning breath and small traces of blood still lingered on her tongue. She tried to focus and separate sounds, tastes, smells and what object to focus on. Toko walked in with the soup. She smelled and could taste the tomato soup and the salt and pepper within it.
“Good morning Miss Giselle.” Toko greeted her.
“Good morning Toko. My…senses are all whacky.” Giselle admitted.
“Ah, yet another side effect to the shot that I gave you. It shut down the control center that you used to harness your gifts. Like a computer, it shut your system down hard. As it rebooted, all of your senses activated at once. Give it a few minutes, it will work itself out.” Toko explained.
“So, uh, should I wait to eat the soup?”
“The soup is hot right now. Give it a few minutes. By the time your senses stabilize then the soup should be ready.” Toko suggested.
“Okay, I’m gonna go use the ladies room real quick.”
“Do what you need to Miss Giselle.”
Giselle stepped out of bed. Her legs were wobbly, but they stiffened after a few steps. She felt the coldness of the floor on her bare feet. She felt a weird knot on her right leg. She rubbed it and noticed a different grade in skin from one part of her leg to the other.
“Wh…what happened to my leg?” She worried.
“Miss Giselle, your body had been severely damaged and your natural regenerative abilities utilizing the virus repaired what was damaged. Everything you feel is your body; it just hasn’t had time to develop hair or come in contact with the sun.”
“Weird?!?” Giselle gulped while rubbing her hand across her leg, feeling stubble and then a smooth, baby like skin. She felt around other places to see if it happened elsewhere. She entered the bathroom and studied herself in the mirror. Some of the hair on top of her head was gray, probably from the stress she’d put on her body. Her face was smoother than normal and her eyes. Well, her eyes were the same damn eyes as before. Her breasts were the same, no love there either. She started brushing her teeth and wondered how potent her saliva would be if she didn’t brush her teeth. Is she weakening the contagiousness by cleaning her mouth? She thought. Would mouth wash kill off the contagious bacteria created due to the virus? She smelled her armpits and knew that it was time for a serious scrub down.
“Toko I’m going to take a quick shower.” She called out to him.
“Okay, Miss Giselle.”
She took off the rest of her clothes and examined her body. She could see the variation in color from new to old skin. The old skin had a tan to it while the new skin was fresh and pale. A good portion of her body was pale, even her butt. Both cheeks actually, however, she was pretty sure that they were pale before. Her butt didn’t get that much sun. She rubbed her hand across it. Yup, it’s a new butt. She beamed. She finished studying herself and hopped in the shower.
Fifteen minutes later Giselle walked out of the bathroom in a big fuzzy towel. She found her clothes from her pack and returned to the bathroom where she dressed. She exited and sat with her legs crossed at a small table in the coffee lounge with her soup. She drank it up in under a minute.
“You got any more soup Toko?”
“Hai, I knew you would want more so I made a big pot full. I will bring you some more.” Toko grabbed her bowl and walked away with it.
Giselle thought about Jason and wondered what kind of changes he was going through. She hoped that he hadn’t gotten himself killed yet. It would be even harder to track down a decaying corpse on the ground than a walking corpse. She wondered how Simon was holding up.
Amidst all of this chaos and loss Simon never once showed signs of a breakdown. His resolve and fortitude were among the best and is why the Highwaymen Program had lasted as long as it has.
Toko returned with a bowl of hot soup.
“It’s hot Miss Giselle. Give it a few minutes.” He blew on the soup.
“Thank you, Toko.”
“No problem. So, what is your first step in retrieving your brother?”
“I’m not entirely sure how to track down zombies. What do you think I should do? The last plan I had led me here half dead.”
“Half eaten Miss Giselle.”
“Well, that sounds worse. I was half eaten, and like a starfish, I’ve grown back my skin.”
“Muscle, some bone, cartilage and skin to be exact.” Toko corrected.
“Well shit. I was all kind of fucked up.”
“You were in bad shape, Hai.”
“So, what should I do?” She asked again.
“Azrael often find themselves wandering in places of familiarity. Not always, but more often than not.”
“That doesn’t help me much. He’s been everywhere. His scouting team scanned most of Illinois. A good 75% of the safe houses were scouted, cleared and established by Jason.”
“Start there then. Go from safe house to safe house.”
“That could take a while.”
“It is your brother Miss Giselle. I would do the same for mine.”
“Where is your brother now?”
“Dead, all of them are dead. But, if I had a small chance, even a .0001% chance at finding them again, I would give it a shot.”
“I’m sorry about your family Toko.”
“It’s okay. I have gotten used to their absence in my life. I still miss them but I have gotten used to not being with them.”
“Yeah, it was like that for my dad too. Not my biological father, but my stepfather. He was a great dad. I miss him every day, but I guess I’ve gotten used to missing him.”
“Hai. So which safe house do you want to start with?”
“Work our way towards the furthest safe house and then come back heading northeast.”
“Okay, let’s get going then.”
“Thank you, Toko.”
“You’re welcome Miss Giselle.”
“I mean it. You don’t have to go with me and help me with this.”