always had a sneaky way of getting what they wanted. In the end, they were just too quick for their slower, plodding elders. Of course, they never got the ice cream, which kept them singing like a broken record.
We stepped through two sets of double doors and made a right. I took it nice and easy, patiently guiding Margaret along. The overhead lights illuminated the walls reasonably well, tossing a green cast over everything it touched. Marge fidgeted with her hands, becoming more and more uneasy. I had to be careful when she started biting her nails so that she didn’t chew right to the bone. “Come on, Marge. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” I pulled her fingers from her mouth and coaxed her into the employee locker room.
I led her to her locker, and watched her work her magic. “56-21-42,” I said. It amazed me that she could open her locker on her own accord. Although she typically screwed up the combination, after several tries she eventually got it right. “Try again. You can do it,” I encouraged her.
It had taken weeks before she was finally able to perform the precise movements necessary to operate a combination lock. Now she was on a roll, and it was taking fewer attempts before she finally broke through.
Suddenly the locker door popped open.
“Good job.” I could hardly believe my eyes. She got it on the second try, her personal best.
Marge peered into the locker, and went straight for the gum. Even now, the old brute couldn’t stand bad breath.
“Just one stick.” I wrestled the gum from her. If I let her, she’d devour the whole pack.
The zombie jawed at me, flailing her arms wildly.
“One stick,” I reiterated, and did not hand it over until she had completely calmed down.
She tossed the stick of gum in her mouth without removing the wrapper. Although she was smart enough to operate a combination lock, she struggled with the concept of unwrapping her food before she ate it. One thing at a time, I guess.
“Keep it up, Marge. You’ll be back to your old self in no time.” I opened the door to the women’s restroom and pushed her inside. I locked the door behind us, grabbed a fresh towel, and prodded her to the showers.
Every day I counted our blessings that we still had running water. For some reason I wasn’t as worried about losing power. It was still in the Elite’s best interests to supply energy to a few points on the grid to see what crawled out of the darkness. It was the only way to locate subjects possessing a natural immunity to the virus and develop an effective vaccine.
I turned the knob and waited. The water struggled at first, and then shot through the showerhead in a steady stream. I sampled the water every few seconds, but it was ice cold. At least it was fresh and clean and didn’t smell like the sewer. Warm water was intermittent, and unfortunately, I wasn’t handy enough to fix the hotel’s various heat pumps.
“Let’s get you out of that uniform. You smell like death.” I gestured to her.
When you’re off the menu, zombies are relatively calm and even trainable. Sure they’re temperamental, have no sense of hygiene, and snap at anything that moves, but they’re also entertaining and excellent watchdogs. Tell them to eat shit and they’ll literally eat shit. The innocent air about them makes them irresistible as long as you can forgive their quirky behavior.
Zombies are breeding grounds for diseases when they decompose, but not all of them were dead. A few like Margaret still had a pulse. Her brain had absorbed the brunt of the virus, but it had not succeeded in killing her off.
Still, it was academic. No one beat the virus once it entered the bloodstream, making my immunity all that more curious.
I had to keep moving, keep my mind busy at all times. I dare not give my imagination too much space to wander, lest invite decay at the somber hands of loneliness and depression. Perhaps I should have done more to prevent the spread of the virus, but
We stepped through two sets of double doors and made a right. I took it nice and easy, patiently guiding Margaret along. The overhead lights illuminated the walls reasonably well, tossing a green cast over everything it touched. Marge fidgeted with her hands, becoming more and more uneasy. I had to be careful when she started biting her nails so that she didn’t chew right to the bone. “Come on, Marge. There’s nothing to be afraid of.” I pulled her fingers from her mouth and coaxed her into the employee locker room.
I led her to her locker, and watched her work her magic. “56-21-42,” I said. It amazed me that she could open her locker on her own accord. Although she typically screwed up the combination, after several tries she eventually got it right. “Try again. You can do it,” I encouraged her.
It had taken weeks before she was finally able to perform the precise movements necessary to operate a combination lock. Now she was on a roll, and it was taking fewer attempts before she finally broke through.
Suddenly the locker door popped open.
“Good job.” I could hardly believe my eyes. She got it on the second try, her personal best.
Marge peered into the locker, and went straight for the gum. Even now, the old brute couldn’t stand bad breath.
“Just one stick.” I wrestled the gum from her. If I let her, she’d devour the whole pack.
The zombie jawed at me, flailing her arms wildly.
“One stick,” I reiterated, and did not hand it over until she had completely calmed down.
She tossed the stick of gum in her mouth without removing the wrapper. Although she was smart enough to operate a combination lock, she struggled with the concept of unwrapping her food before she ate it. One thing at a time, I guess.
“Keep it up, Marge. You’ll be back to your old self in no time.” I opened the door to the women’s restroom and pushed her inside. I locked the door behind us, grabbed a fresh towel, and prodded her to the showers.
Every day I counted our blessings that we still had running water. For some reason I wasn’t as worried about losing power. It was still in the Elite’s best interests to supply energy to a few points on the grid to see what crawled out of the darkness. It was the only way to locate subjects possessing a natural immunity to the virus and develop an effective vaccine.
I turned the knob and waited. The water struggled at first, and then shot through the showerhead in a steady stream. I sampled the water every few seconds, but it was ice cold. At least it was fresh and clean and didn’t smell like the sewer. Warm water was intermittent, and unfortunately, I wasn’t handy enough to fix the hotel’s various heat pumps.
“Let’s get you out of that uniform. You smell like death.” I gestured to her.
When you’re off the menu, zombies are relatively calm and even trainable. Sure they’re temperamental, have no sense of hygiene, and snap at anything that moves, but they’re also entertaining and excellent watchdogs. Tell them to eat shit and they’ll literally eat shit. The innocent air about them makes them irresistible as long as you can forgive their quirky behavior.
Zombies are breeding grounds for diseases when they decompose, but not all of them were dead. A few like Margaret still had a pulse. Her brain had absorbed the brunt of the virus, but it had not succeeded in killing her off.
Still, it was academic. No one beat the virus once it entered the bloodstream, making my immunity all that more curious.
I had to keep moving, keep my mind busy at all times. I dare not give my imagination too much space to wander, lest invite decay at the somber hands of loneliness and depression. Perhaps I should have done more to prevent the spread of the virus, but
Similar Books
Suddenly Expecting
Paula Roe
The Snowball
Stanley John Weyman
The Ramayana
Ramesh Menon
Sweet Southern Betrayal
Robin Covington
Witness Pursuit
Hope White
Arcadia Falls
Carol Goodman
Hide Out
Katie Allen
Fall of Colossus
D. F. Jones
The Book of Basketball
Bill Simmons