She pauses a movement. Not for a long second, her back rises back up straight. “Uh, yeah?”
Her angelic yet eerie voice makes my heart pound and it sends a ringing in my ear. “What… what are you doing?”
“Nothing, I was… I was looking for my ring. I lost it few hours ago.” She lifts her hand, spreading out her fingers. I notice a crease on her ring finger. “See? I… I lost it. I need to find it.”
She gets on her knees, her back still facing me, and peeking under the appliances.
“You know I almost mistook you as a zombie, right?”
She pauses and tilts her head over her shoulder. “Oh, uh… well, I’m not…” She chuckles. “… I’m still talking, aren’t I?”
Yeah. I admit I was wrong. But I could have killed her if I didn’t recognize her. What a relief. But wait, how can she explain the meat stuff on the floor?
“What were you doing with all the meat?”
“Huh? Oh, uh… I was so frustrated that I went to squeeze them with my hands. It’s kinda bit inappropriate but… I… I have anger issues. You know. I… I squeeze everything when I’m mad. Sorry about the mess.” She chuckles again.
I sigh, dropping my head. My heart is still racing among all the possibilities that could have happened few seconds ago. “Would you like me to help you find your ring?”
“No, I’m good. I’m sure it’s just hiding here so I’ll find it soon.”
“Okay. Just… be careful.”
“Yep.”
“I’ll go ahead.”
“Okay, sure. Good night.”
Her high-pitched tone sticks in my head as I walk away. Looking for something in the middle of the night is quite inadequate. It just doesn’t add up. But of course, I won’t let my suspicions win over me, and I’m pretty sure she’s not that.
I head back to my bed, still overthinking about earlier. But then, it switches to another thought where I almost kissed Riley. I should stick to that instead so I can go back to sleep. And it helped.
Finally, the day has come.
I’m a little excited, to be honest, and I can finally use my old skills for good. I hope it didn’t wear off, or else I would embarrass myself. Well, going back to the past, when Riley and I fought some zombies off of our classroom building, I almost got bitten that time. I just didn’t talk about it because people might think I wasn’t as tough as they thought I was. Without further ado, everyone is oriented about what we will be doing today.
I help my guy friends gather some equipment to use for the first training day, and carry it all up to the third floor. There is a wide space parallel to the department store—where we all sleep—and we arrange everything there. I hate to say this, but Dan is the one instructing us on what to do. Wow, I hate his guts. He’s on my nerve.
After that, I run away from my duties and follow Josh, Claude, Adam, and Kirby to where they’re heading. All of a sudden, I’m a bit curious about them. I want to know them all more. I also want to talk to Kirby about last night—if he was actually okay. I notice Adam bringing a bucket with him, which makes me wonder what’s inside of it. I walk behind the group, eavesdropping on their chat.
“Yeah, that was quite dope,” Josh says.
Not for long, they notice me behind them as they look over their shoulders. I form my lips into a thin line. “Hi, where you heading?”
“Hi, Buck. We’re going to feed the zombie kid. Wanna come?” Kirby excitedly announces.
I furrow my eyebrows at them as I reply, “Wait, what?”
They continue walking as if they didn’t hear what I was saying.
“Hey, wait. Hold on.” I chase them, holding on to Kirby’s shoulder. “What did you say?”
“He said we’re going to feed the zombie kid. Heard that better?” Adam answers.
“Why?”
“For research purposes.” He lifts both hands and does some air quotes.
“On whose authority?”
“The woman herself, Riley.”
As far as I know, I’ve now got a reason to come with them. Maybe that explains why Adam is bringing a bucket—and it’s full of meat. We arrive at the place where we locked the zombie in. And Riley is currently waiting for them. She turns to meet her friends, her arms crossed against her chest. I still remember that night.
I feel the sides of my face burn as if a huge flame is a few inches from me. I drop my head down, knowing she wasn’t expecting me to be here.
“Glad you’re here, Bucky,” she says. To be honest, I am a bit shocked. She really was expecting me. But I would have known that. She would have told me to come over if she was, right? She continues, “We need to talk.”
Damn it. Did she catch me in action? Did I get caught? Will I lose my generations, too?
I gulp silently, nervously scared for my life. I clear my throat and lift my body up to straighten my posture. I lock my hands together on my back and spread my legs a little, prepared for what’s next to come.
I am a big guy. I can handle this perfectly.
I’m not going to think that it will hurt and I will be fine.
I clear my throat for a second time.
“Yep, sure. Later at 7? At the rooftop? I’m down.” I reply, faking a smile.
She cocks her head and furrows her eyebrows. “Wait, what? No. I mean, right now.”
I shut my eyes close as I nod. “Okay, then. Let’s do it.”
I sense eyes upon me, and the silent wind brushes on my arms. Or I think that’s just me being too sensitive due to some kind of adrenaline rush. I don’t think wind can get through these thick walls.
“What are you doing, man?” Adam says.
I open one eye, looking around and they’re actually watching me. Riley remains her furrowed eyebrows, probably thinking what the heck I am doing with my life.
“Are you not going to… do it?” I ask Riley hesitantly.
“Do what?” “You know.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She shakes her head. “Anyway, what I’m trying to talk to you about is this.”
She gestures to the zombie’s room.
“Oh.”
“I took a look at it and, somehow, it’s still a grown adult.” She turns to me. “Are you sure it was a kid?”
“Yes. Like I said, I never lie.”
“We’ve seen it, too, Riles. It was a kid.” Kirby seconds. “Right, Claude?”
Claude shrugs. “I think so.”
“We’re talking about rapid growth here,” Riley replies. “If we get the calculations right, it only takes one zombie child to turn into a full-grown adult in less than 24 hours.”
She really is a smart girl. I didn’t think about that.
“And also to heal and regenerate… which is quite a challenge.” She mutters lowly.
“What? Why?”
“Think about it. You cut a zombie’s head off and a few hours later, the body and the head regroup themselves, and the zombie stays alive and functioning.”
“Yeah, quite hard to kill, to be honest.”
She nods. “Exactly. If we find its fatal part, we might figure out how to keep them dead and not heal.”
“What do we do?” Adam asks. “Are we going in there to find out?”
“Yes, but not now.”
“Look, if we get the right calculation, we will also know how long it takes for a beheaded zombie to resurrect,” I say.
“And the only way to find that out is to get in there and kill the zombie again,” Kirby adds.
“Which is dangerous.”
“That’s why we have a bucket full of meat for that.” Riley gestures to the bucket on the floor.
Right. So, we’re actually doing this now. Is this why she expected me to come over? To have me get in there and kill it myself?
She turns to the room as she utters. “We lure it with meat. I’m not sure if animal flesh attracts them, but I’m pretty sure it tastes the same as human flesh, according to a documentary.”
“Oh, I thought you’ve tasted it,” Josh says.
Well, for the million-dollar question, I finally ask, “So, who’s going inside?”
She glances at me, confidence is showing on her face. “Me.”