REANIMATION

(23)

"Have you seen her yet today?"

"She's in her room with the door locked."

"So nothing different than yesterday..."

"She'll have to come out to face us eventually."

"At least you finally came out of the living room," Black Hole turned from Pie to face Bottle, who was fumbling around in the fridge.

"I'm sure she just needs time..." Bottle insisted half-heartedly, trying her best to ignore the pit of dread deep in her stomach, "she was obviously hit hardest by Liy's... absence."

"We were all hit hard," Pie murmured, voice lowering into a much more sullen tone.

     Bottle winced, twisting her body to face the fridge again. She didn't want to think too hard about their departed friend.

     "...Changing the topic," Black Hole must've taken note to the tension hanging in the air, "Bottle, you've been hanging around the zombie longer than anyone here. How is she behaving?"

     "Oh, she's real calm, actually!" Bottle grabbed a leftover half of a steak on a plate that was wrapped in saran wrap to keep freshly preserved. With the plate in hand, she used her other one to grab ahold of the refrigerator's handle and slamming the fridge shut.

     "A zombie? Calm? Guess we struck lucky." Pie remarked.

     "Right?" She was relieved for the shift to a lighter topic, but she had work to tend to, "Anyway, I gotta go back to see her now, bye!"

     "Bottle, you just came out of the—...! ...Ugh, why do I even try."

     She made her way into the living room, plate in hand, and stopped directly in front of the cage that held Fanny, who laid still, back facing toward her. She wasn't sure if the girl was awake or not.

     As carefully and quietly as she could, she removed the saran wrap off the plate and tossed it to the side.

     All of a sudden, the girl tossed around to face Bottle, startling her backward.

     She had a disinterested look on her face.

     Bottle sat still for a moment before shakily reaching out her hand that held the plate closer to the cage.

     Fanny got the memo instantly, hauling herself steadily upward in the little space the cage provided and fitting her hand through the cage bars to snatch the beef off the plate. She shot one final glance toward the tall girl before tearing a good chunk of what food Bottle had provided her with her teeth and began to rip into it aggressively.

     "...You're welcome!" Bottle smiled nonchalantly, hopping back up onto her feet to tread over to the window to peer out of it.

Her eyes traveled around the home's yard. Nothing notably interesting, she just liked the scenery.

"It's so beautiful outside today. I mean—it's beautiful every day! I just wish I could run around outside and have fun; too bad the zombies stole that from me..."

Her thoughts brought her back to last summer she spent with her friends.

It was the best in her life.

All of her wished she could go back to those days, much better than being trapped in the literal embodiment of an apocalypse.

"But I mean... It's fun inside too! All of my friends are here! Well—most of them, anyway..."

Bottle shuddered.

"But it's fine! I'll stay positive and upbeat! It's what Liy would've wanted, after all!"

She paused and looked back to see Fanny finishing up the piece of steak she'd given her.

"Y'know, I wonder if you can understand my rambles," She commented longingly, "there's a lot I don't understand about zombies. Can you still feel emotions? Can you still form cognitive thoughts? Hah. Cognitive. I don't know if I used that word right, there's a lot of words I hear the others around here use that I don't quite understand. I can only make assumptions."

Fanny gazed up at her with that same bored look.

"...You probably don't understand me, though. If you did you'd probably be growling and hissing for me to shut up...! Nobody.. really... ever listened to my rambles in the past anyway, I don't know why I expect a zombie to."

She shrugged.

"...Do you.. understand me...?"

Fanny paused.

Then she slowly nodded.

Bottle's gasped loudly in shock and excitement, "YOU DO!?"

     Fanny seemed to lurch backward in her cage, face scrunching in regret.

     "Wait!" She hopped away from the window and over to the cage, flopping down into a sitting position to stare at Fanny, who was seemingly avoiding her gaze, in the eyes. She inched closer to the thin bars, peering in intently, "So you've heard everything I've been saying?"

     Fanny hesitantly began to nod once again.

     "Really? Why haven't you stopped me? I thought it'd be annoying!"

     Fanny pressed her hand against the cage.

     "...Oh... weeell... I can take my rambles somewhere else if you find them annoying...!"

     Fanny's face once again fell back into that neutral bored look, and she tossed over onto her side once again into the same position Bottle had walked in on her in.

     Bottle winced.

     Was that a yes or a no?

     She paused for a moment.

     "Hold on! This is great!" She firmly grasped onto the cage and gave it a few shakes, what she could anyway, given the weight of the whole thing, "I've wanted to find out how the zombie works and feels for such a long time! You can answer those questions, right?"

     Fanny rolled back around with a scoff, eye twitching in irritation.

     "...Can you talk?"

     Fanny straightened up in her cage, nodding after a long period of hesitance.

     "Can you talk for me now?"

     She shook her head no.

     "Oh... why not?"

     Fanny's eyes squinted.

     "...Oh wait." Bottle finally took note of what the issue was, "Well.. that's no problem, right? I can just get something for you to write on! Hold on!"

     Bottle shot up onto her feet and rushed out of the living room, maneuvering around into the kitchen.

     "Hey, guys!"

     Black Hole and Pie were still hanging out near the counter.

     "What's up?" Black Hole greeted her warmly.

     "I need a notepad and a pen or pencil! Do you know where I can find one?"

     "Near the garbage, the little drawer beside it to the right—why do you need it?" Pie tilted her head.

     "Oh, I'll tell you later," Bottle rummaged through the drawer Pie had instructed, "I'm not sure if this'll work, but if it does, I feel like it could be incredibly useful!"