What Souls are Made Of

Chapter 7

I could feel her trying to look at me in her peripheral vision. Annoyance shot through me. She wanted her to be grateful as I undoubtedly saved her life and not eyeing me like a criminal. But she should be looking at me like a fugitive. I was worse than a criminal; I was a monster that was trying desperately to push the thoughts of cracking her skull open like an egg. She knew something was off.

"Let me save you the trouble of straining," I finally offered in a coarse tone that somehow seemed also to convey boredom. I hadn't realized how tired I was of being a zombie. As I pushed up the sleeve of my hoodie, revealing my unmistakable green hue, a pang of mourning for normalcy surged through me.

"Zombie," crossed her lips on a breath as she instinctively leaned closer to her door.

"Try not to go all fangirl on me... I'm taken."

"A funny zombie in a relationship; first time for everything." There was an awkward pause in the air. "I thought zombies had a one-track mind on..."

"Brains? Yeah, well, I'm an evolved zombie."

"Zombies can evolve?"

"Perhaps evolve is not the right word, Moshio." How quickly the roles had changed. Just over a week ago, I had been learning about an evolved zombie. Now Avi was dead, and I was in a car with a goldfish and a healthy human explaining the concept of a thinking zombie.

"Um, is that an anime character?"

I let out a laugh. "No, it's a sea salt." I flicked his shades down to reveal my black eyes to accent my status as a zombie. "A very scarce salt made from saltwater and seaweed. And, it happens to give consciousness back to zombies."

"For real, why did I not know this?"

"Well, here's the thing; for most zombies, when they regain consciousness, it means they realize they're dead."

"Very self-aware, which would make you oblivious to the fact that you are dead?"

Another laugh came out gruffly from my chest. It was an honest laugh that hurt my ribs from its unfamiliarity yet also began to dissuade the constant urge to focus on her brain. "You're a delight. Has anyone ever told you that?"

"People have mentioned it before." There was a silence that hung heavy in the car. "So, assuming you're not a clueless brain-bot..."

A mournful sigh escaped before I even thought it to exist. "You ask many questions with very few thank yous."

"Thank you?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"Wow, two-for-one. You realize I just saved your life, right?"

"I may suspect that, or you could be saving me for yourself."

"Not my style. My mom taught me not to play with my food. Besides, you must have some faith; you got in the car."

"Mmhmm, one zombie seemed better than one hundred, plus I like your sunglasses and fish." She held up the Ball jar, "what's his name?"

"He doesn't have one."

"You have a pet fish with no name?"

"Fine, his name is Pet." She was becoming exhausting, and I missed the quiet presence of Avi.

"Pet, you want to name him Pet. Even children would at least settle on Fish," she scolded. "When I was a kid, I had a fish. His name was Woof."

"And that's better than Pet? Fish don't bark," I argued.

"Well, you can't pet them either."

"You could, but it probably would be detrimental to his health."