Keep Busy

39.

Jane was put in the front of the transport vehicle in the passenger seat. She was still bound at the wrists, which was cumbersome but not entirely unpleasant. It was strange to not register discomfort anymore.

The rest of the zombies were shoved in the back.

Seemed she was getting the 5-star treatment which, while oddly flattering, was also a bit concerning. Special treatment might mean something sinister was afoot.

Overall, she was settling into a prolonged feeling of unease.

Also, she was still unnerved by the way a couple of the grinning soldiers had looked at her. Granted, she was in a very skimpy bikini, but she still didn't like the way they were licking their chapped lips and rubbing their scruffy chins.

Either they wanted to fuck or eat her. She couldn't tell which.

"I'm Ramirez by the way," said the soldier driving. He looked straight forward and revealed nothing with his expression. He was rigid and mechanical. The same soldier who'd nearly blown Roy's head off. "Sorry about stabbing you," he added.

"Yeah, can you explain what the hell that was supposed to accomplish?"

"Well... first off, watch your tone. Secondly, it's standard procedure. We need to see if you've been infected with the variant." As he drove, he explained the situation to Jane. B.4 and all that it entailed—or could entail. No one really knew. It was new, rapacious and totally confounding. It was an anomaly the military thought worth investigating.

"This could be the beginning of round two," Ramirez said. "The second wave of the apocalypse."

"It could mean the zombies are evolving at an alarming rate. It could mean we're seeing the emergence of a new species of bipedal humanoids which could claim the throne of dominance over the planet." He paused.

"Or... it might not mean anything." He glanced over at Jane, his eyes falling squarely on her cleavage and totally missing her eyes.

Jane shifted in her seat, wishing she could cross her arms.

"And so... what? You think I might be one of these new breeds of zombie?" she asked.

"Don't know. We'll let our medical team determine that."

Medical team? That was interesting. These guys seemed to have some serious resources. If they had doctors, they had the facilities to house the doctors. That's a good thing, right?

"But... what would it mean?" Jane probed. "If I'm different somehow. What would you guys do with me? I'm trying to avoid picturing living out my days as a lab rat."

"Well technically... you wouldn't be living out your days. You'd still be dead."

Jane rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the clarification."

"Not sure what it would mean." Ramirez kept his eyes on the road. They'd made it out of the Target parking lot a while back and had continued south on the highway. "You still get your menses?"

"What?"

"Your period. Do you still have your period?" Ramirez asked flatly.

"Well... I hardly think-"

"Doesn't matter. We'll find out soon enough."

Jane was reeling a bit. Overwhelmed with information and potentiality. This Ramirez character had now asked her two questions about her vagina... which was supremely unsettling. What was so important about her nether regions? I mean... besides the obvious, she thought.

They drove on for a while. The steady backdrop of trees and pale blue sky occasionally broken by a small town or empty field. They were somewhere in the middle of nowhere Idaho and it was beautiful but boring.

By the time the sun was directly above them and a thick, weighty silence had filled the truck's cab, Jane started to feel the distinct pangs of hunger. An empty gnawing just to the right of where Ramirez had stabbed her.

The raccoon from the night before hadn't been enough. She needed something bigger, something powerful. Which, she suddenly realized, brought up an interesting quandary.

Why did the soldiers seem so placid and calm around zombies?

Even though they were restrained at the wrists, nothing was stopping one of them from lunging, teeth first at any available patch of exposed skin. Could they be that used to dealing with the animated dead? Maybe there was something in their body armor and uniforms that blocked the alluring energy of living tissue—made them not as appetizing. She knew it wasn't something she could smell—she couldn't smell anything—which gave her a twinge of embarrassment as she hoped the pool had washed away the skunk smell. But then there was the smell of the rancid pool water. Either way, she was probably still pretty stinky. But the soldiers didn't seem too concerned.

Normally, around the living, she would feel a need—a protracted and persistent desire to attack—a nagging instinctual command lurking in the back of her brain, which, thankfully, she'd thus far been able to control. She felt it around Frank and Emily... and the kids. But she wasn't feeling it around the soldiers.

She hoped Frank was okay.

Then she remembered Emily and hoped Frank was dead.

Then she hoped he was okay again.

Who knows? He was pretty drunk, she mused. To the point where even the notion of sex would have been improbable. He was barely able to function as a sentient being let alone a sexual one. But that Emily... she was a firecracker. Still... it didn't seem likely. Maybe nothing happened.

"Brace yourself," Ramirez said. Jane looked up in time to see three horridly decaying zombies ambling down the center of the road. Chunks of skin and viscera were sloughing off with every labored step, leaving wet piles on the asphalt. Ramirez angled the transport vehicle toward them, crossing the center line.

The impact was more jarring than Jane expected from those decimated creatures. They were barely moving and so close to total decomposition they were practically just dust and condensation.

But the sound alone was enough to widen Jane's eyes.

It sounded like they'd hit a herd of cattle. The reverberation sent a shockwave through the truck that had Jane wedging herself against the door for fear of being thrown from her seat.

Black coagulated blood dripped down the windshield.

"That was a good one," Ramirez said, still showing no emotion as he flicked on the wipers.