Life After Zombie

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕋𝕨𝕠

Waking to the morning alarm, I rubbed my heavy eyes and forced myself up. The lights came on and the squeaks of a dozen bedsprings echoed through the room. Looking over at Jenny, she was already awake. Her small frail legs dangled off the bed, waiting for me to get up.

"Morning, little mermaid. Got a good night's sleep?" I asked as I pulled my feet out of the covers.

She nodded in approval.

I was thankful she did. I wasn't the only one with nightmares. That was another perk we got after we turned back. Some had it worse than others. The first few nights Jenny was staying here at the Girls Shelter House, it was bad. Her screams woke the whole house, including the Boys Shelter next door, but as time went on and she got the hang of being human again it became less frequent.

"Looks like another one left," Eve said as she walked past, glancing over toward the far-right corner of the room. She tossed her towel over her shoulders, and I noticed her jet-black pixie hair wasn't its usual straight style; bits of wavy bed head curls peeked out in the back.

I turned my head and looked at the vacant bed that had no imprint or trace of anyone having touched it. It was a magnet for everyone to walk by and stare, lost in thought as if it was some sort of Bermuda Triangle.

I didn't really know the girl who occupied that section except that everyone called her Blondie because of her long, silky blond hair. This was the fourth person this month who had the guts to leave this place and put their fates in whatever lies behind these walls. Yes, there was a cure, but we were left in the dark as to how much antidote there was and if the Zcure had been distributed to other places around the world or not.

"Should we wash up first or eat breakfast?" I asked, looking towards the double doors just as a stampede of girls headed out and turned left. I already knew it was going to be a long line for the showers.

She placed her hand towards her mouth 'tapping on' it giving me the signal that she was hungry.

Even though Jenny hasn't spoken a word since her arrival here we had our own special language in communicating.

"I was thinking the same thing." I smiled lightly as we took each other's hand and headed to the cafeteria, full of both boys and girls.

Walking through the rugged halls of the place, I could see Mrs. Julia sweeping up bits of glass from a broken window. I wasn't sure why she would bother to clean it up; it fit right in with the tumbledown walls and other decaying elements that my nostrils detected.

Mrs. Julia was our sort of head of the household, if you would call it that. After she got turned back she volunteered to help the younger kids cope with the life they were given. Her salt-and-pepper hair was up in a bun and she wore her usual pink rundown sandals. Her glasses caught a reflective shine from the sun through a hole in the wall. "Morning, girls."

"Morning, Julia. I see we have some new decorations." I said, giving half a smile.

"Yep, we sure do! It looks like the Luckies were very generous today." Her glasses slid a bit down from the bridge of her nose as she spoke.

"The Luckies did this? Did you see what they looked like?" I asked, clenching my teeth.

Julia set her tired eyes on us. "It will be alright. I'll have one of the boys board it up."

"No, it's not alright. They shouldn't get away with this. I mean, we're struggling as it is." I could hear my voice getting louder as it echoed back. I exhaled hard through my nose, trying to release any anger that was building up.

Mrs. Julia set the broom down and came closer walking over the shards that cracked beneath her feet. "Jenny, go on and get some breakfast. I need to talk to Leona for just a minute, okay?"