Life After Zombie

ℂ𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕊𝕚𝕩

I sat there waiting for the others to finish their soup. I couldn't believe I was actually sitting next to a forbidden couple that would for sure cause a lot of shame and pointed fingers above ground. It was like Romeo and Juliet in a way, except with zombies.

After everyone finished, Trinity took our bowls and placed them in the sink. She walked over to where Morgan was and stood by his side. He took her hand and intertwined them together. The more I was in the presence of their love for one another the more it felt natural and somewhat beautiful. It would be wrong of me if I was the one to stand in their way of happiness and judge them for what they feel.

"Were you two a couple before the virus happened?" I asked. It was an honest and fair question in my opinion, and I was in dire need to know if they went through all that trial and tribulation when the world went to shit.

"Straight to it then, I see." Morgan made a small smirk with his lips.

I arched my brow waiting for a response.

"No girl, we weren't together before," he said.

"My name is Leona, not girl," I said, leaning back in my seat.

Morgan gave a grumbled chuckle as he sat down. Trinity stood behind him and placed her hands on both his shoulders. She then nodded in approval to my comment and looked somewhat amused by it.

"No Leona, we weren't together before the virus happened."

"Oh," I said as I waited for one of them to hopefully continue the conversation. I really wanted to know how all this came about.

"Morgan was one of the first who got the cure," Trinity said. "I was the one who gave him the dose and it was my responsibility to look after him," she paused, "...to make sure he took the ZCure well." She blinked a few times, and I could see that she was reliving those memories as her smile disappeared.

Morgan patted her left hand and smoothed over it with his. She came back from wherever she had drifted to and kissed the top of his head.

"Were you the one who created the ZCure?" I leaned forward a bit as my mind raced of actually being in the presence of the person who helped cure me back.

She shook her head. "I was one of the scientists who helped, but no I didn't create it. Her name was Helen."

My eyes squinted at the past tense remark. "Was?"

Trinity swallowed hard and opened her mouth, but nothing could come out.

"She died from one of the subjects," Morgan said.

"Subject? You mean a zombie? I thought it cures them?" I said, fully focused on the couple.

"Yes. It does, but the cure is not what you think it is. I mean it is, and it isn't..." Morgan said.

Trinity leaned forward more into his ear but I could still hear what they were saying. "This is going to be too much info for her. Shes going to be overwhelmed with all of this."

Morgan turned his head over to hers. "She has a right to know though love."

I didn't respond. I couldn't. My mouth felt dry because I had a bad feeling about what was coming next. But I had to know, I needed to know all that happened before me and how it all started.

Trinity stood tall and took a deep breath. "Subject 101 didn't turn back to human form," she said, breaking the silence. "Only his intelligence did, like a human. But instinct wise, he was still zombie."

I raised my hands up. "Hold up! Are you trying to tell me that the ZCure turned some dead guy into like some zombie terminator thing?"

"After we found out how smart Subject 101 was, we all agreed to eliminate it." Trinity walked over to her seat. "There was only a few who disagreed." She shook her head. "They said that 101 would be our future super soldier." She sighed. "But after Helen died we knew we had to kill it before it got any more out of hand."

"Is it dead?" It was all my brain could focus on as images of a huge gorilla beast invaded my thoughts.

"Yes, we were told it was dead. After that, the great divide came into full force between the Luckies and the Stiffs," She continued as she looked at Morgan. "We didn't like what they were doing so we left and went in hiding. We've been here ever since."

Looking around the place, it wasn't much better than above. Surrounded by four walls, the underground is not a luxury I'd want but then again, freedom is. I continued to look around the place and my eyes fell onto the clustered scrapbook wall of maps and documents that I noticed earlier. Morgan turned his head in the direction I am staring at and looked back at me. My eyes awkwardly came off the papers and looked down at the desk. My cheeks flared in response to being caught invading someone's privacy.

"It's the layout of the North Side." The old man nonchalantly said.

I snaped my head up and looked over at Morgan then at Trinity. What exactly were they doing down here? Curiously got the best of me and I looked back at the wall of mystery that was a few feet away from me. How did they get the layout of the whole entire side of the North? I looked over at Eve who had been quiet this whole time who now couldn't even look at me.

"So why exactly are you here, Leona?" Morgan finally said, cutting the silence in the room.

I took my eyes off Eve. "I heard from a birdie that you could get someone in the Luckies side. We're running out of food and..." I grabbed the items from my pocket and showed them. "I have these to trade. But since you guys are the ones who have been providing the food... if you have more to give, we can trade."

The gems clinked on the table as I placed them for all eyes to see. This mission was going to be easier than I thought. I would get more rations of food for the shelter and then I'd be on my way.

"Unfortunately, that was the last bit we had too," Trinity said.

The taste of watered-down chicken broth lingered on my tongue for the last time. There was no way I was leaving empty handed. I thought about the situation... I am not going to let Jenny or any of the others starve! I need to get to the other side.

"I can't leave without food. We're going to starve if I don't bring something back," I said.

The walls started to close in again as desperation sank deep. I stared at the ring as rays of light reflected through it. I continued to eye the jewel; I could see a bit of my reflection staring back at me. I covered it with my hand and took a deep breath. Images of my face covered in blood played in my head. I took a couple more deep breaths as my hand squeezed tight around the items. Focusing my brain, I thought of the one person I loved most in this world—the one person I would do anything for. Jenny. Jenny. Jenny.

A soft gentle hand combed over mine. My eyes unfolded and I saw Trinity lean over, reaching to me. Her face was relaxed which gave me comfort as her brows furrowed just a bit at the center. A small smile rested on her lips.

Looking down at our hands intertwined, her beautiful dark complexion was vibrant and alive compared to mine. Her skin was warm to the touch and sent a surge of heat along my arms, comforting me. An image of my mother's radiant smile played in my head as Trinity's eyes danced of happiness.

I slowly returned my hands to my lap and gave her a small gestured smile in thanks.

Morgan looked at his lady and then at Eve. They all nodded in agreement and he stood up, walking over to the kitchen towards what looked like a pantry door. As soon as he opened it my eyes grew wide.

"We can have you in and out in no time," Morgan said.

I hadn't realized that my mouth was flung open for all to see until Eve placed her hand under my chin and closed it for me.

There were so many more questions running through my head. First and foremost, how had this secret tunnel not been discovered by the Luckies yet? The fact that nobody here knew of this, except the three in this room... they held more secrets than a woman's purse. Was this how Trinity and Morgan escaped years ago?

I stood up and walked over to the entrance and could see a long and narrow tunnel with more streams of hanging lights that lead the unknown path. "Does this lead to," I managed to say.

"Yes. It leads to the North." Morgan confirmed. "You'll have to leave during the night. Eve will accompany you," Morgan said as he closed the door. "She'll show you the way and introduce you to Oscar."

"Another Lucky?" I stumbled a bit with my words. "You, have another Lucky on your side?"

"There are more than you think, Leona."