Immune-ish

Chapter Ten

XANDER:

I am patrolling when I hear someone crying in a forced kind of way. The sound comes from within the forest, but close to the fence, and it sounds human enough. A corpse couldn't make that noise.

I debate whether or not I should go into the forest. Whether or not I should risk attracting more corpses. But what if this person needs me? Those of us who are still living need to stick together, need to protect each other from the dead that want to take over our home. Zane will also be angry if I don't take whoever it is to him, and any chance to avoid his wrath is a good one. I finally make a decision.

I march over to the gate in the fence. I pull the keys off my belt and unlock both locks that desperately need replacing. I push a corpse's rotten body out of the way of the gate with my foot and open the gate as wide as the nearby trees will allow and I slip out. I close it behind me but leave it unlocked in case I need to make a quick getaway, something I have failed to do before with dire consequences. I've lost count of how many people have died because of me.

I hold my shotgun up, ready to shoot, and make sure that I have easy access to my knife. I am ready for anything and everything. The corpses will never know what hit them.

I go into the trees slowly, listening for the crying and analyzing my surroundings with my carefully trained eyes. I head northeast where the crying lures me. It is still quite dark in the forest and the trees block out what little sunlight there is. Who knows what could be hiding in the shadows?

I stumble upon the girl before I even know it. And my breath catches in my throat halfway out. Wow. She is the most beautiful living thing I have ever hoped to lay eyes upon in a world this dead.

She looks small and frail and her skin is pale. Her hair is the whitest thing I have ever laid eyes on, and the morning sun shining through the leaves make her hair seem to glow.

Then I make a realization and stop in my tracks; the white hair means she is a corpse. I have to kill her. In this world, the most beautiful things are always the first to be destroyed.

I raise my gun, turn the safety off, and take a step forward while aiming. But she lifts her head and suddenly I am so confused. If she were a corpse, she would have attacked by now, having sensed my presence, but she has failed to do so.

Her eyes aren't glazed; they are gorgeous. The neon blue is exciting and even the violet bags under her eyes can be deemed as pretty. Her lips are large, pale pink, but still stand out against the pastiness of her skin, bits of dried blood surrounding her mouth. The veins that show through the paper-like surface remind me of an elderly woman, but she is nothing but the aura of childlike beauty. But what is she?

I lower my gun, hoping for the best. Meanwhile, she stares me down, her eyes revealing just how much she fears. Her lip quivers and I don't know if it's from fear or sadness or both. Corpses can't feel emotions, can they? They're so unpredictable that it's hard to know.

But her hair and blood on her face shows me what she really is: a corpse. Something that should be dead, but isn't. It is my job to kill her.

I raise my gun once more, but she makes a crying noise, not breaking eye contact. She's crying, but there are no tears in her eyes. What is happening? Confusion overwhelms me with no present answers to deplete it.

She stands up. "Don't," she says. She knows I'm going to kill her.

Corpses can talk now, I think. That is just fantastic. But she isn't a corpse, is she?

The shock must be evident on my face because the girl finally says, "Yes, I can talk," after she controls her crying. She sounds exasperated, as though this has been asked of her before.

I'm not quite sure what to say. "B-but. . . Who-well, what are you?"

She closes her eyes and sighs shakily. "I don't know."

She's a zombie. She playing some kind of mind game with me! My brain is screaming at me to kill her, but she seems genuine and she's beautiful. I want something beautiful in my world.

I hear a moan somewhere nearby and it's not coming from the girl.

"I'll tell you all about it if you have a place for me to stay. Please get me out of the forest?" she says.

I have to admit: it's tempting. She's gorgeous and maybe she feels the same way about me. But what if she infects me? Chloe would never get cured and she would cannibalize herself in her prison basement. I can't do that to her.

"I'm sorry, but-"

"Please? I-I. . ." Her voice cracks and she starts sobbing again, but once more without tears.

I sigh. "Fine. But if you do anything to hurt me, then that pretty little head of yours is coming off." What is wrong with me?! I just called her pretty!

The girl stops her sobs and looks at me for a moment. Really looks at me, judging me and I feel the need to scratch my head. "Thank you," she whispers. And I don't know if she says it about the compliment or about me giving her shelter.

I shrug. "Follow me," I command.

We begin walking back to my village, me on high alert to make sure she doesn't hurt me.

"I'm Evaline," she suddenly says. "Eva."

Pretty name. "Xander," I grunt. The less I tell her, the better. My brain tells me she is playing mind games. At any second, she could kill me.  I don't even want her near me, but I have to keep an eye on her, and maybe this will turn out to be a good thing.

We walk in silence the rest of the way to the fence.

Is this a mistake?