Requiem

Chapter Six:

Chapter Six:

I wake with a start. It is deathly silent; it's still strange to my ears. There are no birds chirping or leaves bustling with animals. 

I'm amazed I managed to fall asleep, and even more amazed that I managed not to fall out of my branch while I was asleep. Looking down, I notice that the zombie is almost completely finished decomposing. Now it's only a shattered skeleton -all the clothes and skin having completely deteriorated. 

Sebastian is awake -watching me. I would say he looks ready to fall asleep, with the way he's leaning into the tree trunk - head resting against the rough bark - but I'd be lying. Just by the way his eyes glint, I can tell he's wide awake and extremely bored. 

I look to the others. 

Jasper is sitting up, arms stretching out around his head. Monique is still out of it, her mouth hanging open attractively. I snicker when I wonder how many bugs or creatures crawled into her mouth during the night. 

I hop down from my branch and look at Sebastian, "Monique needs to start learning how to hunt. You said you'd help her?" 

Eyes still trained on me, he pushes away from the tree. I wait for him to say something, anything, but he doesn't. He simply casts me one long last look and then starts towards the others. I frown and touch my hair, making sure it's not sticking up everywhere. It seems fine. I still undo the ponytail and retie it.

Then my fingers move to my face. 

Why was he staring at me like that? 

I unsheathe my sword and stare at the reflective surface. There's a small smear of dirt on my cheek and I wipe it off. Other than that I don't see anything wrong. Frowning, I go to put my sword back but freeze. There is a layer of dark gray dirt caked into the bottom of the blade, towards the tip. Flakes chip off every now and again, slowly revealing the shiny silver beneath. 

At least, I hope it is dirt. I peer closer.

"Ack! Zombie guts!" 

I probably look ridiculous, furiously shaking the blade -trying to get the gunk off -like it's a flyswatter. I am not going to put it back behind my back like this, where it touches me.  

I am not touching zombie guts. 

"What on earth are you doing?" 

I barely look up. Jasper has his arms folded across his chest and the look he wears on his face reminds me of one a staff member might give to a mental patient. 

A little fear mixed with a little patience, and a whole lot of what-the-crap-are-you-doing. 

"I'm trying to get the zombie guts off!" I shake harder. The flakes are chipping off faster, but not near as fast as I'd like them to. 

"You killed a zombie?" Jasper takes a step forward, eyes now finding the pile of remains that stains the earth several feet behind me. His eyes widen slightly and move back to mine. I stop shaking the sword, glaring at him -waiting for his verdict. 

Jasper takes the sword from me and rests the tip against the ground. Using his bare hand, he gently wipes the rest of the flakes and then hands the hilt back to me. He looks amused when I cringe away from it. "It's not going to hurt you." 

"You don't know that." I shake my head, carefully avoiding his now infected hand as I put my sword back. 

He stares at me for a few moments and then gasps. I jump, eyes widening, and my grip tightens on my sword. Jasper lifts his hand, holding it in front of his face, and stares at it with wide, terrified eyes. His breathing quickens. I see his lower lip quiver between his fingers.