Tales Of The Fairly Undead

Chapter 10: Why Grandma?

"I cant remember the last time I had a good piece of steak" Adam sighed grinning lovingly at the large chunk of meat on his plate.

Red snorted a giggle as she stared at her own plate.

"Whats so funny?" Adam questioned popping a piece of meat into his mouth and groaning as he savored every chew.

"Its just.." she poked at the meat with her fork. "the last time I ate a meal like this.." she paused shaking her head with another laugh, "it was my Grandmother,"

Adam almost spat his mouthful across the table.

"That cant be true," he spluttered.

"It is, she died, I cried, I ate her." Red smiled to Adam and began sawing away at her diner.

"Why?"

"Because there was nothing else to eat," She shrugged with her mouth stuffed "this is good,"

"I don't believe you,"

"If that helps you sleep at night." Red smirked cutting herself another piece of steak.

There was a long silence filled only by the scrapping of knives and forks as Adam again began to eat.

"What did it taste like?" Not even five minutes later Adam lowered his knife and fork. His curiosity getting the better of him despite not really wanting to know the answer.

Red thought for a moment.

She thought back to that dingy cabin in the middle of the woods.

She remembered cutting her Grandmother up in the bathtub just like they did this cow except not as neat.

It made her stomach turn to do it. She had thrown up multiple times throughout the process but eventually she managed.

She remembered cooking a chunk of her thigh over a fire. The smell making her mouth water and gag at the same time.

She remembered that when she eventually worked herself up enough to take a bite. It reminded her of a pork chop.

"She tasted like pork," Red brought her focus back into the room quickly keen to get pull her thoughts away from that cabin.

"Pork?"

"Yea, I mean once I got over the fact that she was my Grandma and treated it just like another piece of meat, it was actually pretty good."

"That's nasty," Adam shook his head at her grimacing. Eating her own Grandmother was one thing, but enjoying it was a whole other ball game. One that Adam regretted venturing into.

"I'd eat you if I had to," Red pointed her fork at him her last piece of steak sticking off the end of it. "like if you died and I had nothing else to eat." She put the piece in her mouth "I recon you'd have more meat than grandma did,"

Adam just stared at her with his mouth open slightly.

Red finished chewing and leaned backwards in her chair with a sigh.

"Well I wouldn't eat you, Your to full of..." Adam began but Red was listening to something else.

"Did you hear that?" she cut him off leaning forward again with her hand up to silence him.

There was nothing for a second then a wave of frantic mooing lingered in the still air.

Adam nodded standing up slowly.

They both crept to the back door listening carefully to the sound of running hooves.

"Wait here," Adam opened the door before Red could protest quickly pulling it closed behind him.

The night was cloudy and the usually comforting light of the moon was smothered.

Adam inched himself carefully towards the back fence.

The possible scenarios running through his mind.

Cows just being cows.

A shuffler in the yard stirring them up.

Or a cattle thief trying to steal their prize.

He hoped it wasn't the later. He wasn't in the mood to kill anyone tonight.

Red watched the closed door with her hands on her hips.

As if she was going to wait inside like a child.

Tired of waiting she stepped towards the door opening a crack and looking out into the darkness that was the yard.

"Adam?" she whispered waiting only a second for a reply before pulling herself back inside and searching the room.

She had left her axe in the kitchen so after spotting a mop in the corner of the room and snapping its wooden handle free.

Giving it a couple test roll's around her hand she went back to the door this time venturing out into the dark.

She held the handle tightly as she blindly walked towards the back fence.

"Adam?" she whispered again and again there was no reply.

Even the cattle had gone quiet.

Then from no where a loud thump hit the ground behind her.

Reds obvious reaction being to swing the mop handle at the source of the sound as she turned around to face it.

"Ah Red? What the hell?"

"Adam?"She lowered her weapon.

"I told you to wait inside," he groaned.

Red giggled putting her hand on his shoulder as he rubbed his arm. Part of her wanting to apologies but the other part that wanted to laugh and maybe hit him again was much stronger.

"What was it?" Red questioned once she got her laughter under control.

"Nothing interesting," Adam answered finally letting go of his arm. "Just a zombie wondering around in the yard,"

"Did you kill it?"

"No, I left it in there so it could eat our cows,"

Red screwed up her face and shook it at him before giving him a lighter tap with the mop handle, this time in his gut.

"Idiot," she muttered as she headed back towards the house.

"Hey, ask a stupid question, get a stupid answer" he followed her back into the house.

Red dropped her mop handle as she entered the house, freezing dead in the doorway of the dining room.

"Whats wrong?" Adam came up behind her seeing easily over her head to where a metal arrow stuck from the center of the table they were sitting at a few minutes ago.

Moving around Red Adam looked around the room before rushing for the front door.

Red on the other hand walked slowly towards where the arrow sat. But she was more interested in the thin piece of yellowed paper that stuck from underneath it.

"This is your only warning.
Be out of my city by morning.
Or it'll be of with your head
And you'll join the undead.
Who I'll make sure are all swarming.
The Piper."

"What?" Adam poked his head back in the room frowning.

Red held the letter out to him and he took it from her gently scanning the words for himself.

"Who the hell is The Piper?" He dropped the letter on the table and turned to Red who shrugged while fiddling the with the arrow.

"I don't know," she answered with a smirk "but it sounds like hes challenging us."

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How nice of The Piper to give them a warning.

Do you think people would really taste like pork? A weird question I know but hey you cant tell me a small part of you doesn't wants to know.

Thanks for reading,

Chrissy.