Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Mechanical Affection ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 14 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: HeavenlyHorror 
Strange things are happening while out scavenging, but who's the culprit?
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Post-apocalyptic / Horror / Comedy | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 06.08.2013 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 156 | Status: Work In Progress
Strange things are happening while out scavenging, but who's the culprit?
Miscellaneous: Original Stories Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Post-apocalyptic / Horror / Comedy | Type: Yaoi | Uploaded On: 06.08.2013 | Pages: 1 | Words: 3.5K | Visits: 156 | Status: Work In Progress
Mechanical Affection- Chapter 14
I looked up dumbly at the sound of metal clattering against the ground that I totally was not the cause of. Actually maybe, no definitely not. This time it was Matt and I stared blankly at him as he continued yammering to himself like a madman. I think he’d gotten an extra dose of the crazies recently or maybe I was just pissy. Maybe it was the zombie equivalent to pmsing because goddamn crazycakes was driving me up the wall. Someone remind me why I hadn’t chewed his face off.
“Sometimes I think the only reason they wanted you back was to be their twisted version of a drug dog.” As per usual, I had no idea what he was talking about and my attention wandered. He’d have better luck talking to the wall with that kind of attitude. Arching my throat, I stretched the tendons of my jaw. My neck felt tight and I did not like it. I snapped my teeth a little and attempted to stagger over to something that was of vague interest. My neck tightened forcing a little gurgle of distress out of me as I tried to shake away the feeling. Then something snapped hard and my head lurched towards the warmth of the very breather I was trying to walk away from, “Don’t wander off.” That crisp tone rubbed me the wrong way. Someone needed a swift kick up the ass. Grabbing at Matt, his face was in mine in no time flat… Unfortunately for me, faces were strictly off the menu… I snapped at him anyway.
Warmth cradled my head and I could feel him tracing the skin of my face around the muzzle, “Mitch, baby… I’m serious I’m not losing you again.” Again? I guess it was too much to ask for a recap of the last episode of ‘a day in the life of a walking corpse’. Matt shook away my question manually to make my fuzzy gaze settle on him again, “Look… I know you’re mad at me.” And yet… I don’t feel like he was trying to remedy the situation, “You know I love you right?” News to me, “That’s why I’m doing this, to keep you safe.” He was whispering now and I had to lean in to hear him. Apparently that was the desired effect because he leaned in and kissed me on the forehead. I narrowed my eyes.
I’m still not happy with you, “I’ll take it off the moment we get home.” Speaking of, I wasn’t sure where we were now. When exactly would this being home come to pass? In case he hadn’t noticed, I wasn’t a dog and I don’t appreciate being paraded around like a prize poodle.
He reached around my shoulders and pulled me close. As his fingers slid under the achingly tight strap around my throat, mine clutched at his shirt. If I could get a good enough grip, maybe I could rip the damn thing off. He was so much warmer shirtless. Mm, and I do love it warm. With my face against him, I chewed air and groaned at the futility of the situation.
Laughter clipped through the air and I was shoved back. I tried to grab him again, but found only air as he moved on without me, “Come on… Let’s check out the roof.” He raised the end of my leash instead of pulling on it. Great… Stairs. If I fell… I was taking this asshole with me.
Matt held open the door and I stared at the daunting task ahead of me. It looked like a lot of damn stairs, “It’s okay, up.” I know how to use stairs. Probably, “Here, give me your hand,” I wouldn’t even if I could. I can handle stairs… Most days. Today… Was not one of those days. A few staggering steps had me on them in no time for sure, but damn if my feet didn’t start to feel like lead halfway up. I stopped. I could do this. Stairs… Simple right? No big deal. I looked away. There were more of them going down than up. Had I come up all those already? Why? This seemed like a terrible idea. What did we want to go up there for? You know, other than a very quick way to get rid of my sorry ass, “Mitch!” Huh? Oh right, we were going up the stairs… I trudged on. Almost.
My face met the second stair from the top. I’m pretty sure I was glad I didn’t feel that.
Matt said something that sound more like a hiss as he jerked my shoulders into his arms and hauled me up. I blinked up at him as he snapped his fingers and spoke so fast I think I might have heard a single syllable in that entire sentence. Then he took a breath, “Are you all right?” He asked arms stretched out over my head. My eyes drifted to his tattoo. I was fine and amazingly on my feet somehow.
A hand gripped my arm hard enough to leave an impression and I made it up the stairs without much further incident. On the roof, my companion disappeared while I soaked up some rays. A small spot of my head got really hot and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I was trying to decipher this, tilting my head this way and that when the strap around my neck fidgeted a bit before falling away. I groaned in delight. Freedom.
Sadly. It was short-lived.
Leash and collar in place, Matt led me from the sun and back to the depths of the building until we met up with the rest of the gang. Today’s flavors? King Kong, Blue Eyes, Soul Patch, and, uh… That plain girl. That one that seemed pretty attached to Matt. They touched a lot I noticed, completely an unbiased objective observation.
“You really think that’s necessary?” She asked as she fell into step with us. Butt out, this one was mine. I snarled at her a little and she gave me a look. I tried to give it to her right back but mine seemed much less effective. Matt didn’t notice at all, “I don’t think he likes it much.” She mentioned.
“We’ve talked about this. It’s for his own good.” Wait a minute… Were they talking about me. I was right there, but then again neither seemed to care. I wheezed a breath and looked away. Matt tugged my rope and I looked at him. What? “What?” I’d asked first, “You see something?” Why would he ask that? I looked down. I didn’t realize I’d stopped walking. Had I been looking at something? I didn’t think so, “Okay?” Yup, nothing to see here.
Soul Patch, he was the guy with the soul patch, stopped out front a building. I know, so creative with the names here. Alternatively he was ‘not Matt’. Anyway, he pointed a pipe at the door and shouted our way. Probably an order. I don’t know, but Matt picked up the pace and left the girl behind.
“Check it out.” Said Soul Patch as Matt pried the door open. I went inside and Matt griped under his breath. If he didn’t like it so much, I don’t know why he came at all. I was a big boy, except that I can’t open doors. Doors, the foe of zombie kind, like stairs and sidewalk cracks. It’s the little things that get you.
“What is it?” What was what? I’d stopped walking again. Staring at something. I think I’d heard something, “Is someone in there?” No one alive. I jerked my head, my throat was so tight. I turned my head and bit mindlessly at the air. The handle rattled and I think I was more startled than Matt. He had a gun whipped out in no time flat. He was shaking as he pointed the think at the door. I had to wonder if he’d ever fired the damn thing. He looked like a joke. He sounded a bit like a joke when he rattled off something indiscernible at the door. No one was breathing in there, probably just a zombie. A few rounds in the door should have handled it. Except… I must have been off my rocker because the knob rattled a bit more and something thudded against the door. It clicked and creaked open.
Matt looked at me. Well… The undead were my area of expertise. Wandering forward I hit the door with my head to draw it open. A shadow shuffled away and I pursued, thankfully loosed by Matt. I ventured deeper… But the room, it seemed, was empty. I turned around and returned. Nothing to see there, “Well?” He asked. I didn’t know what he wanted me to do. Tricks? I hadn’t seen anything, time to press on. Zombies don’t open doors, where would it have gone?
Lowering the gun, Matt watched the door. I was already moving on.
“It stinks in here.” Matt complained as I tripped over a soft pile of crumpled flesh. They were beyond recognition, but the clothes said they were breathers once. Unless someone had been playing dress up with some really big dogs. Possible, “Over here.” He tugged and I stumbled into a nearby wall that I hadn’t seen. I tried to make it seem like I did that on purpose by leaning on it as Mitch crouched down to rummage through a cabinet.
I shook my head as my restraints twitched, then began to rub and hit my skull against the wall. It took my mind off things at least. Rattling what was left of my brains felt kind of goo-wah? My jaw flapped open as I realized that something was wrong. It took a moment to pinpoint it, even longer to comprehend. The door Mitch had closed behind us was open. All the knocking about I’d done had muffled the sound of it opening but now that I’d stopped, the bang of the knob hitting the wall rang out. Matt hit his head on the counter on the way up. It would have been funny if I wasn’t staring into the gaping hole of half a face.
My head fell to the side. The popping pistol in Matt’s hand blasted beside my head and the world, which had seemed slow, suddenly reeled into action. The raspy hiss of the intruder leaked into the air as it, he, raised both arms and launched himself at us. Well, more at Matt I guess, but I butted it. His arms went around either side of me and he clawed widely for that warm body behind me before I charged forward and rammed him into the wall. His jaw worked awkwardly as I pulled away. He looked confused as I stared as his ripped face and watched his teeth clack together. So familiar… Doors…
Bang bang went the gun, pulling me back to my senses. This time I turned to Matt and snarled at him. I snapped my teeth at him before turning again. Half-face was trying to get past me to Matt. I rammed him into the window, it shattered. Matt was mine. There was a struggle there, the glass crunching all around until something was ripped away from my neck and we all stopped again. Matt’s gun only clicked now when he pulled the trigger. He was a terrible shot anyway.
The half-faced zombie was holding the collar in hand now and making a weird barking noise at me. I turned to look at Matt. He was okay. His hands were shaking though and he kept dropping the clip he was trying to load. By the time he got it right… The attacker was gone. Weird.
It didn’t take more than that incident to get us the hell out of there. I think Matt nearly pissed himself.
~
There was tension in the air when we got back to camp. ‘Mom’ was fussing over my clothes and Matt was talking to someone that was not me, “There,” She said making sure my muzzle was tight on my head before patting me on the head like a good little boy, “Now go on and play.” Tiny hands were grabbing mine and I looked down at the crazy little apes that thought I was a good playmate. I don’t actually know which ones belonged to ‘mom’ because all of them called her that. Seemed like a lot for one breather. ‘Course I’m not so good with the numbers anyway.
Two boys tugged my arm and led me away. I looked back at Matt but he was talking to the adults. How did I get grouped in with the kids? I never got to be involved in the important discussions… I sulked.
“Mom said you saw another zombie.” One of the little monkeys said. Surprising, it was a mellow tempered little girl. She looked a lot like ‘mom’ to my dead eyes, “Was he like you?” I didn’t know. If I remembered at all, maybe I’d have a semblance of a clue. But I didn’t. One of the other monkeys crossed in front of me to get to her and pulled her hair, she cried something fierce and I rasped at the boy and grabbed for him. Quick little devil was gone before I could even see him go. The girl rubbed her head and sniffled a bit, “Was not.” She mumbled grabbing my arm protectively. I tried to touch her but instead of obeying my arm shook violently in dismay at having been told to do anything at all and I gave it up to stare on at the boys as they ran off to play. One waved for me to stay and within moments they were all gone from sight.
I should probably find them…
Girl still attached like a leech to my side, I stumbled into the forest. It was getting dark and cool. Following the faint heat of bodies, we wandered deeper until I lost the trail. I stood dumbfounded a moment before looking up in a tree. The boy squealed and jumped down. He looked so pleased to be found. Looking at the two I could swear there had been more and I moved on to find the others.
My movements were awkward and stiff as I shuffled over the ground, stumbling over every damn little thing. Woods sucked. A scream cracked through the silent trees and I snapped to attention. Groaning eagerly, I moved a lot faster towards the source unsure if I was hurrying to help or hurt. Quiet little thumps sounded as I got closer and the sound of… Something that didn’t sound at all normal. The little breathers following me pulled at my back to stop me, but they were much too small to slow me.
Rounding a large trunk, something in the corner of my eye moved from sight and a couple of little gremlins rushed over to me. One attached himself to my hip and the other was shouting frantically and pointing at nothing. I stared into the darkness. I couldn’t sense anything, no sight, sound, or heat.
Something much stronger than the little hands on my body grabbed hold of my shoulder and whirled me around. I leaned back away from the woman who shouted clipped words in my face and growled as I was shaken. Raising the only arm I had free, I tried to swipe at her but she shoved me back hard and grabbed one of the little ones, “Stop it!” Shrieked the one that had been flailing at the mysterious danger. He was saying something quickly to her and she backed off, but didn’t look any less suspicious of me.
I was yanked up to my feet by the shoulder and turned to another familiar face, “Are you okay?” I thought I was. I looked down to see but I seemed reasonably intact, “What happened?” I looked at the boy who was waving his arms around. I hoped the racket he was making made more sense to everyone else. And it seemed it did because all of us were gathered, “Where’s Freddy?” Who? The man made a low gesture. Oh… We were missing a small one. I looked around cluelessly. The world around me felt so warm with bodies, “Go on! We’ll find him.” The man waved the others on as he pulled my mask to lead me away. Soon enough, I was leading the way following something faint and attractive in the darkness. With an arm under my shoulder, we moved pretty quickly until my breathing companion’s better eyes spotted whatever he was looking for. He ducked under my arm and ran forward shouting something or another. I saw the concern when I followed after him.
I’m pretty sure breathers weren’t supposed to be upside down. I moved in close and curiously circled around. That was a pretty cool trick. How did he do that? I nudged the boy and he swung. It made him cry and the older one gave me a smack for it. Groaning I backed off.
A twig snapped somewhere to… Uh, my side, and I cocked my head. Had we brought someone else. Though I suppose someone wouldn’t have been accurate. I couldn’t feel the heat of a breather, or anything else for that matter that way.
Hello?
I looked back at the two breathers. The small one was on the ground now and being lifted up, “Mitch, come!” Ask me nicely. I looked away but began to move his direction anyway. I didn’t quite make it though as I ran into a tree. I tried to maneuver around it… But it moved to meet me and I couldn’t seem to figure it out. Frustrated I shoved into the solid object until it moved. I didn’t realize I was so strong.
Triumphantly I stepped onto it and it made a noise. Did trees make noises? I looked down at it. That wasn’t a tree, “Mitch, hurry up!” They hadn’t noticed it, him. I wondered if I should tell them. I stepped off of him and he got up. He was quiet, watching as the two breathers headed away. Then he grimaced at me. Reaching out for me, the half-faced zombie grabbed at my face. With a groan I shook him away and turned around to go. I should probably tell them about this… But I kind of… Liked him.
“Hazel! He’s here.” Called the man with the mark on his arm and a woman rushed to collect the child as we neared the fire. A plain looking girl with two boys following her came to see too. But no one really made it. They stopped and stared… And I stared back.
“What the fuck is that?” The ordinary one pointed at me. No wait. Not me. I turned. At us. Half face…
I’ve been writing down songs that remind me of the story, like a soundtrack for it. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know and I’ll give them a listen. So far there are some definite songs that I like for the story and then I have a list of ‘candidates’ which are songs that have either the feeling or lyrics that fit but not quite a combination of the two. So I’m still on the fence about them.
Also, let’s all just ignore the long hiatus there.
Soundtrack-
The Lumineers- Ho Hey (Specifically for the very end of the last chapter, the campfire song scene)
Fall Out Boy- Sugar We’re Going Down (Oh you get to figure out why I picked this one yourselves)
Scissor Sisters- I Can’t Decide (Portrays Mitch and Matt’s sometimes feisty relationship)
Cage The Elephant- Shake Me Down (Pretty much Mitch in general)
Other Candidates-
The Airborne Toxic Event- Changing
The Strokes- Is This It?
The Strokes- You Only Live Once
Oingo Boingo- No One Lives Forever
Styx- The Best Of Times (the right lyrics, not the right sound)
Grouplove- Tongue Tied
Of Monsters and Men- Mountain Sound
I looked up dumbly at the sound of metal clattering against the ground that I totally was not the cause of. Actually maybe, no definitely not. This time it was Matt and I stared blankly at him as he continued yammering to himself like a madman. I think he’d gotten an extra dose of the crazies recently or maybe I was just pissy. Maybe it was the zombie equivalent to pmsing because goddamn crazycakes was driving me up the wall. Someone remind me why I hadn’t chewed his face off.
“Sometimes I think the only reason they wanted you back was to be their twisted version of a drug dog.” As per usual, I had no idea what he was talking about and my attention wandered. He’d have better luck talking to the wall with that kind of attitude. Arching my throat, I stretched the tendons of my jaw. My neck felt tight and I did not like it. I snapped my teeth a little and attempted to stagger over to something that was of vague interest. My neck tightened forcing a little gurgle of distress out of me as I tried to shake away the feeling. Then something snapped hard and my head lurched towards the warmth of the very breather I was trying to walk away from, “Don’t wander off.” That crisp tone rubbed me the wrong way. Someone needed a swift kick up the ass. Grabbing at Matt, his face was in mine in no time flat… Unfortunately for me, faces were strictly off the menu… I snapped at him anyway.
Warmth cradled my head and I could feel him tracing the skin of my face around the muzzle, “Mitch, baby… I’m serious I’m not losing you again.” Again? I guess it was too much to ask for a recap of the last episode of ‘a day in the life of a walking corpse’. Matt shook away my question manually to make my fuzzy gaze settle on him again, “Look… I know you’re mad at me.” And yet… I don’t feel like he was trying to remedy the situation, “You know I love you right?” News to me, “That’s why I’m doing this, to keep you safe.” He was whispering now and I had to lean in to hear him. Apparently that was the desired effect because he leaned in and kissed me on the forehead. I narrowed my eyes.
I’m still not happy with you, “I’ll take it off the moment we get home.” Speaking of, I wasn’t sure where we were now. When exactly would this being home come to pass? In case he hadn’t noticed, I wasn’t a dog and I don’t appreciate being paraded around like a prize poodle.
He reached around my shoulders and pulled me close. As his fingers slid under the achingly tight strap around my throat, mine clutched at his shirt. If I could get a good enough grip, maybe I could rip the damn thing off. He was so much warmer shirtless. Mm, and I do love it warm. With my face against him, I chewed air and groaned at the futility of the situation.
Laughter clipped through the air and I was shoved back. I tried to grab him again, but found only air as he moved on without me, “Come on… Let’s check out the roof.” He raised the end of my leash instead of pulling on it. Great… Stairs. If I fell… I was taking this asshole with me.
Matt held open the door and I stared at the daunting task ahead of me. It looked like a lot of damn stairs, “It’s okay, up.” I know how to use stairs. Probably, “Here, give me your hand,” I wouldn’t even if I could. I can handle stairs… Most days. Today… Was not one of those days. A few staggering steps had me on them in no time for sure, but damn if my feet didn’t start to feel like lead halfway up. I stopped. I could do this. Stairs… Simple right? No big deal. I looked away. There were more of them going down than up. Had I come up all those already? Why? This seemed like a terrible idea. What did we want to go up there for? You know, other than a very quick way to get rid of my sorry ass, “Mitch!” Huh? Oh right, we were going up the stairs… I trudged on. Almost.
My face met the second stair from the top. I’m pretty sure I was glad I didn’t feel that.
Matt said something that sound more like a hiss as he jerked my shoulders into his arms and hauled me up. I blinked up at him as he snapped his fingers and spoke so fast I think I might have heard a single syllable in that entire sentence. Then he took a breath, “Are you all right?” He asked arms stretched out over my head. My eyes drifted to his tattoo. I was fine and amazingly on my feet somehow.
A hand gripped my arm hard enough to leave an impression and I made it up the stairs without much further incident. On the roof, my companion disappeared while I soaked up some rays. A small spot of my head got really hot and I wasn’t sure if I liked it or not. I was trying to decipher this, tilting my head this way and that when the strap around my neck fidgeted a bit before falling away. I groaned in delight. Freedom.
Sadly. It was short-lived.
Leash and collar in place, Matt led me from the sun and back to the depths of the building until we met up with the rest of the gang. Today’s flavors? King Kong, Blue Eyes, Soul Patch, and, uh… That plain girl. That one that seemed pretty attached to Matt. They touched a lot I noticed, completely an unbiased objective observation.
“You really think that’s necessary?” She asked as she fell into step with us. Butt out, this one was mine. I snarled at her a little and she gave me a look. I tried to give it to her right back but mine seemed much less effective. Matt didn’t notice at all, “I don’t think he likes it much.” She mentioned.
“We’ve talked about this. It’s for his own good.” Wait a minute… Were they talking about me. I was right there, but then again neither seemed to care. I wheezed a breath and looked away. Matt tugged my rope and I looked at him. What? “What?” I’d asked first, “You see something?” Why would he ask that? I looked down. I didn’t realize I’d stopped walking. Had I been looking at something? I didn’t think so, “Okay?” Yup, nothing to see here.
Soul Patch, he was the guy with the soul patch, stopped out front a building. I know, so creative with the names here. Alternatively he was ‘not Matt’. Anyway, he pointed a pipe at the door and shouted our way. Probably an order. I don’t know, but Matt picked up the pace and left the girl behind.
“Check it out.” Said Soul Patch as Matt pried the door open. I went inside and Matt griped under his breath. If he didn’t like it so much, I don’t know why he came at all. I was a big boy, except that I can’t open doors. Doors, the foe of zombie kind, like stairs and sidewalk cracks. It’s the little things that get you.
“What is it?” What was what? I’d stopped walking again. Staring at something. I think I’d heard something, “Is someone in there?” No one alive. I jerked my head, my throat was so tight. I turned my head and bit mindlessly at the air. The handle rattled and I think I was more startled than Matt. He had a gun whipped out in no time flat. He was shaking as he pointed the think at the door. I had to wonder if he’d ever fired the damn thing. He looked like a joke. He sounded a bit like a joke when he rattled off something indiscernible at the door. No one was breathing in there, probably just a zombie. A few rounds in the door should have handled it. Except… I must have been off my rocker because the knob rattled a bit more and something thudded against the door. It clicked and creaked open.
Matt looked at me. Well… The undead were my area of expertise. Wandering forward I hit the door with my head to draw it open. A shadow shuffled away and I pursued, thankfully loosed by Matt. I ventured deeper… But the room, it seemed, was empty. I turned around and returned. Nothing to see there, “Well?” He asked. I didn’t know what he wanted me to do. Tricks? I hadn’t seen anything, time to press on. Zombies don’t open doors, where would it have gone?
Lowering the gun, Matt watched the door. I was already moving on.
“It stinks in here.” Matt complained as I tripped over a soft pile of crumpled flesh. They were beyond recognition, but the clothes said they were breathers once. Unless someone had been playing dress up with some really big dogs. Possible, “Over here.” He tugged and I stumbled into a nearby wall that I hadn’t seen. I tried to make it seem like I did that on purpose by leaning on it as Mitch crouched down to rummage through a cabinet.
I shook my head as my restraints twitched, then began to rub and hit my skull against the wall. It took my mind off things at least. Rattling what was left of my brains felt kind of goo-wah? My jaw flapped open as I realized that something was wrong. It took a moment to pinpoint it, even longer to comprehend. The door Mitch had closed behind us was open. All the knocking about I’d done had muffled the sound of it opening but now that I’d stopped, the bang of the knob hitting the wall rang out. Matt hit his head on the counter on the way up. It would have been funny if I wasn’t staring into the gaping hole of half a face.
My head fell to the side. The popping pistol in Matt’s hand blasted beside my head and the world, which had seemed slow, suddenly reeled into action. The raspy hiss of the intruder leaked into the air as it, he, raised both arms and launched himself at us. Well, more at Matt I guess, but I butted it. His arms went around either side of me and he clawed widely for that warm body behind me before I charged forward and rammed him into the wall. His jaw worked awkwardly as I pulled away. He looked confused as I stared as his ripped face and watched his teeth clack together. So familiar… Doors…
Bang bang went the gun, pulling me back to my senses. This time I turned to Matt and snarled at him. I snapped my teeth at him before turning again. Half-face was trying to get past me to Matt. I rammed him into the window, it shattered. Matt was mine. There was a struggle there, the glass crunching all around until something was ripped away from my neck and we all stopped again. Matt’s gun only clicked now when he pulled the trigger. He was a terrible shot anyway.
The half-faced zombie was holding the collar in hand now and making a weird barking noise at me. I turned to look at Matt. He was okay. His hands were shaking though and he kept dropping the clip he was trying to load. By the time he got it right… The attacker was gone. Weird.
It didn’t take more than that incident to get us the hell out of there. I think Matt nearly pissed himself.
~
There was tension in the air when we got back to camp. ‘Mom’ was fussing over my clothes and Matt was talking to someone that was not me, “There,” She said making sure my muzzle was tight on my head before patting me on the head like a good little boy, “Now go on and play.” Tiny hands were grabbing mine and I looked down at the crazy little apes that thought I was a good playmate. I don’t actually know which ones belonged to ‘mom’ because all of them called her that. Seemed like a lot for one breather. ‘Course I’m not so good with the numbers anyway.
Two boys tugged my arm and led me away. I looked back at Matt but he was talking to the adults. How did I get grouped in with the kids? I never got to be involved in the important discussions… I sulked.
“Mom said you saw another zombie.” One of the little monkeys said. Surprising, it was a mellow tempered little girl. She looked a lot like ‘mom’ to my dead eyes, “Was he like you?” I didn’t know. If I remembered at all, maybe I’d have a semblance of a clue. But I didn’t. One of the other monkeys crossed in front of me to get to her and pulled her hair, she cried something fierce and I rasped at the boy and grabbed for him. Quick little devil was gone before I could even see him go. The girl rubbed her head and sniffled a bit, “Was not.” She mumbled grabbing my arm protectively. I tried to touch her but instead of obeying my arm shook violently in dismay at having been told to do anything at all and I gave it up to stare on at the boys as they ran off to play. One waved for me to stay and within moments they were all gone from sight.
I should probably find them…
Girl still attached like a leech to my side, I stumbled into the forest. It was getting dark and cool. Following the faint heat of bodies, we wandered deeper until I lost the trail. I stood dumbfounded a moment before looking up in a tree. The boy squealed and jumped down. He looked so pleased to be found. Looking at the two I could swear there had been more and I moved on to find the others.
My movements were awkward and stiff as I shuffled over the ground, stumbling over every damn little thing. Woods sucked. A scream cracked through the silent trees and I snapped to attention. Groaning eagerly, I moved a lot faster towards the source unsure if I was hurrying to help or hurt. Quiet little thumps sounded as I got closer and the sound of… Something that didn’t sound at all normal. The little breathers following me pulled at my back to stop me, but they were much too small to slow me.
Rounding a large trunk, something in the corner of my eye moved from sight and a couple of little gremlins rushed over to me. One attached himself to my hip and the other was shouting frantically and pointing at nothing. I stared into the darkness. I couldn’t sense anything, no sight, sound, or heat.
Something much stronger than the little hands on my body grabbed hold of my shoulder and whirled me around. I leaned back away from the woman who shouted clipped words in my face and growled as I was shaken. Raising the only arm I had free, I tried to swipe at her but she shoved me back hard and grabbed one of the little ones, “Stop it!” Shrieked the one that had been flailing at the mysterious danger. He was saying something quickly to her and she backed off, but didn’t look any less suspicious of me.
I was yanked up to my feet by the shoulder and turned to another familiar face, “Are you okay?” I thought I was. I looked down to see but I seemed reasonably intact, “What happened?” I looked at the boy who was waving his arms around. I hoped the racket he was making made more sense to everyone else. And it seemed it did because all of us were gathered, “Where’s Freddy?” Who? The man made a low gesture. Oh… We were missing a small one. I looked around cluelessly. The world around me felt so warm with bodies, “Go on! We’ll find him.” The man waved the others on as he pulled my mask to lead me away. Soon enough, I was leading the way following something faint and attractive in the darkness. With an arm under my shoulder, we moved pretty quickly until my breathing companion’s better eyes spotted whatever he was looking for. He ducked under my arm and ran forward shouting something or another. I saw the concern when I followed after him.
I’m pretty sure breathers weren’t supposed to be upside down. I moved in close and curiously circled around. That was a pretty cool trick. How did he do that? I nudged the boy and he swung. It made him cry and the older one gave me a smack for it. Groaning I backed off.
A twig snapped somewhere to… Uh, my side, and I cocked my head. Had we brought someone else. Though I suppose someone wouldn’t have been accurate. I couldn’t feel the heat of a breather, or anything else for that matter that way.
Hello?
I looked back at the two breathers. The small one was on the ground now and being lifted up, “Mitch, come!” Ask me nicely. I looked away but began to move his direction anyway. I didn’t quite make it though as I ran into a tree. I tried to maneuver around it… But it moved to meet me and I couldn’t seem to figure it out. Frustrated I shoved into the solid object until it moved. I didn’t realize I was so strong.
Triumphantly I stepped onto it and it made a noise. Did trees make noises? I looked down at it. That wasn’t a tree, “Mitch, hurry up!” They hadn’t noticed it, him. I wondered if I should tell them. I stepped off of him and he got up. He was quiet, watching as the two breathers headed away. Then he grimaced at me. Reaching out for me, the half-faced zombie grabbed at my face. With a groan I shook him away and turned around to go. I should probably tell them about this… But I kind of… Liked him.
“Hazel! He’s here.” Called the man with the mark on his arm and a woman rushed to collect the child as we neared the fire. A plain looking girl with two boys following her came to see too. But no one really made it. They stopped and stared… And I stared back.
“What the fuck is that?” The ordinary one pointed at me. No wait. Not me. I turned. At us. Half face…
I’ve been writing down songs that remind me of the story, like a soundtrack for it. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know and I’ll give them a listen. So far there are some definite songs that I like for the story and then I have a list of ‘candidates’ which are songs that have either the feeling or lyrics that fit but not quite a combination of the two. So I’m still on the fence about them.
Also, let’s all just ignore the long hiatus there.
Soundtrack-
The Lumineers- Ho Hey (Specifically for the very end of the last chapter, the campfire song scene)
Fall Out Boy- Sugar We’re Going Down (Oh you get to figure out why I picked this one yourselves)
Scissor Sisters- I Can’t Decide (Portrays Mitch and Matt’s sometimes feisty relationship)
Cage The Elephant- Shake Me Down (Pretty much Mitch in general)
Other Candidates-
The Airborne Toxic Event- Changing
The Strokes- Is This It?
The Strokes- You Only Live Once
Oingo Boingo- No One Lives Forever
Styx- The Best Of Times (the right lyrics, not the right sound)
Grouplove- Tongue Tied
Of Monsters and Men- Mountain Sound