The movies never really prepare you for anything. In this case, the movies were far from the truth. The zombie apocalypse was nothing like anyone had ever really imagined it would be. Not in the movies, anyways. They don't just change. They die, something takes over their bodies, the reanimated corpses hunt down the rest of us. I mean, I guess it kind of sounds like some of the movies...maybe, but it doesn't feel like it. We have to bury our dead in coffins made of steel. Steel. It's crazy. Their eyes don't turn that milky blue like you see in movies, though. They look normal. Bloodshot, sure, but normal. And something-- I guess it's whatever takes over the bodies-- keeps them from rotting, as if they were still alive. All of 'em. So, yea, it can be a little bit difficult to pick out the zombie ones sometimes. Until they start following you, chasing you...killing you. Y'know.
The worst thing I saw, though, was this kid. Must've been only four or five, and one of the cutest kids I ever saw. Anyways, he was with an officer who'd saved him from being eaten and all that, but the kid slipped away while the officer's back was turned. The kid walked right over to one of the zombies and tried to hold it's hand, calling it "Mommy." The officer noticed too late. Kid got massacred by the thing that was originally his mother. Terrible, huh?
So anyways, I've never really been one to believe in things like supernatural and all. These zombies have some definite scientific explanation-- I think I read that it's some crazy parasite born from some virus or other. I don't know. I'm not a scientist, so I didn't really understand what all the words meant. So, really, I always thought those people that claimed to see ghosts and things like that were insane. Actually insane. So when everything started happening, I really thought I'd lost it, too.
I was living in this shelter compound with at least a dozen other people. Honestly, though, I think we had about fifty people living there. It was a decent group-- enough of us to get all the work done and then some. And pretty much all the lazy ones had gotten picked off by the zombies, so we were doing okay. Anyways, there was this one girl-- she was gorgeous-- her name was Georgia, but everyone called her Jo. I was totally in love with her, but I never imagined anything would come of that, what with it being the middle of an apocalypse and all. Not to mention, with only about fifty of us living there, I hardly expected any of them to be like me. Queer, that is. But that's beside the point. Jo and I, we really had something, y'know? Something that makes people uncomfortable because they're jealous that they haven't got it as good. But it didn't seem to be a bother to anyone. Life went on as usual-- just that me and Jo usually got to work together from that point on.
We were put on scavenging duty a few months after we became a public..."thing." Wasn't the first time we'd been put to the task, either. And, actually, it was one of my favorites. We went out into the town, searching for anything that might be useful. Batteries, food, clothes...whatever. Anything that might help. So we were exploring this old house-- could tell it used to be real nice, too-- and we run into a kid. She must have been maybe eight years old? I don't know-- I'm no good at telling kids' ages. Anyways, Jo, with her gentle heart, calls out to the kid, telling her it'll be alright. Course, we both got this feeling in our guts that this kid is a zombie, but neither one of us wants it to be true. So Jo's trying to get the kid to come out of the corner she's huddled in, and when she's close enough, the kid rips Jo to bits, pretty much. Eats some parts of her and all that. I was bolting. We'd made a pact-- if either one of us got killed, the other one couldn't just stand there and wait to die, too. Had to run, had to live.
So with tears streaming from my eyes, I raced back to the compound with my bag full of the stuff I'd collected. I told 'em all what happened and they did their best to comfort me. I mean, really. They really tried. That was when I started to feel like I was part of a massive family, and I loved all of 'em.
Couple days later, I'm sitting in the compound mourning the loss of my girlfriend, when I think I hear her voice behind me. I turn and look, not expecting to see anything, expecting it just to be my grief getting the better of me. And there she is. A bit bloodied and pretty....transparent. I blink, I rub my eyes, I shake my head. Nothing I do makes the image go away. I even tried throwing something at her, but it did nothing. She smiled the way she used to and floated-- that's right, floated-- closer. I muttered aloud about seeing things and going crazy. Then, I remember, clear as day, she said, "You're not goin' crazy, Bug. I'm here. I'm really here." I was terrified of going insane, so I ran. I ran away from her for the second time, tears streaming all over again.
That night, as I tossed and turned on my bed pallet, I saw her again. She seemed to glow as she moved towards me. An eerie, otherworldly sort of glow. I knew I had to be dreaming. Until Moose, the big guy on the pallet next to mine woke up and freaked because he saw her, too. It was Jo. A ghost, but it was Jo. With just about everyone in the room stirring at Moose's rather loud and terrified chattering, Jo disappeared. I jumped up, reaching out for her, but she was gone. The ghost sighting was the talk of the compound for the next two days.
A week after Jo's death, I was back on the duty roster. I had elected to be put on scavenging duty. People thought I had a death wish after seeing my dead girlfriend and all that. I didn't-- not really-- I just liked scavenging. So I was out and about with Moose, of all people. He's not exactly graceful, y'know. Big and lumbery, makes a lot of noise. Good guy, though. Anyways, we're looting this corner store when Jo just sort of...appears in front of me. She smiles, says hi. I kind of smile back. Moose comes 'round the corner and yelps at the sight of her. She rolls her eyes in that adorable way and tells him that "if he's just gonna keep screamin' everytime he sees her, she'll stop showin' up" or somethin' like that. Moose quiets down and tries to touch her, but I swatted his hand away. No one gets to touch my girlfriend without her permission. But she turns and says the real reason she's here now is to warn us-- there's a group of zombies headed for right where we are.
So we grab what we can and scurry out of the store. As we do, we see the group Jo was talking about. At the head of the group? Jo's body. Pristine in it's beauty. I mean, yea, there's some blood splatters all over her, but I mean, it's Jo. It's really Jo. And I think it saw me-- recognized me. 'Cause it stopped in it's tracks, staring at me. Beside me, Jo's ghost is telling me I need to run, to get out of there. Moose is yelling the same thing from a ways away-- he's already started running. Jo's body is suddenly bolting towards me, her face distorted with something like rage. I run like hell, leaving Jo's ghost behind to face the body she came from.
I make it back to the compound about five minutes after Moose. They thought I'd let myself be killed. I grin and tell them I would never do something stupid like that. Then I go on to tell them about how Jo's body is still out there, and it's weird 'cause her ghost is out there two. It's like she got split into two people when she died. We wonder if it happens to everyone or if Jo's just a special case, but none of us are scientists, and ghosts aren't really science anyways.
As the years go on, I age. Jo stays the same. Her ghost as pretty as the day she died. Even her body, which I run into every now and then, is still young and perfect. I don't know how it does it-- the parasite virus thing, I mean. How does it preserve them all so perfectly? At least we've finally found a way to kill them now-- and keep 'em dead. It was kind of funny to see everyone going for headshots and all that-- damn zombie movies. I mean, yea, if you can cut off the head, that seems to work for the most part. The body's still animated, but it rots-- slowly, but it rots. Y'see, what you gotta do is burn 'em. Cut off the head, keep it away from the body, 'cause there was a couple cases a few years back where the heads reattached themselves, and then you gotta burn 'em. Set 'em on fire. And make sure they burn up all the way.
We were twenty-three when Jo died-- well, I was. She was twenty-one. Now I'm reaching fifty-five. It's been a long apocalypse, but it's almost over now. Just a few more of 'em left out there. One of 'em's Jo. And it's my job to burn her. I won't let just anyone do it. So out I go-- these kids with me, they never knew the world before the apocalypse, and it's crazy to think they were born into this shithole of a world, but they're good kids. I spot Jo, and we stare one another down, just like that day thirty-someodd years ago. She runs at me, finally. I tell the kids to get ready-- they do. I yell the signal, and they grab her just in time. They've got these crazy hazmat suits on-- gotta make sure they all stay uninfected. Anyways, I chop of Jo's head, her perfect hair now glistening with her own blood. One of the kids grabs the head the way we taught him, and two of others drag the still moving body. They throw the pieces into two pits-- one for the body, one for the head. I douse each with some gasoline, strike the matches, and toss 'em into the pits. We all stand back and watch as the fire licks at the sky. Through the flames, I can see Jo's ghost. She smiles at me the way she used to, blows me a kiss. I swear she almost looks like she's crying, but maybe that's just my vision blurring from my own tears. But I do know that she's saying goodbye. This is the last time I'll ever see her.
Years later, I die in a hospital. A hospital. The world is slowly going back to what it was before the apocalypse. Well, same but better, really. As the light fades, I see Jo. She's waiting for me, a smile on her face. I wish I would hurry up and die faster so I can get to her quicker. Finally, the world disappears, the pain slips away, and I'm standing there, hand-in-hand, with Jo.
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