Love, Lust, and Zombies

by Mitzi Szereto

  The ocean-blue liquid is pumped into my arm. I feel it hit my veins, flow down, electrifying each one of my senses. I open my eyes, seeing the world in color once again. The disadvantage of being a zombie: when the infection starts to take over, the only sense I have left is my ability to smell blood. I become a monster.

  I stand up and move over to the breakfast bar, waiting in line the best way a zombie can, moaning, and watch as the others in front of me are handed food. When it’s my turn, I stare at the hunk of bloody fat, probably from the ass of a cow, take it and stumble to my table next to Marcus.

  I hate what I am. I hate what I feel. Picking up the mass, I gorge down as much as I can. The hunger subsides, but never quits. Food has lost its taste; everything in sight is flat and uninspiring. Just my sense of smell remains, leaving me with the salty sweat of bodies, the iron in blood, even the death of sheep in wool. It is so exact that I can detect a human yards away to almost the exact spot. But what good is that? I’m not allowed to eat humans. That is, when they’re found. The human race has become scarce. I haven’t seen one in months. Much like a vampire with the sun, my enemy is time and one day I will turn to dust.

  I bury my face into the chunk of fat, feeling the squishy lump roll around in my mouth until I swallow. Marcus is watching me eat, blood running down his chin. Pulling away, I snarl at him. He is my best friend, but he can’t have my breakfast. We don’t have many conversations. He’s more of the silent type, like myself. I know what he wants and he knows what I want: food. That’s all any zombie wants.

  The bell for school rings as I finish my last bite. Why send monsters to school? Each of us is taught different skills, the number one being not to eat anything that isn’t dead. In this world, that’s a very fine line. School makes my dead skin crawl.

  I trudge down the hall to my first class and my least favorite. Its occupants are an array of monsters: zombies, vampires, ghosts and harpies. Marcus and I are the only zombies present. Most are vampires. Those sick bastards love to taunt us. They get off on being supreme beings. It’s not my fault I can barely speak, or do anything. Just like it isn’t the ghosts’ fault they aren’t corporeal. Harpies are nasty creatures. One moment they sit still, keeping a penetrating stare on whatever is closest to them. The next minute they’re snapping and gargling, crying out for support from their comrades. No one is sure why, but they seem to think they’re always under attack. Maybe it’s the bird instinct?

  I sit at a desk with etchings ground into the wood. My fingers trace each marking. A heart. Not the kind I eat, but the kind showing love. Some names are inside of it. If my lips weren’t cracked and peeling, I would smile. Seeing this sign of affection reminds me of Dani. She’s a vampire, but not like any of the others. Dani doesn’t do the stupid shit the others do, like lace flesh with cocaine.

  “Hey, corpse!”

  As I turn, I’m hit in the head with a book. In response I grunt and try to kick the book, but my feet move too slowly to get any distance on it. Drac’s deep, breathy laugh fills the room. He’s one of the richest vampires, only drinking pure blood, not the twenty percent crap the rest get. Other females rub against him, each flashing how long their fangs are. Strange, the longer the fang the sexier the girl. As zombies, we feel in our hearts what we like, but our bodies don’t respond.

  I turn back to the front of the room as Dani walks in. She tucks a lock of her golden-blonde hair behind her ear as she glances at me. I half wave, trying to get my arm to work. She smiles, mouths, “Hey,” and sits down two chairs over.

  Marcus begins laughing next to me.

  “W-what?” I ask.

  “You pathetic. T-talk to her.”

  My head sways a bit to the right while I think. Finally I ask, “What I say?”

  “You want to screw her?”

  My top lip pulls up in a snarl. Marcus may be right, but I can’t tell Dani that. Thankfully it isn’t possible for me to turn red, or I would. My answer is to moan at Marcus. He grunts.

  Class is a blur like always. My teacher moves his hands over the whiteboard, describing coping skills to deal with the hunger. I don’t pay attention today. I watch as Dani twirls her pencil around her fingers like a baton, clicks her blood-flavored gum between her fangs and digs her razor-sharp nails into the wooden desk. Every move she makes is like magic, such grace, such innocence, like she doesn’t know I’m watching her. But a girl this beautiful has to know she’s being watched. Is she putting on a show for me?

  Dani glances over at me and smiles, her fangs gleaming in the fluorescent light. What do I do? Should I look away? Try waving again? If I don’t do something soon she’ll think I’m creepy, if she doesn’t already. Maybe it’s the gray shirt I chose to wear? Bloodstains never do it for the ladies.

  The bell announcing the end of class rings. As I’m bending over to get my things, Drac walks past, slamming his shoulder bag against my head, forcing it to crash into the wooden desk. It doesn’t hurt, well, not physically. My pride does take a hit. My fist comes down hard on the desk, echoing throughout the room. I grit my teeth together and grunt as loud as I can, my way of telling him to go to hell. Drac puts his hands on his cheeks, mimicking a scared child. It reminds me of Home Alone.

  “Oh, help me! The scary zombie might do something!” Drac says in a girlie voice.

  I want to get up, sink my teeth into his throat and rip him to shreds. I want to feel his cold blood trickle down my chin. But I can’t do that. In the end he’ll heal, as all vampires do, and I’ll get my punishment: a week without food. So I opt for staring him down, trying to make my lifeless eyes blaze with hatred. He smiles, shakes his head and leaves the room.

  Then it hits me. Dani is still in the room and probably witnessed the entire scene. Fabulous. Nothing like being knocked around by the biggest dumbass and the girl you like watching it. I grab my books and walk as fast as my stiff legs can carry me. If I can avoid Dani maybe she won’t say anything about Drac, or me staring at her. I’m almost to the door. One more step…

  “Hey, Nicholas,” Dani says, standing in the doorway.

  “Hey, D-Dani. How are you?”

  “Oh, okay. Want to go to a party tonight?”

  I can feel my lips part, or maybe my mouth muscles have loosened, but I concentrate on finding an excuse not to go. I’ve never been on a date. I’ve never even seen one. What does a zombie do on a date? How do I dress? Will there be special food, like brains?

  Marcus slaps me on the back. “Of course, he’ll g-go. He’s been…wanting to go out for…long time.”

  Dani smiles. “Okay. Meet me at Brad’s around three.”

  I nod.

  She winks before heading off to her next class. I watch her move, the way her hips sway, how each leg steps with a purpose. I want to reach out and smooth my dry hands over her soft flesh, show her how much she means to me. I may be only eighteen, but Dani is the same age. Each year that I’ve known her, I find myself intrigued by her even more.

  Marcus pushes me through the door. “You have date.”

  “What I do?” I ask.

  “When school over, I t-take you home. Make you look n-nice.”

  I take Marcus at his word. He’s never done me wrong before. I try to keep moving my fingers so they don’t stiffen up, another zombie side effect. They shake, so I opt for putting them in my pockets. If Marcus knew how nervous I am, he might decide to talk a bit more, probably poking fun at me.

  The rest of the school day I focus on what I’m going to say. When you’re not a man of many words, each one counts.

  I walk into the house, taking my time to look for Dani. I’m surrounded by the vampires who think they’re hot shit. The girls are dressed with skirts hiked high, but not enough to show any bits. Low-cut blouses and glimpses of side boob finish their looks. I grunt and turn in the other direction. Vaguely, I can make out the forms of ghosts. Their bodies or what could be called bodies sway, floating above the ground. One turns my way, its eyes becoming red. Ghosts hat
e zombies. They believe all dead should be spirits. I think they wish they still had bodies.

  The lights in the room hurt my eyes. I took my anti-rot shot before I left, but it isn’t stopping the strobe lights and disco ball from reflecting horribly in my pupils. I decide it’s best to go somewhere…darker. I know, cliché that a monster hides in the darkest room, but what can I say? I am what I am.

  On my way I am knocked into and stumble against a side table. A harpy snaps at me, her eagle-like wings quivering with her anger. Harpies, the beasts that think they should be on top of the food chain, are nasty and hard to deal with. It’s best to stay away from them. I moan, nod and keep going.

  I walk down the hall, getting as far from the deafening music and jumping monsters as I can. Why am I here? Dani asked me, so where is she? Maybe she invited me as a joke? Maybe she and her sick friends wanted to see if I’d actually come? I begin to regret my decision to attend. The dark corner seems so far away. Time to leave.

  I trudge back around, counting down the seconds until I can leave.

  “Nicholas! You came!”

  I see Dani standing by the main party room, holding a clear cup filled with blood. I can smell and almost taste the copper liquid from here. She runs up to me, and kisses me on the cheek. Her lips, much warmer than mine, send shivers through my body. What is this sensation? It makes me feel alive and not like a corpse. Those cells she touched are dancing, moshing at the feel of Dani’s skin. I want more of it. I want more of her. My hand moves slow, too slow, to reach for her. Instead she grabs me, pulling me down to the open space in the middle of the living room. She lets go of my wrist, smiling as a new song begins blaring out of the speakers. Dani sways her hips to the beat, gyrating ever so close to my body.

  They say people feel music in their bodies and react. I don’t. At least, it doesn’t seem I can. I’m waiting, but nothing is happening to my body. I try tapping my foot. Still nothing. Dani sees me struggling and takes my hands in hers. She lifts them up and down, side to side, apparently attempting to get some movement out of me. Looking over, I see a male harpy bobbing his head to the beat. Maybe I could do that…

  “Nicholas, you look like a chicken after its feed,” Dani says, laughing.

  I stop, grunting in shame. So much for being smooth. I turn my attention to a vampire. He has another against him, her ass shaking. His hands are on her hips, helping her grind more into him. They seem to be having fun, but I can’t see myself being that confident or disrespectful to the girl I finally got to talk to me.

  Dani takes my face in her hand. “Hey. Don’t pay any attention to them. Let’s do things our way.”

  Dani places her palms on my hips from behind, moving them with the beat. It feels odd, like an insect is crawling over my body and I’m trying to get rid of it, but I go along. The more I work at it, the better I feel I’m getting. Dani comes back in front of me. She takes my hand and twirls herself in circles, her blonde hair flowing in the air. There is a glow about her, like someone has a flashlight beneath her skin. If this is the reaction I get from dancing with her, I never want to stop. She does another twirl, then another. I see a vampire dip a girl. I try it, bending her down, hoping to support her back. Utter failure. My grasp isn’t as tight as I would have hoped and I drop her.

  My eyes widen. Stupid. How dumb can I get? I help Dani up. At first she scans the room, looking for anyone who may have seen our mishap. When it seems we’re in the clear, she turns to me and rests her cheek on my chest. I’m not sure what I’m doing, but my arms wrap around her, holding her close to me. It’s probably the vibrations from the music, but it feels like she has a heartbeat pressing against me. I never want to let go. Spending both of our immortal lives in this very spot doesn’t seem like such a bad idea.

  “Want to go somewhere more…quiet?” Dani asks.

  I nod. “Sure.”

  Taking my hand, Dani leads me down the hall to an empty bedroom. My nerves almost shake from my body. She opens the first door. We hear giggling and the sound of sheets rustling. Dani quickly closes the door, turns to me and covers her mouth to stifle a laugh. The next room has practically the same scene. We reach the end of the hall. The darkness is welcoming against the craziness of the party behind us. She tries the door, and when we walk in, it is completely dark except for the moonlight shining in through the window. Dani takes my hand and leads me to the bed. Again, her touch is magical, electrifying, like lightning. I want more. I never want her to let go.

  Dani sets her blood-filled cup on a table and rests her hand on my thigh. I stare at it, noticing how much more properly manicured they are than mine. To my surprise she has her nails painted with sunflower-yellow polish, not the typical crimson her friends wear. I shiver as her finger moves ever so slightly on my leg. What am I going to do? I don’t want her to move it, yet shaking doesn’t seem like much of a turn-on. I opt for focusing on the way Dani’s blonde locks brush her shoulders. If only I could reach out and feel those strands. I bet they’re silky, like satin. As I’m moving my hand to feel them, Dani turns to me, her fangs tainted red.

  “Thanks for coming,” she tells me.

  “No problem.”

  She smiles. “If I tell you a secret, can you keep it to yourself?”

  I nod, anxious. Not many tell me their private thoughts, even though I’m not known for running my mouth.

  She gets close to my ear and whispers, “I’ve always thought you were cute. You’re not like the other guys. Those dumbasses that think muscles and mouth are everything. You’ve got a good head on your shoulders.”

  Again, if I could blush, I would. I don’t know what to say, so I try to smile, but my dry lips aren’t exactly working.

  She pulls away, smiles like she’s a child who’s just seen Santa, and says, “I know you feel the same about me. I catch you checking me out.”

  My eyes shift from side to side. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. My friends wouldn’t approve, you know, you being a zombie and me a vampire.”

  I nod.

  Dani lifts her leg, straddling me. She seems weightless in my lap. Her breasts are inches from my face. I’ve never been in this position before in my afterlife. Something tells me I wasn’t much of a player before I died. I can’t really remember life before the infection. My earliest memories are of me falling to the ground, feeling each ounce of my being dying. The pain like needles stabbing my body, the headache like a sledgehammer to my scalp.

  Dani shifts in my lap, bringing me back to the present. She smiles, showing me impressively long fangs no longer blood-tainted, and places a kiss on my lips. At this point I can’t help myself. This is something I’ve wanted for years: to touch her, to kiss her. I rest one hand on her waist while the other moves to cup her face. Her tongue slides in my mouth. I become worried. My teeth aren’t exactly in great shape and are razor sharp at that. But Dani maneuvers that problem with ease. I try to massage her tongue with my own, but I can’t seem to get it working right. I can feel my body begin to shake. What if she thinks I’m weird? What if she realizes this is a mistake?

  She pulls away, smiling at me. “I know zombies aren’t exactly known for being slick, but don’t worry. Here, lie on your back. Let me take care of you.”

  I do as she asks, trying to relax on the sheets. Dani lifts my shirt and begins kissing my stomach. Not knowing what to do with my hands, I keep them at my sides. Her touch feels even better over my abdomen. I love the way her tongue dances over my flesh, tracing the veins of my body. I close my eyes and take a mock breath, melting more into the bed. I feel a button unclasp and hear the sound of a zipper being slid down. Now we come to the problem. I’ve never had an erection. Don’t even know if I can get one.

  Dani slides my pants down over my hips. I gaze down at my exposed prick. No life to it. Limp like bad sushi. Concentrating on making it hard doesn’t help either. What a time to have erectile dysfunction.

  Dani takes it in her mouth anyway. She’s careful with her fan
gs not to cut off anything I may need later. Her tongue slides around the base, massaging every inch of it. Her hand gently cups my balls. I moan, not sure if it’s my typical zombie moan or one of pleasure, but she giggles. The vibrations bring me to life, so to speak. An erection is coming, I know it. My hand tangles in her hair, moving with her as she bobs over me. Her tongue flicks the tip of my penis and I shiver, wanting more of her. She releases me and begins rubbing her breasts on my cock. I don’t even know I’m doing it until it happens, but I find myself reaching down her shirt, feeling the firm mound, the peaked nipple and the goose bumps from my touch. She smirks, continuing to grind her chest against me.

  Dani sighs and gets off me. My brow furrows until I see the problem. My prick still has no life to it. I may have felt it, been turned on to the point of exploding, but that didn’t matter to it. Apparently it stays dead. I pull my pants on and sit up. My shoulders have a noticeable shrug to them. How on earth am I going to be with Dani, the woman I’ve dreamt about for so long, when I can’t even react to her touch? I want to run, to get out of this house and away from my afterlife forever. I can’t even look Dani in the eyes.

  She grasps my chin, forcing me to look at her. “Hey, you’re dead. But only from the waist down. We can still have fun. We can go to carnivals and ball games. And if sex is so important it will be fun to see what you can do to me.” She winks.

  I nod. “Sorry.”

  “Don’t be. I’m not. It was worth trying, right?”

  “I guess…so. Been better if worked. Thing’s broken.”

  She waves a dismissive hand. “Nothing is ever broken. We’ll just have to work at it.” She takes my hand, leading me out of the room. When we hit the hall, she plants another kiss on my lips, again sliding her tongue in my mouth. This time my own tongue responds playfully, touching hers. Her hands wrap themselves in my hair, tugging on my short locks. I pull her close to my body, enjoying her warmer frame against mine.

  She steps back, beaming. “See? We can get things working. Now, how about we go enjoy the party?”