Other Side

by Rose, Isabella C.

  Everyone thought he would play football; his plan was to study literature. That surprised me because I had the misconception all jocks were the same. All brawn and no brains. Jaime was intelligent. It was nice to just talk and relax for once. The wine helped me open up, the edges of my brain softened as I grew tipsy. We laughed at nothing, and as the night grew late, and finished the food. I tucked into Jaime, feeling my eyes growing heavy. He must have left a while ago. I stared out the window, seeing the sun shining in, casting a shadow on the walls. It had to be sometime mid-morning. Checking my watch, I saw I was right: it was 10 AM. I never slept in; the wine must have really overtaken my natural ability to wake up early. My mouth was dry, and I wanted water so badly. Sitting up, I groaned as my head spun. Leaning my head on my hands until the spinning ceased, I found a bottle of water, aspirin, and a note at the end of the blankets.

  Vi,

  Last night was one of the best nights of my life. Thank you for making me one of the happiest guys around!

  The water and aspirin are for the headache I am sure you will have since you have never drunk before, and we finished the whole bottle. Take it easy and eat something simple such as toast in case you get sick. You should be fine. I didn’t want to wake you because you looked so beautiful sleeping. I found it adorable that you snore.

  I will see you soon,

  Your boyfriend (I really like the ring of that)

  I held the note to my chest and fell back onto the makeshift bed. My head ached at the sudden movement. Closing my eyes, I replayed the night in my mind. It had been one of the best nights of my life too. We talked and kissed. It was close to perfection. Jaime had wormed his way into my life and my heart. He had said he was falling in love with me. Opening my eyes, I had a realization—I was falling for him too. I knew what love was from loving Jessica, but this was different. A stirring in my belly warmed me at the thought of Jaime. His touch made me want more. His smile made me feel happy. I made a vow to tell him when I saw him that I was falling for him too. I didn’t want to miss out telling him how I felt.

  Sitting up, I reached for the bottle and medicine, taking two aspirin. They hit my stomach like a solid brick. I pulled the blanket over my head and decided I could take a day off from the lab. I needed more sleep.

  ***

  The next time I woke the sun had faded. My watch said it was 5:30 PM. It shocked me I had slept so long. My head felt better as I moved to get up; my stomach made the loudest growl I had ever heard. I folded the blanket and placed the food containers, glasses, and empty bottle in the picnic basket, cleaning up our mess. We didn’t need ants getting in for scraps; they had a way of finding a hole in for food. Our kitchen at home always had ants coming in a window. I took one last glance at the attic before turning off the lights and going downstairs.

  I went to my room, dropping the basket by my door. As much as I was ready for some food, I needed a shower and to brush my teeth. Sleeping on the floor even with a makeshift bed was not the best idea, my body soaked up the hot water. I had never been one to lounge in the shower, but today was a day of firsts. First drink, first boyfriend, first sleep-in, and first steamy long shower. When I finally felt half-human, I turned the shower off and wrapped a towel around me stepping into my room.

  My hands flew to the towel, holding it closed. Gracie sat bouncing on the side of the bed.

  She saw me and stopped moving, “Did you and Jaime do it? Eww, gross don’t answer I can’t think of you and him like that!”

  “What are you doing in here?” I thought I had locked the door.

  “Oh, yeah, sorry. Trying to get that mental image wiped from my brain. I was sent to tell you that the others think they heard some noises outside.” She bounced one last time and landed on the rug at the end of the bed.

  My mind grasped on what she said, “What do you mean they heard something? Like zombies?”

  “Uh, I don’t know, they wouldn’t tell me. I’m just a kid to them.” She stuck her tongue out at the word “kid.” “They said to find you since you’re the brains, and all the men are gone.”

  Gone? I rushed to cut her off at the door before she left. “What do you mean the men are gone? And noises?”

  “Dude, don't pop a boob out at me, I am a kid and that would traumatize me,” she said jokingly.

  “Focus—what do you mean the men are gone? Like all the men? And my boobs would not traumatize you, they are perky,” I teased her back, but my worry was growing.

  “See, now, I sure knew you had a sense of humor and the men went to scout the area to see if they could find any other survivors. Your boyfriend came down spouting how they should start looking for others.”

  I felt the blood drain from my face. Jaime had been talking about his football friends last night and how he wondered if they survived. He must think of finding others who might be alive. It was a sound idea, but to leave without me, he could be trapped like I had been when we got swarmed in town.

  “Why did no one find me to go?” I demanded.

  “Please, those guys got all macho and said they could handle it without you when Brandi told them to talk it over with you.”

  “That was stupid,” I said.

  “I’ll say. Men think they can do anything without a woman. We all know we’re the brains of this operation,” she said smirking. “Can I go now? You got that look on your face that says I'm going to march right down there and give them a piece of my mind like my Ma always looked when my Da did something real dumb.”

  “Yeah.” I opened the door to let her out, locking it for sure this time.

  Not wasting time, I got dressed. I didn’t even put my hair up; I brushed it and let it hang down. No time to fuss with it. Gracie was right, I wanted to give the men a piece of my mind. How could they think that they didn’t have to consult the entire house? We were in this together, and I had tried to convey that to everyone. Jaime of all made me so angry because he’d told me he cared and then ran off to danger.

  Once I made my way downstairs, I found the rest of the house in the kitchen. I watched from the doorway a moment, trying to calm myself. Anger did no good, I knew that from my short life with an abusive parent. Brandi sat on a barstool leaning on the island, Annette stood by the stove cooking something. Peggy Sue stood next to Brandi talking to Annette. Julia, Gracie, and Connor sat at the eat-in kitchen table nook; they seemed to be coloring. I had passed Tiffany in the living room watching TV. It was all too domesticated for my liking. The men were out “hunting,” while the women were at home in the kitchen. I had never wanted the traditional stereotype of being the housewife. Breathing deeply, I went into the room.

  “Hey, girl!” Brandi patted a stool on her left.

  The rest of the room stared as I entered. Any anger I held onto deflated at Brandi’s invite. I took the seat and asked, “What noise did you gals hear? Where have all the men gone?”

  Brandi let out a huff. “Them idiots!”

  “I thought I heard some scratching last night,” commented Julia.

  “Now, now. They had a valid point. To answer your question—they are searching the outlying homes to see if any of the other neighbors have survived,” Annette answered.

  “Scratching, like zombies?” I questioned.

  “I’m not sure, I might have just been tired, but I wanted to tell you all in case it was something,” added Julia.

  “We can keep an ear out for any stranger noises. Did the men have a plan? Enough guns? Did they leave us with enough protection? What about Roth?” I threw the most pertinent questions I had out there.

  “Don’t cha’ worry, girly. My Buck will take care of them. We got plenty of protection left here.” She patted her sidearm strapped to her hip. “As for that bastard Roth, he is still in his room griping up a storm.”

  “Besides, what are we? Chop liver?” Gracie suggested.

  “Honey, you can be a kid here, the grown-ups can take care of things,” Julia told Gracie.

  “Hey, I survived
and took out quite a few them bastards all on my own!” Gracie folded her arms across her chest.

  Julia looked to us to back her up. I knew Gracie was capable of handling herself, even if she was young. Julia was right that she should try and be a child for as long as she could. This new world was not a kind one; the old one was far from it either. I took pity on Julia.

  “Language, Gracie,” Annette said.

  “Of course not, you are one of the bravest people I know.” I avoided the word “kid.”

  That got a grin from Gracie, and Annette stirred the pot on the stove humming. I had to admit at least to myself that I worried for Jaime, and all the guys’ safety.

  “How long have they been gone? Is there a set window they are to return?”

  Brandi slung her arm around my shoulders. “They been gone what, about three hours?” she guessed asking the room.

  “I’d say about that. Gracie, can you set the table, please?” Annette asked.

  “Sure.”

  “They figured a day or two to reach the closest five houses and they are gathering supplies at any empty houses. Leaving notes in case someone shows up for them to come here. I doubt they find any, most of the mansions on the mountain are not occupied this time of year,” Peggy Sue answered.

  How could they be so calm, and act as if half of our group was not out in the world with monsters?

  Chapter Forty-Four

  It drove me crazy how relaxed everyone seemed to be. After dinner I went to the lab to keep myself occupied. I laid out the skin samples I took from the zombies. The color of the skin reminded me of when a body was decomposing, turning a gray tint. Was this due to the lack of oxygen in the blood? Or was the virus affecting other parts of the body? I should have taken a brain sample, but circumstances limited my samples. Analyzing the brain could tell me so much about the way this virus worked within the central computer of the body. Figuring out why humans turned, becoming mindless zombies, but after more time passed, they became aware. Learning from watching or possibly the person’s natural functions came back online. All things to work over in my research.

  Back to the skin, I wrote all the details I could see with the naked eye. One thing stood out to me, the smell. One would think that flesh rotting would have a pungent smell, yet this sample didn’t. The zombies that we had encountered had a rotten smell. Could it be that the zombies were still alive but the virus was taking over giving the resemblance of death? Was the sample not affected by the virus being removed from the host?

  Taking the sample, I placed it under the microscope. Focusing the lens, I viewed the skin. The initial look seemed to be normal, the cells forming layers and some of the cells flaking off. Adjusting the scope to a different level showed the same. The skin was like a normal person’s skin, purple hue and sandy color of the dead flaking skin cells. This backed my theory that the zombies are not dead, just changed. The only abnormality thus far being the blood. I needed more samples to figure this out. Thinking back to the mine, I remembered the zombie dripping saliva. Did I take a sample? Going to the cooler, searching. No. Being dehydrated, my mind was not as sharp as usual in the mine.

  No such luck. The one zombie that fell while we were in the cage in the mine was squished under the cage, only extremities stuck out; and the other Buck had smashed in the head. Any sample from that would have been contaminated. Getting samples from live zombies would prove difficult and hazardous. There had to be another way to acquire specimens. Setting a trap such as a roasted chicken? But the zombies ignored the dogs in Blackbird. Human flesh seemed to be the preferred source of food. Would they be attracted to blood? I could siphon off a pint of blood about every three months. A pint should be plenty to start with, but I had no idea if only blood would work. Was it the blood or the skin that attracted a zombie to it? Setting a trap close to the house could also prove to be a bad idea, bringing zombies close to our safe house. I needed a location close enough to access, but far enough away to keep the house safe. Besides the fact that I would need help setting up a trap station and half the house was still gone.

  Jaime fluttered across my mind; he ended up being more than I had hoped. I was mad he left without me and without a single word, but I couldn’t be upset he wanted to help others. It was a trait I had myself. First was my family, Brandi, but our small group had become a surrogate family for me. If humanity was to continue, we needed resources and numbers. The zombies in town had formed large numbers. We had almost died to that massive surge of them working together. The rest of mankind needed to bond together to have any chance at survival.

  We also had to contend with the weather changing. The East Coast didn’t have harsh winters; the coast brought storms that could potentially be hazardous. Flooding. Cutting off our access to the roads as they were dirt roads up there in the mountains. Would zombies last in the coastal towns if flooding occurred? Could zombies swim or breathe underwater? Too many questions with no answers or probability of finding an answer anytime soon.

  My eyes itched. I rubbed them in hopes of clearing the strain. I had been in the lab a few hours and needed a break. I would make no progress with fatigue wearing on me. Cleaning up the samples, I would need to add fresh ice packs. Placing the samples in the cooler and taking the melted ice packs up to the bathroom to sterilize, I had them replaced with fresh ones that I had set up in the deep freezer in the pantry. I grabbed a new zip-lock bag and placed the melted packs inside. I did not want to contaminate the rest of the freezer if any of the zombie virus could potentially infect the food. It was not the best solution, yet I needed to keep the packs frozen. The samples should not be able to cross-contaminate if kept frozen.

  Entering the kitchen, I saw the clock showed it being past 2 AM. The house sounded quiet, most probably everyone had retired for the night. The windows still had the storm shutters on them, so no light could penetrate. I had not closed the attic window shutter; best to be safe and go do that. We did not know if the zombies could climb. After exchanging the ice packs, I made my way to the attic.

  As I opened the door to the attic, the moonlight streamed in through the sky window. I walked over to the window; I didn’t need a light to make my way. I stared out into the night. The tops of the trees were visible along with the yard around the house. The garage set off to the left. The night seemed too still, eerily so. Back home, there was not a lot of noise being a small town, but the hum from the power lines and the occasional car going by could be heard. Here nothing made noise. Out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw a movement at the edge of the trees. Leaning close to the window, I squinted to peer into the distance. It was probably my imagination, but I stepped back out of the sight of anyone who could see up into the window, watching the spot where I thought I spotted movement. A shadow in the shape of a person moved into view. I held my breath as I tried to make out if the shadow was a person, zombie, or the trees casting light funny. I stood there for what felt like an hour; the shadow didn’t move. My legs grew tired from standing still in one spot. I went to the window and put my hand on the switch to bring the shutters closed. The shadow moved back as the shutters made a slight squeak as they closed. A chill ran down my spine, something was definitely out there. I would have to tell the others, especially after Julia said she had heard scratching the night before too. We needed to know what that shadow was.

  ***

  Watching from the trees as the one she wanted the most came to the window, the meat. Drool fell from her mouth.

  “Sooooooonnnnn mmmmeeeaaatt,” she whispered moving out of sight.

  She kept watching the spot, moving closer, but not enough for the meat to see her. She ran a hand over her head, where the piece was missing and scabbed over. Scratching her head, skin fell off in her hand.

  “Miiinnnee.”

  The meat moved again and put the block on the window.

  “Tiiisss ooookkkk meeaaatt, IIIIIII gettttt mmmmmeeaaattttt,” she ran her tongue over the ragged teeth. Sharp.

 
; Turning to the forest, she strolled hunched over. She came to the spot the others waited ringed around the meat. They growled at her; she bared her teeth to show dominance. They lowered their heads and let her pass to the center; the meat curled in a ball, crying.

  “Sssshhhhhh giirlll,” she tried to comfort the meat. She needed the meat ready tomorrow. Meat will become one of them. Meat will bring other meat to them. Feast!

  ***

  After a sterilizing rinse in the shower, I got into bed. Laying down looking at the ceiling, the day’s events ran through my head. I was no closer to finding what was causing the virus. Only more questions with no answers. Jaime and the others hadn’t returned. I checked on my way to my room. Not being a religious person, I prayed they all made it back safely, and if they found other survivors, that meant others might be out there too. Scientists, doctors, and others that could help figure out the virus.

  I turned on my side. Then the other side. I was tired, but my mind would not switch off. That shadow never leaving the back of my mind. What was it? Or who was it? It could be a zombie, they moved differently at the strip mall, and then in the forest. Making a planned trap. Could zombies be watching the house without trying to attack? Could they be at a point where they came full circle back to some human nature? It could even be another human, like Jaime and the others looking for survivors. Or like Roth, out for themselves, looking to steal our resources. Too much told me there was something, not just my mind and eyes playing tricks on me. I felt it in my bones.