What Souls are Made Of

Chapter 9

Brilliant sunlight woke me up the following day.

"Morning, sunshine!" Millie chirped as she finished pulling the shades open.

"So bright, so early, pain, shooting, searing, why?" I mumbled incoherently.

"The sun is up, so we should be up!"

"Ugh, you're a morning person. Why are you so cheerful so early?" I scowled as I pulled myself up and rubbed my face to try to clear the haze of sleep away.

"I have news," she smiled.

"News... Where would you... What did you... Did you go out by yourself?"

"I didn't go out; I just when to the lobby for coffee." She handed me a cup, "you're welcome. I got you black. You seem like a black coffee kind of guy."

I mumbled a thank you without acknowledging that I was a black coffee kind of guy. In a brief moment of a once normal thought, I assessed Millie as a white wine kind of gal and longed for one last night at the neighborhood bar with my college friends.

"Hello? Don't you want to hear my news?"

"Yeah, yeah, what is it, Mil?" I lifted my eyes to meet hers while blowing on my coffee. "What?" As asked as her gaze stalled on me.

"Nothing, you just called me..."

"Sorry, Millie. What did you find out, Millie?"

"No, I like Mil. My friends all used to call me Mil. It's just been a little while since anyone has..."

"Been a friend," I finished for her.

"Yeah, something like that." I watched her shake the thought and what looked like a thread of tears away from her expression. "So the big sketchy secret of the area is that there is a zombie clan here."

"A zombie clan?" There was no such thing as a zombie clan. There were zombie hoards, mobs, and packs, but clan inspired organization, which required thought.

"Yeah, the locals say they are thinking zombies... like you. Well, kind of like you," she added with a shrug.

"Kind of like me?" I pressed.

"So, that's the thing. These zombies didn't seem to maintain their compassion. They are a bit more ruthless."

"Ruthless?"

"Yeah, they see their state as superior. They are stronger, faster, nearly indestructible. They see eating a human brain as eating a cheeseburger."

My mind recalled Avi's story of the power-hungry zombies he had parted with, and suddenly concern for Millie consumed me. "Fuck, we've got to get you out of here."

"No!" Millie demanded.

"What? Mil, a town filled with intelligent killing machines that want your brains is not a recipe for safety."

"But what if Sarah is with them? I mean, what if she just ended up here and is waiting for you to find her and show her a better way? You said she was here. If she is, that is where she'll be."

Millie was right, but as she spoke, the bubbling anxiety erupted inside me. If Sarah was here and she was with this clan, was she still my Sarah?

"You can't come with me," I asserted.

"Like hell, I can't. This town shoots a zombie on sight. One glance at your complexion, and you're dead. You need me!"

"I'm not bringing you to a clan of vicious zombies. It's not safe."

"You don't have an option."

"Really? And exactly what are you going to do if someone suspects I am a zombie? How do you plan to stop a speeding bullet, supergirl?"

"Easy, I'll just kiss you," she said casually before taking a sip of her coffee.

"I'm sorry, you will what now?"

"Kiss you," she shrugged. "No one will think a human girl and a zombie are together, so if it looks like someone is looking at you with suspicion, I'll plant a big fat kiss on you. Problem solved."

"No, the problem is not solved. First, I don't think that will stop someone from thinking I am a zombie. What if it makes them think you're a zombie?"

"Have you seen my perfectly tanned complexion? I am the picture of human health. I'm freaking glowing."

"Okay, what about this whole, kissing me part? I feel I should remind you that I'm taken."

"Oh, relax, Seth. It's not like I'm in love with you. It will be acting. Don't be so immature."

"Oh, I'm immature. This from the girl that just uttered the phrase 'I'm freaking glowing.'"

"I am glowing," she shot.

"I have terrible breath. It's from the calf brains. It is really, really terrible. I mean, I have mints, but that close..."

"Seth, I slept inches from your face last night; it's not that bad. And besides, that won't matter in a moment of life and death. It's not like it will be some romantic scene."

My mind whirled on her words. I had never kissed someone for any reason other than romance. It felt weird to even think of kissing someone for another reason.

"What?" She demanded.

"Nothing, it's just..."

"What?"

"I've never kissed someone non-romantically. It just seems weird."

"You're so adorable," she cooed.

"Don't do that," I dropped my face to hide the flush that was an impossibility on my zombie completion. Still, the reaction was automatic.

"What? That was just the sweetest response ever."

"And yet it feels embarrassing and childish," I murmured.

"Aw, don't! Just think of it as two friends that have each other's backs no matter what. Most likely, we won't even need to pull the oh-shit handle; I just wanted you to be prepared if and when we did." She took another sip of her coffee. "Oh, and one more thing. I picked out our song."

"Our song?"

"Yeah, all great buddy movies have a great soundtrack," she absently spoke as she pulled out her phone.

"Did you sleep at all last night, or did you just plot and plan?"

"I slept a little. By the way, you talk in your sleep."

"I what?" Panic surged through me.

"You talk in your sleep. It's so cute."

"What the hell do I say?"

"Oh, I could not break the bonds of confidence between asleep Seth and me."

"I am asleep Seth," I argued.

"Mmhmm, agree to disagree. I take confidentiality very seriously." As she spoke, a song began to sputter from her phone.

"Asleep Seth and awake Seth are the same Seth. Geez, now you have me speaking in the third person." My mind spun on her dizzying presence before it stalled on the song playing. "Is this No Rain by Blind Melon?"

"Yeah! It's perfect, right?"

"It's about depression!"

"But when the rain comes, everything is better, and I am pretty sure the rain is coming in for you, my friend."

I wanted to share her optimism. I tried to stop focusing on how cursed this entire plan had been since it entered my mind; Avi, trigger happy humans, intelligent zombie clan. What could possibly go wrong next?