Luminous Nights

House Guest

Just a few days ago, I would've never imagined myself in this position. Even now, it seems so unbelievable that I'm not only talking to someone for once in these years of living a lone life in a wasteland, but to a literal zombie.

Around us lie the several zombies we fought. Rotten blood still trickling out those bashed skulls. It makes me wonder how many more are out here waiting for the right time to ambush. How vulnerable it is to be standing here.

Most definitely something I should mention before we get hunted down. Only a fool would make those kind of mistakes, especially after surviving out here for this long.

I clear my throat and the zombie's attention shifts over to me fully. They looked intently at me, waiting for me to go on.

"It's unsafe talking out here like this in the open," I go on, "the best thing right now would be heading to a more secure area, like my shed."

     They raise their brow, "Do you really trust me in there though?" They say with a glance, although this glance wasn't in an untrusting way, but.. seemingly more jokingly?

I keep my distance, "It's only for to get away from such an open space, now are you trying to get us killed or what?"

"Okay, okay! Jeez, what's up your ass today?"

I scrunch my face in response. I had almost like, died a moment ago. Who does this person think they are?

      "No time for this, let's go. We've been out here long enough." I turn around and start heading in the direction of the ruins of my town.

     "Hey hey, wait!" I hear them say from a distance, footsteps skittering to catch up from behind.

It's weird for me to just be allowing this, and for them to just be trusting me. We barely even know eachother. All I know for a fact is that they're a deadly zombie who I shouldn't even be letting near me. What if this is just some advanced thinking zombie? Maybe clever enough to wait for me to let my guard down, attacking me when I'm defenseless. Yet here we are, ironic isn't it?

This apocalypse has really impacted my trust, huh. What can I say though? Everyone is desperate, giving their all for a chance to survive out here. They'll do anything, just for the sake of survival. They don't have empathy or love for anyone out here. The last bit of love vanished long since the apocalypse started, those zombies took out so many people. It would've numbed my emotions too, I don't blame them. I think it's fair to say that everyone's hearts hardened during the times of the apocalypse.

I make my way through pathways and the remains of the city. At this point, I've memorized this place thoroughly, from every street and corner. After all, I've spent years here, even before the apocalypse.

    The zombie I met follows closely behind me. I can't deny that's not anxiety inducing, with the knowledge of someone who can infect me at any given moment, is just creeping up from right behind me.

"...Y'know, with you lurking behind me like that I don't know what to think," I say.

     "You want me to walk beside you, hm? Well why didn't you just say so."

     They keep to my concern, coming to walk beside me. I scoff in response, but with them standing over me, only now did I notice how much taller they were than me, which, if I must say.. is excruciating.

    The pond was a big walk from my shed, not that I'm not used to it though. After all, when I'm bored, all I do is walk around patrolling the empty city, shooting zombies that get in my way.

     Thankfully I don't have to walk much farther as we're getting closer to the shed.

As soon as the shed comes into eyeshot, I start bolting towards to it while that zombie tries to catch up. I made it to the door before them, but hell do they run fast. Especially for someone who's undead.

     As I start undoing the locks, they patiently stand near me, leaning on a wall. It takes a little while until I successfully work out my weird little contraptions, but I've memorized every puzzle so I'm solving it as quickly as I can.

"Well.. that's one.. very protected door." They comment.

I shrug, "What can I say? Better safe than sorry."

Soon I hear the click of the final latch being undone. I open the door and gesture for them to go in.

Welp. Now I have to relock my door from the inside. I sigh and get to work while my zombie guest starts looking around.

"It's.. not much.." I say, "I just took what I needed to survive."

They chuckle, "That's fair, but what do you even do all day in here?! It's so crammed!" They exclaim, "But in a way... it makes it feel kind of homely."

     They lunge into my mattress, sinking into it, making themself comfortable.

"Hey!— I didn't say you could do that."

     Just think of the kind of undead bacteria that could be growing on them, plus putting that on the only place I sleep?!

     "Oh, do you want me to get off?" They sit up from the mattress. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking. It is your stuff, not mine after all."

"Well," I pause, it's not that big of a deal, "just be more careful, if you go around messing with peoples' shit I don't think they'll take it as lightly as me."

They chuckle, "You got me there. But hey, I don't usually go around talking to any person like this." They go on, "Funny enough, you're probably the only one who was willing to spare me." With a pause, they add, "You saw something in me."

     There was a genuine tone in their voice. And to think that I could've shot a bullet through their skull right where they stood, just a second after catching a glimpse of them. Maybe I made the right choice after all.

   They give me a half smile.

"By the way, are you done locking that door? You've been standing there for quite a while now."

I look back at my hands that've been fumbling the same lock back and forth for who knows how long, "Oh."