Zombies and Zippers

Chapter 2 - Blake

The breeze sweeps more dirt off our clothes, leaving a cloud of dust in our wake.

This is bullshit. I turn and grab Rhett's strap when he stops, tired of his lazy ass always falling behind. Now is not the time for distractions.

We need to feed.

I run my hand over my short hair and growl when decayed chunks tumble to the ground.

The cold forest floor steals pieces of our feet, but we walk through the fallen leaves so our trail isn't visible. I growl and haul Rhett along after me. The sooner we reach the party, the sooner we can choose our prey. Hopefully we can catch a fat one tonight.

Rhett's strap breaks. I release the frayed fabric with a snarl.

I'm hungry. So hungry.

The breeze carries a delicious scent to my nostrils. Sweet and tangy like a ripe peach, I want to sink my teeth into the tasty morsel. I slow to a halt and search for the source.

Rhett's bright green eyes reflect the last light of the sunset as he lifts his arm and points to the parking lot.

A group of humans walk toward us. Two females lead the way, one reluctant, while the other chatters incessantly. The shorter one catches my attention. Maybe it's the hesitant interest in her gaze, or maybe it's her curves, but my instincts perk up and desire courses down my spine.

My cock twitches in my threadbare overalls, almost destroying the seam's tenuous hold.

We should have found new clothes last year, but we were too busy hunting and feasting, and our victims' clothes are never intact by the time we finish gorging.

I eye the group. Four males. Two females.

Even as the feeding frenzy grows within my marrow, I turn away.

"No. Ain't got the strength to take on that many yet. Keep moving," I snarl.

  Rhett grumbles but follows my lead. He's never been one to take the initiative, which is why we work so well together. He needs direction and I need someone to boss around.

We disappear into the woods on the far side of the road before the humans catch up with us. I circle around the party and search the outskirts for potential targets.

"What about those two?" Rhett asks as he points to a man and woman getting busy in the backseat of their car.

"Yeah, they'll work," I growl. We hunker down behind a nearby bush and wait.

Rhett brushes dirt from his thigh and grumbles under his breath.

"Why'd we wake up so late?" he asks. "We dug our way out almost a week earlier last year. We only got two days until Halloween. Is Sathanas mad at us or somethin'?"

I close my hands into fists and peek around the hedge. The car bounces and lusty moans leak through the closed windows. I roll my eyes when my thoughts turn to the little brunette I should want to eat, not eat out.

"No, he ain't mad at us. We just need better hunts this year," I say.

Rhett shakes his head, sending clumps of dirt and dead skin into the air.

"How the hell can we do better when we're sleepin' so long? Plus, didn't we feast at least three or four times a day last year? How can we get better than that?"

The car stops squeaking. I roll my neck, ignoring the grinding of bone on bone, and get ready to chase.

Music from the party blasts through the air as anticipation thrums through me. Rhett shifts, ready to pounce the moment I move.

"We'll eat less per hunt and keep them alive longer. Sathanas likes their screams," I murmur.

Savage delight flashes across Rhett's features. He was what the ladies called a looker in his past life. All the women lusted after him. Even now, with shriveled skin and dead muscle hanging off his bones, he exudes a classic handsomeness. If I ever swung off course, it'd be for him, but men ain't never done it for me. Give me a soft, curvy bitch and I'll teach her all the ways a man can wreck a lady. Wedge her between Rhett and me, and she ain't never gonna walk straight again.

I grit my teeth when the short, hesitant brunette flashes through my mind again. Need flares through me.

"You're right. He relishes their fear and pain," he agrees.

Rhett was my best friend in life. In the afterlife, he's my only friend.

I wouldn't have it any other way.

His wicked smirk reminds me of all the shenanigans we got into when we were alive. I may have started the brawls, but he was right there helping me finish them, and when we got randy, every woman in town went tits up.

  The car door opens and the stench of sex fills the air. Primal fury snaps to life within me as the male's weak pheromones fill my nostrils.

Hunger punches through my stomach and a low growl vibrates from my throat. The guy turns frightened eyes toward us. He shouts and shoves his female our way before scrambling in the opposite direction.

How fucking chivalrous of him.

Rhett darts forward with unnatural speed and tackles him to the asphalt before the idiot takes five steps. The wet sounds of ripping flesh increase my hunger.

I catch the female as she flees and land on top of her in the brush. She stinks, but I'm lost to the feeding frenzy. I grab her collar and tear her shirt down the center. She slaps and pushes at me but doesn't stand a chance against my supernatural strength.

Sathanas was kind the night he reanimated me.

The creamy mounds of her breasts hold no appeal. I slink further down and trail my nose from the bottom of her sternum to her bellybutton. She sobs and begs for her life, but I'm too hungry and the softness of her stomach proves too easy a target.

I tear into her abdomen with wild abandon, gorging on both her organs and her fear.

She falls silent long before I finish my meal. By the time I lift my head from my feast, white spinal bones peek out through the mess and random bits drip within her hollow chest cavity.

"So much for more screams and less eating," Rhett murmurs from beside me. I hiss and lash out, instinctively swiping my nails across his arm. I've shared feasts with him before, but he knows better than to sneak up on me when I'm eating. He reaches down and yanks a chunk of flesh from my supper's thigh and consumes it before huffing.

"She tastes better than he did, but the energy is off. I left some for you," he says before cracking his neck.

Already the worst of his decayed flesh knits back together and the gashes I left on his arm mend. The feminine energy coursing through my system sends discordant notes down my spine, but my cells soak up the nutrients exponentially faster than when I was alive. Hunger still gnaws at my stomach, but it's more manageable now that I've gorged.

"Haul her into the woods. I'll follow you with him when I'm done, then we'll find new prey," I say.

Rhett grunts and tosses the remnants of my meal onto his shoulder. I squat beside the pile of man flesh and snarl in disgust. Leftovers are never as good as a fresh kill, but he's still warm, so he'll do. I rummage through his pockets and throw his busted phone into the bushes before wrenching his leg off and consuming it like I'm visiting the Renaissance fair as I drop his valuables into my overalls.

Not giving a flying fuck about crime scene etiquette or forensics, since I'm already dead and the case will be cold by the time I wake next year, I open his car and gather the stashes of cash in his glove box and visor. 

A quick search reveals nothing else of interest, so I return to his carcass and crack his other leg free before propping what's left of his torso on my shoulder and sauntering into the woods.

Our first hunt was a success.

I can't wait for the next.

The short, curvy female invades my thoughts again.

Maybe she should be our next target.

We need screams for Sathanas, after all.