Zombie Guy

Chapter 18: Exposed

Jaime and I walked down the trail toward the meeting spot, trading jabs and laughs that helped me forget—for just a second—how insane everything had become. She shoved me lightly with her shoulder, nearly causing me to stumble over a rock.

"Careful, Kevin. Don't want you biting the dust before you even see Linda," she teased.

"Yeah, well, watch it," I shot back, giving her a playful nudge. "Not all of us are graceful wilderness experts."

She laughed, a carefree sound that filled the quiet woods. "Well, if you start tripping over your own feet again, I'll grab that frozen chicken from last night and save the day."

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Just make sure you don't throw it at me this time."

We kept bantering as we walked, and I found myself feeling surprisingly light. Jaime wasn't afraid to shove me, joke with me, or even let her guard down around me. It was a relief, knowing I wasn't completely isolated. And as we walked, I couldn't help but wonder if Linda would feel the same way. Would she be okay with me like this, or would she see me as... something else?

As we neared the meeting spot, I caught sight of Linda standing in the shade of an old tree. She looked up when she saw us approaching, but her face was unreadable, a mix of tension and something... darker. Her arms were crossed, her expression hard, and she didn't return my smile.

"Linda?" I called, my chest tightening. Something was wrong.

She didn't answer. Instead, she reached into her bag, pulled out her phone, and without a word, hurled it toward me. I caught it just in time, glancing down to see the screen showing a video file. My heart sank as I hit play, my blood running cold as I realized what I was looking at.

It was security footage from Lab 7. A figure stumbled across the screen, hunched over and barely recognizable. Its skin was ashen, its eyes sunken and lifeless, its movements jerky and unnatural. It was a walking corpse... *it was me.*

I watched in horror as my own image stumbled through the hallways, glassy-eyed and monstrous. There was no hiding it. This wasn't the Kevin Linda had known. This was something... something awful. I looked up, still speechless, meeting Linda's hardened gaze.

"Explain," she demanded, her voice cold and sharp. "You told me you escaped, Kevin. But you never told me this was what I'd be meeting."

Jaime glanced between us, her face tense as she took in the video. "Linda, it's... it's more complicated than it looks."

But Linda shook her head, her eyes never leaving mine. "I've seen enough," she said, her voice shaking. "I want the truth, Kevin."

I took a deep breath, forcing myself to stay calm. "Linda, please. Just come with us back to Jaime's place. I'll explain everything—no more secrets. But we can't stay here. Not out in the open."

Linda hesitated, her gaze hard, but after a tense moment, she nodded. Wordlessly, we started walking back to Jaime's. The silence was thick, the weight of what she'd seen hanging over us, and all the lightness I'd felt before evaporated in an instant.

---

Once inside, we all sat in tense silence until Jaime finally took charge. "Linda," she said softly, "I think it's best if you see the real Kevin." She turned to me, her eyes meeting mine with a look that said, *Trust me.*

I gave her a small nod, sitting on the edge of the chair, my heart hammering as she carefully began wiping away the layers of makeup she'd meticulously applied. Each stroke revealed more of what I'd been hiding—my pale, almost translucent skin, the faint grey tint that covered every inch of me, the dark shadows under my eyes that hadn't gone away since the treatment.