BETTER SAFE THAN ZOMBIE

OZTS 2| Ex-Zombie

I bit one of his/her fingers hard enough to cause bleeding, and a surge of triumph went to my heart as I heard him/her groan in pain and reflexively pull away. Then I tasted the unmistakable tang of blood in my mouth, and beyond disgusted, I spat it out before wiping my mouth harshly.

Whipping around, I straddled my attacker and pressed the tip of my knife on his stomach, one hand pulling his hair to tilt his face up to mine.

He was a boy.

A guy, really, not more than a year older than me. Jet-black hair, gray eyes, and a lean body. 

Not a zombie. Thank God.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" I hissed, glaring. "And how did you find us?"

He kept quiet, his mouth nothing more than a flat line.

"I said," I pressed the knife closer until I heard his white shirt tear—
"who are you and what the hell do you want?"

Still he kept his silence, and frustrated, I transferred my grip on his hair to his neck, wedging my elbow in to put pressure on his windpipe. Squeezing, I said, "Until you start telling me answers, I will keep choki—"

"Jesus Kath, what the fuck are you doing?"

Surprised at the sound of Hazel's exclamation, my grip on the boy slackened, and with a blur, I suddenly found myself lying beneath him, his legs beside my waist and my own knife on my throat, his gray eyes steady on mine.

"Move away from her, or I'll shoot your head to bits."

Hazel's sharp voice made the guy look at her, and still not speaking, he slowly stood up, uncurling his hands on the knife and letting it clatter to the ground. 

Eyeing him warily, I sat up and crouched to pick up the knife and then went to Hazel's side as she steadily pointed her shotgun at the guy's forehead. Hazel jerked her head at me.

"Go and wake up Ethan," she ordered. "My dad and his parents too."

Shooting the guy one last look, I did as I was told, and soon the guy was sitting on ground with his hands cuffed behind his back, Mr. Blake standing over him and the rest of us watching. The guy was still not answering our questions despite our several threats, his gray eyes just eerily roving over us. 

"You know, I've been wondering why you look so familiar," Mr. Blake said, kneeling in front of him. "Now I remember. You were one of the Cured."

I audibly gasped and looked at the boy with newfound horror. Hazel looked simply interested, and Ethan stunned. Mr. Williams, who, like Mr. Blake, had been one of the scientists in the quarantine lab, stood up and joined Ethan's father, scrutinizing the guy.

"You were one of the first fifteen to be cured of the virus. Christopher, I think your name was."

"Christian," the guy corrected, finally speaking. "It's Christian Matthews."

"You're a zombie once," I said, my voice a thin whisper. "You ate people."

Christian met my eyes, then he lowered his. "Yes. I did."

Feeling sick, I stood up swaying on my feet and ran outside, just as I heard Ethan say, "Cool. So how does human flesh tastes like?"

I vomited on the ground, heaving yesterday's lunch and coughing. Hunching, I wiped my mouth with the corner of my sleeve, feeling dizzy and disoriented. I had to wait for a few minutes before I could stomach going back again.

Christian met my eyes as I entered, and I looked away, trying to hide the sudden twisting of my mouth. Hazel alerted me to the bad news as soon as I sat.