Romero's Memento

1

The morgue was silent as Olivia and Ravi cleaned the blood from the silver tables. They had been busy -a triple homicide- and they could think of nothing better than going home and taking a nap in front of the TV. The fact that Seattle had been bitterly cold of late didn't help matters. The comfortable quiet was suddenly disrupted as two medics burst in through the doors, wheeling another body into the morgue. Ravi bit back a groan as he put down the bottle of cleaning fluid and made his way over to the gurney.
"Who's this?" The doctor asked as he removed his gloves with a snap. Olivia -or Liv- strolled over to join Ravi beside the gurney with a barely concealed expression of disappointment.
"Sorry about the timing. It's a caucasian female around twenty-nine. We found her in an alley near here. The working theory is blunt-force trauma." One of the medics rattled off mechanically.
"Not to worry. We'll take a look." The moment that the doors closed behind the medics, Ravi threw his head back dramatically and sighed. "Bloody hell."
Liv smiled out of the corner of her mouth, pulling on a fresh pair of gloves.
"We'll do this one quickly and finish up for the day. Blunt force trauma doesn't sound too difficult to diagnose."
Ravi wheeled over the table laden with surgical tools and picked out a scalpel as Liv peeled the body bag away from the victim's face. The woman had a very typically Irish face; with high cheekbones, a round shape and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose that stood out against her pale skin. Her features would have been soft if not for cynical arch of her thick brow and her pointed nose.
"Looks like she got into fights a lot," Ravi surmised, indicating the small scar that nicked the tail of her right eyebrow, "so this could easily be a bar tussle gone wrong."
Liv hummed in agreement as she continued to remove the body bag slowly. The victim's clothes and top-lip piercing seemed to indicate that she was the kind of girl who would go looking for fights - although it was best not to assume. But something about this woman's face was oddly familiar and not, Liv feared, in a good way. Even down to the shade of her auburn hair.
It was probably nothing.
The body bag peeled back either side of the victim's body to reveal her arms lying prone and white by her sides, palms facing upwards. Something caught Liv's attention just below her left elbow; two small but angry red scratches.
"Ravi, look!"
"I think I know what you just found." Ravi lifted up two crooked fingers from beside the woman's head, a shock of white hair pinched between them. The doctor turned to Liv with a furrowed brow and pursed lips. "She's a zombie."
"Was a zombie." Liv's voice was small as she craned her head over the woman's face, still holding the limp arm in a loose grasp.
"We don't know that. Maybe she just hasn't been tur-"
Something sharp sunk abruptly into the flesh of Liv's wrist. She looked down with a small cry to find a white, calloused hand gripping her so tightly that the knuckles were yellow. Ravi leapt back when the inanimate face below him suddenly came to life and hit his tailbone against the morgue table with a smack. A rugged gasp through gaping lips tore through the stunned silence in the room.
"No. You were right the first time." Liv grimaced, twisting her arm to wrench free of the vice-like fingers. After a few more frantic gapes for air -her mouth parting and closing like a fish's- the woman opened her eyes to reveal blue, crystalline irises. They landed on Ravi first, then traveled down to Liv. Even though Ravi was rubbing the small of his back and wincing at what he was sure was an oncoming bruise, he still managed to look concerned with those gentle brown eyes of his. Liv, however, had to work considerably harder to hide her annoyance at the crescent nail marks on her wrist.
"This...isn't where I expected to wake up." Were the first words out of the woman's mouth. Ravi baked out a laugh, but pursed his lips when both Liv and the victim's eyes shot to him. Liv shook her head. Even the voice - what the hell was it that was so familiar?
"Well," Ravi coughed out, rocking back on his heels slightly, "I don't think people generally expect to wake up in morgues. Unless...you're into that kind of thing?"
"What's your name?" Liv quickly intervened before he could carry on rambling. The woman let her head fall back against the gurney and hissed in pain. Her hand reached up to tentatively rub the back of her head and came away smeared with old blood.
"What the hell happened? Who are you guys?"
The woman's panicked tone made Liv realise that now wasn't the best time to ask questions.
"You were brought in here by two medics. You've suffered from severe blunt force trauma on the back of your head. They," Ravi paused to assume as gentle a tone as he could muster, "they said that you were dead."
The woman raised her hands above her and turned them this way and that.
"I don't feel dead. Maybe a little..." Her expression changed, and Liv thought that she saw the blue eyes flash red for just a split second, "...hungry."
"There's some left-overs in the fridge." Liv was quick to pull off the gloves and rush over to the kitchen as quickly as her short legs would allow.
"That's Olivia Moore," Ravi indicated the assistant M.E. currently squatting in front of the fridge whilst still keeping a cautious distance from the woman, "and I'm Ravi Chakrabarti."
"I'm Lauren Baker." Lauren replied in a monotone voice as the fridge door slammed shut and Liv made her way back over, cradling a bowl of what looked like beef chilli. Whatever it was, Lauren's mouth watered at the very sight of it as she sat up on the gurney.
"Before I give this to you, I should probably explain something." Liv sighed, exchanging a glance with Ravi before continuing. "If I told you that this chilli has human brains in it, how would you feel?"
At first, Lauren's face contorted into one of disgust. Then, as she gave it more consideration, it fell into one of shock and confusion.
"I would be...fine with it. What the hell? I take a hit to the dome and I'm some kind of cannibal?"
"Actually, it was more than just a 'hit to the dome'-"
"No. Not a cannibal. You're a zombie." Liv cut Ravi off. Lauren chuckled uncertainly, glancing between the two medical examiners. When neither of them showed a hint of humour, her face fell.
"Wait - you're serious? This isn't a prank?"
"Nope. I'm one too." With that, Liv pushed the bowl and a fork under Lauren's nose. Without hesitation, Lauren took up the fork and began to eat, moaning slightly after her first bite.
"Holy crap - this is so good."
While she ate, Liv sat opposite her and explained everything that she needed to know. That her hair would turn white, her skin is going to be just as white, and that it was important to eat brains regularly. Once the bowl was clean, Lauren mumbled a 'thank you' to Liv and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
"So, that's all you need to know."
"If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call us." Ravi added, slipping a card into Lauren's hand. "Now, if you tell us where you live I'm sure we can arrange some kind of transport for you."
"Thanks. I really appreciate this. I live..." Lauren's brow furrowed, "I-I live...in..."
Ravi cast a worried look at Liv, who returned it as Lauren stammered uncertainly.
"Lauren - what state are you in?"
"Washington" The brunette replied without hesitation. "But...I can't remember where I live."