SAD SMILES AND SILENCE [CHASE GRAVES]

ONE • WOUNDED

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   "Im a zombie." Liv smiled awkwardly as Cassie stood before her like a statue, stunned into silence. Cassie simply couldn't process well enough what she had walked in on. I mean she'd seen some pretty gnarly stuff in her time, but this was just crazy, cannibalistic bullshit.

"A zombie?" Cassie's mind span as she tried to judge if a - she was going crazy, b - she was being pranked or c - zombies did actually exist and were roaming around Seattle in secret. "You're kidding me." She deadpanned, deciding to go with option b. There was chance on this god fucking given earth that zombies could be real, right? It was a prank for sure, Cassie decided.

   "Sadly, I'm not." Liv put down the forkful of brain she had been hovering in front of her mouth as Cassie walked down into the morgue.

"That's like a Haribo gummy brain, right? You're pranking me, aren't you?" Cassie laughed nervously. "Right?"

"Look you don't have to be afraid of me, I'm not going to hurt you. Not all zombies are dangerous."

   "Zombies?" Cassie repeated, still not fully processing the reality. "Zombies?? Like The Walking Dead type zombies? Or like Warm Bodies type zombies?" Cassie paused as her friends look at her like she was a broken toy.

"Sort of closer to warm bodies, like at then end when they're all normal again. Sort of. I don't know, I'm just like human but not human, more dead. You know, a zombie. Liv leaned back in her chair trying to ring the best way to explain what she was.

Cassie's mind was spinning, it wasn't like Cassie was afraid of Liv, she'd know her for almost a year and it wasn't like Liv had tried to eat her brains. "Right, zombies." Cassie repeated, more of an understanding statement.

   "Is she broken?" Ravi pointed a long finger at Cassie dubiously, his free hand scratching his beard.

   "Cassie, don't over react." Liv smiled at her fiend.

"I'm not I just- just how?" Cassie said.

"I got scratched but I'm not dangerous or harmful, I just use a different form of sustenance. You know, like a vegan." Liv laughed drily, standing up from her seat and making her way round the table to stand before Cassie. Her arms were raised as if  she were approaching a rabid animal.

"A vegan?!" Cassie laughed. "You eat brains! Not salad!" She laughed humorlessly. "Okay, okay. So let me get this straight." Cassie sat down at the table. "You've been a zombie how long?"

"Ever since the boat party tragedy." Liv sat too.

"Shit, and you didn't think of telling me. I know I've only been here a few months but I thought we were closer than that." Cassie frowned.