Undead Era

-21-

I shot out of bed, hurriedly running upstairs and getting changed. I knew he was probably downstairs, heck he may even be drinking some more, but that didn't stop me from worrying. As I was rushing to get back downstairs and tidy the casket we had slept in, I tripped over. "FUCK!" I cursed, completely tired out and not in the mood. I looked down, examining what I had fallen over...the unplugged wire of Blaine's keyboard. He never unplugged it, he needed the light. With a sigh, I plugged it back in, before making my way to the basement.

"Blaine! Are you down here?!" I called, only to find Candy, snacking on the male of the couple that lay on the table. It was their casket that we had slept in, therefore I couldn't help but feel slightly awkward looking at them. "Oh, dammit. Did we forget to give you your payment yesterday?" I asked, grabbing a small piece of brain myself. She nodded before licking her fingers. "Sorry. Anyway, have you seen Blaine?" I sat down, throwing her a small sauce container for her to dip her bloody meal in.
"No, why?" She replied, happily opening the spicy goods.
"He's not around, and he was drinking last night. I'm just worried he's hungover somewhere, struggling to walk straight. There's so many people who would seize the opportunity to jump him..." I trailed off, jumping as the door clicked and Don E entered the room.

"Morning JM, woah..someone's hungry!" He laughed slightly at Candy, who threw him a small glare in return.
"Yeah, we forgot to pay her yesterday. I guess we've been saved the trouble of harvesting his brain though." I joked, gesturing to the bone saw that lay on the side.
"True. True." Don E agreed, there was a pause and I looked down. I couldn't get Blaine out of my head, he could be in serious trouble, something inside of me could feel it, feel him. "Don E, have you seen or spoken to Blaine this morning?" I spoke up, looking at him hopefully.
"No, in fact I've been looking for him myself. He's not here?" I shook my head at his question.
"He was drinking last night, and we both know he doesn't want to go anywhere when he's hungover. Something's wrong, E. I can feel it." I stated.

I stood up and grabbed my jacket from the hook across the room. "Where are you going?!" Don E questioned as I walked over to the door.
"To look for him."
"What if something happens to you too? Look, Jess, I'm sure he's fine. He'll be back by noon, and if not I'll come with you." Don E tried to stop me, but I wasn't convinced. Everything in my body was telling me that he was in danger, or that he had been at least. "I'm afraid I can't wait. I've got my phone on me, and if anything happens I'll tell Cheif or Candy, you know, zombie link," I tapped my head with a smirk, and he let out a sigh.
"Fine, but call me if anything happens, ANYTHING at all."
"I will, I promise." I gave him a quick hug, before walking out into the wild lands of Seattle.

2 hours later
I sighed, texting Don E my next location, the morgue. I had searched everywhere I could think he would be, been to every bar I knew, and that was my last resort. I felt like the walk down those steps, was the longest walk I'd ever done. What usually would take a minute, and it did, felt like an hour, if Blaine wasn't here...well, there was nothing left. If he didn't come home within a day, then I'd take over with Don E until he gets back, it's what he'd want.

Finally, I turned the corner, knocking on the wall as I did. "Hey, Ravi. Have you seen Bl..." I stopped talking as he moved to the side slightly and revealed a muddy Blaine who was in nothing but boxers, and wrapped in a picnic blanket. "Blaine!" I cried, running over and wrapping my arms around him. When I did, I felt a spark inside, I could feel him. "You're a Z again?" I whispered, still holding onto him. He pushed me back, nodding. I looked over at Ravi, who looked kind of grossed out by the fact I'd just hugged Blaine when he was bloody and muddy. "It's called love my good doctor, beautiful, isn't she?" Blaine spoke up, wrapping me into the blanket with him.
"Shut up!" I hit him playfully, and Ravi rolled his eyes.
"I think it's time you get going, oh, and Blaine, I'd advise you have a talk with Jess." He muttered the last part, and I looked between the two.
"Right." Blaine agreed, getting down from the table with a tub of brains in hand. "You wouldn't happen to have any clothes I could borrow?" He asked Ravi, making me chuckle.
"I'll be out here, calling an Uber. Hurry up!" I called, walking towards the exit and calling our ride home.

When we arrived, I rushed Blaine out of the car and paid. "Thanks!" I waved, making my way along the same path as Blaine towards the back entrance. He was already inside, and talking to our friends. "No? No." He was gesturing to his outfit, and I rolled my eyes. Don E looked at me.
"Didn't I tell you to call me if you found him?" He asked, Blaine laughed putting an arm around my shoulder.
"Yeah, you did. And didn't I tell you to keep the new shipment shut?" I pointed to the open casket stuffed with Utopium.
"Whatever, what happened to you, anyway?" He now looked at Blaine, I also wanted to know, so I leant back on the wall.
"Mr Boss nabbed me, slit my throat and buried me in a hole." Blaine explained.
"Wait what?" Don E looked confused.
"No need for concern. You see, it seems I'm a zombie again, so I bounced back. What should concern us though is our friend Drake. Part of the point of having a guy inside Mr Boss' operation is getting a heads up when something like this is coming." He went on to explain.
"We didn't know anything." Don E assured, as Chief put his arms out and shrugged behind him.
"Yeah. If history is any guide, I'm sure you're right. Silver lining, though. Mr Boss thinks I'm dead. Let's let him keep thinking that. You know that hole we dug for Major? Yeah, I need you to take that and bury it there instead. We're gonna shut down for now, lay low." Blaine ordered, pointing at the Utopium. "Okay, I should go change before I start writing poems about the moors. I imagine my cheeks could use a little colour as well. Ta." With that he walked out.

"Jesus..so what happens next?" Don E asked as I walked over. I shrugged.
"We do as Blaine said, lay low...but he might not have much time left." I warned, they both knew what was going on, why not update them?
"Oh, Jess. How are you holding up? I mean, does this mean you're going too, or..?" I shrugged, and Chief opened his arms.
"Thanks big guy." I mumbled, accepting the group hug from the two of them. "Right, you two get to work burying this, and I'll make sure that we have plenty of brains in stock." I planned, getting a nod from the both of them.

I wandered to the fridge, opening it and humming in content. We had plenty in stock, so Blaine wouldn't make a difference to what we already used. At least we could finally eat together, I missed having late night brain feasts. It also meant he didn't get to tease me, about him being able to eat chocolate and so on. "Hey, Jess, I know you can hear me now.  I need you to come here, I need help."  I jumped at the sound of Blaine's voice in my head.
"Alright, I'll be up in a second." I smiled, we were linked again.

When I entered our room, I found Blaine staring at himself in the mirror. "What's wrong?" I asked, confused at what he needed help with.
"Come over here, I need a hand to cover this mark until it fades." He explained, pointing to the faint red line that ran across his neck. Thank god for zombie healing! "Alright, I guess you're the same colour as me now anyway, so I can use my makeup." I reminded, pulling said product out of my drawer. I quickly set to work covering the line, Blaine wasn't helpful as he constantly played with my hair, or prodded my sides to make me flinch.

"Right, I swear if you don't stop I'm going to rip you brain out of your sku...dammit!" I cursed as I remembered he was no longer human and that wasn't a valid threat.
"Seems you're all out of blackmail Jessica, oh, and may I remind you that this is just practice. We're going to bed soon so this needs to come off again." I stared at him. This took me twenty minutes!
"Right, no. I may be unable to eat your brain right now, but you forget I can still control zombies. Do you wanna know what I'm about to make you do?" I questioned, causing him to stand up and move closer.
"Hmmm, I don't know. Will I like it?" He teased, wrapping his arms around me.
"No, because I'm going to make you take off that makeup and then do it again, all-by-your-self." I stated, before handing him a packet of makeup wipes. "Off you go!"

I threw myself onto the bed, smiling to myself as I listened to him complaining in the en suite. "Jess! Please don't make me redo this myselffff," he whined, whilst I just changed into my pyjamas.
"Depends, are you going to apologise for being a pain in the ass?" I teased, watching as he poked his head through the door.
"Oh, I'll do more than that."
"Apologise, and run downstairs to get me some of the new and improved brain crisps?" I pleaded, thinking back to my new spicy creations.
"Maybe later, right now I'd like to take advantage of being a zombie again." He entered and made his way over, a smirk plastered on his face.
"Blaiiinnee, I've just put these on." I complained, gesturing to my pjs. He shrugged, before pulling me close into a long, loving kiss. "Ok, maybe the food can wait." I agreed.

That night I had the least amount of sleep I'd had in a while, Blaine stuck to his word. He was taking advantage of the zombie perks, and who could blame him? We had to live like today's our last day, because in the end, it just might be.