Blend (on hold)

chapter three- Another Human

We’ve been living in the clothing store for about a week now. Tonight we polished off the last of the food and now it is my turn to go out and get it.

Danni is on duty tonight. I hear her humming and tapping the gun. I don’t know what song she is singing, we don’t hear songs any more, so we always try to sing while we are working most of the time so that we keep our memories alive with the sound of music. Our personal favorite song has probably got to be this song that I think is/was called Re: Your Brains. It is about a group of zombies that is coming in on this human and about to eat him, it always cracks us up. I barley can catch a tune of Danni’s song that I recognize. I think it is from the play The Sound of Music. It sounds like one and I kinda remember it, but I’m not 100%sure. I look over at Margret who is sound asleep. I sigh. She would be. I’ve been getting lots more sleep here than I usually get only two hours of sleep, three if I was lucky. Same with Danni and Margret. Now though, I get a good four to five hours of fairly deep sleep. Margret always sleeps in though. Danni and I never try to wake her in the mornings, and we have found that she is a very deep sleeper.

Tonight is cold and so we all pulled on sweatshirts and socks. I wiggle my toes and feel the warm sock surrounding them.  I close my eyes and slowly fall asleep.

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I wake up the cock of Danni’s gun. It is still night because it is pitch black here. Generally when it is around morning time, some beams of light stream through the cracks in the wall and the windows.

“Who is it?” Danni screams.

I hear her jump down from the counter. I decide to get up and follow her. I pull my knife out of my pocket shuffle up behind her.

“If you are a human, make some noise, otherwise, I shoot.” She screams.

“I’m human, I’m human.” A voice croaks.

Danni puts down her gun.

“Ok then, show yourself,” Danni says

I see a figure appear out of the darkness. When he comes up closer I can see his facial features. He has strawberry blond hair and a face with freckles just around his nose. He is pretty cute. His eyes are a blue color and his zombie disguise is pretty lame. I realize that this is the person Margret saw when she whent out to get food and water. He catches me looking at him and smiles at me.

“I’m Cooper,” He says extending his hand to me. I take it and shake it. He grins, “And you two are…”

“I’m Danni, and this is Alexa,” Danni says.

“And Margret is in the back sleeping.” I say grinning.

The prospect of a new human brightens my day. And having it be a male makes it even better, that means that we can start a population again.

“I’m in charge.” Danni says. I scoff and she glares at me.

“I’m glade you had to get that out now,” I say. She glares at me again but not has hard this time. Cooper laughs. His laugh is one of the sweetest things I have ever heard.

“Where are you from? Do you know more humans? Are there more zombies following you?” Danni asks, wanting to know everything and anything about Cooper.

Cooper just chuckles.

“I’m not really from anywhere, I wander the streets trying to blend in with the zombies out there. I don’t know any more humans and no, there are no zombies following me. Or at least, not that I know of.”

Danni nods.

“How did you find this place? “ I ask, “and what made you want to finally come somewhere and why did you choose here?”

He shrugs.

“It was cold out tonight, one of the coldest I have experienced since I left my home. I wanted to go somewhere, and this was the closet place to where I was that didn’t have zombies swarming around it.”

Danni nods and then turns her head towards me. I know what she is about to say and hold up three fingers because I don’t feel like saying it.

“You hungry?” Danni asks Cooper.

“Starving.” Cooper says rubbing his stomach.

“Good,” Danni says smiling, “Because Alexa is going to go out to get some food and water. Margret went out last time, and now it is her turn to go.” She says and points to me.

I start throwing off my clothes and go searching around for the overalls I wore last time. I notice Cooper looking away. It takes me a moment to realize why he looks so insecure. I laugh. Danni does too.

“You know, if you want to stay here, your going to have to get used to seeing naked girls, your living with three of them.” Danni says. Cooper just nods and I pull on the overalls, not wanting him to feel even more uncomfortable than he already is.

I take the knife out of my pockets of  the shorts I was wearing gefore and cut myself and I to the blood and wiped it across my face. I don’t have any zombie blood, but the little bit left on my clothes will have to do.

I grab the bucket and I jump out the window.

“When Margret wakes up, we’ll explain the rules to you.” I hear Danni say

I smile glad to have a new addition to our team.

I look down at the ground and shiver against the cold.

Alright, let’s get this over with I think.

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I am lucky that a pond and orange grove were about an hour and a half away from us. The pond water is a little gross, but it will do. I am trudging back to the store and waiting to see what Margret thinks of our new visitor.

 Cooper I think. I sigh at the name and I remember his facial features and his laugh. I smile at the memory. I don’t realize that I am in love with him until I am almost back. The stomach of my overalls is stuffed with sorta ripe oranges. I make a faint whistle and wait for Danni or Margret to come to the rescue and help me carry the bucket up. About thirty seconds later Margret’s face pops out of the window and she crawls out and hangs out by her feet. I used to be really scared doing that, but now it is like nothing, if anything it is fun to just hand out the window by your feet. I reach up and give her the bucket. She grabs it and scurries back inside. I slowly go up the wall, and I try as best I can not to fall. I make it in and I see Danni and Margret talking to Cooper. When he sees he smiles and I smile back. I change back into different clothes and run up and jump up next to Cooper.

“See, see!” Margret says, clearly excited, “I told you that I saw another human, I told you!”

I laugh.

“Yes you did, yes you did.”

She smiles a huge grin at me and clothes her eyes, it looks more like a teeth bare. I laugh.

“We just finished telling Cooper the rules, we were about to take him on a tour.” Danni says.

“What food did you get?” Margret asks.

“Lots and lots of oranges.” I reply,

Margret claps her hands together.

“Alright Cooper, Alexa will take you on a tour.” Danni says

I show him all around and even take him into the bathrooms and show him where each of the different clothing items are and where we keep our guns and food.

He seems pretty calm during the whole thing, I think that he is trying to take it all in and he is kinda surprised by the fact that he is not the only human left in the world. At the end of the tour, he makes a bed and immediately crashes. We all stare at his manly features and all split an orange and decide to go to bed early tonight. I get to say on duty and watch them all sleep. I look at Cooper and Danni and Margret.

Our team is growing I think to myself.

I let the thought comfort me during the long night on duty.