When Morgan stepped into her daughter's bedroom, the rich aroma of Frankincense filled her nose. It helped with the faint acetone malodor usually lingering from room to room. Her daughter didn't carry the smell as most zombies do. She wasn't repulsed by it, but Teal favored the sweet perfumes and not the stench many zombies carry since turning. 

When she'd been human, Morgan enjoyed the scent of oils and collected massive amounts of incense and candles. She passed these gifts on to Teal when she was old enough to appreciate them. When it came to her children growing up with rancid odors, guilt followed her like a shadow, but she realized Jax wasn't sensitive to them luckily, and Teal didn't mind them.

Shimmying her posterior onto the bedding, she sat on her child's thin, sheetless mattress patting the space beside her for Teal to join her. 

"Come." Morgan's voice quivered when she met her daughter's eager eyes. After eternally avoiding the conversation, she understood the inevitable had to happen. "What would you like to know?"

"Everything." Teal's breathy voice spanned between them.

Her mother chuckled exposing darkened teeth. "How about we start when your dad and I met?"

Teal nodded crisscrossing her legs, elbows on her thighs, her head rested on her hands.

"Before I begin, you need to understand I never meant to keep secrets. These are painful memories and realities I was not sure how you would handle. Worst, I didn't know how I would either," she hawked. "Javier and I met at work. We were scientists; I analyzed blood, urine, and tissue samples to detect and diagnose disease. Your father worked on treating diseases and creating vaccines for new, mutating, or rare illnesses."

Her eyes swelled; half pride, half shocked. That her parents were scholars, a shock. A veil of melancholy coiled itself around her chest and a flash of understanding emerged. The anguish her father experienced daily, became clear.

"An interesting case came to our attention one day. A man with the characteristics of a dead person moved and talked as if alive. He wouldn't eat, his sight grew sensitive to light, and his skin—became cold to the touch much like a cadaver's. Thinned and tarnished a dull grey. He had no heartbeat and lost most visceral functions."

"The first!" Teal interjected.

She gave a reassuring nod, "The first. No one knew what to do. Before they called us, many specialists were brought from all across the country, but doctors couldn't figure it. They did however determine it was a virus."

Teal was as quiet as a mouse, her face glued to her mother's.

With a mouthful of air, Morgan continued, her hands slightly moist. "The military named him X because when he was brought in, the paperwork was signed with an X. Mystery surrounded this case as if it was secret. We got blood samples but impractical, your father and I felt it necessary to go to the source. We emailed the lead doctor, who agreed based on a prior study we'd done with the Teal duck."

Morgan smiled a crooked grin at the memory, "We jumped and screamed with excitement at the fantastic opportunity presented to us ready to travel, and take samples ourselves. We left your brother with my sister, Rita, and—" The words slipped easier than she meant them to. It was not the way she wanted to ease her into knowing about her aunt.

"I have an aunt?!"

"Y-yes ... A human one." She held her breath, her eyes shifted quickly, and she blinked back tears.

Teal drew in her brow. Her head twisted sideways and her mouth became agape. She went from shock to confusion, to pleasure, in nine seconds. "How—can that be?"

"Humans have the capacity in their cells to neutralize viruses. That's why some people can fight illnesses better than others, or a person can get a disease others in their family won't."

"Wh-what?!" 

The corners of her mouth dropped and a spectrum of feelings bubbled and reflected in her eyes. A fire lit behind them. Not in anger but Morgan heard the wheels turning.

"I'm sorry."

Silence ensued.

"I'm good," she curled her fingers towards her palm a few times. "Go on."

"For days we ran studies unable to rest our heads. We found abnormalities in his blood compared to the DNA tests that were done on family members. They didn't match! Patient X's genetic code had changed! No longer was he who he was before this thing spread." Running a few fingers across her forehead her eyes shifted, "You--wanna take a break? Eat some brains?"

"Mother, no!" Exasperated, her palms hit her thighs in frustration. "I've waited long enough for you to tell me!"

"Fine! X grew frantic, hungry, and enraged. Although he was restrained, he punched a doctor and attacked the nurse who fed him daily. He didn't say anything about his wounds, he was scared of being fired or dying."

"Days passed, the nurse experiencing symptoms, X endured. Panicked, he and X somehow worked out a plan. At the time, X was talking. Not much, but he could say a few words. The more people infected, the more accessible the cure would become, they figured. And, they'd have more people on their side to support them."

"Is that how it started spreading? How selfish."

"Selfish. Ignorant." Morgan shrugged. "I think it was desperation."

"How did they figure what to eat?"

"The nurse followed his nose to reeking corpses at the mortuary ... cut the brains out, and ate them. That's how."

"How did you contract the virus?"

"The nurse. The physical change is not immediate, and we didn't know he had it. He broke into our office and demanded we work faster. When we explained we were doing as best we could, he was furious. That's when he threatened your dad."

Looking out into the somber distance, Morgan recalled the incident. "He held me by the neck and made demands. Javier tried to calm him down. He asked him not to hurt me. He needed me to get the job done. That's when the nurse passed the virus on to me. He thought your dad would work harder if I had the disease."

Morgan began to cry. "Your dad lunged at him screaming that I was pregnant. They fought and his fluids made contact with your dad's open wounds. That's when Javier ... hmm, before then, the nurse didn't know I was expecting. He asked for forgiveness and left. I had passed out and your father was too concerned to realize where he was going or what he would do. Hours later, your father found him dead. He'd killed himself."

"Out of guilt." Tears stained her cheeks. Unable to stop the flow, she used the pea-green T-shirt she wore to wipe them.

"We wanted to go into emergency mode but the government was low to act ... at the time we didn't know ninety percent of the hospital personnel and patients had been infected. Most didn't know, went home, and passed it on to their families. Many of the weaker ones died or became monstrous."

"How horrible! And that you were there when it all started is unbelievable." She shook her head sharing an expressive look with her mother. "I'm sorry, Mom."

Holding each other they cried for a very long time.

"I need to hear the rest," Teal mouthed between sobs.

"Your dad and I worked fast with little progress concerned the infection would eat our mental capacity or scrambled it up somehow. We didn't know what would happen with the pregnancy, you, or Jax once we developed the disease. I called your aunt Rita and asked her to take Jax indefinitely. Keep him safe. She didn't know we'd been infected yet, but I'm pretty sure she had an idea."

"Oh no, Mom!"

"Halfway through a successful vaccine, the military barged in and found us. They held us at gunpoint and demanded we hand them everything we'd worked on. Instead of capitalizing on our research, they destroyed it, accusing us of trying to turn the entire population into zombies."

"Couldn't you tell them the truth?"

"We did, but they'd made up their minds we created the virus and were conspiring against humankind. They didn't kill us, they would've ended murdering too many doctors, nurses, scientists, and children. They emptied the lab and locked us until they built half the fence surrounding the area we live in now. Most of the homes around here medical personnel lived in already. As the infected population increased, the containment zone grew."

Teal could not believe her ears. The horror her family had been put through for trying to help!

"How did Jax get it?

"Jax got the virus at school. Rita crossed him over when she saw the physical changes. After that, and many other incidents, they began running daily mandatory tests at schools, work, hospitals. Although they've had a few more cases, it seems they've contained it for now."

"Why doesn't aunt Rita have it?"

"She's immune," Morgan lifted her shoulders glumly. "Many people are."

Teal took some time to register her mother's words.

"I can't believe our story. The history of this family with the disease ... Couldn't they use the blood of immune people to cure us?"

Morgan reeled her head, "They tried but it hasn't worked. Blood serums can take a very long time, and they are costly. Also, immune people don't get to become like us, but they can be carriers and pass it on to others. They've had the most difficulty with carriers because they are symptom-free."

"What about Samantha?"

Morgan's face was a mixture of pain and sadness. "Her mother didn't get it, but was a carrier and passed it on to her while pregnant. When she was born, the hospital wanted to exterminate, study, or worse, do both! Suzanne escaped and found someone to help her transport Sam here and at least have a chance at something."

"What?!" Teal gasped. "What happened to her?"

"As far as I know she was imprisoned for being a traitor." The shadows cast on her Morgan's face hid the extreme pain she was in.

"How do you know? Is that part of why Samantha has not lost her speech and thinking capabilities?"

"Without proper studies, who knows? I learned about this at the farm. The lady who took her in worked there. She's—human."

Teal nodded understanding. "I had no idea! What happened to her?"

"She disappeared. We took Samantha for several years. When she turned eighteen, as you're aware the story goes, she left to live in the home she once shared with her mother."

"Ah yes!" Teal interjected. "At the time she'd told me her stepmom was looking for a different place to live, that they might be moving to the Zombie area in Mexico. She didn't come back."

Morgan nodded.

"Do you think she is on the run? I didn't understand until now what Sam's comments mean when her eyes stare beyond the physical. She talks about heartache ..."
Calloused fingers caressed Teal's supple hands in understanding. "While you're answering questions, why don't we have electricity?"
Morgan gave a tender smile. "Our jobs and supplies are limited. Humans won't do it. Fortunately, there's propane, water, a few power generators, several thinking zombies, and caring humans who help with supplies."

The reality of it crushed her. "Humans on this side?" She shook her head.

"We still have friends. People who support proper studies, and a cure."

"Wow! I know now why you wanted to protect me, but I was old enough to know years ago."

"I think it was me who wasn't ready, Sweetheart."

"Why is everyone scared of us? Is anyone researching a cure?"

"I imagine so. They're afraid because the disease spreads with ease and it eats at your brain. Plus, we eat brains. Most humans find it disgusting but many cultures eat them." She said this matter of fact. "The internal organs of animals keep us alive considering we don't have any."

Morgan collecting her thoughts.

"There are many misconceptions. They believe we attack, kill, then devour the brains off their heads. Heck! Most think that our hair goes white once we turn. Pff! Haven't they seen ancient mummies? Their hair color is intact, it's preposterous."

She placed a hand on her daughter's lap. "Attacks by zombies happened and that's when the rumors started. As always, some cases break the mold. I'm sure a few zombies kill people, but then some humans kill in cold blood and perform rituals of cannibalism. Nowadays, any murder is attributed to us, as if they never committed them in the first place. They want us to remain segregated."

"That's what they want? Not a remedy?"

"I assure you some scientists are looking for a one. It's not public information. The majority of humans want us to stay as we are but no one else turns. They're working on a vaccine but not a cure for us. It's all about money and power. It always has been." She lifted her shoulders in defeat.

"That's crazy. It's been over twenty years! They would've had one by now if they allowed you to progress with your work." Glassy, questioning eyes brimful of hurt, gazed at her mother's tear-stained face.

"There's one more thing."

Teal cocked her head.

"When the military stormed into the lab, I hid the vile we were working on. They didn't find it."

"What did you do with it?"

"We felt our only opportunity to save you, it, and humanity was to use the serum. Preserve it."

"You still have it?"

"In a way, yes ..."

"Where?!"

Morgan sighed closing her eyes. "It's- it's in you, Baby."

"What are you saying?!"

"Your father and I ... administered it to you, as a fetus. We had no idea if you were dead or alive, and we knew it was our only hope of survival."

Jaw on the floor she stared at her mother dumbfounded. "Wh-what does that mean? Am I a hybrid?! Half-human? Or what?" Teal shook out of control.

"Listen," she whispered.

Inhaling profoundly through the nose, and out her mouth Teal focused crossed eyes on her mother, dramatically opening and closing her lids. 

"We are not sure. When you were born healthy, we were ecstatic. We couldn't believe our luck. But when then noticed you were—different than us. We didn't want to grab unwanted attention from other zombies. Do you understand me?"

"Different how?"

Not quite as delicate as hers, Teal's complexion was plump and similar to young human skin. Her eyes kept most of their brightness even though she did have deep, dusky circles around them they weren't as pronounced or hollowed as the majority of zombies. She could breathe and perspire. She didn't have a heartbeat and only extensive medical examination would determine what else worked inside her body.

But her personality was the most noticeable difference. She was challenging and inquired about her existence. It was a characteristic that was almost erased from their DNA once they changed to zombies. Teal was bright and eloquent, the fact she was a homebody always comforted Morgan.

On their side of the world, she looked like a zombie but on the human side, based on the grayish tone of her epidermis, she could pass for an iron-deficient, pale girl.

Morgan nor Javier ever put her skin to the test. What if it wasn't? It could be fatal. Plus, if they had brought her up knowing she could, she wouldn't have been risky.

For their daughter's sake, they treated her as if she was one-hundred percent zombie.

"You know what they are. Even though you resemble us, you are different."

"True, but I look and act like you. Does that mean you might be a hybrid too?"

Morgan took a ragged, long-drawn breath, "Not a hybrid... maybe, I don't know. I have human characteristics. I administered the vaccine before turning, into the amniotic sac. As the carrier, it ran through me preserving my brain and many of my human-like traits."

Her Bony fingers rubbed at her eyes. Her mother's hand shook, and her gaze wandered away from hers. Teal never knew her to be assertive nor a scientist. An indecisive zombie? Yes. One who rather offer food than conversation.

"Your father and I didn't want others to give your differences any thought. At the time, we couldn't risk your life. The human side would've taken you away from us. I've experimented at a lab, and I know what they do to their test subjects."

Her mother's words were chilling. Overwhelmed, and overloaded Teal needed a break. The fact her parents worked on a cure for the illness that devastated millions, was in itself incredible. The knowledge many humans are immune to, including Samantha's mom, and her aunt, and the reality she still had a human side, or some small part of it locked inside, shocking.

"I-I can't think clearly. I'm angry and confused." And a tiny bit happy, although she would never admit it. She was glad there was a reason for her to feel different. Was she the missing key scientists needed?

"I understand why you did what you did, but—" she dragged a breath and climbed off the bed. "You should've told me. It's my life, and I should be able to decide what to do with it. I should have a say in the way I live." She headed to the doorway then shook her head. "I need time, Mom. From you and Dad. I need to think."

Morgan bobbed her head. She needed the space and had to let Javier know Teal knew the truth. She hoped his reaction was a positive one.

Music By:
Beck*Cold Brains