It'd been a week since Teal made the decision to embrace her destiny, yet she hadn't. Speaking with Marc had proven difficult. She'd been so embarrassed by her naive, childish display, she hadn't stepped foot in the club since that night she couldn't forget. Instead, she'd regressed to her mundane routine. 

Teal slept for twelve full hours, from six in the morning to six in the evening. Every day upon awakening, her mother had her favorite meal ready, a plate of sautéed chicken hearts and raw diced human brains, or some variation of it on the table.

She wasn't sure about the politics behind it, but it was somehow agreed, humans would send corpses from their side of the fence to the zombie side. Then, they were transported to the meat plant. Teal guessed the exchange was mostly done by the humans out of fear. Likely, they believed starvation might encourage her kind to cross over and eat them. 

Teal rolled her eyes, "So that's why they put some effort into it," she whispered to herself.

The more capable zombies who worked at the plant cut the bodies and distributed them as best they could to everyone in the region. They had marked buildings where all the zombies arrived for nightly rations. Teal wasn't sure how the zombies who couldn't reach the warehouses received food. Frankly, she had never given it much thought. However, she knew many of her kind, still starved. They'd grown in large numbers and even though humans claimed to have controlled the pandemic, new zombies appeared on their side of the fence, nightly.

 The human corpses came in very large wooden boxes, which were returned empty at the end of the week, to be filled again, with more dead bodies. She knew this, because her mother; before working at the farm, had been employed there and told her so.

It was silly humans thought zombies would want to cross the border when most of them didn't even think about the living, let alone commit murder. The more capable zombies farmed animals to eat and of course, took everything the humans sent and processed it. Not one part of their body was wasted. 

However, if she was being honest with herself, Teal had to admit there wasn't anything better than the taste of human brains. Thanks to the high-fat content, one adult, human brain, could feed a family of four for three days.

"Thanks, mom."

"Have you given any more thought to what you want to do?"

"Nope. Not really. I'll let you know though," she lied. 

She didn't want her mother to ask about Marc, nor his methods. But the truth was, she thought about it every waking hour. When she slept and her dreams and nightmares took over, they spoke about her fate if she crossed. Images of her being consumed by the sun, or a mob of wickedly, angry people, haunted her. 

Humans were known to be unforgiving and ruthless when it came to all other species on earth. If she was being honest, to be among them, frightened her more than anything in the world. More than facing the sun.

The outcome of her dreams was always different. Many times she died crushed by the multitude of people. Others, she got away and ran into oblivion. What was constant, was the doctor. He was always there staring at her. His brown eyes soft, the honey curls of his windblown hair batted his face, and his hand stretched, reaching for her. His face, although stern, honest. Yearning to unlock the truth. Her truth and what it meant for humanity.

"Have you been out in daylight yet?" Morgan asked, striving to sound casual.

Teal shook her head.

Her mother nodded relieved. Walking out during the day was no small task, she wanted to make it as easy as possible for Teal. Her daughter was certainly a brave girl, but the idea of burned skin on contact, or UV poisoning, could scare the bravest of zombie.

"Do you want me to be there when you do? You know, be awake?"

Teal pensively chewed on her lip. The hundreds of times she thought to walk into the sunlight, she imagined doing so alone. She knew her parents were concerned and she did not want to put them through the pain of watching her skin burn to a crisp.

"I haven't really thought about that mom. I'll let you know."

"You know I would. I'd run out if anything happened to you. I simply ask you don't do anything impulsive. Promise me you'll get one of us or a friend."

Teal sighed. "I promise. Thanks for offering."

"Sure honey. Of course." Kissing the top of her head, Morgan sauntered away and left to go to work.

💀💀💀💀💀💀

Almost every night, for two weeks, her brother asked for her to go to the club with him and Samantha.

"Fun, yes?"

"Yes! Of course, I had fun with you."

"Then?"

"Nothing. It's not something you did, it's all me. I overdid-"

"What?"

"Drinking. My drinking. I had too much."

He arched his brow in question.

"I had five or six, I have no idea. And let me tell you, I am not a zombie when it comes to drinking, Brother, it affects me. I got drunk."

Thoughts of Marc came to mind.

"So? " He shrugged, "Fun, right?"

"I guess so-"

"How is that?" Eyes, full of questions looked at her with curiosity.

"How is what?"

"Drunk."

Teal laughed. "You act super stupid, have no control or, very little control over your actions. Sometimes you do things and don't really care about the consequences. You become bolder. Other times, you don't remember clearly."

Jax made a face as if that's how he felt daily. "Same as zombie." He snickered.

She chortled."Maybe that's why it doesn't affect most zombies." 

"Yeah ..." He was lost in thought for a long moment. "Shouldn't stop. Come!"

Sighing, something inside her sunk. It felt heavy at the pit of her stomach. 

Is this guilt? She thought. 

"You're right Jax. It shouldn't stop me. I should go with you."

But it did stop her. She was predictable and a homebody who liked her routine. Her stupid, old, pathetically boring routine. 

Why am I so paralyzed about it? Is it Marc? Or is he an excuse?

"Guess what?" A voice broke her train of thought.

Think of the devil and in popped Jax's clueless, smiling face. The face of a zombie, who practically knew nothing but did everything without fear.

"What's up, Jax?"

"Working!"

"Where at?"

"Bar!" 

The yellow-teethed, familiar smile warmed her cheeks and she grinned back at him.  Then, she noticed he'd lost a few of his back teeth and her mouth dropped at the corners. She hoped he wasn't weathering away.

"At-at, the bar?"

"Yeah! OnDead!" He said this as if they had hundreds of bars and he had to specify which one. "One time a week." He beamed proudly.

"One night a week?" Teal's curiosity peaked.

"Yep. Female, gone. Wants work, meat plant. Marc, not there."

"Oh! She's taking a job at the meat plant. So you're taking her place on the days when Marc's off?"

He nodded.

"What about Marc?" Teal pretended like the question was a casual one, while craving for her brother to tell her more. But every day she thought about him. How could she forget his face? Or, his voice? Or, the way he held her when they kissed.

"Yeah. Did I, you? At the club?"

Teal shook her head, "You didn't introduce us, no."

"Hmmm..." he scratched his head. "Thought I did." He racked his brain.

"Yes, Jax, you told him I was with you that night, celebrating my birthday, remember? But I wasn't there when you did."

"Coolest dude! Club owner," he said excitedly.

"Yes. You mentioned he's the club owner." 

Why was it, the mention of his name made her nervous? 

"Yep."

"He's gotta be pretty bright to be the owner." She counted with her fingers, "Coordinate the music, higher zombies for different jobs, purchase drinks ... I'm impressed." Teal said truthfully.

Jax shrugged.

Teal refused to believe he was half-human too, but he was very eloquent. She didn't say anything to him when they met, because she was not herself that night. Let's face it, she'd boldly flirted, touched his hair, kissed him, and then insulted him. She ran her hand through her face in frustration, rolling her eyes.

Based on his age, he wasn't born a zombie. She knew he was older than Jax, so the theory of having an immune mother, while pregnant, was not an option.

"Do you know how old he is?"

"Twenty-nine? Thirty-one?" Jax shrugged, "Did you, him? Did I, you?" The word introduce was very difficult for Jax to pronounce, among many others. Throughout the years, Teal learned to read between the line.

He'd already forgotten, they had just talked about this. "No, you didn't. I-I met him myself.  When I went to the bar." 

Teal was uncomfortable speaking about Marc, no matter how briefly, even to him. Her consolation was, she knew he would shortly forget their conversation, as it wasn't impactful enough for him to retain in his memories. 

"How are you going to remember all the drinks, Jax?"

"Just few, Teal," he said flustered. "Samantha help."

Ooh, so Samantha is going to work at the club. "Good for you, brother."

They did get quite a few variations of booze as far as she could tell from that evening. She knew the vodka came from zombies in Russia and the tequila from a group in Mexico. They had their own recipes mixed with body parts, guts, and blood. She had no idea what else came in, from where, nor how but whatever was out there, she bet Marc could get it.

"Something to do," he shrugged. "Food for zombies that, can't."

How admirable, Teal thought. The zombies he spoke of, were the ones whose brains were worse than their dad's. They walked the streets salivating, while they grunted and growled in misery hungry and barely functioning. Those were some of the ones she wondered about how they got fed. It was zombies like her brother, who helped them.

"I'm so proud of you! It's wonderful and so unselfish!" She was in awe of him. Pride didn't begin to describe what she felt for her brother at that moment.

Time and time again, he taught her life lessons. Real ones. Was it worth to be intelligent, if you had no heart? No sense of adventure? Took no risks? In part, she had become a recluse and while her parents had much to do about her hibernating habits and resignation to living the life she had been dealt with, she had also given up. Instead of questioning it, she should have been savoring it. Relishing what she had. 

Ten years, at least, she felt she had wasted. Jax was all heart. A good being all around. He made her want to be better. Stop her insecurities and fears, whether they were inculcated by her parents, or herself. A moment of clarity enveloped her and she concluded it was time to set her fears aside and face Marc.

"You know what, Jax?"

"Yah?"

"What time does OnDead open?"

"Eleven." He gestured with both hands, "Not one at that time."  

"No one gets there early?" Perfect. "I'll be there then. Tonight."

"Really?!"

She nodded.

"We leave—"

"I'll go by myself, I'll meet you there. I have something to do beforehand."

He gave a toothy grin, "Awesome squirt!"

"Ugh! Stop calling me that!"

His laugh resonated throughout the house. "Never!"

Like a goof, she smiled shaking her head at the space, where her brother had stood a few seconds before.

She shook her head, "I've avoided it long enough." It, meaning Marc. Their kisses and the stupid argument would also need to be addressed sooner rather than later. Her brother would be working there and she would be forced to see Marc again at one time or another. 

Teal needed to become an adult and accept the consequences of her actions. Plus, she had an ulterior motive. She desperately needed his help.

He had connections. At his bar, he had a TV, a phone, booze ... All contraband. 

He also got hair dye. Hair dye! 

"Why would he even want that sort of thing?" she wondered while looking at her image in the cheap mirror in her room. It was one she'd found by a junkyard years ago, along with a whole lot of items made out of plastic. Spoons, forks, containers ...

She also needed him for his TV. To gather information for a few early nights before he opened the club. She must contact her aunt and apparently, Marc had an incredible talent for bribery. Possibly, he could get her a phone. She could pay for his services with food. That wouldn't be a problem.

Opening the door to her closet, she pondered, what she should wear out of the few hand-me-down garments she owned.

Music By:
Arcade Fire* Rebellion