The body was starting to smell.

Lyria and Rosabelle had locked the body in the back room of the pharmacy, a caged area that was only accessible to staff when grabbing prescription medicine. The door locked in four different places and it was built out of steel. If the body turned into a zombie, then it wouldn't be escaping easily.

It wasn't the perfect solution, but it had to do. The doors to the pharmacy had been barricaded by metal shelving. It would be too dangerous to open the door; the sound would alert the patrolling horde of zombies.

The number of zombies was increasing. They circled like pharmacy like an eagle stalks a rabbit before it swoops in for the kill.

Raven was growing nervous. Esther was too. It had been days since the others had left in search for Katherin and they still hadn't returned. They had no way of contacting them, no way of knowing if they were in danger.

"Do you have any painkillers? My head is pounding," Lyria groaned, roughly rubbing her eyes with the back of her palm.

Esther checked her basket. They'd used almost an entire packet of painkillers already.

The rest of the medication was inside the cage.

They would have to step over the body to grab it.

Esther grimaced, tossing the packet towards Lyria.

Lyria nodded in appreciation. She popped two of the pills from their aluminium wrapping and swallowed them dry.

"You okay?" Lyria asked softly.

Esther nodded, though, she wasn't sure. Was she okay? Her girlfriend and her twin were outside fighting for their survival. They could be dead, torn apart by zombies. She was hiding inside a pharmacy, trapped within the cold walls for her own safety. If she went outside, she would be slaughtered.

"I'd be better if the body wasn't smelling so much," Esther responded instead.

Lyria chuckled.

"You're right. I don't remember any of the zombies smelling this much - not even the rotting ones."

"None of those zombies died before they were turned," Rosabelle responded.

Rosabelle jumped down from the ledge, tossing the binoculars onto the front counter. It was her job to monitor the zombies in the afternoon. Then, it would be Raven's turn.

Rosabelle didn't mind watching the zombies, though they scared her. It was quite interesting to see how the zombies moved, how they interacted with each other. Rosabelle wasn't sure that the zombies knew that they travelled in groups. They seemed to walk right past each other, or even into each other, without knowing. It was strange.

"Why do you think this one is different?" Lyria asked.

"Her death was delayed. She wasn't completely torn apart by the zombies like some of the other victims were. I think zombies are the people that got away."

Rosabelle's theory sounded stupid when she spoke it out loud. Maybe she was wrong.

"No, your theory makes sense," Lyria replied.

Rosabelle winced. She hadn't meant to speak her thoughts. It just happened when she was stressed.

"Yeah, your theory might actually work. I've heard of parasites that take over their living host. They're able to control their host's mind and everything. It's kind of cool. I think it's similar to what's happening with the zombies," Raven chimed in softly.

Raven was a second-year science student, majoring in psychology. She wanted to help people who struggled with mental illness but had become intrigued by all areas of the brain - including mind control in the form of targeted amnesia.

In the summer break before the apocalypse, Raven had been employed at a research centre that was trying to use targeted amnesia in order to eliminate memories of the war in soldiers suffering from PTSD. It had been interesting research, but Raven didn't think there was any conclusive evidence that their theories worked. Some of the scientists had started working on a similar form of research where they were trying to harness the Urbach-Wiethe gene. It was supposed to remove the fear associated with the war, but Raven hadn't read much on it. Supposedly, they'd tried the serum on rats and it had worked. Raven doubted that it would work on humans, though. It was too dangerous to remove a person's emotion - more dangerous than it was to remove memories.

"You think so?" Rosabelle responded.

Raven nodded.

"I'm positive. There's no other explanation for it."

There was a thump on the cage.

Esther jumped, looking over her shoulder.

The woman had turned. She stood pressed against the cage, mouth wide open and panting as she tried to claw through the metal bars.

Esther gulped. They should have risked throwing her outside, or done something to make sure she didn't turn. It was too dangerous for them to have a zombie in their shelter.

"I was right," Rosabelle breathed.

Rosabelle stood up, walking towards the cage. She stopped in front of the zombie, looking into the woman's eyes. They were glassy, empty. Rosabelle wasn't surprised. A human wasn't supposed to move, to hunger after it had died.

It was curious. The virus, or whatever it was, must have mutated. It didn't make sense for the bodies to be able to wake up after they had died. The laws of science, the laws of medicine, wouldn't allow it. It was against everything they knew as a species. 

"I would love to conduct research on this," Raven muttered. She looked back at Lyria, who nodded in response.

Lyria was completing a double degree in teaching and science. She was in her second year, like Raven. They went to university together but didn't share any of the same classes.

Lyria was fascinated by chemistry. She loved experimenting, checking to see whether her theories worked. More often then not, they didn't, but Lyria was content in her path. She would rather suck at her degree and have fun than do a degree that bored her.

The zombies fascinated her. If her superiors were still alive, still accessible, Lyria would have begged them to let her do a research project on them. Their existence was just so fascinating. It defied all logic.

"What are we going to do with her?" Ivory's voice was soft. She had searched through the overturned cabinets again, hoping to find something of sustenance. There was nothing except for a container of children's gummies.

Lyria shrugged.

No one else had an answer, either. They hadn't thought about what would happen if the woman did turn, not past the possibility of where they'd put her.

"We can't just keep her locked in there," Ivory sighed.

"Why not?" Lyria asked.

"You've seen what the other zombies did. They don't feel pain like us. If you keep her locked in there, she'll just get hungry and claw her way out."

Lyria fell silent. She was right. The zombies had broken bricks in order to climb through Lyria's bathroom window. They hadn't stopped, not even when their nails had been torn from their fingertips. It had been horrific.

They sat in silence, mulling over their options. It was too risky to let the zombie out and it was too risky for them to leave. The zombies were still outside. Either way, they were trapped.

"Do you think anaesthetic would work on zombies?" Lyria asked eventually.

Most of her experiments didn't work. There was no harm in trying this one, though.

"Maybe?" Rosabelle responded. "There might be some here that I can try. I just have to get the mask on to administer it."

"It won't work," Raven spoke softly. "There's no anaesthetic here anyway."

"Why not?" Lyria asked.

"The zombie isn't breathing. All the other zombies were. This one is different. Rosabelle was right. This one has mutated."