Our Undead (15 page)

Still lost in thoughts
about all that has happened, she doesn't notice when she walks by
the two zombies that heard her cheers of celebration from earlier.
They had gotten closer by following the trail of the sound, but now
they have Margaret in their sights and her strong scent tantalizing
their flesh fetish. They notice her trudging by from about
thirty-five to fifty feet away and begin following her at their
moderate pace.

When she gets back to the
cabin, Margaret enters, happy to be home. She walks right in,
swinging around her prizes for Abe, some by their long ears and a
different looking one by its tail. In her aloofness, she forgets to
close the door behind her.

Margaret:
I'm back, Abe! I hope you like squirrel!

She holds up the animals
and reveals one of them to be a black squirrel, then limps over to
Abe and drops all of his food at his feet. Abe has already finished
eating both of the rabbits Margaret had left with him, so she picks
up a fresh one and offers it to him.

Margaret:
You want?

He takes it right away and
begins eating. Margaret laughs at his eagerness.

Margaret:
Oh, ho ho ho… So cool.

She makes her way to the
sink and washes her hands off under some warm water. When she
finishes, she turns off the taps and flings the water off of her
hands as she limps back to observe Abe eating. Again, she either
doesn't remember to close the front door or chooses to ignore it,
but she definitely doesn't notice the two zombies that are seconds
away from entering through it. She casually limps up to Abe, still
trying to air dry her hands and rubbing the water into her soiled
skin.

Margaret:
Sooo, when you think you're gonna be ready to get let out of
there?

While she interrogates Abe
on the subject of loyalty, the two stalking walkers enter through
the front door. They make their way patiently closer and closer to
the unaware girl, who is too preoccupied with her one-sided
conversation.

Margaret:
I guess I can let you out. You're not gonna turn on me are
ya, if I let you out? You're not smarter than you've been letting
on, are you, Abe?

Abe says nothing, neglects
to warn Margaret about his two undead cohorts, less than a metre
behind her. It's as if he, himself, doesn't even notice them. As
usual, his eyes never leave hers, both of them evenly enthralled by
each other.

Margaret:
All right, I'll let you out, but only after you're finished
wi-…

Before she can end her
sentence, something speaks to her. It isn't actually a voice, and
it doesn't speak with words. It's more of a feeling, and it tells
her to stop acting like a child and pay attention to her
surroundings. It comes from the inside, and as soon as she feels
it, the sound of unwelcome feet scraping across the floor behind
her, grinds into her eardrums like a jackhammer, so obvious to her
now. How could she not have heard them?

Margaret quickly turns
around to confront whatever her inner voice had warned her about,
but not soon enough. The first of the two zombies just misses her
shoulder as she spins. It throws her off balance, and she falls
violently back into Abe, so violently that it jerks him out of his
snag almost completely.

Margaret frantically uses
her hands to push herself off of Abe and the door. She manages to
thrust herself past the first zombie but slams right into the
second one that stands not far behind it. The extra push she gives
Abe in an attempt to escape is just enough to free him completely
from his prison. It pushes him stumbling back into the cabin
hallway.

Margaret grapples with the
second intruder momentarily before her weak ankle collapses under
her, sending her falling to the ground near her duffel bag. The
second zombie immediately follows suit and lands on top of her. It
claws and snaps it's jaws at her face, but she manages to keep it's
teeth at bay while stretching her left arm out, trying desperately
to reach the big knife she knows is around her bag. She gives the
zombie a swift elbow, whipping its head to the right. This gives
her a precious gap of time and allows her to successfully get a
hold of the knife. She grips tightly the warm plastic handle and
drives the cold steel into the zombies temple just as it is about
to bring it's jaws back on to it's target, that being Margaret's
face. The zombie sputters and twitches its last twitches as
Margaret struggles to pull the blade back out of the side of its
skull.

She succeeds in withdrawing
it and pushes the undead corpse off of her, just in time for the
next zombie to pounce, but she uses her hands to push herself away
from it, so the second attacker lands only on top of her legs. A
straight kick to the chin from Margaret's healthy foot sends the
ghoul's head flying backward, and Margaret takes that extra time to
scuttle backwards on her behind, away from the raging creature. She
notices Abe trying to make his way through the hallway doorway as
she hurries backward, and she slams her back and head into the
still open door of the cabin for her lack of attention. It rams
into her spine, and she yelps in pain before slamming it shut in
anger. The crawling ghoul regains it's composure after taking
Margaret's foot to the face and continues it's crawling pursuit of
her. She shuffles backward even further, but with the door now
closed, her back meets with a dead end.

The idea of being trapped
begins to panic the young girl. It is reminiscent of a dream she
can hardly remember, and she feels like there's a boulder in her
belly. Not only that, but she can't seem to keep her trembling
hands under control. With her back against the door, she has no
choice but to get to her feet. It may have been easier if both of
her ankles were in working condition, but getting up becomes a task
in her panicky impaired state, and midway up the brain stained
knife falls out of her right hand.

She tries to pick it up,
but the second zombie is already upon her. The half-second it would
take her to pick up the knife would definitely get her killed if
she took the chance. There's nothing she can do now but try to keep
the walker's claws and teeth from penetrating her skin. She fights
the creature off, blocking its flailing arms with her own and
dodging it's attempts to bite her face by moving her head from left
to right accordingly.

While all this is
happening, Abe manages to make his way through the space in the
door, this time, successfully, and without puncturing himself in
it's vice. He makes it past that personal obstacle, finally fully
inside of the living room and finally able to move again. He makes
his way over to Margaret and her assailant. While fighting for her
life, Margaret notices Abe and sees that he is approaching the
scrimmage. She doesn't know what to make of it, but anyone would
have a hard time thinking, having to endure the pressure she is
currently under.

Margaret:
No! Get off of me, you fucking bastard!

She continues blocking
reckless arms and ferocious bites while Abe creeps closer and
closer, coming up behind the being that is just like himself. It
begins to become clear to Margaret that there is no jagged snag in
the door holding Abe back any longer. If he wants to eat her (and
he had certainly wanted to before), now would be his most opportune
time. After all, she had treated him horribly throughout the entire
training process. She had beaten him across the face with her big
whooping stick at least five hundred times. If Abe decides to help
his fellow zombie take her down so they can both share her as a
meal, she probably deserves it. At least, that's the way she feels,
and now Abe is directly behind the attacking zombie, raising his
arms, about to join the fray.

Margaret:
Abe, no! Stop! G-get out of here!

Abe ignores her orders. He
doesn't have to listen to her anymore. Human flesh was always what
he truly desired, and now it is free for the taking. He reaches
forward to take hold of his long awaited prize.

Margaret:
Abe, no! Abe! Aaaabe!

But it's too late. Abe's
large grey hands grasp firmly on to their target, and Margaret's
face turns to shock. It isn't an expression of terror, but more so
a look of surprise, and her face remains frozen in that expression
as her attacker is pulled off and away from her, being held at bay.
She can't believe her eyes when she sees Abe holding the other
zombie tightly by the shoulders, keeping it away from her. She
realizes that Abe didn't have any intention of eating her at all.
Abe had just saved her life.

For a moment, Margaret
stays leaned up against the cabin door, watching the zombie that
she had just been fighting with struggle unsuccessfully to get out
of Abe's clutches. Her body is half frozen from the fear and half
from experiencing what she thinks is a miracle, but by a minute's
end, she snaps out of the shock and remembers that there is
actually a ravenous flesh eating monster right in front of
her.

The knife!
Regaining her composure, Margaret looks down to
see the messy blade on the floor by her feet. In one fluid motion,
she bends down, grabs the handle and inserts the sharp edge into
the struggling zombie's left temple. A moment later, and the walker
becomes still in Abe's hands, her cue to withdraw the knife. She
lets out an explicit sigh of relief, her shoulders drop as her body
relaxes, and she looks down at her feet.

When she lifts her head
back up, she is shocked by the same ugly face that was just trying
to make a lunch out of her. Abe is still holding the thing up by
its shoulders. She is confused for a second, but then Margaret
figures out that it probably hasn't registered in Abe's brain-dead
skull that it's okay to let it go.

Margaret:
Uuhmm.. you can drop him now.

She helps him along by
prying the dead walker out of his hands and letting it drop to the
floor. Even with her personal up close experience with touching the
things, she wretches at having to put her hands on it. When her
gaze returns to her savior, a sensation of relief washes over her
again, and she smiles at him.

Margaret:
Abe,.. I don't know if you can understand me… But I think you
can, so… thank you.

She honestly doesn't know
for sure if Abe understands her, but thanking him seems like the
appropriate thing to do. He had, after all, saved her life, and did
it intentionally without getting stuck in anything. She places a
grateful palm on his shoulder, and Abe stares back at her
blankly.

Margaret:
All right... so
now
what do I do
with you?

THE THIRD WHEEL

Later in the evening,
Margaret sits by her duffel bag eating her last can of noodle soup
and three pieces of bread. She uses the soup as a dip again, a
gourmet collation of the times. Abe stands close by eating as well.
He chomps down on one of his rabbits, already having eaten three of
the five treats that Margaret brought for him before she underwent
her surprise attack. She stares at him eating, wide-eyed, while at
the same time chewing on a piece of soup soaked bread.

Margaret:
You know, you'd be much more comfortable if you took a
seat.

Abe looks down at her when
he hears her speaking, but he doesn't understand and just stares
while chewing on a yummy piece of intestine.

Margaret:
You're making me feel very uncomfortable. I hate it when
people stand over me while I'm eating.

Still, he doesn't say a
thing. Although, he can definitely hear her. This is confirmed by
how intently he is staring at her, but he says nothing. He won't
even make an effort. His silence frustrates her, so with a huff,
she gets to her feet as fast as her tired legs will allow her, goes
over to Abe and speaks sternly her command. Abe's pupils follow her
every movement.

Margaret:
Sit down.

When he doesn't move, she
tries again.

Margaret:
Abe,
sit!

Abe watches but still
doesn't comply, and Margaret lets go of another huff. She can't
stand for this sort of insubordination, she won't, so much so that
she literally grabs hold of Abe's legs and tries to bend them at
the knee. She grunts with the amount of effort she has to exert,
but in the end it is no use. Abe won't budge an inch, and neither
will the joint bend. She gives up after a few more seconds of
trying.

Margaret:
Sit!… Down! Argh!

But it's hopeless. He may
not be attacking her anymore, but Abe is far from being completely
trained. Margaret is surprised, yet again, by how resilient and
sturdy Abe's gangly looking legs are, and then it begins to make
more sense to her, how a group of ten to twenty zombies can take
down any shoddily built barrier or blockade. The undead creatures
are a lot stronger than the frail bodied things they appear to be.
Obviously, it depends on what each individual zombie has been
through, whatever maiming their bodies have taken. Some of them
only have one arm or one leg. Some of them are even unfortunate
enough to have no legs or no arms at all. She's even seen some that
are perfect stumps, with no legs
or
arms, but Margaret figures those zombies were
just victims of angry humans who's sole intentions were to mutilate
and torture the already mutilated and tortured.