𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙢 𝘽𝙤𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨

Chapter Eleven

Y/N

In the end, I don't trust her not to rabbit on me again, so I bring her with me. Her playing-dead is barely passable and a bit too dramatic, but she doesn't attract too much attention as we head to the building across the street.

I guess it must've been some kind of grocer's because it's full of shelves lined with cans and the stench of rotting food. The place has obviously been ransacked a time or two before, but there are enough things left behind to keep Jennie entertained.

I follow behind her as she wanders up and down the shelves, occasionally humming in excitement as she piles a can into the cheap plastic basket she picked up near the door.

I have no idea what she is finding that makes her so happy, but she's enjoying it so I let her at it.

Perhaps she'll explain it to me when we get back to the house.

A groan from the back of the store makes me pause and I grab her arm. "T-time to go," I say and tug her in the direction of the broken front of the grocer's.

She carries her basket with her as we make our way back across to my bookshop house. The moment we're inside, she sits down in her corner and pulls out one of the cans. She jams the screwdriver she's been hefting around with her through the tin and wedges the top off.

"Mmm, peaches," she says eagerly, picking out a wiggly orange thing and popping it into her mouth. "Gosh, I haven't eaten peaches in forever. We don't grow them in the Compound."

I stand in front of her, watching her curiously. It's interesting to watch a human eat. It's less gory than when a Corpse eats, for sure, and she makes such enthusiastic faces. The peaches she's eating don't look very tasty though, wiggly, squishy little things.

Peaches. I don't remember what peaches were like. I wonder if I liked them before.

Jennie looks up at me and I turn, trying to pretend that I wasn't watching her devour an entire can of peaches with zeal. I think it makes her uncomfortable when I watch her.

Is it weird that I like to watch her? Am I weird? That's probably a stupid question. Of course I'm weird. I'm a Corpse with a living roommate.

I try to think if I have any food in here. I wander over to the desk where my record player sits and I look around behind the desk.

There's a huge cooler that's been there since I moved into the place, and if I remember right... I open the top and look in at the collection of bottles that are lying in a heap.

I grab one that isn't broken and carry it back, offering it out to her hopefully.

"Oh, wow," Jennie says and takes the bottle. She twists it to examine the faded label on the front of the brown glass. "Moose Head. Never heard of this brand, must be a local brew." She pops the top off with the screwdriver and takes a long sip. "Mmm, not bad though. Wow, I can't even remember the last time I had a beer. Probably before I made it to the Compound."

She cracks open another can of the squishy, wet fruit and settles it down next to the bottle of beer.

Glancing up at me, she smiles a bit exasperatedly. "You can sit down, you know."

I grunt and sit down opposite her, leaning my back against the end of one of the shelving units. She tilts her head and looks at me. "You know, you're not all that bad, Cheekbones."

I frown. Cheekbones? Is that what she calls me? I lift a hand and run it along my left cheek. Yeah, okay, so I suppose I have prominent cheekbones, but really? That's hardly a name, even for a Corpse.

That's not even a good name for a pet. "I h-have, a na-ame," I tell her indignantly.

Jennie's eyes widen. "Really? You have a name? What is your full name?"

Shit, I clearly didn't think this all the way through. Right, I have a name but I don't remember my full name. That's a bit of a problem.

"Y/....." Damn it, not cool. "Y/..N."

"Y/N?" Jennie echoes questioningly.  Oh thank god, she got it. "Uhm, What about your last name?" I frown. "Park? Maybe, Lee? Kim?"

Gosh, this is not going well. I kind of want to die all over again.

Jennie groaned, "Look, why don't I just call you Y/N then?"

I feel the corner of my lips pull up. Holy crap, I'm smiling. Right? That's what this is. Corpses don't smile, but I'm smiling. Because her calling me Y/N for a name is better than nothing. And better than Cheekbones, as flattering as that was. I mean, I think it was supposed to be flattering. But I have a name now, a name we picked together.

"Y/...." I say, trying it out. "Y/N." I nod. Y/N will do.

"Good," she says and her smile fades. "Y/N, I wanna go home."

No! No, she can't go home. She can't leave me. "N-not safe."

"I know, that's what you keep saying," Jennie says in frustration. "But it's never going to be safe for me here, Y/N. Not this deep into the Dead Zone."

The Dead Zone? Is that what they call our cities? Well it's not totally inaccurate I suppose. I mean we're undead, technically, but it works.

"I need to go home, that's the only place I'll be safe. And you brought me here, so I know you can get me out again."

Damn it, she has a point. I can keep her safe here, but for how long? After a while, the others will inevitably catch her scent. If they smell her in here, all unwritten rules of not touching each others' stuff will go straight out the window. And I can fight off a couple Corpses but if they all come at once, we're both screwed.

But she can't leave yet. I need time. Time to figure out just what it is about her that's so special. That makes me almost feel. I need to make her stay for a couple more days at least.

"F-few days," I say. "Th-they forg-get. Then you c-can go." Wow, not bad. Those were almost like sentences.

"A few days, huh?" she asks, staring at me shrewdly.

I nod, trying to keep up a poker face. She has to stay, just a bit longer.

"Okay, a few days," Jennie agrees. "I will stay for a few days. But after that you have to let me go home."

"I-I'll, take you," I agree. I have to help her, make sure that she makes it all the way home. That's the only way she stands a chance, and I have to know that she's okay. I can't live with myself otherwise.

I hold out my hand. "Deal."

Jennie surveys it for a second and then slips her hand into mine. It feels warm, almost hot against my cool skin, and for a minute all I can do is marvel at the fact that I can feel that. I can tell the difference in the temperature.

Corpses don't feel temperature. Corpses don't feel anything. But I feel her. And then she squeezes my hand before pulling it away, and the moment is broken.

"Deal," Jennie says. "So... What exactly is a girl supposed to do around here for a couple days?"