Bloodhearts

Chapter five: Blood.

I keep thinking about the same thing whilst the living are trying to work out what to do with me. It's only Cory who acknowledges me. He catches me staring, nods once, and goes back to what everyone else is doing; ignoring me or secretly keeping an eye on me to see what I'll do next.

I don't know what I'll do next.

I mean, I'm the prisoner here. I'm getting more and more anxious because of the way the female Sadie is looking at me. It's as if she is deciding something. Cory has tried to let her examine me, but I don't trust her, and I am pretty sure she feels the same way about me. Maybe that's why she's preparing some kind of syringe right now while no one is looking.

"Gee, how can Cory even believe this thing has a mind?" Jason's fellow guard says. I haven't caught his name yet. "That thing so can't talk! That's dumb to even think!"

I find Jason and his friends very annoying. I wouldn't mind telling them. Or I could just eat them.

"Yeah," Jason agrees. Just as he says that, I begin to realize that Cory's isn't the only familiar face appearing in my dream. Jason was my best friend there. But that was a very different Jason to the one I see now. This one looks older.

Something gets poked into my shoulder. I hiss and realize it's Sadie with the syringe. I am so surprised that I can't do much but stare at her. Clearly, she still hasn't told anyone she's doing this. She pretends to be curious and wanting a closer look at me when Jason is busy laughing with his friends and doesn't notice what she's really doing. Great security guards they are.

I don't feel much when the needle punctures my skin, but I do when some kind of liquid enters my body. Sadie's eyes are huge. I squirm and Jason finally notices. He holds me down with his rifle. I know better than to challenge him like this. He isn't like Cory; he will shoot before talking. But, incredibly, he doesn't see the syringe because he's telling a joke, and Sadie has already pulled the syringe out and hid it in her pocket.

Jason pokes me again. I roll my eyes. It is really beginning to annoy me. Pain can't hurt me, so he can torture me if he wants to, but he will get one very pissed off zombie if he tries that one more time. Lucky for the guy, I'm trapped in a cage, so I can't get to him. He just needs to stop poking me. Right now.

As if on cue, Cory steps in and orders Jason to back off. No one speaks after that and Cory limps his way to an old, rotten couch. Sadie gives him some medicin saying that he needs rest. He reluctantly hands over command to Jason with the order: "Don't hurt him". Jason agrees reluctantly. Secretly, this pleases me.

From then on, it only takes minutes before the medication kicks in and Cory is asleep on the couch. I stare at him now and am reminded of last night that we spent in the ruins of that old building. I'm reminded of the trust Cory puts in me. Is he being courageous or just plain stupid?

As the night falls, Sadie hands out cans of dull-looking food, which gets eaten almost mechanically. The contents look like smashed guts. I wonder what they are going to do when I get hungrier again. I can't eat canned food like them. I wish it was that easy.

The next day starts out with a gun being pointed in my face. It's that guy who - just like Jason - decidedly doesn't like me. I find out his name is Spencer. He argues with Cory all morning about why I was brought here. I have to admit there is some truth to what he says. This whole situation is odd. Cory, however, doesn't agree that I'm as much of a threat as my guards seem to think. He must have some kind of plan.

"He's in a cage and he's alone," Cory says with a deep breath. "There's no way he can get out."

"Cory, that's not the point here!" another guy says. "We don't know if those things have some way of communicating! What if it brings its friends here? We have no way of escaping if this building if it gets compromised! You know what that means!"