The Only

CH 20

We cleaned up the house a bit so we could sleep in it. We stayed in the living room, brushing the dead bugs off of the furniture so we could have a place to sleep.

Timmy was being cooperative, and stuck with us, even though we knew he would rather be with his alien friends.

I finished off my pork skins and downed a bottle of water as we watched the sunset from behind a gritty window. We were silent, giving my mind room to wander.

I thought back to the little shack in the woods, where I saved Jesse's butt the first time. Why hadn't he gotten infected then? Maybe he hadn't gotten bitten that time, I thought to myself.

There was so much blood then, though. He was lucky to survive; his guts had practically spilled out onto the log I found him on.

I got a little queasy seeing my best friend like that again. I quickly thought of something else.

Then I remembered how Tim could always tell when pawns or feasters were on the way. He always shared a mental connection with them both.

"Are you calling them?" I asked him.

"What?" He asked, clearly not understanding my question.

"The pawns. The way you always knew what was going on in their brains?"

"Well yeah, but they can't tell what's going on in mine. So it's not like we can communicate."

"Oh," I said, thinking. "Did you find out why you can do that? I mean, I can't, and I thought we were all humans here."

"That's the thing. I'm not human. It's kind-of a long story. You guys wouldn't understand." He said, laying down on the floor and rolling away from us.

"Try me," I said, laying down on the floor below his feet.

"My parents were pawns, okay? Shortly after they married, the 'zombie apocalypse' happened. My father escaped, left me here with my adopted parents, aged too soon and died. End of story. I only look human."

"Geez, that's harsh." Jesse said from the couch above me. "It must suck to have to live knowing that."

"Mm. Thanks." Timmy mumbled.

As the sky grew dark and everyone's breathing shallowed, I let myself drift to sleep. A dream floated to me, starting as an echo and grew until I understood every word perfectly.

...you love him....

....a month to live....

...they look so innocent....

...Bailando....

...we need your bodies...

...let him go...

...your soul could be eternally free....

...he is infected...

...a cure...

...a cure...

....you love him...

...a cure...

I woke the next morning with the sun blinding my eyes. Jesse was dabbing his shirt at the teeth marks on his collarbone, and Timmy was staring out the window.

"A cure!" I shouted, sitting up and rubbing my eyes. "We've got to find a cure!"

"There is no cure," Timmy said. "My father's people would still be around if there were."

"Well, aren't you a little ray of sunshine?" I mumbled as I stood up and staggered to the door.

"Where're you going?" Jesse asked, standing up from the bug-covered couch.

"I'm going back to Joe's to find breakfast. Be back in a sec." I pushed open the door and walked down the street, feeling the early-morning rays of the sun already burning my shoulders.

I stepped through the broken door, listening to the glass crunch underneath my boots. The cat meowed at me from the corner, where it was eating some scrap of meat.

I grabbed a sticky bun, a moon pie, several boxed pies, and three chocolate milks before I made my way back to the house. The world was silent, and for the first time, it seemed almost peaceful.

I stepped back inside the house, where Jesse was waiting at the door for me. He took the sticky bun and a cherrie pie. I held the food out to Timmy, who took an apple pie. I opened a J.J.'s chocolate pie and took a bite, remembering my childhood.

I swallowed my chocolate milk and sat down on the floor. "There has to be something we can do!" I thought out loud.

"Sorry." Timmy said, sitting on the floor in front of me.

"No, Jesse was bitten. I was bitten and I'm not infected." I insisted.

"Probably didn't break the skin."

I slid off my ankle boot and rolled up my pants leg. "It didn't break the skin, huh? Does that look like it didn't break the skin?" My leg was black and swollen, with dried blood streaming all the way down to my ankle.

"Look, I don't know what it takes to get infected," Tim said, "but I do know that there is absolutely nothing we can do to keep the infected person from going zombie. And when he does, he will not hesitate to kill you and eat you."

I looked at Jesse, who was standing behind me, rubbing my shoulder. "No. Something will be done before then. If it has to be done, Stasey, promise me you will kill me before I go completely zombie."

I stared at him with tears in my eyes. He crouched down on the ground in front of me and wiped away a tear with his thumb. "Promise me."

I promised.