This Book is Not Just About Brains: A Zombie Story

Brainteaser

He grimaced at his words.

"It's why I let my mother try every fucking thing she could think of on me. But it didn't work. None of it worked." Slowly his head shook from side to side in anguish. "I still turned into―this."

"I'm sorry."

Shyly, she placed a hand on his large one and he didn't flinch.

"She is still in my life."

A pang of fear, curiosity, and nerves, jolted her.

"Who?"

He averted his eyes embarrassed. "I don't think I should say."

"Is it Kaya?"

"No, no. None of that! I was truthful when I said what I said about her. About us."

"Then who? I must know her if you don't want to say."

He felt silly. Especially because it had been a lifetime ago and now, not only had Teal just met her but also knew about them.

"I grew up with her. At sixteen, maybe seventeen, we flirted and liked each other. We even went out a few times." He ran a hand over his forehead and eyes. "I know something would have happened between us. I was going to tell her, but that's when all this happened." He opened his arms in exasperation. "I contracted the virus. It was impossible to continue anything after that. She was truly lost from me, for eternity."

Teal looked at him with tears in her eyes. He was not good at sharing and the effort he put forth, coming to her room, and expressing himself, did not go unnoticed. She sat stretching her arms open. He leaned into her and Teal wrapped them gently around his frame.

He relaxed welcoming her touch. Then, he hugged her fiercely. With hunger and need. Teal understood because she'd felt it, many times in the past.

"Gisela."

"What?"

"Gisela. It was she, who I loved. She never looked at me the same way after I turned."

He spoke against the crook of her neck.

"I feel like a jackass saying this to you, as many years have passed. She's my brother's girl now." His head shook gently. "I just found out about it a few days ago."

He groaned.

"I know it brought back the old feelings of wanting to be human. Feelings of loving someone so much, it hurts. Feelings, of sickness to be this- this thing most humans despise and fear, and separates us as a family. As friends. I couldn't help but feel jealous of my brother being immune. Their normalcy in the middle of this putrid life. This chaos, I've learned to cope with."

"Do you still love her?" Her voice was small against his hair.

"No," he whispered without hesitation.

Marc realized he'd been released from those feelings he once felt, at that very moment.

"Not romantically. I think, that when I saw the love in their eyes, the humanity, how much they care for one another, it brought the distant memories back. For a brief instance, I wished it'd turned out differently for me."

He sighed.

"I am happy for them, but I can't help the feelings of frustration. I'm sad I didn't get that chance as a human."

Teal nodded understanding the meaning behind his words. She'd never been human, at least not all of her. She couldn't possibly understand what it felt, to have been one, and then not. Many times as a child; once she learned about them, she'd wished she was one.