The Phantom Touch

Fads

"Del, stand back," said Bungee, his voice dark and stern as he sidestepped over and formed a barrier between Mercedes and I.  "If I say to run, I want you to sprint as fast as you can through the fields without looking back.  Go to the commune and get..."

"Bungee," said Mercedes with a playful smile and a shake of her head, "are you worried I'm going to do something to her?"

"You've been gone for almost a month, Mercedes," said my bodyguard, his body hunching slightly as his muscles flexed.  Unfortunately, despite having gained some weight, Bungee still hadn't had a regular diet of human flesh.  Even though he towered over the petite Mercedes, his figure wasn't as nearly as imposing as it could be with some meat on his bones.  "Food isn't that easy to find even without the limitations of the Whisper Valley treaty.  If the hunger's gotten you..."

"Does it look like the hunger has gotten me?" she asked with a roll of her eyes.  "Take a look for yourself.  I've got nothing to hide."  She lifted her arms and did a slow spin before us.  I wasn't sure what we were looking for, but Bungee must have seen it because his stance loosened.  "See," she said, crossing her arms over her chest and flashing a victorious smile, "I don't even have bruises, much less decaying flesh.  The virus is at bay."

"Fine," he said, stepping out from between us, though he did come over to my side of the stump, where he kept guard beside me.  "You can't blame me for being cautious.  You left without telling anyone."  He paused, turning his eyes to the ground as he toed a patch of grass.  "Raid's missed you."

"That's why I left like I did," she said with a sigh.  "He's so intense all the time and he's so stressed out about the hunger problems in town.  I knew he'd make a big deal if I said I wanted to leave town to find another solution for our problems."

"As if he wouldn't make a big deal if you left without even leaving a note," said Bungee with a growl in his voice that was so low, I wasn't sure Mercedes even heard it.

"What can I say?" she said with a shrug.  "I've always had a flair for the dramatic."  She giggled to herself, before turning her eyes to me.  "I was a Hollywood actress, you know?  I was quite a star back in the day."  She then struck a pose, tossing her long blonde hair as she pouted her lips.  I assumed that was her best camera ready pose, but I wasn't sure what cameras she was expecting out in the middle of Killian's farm.

"Okay," sighed Bungee as he turned to our makeshift table, "whatever is going on here, Raid is going to want to hear it."  He then faced me with remorse pulling at his lips.  "I'm sorry, Del, I think I'm going to have to put our dinner on hold for now."

"That's okay," I said, smiling up into his green eyes.  "It was very sweet of you to put this together for me.  You're a good friend."  A small smile twisted his lips before he gave me a nod and headed over to the table.  He blew out the candles and then set to work on boxing up our food.

He really was a good friend and I really did appreciate him doing this for me.  However, I couldn't deny the relief filling my chest.  Mercedes actually did me a huge favor by stumbling upon us.  Now I'd have the chance to properly sort out what was happening between the two of us and figure out if this was something I wanted.

"That's so darling," said Mercedes in a low voice as she joined up beside me to watch Bungee wrap the tableware up in the tablecloth.

"Oh?" I stuttered, surprised to find her standing so close.

"He's such a sweetheart and you two are so cute together."

"Cute...together?" I mumbled, heat rising to my cheeks.

"Oh yes, the whole town is talking about it," she said, biting her lip in a vain attempt to contain her smile.  "It's nice that the town is speaking positively about zombies for once."