Red Handed (A Warm Bodies FanFiction)

Why Me?

[Doug's POV]

"Doug!" Rebecca yells worryingly, her head whipping around frantically. I wipe some nonexistent grime of my shirt before calling out, "Alive."

"Thank God," the dark-haired girl breathes as she enters the house. I tell her my local through the wall, and she calls back her thanks before heading to my described location. "Did you find... WHAT HAPPENED?!" Rebecca shouts at me once she lays her eyes upon me. I touch my mouth, the place I deduce she's unhappy about. I then remember that the corpse had bloody fingers.

"Ummm," I say, trying to make something up. "Wait... Are you... infected?" she asks skeptically, raising her gun subconsciously. My eyes widen.
"No! No, No," I say as Rebecca searches my body for bite marks. "No I cut myself on..." I look away, faking embarrassment. "I was shaving OK?" She looks at me as if I have two heads. "At a time like this?" Rebecca asks dumbfounded. Did she actually buy that?

Rebecca scans my appearance again. "How did you cut yourself that bad?" she asks with disbelief in her tone, finally lowering her gun completely.

"...I used a very dull razor. Look, I don't want to talk about it; it really hurts," I add it my lie as an afterthought. Rebecca rolls her eyes at me. "Okay, whatever. Did you find the corpse?" Rebecca asks.

"...No," I lie, "Let's just go back to the house, I think she ran away."

"Okay."

Becca and I leave the room, but I look out the window the girl jumped out of just before its out of my view. I didn't see her, not that I really expected to. I head straight to the roof once we get back to the house.

What just happened? Why didn't she kill me? Why did she help me up? She was a corpse wasn't she? Or was she just a dirty girl that had speech problems? No. She has bullet holes in her chest. She was a corpse. She saw I was terrified and calmed me down... Is that why she ran?

...Does she want to be my friend?

I leave the roof and fall asleep on the couch after battling my thoughts. At 2:09am I hear a tap-tap-tap on the door. And since it was a very soft sound, I must be a very light sleeper. Peeking through the wooden planks, I almost die of shock. IT'S HER! The girl! The corpse! But... why? I stare at her for what seems like hours, and she simply stares back.

•

Doug stares at me from behind a plank on the bay window. I stare back at him. We do this for a few minutes, nether of us knowing what to say or do. Finally he -

•

For some reason, I feel like I can trust her, and I open the door a crack to slip out of it. I look at her again skeptically, getting lost in her cloudy eyes, I cringe and back up a bit. A beat passes before she lurches forward and -

•

He is terrified. I don't get it. I told him I meant him no harm. "Not... Eat..." I repeat from before. His shoulders relax a little, and I attempt to smile, but my muscles don't cooperate. I hold out my hand and say, "My-y nam-e is Ca - Cas-ss-iiee."

He shakes my hand and says, "Doug." He just shook my hand! My bloody, gross, dirty hand... Now we're getting somewhere!

•

I pull my hand away and wipe it on the back of my new shirt. I have to admit, that was gross but also kind of cool. Shaking hands with a zombie? Some people might call that brave! I think I might be. But, then again, more would probably call it foolish and impossible.

We awkwardly stare at each other so more until I break the silence by asking, "What are you doing here?" She shrugs in response. "...Well?" I press, still trying to get a answer out of Cassie.

"Ca-ame... To s-see... yo-ou."

"Why?" I rephrase, my curiosity growing. Again, she simply shrugs, taking a moment to look around. I huff out of frustration. "I know you can talk!" I whisper-yell at the zombie.

"Don't... Know-w..." Cassie elaborates, seemingly just as frustrated with her communication skills as me.

•

This counts as 'connecting' right? I mean, I'm talking to a human! I'm talking to Doug! I hope I can resist to eat long enough to get to know him. Because I feel different when I stand by him. I don't know why yet but, I intend on finding out why soon. All I know now is that I need to protect him. That I need to keep him safe.