Circulatory, respiratory,
and digestive systems are
unaffected by re-animation.

We were well out of the city by noon, traveling on the entrance freeway toward the south. Like when we entered from the north, the exit roads were packed to the brim and nobody was trying to enter the city, making it the ideal empty path.

Nana and Katelyn were passing a bag of chips between them, snacking as we walked.

Well, they walked. I was skipping. One foot in front of the other, bouncing off my heels.

"Why so cheerful?"

Spinning on my heels, I continued hopping on my toes as I smiled. One earbud was in my ear and the other bounced wildly with my fitness. "Why not? We're alive another day, I say that's reason enough for celebration!"

The others grumbled while Nana passed Katelyn the chips and began skipping with me.

I unplugged the cord from my music player and turned the volume up so everyone could hear, then turned to Nana and twirled her. She laughed and I followed, mouthing the lyrics.

"Where'd you even get that?" Zane questioned.

"My music player?" He nodded. "A friend gave it to me a few years back. She told me to hold onto it for her until she came back for it, and I kept it when she didn't," I pulled it from my pocket, looking at my reflection in the cracked screen. After a second I turned the music off and shoved it back in my pocket.

It was stupid to ask why she didn't come back, but Nana is hopeful and kind. "She could still come back one day!"

I shook my head and gave her a small smile. My skipping had stopped long ago. "I watched her turn, Nana. I watched them shoot her. Nobody comes back from that.

"Which is why I don't get why you're all not grateful to be alive. The world is shit, most people suffer a fate worse than death. But you're still here, still breathing and still thinking your own thoughts. Most people don't get that," I added sadly. Correcting my posture, I turned and took off in a run before doing a cartwheel followed by a backflip.

"Have some fun and live a little!" I yelled back, smiling when I turned and heard Katelyn mumble that I was a "weird one."

Nana soon asked me to teach her how to cartwheel, which I gladly did during the many hours we were walking.

I spotted her, holding her legs and waist in place while she attempted the flip. It was a little off, but she was getting better and would in the future as well with more practice.

Fortunately, our noise didn't attract any walkers. Unfortunately, that means there's likely to be a horde somewhere along our way.

╏✖۝✖╏✖۝✖╏✖۝✖╏

"Hold on to it for me, okay? That way I have something to come back for."

"It's not going to work, is it?"

She smiled, but even through the thick glass, I could see the doubt in her eyes. Putting my hand up against the glass, I stared at her until she put hers over mine. We couldn't touch, not with the quarantine, but the gesture was warming anyway.

Two tall men urged her up and she was walked down the hall, out of sight.

What felt like hours passed and she didn't come back. At one point a doctor came in and took a vile of my blood, just like he did a few days prior.

Then she was finally back, a large bite adorning her forearm. It was cleaned and bandaged with a plastic cover, but still bled slightly. She looked exhausted, and the second the guards shut her door she collapsed to the floor.

I hurried over and tapped the glass to make sure she was okay, but she just rolled her head to the side to smile at me again.

Her music player was on my bed, so I grabbed it and went to give it to the guard so he could pass it to her, but she stopped me midway with a grunt.

She shook her head. "Keep it. What use will I have for it?"

"I'm sorry," I sobbed.

Normally tan, her skin was graying rapidly and her eyes struggled to focus as she went still.

"It's not your fault," she repeated like she did almost every week.

After a final cough, she was still and silent, no longer breathing.

The guards cocked their guns and aimed in her direction through the small openings that allowed the guns to sit against the glass. They almost looked like her — so still I couldn't see their breathing.

We waited for an hour. I was clutching the player against my chest, sobbing and in tears when she groaned and twitched. Her body jerked slightly like she was being electrocuted.

Without warning, she leaped against the glass between us and I squealed when the guards open fired. I couldn't stop crying, my eyes burned.

Gaining consciousness, I gasped in shock and checked to make sure that the device was still beside me. When it was, I calmed down a bit and relaxed my tense spine.

It took me a moment to remember where I was before it came back to me. We stopped for the night under a freeway bridge, and Zane took the first patrol so everyone else could sleep.

He was still awake when I sat up, and glanced my way when I popped my neck.

"You alright?" He whispered from the other side of the small camp.

I nodded, rubbing my eyes and smoothing down the hair on my head while mumbling a curse to the concrete.

"You can get more sleep if you want to. It's only been an hour since we set up."

Shaking my head, I offered a smile for his kind gesture. "There's no way I'll be able to sleep now. Mind some company?"

He smiled back slightly, visible because his bandana rested under his chin. "By all means, please," he motioned to the ground beside him. "I'm bored as hell."

Once I sat at his side I noticed the sound of crickets. Nature's own music.

An aroma of spice filtered the air around us and when I commented, Zane cocked his head to the side. "You can smell that?"

"I have a good nose," I shrugged.

He shrugged with a playful smile and handed me his dark bandana. "I covered it in old spices. It helps with the smell."

"Damn, I could use me one of those."

He laughed and I followed, though it was light so nobody else would wake up. Silence followed for a few minutes before he spoke again.

"If you don't mind me asking, was that a nightmare you had?"

I shook my head. "I don't mind at all. Yeah, it was," taking a deep breath I steeled my resolve. "I've seen a lot of people turn in my life. One after the other, it always ends the same. Meet someone new, make a friend, and they die within a few months. I'm hoping this time will be different."

"Didn't know we signed up to have a bad luck charm in our ranks," he joked with a sly smile.

I didn't find it very funny and instead looked at my hands. "Yeah."

Zane noticed my melancholy mood swing after a second of silence and his voice lowered in sympathy. "Hey, I was just kidding. That's happened to all of us. Death is just a part of this world now."

You weren't the cause of it though, I thought bitterly.

"Aphmau."

I looked back up at him and found a serious expression. "We don't care about your past. You're welcome to stay with us as long as you like. Everyone dies eventually, and as you said earlier, it's not normal for it to be peaceful. You can't stop it, and you're not the cause of it."

Smiling, I went to speak but was cut off by a yawn. He gave me a look and I chuckled.

"You know what, I think I will try to get some sleep after all," I nudged his arm with my own. "Thanks, Zane."

"Anytime," was his reply as I made my way back into the sleeping bag.

╏✖۝✖╏✖۝✖╏✖۝✖╏
Word count: 1401
тнιѕ ιѕ иσт α иσямαℓ zσмвιє
αρσ¢αℓуρѕє αυ, ιf ιт ιѕит σвνισυѕ.