I saw two seasons of The Walking Dead and a few other episodes (which I watched out of order) a while ago. For some reason, TWD was brought up again (for unknown reasons). So this is something based off a roleplay I did with my sibling.

I don't own anything.
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Bodhi was a zombie. Not a regular zombie but definitely a zombie none the less. His skin was rotting off his face and three of his fingers were missing from the incident. A large amount of blood had spewed from his shoulder where he had been bitten, coating his clothes down that side until it reached the end of his ribcage. Flies were spinning around his decaying head and he couldn't find the strength to swat them away (they didn't really bother him anymore, anyway). His gait had become distorted in a way that it caused him to start dragging one foot behind as the other struggled to support his weight. He was losing his sense of touch. He could take bullets to his body (except the head) and it would feel like someone had just pinched his skin. Sometimes, he couldn't feel the pain at all. He might as well have been classified as a typical zombie.

But he was not a regular zombie.

Bodhi pulled himself along, a rope capturing his waist and tying him to the one and only person he loved with all his heart. He had intended to marry his lover. He had high hopes for a future that was bright and zombie-free, living his life as a married man. But fate didn't work in his favor, and in order to save his lover from a hoard of zombies, Bodhi pushed Cassian Andor to the side and took quite a few zombie bites to his shoulders, near his nape, and at his ankles. His body was battered and beaten by the hoard until Cassian shot them all down, spending the last of their bullets in an attempt to save him.

A week ago, the incident took place. And while Bodhi should have become full zombie just a few hours after he was bitten, he didn't. He was still human even in this rotting corpse.

Bodhi stumbled and fell over. Cassian whipped around, reaching out to stop his fall but thought better of it. The last thing he wanted was for Bodhi to take a bite out of his own flesh and even though he trusted Bodhi, he couldn't take the risk. "Are you okay?" Cassian asked softly.

The younger man nodded. "Yeah... " he said slowly, though he knew Cassian didn't understand his speech. "I'm so hungry, though." Bodhi felt his stomach send out spasms as he said this and he wrapped his arms around himself just under his ribcage.

Cassian sighed. "I know... I know... here, do you want some meat?" Cassian swung the small sack sitting on his shoulder to the ground and untied it. He pulled out a large piece of cow meat that he had scavenged from a meat cleaver's store. It had thawed since he stole it, which made it easier for Bodhi to eat. He quickly handed it to Bodhi.

Bodhi took the food eagerly and bit into it. The sweet aroma of meat filled his weakening olfactory nerves and a gushing of juices flowed into his mouth. The meat was so tender and delicious, Bodhi wanted to consume it all in seconds. But he didn't. Cassian had limited meat in that sack and he couldn't waste it. In an attempt to give Bodhi something to chew on that wasn't human, Cassian fed Bodhi animal meat nearly 24/7. This could have been the reason Bodhi wasn't a full zombie yet, though Cassian didn't count on it.

Bodhi busied himself with nibbling. As long as he chewed something, he could resist the urge to eat human flesh for a little longer.

They walked for a long time. Other zombies avoided them because they could smell the rotting corpse and the dead animal meat, not the fresh human flesh. That fresh meat smell was exclusively for Bodhi, since Cassain could only find a short rope to tie themselves together ("So you can keep up with me and I'll have you as my body guard through the zombie hoards," Cassian said). Bodhi had to walk within a few feet from Cassian and sometimes the smell of fresh human meat taunted his hunger.

Cassian's walking pace had slowed since this morning. Bodhi noticed a small limp in his step. Not surprising. The two had been on the move for months, only stopping to rest at night and to bathe in some water sources they found. Before the incident, Cassian had complained about his feet hurting from the amount of walking he did. Bodhi, too, had sharp pain running up his legs. But now that sensation was no more.

Cassian found a shady spot to stop and sat down, relieved to give his feet a break. Bodhi looked at him with large puppy eyes, still nibbling at his animal meat. "Oh Force, Bodhi. I am so sorry you have to go through this."

Bodhi looked at him, surprised. "Harrrggghhh," he grumbled. "Nrrrrggghhh rrrr ullleeeggh clluuugghh."

Cassian had no idea what Bodhi just said but he didn't ask. "We're gonna find something for you and we're gonna turn you back to a human... I'll marry you... and we can run as far away from here as possible!"

Bodhi nodded. He took another small bite from his meat. He liked that idea a lot. Imagine just spending the entire day with Cassian, kissing under the sunset and toying with one another's engagement rings. Every. Single. Day. It was like a dream come true. "I'd love that!" Bodhi tried to tell Cassian. He must have made some atrocious noises in his excitement because Cassian seemed to cower a little bit.

Thankfully, Cassian quickly recovered and laughed slightly. "Just imagine it all. Maybe I'll even see if there's a beach house I can buy. Do you like the beach?" Bodhi nodded. "Then it's settled. We'll get a house by the shore where we can walk out and sit in the warm sand, go swimming or wading, and listen to the sea all day! And don't forget the smell of the salt water."

Bodhi was losing the muscles to his face but he gave Cassian a more or less contorted smile. He finished the piece of meat and let himself fall to his knees near Cassian. Cassian fed him another piece of meat and reached over to ruffle Bodhi's stringy hair. A few strands of the younger man's long black hair fell out as well as dandruff from Bodhi's cracked and flaking scalp. Cassian pulled his hand away. He didn't want Bodhi to go bald. Not yet, at least.

"And then we're going to find a cure for this all and we'll revert the dead to their normal selves." Cassian repeated himself as he stepped around Bodhi and sat down behind him. "We'll find Baze and Jyn and Krennic's zombie selves and give them the cure. Then we'll create a machine to bring back the ones who are dead and revive Chirrut and Galen and Saw..." He carefully gathered Bodhi's hair and began braiding it as he spoke. "We can all live at the beach house until we're positive they can make a living on their own. Especially Jyn, who wants to do something reckless for a job. Honestly, she should go into chemistry. She'll follow her father's footsteps and she'll get plenty of explosions if something goes wrong."

Bodhi chuckled at the thought, but his laugh was raspy and Cassian wasn't sure if Bodhi was trying to tell him something or if he was getting hungry for human meat.

Cassian finished the braid, tying it off expertly. While Bodhi admired it by gently stroking his hair with his remaining fingers, Cassian gathered his things and said "We should get going again. Find shelter before the sun sets." Bodhi nodded and they started off again.

Cassian tried to pass the time by singing and telling stories. He had either used up all his stories or he was going insane. Cassian told the same stories over and over again. Sometimes he told a new story but it was becoming rarer by the day. Bodhi tried to add to the conversation but all he could do was grunt or growl. The only thing he was successful at was grunting to a beat while Cassian sang.

Night fell faster than the two were expecting it to. Cassian found a house and he grabbed the ladder and untied himself from Bodhi. "I'm going to go up on the roof and sleep. You keep an idea on the ground here. Give me some sort of loud warning growl if something happens."

Bodhi nodded and gave his vocal chords a test. "HHHHRRRRUUUGGGHHHH!!!" Cassian jumped and his hand fell on top of the blaster sitting at his side. Bodhi realized what he had done and quickly backed down.

Cassian relaxed. "I'm sorry. I thought maybe you were ready to eat me." Bodhi shook his head. He didn't want to eat Cassian and he hated the thought that Cassian was afraid of him.

So Bodhi tried to apologize. He took a few steps towards Cassian, his arms extended out. "I'm sorry, Cassian. I'm really sorry."

Cassian pulled out his blaster. "Bodhi? Are you still there?"

"Cassian! I'm still here! I'm sorry that I scared you."

"Bodhi! If you can understand me, back down! Now!" Bodhi stopped walking. "Good. Now give me some sign that you are still human!" Bodhi didn't know what to do. He was human! He was trying to say sorry! But maybe Cassian needed double reassurance. After pondering over this for a moment, he did what he could do best in zombie and human form.

He raised his hands to his eyes and made fists, which he gently pressed against his eyes. Bodhi bent his head down and let his shoulders shake a little. No tears would come but that didn't mean that the action was no less meaningful. Whimpering grunts escaped from his throat as he cried.

The sight made Cassian's heart sting and he began to cry himself. "I'm so sorry, Bodhi. This is all my fault. You shouldn't have saved me. I should be the one in your position, not you!"

"Herrruh ghreern," Bodhi responded. He wanted to hug Cassian. He wanted to let Cassian know he wasn't responsible for all that had happened. He wanted to kiss Cassian again, to feel his lover's touch, to know what it was like to truly love and become a married couple. But most of all, he wanted Cassian to never be afraid of him again. He knew what Cassian was scared of. Even though he was still part human, Bodhi could feel those qualities slipping from his grasp. At any time, he might strike out and bite Cassian.

A few other zombies circled around the two, noticing that they were displaying qualities normal zombies lacked. Bodhi saw this too. "Yeeooorrrgg sshhhgg grrgg," he said to Cassian, struggling to raise his arm enough to point to the ladder. Cassian nodded and quickly untied the two of them. Then he climbed the ladder. Bodhi stood guard below. He couldn't climb the ladder and neither could any of the other zombies. At least he hoped they couldn't.

The night was long. One of the human qualities Bodhi lacked was the ability to sleep. He spent his night staring at the stars. He closed his eyes, letting the skin that was peeling from his eyelids hang over the tops of his cheeks. He could hear the sounds of his fellow zombies wandering freely around. Bodhi's acute hearing could pick up Cassian steady breathing patterns. He could see every rung on the ladder leading up to where Cassian was. If only he could sleep in Cassian's arms again.

It was deep into the night when hunger struck Bodhi like a runaway train. He whined a little, clenching his sides as his stomach spasmed in a manner so jolting, he wanted to cry. He hated the feeling of being hungry. The animal meat wasn't enough to keep his body happy for long periods.

Bodhi's nose picked up the smell of human flesh. The smell was so alluring that he couldn't stop himself. He sniffed around, picking out the direction of the prize and wandering towards it. 'I'm sure Cassian won't mind if I take a bite,' he thought. But he could almost hear Cassian saying "Bodhi, just try not to eat humans until we get a cure. Who knows if you'll ever be able to change back to human if you do eat human flesh?"

Bodhi stopped himself to think. Should he follow Cassian's advice? He didn't want to be stuck as a zombie forever. But he was starving. The smell made his stomach squash the air inside it in unpleasant sensations and Bodhi decided to go eat the flesh. He had to eat something now! He couldn't bear the hunger any longer! Faster and faster, Bodhi scrambled to his target until he saw it; a sleeping human.

Bodhi ran forwards. The ground underneath him clanked noisily and he woke the human by accident. Bodhi watched as he saw the human come to their senses and yank out their gun. He lunged, determined not to lose his prey. His teeth sank into the arm of the victim.

Blood! Meat! Human flesh! To Bodhi, it tasted like a steak with the most incredible sauce a person could eat. Bite after bite, piece after piece, his teeth tore past the disgusting clothing and reached the sweet meat. The savory taste was in his mouth, flowing over his tongue. He jerked his head and yanked off a chunk, throwing his head back to let gravity assist him in swallowing the flesh.

Bodhi looked at his victim's neck. The neck was the softest part of humans and often the tastiest. He leaned in to bite it but then he saw three small marks - hickeys to be exact - on the neck. Bodhi froze. He raises his head slowly to see his victim, eyes wide and staring into his own gleaming pupils.

"Bodhi?" Cassian whispered through a shaky breath.

Bodhi realized what he had done. "CASSIAN!!" He screamed. "CRRRREEEEEUUUGGGHHHH!!!" No! This couldn't be! He was eating Cassian?? But how did he get up the ladder!? Bodhi then became aware of the two zombies that were slowly making it up the ladder themselves. They were wrong. Zombies could climb ladders. And he had been one of them.

He had scaled the ladder... and was eating Cassian... 

He looked at Cassian's shoulder. Cassian's entire arm had been disconnected from the body due to Bodhi's chewing. Cassian was in tears as he looked at Bodhi and Bodhi wanted to cry too. What had he done?

"Bodhi," Cassain gasped. He coughed and spit up some blood. "Bodhi..." With his good hand, Cassian covered his mouth to stifle his sobs but Bodhi heard them anyway.

"STREEUUUGGGHHHH!!" Bodhi wailed. He saw Cassian was bleeding out and the man looked like he was about to pass out from blood loss. Bodhi didn't want to say goodbye. They had been in such a good relationship! He had ruined everything! All their dreams and hopes, the small chance that they might find a cure, the last hope that their friends would return to their side, all of it was gone!

Bodhi threw his arms around Cassian, trying to feel him one last time. He felt the pressure of Cassian's good arm on his own back but he couldn't feel Cassian's skin. Bodhi did everything he could to ignore the sweet smell of the blood oozing from Cassian's arm.

Cassian cried into Bodhi's shoulder. Bodhi heard the other zombies surrounding him and he realized that there half a dozen scaling the ladder and standing on the roof. "I love you, Bodhi," Cassian whimpered before his eyes closed and his body went limp.

"CREEEEEUUUUGGGHHHH!!!" Bodhi called for Cassian over and over again. Cassian couldn't be dead! But he knew better than that. Cassian had died... because of him.

Bodhi held on to Cassian tighter. He felt the other zombies start tearing his own body apart. If this was really the end, he didn't want Cassian to die alone. Bodhi refused to release Cassian's body, making sure that the other zombies would eat him first before they got to Cassian. He was going to protect Cassian one last time.
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I am very sleep deprived right now. It's nearly midnight and I'm writing this even though I probably won't be able to sleep after this. Ah well. It's worth it.

Please review and vote! And point out any mistakes you see so I can fix them!