They were right, it did not hurt. I can't feel anything; except humiliation, the only true pain I soon learned. My little brother is screaming at me but I can't understand his words very well. No matter how loud he talks he doesn't like to say a lot. His touch was harsh too but I only faintly felt the batters from the little fists. He rides up my back before hitting it and tried to push me down. I did not fall, just flew a foot forwards of where I stood. His arms are forward but his hands are not to me.
"You're such a drip, Amanda!" Josh exclaimed to my body. My mind wasn't with me right now I felt. It has not been since the afternoon of yesterday, when I first came under the weather. The wind was one of the last things I felt before I died. It had to be the freezing wind, why else would my skin have all the color wrung out of it. My olive tone turned to the shade of Petey's white fur. I was acting just like Petey after he was bit too, unaware and languid. My face felt heavy like a tired middle aged man when I woke up or a zombie. While Josh yells at me I try to recall where it went wrong.
I remember the black wind hitting my face like a snowball. The cold trapped my eyes closed tightly and I had to rub them to maintain my vision. Through the squints I see Karen in a short sleeved blood orange tee, black leggings and pink converse shoes.
"Aren't you cold?" I say exasperated.
Her kind smile was hindered as her blonde bob was played with by the strong breeze. I can only catch sight of her eyes in between breezes because the long bangs ghosted over them. This happened at the dugout I think. All these kids do is play baseball, talk to each other and stay at home. I can't remember ever seeing them eat or go to the bathroom, even as a break. It was just me and Karen that one time because I went out into the field afterwards to find out there was no other souls around. The sun baked my skin and shed light on the humdrum arena. The only interesting thing I seen was a mysterious puddle of clothes. They were black so I did not initially spot them in the dark grass. My congenial friend leaves with her head dragged down sadly. I tried waving for her to come close but she does not look my way. Maybe she could have helped me seek the owner out. It had to be someone who wears a lot of black, and slacks; I then knew who they belonged to. No one could hear the screaming in my head but if someone did it would only make this madness worse. Under the paperboy hat and buried in the clothes were bones. The human bones of what it appears to be a person my age. The dead teeth of the skull had an overbite; I knew why I have not seen this person lately. The screaming in my head turned palpable and went out of my mouth. The horrifying visions followed me from the house to outside where I usually am safe. If Karen were still here, I would make her share my horror so I can feel more validated. I look up to find myself surrounded by the other kids, now wearing protective fatigues.
"Some watcher you are!" The girl with black hair sneers at Ray, the leader with a mean look on his white face.
He stammers slightly, "it's not my fault that idiot walked around in the sun like that."
I pushed down George and ran home. He was a boy close to twice my size but he tumbled down to his elbows and knees. Although not the athletic type Josh was, I move fast in opened spaces. The crowd did not even dared to chase me or anything. At most I was shouted at from afar, I did not understand their words too well either. With every step the sky grew mauve, indicating night coming soon. I have been running for such a long time it seems.
There were no cars in front of the house. My parents and brother went shopping for most of the day. A detail I almost forgot, until I remember a curmudgeon Josh being pulled into the back seat. That morning mom petted my curls with keys in her hand. Even if I did have the house to myself I took the day to do nothing different than what I done the past days in Dark Falls. Why would I enjoy spending time in a house I hate, for any reason other to escape what was outside. Now I stand here sweeping up the dust from the rail, it flies up like microscopic bugs. I had fun doing this as I walk up the stairs, the only fun part about living in a dusty, scary house. I ran so hard my breaths were taken in by ugly snorts. I had to struggle to think about what happens next, because Josh had slapped me.
It shocked me even if it did not hurt. He never has done that before, nor has he ever worried about me like this. I rub my cheek with a dead expression on.
He cries, "you look like one of your weird friends!"
I refused to fight back of course because I'm older and can probably damage him in one touch. I bet I'm really strong right now, the other kids were when they ambushed me. One of them even crashed through the wood walls of our house's district. Yet they all had to hold me down together for a single bite. George and another boy had my arms, the black haired girl held my neck. Ray was there giving orders and supervised the whole scenario as Karen inched towards me with evil in her gray eyes, I swear I saw them meld into a pinkish red. Ray pulls back a few of the tempted kids' by their heads to keep the hungry mouths away from my skin one by one.
"Remember, Karen wants to go first."
She licked her braces filled chomps, they soon went inside me. After I yelled the others took the signal and joined in devouring me. For some reason, Ray did not participate. He watched with the smallest of smirks. The delighted moans of my assaulters will haunt me in the future, I learned. My eyes were closed but I still saw my life flash before them. The images were coming from my head like photographs stacked on top of each other at full speed. One of the sets of teeth pried from my neck and I heard a blood drop. Karen gasps quietly in my ear before saying a word.
"You know, your blood kind of tastes like chicken broth."
I snap immediately back to the real world like waking up from a nightmare. Josh was gone, I kept mute for ears that weren't there. I needed to find him and apologize to reassure I was still a well person. My mind was still my own, I'm grateful. There was no primal urge to hurt anyone yet. All that happened was that I became a more numb version of myself; that and I hated the sun. I still am haunted at night. It was now more of a pastime rather than something the dead kids need to do. One of the girls really likes watching me sleep. I see her silhouette every night by my bed, sometimes even facing the wall. I think she's the one who leaves out clothes for me, loving the idea of "dressing me". It's no wonder I wake up exhausted. Should I be sleeping in a bed or a grave?
I will be blown if I ever consent to joining their group. With hands in my pockets I hurried past them on the street without sharing a glance. They all laugh, one even follows me for a while. Jerry pesters me but I pretend he was not there. Over and over, he asks me what I was angry about. His attitude made it hard to tell if he was considerate or jeering. I walk faster and he repeats the question. After the ninth "why are you so mad", the black haired girl tells him to leave me alone through her laughter. He was right about me being angry, I took a hand sized stone from the pavement and pitched it in his face. This sent the others into a fit of screaming cackles. Jerry covers his mouth but I know it did not hurt him. He can't feel anything, none of them can. Now that includes me, I could not feel physical pain but I still get hurt.
Later, on another street, Karen follows me alone. Something is in her arms, it looked like clothes. I roll my eyes and avoided any contact. Just the sight of her reminded me of the trauma she took part in to make me undergo. A lot more sly than Jerry, she reappears in front of my face without me noticing. I had no choice but to interact Karen Somerset.
"I want you to have these." She pushed the heap into my limping arms but I refused to accept them. "It's not safe to walk around here with the clothes you have on."
My eyes narrow and I snapped like a rubber band. Karen got a little scared and dropped the clothes. I would have came closer if not for me tripping over them. Lucky for me I did not slams into the concrete, not that I could be injured from that. I jumped back up, she looks less scared now and more amused.
"Stop pretending you care about me, you got your blood now stop!"
I growled. I had her so cornered she had no time to come up with a response.
All she could do was sternly whisper my name, "Amanda, please."
"Why didn't you put that with the clothes you've been leaving out for me in the morning, huh? I guess you forgot!"
"I'm not the one who does that."
"I bet you're the one who watches me sleep though." I put my hand high on the fence to make myself look more intimidating. Karen whispers something other than my name. I angrily tell her to speak louder for me to hear. It's safe to say she wasn't very terrified of me, to her I was just a child throwing a temper tantrum.
She takes my hand off the fence and into hers. I am in a bit of a shock as she cradles my hand. First she plays with it and runs her fingers up and down my palm. Kathy never did this to me, whether this was a normal friend thing or it meant something unique to the dead kids is out of my comprehension. She murmurs something I know I'm not meant to hear. I made out the words, for once. Not with Josh yelling at me or the other kids harassing me did I grasp the words with my expired, zombie brain.
"Please don't be angry, now we can become even closer." She holds my wrist, curling her fingers around them gently. The flat, dry veins that were sleeping subtly on my skin matched hers. I am told that what she and the others did was a good thing, at least that's what I heard. If that was true why was her face regretful? I see her averting her eyes and tightening her mouth. Either it is a face of regret, or she was about to do something awful. The gently hug of my wrist evolved into a semi-aggressive grasp. Fearful, I used my other hand to pull her off of me. As expected, Karen was inhumanly strong. Her face is shy and uncertain but her body language was forceful. I was yanked forward and braced myself for an attack. Instead, I was kissed. My head spun from the oddity of this but I was not wrong. Unless someone magically materialized out of no where to smooch me, it was defiantly Karen's mouth on mine. Her breath has triggered me, the memories of her eating me alive lacerated me like a sword. It would have hurt worse if not for me being utterly distracted by the reality of being kissed; by another girl, by my ex-friend, by a zombie.
I didn't return it but had my eyes closed after three seconds in. When I opened them Karen disappeared leaving me standing alone on the sidewalk. There were no running sounds or any sounds at all. My hand did not feel like it has been touched by her. I concluded that I am imagining things as I have been. After all, my heart was beating just fine.