CHAPTER TWO

Disclaimer: There are some Dead Like Me episode mentioning. They are not mine of course, but it helps puts more 'validation' on what goes on for this story. Or at least what I interpretive on 'what did Rube know?' as George puts it.


George was laying awake in bed. Another night of insomnia had crept upon her, and George was left thinking about the strange girl she and Mason had ran into that day.

The zombie?

George had gone through the zombie faze. Freshman year. Her mother, Joy, frowned heavily when she had found that tape of 1978's Dawn of the Dead.

"Georgia what is this?" Her mother asked waving the tape in George's face.

And of course, George had rolled her eyes taking the tape and shut the door in her mother's face. She was pretty sure her little sister, Reggie, watched the entire confrontation.

It made her curious if her little sister had gone into a zombie faze. Were zombies even considered cool anymore?

Squeezing her eyes shut, George recalled what the movie said. Zombies were slow movie, arms raised, feet dragging creatures of the moving dead. A reanimated corpse.

The girl who knew Mason - Cheshire - she didn't seem like a zombie. She wasn't a decaying mess trying to eat every brain in sight. No, she seemed human. Alive. George covered her eyes with her arm, sighing heavily. No. Unliving. Just as George was a reaper, undead; Cheshire was no doubt telling the truth about her being Unliving. Whatever that was. But Cheshire knew Rube.

George began pondering exactly what Rube knew. From what Mason had said about Cheshire, Rube would be pissed if George had caught hanging out with Cheshire. But why?

George slow uncovered her eyes, her arm falling against her bed. Rube had said something to her once. Long ago. Her mind slowly went over her first reap. George had pulled the little girl to safety on the train just before it crashed.

Rube of course hadn't been happy to hear she didn't reap the little girl's soul. He had yelled at her. But she was just a little girl. George let her mind wander to what exactly Rube had said.

"Her fate was sealed the moment she got onto that train." Rube had explained to her. "Her soul expired. You know what happens when you keep a soul after it's time?"

"No."

"Same thing happens to milk. It spoils, goes bad, souls go bad in all kinds of ways."

"But-"

Rube had cut her off, rather pissed. "If you're having trouble comprehending the severity of the situation, why don't you consult Webster's on the definition of bad? If you don't take her soul, it's going to wiither and die and rot inside her. I've seen it happen. Do you wish to condemn her to that?"

George rain her fingers through her hair. Had he meant, Cheshire? Was she a 'bad soul'? Was that why Cheshire had called herself a zombie, a self-named Unliving.

So why exactly was Cheshire like that?

Someone must have fucked up. And if so, did Rube know? Was that why he was so rough on her? Was it because of someone having messed up before that Rube had been such a hard ass on her?

"You like speghetti, George?" Rube's voice filtered into her head. "I like spaghetti. I like board games. I like grabbing a trifecta with that long-shot on top. That ozone smell you get from air purifiers. And knowing the space between my ears is immeasurable. Mahler's first. Bernstein conducting. You've got to think about all the things you like and decide whether they're worth sticking around for. And if they are, you'll find a way to do this."

And then her snaky remark, filtered into her mind, "And what if I don't."

"Then you go away," Rube had said, "And you don't get to like anything anymore."

Was that what happened to Cheshire's reaper. That he or she screwed up so many times, refusing to collect Cheshire's soul, helping to save her from dying? -that Cheshire's reaper went away forever.

Fuck.

Why did things have to be so complicated?

And Mason wouldn't say any more. He pretended like nothing was wrong when they went to Der Waffle House. Like they hadn't ran into the mulberry - had to be dyed - haired, green eyed female. The woman didn't even show up, and nothing seemed out of place.

George wanted to mention to Rube about Cheshire. But George was still hoping the zombie would show up. So she kept her mouth shut and hoped that tomorrow morning she would see more of this woman.

Maybe tomorrow she'd have more answers then questions. George rolled onto her side and closed her eyes.

Maybe tomorrow…