A/N: In case you can't figure out where the heck the titles are coming from, I thought I'd mention that I've decided that since the story is named after a music video, all the chapter titles will be phrases from songs that I've made music vids for. :) Mostly the same song, but there are too many chapters so I've had to go with some other songs, too :)

Would You Love a Monsterman

by ChiefPam

I just stare at him for a second, then scoot backwards. He's right; if he could touch me, the others could have, too. Them, I'm scared of.

Him, not so much.

I look at him again. He's looking at me, seeming content with the view. He's been kind to me. Even when I didn't understand it, when I was terrified of him, he was protecting me. Saving me.

Get a grip, Julie. He had fresh blood on him. He killed *somebody* yesterday. Yeah, I'm glad it wasn't me, but don't be making him out to be some kind of hero. Tomorrow he might get hungry again, and then I'd be… sushi.

The others are still clustered at the other end of the cage. Two of them are still shuffling, but the other three are sitting down, facing the camp. Wait, didn't there used to be more of them? The mad doctor must have wanted a new research subject.

It could have been R. That's an unexpectedly troubling thought.

I stand back up. "I want to see that gate," I say, not quite looking at R, then walk around the cage – at a safe distance. The gate and the fence both seem sturdy, but it's not so much locked as latched. That strikes me as dangerous. Although apparently that's good enough when your greatest enemy lacks any intelligence.

I turn slightly, looking back at the cage. R is standing, watching me from the nearest point he can get to. I wonder if I should warn them that they might be underestimating zombies. Maybe… if I can do it without mentioning R. I don't want them to know I've been chatting with their research subjects.

And I don't want R to be of any special interest to them.

I look around the camp. With the soldiers gone and everyone else indoors, it's very quiet and still. Except now the corpses are getting more animated, clustering around R, groaning… "They can smell me now, can't they." I pitch my voice to carry, not wanting to get much closer to the crowd hungering after my flesh. It creeps me out.

R pushes them back. "Yeah," he replies.

"They want to eat me," I say, trying to talk some sense into myself. "You would, too, if you were hungry."

He shakes his head vehemently, looking almost angry. "No. Keep you safe."

Okay, that's unexpected. I tilt my head. "Really? Even if you were hungry?"

He stares at me intently. "Never, Julie. Never hurt you."

I think I believe him.

The cage door catches my attention – it's latched, too, much the same way as the gate is. That's kind of scary. I am definitely not mentioning that to R; he might be able to figure it out, although it would be hard to reach from the inside. "Well, they would. I should maybe go away for a while."

He looks sad and almost apologetic. "Come back later?"

I can't decide if I want to do that, or not. "Maybe," I say, starting to move towards the building I slept in.

"Be safe," he says, staring at me, like he's trying to memorize me.

"I'll try. See you later, R." I offer a small smile before turning and walking away.

She's walking away, and I miss her already. I watch her until she disappears into a building, then retreat to stand in the back corner of the cage. Near her chair. Near where she was, briefly, close enough to touch.

She allowed me to touch her. For an-all-too-short moment, anyway. I wonder if that will ever happen again. Doesn't seem likely. Then again, I didn't think I'd ever even see her again. I never would have expected her to come visiting.

I hope she believed me. Even if I were hungry, even if I'd die all the way, I'd never ever hurt her.

Motion. I look up to see my friend. He's staring at me, and grunts inquisitively. I shrug, then decide to share. "Julie."

He frowns, and struggles to talk. After a few moments where he gathers his breath, he says, "Living."

Yes. And she needs to stay that way. "Not eat," I tell him firmly.

He tilts his head, still frowning, staring at me. I stare back at him. I'm not planning to lose this argument. After a few moments, he looks away, and I know I've won. Not that it makes much difference, really. We're stuck in here and Julie is safe out there. But I'm glad to have him on my side.

"You… okay?" he asks.

I shrug, grunting noncommittally.

He sighs sympathetically.

I think this is the longest conversation we've ever had.

Hours later, the truck returns, rolling slowly past our cage. Julie had looked at the gate earlier, so I look at it too. It's shut, but not exactly locked. I might be able to get it open, if I could get to it. Huh.

One of the older men in the camp comes out to meet the truck. "What's the news?"

The truck stops, and a soldier gets out of the driver's side. It's one that Julie had talked to yesterday. I had been almost jealous at the time. But now she talks to me, too.

He salutes the older man. "Lots of activity over towards the city. Grigio's sent out a bunch of patrols. We had to detour around, but we caught a skeleton. It's in the back of the truck."

Grigio… that name sounds familiar. Something from Perry's memories… it's connected to Julie, I think.

"The doc will like getting to cut up a skeleton." The older man frowns slightly. "What's all the fuss about?"

The soldier smiles. "Get this – Grigio's daughter was out on a salvage run yesterday, and got captured by corpses. We heard them talking. They're trying to find her."

"What the…" the older man gestures back towards the camp. "Her?"

"Gotta be." His smile is not nice at all. "Looks like we've finally got some leverage."

Holy shit. That man, the dad that gave Perry such a hard time, was the leader of the city? Of their military, anyway. Julie's dad. And what do they mean by leverage?

The older man smiles back slowly. Also not nice. "That is very interesting, Kurt. Thank you. Bring the skeleton to the doc's lab, then report to the mess hall, we need to discuss strategy."

"They'd probably trade several trucks for her," Kurt suggests.

"They'd trade a lot more than that," the older man says. "If we decide to trade. Grigio's gonna wish she was still with corpses by the time we're through."

I stand straighter, alarm zinging through me. They were supposed to keep her safe. I'd only worried about my kind harming her. Never occurred to me that the Living would be a threat.

I have to tell her. And I have no idea when or if she's planning to come back.

I spend the day by myself, mostly. Kurt comes back after lunch time, but he won't say where he's been, and seems a little on edge, so I give up on talking to him. I try napping, but it doesn't really work.

I sit in my little room, and consider going back to talk to R. It's weird, but I kind of enjoyed talking to him. We didn't even say much – and I said more than he did – but he was a good listener. Maybe that's what I miss. Having someone pay attention to what I say. It was nice, and part of me wants to go do it again.

I probably shouldn't, though. Tomorrow, maybe, they'll drive me home, and he'll stay here, and… that's not going to end well for him. I don't think there's much I can do about that.

Although… I suppose, you know, theoretically, I could open that cage, and open the gate, and let them all out… but those other corpses… I don't want to get within touching distance of. Maybe I could maneuver it so only R got out before we closed the door again? It'd have to be in the middle of the night, though, and the camp does post sentries.

If they catch me releasing a corpse, they will most certainly not be understanding about it.

Why am I even worrying about his fate? He's a corpse. No happily ever afters for him, regardless of what I do.

It's just… he did save my life. And then he took two bullets for me. And after talking to him, he's more of a person than a thing. A person with a home, and things to return to. Can I really just abandon him?

I have to. Okay, stop being crazy, Julie. No more talking to him. I won't even go near the cage anymore. There's no point. I need to forget about him.

An alarm blares, startling me. I run outdoors and look around, trying to figure out what's happening. People are scurrying around, and one of them yells at me to get back inside, but screw that. I want to know what's going on. There seems to be a commotion by the gates. Near the corpse pen.

Was there an incident there? I feel a flash of worry for R, but try to suppress it. I circle one of the buildings and approach the gate from behind the pen. The corpses are all standing, but not fighting, so it's not that.

The gate guards are shouting, and I hear some shots being fired. Then I hear something else, something that makes my hair stand on end. Screeching. Oh my god. Skeletons. As creepy as corpses and twice as scary. They're rushing the gate and the fence.

My first instinct is to run away and hide… but my heart sinks as I realize that hiding won't be good enough. If they get into the camp, they'll be able to sniff me out.

"Julie!"

I turn to see R standing at the bars, watching me anxiously. "Julie, bonies."

I guess he means the skeletons. There are a lot of them. I see some of them go down, but they keep coming, and the fence isn't strong enough to stop them. Shit. I don't want to die.

I look at R again, and a wild idea forms. He hid me once. I move sideways, approaching the cage door. Which is also closer to the battle. R is moving, too, keeping up with me. He's flinching when he hears a skeleton scream – well, I am, too.

With a crash, part of the fence begins to collapse, on the far side of the gate from me. The battle shifts a little further away, and I watch breathlessly, splitting my attention between the fighting and the cage door. I could open that door, I'm pretty sure. It opens outwards. I could stand behind it in case they rush me. The corpses are clustered on the far side of the cage, though, and only R seems aware of me.

The gunfire slows as the screeches increase, and I gotta make a choice. Possible death versus certain death. I know which is my better option, but I still have trouble convincing my legs to move. One step at a time, I force myself closer to the zombies I've spent the last five years fearing. I reach the cage door and start pulling on the latch with trembling fingers.

"Come on, Julie," R says. "Please. Keep you safe."

Gulping, I pull the latch and open the door. I dart inside and R grabs hold of me, wrapping his arms around me, saying my name. I bury my face in his chest, no longer caring what he smells like, closing my eyes like a child trying to block out the scary noises.

There are a lot of scary noises. I have to look. I turn my head to see an older-looking bald guy in a sport coat. He's closed the cage door and is messing with it. "What is he doing?"

"Trying to lock it," R says, his chest rumbling against my cheek. "He's my friend."

Thanks for reading! Thanks especially to Brigid, CometMoon & Amaris Magic, for reviewing. You guys rock. Hope you enjoyed this one. Next chapter tomorrow! Oh, and please somebody look at my YouTube channel :p It's under "Pam Jernigan" (since this anonymous-on-the-Internet concept seems to have escaped me). I've got a bunch of R/Julie vids.