What if R and Julie hadn't met outside the city? What if R had been captured, to be used to train the children inside the fortified city of the Living? A different version of the R/Julie story, one where they meet in her world, not his.
Isaac Marion owns Warm Bodies. I just enjoy playing with the characters.
Dark Negative of Love
Chapter 10 – The Road to the Airport
As M's group made their way across the lobby towards us, I realized that Julie was obscured from their sight by the wall of the elevator bank. So far, the approaching Dead were only able to see me. I gestured for Julie to drop behind the front desk, and struggled to form a plan to save her.
As M walked up to us, I almost grinned, as I was so glad to see him. But the moment was mixed as I gestured my head towards the Boneys approaching from the other direction. I pointed to his leg and he looked at me, puzzled, but stopped in front of me, swaying. He was sniffing the air, but Julie's presence in the lobby was still partially masked by the scent of the members of the salvage team. Marlowe had been behind the desk not far from where she was hidden when he turned on the generators. That scent mask wouldn't last long, though, so I needed some sort of disguise for her. Gesturing with my head for him to look out the window, I leaned over, got some of the goop from the gash on his calf, and smeared it on Julie's face. She grimaced, but held still.
"Eyes…down," I whispered. I gestured for her to move stiffly, holding my arms and legs tense. She nodded. "Gun…down," I added. Glancing at M's leg, she realized what was going on, and her face took on a look of desperation, but she reluctantly set down her weapon.
The Boneys entered the lobby from the side door and approached us, sniffing the air suspiciously for a tense moment. But I was relieved when they finally swiveled their heads in unison as they directed their black eye holes at the elevator lobby, clearly scenting the Living on the upper floors.
They gave us a terrifying smile, and moved as one towards the elevator bank. I knew that once they saw they couldn't use the elevators, it would only be seconds before they discovered the stairwell door that Julie had propped open. Even though she was still kneeling, I could see Julie's terrified look, as fear for her friends overtook her.
Seeing the Boneys, the rest of M's group quickly shuffled away from the elevator bank and joined us at the lobby desk. M gave them a gesture towards the street with his chin, and they began to walk past the lobby desk, passing the still kneeling Julie without seeming to notice her.
Now was my only chance to try to get her out, so I reached out my hand and pulled her to her feet. She hesitated, but followed me. I was worried about her disguise holding up, but felt I had a better chance defending her from this small group of the Dead than a group of Boneys. I pulled her next to me, then swayed a little, and was happy when she mimicked my motion.
We stood next to one another for a few seconds, swaying. If I could sweat, it would have dripped off my forehead. This has to work, I kept thinking. I have to keep her safe somehow. I felt an overwhelming sense of relief as the impromptu scent disguise did seem to work, since the Boneys zipped past us as they finished their check of the elevator bank and headed for the center of the lobby.
As soon as the Boneys had gone past us and begun their search of the lobby, Julie and I left the building and began to walk with M's group. As the other Dead opened up to admit us to their group, I noticed that they occasionally sniffed the air, puzzled. It was as if they were aware a Living was nearby, but couldn't fathom that she was so close to them. As far as I was concerned, it didn't help our disguise that Julie was overacting her part of playing a Dead just a little, moaning "out of character." I finally nudged her, mumbling "too…much." She nodded, and stopped her sound effects.
Within seconds, I heard the sound of gunfire as Marlowe's group must have come down to the lobby either in the elevator or using the stairwell. Among the staccato sounds of the bullets bouncing off of walls, I heard their frantic shouts of "Julie" and "Perry."
But a wave of Boneys appeared in the street, swarming around us and quickly surrounded the building. Looking at Julie, I knew that the only hope for her friends was if they barricaded themselves in the upper floors. If she answered their calls for her, and they came out onto the streets, it would mean their deaths. I put my finger to my lips, tapping them, signaling silence, and she nodded, terrified not only for herself, but also for her friends.
Within a few minutes, the sounds of fighting stopped, and we were re-joined by some of the Boneys. Since they came out of the building so quickly, Julie's friends must have been able to successfully barricade themselves back inside the upper floors. The Boney must not have been able to get to them or they wouldn't have been out on the street so quickly. I could only hope her friends were safe and calling for reinforcements. Still suspicious, however, the Boneys kept walking with us, their presence giving me the creeps.
The thought of Julie being with us if M's group was successful at finding a group of the Living to feed on horrified me, and I began to try to work out plans to break off with Julie if they found someone. But M seemed to pick up on my nervousness and began to lead the group out of town. He was probably hoping to shake off our Boney escort by appearing to give up his hunt. But whatever his reason, I was glad to see us heading towards the city limits. The other Dead seemed to give up hope on getting food on this hunting trip, and resign themselves to returning to their airport home.
We soon reached the edge of the ruined city and started towards the airport.
Once on the highway back to the airport, however, I worried that Julie would get thirsty, start sweating, or showing some other of being a Living. Fortunately, the day was overcast, so she was able to keep up her pretense by walking stiffly and slowly.
But after a few hours, I could tell that she was no longer forcing the dragging of her feet. She was looking bad, for a Living. Luckily for Julie, the Boneys suddenly zipped ahead of us, obeying some unseen signal, and I stopped. She halted in her tracks and dropped to the ground.
"I can't do this," she moaned, grabbing her feet and rubbing them.
Unfortunately, as soon as she hit the pavement, the other Dead surrounded her, ready to feed as they finally saw past her disguise. I pushed them all back, crouching over her protectively.
"This is…Julie." I shoved at the tall guy with the green polo shirt, the one who always came with me. "Not food," I said.
The Dead stood in a circle around us, confused. Julie curled herself in a ball, wrapping her arms around her knees, rocking.
I stood up to face them, placing one hand on the top of her head. "Not food," I repeated, pointing to Julie again.
"Up…" I urged her. "See?"
Down the road I could see another group of Boneys, moving fast. They would be on us in seconds. I had to get her back on her feet, and get her staggering again in order to keep her safe.
I looked at M, and he nodded. I pulled another finger against the wound on his leg, then pushed at it to produce more blood. I smeared it first on her face, and then on the nape of her neck and left wrist.
She wrinkled her nose, but kept a straight face.
"Up," I urged her again.
She finally saw the Boneys and got up, and we all started walking again. Fortunately, the Boneys didn't join us. Instead, they just parted and swarmed around us, like a wave moving around a rock.
"Food," muttered M to me, once they were past.
"Ju-lie…" I said back firmly.
"Hungry," was all he said. But he didn't make another move towards her, and in fact walked on her other side, effectively keeping the other Dead from getting too close.
Soon we came to an abandoned gas station with a convenience store. The garage was partially burnt out, but Julie went into the convenience store. I followed her, while the other Dead watched us with curiosity. Fortunately, they stayed outside, swaying.
Inside, there was a large water dispenser, and she filled a cup with the water, sniffed it, and quickly drank four cups in succession. She found another water bottle which she emptied after opening and sniffing it, and then filled it from the dispenser.
As for food, Julie seen thrilled to have found some Twinkies. "These last forever," she said. She also grabbed a handful of small liquor bottles, handing them to me. "Carry these?" she asked.
I nodded, stuffing them in her pocket. "Sun…block?" I asked.
She looked at me, surprised, then walked down the aisles again, and finally came back to the front carrying a baseball cap. "All the sunblock was expired," she replied.
As we went outside, I handed her water bottle to M, who put it in his pocket. Since we didn't need water, it would be suspicious if we were seen carrying it.
Satisfied that we were set for the moment, we started off again.
As sunset approached, I could see the airport. I pointed to my 747, and the exhausted Julie nodded, appearing grateful that our walk was almost over. Our faithful escorts took us to my plane, and then they all left to take their usual evening positions around the runway. All but M, who lingered to watch us walk on board.
As Julie and I reached the top of the stairs, I turned back to look at him. He gave me a wicked smile, and said, "Loverboy." I just shut the door in his face. Turning to Julie, who was looking around in confusion, I motioned her towards one of the passenger seats. "Sit…please."
She did, ripping off her boots, rubbing her feet. When she was done with her massage, she quickly twisted the cap off one of the liquor bottles, and tossed back a Twinkie with it.
Sighing in contentment as she put down the container, she said, "Maybe not nutritious, but just what I needed. Now, how do I get back?"
"Tomorrow," I said. "If safe…have car."
Julie's eyes widened, and she nearly choked on the last bite of her Twinkie. "You…have a CAR?" she asked, almost imitating our speech cadence in her surprise.
I nodded, proud. I opened one of the tiny cabin windows and pointed to it, parked at the edge of the runway near the hangar.
"That's a Mercedes convertible!" she exclaimed in excitement. "Does it run?"
I nodded again.
"Why is it kind of stuck against the passenger side of a Hummer?" she inquired, looking more closely.
"Reflexes…or brakes…bad…" I tried.
She opened another one of the tiny liquor bottles, took a swig, and then wiped her mouth off with the back of her hand. "I don't understand you, at all, sometimes. I don't get what happened out there today. Not that I'm not grateful, don't misunderstand."
I looked at her and nodded, then shrugged.
She laughed. "Somehow though, you remind me of Perry, a little more, all the time. Well, I need to get some shut eye. It's been a long day."
She paused and looked at me questionly for a moment, then finally asked, "Do you guys sleep?"
I shook my head.
"OK. Then I guess I will…" here she looked around at the crowded cabin. I went over to one of the seats and pushed the recline button, lowering it to its fully reclined position, and then got a pillow and blanket out of an overhead bin. I stood in the aisle by the seat, waiting to see if she would take up the offer.
She looked at me in amazement, shook her head, then climbed into the reclined seat and said, "Well, thank you. I see you've thought of everything."
"Airline…helped," I replied handing her the pillow and blanket.
"Thanks, really, for everything," she said, then rolled on her side, facing away from the aisle.
I sat in the aisle across from her, listening to the sound of her breathing. Slowly it became steadier, and I realized she was asleep. I envied her this simple pleasure of sleeping. I relaxed a little, closing my eyes, listening to her even breathing, while trying to recall the simple sensation of sleep. A warm feeling washed over me, in the quiet of the evening. I felt…connected, and happy. At least temporarily. I had her company for tonight, and though I would have to get her back to her world soon, I was determined to enjoy these moments in her presence.
After about an hour, once I was sure she was in a deep sleep and unlikely to wake up suddenly, I went to the cockpit for privacy. Quietly closing the door behind me, I pulled out another lump of Kelvin's brain. I put it in my mouth, savoring the feel on my tongue, waiting for the firing of neurons and the ensuing internal light show to begin.
oooo
It's a day outside of the city. I've managed to arrange a rare outing with both Julie and Nora. Somehow, Julie has forgiven us both for my drunken night spent in Nora's arms.
We're looking at the clouds, as this plague hasn't managed to take that simple pleasure from us. My rifle is lying next to me, the one inescapable sign of the times we live in. Julie is on my other side, and I'm holding her in my left arm, pulling her against my chest.
Julie leads off. "I see…a band performing." She rolls over onto her stomach, breaking my hold. "That's one thing I do miss. The shows. Why don't we form a band? We could play!"
Nora rolled her eyes. "Maybe it's because…none of us have any musical talents. But your father did, didn't he?"
Julie sits up, scooting up next to my shoulder, hugging her knees to her chest. "That was a long time ago. Perry, do you have any hidden musical talents?"
"I was taught to play the ukulele in third grade for the Hawaiian pageant," I reply.
They both giggled. "Really? That's good stuff!"
Suddenly Perry turned to me. "And you, corpse? You wanna join us? You could play drums…don't need to have an ear for that…"
Stunned, I looked back at him. "But these are your memories."
"Not anymore. Seems we're sharing real estate, now, and it's all in your brain. Try not to let the General blow it out, all over the dome, you know?"
The scene fades.
oooo
As the firings faded, and I became aware of my surroundings again, I started up in the pilot's chair, stunned. The General. The Boneys. We had seen a lot of movement on the road today. While Julie wasn't safe here, surrounded by the Dead, would she be safe back at the dome? And had Perry been giving me some kind of prophetic warning?
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