Chapter 2: A Good Zombi

Kel stared at Mari with wide eyes, and she looked back with some nervousness in her gaze.

His face barely changed, he was just waaay taller than when they were kids. He also did get more muscles, which was something he really wanted, she remembered. He was wearing at the moment an Orange Joe T-shirt that Sunny gifted him last time he visited, now he barely did anything without it.

He opened his mouth and what came out was totally unexpected.

"Oh hey, Mari!"

"Uh?"

Do you ever look at someone and wonder, 'What is going on in their head?'

Well, let's take a look into Kel's!

Usually, only Sadness and Joy were in control. Behind the panel board was a basketball court where Anger was training by himself almost every day.

He always was in control when a game wasn't going well. Anger was that good at basketball.

Disgust was in a corner, drinking some Mental Orange Joe, the only good drink in this world.

Fear was in his room, training, training for the day he'll be called again. He's rarely called to take control, so he just stays in his room to train.

Right at this moment, Joy was in control while Sadness was waking up. He always wakes up after the others.

But something weird happened: someone was knocking on the door. Since Aubrey left not even twenty minutes ago, Joy thought it was her who came back because she might have forgotten something, but instead it was Mari! It was weird, very weird but Joy was a polite emotion (most of the time) so he just said hi like anyone would.

"Oh, Sadness! Look who's here! Isn't that weird?" Joy exclaimed when he saw Sadness approaching with a can of Orange Joe.

When Sadness looked at the screen, his eyes went wide as saucers and he spat all his drink on Joy who just giggled about not needing a second shower.

"DUDE! WHY IS MARI AT THE DOOR!? SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD!" Sadness exclaimed, "THIS IS SO SPOOKY!"

"Spooky?"

Everyone tensed up and looked towards Fear's door, he walked out of the room for the first time in two years. He looked very muscular, he has been training alright.

Fear slowly approached the control panel while everyone had their eyes on him.

Last time they saw him in control was when Sunny and Basil got into a fight.

"Don't worry guys…" Fear said, cracking his fingers, "I got this."

Kel's smile suddenly disappeared, he blinked a couple of times before stammering:

"W-W-What?! M-M-M-Mari?! How is that possible?! You're d-dead!"

He exclaimed while pointing at her, nearly booping her on the nose violently.

All the other emotions stared at Fear in disappointment while the latter let out a proud chuckle.

Oh yeah, those years of training are bearing fruit, time to show how scared you can be Kel!

Mari stared at the younger, but taller, boy in front of her with confusion present in her eye. What on Earth was he doing?

"Big Bro? Why are you dancing?"

The two young adults turned towards the little two years old girl coming out of the kitchen.

"Oh Sally, sorry I was just… Very scared."

"Why?"

"Well…" Kel turned towards Mari who had stars in her eyes to see the baby girl.

Then the parents entered the room, wondering who was at the door and both froze at seeing the girl who was supposed to be dead in their doorway. They thought it was just a look alike until Mari started speaking to them with a small wave of her hand.

Mari really was back.

One would expect this kind of situation would take hours to explain and just as long to have everyone understand it, but Mari actually was as confused as everyone else! There really was no other choice but to accept this as reality: she was there, in front of them, talking, blinking and moving like any other living human.

She was back from the dead.

If the 'how' didn't really get any satisfying answers, the 'what' wasn't any better.

"So Mari… What exactly are you now?" Kel's mother asked.

"Yeah, are you a zombie now?" Kel asked.

"Well… I-"

"What's a zombie?" Sally asked from Mari's lap.

Sally bonded very quickly with the undead girl, maybe because she was two and didn't understand much about what was going on besides 'Mari nice to her, Mari nice person'. But the dark haired girl didn't mind one bit as she held her close and couldn't wait to play with her in the future.

Though she was worried for a second when the toddler noted that she looked like Sunny with the missing eye.

"You're too young to know, Sally." Mari smiled at her, "And as for if I am one or not… I guess I am? I mean. There's a lot I haven't tried. And I don't have any desire to eat or bite anyone." she said.

"I-I see…" the father said nervously.

"In any case, dear. It's a miracle that you're back with us. Even as a… zombie… Hero and Sunny would be so happy to learn of your return." the mother smiled dearly.

"Especially Sunny… after he…" the father started but shut up from the look his wife gave him.

"Y-You know?" Mari's eyes went wide.

"We do, dear. But I think this isn't our place to tell you about what happened during these last six years… But know that since you don't have a place to stay in Faraway, you can stay with us."

"Th-Thank you so much!" Mari beamed and bowed.

"Of course dear."

"In any case." the father clapped his hands, "I have to go to work. Summer break hasn't started yet for me." he laughed, "I'll see you all tonight."

He kissed his wife on the lips, getting a 'eww' from both Kel and Sally and a giggle from Mari at their reactions.

Some things don't change, huh?

He high fived his son and forced a kiss on Sally's forehead despite her childish disgust before leaving for the day.

"Mari?"

"Yes Sally?"

"You said that you didn't know what would happen if you chomp on someone. What if I chomp on you?" the child innocently asked before opening her mouth wide.

"NO NO NO NO NO!" Everyone else screamed as Mari nearly threw the toddler onto Kel's hands.

Kel had the great idea to get the other two friends and tell them the good news. He first suggested calling Hero and Sunny to also share the news but Mari said that they wouldn't believe him and might even get mad at him thinking it's some sort of cruel prank, even if she was the one talking. She then added that she bumped into Basil earlier but he got very scared.

"No kidding. I was also very scared!"

"That dance you did was that you being scared?"

"Hey! It… I'm not always scared like that. I didn't know how to react." Kel pouted, making the older zombie girl giggle, "But I wanted to ask… Do you… hate Basil? For what he did…" he asked without his trademark smile.

Mari stopped her giggling to think, she didn't hate him, at all. But she was… not happy either… He did do something rather awful and disrespectful to her body.

"Well, I'd like to talk to him to sort this out." she finally said.

Kel smiled, but just a bit, hoping that everything will be okay. The friend group can be whole again, it's what he wished for so many years.

"Well good thing I know where he must be! At Fix-It! He works there."

Mari nodded, feeling even more proud knowing that Basil had a job.

On the way to the shop, the zombie girl asked her friend some questions she had in mind.

First of all, if they all forgave Sunny and Basil for what happened.

"I forgave them quickly." Kel said, as if it was a competition, "I know Aubrey did after a month or so and Hero… It took some time for him to accept that it was an accident and that Basil was scared and panicking at that time… But we all did, and we all hang out when we can." the basketball player smiled brightly.

Mari mirrored that smile as she let out a sigh of relief.

She then asked about the new owners of her old house. Kel answered that it was an old man that bought the house and brought some furniture but he can't even remember when was the last time he saw his new neighbor. He just knew that the house became somewhat of a Summer house for his kids but he only saw them use the house once. Nowaday they just go to the treehouse sometimes. The new owner was weird like that and never did a thing about actually moving in.

Mari nodded along his explanation, that would explain why it looked so desolated.

And finally she asked about where Sunny and her mother lived.

"At Closeby City. It's a couple of hours from here. I'm just glad that your mom didn't move too far away… It would have made the visits much, much harder for us and Sunny." Kel answered.

"Do you know when he is coming?"

"In a couple of days, I asked him earlier, I told him we have a big surprise." Kel smirked.

And boy, what a surprise that was.

As they walked past the town's park, Mari saw the swing set and was reminded of something very important.

She knew exactly what one of her first teases towards her little brother would be.

Well that hit a dead end quickly. The duo of friends just learned from the manager at Fix-It that Basil called in sick. They first got confused as they both saw him earlier and he was perfectly fine.

But they quickly realized why he decided to stay home for the day. Mari looked down sadly. It was her fault.

"D-Don't worry Mari! We'll just go visit him at his home. Let's go!" Kel 'suggested' as he was already leading the way.

They passed by the Park, and didn't see Aubrey and her friends coming out from the bushes leading to their secret hanging spot deeper in the forest. But the pink haired girl did see the two of them. She once again saw that girl that looked so much like Mari. So it wasn't a hallucination!

"Aubrey? You okay?" her friend Kim asked as she noticed how she was frozen in place.

"I-I'm fine…" she shook her head.

"Let's go! I, the great MAVERICK, am famished!" a boy wearing a blond wig, Mikael exclaimed.

"Yeah! Let's go to Gino's!" Angel, the youngest of the group, agreed loudly.

Charlene, the gentle giant of the group nodded, she also was feeling hungry and wouldn't say no to pizza.

The group was one member short as the oldest by one year, Vance, was only coming back from his first year at University the next day, at the same time as Hero.

"You're coming with us, Boss?" Kim asked.

"Y-Yeah… But after that I have something to do." She stammered again, she was really close to freak out about what her brain was imagining, maybe pizza with her friends would calm her down.

Mari's meeting with Polly was as awkward as meeting someone who was supposed to be dead could be. Thankfully the young caretaker wasn't too freaked out at learning about a zombie being around.

Probably because Mari didn't really look like one.

In any case, the dark haired girl was happy to learn that Basil was in good hands with such a kind person.

The caretaker told them that Basil was in his room, she'll be leaving to do some groceries for lunch and be back as soon as she can.

Kel knocked on the room's door.

"Hey, Basil! You okay in there?"

"K-Kel? You can come in… The door is open…" they heard the shaky voice of Basil coming out from behind the door.

"Wow… I haven't heard Basil's voice like this in years. You really must have spooked him, eh?" Kel whispered.

"Y-yeah…" Mari whispered back in a sad tone.

They both opened the door only to see the blond boy sitting on his bed, looking dejected and tired as if he had been screaming for hours. He sniffed a bit before turning to his friend with a forced smile, but when he saw Mari, a look of terror was on his face.

"M-Mari?! N-No! It can't be!" he shrieked.

"Hey, calm down! Mari isn't going to hurt you. Everything is cool." Kel said.

"Y-You can see her?"

"Yeah! Even touch her! See? She's really back!" the basketball player said before patting her head.

Mari looked up at him in annoyance, Kel did that just to prove a point, but it also pointed out how big he was next to her.

She wondered if Hero was shorter, how hilarious it would be for her to tease him about the big brother becoming the 'little' one.

Mari shook her head, she needed to focus on the matter at hand first. She approached Basil who was still looking at her with terrified eyes, she raised her hand towards him as he closed his eyes.

Then she booped his nose.

He stopped trembling and he looked up at her. Mari was smiling brightly at him.

Oh how he missed that smile…

"Mari…?" he asked again.

"You know, I really meant it when I said you became handsome. I'm so proud of you, Basil." She praised him.

The same way she would praise him when he would show the group a new plant he grew, or when he took a particularly great picture. Tears filled up his eyes but not from fear, or even sadness, but from happiness.

He reached forwards to hold her in a very shaky embrace as he wept without restraint against her sweater.

"M-Mariii… Mariii I'm so sorry… I'm so sorryyy…" he cried, finally being able to say those words not to a tombstone but to the person herself.

"Shh… Shhh… Just breathe." she said as she gently caressed his head to calm him down.

She thought that she'll have to do that with everyone else when they see her. Hehe, big sis to the rescue!

Kel was just watching from the side with a smile and tears in his eyes. Very tempted to join in the hug. He just loved group hugs.

"But… I… I…" Basil stammered between sobs.

Mari let out a sigh before gently pushing him away from the hug, confusing him. Then without any warning she karate chopped him on the top of the head with some force. Basil let out a painful yelp.

"That's for hanging my body, pretty much traumatizing everyone, Sunny's right eye and for thinking of killing yourself." she scolded.

But she didn't let him have the time to feel guilty and look down in shame as she wrapped her arms around him in a very comforting hug, followed with a kiss on the top of his head.

"And this is for helping Sunny until the very end despite him locking himself up for four years. You didn't abandon him, and even if it wasn't a healthy choice, your intentions were crystal clear and I could never be mad at you for this." she looked him in the eye and said the few words that would save him from the torment in his mind, "I forgive you."

Basil could feel his cheeks getting red from the smooch and his eyes getting wet from even more tears that were just begging to slide down his cheeks like a toboggan. He heard those words from his friends, even from Hero and Aubrey. They wouldn't be hanging out if they hadn't forgiven him, but there was one person who didn't explicitly say it, even though everyone knew she would.

Which is why, hearing those words coming out of Mari's mouth meant oh so much to him.

With his best smile, he gave her a big nod to thank her, too overwhelmed to say anything yet. They resumed their hug with Kel this time joining in.

Polly came back and prepared a nice pasta arrabiata lunch for everyone. Mari was a bit scared that her taste buds might not be working, sure at the church she ate some bread and water but she was so preoccupied and hungry that she didn't really think about the taste.

What if her becoming a zombie made her lose some of her senses?

But after one bite, she was more than glad to taste the delicious food. It somewhat felt a bit weird, but as long as she could taste it was good enough for her.

Once everyone finished their plates, almost as if on cue, someone knocked at the door.

"I'll go get it!" Kel volunteered as he ran towards the door, he opened it, "Oh! Hey, Aubrey!" he greeted.

"Hey Kel. I-Is Basil here?" Aubrey asked.

"Yeah. Basil, Aubrey's here!"

The blond young man approached the entrance and waved at Aubrey as if it was the first time they saw each other that day.

"Hey Aubrey, come on in." he welcomed her in.

"Thanks… Guys. I have to tell you something I've seen. You might think this is crazy but I swear I think I saaaaaaaaw…" her train of thought halted when her eyes landed on her.

Mari smiled at her young female friend.

"Hi Aubrey. You look so beautiful! I'm so happy you kept our promise of dyeing our hair!" the zombie said happily.

The roots of the pink haired girls had started to show some of her natural dark chocolate color, her eyes were still under cyan colored contacts and the blue handkerchief she had wrapped around her head as a bow was still there, that detail made Mari squeal inside as she remembered the time she offered it to her.

Aubrey was wearing a pink jacket that had a large logo of a black sun on it. Under it she was wearing a black shirt that left her stomach exposed and jeans.

Mari couldn't help but imagine how her brother must be hypnotized by Aubrey each time the two of them meet. She knew about Sunny's crush on Aubrey and was hoping it was still going, so much teasing material!

Aubrey, compared to Kel and Basil, didn't look terrified at the idea of the girl she considered her big sister being back from the dead as she didn't hesitate one second to lunge herself in Mari's arms, nearly tackling her to the ground in a bear hug.

"MARI! MARI!" she cried, "You're back! I don't know how and I don't care! You're back…" she sobbed.

"Hehe, yes I'm back." Mari smiled as she hugged her back and patted her hair, "I'm so happy to see you again, Aubrey. You've become a fine woman. I'm so proud."

As expected, it took some time for Aubrey to calm down. She then asked the usual questions (How is this possible? You're supposed to be dead!?) and Mari answered the same way as with the others (I'm a zombie now, I think. And I have no clue how.)

The group of friends decided to spend the day at Basil's house.

Mari asked a lot of questions to the young adults, mostly about what they have been up to since the last six years and about their plans for the future.

It seems that those four years before Sunny moved out of Faraway have been hard for everyone in the friend group, but Mari was more than happy to see that in the end, everything ended up alright.

As she could have guessed, Kel was practicing basketball and was ready to join the town's team while studying at college. Basil has been working at Fix-It for quite a while, and was still hesitating between opening his own flower shop or becoming a photographer. Until then, he'd be going to the same college as Kel, Aubrey and Sunny.

From the look Aubrey gave to Basil, she wasn't aware of that fact. And the blush on her face showed how happy she was to hear that news. Seems like Sunny wanted to tell her face to face.

Mari grinned in surprise. Did Aubrey and Sunny…? Oooh so many teasing ideas!

Aubrey for her part didn't have any plans yet for what she'd like to do, so she'd rather focus on studying to get into college. All while working hard and many quick shifts around town to get money.

The rest of the afternoon was spent talking, playing games and ordering dinner, the trio of graduating teenagers shared with the revenant their plans for the summer with the whole group, and now that Mari was added to the mix, the excitement was at its peak!

Aubrey also invited the Hooligans and couldn't wait to introduce them to Mari, and the zombie girl was very excited to meet them properly. From her memories as a ghost and from her friends' descriptions, they looked like a colorful bunch!

Eventually evening came and it was time to go to sleep.

Kel called his parents to ask if he could stay at Basil as everyone decided to sleep there for the night. Mari could hear Kel's father laugh through the phone as he agreed for the impromptu sleepover.

They were all just so excited to close their eyes, the next day Hero would arrive and not a single soul could wait to see his reaction. Especially Mari, she just couldn't wait to see her Hero again.

One by one, starting with Kel, everyone fell asleep… except for Mari.

She didn't understand what was happening: she felt so tired and yet, her body refused to fall asleep naturally. Was that a side-effect of being a zombie? To never fall asleep? Now that she thinks about it… her body did feel weird at some moments.

For example, her bad knee was pretty much gone, she managed to run nearly three streets and barely felt pain, but at rare moments there were also mild neck pains, definitely from the hanging. But why would she feel that but not her bad knee. Why would her right eye be out of order and have a scar from the fall but the rest of her body be intact. She did fall a full set of stairs before landing on the broken violin.

Her body was such a mystery…

She laid down again and this time she decided to focus on falling asleep instead of just letting it happen. And just like that, almost like an On/Off switch, she was sleeping.

Such a mystery with no answer…

To be continued…

Baka's notes: And here's another chapter, I'll try to be rather active with this story, I like where this is going and I have lots of ideas. But to do that I'll have to pause one of my other projects and I don't know which yet haha... But next update from me will be for Spider Hope!
See you soon!