A/N: Ok. Once again the characters don't belong to me. They belong to Zack Snyder and James Gunn. Also, as you can tell w/ the Shaun of the Dead reference, I'm altering the timeline slightly. Lol. Please don't kill me!
Taryn sat on the floor of her best friend, Sophie's house. Magazines and yearbooks were scattered across the floor. "Oh my God." Came a voice from up on the bed and suddenly Sophie's head appeared over the edge of the bed. "Look at how little we were back then." She tossed the 1998 yearbook onto the floor next to Taryn, opened to the 26th page. Taryn glanced at it, and then continued flipping through the magazine that was in her lap. "Oh come one! Will you relax? Libby's fine!" Finally Taryn closed the magazine and tossed it back on to the pile.
"You don't understand, Soph. Something was wrong. Grandma's always so happy and lively. But she was…gray. She could barely get off the couch she was so weak. It's almost like she was turning into a…"
"What?" Sophie asked, smirking. "A zombie?" Taryn laughed.
"Shut up! I'm not going insane."
"No. You're right." Sophie sat up now. "You gotta watch out for those zombies. They're everywhere these days." Taryn stood up and, grabbing a pillow of the bed, threw it at Sophie.
"I'm thirsty. Can we please go get a drink?" Sophie stood up, stretching her legs as she did so.
"I think mom's got some peppermint schnapps in the cupboard." She said, leading the way downstairs. Taryn pulled her shoulder length auburn hair back into a ponytail as she followed Sophie. It was dark on the first floor of the Leonard house. Sophie waited to turn on a light until they got into the kitchen.
"What's with the cover of darkness act?" Taryn asked playfully.
"mom's been known to pass out on the couch when she goes out. Didn't want to risk waking her up." Sophie responded, searching the cupboards.
"It's only 12:30. Do you really think she's home?"
"You never…here we go." Sophie spun around, holding the clear bottle out triumphantly. To her surprise, though, Taryn wasn't looking at her. She was looking at the white tiles, now decorated with drops of deep red. "What happened?"
"It wasn't me." Taryn answered, her voice quavering slightly. Sophie set the bottle down on the counter and slowly walked out into the living room, followed closely by Taryn. The trail of red continued to the bottom of the couch where it suddenly ended.
"Mom?" Sophie whispered. They heard a rustling on the couch and then a weak voice responded.
"Sophie?" Sophie quickly strode over to the wall and flicked on the light. Tara Leonard sat on the couch. Her skin was pale and the veins were visible through the skin. She blinked rapidly against the harsh light. Taryn noticed she was holding a cloth tightly to her hand. She also noticed the white cloth was slowly being stained red.
"What happened to your hand?" Sophie must have noticed too. Mrs. Leonard glanced at her hand, as though unsure of what her daughter was talking about.
"Oh. Nothing."
"Mom!"
"Well, I met this guy and we went back to his apartment." Sophie sat back, rolling her eyes at her mother's story. "But he fell asleep before anything happened."
"Fell asleep?" Taryn whispered. Not believing what she was hearing.
"I was just about to leave when he work up. And…well, then he bit me." Sophie peeled the cloth from her mom's hand. Slowing when she heard her mother wince. An angry red wound appeared and Taryn gasped.
"Mom, you have to go to the doctor." Sophie slowly got to her feet.
"I'll go tomorrow, dear. Promise. You two should get some sleep." Tara laid back down. "I'm just going to sleep here for tonight." Sophie grabbed a blanked off the rocking chair and laid it out over her mother, then leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.
"Night." Then she motioned for Taryn to follow her upstairs. Once in the room Sophie flopped down on her bed. "What the hell kind of guy bites a woman to STOP her from leaving?"
"A zombie?" Taryn grinned sheepishly. Sophie laughed and tossed some pillows on the floor for Taryn as she rolled out her sleeping bag.
"Alright, Romero. I'm gonna put in a movie to sleep to." Sophie moved in front of the dvd player, blocking Taryn's view of what she was doing. When she finished she turned off the light and lay down on the bed. "Night, sweetie." Taryn didn't respond, just laughed as the menu screen came up. A dozen or more bloodstained hands were clawing at the door of a bar. Taryn leaned forward and pushed play.
"Funny." She whispered. The she sat back, eyes intent on the screen. There would be no sleep for her tonight. She knew this movie by heart. "How's that for a slice of fried gold?" She laughed, as downstairs, Tara Leonard quietly passed away.