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 7 – Meeting the General

Then it suddenly hit me. What if this wasn't Julie? And I'm sitting here in her room, clearly a corpse, since my gray skin, covered with all my unhealed wounds, is on full display.

I looked around, trying to find a place to hide, worried that I might have to kill someone to keep from being discovered, and that someone could mean killing one of her friends. If they didn't kill me first.

I was a worried that her friend might have returned. As I heard the footsteps pause in the hallway outside the room, I tensed up, and and prepared to slip under the bed or inside of a closet.

Fortunately, it was Julie. She knocked on the open door before entering with a stack of clothes. "I wanted to make sure you were decent," she smiled. "Perry's house was empty. He lost his Dad a few weeks ago, so it was easy enough to get in. I grabbed a few of his things and also a few of his Dad's. See if any of these fit."

She handed me a gray pair of slacks and a white button-down shirt. I took them down to the bathroom and clumsily pulled them on. They weren't a perfect fit, but were close enough. As I looked in the mirror, it occurred to me that I looked different in these new colors. I suddenly realized that I had been wearing the same clothes since I died. It was definitely time for a change.

After tucking the shirt tail into the pants, I returned to Julie's room, and put the flak jacket and other gear on as Julie put on her gear.

After she finished putting on her gear, she helped me adjust the jacket and helmet so that they sat more smoothly. Giving me the once over, she smiled. "It worked. You look better now."

Then she leaned forward and sniffed in my direction. "You know what? You don't really smell dead. I mean, I know you just took a shower, but…you don't have that usual corpse smell. By the way, what's your name? I mean, somehow you know I'm Julie, but yours?"

"I'm…R…" I struggled, hoping this time my name would appear on my lips, as if by just virtue of having said her name aloud, I would have remembered my own. No such luck.

"R?" she asked.

I nodded my head, slowly, feeling downcast and defeated for some reason.

"No, don't feel down, we'll figure it out together," she exclaimed. "Let's see. Robert?"

I shook my head.

"Richard? Reginald? Roberto? Rafael?" After each new name, I waited a second, and then shook my head. None of these were right.

"I feel like I need to call you something. How about Archie, for now?"

I shook my head. "I like…R," I said softly.

"R, huh?" she replied with a smile, cocking her head to one side.

I nodded. Her smile was infectious. I felt as if I were trying to smile, but it wasn't working well.

"OK then R, here's the plan," she said, sitting on her bed, looking at me seriously. "We're going to go out there together, go on the salvage, and at some point during the salvage, we'll separate from the others. I'll fire my gun and run back to the group. I will tell them that you, or rather, Perry was killed, and I escaped. You find your friend. Ready?"

I looked at her sadly, because the truth was that no, I wasn't ready. I didn't want to separate. Something inside of me was stirring, and I didn't want to lose that feeling.

"Ready," I answered.

Julie looked at me for a moment, tilting her head to one side, as if thinking. "You know," she said slowly, "I almost feel like I should let you meet Rosy. I think he would be interested in what's going on with you. Maybe he would have a better idea than me. I wonder…"

Just then the door downstairs opened. Julie's head whipped in the direction of the stairs as we heard heavy footsteps coming towards the second floor. She signaled me to put down my visor, which I did, just as an older man in a drab, olive uniform entered the doorway of her room.

"Julie," he said to her. "Kelvin," he said, addressing me. "I hear you're going on a salvage this afternoon?"

I nodded once.

"That's good. We need to restock medical supplies as well as classroom supplies. No liquor this time, please," he said sternly.

I simply nodded my head again, and he seemed satisfied.

"Well, stay safe. If you go out at 14:00, you should be back by dinner. I hear it's lentils and rice, your favorite, Julie," he said, almost smiling.

Julie grimaced, but moved to give him a hug. He hugged her back, though it seemed forced and unnatural. The man himself was very stiff, I thought. With his long, lean face and balding head, I could almost imagine him a Boney. I shook my head to clear it of such a thought.

"Oh, and Julie? There's a slight odor in this room. Almost…a corpse smell?" observed the General.

"Yeah, well, we need to wash the clothes Perry was wearing," Julie replied, glancing at me anxiously. "He took a shift of guard duty down at the enclosure, as Jay wasn't feeling well."

The General, who had been leaving, wheeled around upon hearing this, turning to face Julie again. "Jay wasn't feeling well after guard duty? Was he bitten?"

"Dad, no…he had a sore throat, please…" Julie pleaded.

But the General was already on his walkie-talkie. He pushed a button, and we could hear static as a man's voice picked up. "Rosso? It's Grigio….I want Jay Benton checked on ASAP. He wasn't feeling well after guard duty…I don't care who saw him. I want him in med tent, with possible quarantine."

Julie's eyes were starting to fill with tears, tears she was fighting to hold back

After he clicked off the walkie-talkie, she said, "Dad. Was that necessary?"

"Absolutely. I've had the feeling all day that there is a Dead loose in the city. It's creepy, but somehow I think it's true. It's almost like…well, your protection is foremost for me. " He took her face in his hands. "I just want to keep your safe. You're all I have left. Without you…I don't know what would happen to me."

Funny thing was, I think I knew exactly what would happen to him without Julie. I think he would turn into a Boney, and maybe he wouldn't even have to die to do it. His eyes were flat and almost black. They were barely human.

Our conversation was interrupted by a knock on the front door downstairs, and the General went down to answer it. I could hear some talking and wanted to get closer, but Julie motioned me to stay where I was. Even though I was upstairs, I could tell something about this newcomer. He had a warm, feeling voice, and he sounded concerned about this boy Jay Benton. It was obvious that he and the General were engaged in some kind of an argument as Julie and I leaned over the bannister, listening in.

Soon I heard the two men leaving. As they left, she called down to them, "Good-bye, Dad. Good-bye, Rosy. See you later?"

So that was Rosy, whom the General called Rosso. Rosy was someone I liked without ever having seen him. The General, on the other hand, worried me. A lot.

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