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.
A Dark Negative of Love
Chapter 12 – Waiting at the Airport, and the King of the Boneys
The next morning, I decided that we needed to risk going into the airport to search for food. The snacks I had found on the airplane were probably OK as exactly that: snacks to be consumed in the middle of the night, as Julie had done when she woke up in the previous night.
I had wanted to go alone into the terminal alone, but I was worried about leaving Julie by herself. So after she finished off three more little metal packets of food from the airplane galley, washing them down with the rest of the water from the gas station, I pointed to the terminal.
"Maybe…food…for you?" I suggested.
She came to the tiny cabin window and looked out. The runways had mostly cleared of the Dead, as they had headed inside to begin their daily routine of pacing the airport.
Julie bounced in her seat a little as she thought, drumming her fingers on the armrest of her chair, seeming worried yet excited at the prospect of going into the terminal.
"Do you think it's safe in there for me, or might the other zombies be in there as well?" she finally asked.
I cringed inwardly at the use of the word zombie, but simply said, "We…spend day…inside."
"So, it's like, your hangout spot?" she asked, tilting head to one side as she looked up at me with smile.
I nodded, melting under the power of the smile.
"Why? I mean, what's special about an airport?" she asked as she looked back out of the tiny cabin window, her messy but still beautiful hair sliding across her face.
I shrugged, longing to reach out and pull her hair back.
"Nuh-uh. Try again, shrugger! You can do better. What's the reason you stay there? Did you all die there?" she asked, getting out of her seat and going over to one of the bins between the seats, digging through my records.
I shrugged again, not knowing the answer. Realizing she hadn't heard me, she looked over towards my seat. I repeated my shrug, and she shook her head. "I guess that's the big question, isn't it? What happened? What happened to you all that you found yourselves like you are?" She paused in her perusal of my collection, leaning back on her heels. Finally she looked back down again.
Which was a good thing. Because if I was able to express emotion, I would have been dumbfounded at her question. But since I couldn't speak very well, I knew my shrug would work.
"You have a lot of great albums here, R. You have a lot of stuff, period! What is all this?" she asked, gesturing to all the things I brought back from my trips.
I looked around, and decided to throw that right back at her. I pointed to the small model of the solar system, a system of wires connected to balls that showed the sun, earth and other planets, hanging from my ceiling. "Like…your ceiling," I said.
She went over and looked at it, rotating the metal arms a few times. "OK, I'll give you this one. I have those stars on my ceiling, it's true. But what about all the rest of this stuff?"
"Interesting…meant something…to someone," I said. That was one of the longest phrases I had gotten out.
She plopped back down in one of the seats, and stared at me, with her chin in her hands. "You know, that's kind of profound, as well as sad," she said finally. "Yeah, all of this stuff probably meant something to someone once."
I smiled. She got it.
I walked over to one of the overhead bins, and pulled down a medium size blue suitcase covered with psychedelic flowers decals. Rolling it over to her, I said, "Clothes…for you?"
She looked at me, and then took the suitcase, pulling it behind her into the nearest bathroom.
I listened intensely, hearing rustling sounds, and the sounds of metal from behind the closed door. That suitcase, however small, was going to be difficult to manage in the tiny restroom.
After a few minutes, she came back out, closing the door behind her, saying "Well, she was a bit prissier than I was, but still…"
I was stunned at the transformation that had occurred just a few feet away from me. Julie had put on a short white linen dress, with white leggings. There must have been a hairbrush in the bag as well, because she had combed her hair. She looked like an angel. A street angel, it's true, but an angel. I gaped at her. She had been pretty before, but now? She was incandescent, and barely looked human. Too good for this plague-ridden planet.
"It's too bad the shoes don't fit," she murmured, looking down at her feet, "but she only had ballet flats, and those aren't going to work for the hike back…"
She looked up at me. "What do you think?"
"Perfect…" I stammered, and then ducked my head.
"R, are you…blushing? No, that's not possible. It's just the shadows on your face. But still, it's cute. And you want to hear the best part? That girl had packed her makeup bag in that suitcase! Shampoo, blush, eye shadow…"
In her excitement, she almost danced to the row I was sitting in. Slipping onto the seat next to me, she showed me the contents of a folded cloth bag. The bag contained a variety of small compacts and brushes, all in shiny black containers. They seemed to match.
"We haven't had this quality in years! Expensive tastes, whoever she was." She opened a compact and stared into the tiny mirror, and then pulled out one of the brushes, preparing to put some of the powder on her face.
"Can't wear…at airport," I said, stopping her hand.
"Oh, right. Should I change?" She sounded a little disappointed.
I shook my head, and pulled down a large green duffle bag. Unzipping it, I pulled out a large man's green and blue plaid shirt.
She took it and giggled. "Well, you would be a fashion expert on how to blend. Thanks, R. No reason to get this dress dirty," she finished, slipping it the shirt on over her dress.
I looked outside the window, and saw a large group of Boneys coming across the tarmac. I caught a glimpse of gold, and looking closely, it appeared their leader was at the center of the group.
I had only seen him twice before. M had pointed him out to me, right after I first met him at the airport. He had been standing in front of a large group of Boneys, and the others had been seemingly frozen, paying complete attention to him.
"That is…leader," M had grunted at the time, ducking his head. "Keep…away," he continued.
I understood, and ducked my head as well. M tapped his front tooth and gestured back to the circle of Boneys. Cautiously looking up, I took another quick glance in their direction. The leader, who was slightly taller than the others, had a prominent gold tooth, bringing a touch of metallic color to the otherwise drably colored being.
I felt as though the tall Boney was looking at me, accessing me. I started to shuffle off, and M quickly followed.
"Smart move…leaving," he grunted quietly.
Today, though, I watched as the Boneys gathered out on the runway, surrounding their leader, before splitting into three groups that dispersed in different directions. Two headed for the other terminals of the airport, and one headed north, back towards the city. I felt Julie behind me, and I moved to let her watch over my shoulder.
"That doesn't look good," she said slowly.
"No…stay in…for now," I said, looking up at her. I looked back out, wondering if I should tell her about their leader being them. Then I thought, how could I explain that? I let it go for the time being.
She nodded, biting her lip, looking afraid. I was suddenly tempted to put my arm around her in a reassuring gesture, but I didn't move quickly enough, and she stepped back into the center aisle of the plane, returning to her seat.
As I gazed at her, I decided I didn't want her to be nervous. If I only had this short time with her, I wanted her to be happy. Plus, I wanted to spend some time doing fun things with her. I hadn't really interacted with anyone besides M in years. So I got up and went to another overhead bin. After opening it, I tapped the raised door, showing her the contents. It was full of board games.
She laughed, and said, "You know, you're all right, R." She pulled a few down, and we started to play.
After a while, she got up and stretched. "I could use some music, now."
So I went over to my record player and tried to plug Kelvin's music maker into my speakers.
"Let me help," she said. After a few tries, she got the two synchronized, and music filled the cabin. We spent the rest of the day playing the board games, watching the Boneys outside, as more of the spooks came and went, forming groups at the direction of their leader, Mr. Gold Tooth.
I couldn't tell exactly what they were doing, but whatever it was, I didn't like it. They were more active than usual. That couldn't be good, especially with Julie so close at hand.
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So they didn't make it into the terminal, but they got to spend a little more time together.