What if R and Julie hadn't met outside the city? What if R had been captured and brought 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 21 – Night Time Conversations

I watched as M turned to leave with Colonel Rosso, the Dead surrounding them as they began walking back down the dark tunnel. As I watched them leaving, I realized what an incredibly brave man Rosy was, and how trusting he was. I wasn't sure I could have done what he did. I was worried for him, as I was worried for us all. But somehow his act of trust gave me confidence that hope was possible for all of us, Living and Dead.

Shaking my head to clear it, I looked out at the remaining group, who were standing patiently in front of me. I pointed up, and said, "Back soon." They shuffled, but seemed content to stay.

So I headed back up the tunnel towards the city, and out under the night sky, where Julie, Nora and General Steiger waited for me. And where somewhere, on the other side of the wall, I was sure the former General John Grigio was waiting for me as well.

I turned and made my way back to the front of the tunnel, to find General Steiger waiting for me with two soldiers.

"How did they get in?" he asked. "The tunnel wasn't finished. We had been digging towards a meeting point, but the collapse happened before the two sections were joined."

"Tunnel…collapse," I stated. "Workers…knew hole's entrance." I made some gestures with my hands, indicating digging through dirt with one's hands.

Steiger paled, and said, "There were survivors of the collapse that we missed?'

"Guess…so," I answered softly.

Steiger looked down, clearly shaken that someone had been left alive after the construction accident. Alive and left behind by the Living, and then fell victim to us, the Dead. But he lifted his head, recovering himself.

He looked at the guards. "We're going to have to reinforce this gate. Let's get to work," he said quietly, then turned to escort me back to the worker quarters.

When we got there, the outer doors were locked, but Nora and Julie opened when the General called out to them.

Julie stunned me by flinging her arms around my neck and sobbing. "When you left with Rosy, I wasn't sure I was going to see you again," she said.

I looked over at the General. "I…wasn't…sure myself, actually."

Nora looked over at me. "Wow. That last sentence was smoother than before."

I nodded. "I walk…more smoothly…too." Dang it, back into the old speech mode.

"I'm sure it's a process," Nora reassured me, seeming to pick up my frustration.

"Lock the doors and get some sleep," the General said. "Rosy is going to call me when he gets back to his dome. He's going to let M's group stay in the unfinished tunnel at his end of the dome just as they were staying in ours. Do you think they have a similar place on his end?

I shook my head. I didn't know.

"Well, we know they've got a walled off area for the construction site. It will have to do, until we can get the people living in the other dome comfortable with their new…I have to think on this."

As the General left, I lay down on the bed. I was surprised to find myself feeling rather heavy, as if it was hard to keep going. Once I lay down, my eyes closed of their own accord.

I heard, from what sounded like a long ways off, Nora saying to Julie, "Look. He's falling asleep…"

Slowly, I started to wake up. But instead of being in bed, I was lying on a grassy meadow under a blue sky. Leaning up on one elbow, I realized Perry was sitting next to me, hugging one knee to his chest, chewing on a blade of grass.

"Long time, no see," I told him, shading my eyes from the sun.

"It's go time, corpse," he replied. "At several levels. The Boneys have their new leader. You guys are outnumbered. What are you going to do?"

I looked over at him. "I don't know," I replied. I was pleasantly surprised at how easily my voice flowed. It matched my thoughts, for once.

"Well, I would say 'It's been real,' but of course, it hasn't," he stated. "Time for me to move on. If you guys survive the next day or two, I think you'll be OK. But first, you have to survive.

Then bring some joy back into the world. These people are barely living, right now."

I nodded. "I noticed. They look so pale, so grim. But they're all drawn by her laughter."

"Just keep her safe, man," Perry said, as he got up and started down the hill. Watching him go, I stood up. "Wait…"

Instead of answering, he just raised one hand to me and disappeared, fading into thin air.

I shook myself awake.

"R, R?" I heard Julie whispering. "R, are you OK?"

Struggling to wake up completely, I shook my head and looked up into her worried face. I saw Nora lying on the other bed, facing the wall, back to us.

"Just…dream," I replied.

"Move over, I'm tired too," she whispered back. I pulled closer to the wall, and she lay down on the twin bed next to me, with the blanket between us. She covered herself with her coat, tucking her face into my shoulder, and then peeked up at me. Though the room was dark, somehow her eyes managed to catch what little light existed.

"Really," she said softly. "What happened to Perry?"

I froze, as I had been dreading this moment, but found I needed to tell her the truth. She deserved that. "I…bit him." I said. "Then…he entered pen with us. Over…quickly."

There was silence for a few minutes. I lay waiting, expecting recriminations, expecting her to pull away from me, or even to go for one of Nora's guns. So her next questions surprised me.

"Is it true what they say," she asked, "that if you guys consume a person's brain, you get their memories?"

I stared up at the ceiling for a moment, wondering how to answer. "Yes. Bits. He…thought…of you. A lot."

There was silence, but she wasn't asleep. She put out her hand and began tracing my collarbone through my shirt.

"He showed you who I was?" she said softly. "Is that what you're saying?"

Now I had to struggle with my words. I had killed and eaten her boyfriend, yet we both loved her.

"We both…love you," I replied. "I have…some memories…"

She was silent.

"Sorry…but feel…his love for you," I told her. "So…strong."

She was silent. Say something, please, say something, I thought. Have I lost her? If so, could I blame her?

"Do you think that's what brought you back, made you like this?" she asked, rolling from her side onto her back, so that we now both faced the ceiling.

Relief surged through me at the sound of her voice again. "No...meeting you…brought me back." I struggled again, and pushed harder. "Others…picked up…from me. Like…reverse plague."

She looked up, holding her hand up in front of her face, twisting it, watching the play of the shadows and light.

"So contact with us, the Living, is reversing the plague? Is that what you think?" she asked.

"Not sure… my guess…"

"What's the last memory Perry showed you?" she asked.

"You….you were always…part," I replied. "Center…of his…world."

She turned to face me, leaning on one elbow. "He had pulled away near the end. Become distant. I don't understand."

"This world…draining," I told her. "Need…strength."

She snuggled up against me again. "I'm not saying it was OK to kill him, but then, you didn't know him. You were just hungry. Let's go to sleep."

I couldn't immediately fall asleep, but she did. I heard her breathing even out and deepen, and felt her body relax next to mine. Shortly after that, I fell asleep too. This time, there were no dreams.

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