What if R and Julie hadn't met outside the city? What if R had been captured by the Living soldiers, 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 22 – Reflections and Conversation with a General

The next morning, when I woke up, I was alone on the little twin bed. Julie was gone. Nora was sitting at her desk reading, though, as I sat up, blinking in the light.

Nora smiled at me. "You two make a cute couple, you know?"

"She's…cute. We're ugly…pair," I replied.

"Nah," was Nora's one-word reply.

"What's…plan?" I asked, desperate to change the subject.

"The city is in lock-down," Nora replied seriously. "We're to wait to open the door of the guest quarters until we get notified it's safe. You should take a shower when she gets back. I swear you're beginning to develop 'boy B.O.' I'm going to have to find you some deodorant soap."

I smiled. Jokes were good. It meant Nora was beginning to relax more around me.

Julie soon returned, her wet hair wrapped in a white towel, carrying two neatly folder towels with an unopened bar of soap on top. She looked over at Nora, who just shook her head. "I'm good, I went while you two were in dreamland together," Nora replied.

So Julie turned back to me. "R?"

I nodded, deciding to take Nora's hint that I needed a shower, and Julie handed me the bathing necessities. I went down the hall and stuck my head into the shared bathroom to ensure it was empty before I entered.

This room wasn't like the one at Julie's house. It was more like the one M hung out in at the airport. The walls were a slate gray, and there was a bank of white sinks lining one wall, with small rectangular mirrors over each sink.

On the opposite wall, six toilet stalls and four shower stalls. The shower stalls had yellow plastic curtains. They all appeared empty, so I picked one with that still had a bit of water clinging to the curtain. As I approached, I could pick up Julie's scent ever so faintly.

This made me realize that I had been losing my sense of smell over the past few days. After my escape in the Grigio dome, I had used Julie's scent to locate the ladder to the stadium roof in the dark. At that time, I had only scented her once before, when she walked by the enclosure with the group of children. Now I could barely pick it up in a room that should have been flooded with it, buoyed by the steam from her recent shower.

Shaking these thoughts from my head, I pulled back the curtain of the stall and turned on the water. I didn't really care much about temperature, though I thought it felt cool. As I lathered up with the soap, I noted that this seemed simpler than it had at Julie's house. It appeared my coordination was improving even as my sense of smell was decreasing.

I let the water do its work quickly, as I had heard Julie comment to Nora that waster for bathing was somewhat limited. Wrapping the towel around my waist, I got out and walked over to the sinks. Although I knew that being in a common bathroom with my gray skin showing meant risking being found by another Living, I took a few moments to study my reflection before putting on my clothes.

Resting my hands on one of the slick porcelain of one of the sinks, I leaned forward to examine myself. I hadn't really studied my reflection at the airport, though I occasionally caught sight of myself on the reflecting glass panels along the terminal walls. So my only other memory of my appearance was from the bathroom at Julie's house, in the Grigio Dome.

Were there any changes on the outside to match the changes I felt internally? Looking in the mirror, it seemed to me that my lips had lost much of their bluish tinge. It seemed to me that their lining, the part just inside the mouth, was pink-ish. Sticking out my tongue, it didn't look quite the same deep shade of black as it had last time. It had been one of the things that worried me the most about eating in the communal hall. Every time Julie opened her mouth, I saw that soft pink tongue inside. And mine was black.

Among the other changes that I noticed, as I twisted my shoulders in front of the mirror, were that the blue veins which had been so prominent in my neck and jaw also appeared to have shrunk a bit, and finally, my eyes looked less fierce.

I made a scary face at myself in the mirror and was satisfied I could look terrifying if necessary. Might need the monster in the next few days, I thought to myself.

Having finished my inspection, I was turning around to leave when the bathroom door opened. I froze when I saw General Steiger was standing in the open doorway. He came in, closing the door behind himself.

"I had hoped to catch you before the make-up went on," he said quietly. "I wanted to see you for myself."

He walked up, flicking on the bright, overhead light. "May I?" he asked, reaching for my face. I nodded slowly.

"You're definitely dead," he said, tilting my face up into the light. Somehow, coming from him, it only sounded like an observation, not a criticism. "How long?"

I shook my head and shrugged.

"Do you have any memories of your former life?" he asked.

Forcing myself to speak, I said, "No. Flashes…recently…but never my name."

"Do you know where you came from?" he continued.

I shook my head again.

"You look as though you died recently," he commented.

"Not recent," I replied. "But…changing now…less blue…" I said, struggling for words, pointing to my lips.

Just then the bathroom door opened, and Julie came in. She gasped and stopped when she saw the General, then moved next to me, trying to get in front of me.

"It's OK," he told her reassuringly. "I just had a few questions for your friend here. He seems to think his lips are less blue. What do you think?"

Julie looked between us. "I think he's right. I've kind of been scared to look him in the face, actually," she said.

I hung my head, ashamed. What did I expect? She was a beautiful, Living girl, after all. Of course she found me repulsive.

"Mainly, because there is such a discrepancy between his actions and his appearance," she continued. "It was kind of like, a difference between his soul and his body, you know? So mostly, I've noticed he walks better, not shuffling as much, and he walks more quickly. His movements aren't' as jerky, and his speech has improved.

I looked up, surprised to hear such a thorough catalogue.

"And yes, I would say his lips look better," she continued. "Also, his eyes aren't quite as intense. The difference is kind of hard to describe."

"Wild," I offered.

They both looked at me.

"My eyes…not wild-looking…" I said.

"Yes, that's it," she exclaimed. "Initially, when I met him, he appeared to be, I don't know, really holding himself back. He looked strained. Veins bulging, stuff like that. Now, he looks relaxed."

The General nodded. "Well, get some make-up ready. I still want to have a few words with him."

Julie smiled, playing with the faucets of the sink.

"Alone, please," the General asked. "And I was coming to see you. Rosy called, he got back safely, and settled his escort into the tunnel until he can properly prepare his troops and citizens."

She nodded and left. Almost shuffling her feet, I noted.

Once she was gone, he went over by the window and leaned against the sill, pulling back the blinds to peer outside before continuing. "I want to ask your opinion," he finally said. "If John Grigio changed to Boney last night, what kind of memories do you think he has? After all, he ran that fortress from the beginning."

I felt a sudden chill, and closed my eyes briefly, thinking of the implications of John G becoming a Boney yet retaining all of his thoughts and memories.

The General looked at me steadily. "Not good?"

"Don't know. Didn't die…maybe kept memories?"

The General nodded, looking grim.

"Can you…get his Living…people…over here? Trucks?" I asked.

"I was just thinking about that. Do you think the Boneys are going to attack?"

I shrugged.

"I'll talk to Colonel Rosso about a transport. Thank you for your advice." He turned and walked towards the door.

I held up a hand. "Wait…"

He paused, hand on the bathroom door handle.

"Move…in groups…" I suggested.

"Excellent idea," remarked the General. "I was thinking the same thing."

After he left, I went to the door and tried to figure out a way to latch it from the inside. Nope, there wasn't a lock or even a chair to put under the handle to make the door difficult to open. So I went into one of the shower stalls and finished getting dressed.

As reassuring as it was to be consulted by a General, and to learn that he and I thought alike, I didn't need anyone else walking in on me when I wasn't fully dressed. As I thought this, I could almost hear M saying "Girl. Such… girl," like he used to do when he caught me being sensitive. I missed him.

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