Infected

I could smell her. The scent of human wafted into the air and toward my nose. I breathed in and out mechanically, even though it didn't heighten the scent any. Her scent was heavenly, and I needed her.

She was my next target.

Biting people was in my nature. It's what I did to pass the time as an undead creature, and gather more of my kind. It was expected of me from my sire, the one who had bitten me. It was a vicious cycle, and was the nature of a zombie.

If you were bitten and infected, the expectation for you to bite others was great. If you were starting to get lethargic, you needed to figure out how to get a bite quick. Figure out a tactic and plan out your motive. Otherwise there isn't a reason for you to be undead anymore. Even if you tried to die, it wouldn't be a good idea since you would bounce back unharmed - albeit a few limbs gone.

I moved like a person who's leg was asleep and was trying to shake it awake, except my limbs weren't ever going to waken. I needed to pick up her scent again and follow it, even if I couldn't move as quick as I'd like. I moved at the speed of a power walker, and I was trying to jog, run, anything to move faster.

Spotting a skateboard in the distance, I decided to catch a ride. My right leg pushed me down the hill and I coasted down, the air breezing through the rotted flesh of my mouth. My teeth were visible, coated in red, and the skin was rotted away to reveal that oddity. It shaped back towards my ear, almost as if I were smiling.

I focused on the scent of her flesh and caught a whiff of it headed towards the park. I smirked. She had no clue where to go in a zombie epidemic, the silly girl. I was glad she was this naive, otherwise I wouldn't be able to chase her down as fast.

The wheels squealed in protest as I leaned sideways, the skateboard taking me into the park through my bidding. I slowed down and picked the board up, leaning it up against a tree. I slithered through the park, listening for any sound of life, of breathing. Don't ever go out into the open. They'll know you're coming that way, and find a place to run. My sire's advice processed through my brain, as I walked slowly and looked around, the pavement helping my shuffling feet not make a sound.

The air was calm tonight, even through a scream here and there from one of us hitting target. Making sure I stayed in the shadows, I tried to walk as normally as I could if the light caught me, and hid the atrocity that was the right side of my face. It looked like the Joker had ripped that side of my face, the blade coated in a venom that would rot one's skin off. That sounded about right.

"C'mon, we'll be safe here Tonya."

I turned towards the quiet voice in the park, and saw two girls moving to hide behind a port-a-potty. One had a head of golden sunshine, the other a head of a bright red rose. Their legs shown in the moon light, the auburn-haired girl donning a skort, the blonde a pair of shorts. "Rachel, I don't know about this," the blonde nervously confessed. From listening to the other's coaxing, this one was Tonya.

"Oh, don't get your shorts in a knot, girl," Rachel huffed, her voice still carrying a soft air. "Those idiots of rotting corpses won't think to look over here. We'll be fine." Her assurance didn't carry over to the other so well. I laughed a silent, short laugh as I reached into my pocket and pulled out a bandanna. I held the sides of it and wrapped it around the bottom half of my face. If someone were looking at me, they'd see a plain person with a grinning bandanna on the lower half of his face.

Lure them in. Let them think you're one of them at first.

Hiding the lower half of my face and walking as normal as I could was my only way of normalcy. It was my only way of getting close to a human. I straightened up, and walked as normally as I could. I looked like I had a limp, but I could say that I had tripped over a tree root and that was the reason. Works every time. One of them screamed in fright seeing a figure beside them, and then both visibly relaxed once they saw I had no visible infections. That they could see, anyway.

"Aren't you supposed to go hide somewhere?" Rachel asked defensively, most likely trying to mend her pride at being frightened. She looked like the kind of person who would hate to be caught crying. Tonya looked at me as well, awaiting my response.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?" I countered, as I crouched next to Tonya. Not too close, because anyone knows that zombies reek. I knew I did, and hoped they wouldn't comment on the smell. In the very least, I knew they'd ask about the bandanna. They always do.

She sighed and moved over, Tonya moving as well to make room for me. "Fine, fine. Just don't make a peep, will ya?" Rachel whispered, giving in. "Those flesh eaters are around here. We don't want them finding out our position." I agreed, and smirked slightly. They truly didn't know who was with them. Tonya's scent was as powerful as ever, and Rachel's added to that. I refrained from drooling.

"So," Tonya asked, turning to me, her eyes scrunched together in puzzlement. "Why do you have a bandanna on?"

My smile grew wider. See? I called it. "I just felt like distinguishing myself from everyone else," I replied, leaning back against the tree currently supporting my frame. From this angle, Tonya was cuter, the moonlight hitting her face just right. "I'm Thomas, by the way."

They both gave me their names and nodded in my direction, Tonya shaking my hand. She drew back quick, and commented, "Your hands are as cold as ice!" Her face scrunched up in puzzlement again. I doubt she'd find all of the pieces to who I was at any rate.

I shrugged. "I have cold hands and cold feet. My mom would say it was because of poor circulation." She nodded, holding my gaze for a few more seconds before dropping hers to the ground at her feet.

Rachel groaned. "Okay. I can't take it anymore. I need to go to the bathroom." She stood up and moved to the front side of the make-shift bathroom. "Obviously I won't be far, so don't go anywhere."

Oh we won't, I thought.

If there are more than one human present, separate them, and attack one, then the other.

I decided to make things more interesting. I moved closer to Tonya, and moved my legs up, setting my left arm on top of my knees. My blue eyes met her gaze, and I kept it that way, locking onto hers. "D'ya want to see the full effect?" I asked, tugging at my bandanna a tad. She looked sort of dazed, gazing into my eyes. She looked lost in them, which I thought was cute. She nodded, and I pulled the bandanna down to where it was resting on my neck.

The dazed emotion in her eyes turned to immediate horror, her mouth agape at what she was seeing. A slight scream escaped her mouth as I moved in, nipping at her shoulder. Her muscles tightened, and I could feel her trying to get away. "Rachel!" she screamed, alarmed at my real appearance. I clasped a hand over her mouth as I bit her shoulder, her muffled screams no doubt heard by Rachel, who I could hear fumbling with the lock on the door.

I let go of Tonya as soon as I heard the lock give, and she ran to the front of the port-a-potty, grabbing Rachel's hand. "What the hell?" Rachel exclaimed when she saw the bite mark on Tonya as she drug her away. She looked back at me, my bandanna gone and away from my face. I grinned and waved as Rachel's eyes widened and she screamed, taking Tonya's hand and booking it across the green grass.

Rolling my eyes at the usual behavior, I leaned back against the tree and closed my eyes, letting the newly bitten flesh settle in the pit of my stomach.