The Dead Life

I rolled over onto my back, trying to get in even breaths. I looked up to see Taylor standing over me with her hands on her head in distress. I looked back over at Thomas and he was still smiling like he’d done something he was proud of. Taylor didn’t seem to notice him at all. Not once did she look over at him. Taylor kneeled down next to me and shook my shoulder lightly.

“Sally! Sally, are you alright?! What happened?!” She was yelling and moving around frantically.

“I’m fine…” I groaned, forcing myself to sit up. It was then that I realized something: She couldn’t see Thomas. If she could see him the first thing she would have done would have been to jump on him and try beating him senseless.

There were more people around me now. Katie included. She was just staring at me and it made me feel awful. I didn’t want her to ever see me in that sort of condition. Then I saw her look past me. She was looking at HIM. She looked frightened and was gripping the skirt of her dress for comfort.

I stood and grabbed both Katie’s and Taylor’s hands and started toward home.

“Sally… What happened?” It was easy to sense the concern in Taylor’s voice.

“Thomas did it…” Katie interrupted before I could begin to answer. So she had seen him. I wondered how much she had seen exactly or if she had even heard any of what was said.

“What makes you say that?” I asked, trying to pretend that it wasn’t true.

“I saw him standing in the crowd with all the people around you. He didn’t look worried like everyone else though… He was smiling…” Was it that Taylor hadn’t noticed him then? It was obvious that he was the one who had done it… I was on the ground and he was standing over me… How was it that no one reacted to him? Why is it then that people were only concerned with me? Taylor would have surely noticed him. What if what he was saying was true? What if I were dead? What if I were REALLY dead? And how had he caused me so much pain…? What had he done? He wasn’t even touching me.

I could feel Taylor glaring at me, but I tried my best to ignore it. I had no answers for her. How could I? I didn’t even know what was happening.

I brought Taylor and Katie home and simply told them that a coworker called in sick so I had to go in. Taylor didn’t seem happy about it. I was almost sure that she was going to catch me in my lie. I folded my uniform nicely and put it into my small back pack to make them think that I was changing once I got to the restaurant.

I calmly walked out the door and shortly after closing it behind me, I ran. I bolted back towards the park. I wanted answers, an explanation, and Thomas was going to give it to me. I soon slowed to a quickly paced walk. I felt this pain in my stomach. Nerves. I pulled a lock of my hair into my hands and played with it nervously, stroking it and twisting it through my fingers, tangling it.

Upon reaching the park I felt my legs shake beneath me. I looked around and saw no one. All the children that had been there playing and the parents who were watching were now gone. I leaned against a nearby tree, sliding down to my knees to ease the shaking of my legs. I glanced around, trying to relax myself. The grass was so green and the smell was soothing. Sun just barely shone through the thick leaves of the tree I was sitting under. It was the perfect amount of warmth coming from the sun’s rays. It was so relaxing I couldn’t help but let the weight of my eyelids carry themselves down and close.

“Wake up.” A voice demanded. My eyes opened slowly and blinked several times to clear the blur in them. I’d slept for too long and it was now dark.

“It’s time for work.” The voice said coldly. I looked up to see the dark figure of Thomas. At least, that was who I assumed it was judging by the cold voice. I forced my now stiff and tired body to stand.

“What work..?” I questioned feeling clueless.

“Your work for DaLA. Remember? Contract.”

“Now wait a minute!” I demanded. “I still don’t have any idea what you’re talking about! And… And I’m NOT dead!”

“Denial won’t fix it!” He shouted. His voice echoed through the night air. He grabbed both my hands roughly, pressing one hand against chest, just above my breast, and the other hand on his.

“What are you doing?!” I tried to pull my hand away, but he kept them where they were.

“Tell me. Do you feel anything?” As he said the words, I felt like I wanted to drop to the ground. I didn’t feel anything... Nothing. A rush of fear came over me, swallowing me. I could feel myself staring blankly at the hand that was on his chest. “Well?” He demanded.

“No…” I answered. The word felt empty. “No! I’m not dead! There’s no way!” I screamed, jerking my hands away. This time he let them go. I had my hands gripped in my hair tightly. “How could I be dead…?” I felt tears sliding down my face.

“You don’t remember it?” He sounded amused. I looked back up at him and shook my head slightly. “Last night.” He said calmly.

“Last night…?” I questioned. I remembered very little from last night.

“I killed you.” I’m sure if my heart had been beating in the first place, him saying that would have made it stop.

Before I had a chance to respond, our conversation was cut off by a sudden laughter. We looked around, searching for the source.

“I thought I smelt an agent…” A voice whispered, seeming to surround us. We both turned toward the entrance to the park to see a large figure approaching us. Its eyes were glowing red. It reminded me of Thomas’s eyes the night before. When he came into the lighting of the street light, it revealed that the figure was a man. He had dark skin and hair. His clothes were torn and ragged.

“Who… Is that…?” I questioned, glancing over at Thomas. I got a bad feeling from the man. There was something strange about him, besides his oddly colored eyes.

“He’s your first job.” Thomas grinned. I looked over at the man then back at Thomas, but he had gone. I looked around but he was nowhere in sight. The man was now rushing toward me, slumped over and drooling. I panicked and simply froze.

“Move!” Thomas’s voice demanded. I jumped out of the way, just as the man was about to hit me. He ran past as I tripped, trying to dodge. I fell to the ground and scrambled back up quickly. I looked up to where his voice was coming from. He was in the tree that I’d been sleeping against, standing on a thick branch. “Take this! Quick!” I looked up as he tossed down a gun.

“I don’t know how to use a GUN!” The man was running at me again. I could see his teeth, sharp and dangerous.

“Cock it and pull the trigger!” He ordered.

I pulled back the top part of the gun, just like I had seen in movies. He was directly in front of me and I pointed the gun at his head, pulling the trigger. Blood splashed on to my face and I felt my heart stop. I could feel my eyes were wide and my hand was shaking. The now dead body dropped to the ground and my gun did the same shortly after.

“Not bad. You’re lucky… Most of your enemies won’t be so easy. I guess that was a good starter though.” Thomas gracefully jumped out of the tree and walked over to me. “You’d better pick up that gun. You’re going to need that.”

“I… Killed him…” I couldn’t believe what I’d done. Yah, he was trying to kill me. But I never thought I’d ever have to kill anyone. EVER.

“He was already dead.” Thomas said frankly.

“What…?” I asked. Was he like me then? Like Thomas? Like the people at this mysterious place called DaLA?

“We refer to them as zombies. They’re not quite what they’re portrayed to be in movies.” He explained. “They’re quite intelligent. And as you heard, they have no trouble speaking.”

“But we’re dead… Doesn’t that make us like him…?” I asked. His words weren’t soothing me at all.

“Of course not!” He sounded insulted. “The difference between him and us… Is that we have self-control. DaLA exists to protect the living from those sorts… Understand?” I didn’t, but I nodded anyway. I leaned down and picked up the gun I had dropped. I slid the gun half way into my pants and slid my shirt over it.

“Now get yourself together. The boss wants to see you.” I was still looking down at the body. I felt sick and dizzy.

“Boss…?”

“Mr. Tobu. He’s the one who gave me orders to make you an agent. He wants to discuss business with you.”

“What sort of business…?” I didn’t like how this all sounded.

“That’s all he said. It’s none of my business what he wants to discuss with you.” He didn’t seem to care one bit that we had just gotten attacked by a zombie. He didn’t seem to think twice about it.

“Eh..! My sisters! What time is it?!” He pulled out his phone and looked at it. It had the same skull mark on it that was on my hip.

“It’s 11 PM.”

“I have to get home! I can’t leave them there alone all night!” I felt frantic. I couldn’t believe I’d fallen asleep at the park. I couldn’t believe I’d left them there alone for so long.

“It’s already been taken care of. Mr. Tobu knows all about you and your situation. He sent another agent there.” That also made me feel uneasy. I wasn’t even sure that Taylor would let anyone in, let alone take care of her and Katie.

I had to go though. I knew that Thomas wouldn’t let me refuse and who knows what this Tobu man would do if I didn’t. It was best that I did as I was told for now, especially with someone working for the man being in my home…