Zombie Love Story

Alex absolutely loved Halloween. Now, usually when people say this, most folks infer that the speaker of the words loves to be scared. That was absolutely not Alex’s case, though. He didn’t care much for walking through haunted houses, or going door to door on Halloween night and having tricks be played on him. He much rather enjoyed the production of haunted houses, and staying home to scare others himself. Nevertheless, Halloween was nothing short of appealing to Alex.

In the week leading up to the big day, Alex worked diligently on finishing up his zombie costume. He wanted it to look as real as possible, and had been planning it since the early days of summer. He’d attend his classes early in the morning, and then he’d head home to work on his costume. At the age of nineteen, Alex was now attending university, and was extremely pleased with how his morning classes allowed him to pursue other projects throughout the rest of the day.

On this particular day, though, Alex had been dragged out to lunch by his friends, the other boys insisting that he needed to get out at least once that week. So, there he sat in a booth at Wendy’s, smiling down at his phone as his friend’s conversations flowed in and out of his ears.

“Gaskarth, who’re you talking to?” Zack, one of Alex’s particularly buff friends, called out from across the table. The boy next to Alex, Rian, pulled his phone out of his grasp, ignoring him pleas to return the item.

Looking up at the phone as he held it away from Alex’s grabby hands, Rian let out a chuckle. “’Zombieboixx?’ Really?”

“It’s a screen name,” Alex mumbled, ripping his phone from Rian’s hand in quite a rude way, when his friend had finally decided to give the device back.

“And who is this ‘Zombieboixx, might I ask?” The boy situated beside Zack and in front of Rian, Matt, piped up.

“He’s just this guy…” Alex trailed off, rolling his eyes at the ‘Ooh’s’ being let out by both Zack and Rian.

“Go on,” Matt urged, leaning across the table.

“Well, he just started talking to me one day, a couple weeks ago. I don’t think I’ve seen him around before, but he said he’s seen me. His name’s Jack, he's a couple years older than me, and apparently he’s new in town.” Alex answered Matt reluctantly, pretending to not notice the way Matt’s eyes lit up at the news. All of his friends had been waiting for him to get together with someone for quite a while, and Matt was glad to finally see something happening.

“Ask him to meet up or something if he lives around here then!” Matt exclaimed, just about done with Alex’s shyness.

“Are you sure about that?” Zack asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Yeah, what if he’s some sort of killer?” Rian chimed in, giving Alex a condescending look.

Alex shook his head at his friends, and Matt continued. “Why don’t you ask him to hang out on Halloween, then? There are plenty of people around all night, especially on your street.”

“Good idea,” Alex nodded, glad that at least someone was being helpful. “I’ll ask him right now, then.”

The sound of dozens of leaves crunching under his feet made it's way into Alex ears, as he walked along the sidewalk of a road in his neighborhood. He was looking down at his phone, as per usual. Every few minutes, a message from Jack would light up the screen, causing Alex to smile impossibly more and more each time. The former had occasionally taken to calling Alex cutie, and it made Alex's heart flip-flop in ways that he'd never felt before. He barely knew the guy, but Jack already meant so much to him.

The boy looked up from his phone, taking in the fall scenery around him as the blond strands of hair on top of his head blew around in the wind. He was trying to figure out a way to ask Jack to meet up with him later that week. Unlike he had said he would, earlier at Wendy's with his friends, he had not messaged Jack about hanging out in real life yet. Continuing to look around, he ran over different sentences in his head, before a quiet 'beep' was pulling him out of his thoughts. Looking down once more, Alex discovered another new message from Jack.

Zombieboixx, 4:18 PM: Hey, cutie, you there??

Looking back at his previous messages with Jack, Alex read something about the other boy asking what was on his mind. Not giving himself time to dwell on his answer, he was typing up a message in reply.

Awgaskarth, 4:18 PM: Yeah, sorry, I got distracted for a sec. And actually, I have something to ask you

Alex nervously awaited the other boy's reply, wondering how Jack would be feeling right now. Was he calmer than Alex? Another 'beep' coming from Alex's phone sent his heart racing, as he looked down to see the new message.

Zombieboixx, 4:19 PM: Shoot!

Jack's excited demeanor had Alex questioning if the boy really was as chill about this as he made himself out to be, or if he was literally shaking in his boots just like Alex at that moment. Typing up a reply quickly once again, Alex left no time for second thoughts.

Awgaskarth, 4:20 PM: Do you think we could meet up for real this week? On Halloween, maybe?

Zombieboixx, 4:21 PM: Sure, I'd love to, but there's something that I need to tell you, too, before that can happen

Alex's eyes widened in fear, dozens of possible scenarios whipping around inside of his brain. Maybe Zack and Rian were right, and Jack really was a killer. Or a rapist, or some sort of a drug dealer. Maybe even all three. Alex typed out another reply tentatively.

Awgaskarth, 4:21 PM: Alright, I guess... Shoot?

Eyes closed, Alex awaited the other boy's reply, hope evident in his expression.

Zombieboixx, 4:22 PM: You have to promise me you'll take this news calmy.

Awgaskarth, 4:22 PM: Yeah, yeah, whatever! Tell meeee

Zombieboixx, 4:24 PM: Honestly, I'm sort of a zombie

Alex let out a breath at this, chuckling at Jack's immaturity. He'd been expecting something way worse, and his reaction made him question why he had doubted Jack.

Awgaskarth, 4:25 PM: Sick, me too! Really though, what time do you want to hang out?

Zombieboixx, 4:26 PM: How about 9:00 PM?

Awgaskarth, 4:26 PM: Sounds great. See you then!

Zombieboixx, 4:28 PM: Yeah, see you then, cutie. But remember, I did warn you

Alex chuckled at this, shoving his phone into his pocket at he heard the voice of Matt coming from behind him, shouting, "Yo, Alex! Wait up!"

Several days later, and it was finally Halloween. Alex had gotten up particularly early that morning, more than excited to put on his zombie costume and go out and walk around for a bit. After about an hour or so of painting, spraying, and a little bit more shredding, Alex finally came to the conclusion that he looked like a pretty accurate zombie. Accurate compared to his idea of what a zombie looked like, anyway. Grabbing his phone, keys, and wallet, Alex headed out the door. He was ready to creep out, and hopefully scare, the people of his city.

Later on that day, Alex found himself over at Matt's house, watching as the other boy, along with Zack and Rian, lay aimlessly on the floor.

"Come on you guys, seriously, can't we do something?" Alex whined, fed up with the boring nature of his friends that day. The other three had gone to a party the night before, and were absolutely drained. Trying to get some rest before more festivities that night, they continued to ignore Alex's pleas, until Zack spoke up.

"Jesus Christ, Alex, fine! What do you want to do?" The younger boy sighed, closing eyes again after speaking.

"I don't know." Alex answered, and he knew that, if Zack's eyes were open, he'd be rolling them.

"Hey, aren't you meeting up with Jack tonight?" Matt piped up, and Rian punctuated this with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Yeah, I am," Alex replied, brightening up at the mention of the other boys name. His friends took note of this, and they continued to grill him with questions about Jack until it was time for him to leave to meet up with said boy.

The sound of his doorbell ringing made Alex's heart thump, and he closed his eyes and let out a breath, before reopening them and making his way to his door. Hand quivering, he reached for the doorknob, mindlessly twisting it and pulling it back, to reveal a dark figure standing on his porch.

"Hi," Alex almost whispered.

"Hey," replied the dark figure, "Can I come in?"

Taking a moment to revel in his voice, Alex observed that Jack's voice was a lot raspier than he had thought it would be.

"Sure, of course," Alex responded, stepping to the side to let Jack in.

A gasp was emitted from from Alex's throat as he took in Jack's appearance. As the older boy let down the hood of his red sweater, Alex noticed a blond patch of hair atop of Jack's head, mixed in with the black that was the rest of it. The taller boy's skin looked drained of all colour, and the multiple wounds that littered his body hardly looked like something that could be created with special effects makeup. Alex took a moment to feel quite a bit embarrassed of his costume, before he realized the reality of his situation. Or, the surreality, you could say. The boy in front of Alex flashed him a toothy grin, teeth mangled and barely there. The dead look in Jack's eyes was the final piece of the puzzle to the sign in Alex's head- big, neon letters, telling him to run.

Alex turned on his heels, sprinting as far as he could away from Jack, before he hit a dead end. His mind could no longer register where anything was, and it was almost like he was a stranger in his own home. His entire being was so focused on survival, that he roamed around his house aimlessly for quite a while, Jack not too far behind him. Adrenaline guiding him, Alex was impressed that he was still able to move when he finally found his back door. Fumbling to unlock it, he then sprinted outside, looking back to see Jack shuffling out of the door just after him. Heart pounding in his chest and ears ringing, Alex looked for a way out, before making a dash to the path along the right side of his house. Being chased into the dark, Alex unknowingly ran into a fence, hitting yet another dead end. Yelping in pain, he slid down along the wall, cursing himself for being so stupid and choosing this side of the house, as well as willing himself to go unseen.

The dark figure suddenly moving towards him let him know that that wouldn't be the case, though. Shuffling backwards and quivering in his spot, Alex swatted at the arm being stretched out towards him, shrieking as it fell to the ground, detaching from it's body.

"Woah, woah, calm down, Alex. Seriously?" Jack asked, picking up his arm and putting it back into place. The zombie then walked over to the side of Alex, waving his arms in the air, causing the light on the side of Alex's house to turn on. Alex could now see the other boys face again, and he sat gaping at it, until Jack spoke up again.

"I'm not wishing you harm," the boy said in his raspy voice, before reaching his arm out again to Alex.

Alex took his hand this time, stuttering all the while. "But, how? You, your, you've got- Why, what, I-"

Jack chuckled at the stunned boy, speaking softly. "It's all about the will of someone else. Witchcraft, you could call it. Why don't we go for a walk and I'll tell you about it?"

The two boys had ended up in the local cemetery, Alex asking every question he could think of, and Jack answering them to the best of his abilities. Their Q and A session soon turned into a session of another sorts; Alex's warm lips pressed up against Jack's cold ones. They kissed for quite a while, until Alex felt something poke at the inside of his lip. The pain become much stronger, and Alex realized that Jack's tooth had punctured his lip in the midst of their activities. Pulling away, Alex brought his hand up to his mouth, starring at Jack in fear.

"Oh, crap, let me look at it." Jack said in a rush, before taking a peak into the other boy's mouth. "Shit, shit, shit, that is definitely infected. Oh, lord."

Jack dropped to his knees, while Alex slid down the tree they were leaning against, wincing at the pain in his lip. Jack could slowly begin to see the colour draining from the other boy's skin, and his body wracked in sobs, sorry for what he had done to his lover.

"Shh, shh, it'll be okay Jack," Alex promised, patting the older boy's back. "I think I'd make a good zombie, don't you?"

Looking up, Jack chuckling at this. "Yeah, definitely, cutie. We'll be the undead Dagwood and Blondie."

"Don't you mean Deadwood?" Alex laughed, and Jack laughed with him, pulling the smaller boy into a tight hug.

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"And everybody will love you, and you can sing along,
To this post-apocalyptic, post-mortem love song.
So give me a chance, boy, you know I'll be worth it,
Yeah, I'm a zombie, baby, ain't nobody perfect."