Hysteric

“Guys?” she hollered, “where did you go? Guys?” Panic began to take Teric as she searched wildly about the woods they were in, “Guys?!”

A gun was cocked from behind her, “Shut up little girl, we don’t need you attracting anything with that voice of yours.”

Teric whirled around surprised to see a human standing in front of her. The man gazed suspiciously at the girl that had wandered into the camp grounds. She was a fair child with magnificent blue eyes, eyes he could barely take his own away from. “What’s a little girl like you doing out here anyway, alone no less.”

Teric was nervous, “I wasn’t alone… my friends were with me… I just, I can’t find them.”

The man put the safety back on the weapon and leaned it against a tree, “some friends if they left you. Regardless kid, you can’t be yelling and hollering out in these parts, you’ll start attracting them damn zombies. They move to sound, and we’re awful close to a swarm of them.”

Teric realized that the people here had already scouted up to the gate. “Sorry…” she lowered her eyes and the man could feel his heart being tugged at. When she was sad, he felt sad.

The bushes behind her began to rustle, “Get down!” The man hollered at Teric as he re-lifted his weapon.

“Why?” The girl asked so sweetly and so innocently he almost lowered his gun rather than yell at her for disobeying an order.

Out from behind her stepped a really tall blond African woman in red plaid army boots and a tan boy in all black. The two of them glared at the man, and Teric smiled. “Hey, you found me! Sorry I couldn’t keep up, but look who I found.”

The blond woman clenched her fists as if she was getting ready for a fight, but the boy laid his hand on her arm and muttered something to her. Her eyes grew wide and she grinned.

“These your friends?” the man asked.

“Yeah, we were trying to get away from that mansion back there. Someone left a light on in it… but the place is overrun. There’s not a living soul to be found inside.” Teric looked up at the guy with such a sweet expression, but her friends made him nervous.

The boy had a pair of sunglasses on to cover his eyes, and the woman just looked too strange to be out in the wilderness. For that matter both girls were way too well dressed, and far to clean to be your general post apocalypse survivor.

“Damn,” muttered the man, “My names Mike, I’m just a guard for camp. If ya’ll want, you can come back and have lunch with us. Your friend there looks hungry.” He pointed at Phran then extended his hand.

Teric moved up and shook it; she giggled and looked back at her friends who seemed to carry an equally confused expression as the man did.

“My name is… Arisa.” She spoke, “and those are my friends back there, Zach and Julia.” The two of them smiled and waved.

“Why are your friends so shy, they’re making me nervous,” the man said eyeing the other two with malicious intent.

Teric’s giggle lightened but her countenance was still similar to a play time doll. Her body and facial expression was that of joy and welcome comfort which was a very rapid change from how she generally acted. She said, “This is the first time we’ve seen another survivor…. It’s just, been so long you know.”

He nodded and strapped the gun down to his side, “Come on… ya’ll look like you’re just a bunch of kids. I bet you’re hungry.”

Phran nodded, “you have no idea.” She smiled, “we’ll catch up with you in a bit… why don’t you go ahead and take Arisa with you, Zach and I will be able to track you back to your camp.”

The man nodded and extended his hand, “sure thing miss. Come on little girl, I’ll help you along so you don’t get lost again.”

Teric reached out and grabbed his hand, “okay,” she spoke innocently. The two walked off.
“What game is she playing at?” Phran murmured.

Kira turned to Phran looking amused, “The same game the Priest plays at. Get inside with the humans, figure out how many, where they are guarding, and who to attack… she’s… almost exactly mimicking him…”

Phran frowned, “I don’t know… I can’t tell if her intent is the same as ours or not. Perhaps she is trying to avoid a slaughterhouse by steering the humans away?”

Kira shrugged, “I don’t know… I don’t know if she’s being underhanded to them or to us, but I’m willing to stick around to see how this plays out. If anything, I want to see her lose it to bloodlust like we have.”

Phran nodded, “me too. That would be a sight worth seeing… having her all crazy like.”

“Let’s go catch up then,” Kira said.

The two of them ran up ahead following the scent of the human until they were able to catch up with the pair.

Teric breathed with relief when she saw her two friends return. She didn’t honestly know what she was doing, just that it felt more natural to socialize with the humans. Killing right now didn’t seem like such a grand idea, and she was curious to see what they were up against. Her mind seemed to be concocting a plan all on its own and her conscious was simply just enjoying the ride. To the human, she had made herself nothing but a harmless little girl.

He walked them back into camp rather unsuspecting of what he just picked up. The camp was a shanty town and maybe only about 15 humans were residing in it at most.

“Gale, I’ve found some others. They say they’ve been to the mansion up ahead.” The man spoke.
A woman came running out and stared at the three new strangers, “the mansion… is it safe?” she asked.

“No…” Teric responded, “There’s not just a swarm on the outside, there’s one on the inside too, though Julia and I managed to get some nice new digs while ransacking what we could… which was probably just clothes. No food inside, no medical kits, just really nice clothes.”

The woman sighed, “well when you find yourself in a pickle, trapped and surrounded by dead, it’s the little things in life that keep you sane.”

Teric felt pleased that her lie was taking effect. The humans suspected nothing so far.

Gale glimpsed over the new group that walked in. The girl was adorable, but her friends made her feel nervous. The tall blond was intimidating as is, and her unusual male companion who was wearing all black didn’t help any.

Teric walked over to the nearby campfire and sniffed, “oooh, what are you making? It smells wonderful.”

Gale turned her attention back to the girl, “It’s just stew. We found some wild vegetables and potatoes about. A few of our men trapped a few squirrels, we’ve got stew.”

Teric nodded approvingly at Gale, “would it be too intrusive of us to ask if we could stay for lunch. Your cooking smells simply divine.”

Gale blushed, “my, you are a flatterer. Of course you can stay. Most of the men will be headed back to camp anyways here in a bit. Our patrols decrease for the one hour we can eat together.”

Teric nodded, “so… who all lives in camp? If you don’t mind me asking?”

Gale extended her hand to a nearby log beckoning the three of them to sit. “We’ve got mostly men really. There’s me and three other girls.”

“No children?” Teric asked.

“Good heavens no… a child in this day and age… it’s not safe. I’d rather let our species die out before seeing a child suffer here. I keep the other two girls on a tight leash, I don’t want any accidents.”

Teric was pleased to hear that answer.

“So, what about you dear? How did you get our here?” Gale asked.

“Don’t know,” Teric responded, “I’ve got amnesia. My friends know what happened, but they won’t tell me, they say it’s too grim. So I just smile and nod, and thank the mighty lord I can’t remember the same atrocities that keep them awake at night.”

Teric appeared to be accumulating Gale’s sympathies somehow. She moved over and grasped Teric’s hand, “you poor girl.”

Phran snorted, but Teric played to the woman’s emotions. “It’s okay,” she said with a saddened expression, “it’s a blessing not being able to remember. See, now it seems like nothing horrible has happened to me because it all feels so normal therefore everything is okay, right?” Teric forced her voice to crack and made herself out to be more pathetic. Gale ate up every bit of Teric’s growing lie.
“So… where are your other people?” Kira butted in.

Gale looked back up at him, “oh, yes. They are out on their rounds. They’ll come back in a bit for lunch, and then we’ll pack up and leave since that mansion is a dead end… literally.”

Teric giggled at Gale’s joke but the other two kept a stern face.

“Oh,” Teric began, “would it be possible to show my friend here what you do? He really likes weaponry and shooting, but since we lost our weapons he hasn’t had any fun at all.”

Gal nodded and motioned Mike over, “why don’t you show the boy around. Let him meet the other scouts.”

Mike stepped up to Kira who took that as his queue to leave. Teric just gave him a way to take out the outside patrol without being noticed. He followed Mike as they engaged in small talk.

“So… what about the other girls? You can’t be the only lady here all the time. That would be crazy!” Teric laughed and so did the woman. Phran sat back cautiously watching the two. Teric certainly had all the charismatic features of the Priest, she just wondered if she carried the same intent.

“No,” Gale replied to Teric, “ thank goodness I am not the only woman. The other two might still be asleep or down by the creek. They’ll be up here in a bit for lunch.”

Teric kept talking with the woman. Phran was growing impatient, but Teric just kept looking back and smiling as if telling her wait it out.

“I swear… if shit don’t start happening soon, Imma kill that girl first, then everyone else here…” Phran muttered under her breath.

“I’m sorry… what did you say?” A new girl arrived onto the scene. She had crept out from inside her tent and walked up behind the Amazonian woman that was Phran.

“I said I’m going to kill my friend,” repeated Phran with little hesitation. “It’s more in a sarcastic sense. See, she knows as well as I do I am a bit concerned about wasting time, and letting those zombie swarms nearby keep inching closer to us... well…” Phran spoke through gritted teeth.

Teric stood up from her log when she realized that one of the other camp members had entered the scene. “Hi!” Teric waved, “I’m Arisa, and that’s Amber, my friend. We’re new here. Gale says we can stay for a bit… so… yeah, hi.” Teric smiled and Phran bent her head down and groaned with disappointment.

“Didn’t you say your friend's name was Julia? I thought that’s what Mike called her…” Gale asked to Teric.

“Oh… didn’t I say Julia? You’ll have to forgive me, it’s been awhile since I’ve eaten and my heads getting a little screwy. Might be that amnesia playing games with my mind.”

“That’s not the only thing that’s screwy about you,” whispered Phran.

“You poor girl, here, I’ll get lunch going for you. I believe everything is done cooking up.”

Teric was happy that her lies hadn’t become too transparent. She walked back over the Phran to sit next to her companion. “Hmmm, I wonder how many people are actually going to show up. Gale says there are about 12 of them in total. 3 girls, 9 boys, but… hey, I did send Kira off alone. I can’t say much about the total that will show up to lunch with Kira out and about. It was my hope he took out the luncheon lookout.”

Phran replied in a cynical tone, “Am I to understand you’ve had something planned this whole time?”

Teric laughed, “No, I’m just sort of winging it. Getting to know everyone, debating on whether or not we should allow for survivors. I don’t really like this group. They detached from their main colony to come out here and visit us, so we should ultimately give them a proper greeting. Just not yet, though. Noia says I can eat regular foods, and that stew does smell wonderful. I’d say a few bites in or after lunch, maybe we could all help ourselves to a second lunch and bring home leftovers? Wouldn’t that be great?”

Teric was incredulous in her design. Phran gave her a weary glance, “whatever kid. If you want to eat up some squirrel and wash it down with the people who served it to you, I don’t care. Though I’m losing my patience with the game you’re playing.”

“We should wait, at the very least, for Kira to return to us.”

“You mean Zach, or does his name also change in the middle of a situation?”

Teric glared, “simple mistake, easily remedied. Oh look, more people are arriving.”

Gale had a walkie-talkie on her which she used to round up the others. Slowly but surely another girl emerged out from the woods with her hand holding one of the men’s hands. She sat down next to the other girl who had crept up on Phran. Four more boys came in and now all Gale had to wait on was Mike and Teric’s friend while the lunch patrol stayed on watch.

“Usually Mike moves double time for food. Kolbe, would you take a bowl out to Stephan for now. He can eat and keep look out.”

Teric giggled, “I do hope Kira hurries up, Phran you look like you’re about to die.”

Phran nodded angrily as one of the humans ran off back into the woods with a bowl of stew.
“Well, Miss Arisa, why don’t you and your friend come up and get some first, since you’re our guests and all.”

Teric walked forward and Phran stayed seated.

“Are you not hungry dear?” Gal asked looking up from the pot that had been jerry-rigged over a small fire.

“You’ll have to forgive her, she’s seen a lot of… loss. Her appetite isn’t what it used to be right now.”

“I know that feeling,” responded Gale, “a few nights ago we lost two of our own members. Little miss Jennie and her boyfriend… gosh I can’t remember his name. He didn’t want to stick with the group so they just up and left. I hope they are okay, but I sincerely doubt it. Two people in these lands is mighty scary.”

Teric felt her stomach knot followed by a twisting sensation. She was both disgusted and intrigued, but even worse, she was hungry. A boy and a girl went missing here. She looked over at Phran who to carried a proud look about her. It would seem like these were the two Skitz caught earlier. Teric asked for and extra bowl to sit beside her friend just in case she got hungry.

“You two can stay with us if you like; we’ve certainly got the room for a few new members.” Gale said.

Teric shook her head, “that would be lovely, but it’s just been so long since we’ve been around this many people… I don’t know if my companions can take the heart ache of loss anymore. Might be better we split ways in the end, but it was sure nice getting the chance to meet all of you.”

Gale agreed with the sentiment, “it is the way of our times I suppose.”

“You sure are a tiny thing wandering out here in the forest,” one of the men spoke looking over at Teric.

“That’s how I sneak past all them nasty zombie bugs, because I’m so small.” Teric retorted. She wrinkled up her nose when she spoke with a sly grin in an attempt to make herself look cuter. It worked.

The man then looked up at Phran who was cautiously sniffing at her soup, “Is she your sister?”

Teric glanced at Phran, “not by blood, but we do share a unique bond that makes us siblings.”

Teric took her spoon and dipped it into the rich stew. She brought it up savoring the smells as she inhaled. She brought the soup to her mouth and hoped that the flavors would sing for her taste buds. The wild vegetables were okay; a bit too soft. The squirrel, however, was over cooked which ruined the effect. Not only that, but these were flavors that only brought her human side comfort, none of them were the sensations she wanted to be tasting. She licked her lips hungrily staring at the other humans. The soup was a reminder of her other aspect. It was a reminder she craved more than just general sustenance. Her stomach growled even louder as she looked out at the humans centered around their pot of mediocre stew.

It wasn’t long before the tree twigs began to crack and the sound of footsteps could be heard.

“Ah, finally, Mike get your ass over here,” Gale hollered.

“Sorry to disappoint,” Kira stepped forward covered in blood. His mouth had gouts of blood splotches dripping down onto his shirt. “Mike was… an interesting fellow. I figured you might have liked him to return, so I brought you a piece back.” Kira reached around from his back and tossed a hand over into Gales soup bowl. The aim was perfect and the shot landed directly into the bowl causing the hot liquid to splash onto Gale. She stared at it in horror; her mouth was opening and closing in silent terror as she found herself unable to react.

One of the nearby human females prepared to run, but Teric found herself moving to seat her. Teric never felt herself move this fast before. It was almost as if the world around her temporarily slowed down when she stood up.

She shoved the human girl back down onto the log, “No running,” she said with a twisted smile, “it’s not fair to the others if you don’t watch.”

Kira tossed off his sunglasses revealing his unnatural red eyes, which quickly became a contagious color for the other Necrolords in the camp.

Phran’s eyes darkened to a similar crimson as she stared out at a pair of humans, “I get the couple.” She shot across the campsite and slashed the man’s throat without any effort given before turning to the girl, “and I think I’ll take my time with you.”

Teric tossed her head back long enough to let her dainty little fangs grow out. She ripped into the sweet delicate neck of the girl who tried to run. Gale screamed. Kira moved fast enough around the circle of men getting ready to stand up and shoot. He knocked them all down, taking out their legs. Blood spurted in every which way. Only Gale was left uninjured.

Teric found that even after her finishing off her stew she was still very hungry, and this human girl was quenching only some of her thirst. The life left her body as Teric sucked at her neck and suddenly she had no desire to munch on the woman anymore. She dropped the body and starred out. Kira had done a good job of knocking the men defenseless and Phran had also finished up with her female and was working on a young man. Gale’s hollers were silenced as the woman started to whisper a prayer.

Teric slowly advanced over to Gale, “sorry… see, I wasn’t lying when I said everything in that mansion was dead. We were there too, remember?”

“You’re zombies…” Gal choked through tears.

“Hardly, we are certainly something more than that now. Zombies done up right is what we are. Of course you’ll have to forgive my friends, they can’t eat without indulging. I prefer only small amounts by comparison.”

Teric’s eyes flicked over to the girl she drank from, her body was almost perfectly preserved except for the torn artery still oozing blood. The other bodies had lost limbs due to the harshness of Kira and Phran’s treatment.

“You’ll die painlessly with me, if you’re willing,” Teric extended her hand to Gale.

Gale looked up at the sweet child’s face. This blond haired girl, with big blue eyes filled up with innocence, all of it lies. She was a wolf wearing the skin of a sheep. She was also the only one of her friends that still had eyes that hadn’t turned red, and her smile almost made Gale want to trust her but the blood running down from her lips was all the warning Gale needed.

“CANNIBALS!” Gale hollered. From behind her she pulled out a small hand gun and shot Teric directly into the head.

Kira dropped the body he was feeding from and aggressively moved toward Gale, but Phran held him back, “Wait…” she whispered.

“Oh…” A bullet wound going in through Teric’s eye and out the back of her skull showed clearly the background and devastation of the camp to Gale, “to kill a zombie…” Teric whispered quietly.
She dropped down onto her knees and Gale cocked the gun back then pointed it between Kira and Phran, “Which one of you monsters is next!? Which one?!” She screamed.

Phran started giggling, and even Kira cracked a smile letting his anger subside. They looked at Gale mockingly and resumed their attention to their victims ignoring the armed human. Gale pulled the trigger to fire but the bullet sped off into the sky. A harsh sensation of pain hit her hand and she dropped the gun.

“That wasn’t very nice Gale,” a voice seethed in her ear. The woman spun around to see that Teric had stood back up. The hole in her eye closed up as she stood from the ground and kicked away the weapon.

“You should have just let me kill you gently, but no, you’d rather do things the hard way.” Teric’s eyes weren’t blue anymore, they were red, a dark glowing red. Her hair was losing its blond luster and turning into a greasy, dirtied brown. A scowl broke across her face and a few extra sharpened teeth bared out from behind her lips.

“I’ve decided I’m not that hungry after all,” Teric flipped the woman around and held her arm behind her. She could hear the woman’s heart beating and the blood flowing through her veins. She could hear a perfectly healthy human body working before her and she desperately wanted to just bite the meat standing in her grasp, but Teric was not happy about being shot.

“Hmmm… you’re bad meat you know? Although...,” Teric sniffed at Gale’s neck, “you still smell good.” Teric picked Gale up and tossed her back. Gales back slammed into a tree and the wind was knocked from her. Teric moved just as quick to Gale’s flung body reaching her with rope in her hands. She was a blur of motion that tore down a few of the tents and returned to the injured Gale. Teric began to tie the woman up and stretched her out across the tree, when she was done she stepped back.

“Would you like me to shred her to pieces?” Kira came up behind Teric embracing her while he bared his own fangs.

“No, but you can answer me this question that has been bothering me.”

He looked at the brown haired girl. This was the face of the girl he once knew, and befriended, but now her face had blood on it too. Her face was just like his. “What question would that be?”

She turned around in his embrace. Her gaze was directly aligned with his illuminating red eyes, “How long does it take for these corpses to start rising back up?”

No sooner had she asked the question when Mike returned to the camp. All life had left his eyes, and the damage done from Kira showed at his midriff as organs dragged behind him.

“Oh,” Teric laughed, “it doesn’t take long at all.”

Teric stepped back from Gale who screamed out with fear, “You’ll get us all killed!”

“No, I’ll get you killed Gale.” Teric walked over to the now zombielike Mike and ran her fingers down his neck, “they seem so harmless like this. Look, he doesn’t even know you’re here right now.”

More moans and groans sounded as the first victims shambled back up from the ground.

“I would like to correct you, we are not cannibals, so please, don’t insult me. I only eat humans because much like your friend here, I have to. I tried to make things easy for you, I liked you, but when it comes down to who is going to live out here, well, you didn’t stand a chance.” Teric continued to pet Mike as if he were some sort of cuddly animal.

Phran sneered at the woman and backed away from her happy meal as his fingers began to twitch again. The girl Teric had bit into stood back up and groaned eerily.

“Come here my zombies, come on,” Teric beckoned the zombies in with amazing ease, “aw… see, they are almost like dogs, but dangerous still. See that lady over there?” Teric pointed to Gale who was tied up, “she tried to kill us she did, she tried to kill all of us. She would have put bullets in your head like she did with me.”

The zombies groaned and moaned angrily. They no longer seemed so stupid, but looked as though they were actually feeling the rage Teric meant for them to feel. Gale starred in horror as she watched the girl who once appeared so innocent.

“So I’ll correct you on the matter only once, we aren’t cannibals and we’re not zombies,” Teric caressed the hair of the girl she drank from, “we’re Necrolords, we control the dead now.”

As soon as she finished her sentence the zombie campers charged Gale. They dug into her without any further order and did far more damage than what Kira or Phran would have ever done.

“See, everybody wins. We all get a snack and the new children are fed upon awakening.” Teric stared angrily over at the pile that used to be Gale.

Phran giggled with delight, “ooh, I was wondering what you were going to do with her. It’s a good thing you don’t give into your hunger, because this is so much better of a show!”

Kira looked away from Gale and back to Teric. She changed out of her bloodlust form and back to the way she was found. Blond hair, blue eyes. Her eyes were almost saddened with what she was seeing, the emotion just barely made it past her frustration. Her human side was dying. She had no human memories to work with and human morals didn’t make sense around here. She would soon be just like the rest of them. She would lapse into a monster.

Then Kira examined what the situation had done to her body. Teric still had wet and warm blood on her face, practically dripping from her lips and onto her now crimson dress. Patches of blue showed out from behind all the stains.

“You’re wasting blood…” Kira stepped forward and licked at his lips. He gave her enough time to look up to him before he kissed her. Teric’s eyes widened but the lips felt familiar and nice. She opened her mouth allowing him to take the remaining blood with his tongue. She returned the gesture tasting the various blood types that he had come into contact with.

“Whoa…” muttered Phran from afar as she watched the two make out, “hey, you guys aren’t supposed to being doing that… at least you probably shouldn’t…regrets happen!”

Kira embraced Teric ignoring the noise Phran was making and ignoring the gurgling noises produced from what was left of Gale. He could taste her again, the girl he fell in love with was still the same girl as before, and now she was like him.

Teric didn’t wish for the kiss to stop, the more her lips pressed to his, the more familiar he felt. A memory could come from this; perhaps if it lasted a bit longer she could retrieve it.

He pulled his head back leaving Teric wanting for more, “Sorry…” he stammered, “I don’t know what came over me. Just seeing you covered in blood… as it dripped from your lips… seeing you like… like me… I seemed to have lost control.”

Teric smiled weakly, “this is not the first time we’ve kissed is it? You feel… comforting.”

“Oh? Just comforting? Well, that’s unfortunate…” Kira sighed.

“Not just comfort,” Teric began, “you left me with desire too.” Her eyes turned red and she pulled his head back to hers wanting the taste of him once more.

“Gross!” Phran hollered across the camp, “Get a room you two. You can take your lovey-dovey behavior back to the mansion where Noia will be so proud to see you’ve discovered puberty. Until then we’ve got to get back. Nic is not going to be happy if she comes too like this… you know… body covered in blood.”

Kira pulled his head away from Teric’s again, “fine Phran, let’s head back.” He grabbed onto Teric’s hand and held it tight. He didn’t have to pretend anymore with her. He could be what he truly was, a monster, and she would be a monster with him. How could Kira have been so upset to see her at first when now they were the same thing? The stigma between the two had been lifted; he could freely hold her without it being questioned for it.

Teric looked at his hand, “I don’t get it… you hold me like nothing has changed between us, and I can’t even remember who you are. Just that my body feels a familiar sensation when I’m around you.”

“It’s not that big of a deal. You’ll be happier this way,” Kira tightened his hand around Teric’s as though this action would protect her from the forgotten memories. She realized that the giddy feeling inside might be short lived if she recovered her memory.

She removed her hand from his, “its best we walk apart for now.”