Our Undead (49 page)

Gwen:
Billy and I figured that if anyone were to actually come in
here, that would be the safest corner… and… I just added the sheet
for extra security.

Billy:
…a
bit of camouflage.

Margaret:
(calming down)
Well, I guess
every little bit helps.
(sighs)
Cute.

Gwen:
Well, you're here. Time to get some rest,
then?

Margaret:
Yes. I will. Thanks again, professor.

Gwen:
No
problem. You, have a goodnight.

The professor starts for
the door and Billy follows behind her.

Billy:
I'll see you tomorrow. Rest well.

Margaret:
Whoa. Where do you think
you're
going?

Both Gwen and Billy stop in
their tracks to Margaret's question.

Billy:
I'm
going to sleep in the civilians’ quarters. It's no VIP like this,
but you know I'm not picky.

Margaret:
No. You're gonna stay here with me.

Gwen's eyebrows lift a
touch to Margaret's request, more like a command.

Billy:
But
there's only one bed… and it's a twin.

Margaret:
So?! Remember that night in you're portable
tent?

Billy:
You
hated that.

Margaret:
Yes, yes, but this won't be half as bad as that. Now, drop
your stuff. You're staying.

Billy:
Uhhh…

Margaret:
Come on. It'd make me feel more comfortable about this whole
thing.

Obviously, Billy has spent
nights alone with Margaret before, as she had just stated. Although
it was top to bottom rather than side by side, they
had
slept together in
his tent that crammed night. He hadn't felt strange about it then.
This time, however, something is different. An awkward emotion
makes itself known to him for the first time, in his thoughts of
sleeping, not only in the same room but also in the same bed as
Margaret. He thinks to himself that it must be that conversation
that is making him feel this way, the one they had had right before
they almost got ambushed on the bridge on the freeway. Billy thinks
back to Margaret getting to her feet, and the way her skin, even
though filthy, was ever so milky, moist and glistening beneath
sun's light. It was the first time he had ever looked at Margaret
in a sexual way. Yes, things had definitely changed since then. He
looks up at Gwen Gavine to see what her reaction is to the whole
idea.

Gwen:
I
don't think she's gonna take no for an answer… but no
hanky-panky.

Margaret:
I think that would be a little awkward in front of Abe, don't
you?

Margaret laughs at the
professor's halfhearted little warning, and Billy remembers that
Margaret would never be interested in him in that way, anyhow. She
had, after all, stated that fact back on the bridge. She laughed at
the idea then as well. He isn't of the right age bracket… but what
is two years,
really
? No! If he stays, he will stay for her comfort and nothing
more. To be honest, he'd much rather stay with her and Abe than go
sleep with a bunch of
unfamiliars
, anyway.

Billy:
Okay, I'll stay with you guys.

Gwen:
Good, good. Then I'll be on my way. The door will be locked
from the outside. Sleep well.

Margaret and Billy bid
Professor Gwen farewell, hearing a great big yawn leave her lips as
she closes the door behind her. They wait until they finish hearing
the sound of tingling keys before they begin talking again. The
soft buzz of the cart slowly fades away into the distance, and when
everything has gone silent for three seconds, Margaret pops into
action.

Margaret:
Drop all that stuff! You're staying the night
buddy!

Billy does so as Margaret
hops on her forearm crutches to the corner that Abe is standing in.
She pulls the sheet off of him and tosses it on the ground next to
them.

Margaret:
Okay, Abe, you can come out of time-out
now.

She hobbles backward a few
steps and pokes Abe in his back with her right crutch three times.
On the third poke, Abe starts turning around, teetering and
tottering from one foot to the next like a man of tin who needs
more oil in his knee joints. When he's fully turned, Margaret sees
his face and smiles. He could well possibly be smiling back at her,
but it's impossible to tell, for it might just be a facial spasm.
Regardless, she is happy to see that he's still in "good"
health.

Margaret:
Hello, sir! How are you? What did they do to you?… Billy?
What did you guys do to him?

She turns herself around so
that she can see Billy's face while he answers. He looks shocked at
her sweeping accusation.

Billy:
"You guys"?! I didn't really do anything. I just helped the
professor. Actually, it was pretty interesting. She took a sample
of his spinal fluid, but didn't even bother to take any of his
blood like she told you she would.

Margaret:
She lied. Can no one be trusted?! Ugh… Why is that
interesting?

Billy:
Cause usually these things are started by a viral infection
of the blood.

Margaret:
So the virus is in people's spinal fluid?

Billy:
Exactly, but… it's a parasite.

Margaret:
Eeeee, yuck. What the hell? Like, those little squiggly, worm
looking things?!

Billy:
I
don't know what they look like exactly, but that description
probably isn't too far off.

Margaret:
Ugh, the thought of it makes me feel itchy all over… but did
she find anything out? A cure?

Billy:
She
said they only found out about the parasite hours before we
arrived. Before that they thought the virus was blood related too.
They couldn't be near to finding a cure yet, but they'll be working
on it all night. All we can do is hope for the best. I wish I could
explain it all to you better, but details are something that all
the movies and books sorta… left out. I wish I could be in there
with them.

Margaret:
I'm glad you can't explain it. Sounds boring… as long as
they're getting closer too finding a cure.

Billy:
Oh,
but it gets better. Remember the Feleider General from the
helicopter ride? Professor Gwen also has suspicions about him. She
thinks that he's played some part in delaying a cure. I met him.
He's got evil conspirator written all over.

Margaret:
Sounds juicy. Tell me about it, but first, grab that chair
for Abe. I don't want him to stand all night.

Billy places his and
Margaret's bags down beside it and grabs the chair sat under the
cheap desk.

Billy:
Where do you want it?

Margaret:
This same corner is fine. Keep him behind the door, I
guess.

Billy coaxes Abe out of the
way and places the chair in the corner in which they had left him
to stand. He then proceeds to manually sit Abe down in the seat
while continuing to tell Margaret about what he had found
out.

Billy:
So
yea, this General guy storms in-

Margaret:
Hold on a minute. Let him stand. I want to try
something.

Billy leaves Abe standing
and backs away, unsure about what Margaret is about to attempt. Abe
remains in the corner, staring at Margaret with a detached sense of
regard.

Margaret:
Hey, Abe, why don't you have a little sit
down?

She makes her suggestion,
looking Abe in his deadpan face while gesturing at the cheap metal
framed chair with it's knockoff leather seating. Abe's eyes blink
cluelessly a few times. A musty film has built up on the surface of
them, and it slowly follows his eyelids as they open and close. It
appears that he doesn't understand what she is saying, but when he
looks at her hand and follows its trajectory, what little reasoning
ability he has kicks in, and he sits down on the chair; sloppily
but successfully.

Billy:
That's impressive.

Margaret:
He's intelligent. I told you. What's the different between
him and a three year old?

Billy:
The
decomposing? The man-eating? He's actually much older than
three?

Margaret:
That's not his fault, and you know what I mean, smart-ass.
So, what's the deal with this General? How is he delaying the
doctors from finding a cure?

She turns away from her two
men and crutches her way to the bedside table, where she sits down
next to it on the bed's edge. Billy continues the story while
Margaret loosens the forearm loops of her crutches.

Billy:
This man… I'm sure he's guilty. It's so easy to see. He
stormed into the lab where Abe and I were with the professor and
starts shooting off all these questions; who the new survivors
were, what we were up to, why Abe was covered in a
sheet.

Margaret:
He saw Abe?

Billy:
Yea, but… he didn't know it was Abe. Gwen made up this thing
about Abe being a model, embarrassed because of an injury on his
face. She said she sent him off to the dorms before the General
arrived.

Margaret:
PAH! Abe was an embarrassed model?! She's good. That's good
stuff.

She sets her crutches down
on the floor beside the bed, flicks on the bedside lamp and slides
the single slipper she wears off of her uninjured foot.

Margaret:
Hey, turn the light off before you come to bed, would
you?

"Before you come to bed."
Those words sounded awkward coming from Margaret's mouth, and in
this current situation. It throws Billy off, and then even more
when he watches her pull the sheets down and start sliding on to
the mattress. One of her legs is mostly covered in white plaster,
but the other is almost completely uncovered, displaying all skin
below the cut of her shorts. The sight of her left leg, smooth and
bare, running across the clean sheets, brings back those flush
feelings Billy felt on the bridge. It suddenly becomes harder to
talk, to breathe, and his throat begins to close in on
itself.

Billy:
Uh,
yea. Okay.

He goes to the door where
the light switch is located and turns it off. When he turns around
again, Margaret lays there in the dim light, undercover up to her
arm pits on the inside of the bed next to the wall. She slams her
left hand down on the bed twice, indicating for Billy to come over.
He responds with a widening of his eyes, an opening of his mouth
and an almost non-existent head nod, then makes his way over to the
bed as casually as possible. He sits on the edge where she had just
been and looks down at the ugly slip-on shoes he had been given to
wear.

Margaret:
So what happened next? With the General?

Billy:
Uh,
nothing really. He stormed out the same way he stormed in. It was
just so weird, how eager he was to find out who we were. It was
like he was nervous. Clearly, though. He was definitely hiding
something. I'd be willing to bet that this parasite is some sort of
attempt at population control.

Billy turns away from his
feet, twisting around to look at Margaret laying behind
him.

Billy:
I
mean, what else could it be, right? Why else would anyone make
something like this?

He's caught off guard by
Margaret's level of cuteness, gone through the roof. He doesn't
know what it is. It could be that she looks completely drowsy. She
yawns as she responds to him.

Margaret:
Maybe it's like, some kind of biological weapon… for war or
something.

Billy:
But
what war? There's no war going on right now… and the parasite has
already been deployed, as you can see.
(gestures to Abe)
War is
probably going to be a result of it, but someone trying to control
the population will probably be the cause. Look at how life is on
the surface. They already tried and failed. There must be something
wrong with the parasite, and they must be trying to fix it!
And
that's
why General Feleider is delaying the
doctors.