Happy Friday everyone! Here’s a little story I wrote, hope you like it!

Love Bites by Adam Wright

The zombies were dead. The doors were bolted. I fell in love. 

She sat across from me, a light cut on her forehead. Red blood trickled down her face in tiny droplets. Her hair was short. It doesn’t pay to have long hair when undead creatures grab at it. At one time it was dirty blonde. We’d been through a lot together. I was a wall street broker and she was my barista. We’d met each other day after day for years. I didn’t know her name and she always misspelled mine. In the end it didn’t matter. 

We knew the drill. Get inside, barricade yourself. Clear the area if any were left. Check for wounds. Scratches hurt but would heal. Bites were the end. Once bitten, there was only one end. I would prefer a bullet to the head over becoming one of those things. She agreed.

When you go out into the world amongst diseased and desiccated corpses, there is a smell. It hangs there like rotted meat swarmed by maggots. Most of the world smells that way now. So even as we run together, sweat and body odor rising into our nostrils, the human smell of it is all you want to cling to. The aliveness of the other person. It’s comforting even when you know your life could end at any moment. You’d do anything to protect that one other living thing next to you.

We learned to trust each other. She saved my life on the day of the outbreak. I was lucky enough to be at the front of the line and she grabbed my hand and rushed us to the exit. We evaded the mass of undead. We hid in sewers and raided grocery stores. I found weapons. We both learned to shoot. I still prefer the aluminum bat. 

I knew enough to get a campfire started on that first day. We soon learned that was a bad idea. We still do it when we’re locked indoors and can make sure no light is let in. You can’t fall asleep though or the fire will take you. 

We’ve done everything right for as long as we can. We have survived. I’ve tried not to fall in love. When you get close to someone it’s a weakness. I have seen couples come and go. Usually one ends up shooting the other. It’s good to have a partner. Bad to be in love.

If I was going to fall in love with anyone in my life it would have been her. We didn’t know each other well but she was always kind. I tipped well. I didn’t want love to begin with but now I had the worst kind of love. A dangerous love.

The real problem? I didn’t love her for her body, her kind soul, or her good deeds. I loved her for her brains. The bite didn’t even sting anymore.

Without saying a word, I passed her the gun and closed my eyes.