‘Til Death Do We Part – 2098

by Kevin W. Gering & Lisa A. Hendricks

The little town was walled in on all sides by a large wooden fence.  Guards stood at key points on the wall, keeping watch over the area outside to keep any rogue zombies at bay.  Unlike zombies from the Nation who used Brain Mix to quell their unholy hunger, rogues still lusted and craved human flesh.  The Z-police, known as Zips, kept a watch inside the town for anyone who died to prevent their corpse from rising as rogue zombies.  The bodies were put into special body bags for shipment to the Zombie Nation in exchange for goods scavenged from the countryside by the zombies. The countryside was still too dangerous for humans. Humans who dared to venture out, didn’t return as humans. Life was a sacred thing. Something to be cherished. So one would think.

They had been married just a few weeks ago and already George was sick of her.  Her overbearing father had forced him into the marriage because he had caught them one night having sex in the small closet off of the kitchen. Houses were tiny and privacy was nearly nonexistent. Her father, a stickler for “proper” behavior, insisted that George marry her. He didn’t have much choice at the time.

            Mary just glared at him. "NO, you are not leaving me now!  I worked hard at getting you to marry me! I won't let you go now! ‘Till death do we part!"

            George railed back, "I'm leaving and there is nothing you can do.  Even your father can't hold me to this misery!  All your harping and demanding!  I have had enough!"  He stooped over to grab his small bag of things.

            The metal pipe caught him on the back of the head and he went down without a sound.  She checked his pulse as she set the pipe down.  It started to fade as the injured area began to swell a little.  Soon it stopped.  His body sagged like a wet bag of sand.

            "There!  Now you can't leave me!  Not even death will take you from me! I'll just reawaken your memories when you rise as a zombie!"  She chortled gleefully.  "You won't hate me then!  Zombies don't have those feelings!"

            She had heard that if you provide enough pictures and other remembering things to a zombie, it would recall parts of its life, at least that is what Harriet had told her once.

*     *     *     *     *

            The stench of decomposing flesh in the Chamber of the Council of the Tamed was of no concern to those present: everyone was dead. They were all zombies to be more precise. Zombies in a variety of disarray—some more disheveled, tattered, and torn than others. Some were missing body parts but still carried on, oblivious to such limitations. Regardless of their physical condition, one thing was extremely clear. As Culw faced the members of the council, he knew that they were all wise in the ways of Zombie traditions and laws.

            Through the dim light, Culw saw one of the council stood up and approached him.  He waited, anticipating the unspoken greeting. His lungs, like most zombies, were full of holes and it was difficult to speak as humans do. Forcing air in and out took much effort. Communicating with the natural body and hand language was much more efficient for all zombies.

The zombie that approached looked him over for a minute and then shook, “Welcome to the Council of the Tamed.  You are a new friend and brother.  I am Jiyaj, leader of the Council.  Please, what is your name?”  It was obviously a formality since the council already knew about this arrival.

            Culw shook back “I am Culw.”

            Jiyaj nodded and turned to the rest of the council. “Greetings my brothers and sisters,” Jiyaj shook to them.

“Greetings my brother,” the Council shook back to Jiyaj in unison.

“I come before you today with someone who seeks your audience.”

“Come forward and share him with us,” shook Ggeer.

“Ggeer, this is Culw.  He is my friend and brother.  Culw, this is Ggeer.”  Culw nodded politely at the indicated council member. Ggeer nodded back in acceptance.

“Eeryy, this is Culw.  He is my friend and brother.  Culw, this is Eeryy.”

Culw signed, “I am your humble servant.”  Eeery nodded back.

“Hagrew, this is Culw. He is my friend and brother. Culw, this is Hagrew.”

Culw turned to Hagrew, “Praise you for your wisdom,” he shook politely.

Hagrew barely nodded.

Iayy, this is Culw. He is my friend and brother. Culw, this is Iayy.”

“Iayy, it is good to be in your presence. Praise you for your wisdom,” shook Culw formally.  Iayy nodded in acceptance.

“Eugghhh, this is Culw.  He is my friend and brother. Culw, this is Eugghhh.”

“Eugghhh, I am honored,” Culw shook with a slight bow. 

Eugghhh replied, “The honor is mine.”

“There is another, but the esteemed Uglek is away on a mission at this time.”  Jiyaj shook to Culw who simply nodded in return.

“Culw would like to speak of his ‘birth’ at this time,” continued Jiyaj.  All Council members nodded that this would be acceptable as it was the custom to invite every new member of the Zombie Nation to speak with the council to acclimatize them to the Nation’s society.

            Without preamble, Culw started his story.  His body twitched wildly as he "talked" to them.

*     *     *     *     *

            I was "born" about 5 minutes after George Mathers died.  I woke up in a chair with a cord tied tightly around my body and I struggled to get at the human in front of me since I hungered after her flesh.  We were in a small room with some furniture and one small window, though I only noticed these things after she injected me with Brain Mix. 

            The drug coursed through my viral nervous system and turned off the hunger, which allowed me to think more clearly about my situation.  Here I was, a zombie, tied up by a human woman who stared back at me with a hopeful look on her face.  What she was hoping for I did not know.

            She was pretty in a human way I guess, but we don't recognize beauty in the same way that humans do. 

            "George!  My George!  It's me Mary!  Don't you remember me?"  She finally asked me while I lay there tied up.

            I presumed that George was the human that had occupied this body before it died.  I didn't know him of course.  I just stared back at her, still at a loss as to what she wanted.  She bit her lip slightly as she again waited for . . . something.

            She leaned closer, getting almost nose-to-nose as she stared at me.  She looked very puzzled at me. "Why don't you answer me George?"  Her face softened somewhat as she looked searchingly into my eyes.  Whatever she was looking for, it was evidently not there because she leaned back and cried quietly to herself.

I sat patiently.  I simply looked back at her without a word.  The ropes were cutting into my skin, though it didn't hurt:  I struggled a little to see if I could release myself.  I couldn't.

            She suddenly stopped sobbing and glared at me. "Damn You!  Why can't you remember who you are?  I know you are doing this to get back at me!  That's it, isn't it!  Well you are not getting away that easy George!"  She stood up and suddenly slapped my face.

            Though it sounded loud and my face lurched violently to one side, it didn't really bother me.  I just stared back at her, waiting still.  She drew her hand back to strike again but saw that it was a useless gesture and slowly let it down as she stomped away and left the room, slamming the door behind her.

            I struggled for a while in an attempt to loosen the rope but it was to no avail.  She really knew how to tie someone up.  The time till her return simply passed neither long nor short.  The door opened up at last and she stepped back in, closing it behind her, softly this time.

            "All right," she said with some vehemence,  "I know that George is in there somewhere.  Your memories must be there.  I brought some pictures to assist you in regaining your memories.  I want to show them to you!"

            She sat down in front of me and held up a picture of herself and a man.  I simply looked at it and then back at her.  She shook it and held it closer.

            "Don't you recognize yourself?  This is you and me!  Damn it!  Look at it again!"

            I looked at it again but saw nothing different.  Perhaps the man used to use the body I had but that was irrelevant to me.  I looked at her once more.  She dropped that picture and held up more.  One at a time she held them up and then dropped them.  I was beginning to understand that she thought I was the man in the picture though all we had in common was the body.  He was dead.  It was now my body. 

            She grew frustrated and threw the remaining pictures up into the air as she stood up.  She looked down at me in my chair with an agonized look on her face.

            "How can I get you to remember who you are?  Can you speak?"

            I thought about that. My mouth opened and closed without sound.

            "George, you have to inhale and then exhale as you talk,” she said to me, watching my feeble attempts to actually form words.

            I then tried to inhale and felt air move into my lungs.  It really didn't make much of a difference.  I again open and closed my mouth without anything coming out.

            "EXHALE, THEN TALK!"  She screamed in frustration.

            "Culw," I managed to actually say.  She looked impatient so I tried again.  "I am Culw."  I found out what my name was in that sentence.  Like other zombies, I learned my name with my first utterance.

            "NO, you’re George!  My George!"  She said very loudly.  She looked like she wanted to strike at me again but she didn't.

            I spoke again becoming better at it as I did so.  "I -am-Culw.  Ge-or-ge-is-de-ad."

            "But his memories are still in there, I know it!  You can be George again if you try hard enough!"  She exclaimed. "TRY DAMN IT!"

            So I tried.  I tried to remember being George but nothing was there from before I awoke for the first time.  "Nu--thing." I managed to say after a bit.  As I suspected, George was truly dead.  He was gone and I was here.

            She sat down in tears again, sobbing loudly into her hands.  The world started to suddenly feel different as I felt my self becoming hungry again.  It was an odd sort of hunger that crept up slowly as I sat there in that chair.  Then my mind snapped.

            I lunged at her with all my strength, trying to get at her flesh.  I was ravenous for brains now and growled as I fell forward to the floor with the chair still tied to me, though at the time it didn't matter.  Just the hunger and the need to eat her.  I squirmed violently on the floor desperately trying to crawl to her. 

            She screamed and jumped back at my attempt to get her.  She quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out a syringe and, staying out of reaching of my biting jaws, she stuck it into me and then stepped away again.

            The world again felt funny as the hunger wore off rather quickly and I was in control of my mind and body again.  I lay face down on the floor without moving as the Brain Mix did its work clearing my mind.

            She stood there breathing heavily while she looked down on me crying again.  “Damn it George, why can’t you remember?  Why?!”

            I tried to answer but being face down on the rug made it impossible to do more than mumble.  She then rolled me over onto my side and knelt down.  Her hand stroked my lifeless cheek as if her touch could help restore memories.

            Her hand jerked away suddenly.  “You’re cold George!  Why is your skin cold?!” 

            I heard a sickly siren sound that was getting closer.  It stopped just outside of where I was still lying on the floor.  She ran off, crying again, the door closed behind her, quietly this time.  A few minutes passed and the door opened and I heard a voice.

            “Damn it Pete, we have a stiff! That caller was right! Also let the Zips know, looks like murder.”

            “Harry, it’s a zombie.  But why is it tied up?”  Pete asked.

            “Don’t know; there are a lot of sickos in the enclave yet.  Let’s get it out of here.”

The two-man Z-Crew did its job efficiently.  They quickly shot me with two tranks to sedate me while they untied me and put me in a body bag for transport out of the Enclave and into the Zombie Nation.  I never did see the enclave itself as the bag prevented me from seeing anything.  I struggled a bit after the sedative effect wore off but the bag was design to keep zombies in and that is where I stayed.

            "Whoa!  Got a live one here!"  One of the Z-Crew laughed.

            "Hey!  Shut up Harry!”   Hissed the other.  They quickly carried me out of the building and put me into the truck and drove off.

            There was a short stop and some other men climbed into the truck, unzipped the bag and, by holding me tightly, examined me, especially the back of my head.  There was some muttering and they re-zipped the bag and left.  After a short drive, they stopped again and I heard them load more bags into the truck.  The containment truck left the Enclave and drove down the remnants of the road to the swapping place.  It was about an hour's drive.  Due to the roughness of the road, we kept twitching all around, occasionally bouncing off the wall of the truck.  Whenever they hit a pothole, the bag I was in jumped and landed with a thud.

            "Good thing they don't feel pain, Eh Harry!" I heard the one called Pete exclaim.

            "Right Pete.  They don't feel anything.  They are dead."  Harry answered. 

            "But they are alive Harry.  They move around and talk and stuff!" 

            "Pete, what did I tell you?  They are dead.  Just because they can move, doesn't make them alive!  Sheesh!  When will you learn?  There is nobody home. They are just animated corpses.  I wish we could get rid of them!"  Harry clearly did not like zombies.

            The conversation died and soon we arrived.  I slid into the forward wall as the truck screeched to a halt.  I heard a door open and close, footsteps in the gravel and then the rear door open.   Someone pulled the bag back and it dropped to the ground headfirst.   That would have hurt if I were human.  I heard Pete’s voice speak.

            "Hello Graw, hello Crok.  Nice to see you again!"

            "Pete."  A zombie said with a bad raspy voice.  It was hard to talk when you didn't breathe and when your lungs had holes in them.

            Pete said, "Got some new members for your Nation. This one's name was George."

            "Thank you Pete," croaked the voice again.  I heard a zip noise and then I could see again.  I got up out of the bag to see two zombies watching me.

            “I am Graw,” one shook.

            “I am Culw,” I shook back.

            The other then shook, “I am Crok.”

            “I am Culw,” I replied in turn.

            Pete quickly unloaded the other three bags and unzipped them all.  They too were introduced to Graw and Crok.

            Pete just stood there watching us looking somewhat apprehensive at what appeared to be six zombies having body spasms. 

            Graw signaled to unseen watchers who came out of the forest carrying supplies.  They quickly put the supplies in the truck along with Brain Mix and faded back into the trees.

            When the transaction was over, Graw walked over to Pete.  Through its tattered lungs it said, "Thank you."

            "Uh. No problem.  See ya next time!"  Pete got back into the truck.

            "What the hell is wrong with you?"  Harry yelled.  "They ain't people!  They are just stiffs!  Just dump the bodies and collect the supplies, don't talk with them!  Sheesh!"  He slammed the truck into gear and headed back to the Enclave.  The tires were spinning on the gravel as it left the clearing.

            "STOP!"  A voice cried out as Mary stepped out of the woods.  "George!  Stop this nonsense!"

            All of us turned at the sound of her voice and saw her running up.  She hugged me, crying as she did so. "George, I love you!  Don't leave me again!"

            She stood there with tears in her eyes watching me look at her.  "Don't you remember me yet?  It's me, Mary!"

            Graw spoke up with gravel in his voice. "He doesn't know you, human.  He has become one of the Nation.  He is no longer of your kind."  He tried to be sympathetic but that was an emotion. Zombies are not very good at emotion, especially sympathy.  To her, his voice would have sounded dull and matter of fact.

            "NO!  He has to remember me!  We were married!"  She started pounding on my chest.  "Damn you!  Try to remember!"

            Crok spoke up. "Human, this is Culw.  He is a member of the Nation.  Your George is no longer here.  Please return to your Enclave."  His voice too, was in a monotone.

            .  “George, my George!”  She whispered and looked into my eyes searching for a hint of George.

There was no such hint.  She realized then that George was indeed gone and this “Culw” was now in George's body, was George's body.  Without George.

            She turned away, sobbing once more.  We just watched her.  It was time to leave.  We needed to get to the zombie encampment.

            "Wait!" She cried out as we walked away.  "Can I ask a favor of you?"

            Graw hesitated to reply.  He swelled his lungs with a sickening sucking sound and uttered, "I cannot.  It is forbidden."  He started to turn away.

            "Wait!"  She cried again.  "Please!  All I ask is that when I die, you put me with George. If I can't have him now, maybe my I can when I'm dead. Is it against the rules for this request?"  She stood taller and straighter as she spoke.

            Graw studied her.  It was an unusual request.  Usually humans did not want to think about their dead.  "I will pass your request to the Council, human."  He beckoned to us and we headed away.

*     *     *     *     *

            The council remained quiet as Culw finished his story.  Culw stood patiently waiting for them to speak.  After a few minutes Jiyaj nodded to Culw and spoke.

            “Thank you brother for your story.  It will be added to the archives to be honored and shared with all the Nation."

            Culw shook immediately, “Yes I am honored that you have need of what little knowledge I can offer.”

            The council nodded in unison.  “Again thank you brother.  Please, leave us to our musings and inspect the encampment.  Find your place in the Nation.  Any of your brothers or sisters will be glad to assist you.”  Hagrew said with a dismissal in his shake.

            Culw nodded and then left the council chamber.  They waited until he was gone.  Jiyaj looked around the room at the others and then spoke.

            “A sad tale indeed of human love.”

            “Indeed it is brother!”  Shook a new voice.  The counsel turned as one to see Uglek wheel himself into the room from the rear entrance.  Do to his severe leg injuries; he could not walk so he continued to roll his chair until he too was sitted next to the table.  The council members waited for Uglek to continue.  Of all the zombies, he understood the humans the best, having an uncanny connection with their ways.

            “I heard most of Culw’s story but did not wish to interrupt his telling so I waited till he was gone.  His is an old tale of spurned love and the tragic consequences of it.  I would venture to say that George did not wish to be with Mary and she killed him in an attempt to keep him. She then hoped that she could influence him to ‘remember’ being the George that probably once did love her.  As with all humans, hope blinded her to reality,” Uglek finished.

            “You are indeed wise Uglek. We thank you for your wisdom in helping us with this mystery, and as always, the request to be together will be ignored” Jiyaj intoned respectfully.

*     *     *     *     *

            Mary watched George and the other zombies walk away into the forest.  She was sobbing to herself.  Harriet was wrong: zombies didn't remember their old selves and now the Z-Police would be looking for her.  She had just left the apartment before the Z-Crew arrived.  The Zips would have been close behind, she knew.  She had stolen a bicycle and followed the truck out into the wilds hoping nothing would interfere on her way. 

            She knew that she could not return to the town due to her crime and she couldn't stay out here, due to the rogue zombies that wandered about.  She ran around in silent rage not knowing what to do, or where to go.  There were no other human towns that anyone knew of and the Soilers did not take in outsiders, with the exception of that Zip Policeman from years ago.

            She screamed to the sky in her loudest voice as her panic and anger mounted.  Finally in a futile gesture she pulled a knife out of her clothes, cut both of her wrists and jammed it into her stomach pushing upward towards her heart.

"I'll have you in death then George!" she screamed.

            The pain was incredible and she screamed even louder before she finally pierced her heart and fell over dead

*     *     *     *     *

            Culw was walking across the compound when three zombies passed near him.  He stopped and stared.  Two of them he didn’t know but the third, the third was Mary with a large amount of blood spattered across the front of her outfit. Culw noted gashes along both of her wrists, now beginning to clot over with dried, caked blood.

            Culw stopped them with a gesture.  He looked at Mary with mild puzzlement.

            One of the two others, noticing his bewilderment, offered, “We found her as a rogue just outside the gate to the encampment.  She has been given Brain Mix and says her name is Lench.”  Blood slowly dripped from “Lench’s” clothing, puddling on the ground as it cooled.