The moon stood alone in the heavens like a goddess of light and fate. The clouds did not obstruct her path or her visage and only the stars dared to shine with her, but not reaching her level of glory. Like angels or chosen celestial warriors they stood behind her, second rate heavenly bodies to the queen of the night. Nothing could block her illuminating presence that night and all were forced to be brought into her gaze.
The deserted streets of old Grenhit were still and quiet, too quiet. It was so hushed that a flapping piece of paper caused enough noise to be heard for nearly half street block. But no idiot could be foolish enough to believe it was safer because of no zombies in obvious sight.
The zombies were there; in the dark alleys with no rats, inside the buildings with the sleeping flies and hidden places known only by lady Death herself. A strange thing happened to zombies at night, many of them went inside buildings and did not roam the streets. This was not to imply that the streets were empty, no. There was just less zombie hordes around and this was often the time that was safest to move around.
If you were careful enough to not get sneaked up on.
........
Lesley looked up at the silent and bright moon in the night sky and gave a sigh. It's beauty, one that had driven poets and lovers mad and caused countless suicides, filled him with an ache for home. He used to look at the moon from his bedroom window back in the safezone. It was in moments of dark sadness, when his mind wandered into the bloodstained corners of his heart and pain gave him kisses, that he would gaze at the moonlight, as if hoping it would shine light into his pit of despair.
His eyes gazed at the sky deity in a human sense of ignorance but one of respect. She had been the light to shine on a poor, sad boy's broken heart six years ago and tonight she shined extra bright as if just for him.
A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips when he remembered a funny memory of his family. His grandmother had built him a dream catcher once because he said he was getting nightmares and shed hung it by the window, always to be touched by moonlight. Unfortunately his mother took it and said there is no such thing as nightmares.
" Just dreams telling us things we're to scared to hear."
" What? "
Lesley realized that he'd spoken out loud when another voice spoke as well. He turned around and looked at the blue eyed zombie. He stood by the door to the roof where Lesley had come to be alone.
Emphasis on alone.
His eyes turned to a glare," What are you doing here? I told you to leave me alone."
" I just wanted to...see if you're okay." Mel said softly but Lesley just frowned harder.
" I am not some weak and helpless ninny. I just came up here to think, actually why am I even explaining myself? Just leave me the hell alone." Lesley said curtly.
" I'm sorry, I just - "
" Stop saying that. I hate it when you say that. It's too... human." Lesley said and he turned away and looked back into the night," Listen zombie, I told you before; I only need you against hordes. We are not friends, anymore than we could be... anything. Just do your thing of protecting me from zombie hordes but besides that...I don't want you around me. At all."
Mel didn't reply to Lesley and the two of them were enveloped by the silence of night. The moon gazed down at the duo sadly, on the roof of an apartment building. The wind moved gracefully and lifted up the sheet that Lesley was using to cover himself. He had decided to come out to the roof to be alone and to think after another nightmare blessed night. Although he could have done that inside the apartment, he did not like being in the same vicinity as the zombie.
He remembered the day it had brought him back from the ' incident '. He'd been emotionally distraught that day and hadn't thought alot of things through. But then he had calmed down enough to try to get some answers from the walking corpse.
That meant beating it's head in and tying it up by the bed.
Strangely enough it had actually seemed disoriented by his attack but Lesley hadn't bought it. So when it had shown him a hint of focus, he'd demanded answers; Did it know about Death? About Liv/Lich? Why had it pretended to be a normal zombie when it was an upper rank? Was it controlling the zombies? Why should he not kill it now?
Mel had happily answered his questions.
Lesley had been slightly put off when Mel started answering him without restraint. Was it incapable of lying? He had wondered but had discarded the thought to the back of his mind and listened to the answers he had wanted.
Yes, Mel knew about Death but not about who she is other than a very ' cold ' being. He did not know who Liv/Lich were, he'd only been given Lesley by Death on that day he fell unconscious. No, he had not been pretending, he really had been a normal zombie. Death was the one who had changed him into what he was. Mel did not control the zombies, they just stayed away from him. If Lesley killed him then he'd not be able to get food and he'd be attacked by the zombies.
Lesley had grumbled over what it had told him and thought about the possibility of deception. But then again what could he do? If the zombie was lying to him, there was no way he could find answers. He was not one for torture. Not that it would work on someone who does not feel pain.
So instead he'd asked the zombie to take him back to the safezone. But he'd been told of a strange development happening there and that it wasn't safe to get near that place anymore. That meant he was stuck with the undead teenager infront of him and Lesley had not liked the idea one bit.
Zombies had taken too much from him to ever view them in a friendly light. He'd lost his family, his dear ones right infront of him. The monsters had ripped out his heart and feasted on all the warmth inside it on that day. Mel maybe useful but he would not kid himself and try to get attached to the thing. It was a monster, whether it could talk or not.
He would never trust it.
......
Mel watched in silence as Lesley stood by the edge of the roof gazing at the moon above their heads. His face was downcast and that was obvious even for a guy with dead facial muscles. He kept looking around the roof before his eyes went back to Lesley.
He knew that the human wanted him to go but he couldn't. There was a chance that a zombie could come up from the alley. He could hear still and quiet moaning of his kin and was sure they smelt the tantalizing aroma of flesh that Lesley gave off.
He wanted to tell the human but he didn't.
Instead he stood in silence along with him, his mind circling with his own thoughts. He knew that human did not like him and that he did not trust him, Lesley had told him that day he had tied him to the bedpost. Mel had not fought that day because it would have made the human less trusting of him. So he'd accepted his head being bashed in and being tied up like a prisoner in his own home. He could have broken free at any time and eaten the human but he didn't.
Mel didn't know why but everytime he looked at the human he felt something. His memory was still a blurry or broken mess and he could barely recall anything about when he was a normal zombie. He had tried going back further, to when he had been alive but his mind hit a burning wall. He'd groaned in pain that day and realized he couldn't go back to his past and it hurt. To be coherent and to be able to finally put his thoughts onto action but to be...lost still. He wanted so badly to remember something, anything of depth or significance...even something less significant would do.
He had read his journal but all the things inside it seemed to be from a different person. It was Mel's life but it seemed so empty...he'd seemed so empty. So now he was stuck, unsure of who he was and of himself. His existence held on by a thread and he could feel his zombie impulses waiting to swallow the little he had of himself.
But when he looked at Lesley, he felt something. A feeling of purpose, a reason for existing. Death's command to die for Lesley had been perfectly timed to help the corpse have a purpose in his undead life. Lesley was his reason for existing every day and he wished he could tell him that but he doubted it would change anything. The red head clearly made his point clear about how he felt about him.
He thinks he is just a monster.
........
A brave cloud drifted forward and obscured the beauty of the moon, blemishing the ethereal splendor of the night and creating a space of darkness upon the world.
When the cloud moved, the moon's gaze returned upon the world and illuminated the two people on the roof. One of them had moved and came closer to the other one in a white sheet. He sat on the ground, facing away from the moon and the other one in a white sheet.
The darkness and light of night shined upon their silent silhouettes until the sun claimed the sky.