THE LIVING AND THE DEAD
by Noah Cicero
twenty-seven
During the night Layla and Esmeralda go out the door.
They look around, see no zombies.
They walk slowly, very military navy seal like around the building.
They get to the back of the building and see a zombie. The zombie is a cute girl in her panties.
Layla and Esmeralda stop at the side of the building.
Esmeralda is holding rope.
“All right, you ready?”
“Yeah, lets fucking do it.”
They run out at the zombie.
A dead person turns to look at them.
Layla kicks at its legs.
The undead human falls over.
Esmeralda puts a noose around its neck, then ties the feet, hands, neck all together
with one rope behind its back.
They drag the undead human to the front of the building.
When they go around the building this time two of the undead are there.
They attack them.
One is huge and attacks Esmeralda. There is a long struggle but Esmeralda eventually cuts its head off.
The other is still fighting with Layla.
Layla gets bit.
She stands back from it, stares at her hand.
Layla screams at the zombie who bit her, “You mother fucker, I’ll kill you now!”
Layla pulls out her gun and fires into the zombie’s face repeatedly until its head is completely blown off.
Layla looks at Esmeralda, “I’m bit. I’m fucking bit. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. This is it. Soon I will be one of them. One of those fucking monsters. What was all this for?”
Layla sits down on the ground leaning on the wall of the strip club.
“I had plans you know. I had dreams. They weren’t big ones. But they were dreams. I was gonna open my own beauty parlor. Maybe buy a nice car and a dirt bike for my boy. I’ve lived such a shitty life. I don’t think I ever had a good day. I ain’t never had anything nice. And this is how it all ends, here in this parking lot late at night bitten by a fucking zombie. Knowing that it was meaningless. That my life was shit, that I graduated high school to only become undead. What is this shit? What is this?”
Esmeralda says, “Layla I don’t know. I’m sorry, but I have to go.”
Esmeralda drags the body away.
Layla sits on the ground freaking out.
Layla says to nothing, “So this is life. So this is what it is all about. This is what my mother meant when she said, ‘you better grow up.’ Fuck. I’ve never had a good day. Not once did I ever have a good day. And this is how it all ends. Here in Youngstown Ohio leaning against a wall of a strip club waiting to turn into the undead. This is fucked.”
She closes her eyes, leans back against the wall.