Among the Living (Tyler G Book 1) (38 page)

A bit numbly he got up, hunger
gnawing at him a bit.

There was cake to be had, and
apparently he didn't really need to worry about dieting. That was a plus. Also,
if he couldn't afford food, that wouldn't matter much either, it seemed. For
some reason that sounded like a silver lining, if one hidden inside a shit
sandwich.

After all, Lucy had never claimed
to be his real mom, so that wasn't some crushing shock. He could even see that
her animating him was
about
as cool a thing as one person could do for
another. The only real problem was that she'd told him he was a slave too, and
didn't actually have free will. Part of that was working out pretty well, no
doubt. He could go all day without eating a brain, truth be told. That was
probably a joke. If he were going to eat anything it would be tasty and easy to
get to thigh meat. That was a lot easier than trying to go through a
skull
,
after all.

So, thinking that, with his sense
of humor still intact, Tyler got up, and went back to his party. Dead or alive,
he was eighteen. Letting his party go to waste wasn't going to help anyone.

The whole thing pretty much was
wrapped up and put away by midnight. That was a little bit late for a thing
being held outdoors, but people were actually quiet enough that no one
complained. No one even expected him to help clean up either, though he did his
share, trying not to think about himself or the horrible news that he'd gotten.

Oh, he understood part of what
was likely happening. The Storm had used the knowledge to try and punish Lucy.
From what had been said, if it was honest, and he had no reason to think it was
or wasn't, it was really about The Rotted having stolen his parents, and
possibly him, away from the other Greater Demon.

It might even go back farther
than that, with retaliation going back and forth for who knew how long. Telling
him though, like she had, was just the other Demon's attempt to make him hate
his mom. He really wasn't all that comfortable with her at the moment, that was
true. He was
dead
. Not alive, not even a Vampire. Just a corpse that
walked around, powered by some form of magic. A thing that he didn't understand
and probably couldn't.

A freaking zombie.

It wasn't a thing that he wanted
to dwell on, but oddly enough it was all that came to mind as he picked up bits
of trash, of which there wasn't much, and helped load the equipment on the
truck, so the driver could take it away. Palma cleaned it up first, and
wouldn't even let him try to do anything that way.

He smiled at her, and finally
just asked why that was.

"Is it because it's my
birthday, or just that I'm too slow, and will get in your way."

The woman beamed at him, working
the whole time.

"Yes. That's precisely
correct! Now that you understand, why don't you see about helping with the
tables?"

It really didn't take long to fix
it all, since they had superhumans on their side. Ginger worked with another
girl who had stayed just to visit it seemed. Regardless, she was a good worker,
and moved fast enough it was clear she wasn't actually Human. She was also
pale. Cuter than Ginger, but it was a pretty close thing that way. Honestly,
that was probably down to the fact that the new girl had makeup on, and Ginger
didn't.

Just as they finished, and Palma
rode off in the truck, along with the driver, Eve moved over to him, and gave
him a hug.

"So, we all heard that
shitstorm earlier. Do you want me to hold you while you cry?" It
should
have been sarcastic and demeaning sounding, saying that he was some kind of
pussy that did things like that, but it really wasn't. It seemed perfectly
reasonable, like that was a real option.

"Hmmm. No? Not that I won't
take a hug or two. Crying over it won't help. It's kind of a..." He went
in, waving to the others, since Calley had already taken the big speakers away.
The whole set up had vanished into her room, which was interesting. After all,
why would she need that kind of set up?

They all ended up in the living
room, Ginger right next to him, pressed against his body, in one of the big
chairs. Calley was in the other one, with Eve and the other girl on the sofa.

Eve, brushing her shoulder length
hair out of her face, winked and glanced sharply at the other woman. She
actually looked about right for him to date. About eighteen or so. Maybe a
little younger than that.

"This is Lenore Hawthorn.
Ginger's Vampire mom, as well as the less important thing here as far as
you're
concerned, which is that she's also the western states regional director for
the Vampires. Oh,
also
Zack's girlfriend, before you hit on her."
There was a bit of teasing to her words, so he smiled.

"I'll try not to do that
then. It isn't
personal
, just so you know. I just don't want to be that
jerky guy that's always making women uncomfortable."

The girl, who didn't look old
enough to be taking care of Ginger as a mother, gave him a look that was rather
bland.

"I understand. There
are
worse things to be than polite. I... I don't know if this is a good time for
you. My plan was to use my contacts here to see about building an alliance with
your new Coalition in my section, but I understand if you'd rather not deal
with that right now. That was shocking news."

No one else chimed in, meaning he
had to answer, after a bit. Finally he nodded.

"Yeah. I'm... Dead. It's
kind of a big thing to learn about yourself." His face felt numb. Really,
everything about his being did. It had ever since Lucy had told him that he
didn't really feel pain, and had only been made to imagine it.

That kind of explained a lot.

Lenore tilted her head and
frowned.

"
I
was rather
speaking about the part where your mother is a Greater Demon. Half the people I
know are dead. That's hardly a major issue, is it? I can't say that I would
have thought that The Rotted would have invested the time into such a project,
but it isn't a thing to feel poorly over. After all, if you weren't what you
are now, you simply wouldn't
be
. Plus, it gives you powers after a
fashion. Greater endurance, the ability to weather damage and repair at a rate
that is very useful,
without
a need to drink the blood of the living. It
could
be worse."

Ginger cuddled into him,
"that's true. I wonder, do you need to sleep?"

Tyler made a face, and looked
away.

"What? I always do.
Why?"

"Well, if you think about
it, you shouldn't
really
need to. Do you dream or anything?"

That was a good question. He'd
always
thought
he had, but then forgotten about it. Only now that it was
brought up, he realized a thing that had always escaped him before.

"I... Just lay there all
night. I don't know why I never noticed that before."

Eve made a sound that was a bit
like a snort, but seemed fake to him.

"
That
would be down
to the fact that you're the slave of a Greater Demon. When Anne, The Rotted,
tells you to do something, you
have
to. That's what it means. She told
you that you could understand now, so, you
can
. That's all. It isn't a
great thing, but I doubt you can get a better deal. Normally, if that happens
to a person they have to die to break it. You'd have to become alive first, and
then die, I bet. So, it would probably be best to get used to it, and just hope
she doesn't decide being a cannibal looks good on you. So far so good?"

Taking a deep breath, he sighed.

"I guess. Well, that means I
have several hours of nothing to do. Anyone want to go and help straighten up a
bookstore? I'm kind of trying to keep busy right now. I could also do without
having the feminist hit gang at my store any longer than needed. Is it wrong
that they piss me off? I
swear
I don't hate women. I don't even hate
them
.
They're just difficult when they don't need to be, as far as I can see. I mean,
if they wanted to tell me not to sleep with the Alede, then I'll listen, but
trying to kill them, just because they're different..."

It was Lenore, who smiled a
little and covered her mouth very demurely, who commented on that.

"Trust me, Tyler, life is
far too short to blame
any
group for all your problems. The name of the
group doesn't matter, in the end. You're either the commander of your own ship,
or you slave to the will of your master. Those are the only choices. You,
perhaps, have a harder path if you seek to go your own way, but it's still a
choice. It didn't sound to me like Anne plans to prevent you from doing that,
or deny you anything you can gain for yourself. Blaming feminism for your
troubles would be wasted energy, however. They simply aren't that powerful, if
you don't want them to be."

Tyler could see that.

"Because adults are
responsible for their own actions?"

"That. Impressive that you
understood. Most take a long time to get that one. Also, when you get down to
it as a group, feminists are rather vilified, aren't they? You should always keep
in mind what others have told you to think of groups you might be prone to
dislike. They
do
oppose you, being that you're a man. That doesn't mean
they're as bad as all that. Even if they
did
help in an attack on your
people." She grinned suddenly, her eyes suddenly turning blood red.
"Not that they should have been allowed to survive. I hear you had a hand
in that?"

She was trying to be
intimidating, but it was too hard to buy the girl, even with fangs and super
powers, as a real threat. That was probably thanks to the old fashioned skirt
she had on. It was nice, but made her look like she was from a different era
completely. Hundreds of years before.

"We don't kill people here.
We jail them. The ones that got out are mainly free thanks to a Vampire.
Richard Swerlin? He
asked
, and the local government worked with us. It
isn't a bad thing. It's just... They're pains in the ass. I do get your point.
All of them, but we have to hold to the law, and be willing to bend a little,
while people learn the new rules. It will take a while. I mean, there's so much
to learn, isn't there?"

Instead of lunging for his
throat, the girl smirked at him, as Ginger cuddled against him even more
closely.

"Spoken like a statesman,
Mr. Gartner. Well, perhaps we should go and do what you suggested? Aiding The
Line Walker does me no harm. Perhaps you could inform the Humans of our aid, in
the morning? I'm sure they'll be pleased to learn of it."

Tyler was certain that most of
them would be too ungrateful to be pleased about anything, but Lenore had been
right. Blaming them for being what they were was as insane as blaming Vampires,
or Shifters, or even Greater Demons for being what
they
were.

Sighing, he held up his right
hand.

"Yeah. Let's do that?
Thanks. I bet we can do a lot in the time we have, if we hurry. First though, I
need to make a call."

It was a bit hard, since
everything in him wanted to avoid doing it, but he picked up the landline, and
dialed a number from memory.

Oddly enough, it picked right up.

The voice was all wrong.

"Hello?" It was a
little girl, instead of Lucy.

"Mom? It's me, Tyler."

"Hi honey! I didn't think
you'd be in touch so soon. Is everything all right? Do you need me? The
Storm..."

"Nothing like that. I just
wanted to make sure you knew that I loved you. That's all. This stuff is, um,
shocking
works, don't you think? Or is that just me?"

The voice that answered was high
pitched, and youthful. Also chipper.

In a way it was nice to hear.

"Nooo, I think it would be
most
people. I'm really glad you got in touch. I'm going to be out of town for a few
days. Maybe longer. Remember, if you don't hear from me... If
you're
alive, I am too!"

He laughed, even if it wasn't
that funny.

"Good to know. Take care,
mom. I'll talk to you soon?"

"Of course."

Then the phone clicked, and
neither of them said goodbye. Walking to the door, Tyler looked over at the
yawning Calley.

"You should get some sleep.
We should get together tomorrow. Dinner?"

That got a mumbled assent, and a
hug from her, which was warm. That and wonderful.

Then he and his new dead friends
moved out the front door, to walk among the living.

 The way he was supposed to.