Hungry for Your Love: An Anthology of Zombie Romance (15 page)

“Wow.” Josh was duly impressed. “Remind me to never make you mad.”

“If you do, just be quick with the apologies.” They laughed as she wrote the address on a slip of paper. She handed it and the ring to him and said, “You were closer than you thought. It should be fairly easy to find.”

“Is it very far?” he asked as he eyed the address.

“About an hour’s drive.”

He looked up to her with a sheepish grin. “How long is that on foot?”

Dee looked to the clock on the wall. It was well past ten and that late-night dinner was getting further and further away. She huffed as she grabbed her keys. “Come on, big boy. Let’s go find your lady fair.”

“I couldn’t ask you—”

“You’re not asking,” she interjected. “I’m offering.” Dee slipped on her coat and went to the office door. She opened it wide and turned back to look at him. “Now, are you coming or not?”

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That sinful grin returned and Dee could only wonder what the mind behind it was thinking as the body followed her out to her van.

“I hope you like to hear people sing,” she said as she buckled up.

He shot her a curious glance as he clicked his belt into place. “I enjoy live performances, but it has been a while since I’ve seen a band perform.”

“That’s all well and good, but I meant just regular people.”

“Regular people? As in?”

“Me. I tend to get carsick very easily and while driving is the key to keeping me level, I find singing helps distract the nausea. So unless you want to end up with a lap full of puke, you’ll be a good boy and put up with it.”

“By all means, sing away.”

Dee spent almost the entire hour doing just that. It wasn’t so much a serenade as it was a performance to a captive audience. Literally. But Joshua seemed to enjoy her renditions of various artists, favoring the older songs, which he sung along to himself. As they neared their target, Joshua turned down the volume mid-chorus, which left Dee belting out her appreciation of a certain-colored submarine all by herself.

She drew the chorus to its natural close and eyed him. “What’s on your mind?”

“Why do you do it?” he asked.

“Car sickness. I told you already—”

“No,” he said with a chuckle. “I mean why do you help people like me?”

She had been asked this on more than one occasion, and usually dodged the answer with trite comebacks and clever witticisms. But without thinking about it, she found herself telling Joshua the truth.

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“My grandfather taught me everything I know about magic,” she said. “He was the best. At least to me. He always had time for people. No matter how much they could pay, he would always help if he could. A week before my eighteenth birthday, he passed away.”

“I’m sorry.”

Dee shrugged. “He was old. It was expected. But what we didn’t expect was to see him again.”

“As a zombie?”

“Yeah. He had been feuding with our neighbor for years over the property line.

One foot to the right of the fence post, gramps said. One foot to the left, Ferguson said.

So when gramps kicked the bucket, old man Ferguson hired a necromancer to raise him.

He brought gramps back and put him to work on that single foot of land out of spite.”

Dee gripped the wheel until her knuckles were white with anger. “I still remember that day I came home from school and saw him pulling weeds from around the fence.”

“It must have been horrible.”

“It was. I tried to fix it. I tried everything he taught me, but I was too inexperienced. I couldn’t break a spell like that. I even went to every magic user I knew, but I couldn’t afford what they were asking. We were so poor back then. In the end, I went to the necromancer who raised gramps. I offered him…” Dee paused and swallowed the swell of sickening memories. “Everything. I offered him everything, Joshua. And he laughed at me. He said business was just business. That he didn’t want to get a reputation as a man unable to keep his word.” Dee glanced at her passenger, and his look startled her. His face was twisted in a mask of hatred, gritting his teeth while his nostrils flared.

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“That black-hearted monster,” he said.

Dee appreciated his anger more than he could know. “My family spent three long weeks watching him fall apart and there wasn’t a damned thing we could do about it. I swore then that when I got older, I would be just like Granddad. That I would help anyone, regardless of their ability to pay me for it. Especially the dead.”

“You’re a testament to his generosity.”

“Thanks, but I’m really just a pale reflection of it. The day I saw his corpse staggering around that fence post I promised myself that I would never leave anyone else in the same lurch.”

They both went quiet for a few moments, the seriousness of the discussion clipped short by her accidental pun. Dee was the first to giggle, followed closely by a chuckle from Joshua. Dee let out a loud laugh which set Joshua into a full-blown cackle. The pair of them filled the car with easy laughter.

“Did I really say lurch?” she asked between giggles.

“I’m sorry,” Joshua said, “but that was just rotten.”

Dee rolled her eyes. “Are you mocking my deadpan humor?”

“I don’t know about humor, but it’s certainly not grave.”

“If you’re going to spend any time with me, you’ll have to keep a stiff upper lip.”

“Of corpse I will.”

“Okay!” Dee shouted between peals of laughter. “Okay! I give. Enough with the puns. They’ll be the death of me.”

Joshua smiled wide as he wound his laughter down to a few occasional titters.

They settled into a comfortable silence as Dee slowed the car to a stop beside of the curb.

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“Here we are,” she said. She leaned across Joshua to get a good look at the sign she had parked beside of. “Autumn Evenings?” Beyond the sign sat a small, sad-looking, single-story building. The brickwork was patchy, the roof was in need of re-shingling, and the outer woodwork was screaming for a fresh coat of paint. It had the look and feel of its true nature, a rundown retirement home. “She’s in there.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

Dee cut her eyes at him. “Are you doubting my magic?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Your friend lives here. She might not be here right this moment, but this is where she calls home.”

He unbuckled his belt and sighed. “I can’t believe she ended up here.”

Dee couldn’t believe it either. No wonder he had a soft spot for the whole caring thing. His lady love was either a live in nurse or a nurse’s assistant. “Look, it’s late.

Maybe we should come back tomorrow.”

“No. I need to see her now. I’ve waited so long.” He climbed out of the van and stalked toward the dark entrance.

“Joshua!” she shouted behind him as she climbed out of the driver’s seat. “Wait up, daddy longlegs.”

Dee wondered how they were going to get the attention of the staff when the place was so obviously closed for the night. But to her surprise, someone was waiting at the door. A tall redhead in a tight, white uniform smiled as they approached. Was that Emily? Dee’s stomach dropped to her knees as she realized he was about to hook up with his woman, and Dee would once again play the third wheel.

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“Can I help you?” the nurse asked.

“I’m here to see Emily Lane,” Joshua said.

“Of course,” the nurse said. “We’ve been waiting for you.”

Dee saw Joshua’s shock, but the nurse must have missed it. Dee had to admit, she was a little shocked herself.

“This way,” the nurse said, and held out her hand.

Joshua nodded and followed her lead. Dee, forgotten in the excitement of the moment, fell in line behind him. Down the quiet corridors they walked, their steps echoing on the cold tiles as they went. Urine and sweat and age rose to fill Dee’s nostrils, as well as that old familiar stench of death and decay. She wondered if there was a zombie on staff, but decided that the smell was coming from everywhere. She supposed that you didn’t have to be dead to be a zombie. Just abandoned like an old, forgotten photograph; a thing to be dragged out at holidays and then pack away again until the next important date. In some small way, she was glad her grandfather didn’t have to see this side of old age.

As they reached the end of the hall, the nurse stopped outside of the last door on the right. “It won’t be long now. I’m glad you could make it. Please let us know if we can get you anything.” The nurse paused and placed a hand on Joshua’s shoulder before she added, “I’m very sorry.”

Dee couldn’t have thought such a pallid man could have gotten any paler, but what little color Joshua had to his face drained completely. He pushed past the nurse and into the room beyond.

“Emily?” he asked in a quiet voice, before the door closed behind him.

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“Spouses are just as welcome,” the nurse said.

Dee narrowed her eyes. “I’m not his spouse.”

“You’re her granddaughter?”

Dee shook her head. “Just a friend. Of his.” She almost said Joshua’s name, but her sense of danger kept her tongue still.

“Ah. We didn’t even know Miss Emily had a grandson before tonight. None of her nieces or nephews mentioned him. I’m just glad he could make it before…” The nurse let the unspoken words fill the gap as she left Dee alone outside the door.

Dee was confused. She didn’t want to interrupt the lovebirds’ private reunion, but enough was enough. She needed some answers, and now. She gathered her righteous irritation to her and pushed the door open.

What lay beyond was typical of the old-style hospital rooms in its sterility and joylessness. The white walls were spotted with age and neglect, as was the equipment scattered about the place. Joshua was seated on the edge of a small bed, leaning over the still form of a sleeping elderly woman. Even in her advanced age, Dee could see the traces of beauty the woman once bore. But ever more present was the overpowering funk of death. The woman’s chest went nearly concave with every breath.

Joshua had the woman’s frail hand in his strong one, stroking her paper-thin skin in slow, loving strokes. He looked up from the sleeping oldster with tear-filled eyes, and nodded at Dee. His voice hitched as he spoke. “Come in. She’s resting. I think she’s almost gone.”

The sound of his breaking voice stirred the woman. Her eyes fluttered open, and rolled around to rest on the sight of Joshua. In a weak voice she asked, “Josh?”

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“Emily,” Joshua whispered.

“Oh my Lord, Josh. Is that really you?”

“Yes, my angel. It’s me.”

A gorgeous smile spread across her aged face, lighting up the room and lifting years away from Emily. “I must be in heaven, then.”

Joshua reached out and caressed her face. “Not yet, my love. But you will be.

Heaven thinks they have angels now? They don’t know what an angel is.”

Dee’s breath caught in her throat at the tender sight.

“Everyone said you were dead,” Emily said.

“I was without you,” Joshua said.

“I waited so long.”

“I know.”

“I kept the church reserved. For three weeks. But you never came back.”

Joshua closed his eyes and pressed her hand to his face. “I wanted to. Oh God, Emily, I wanted to.”

“You haven’t aged a day,” Emily said as she ran a trembling finger over his cheekbone.

“Not by choice,” he said. “I wished we could have…together…”

“I don’t want to know what happened,” the woman said. “Do I?”

Joshua thought about it for a moment, then shook his head.

“Was it that horrible man?” she asked.

“Yes,” Joshua answered.

The answer seemed to satisfy Emily’s curiosity, but only inflamed Dee’s.

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“You always knew where to find trouble,” Emily said. She coughed a few times, and returned to her thick wheeze. “I got married.”

“I hoped you would,” Joshua said, his words belying the sorrow on his face. “Did he take good care of you? You always deserved the best.”

“He died young,” Emily said. “I quit after that. Twice was too much. Why are you here? After so many years, why come back now? I must look so horrible and old and—”

“No,” Joshua said over her lament. He cupped her face in his hands. “You’re beautiful, my angel. You always will be. I came back because I had to tell you that I never stopped loving you. And I never will.”

“I love you,” Emily said. “I always felt you out there, somewhere. They said you skipped town, said you were dead. But in my heart I knew you were there. I felt you.”

“I felt you too.” He patted his chest. “Emily, your love kept me going, all these years.”

Emily smiled as a pale crimson flushed her wrinkled face.

“I have something for you,” Joshua said as he pulled the box from his pocket and slipped the ring free. Emily gasped and for a moment Dee thought the excitement might do the poor thing in. Joshua gingerly took his lady by the hand and slid the ring onto her finger.

“I do,” Emily whispered.

“As do I.” He leaned low and kissed the woman with such passion, such fire that Dee was sure he would crush the poor lady’s fragile bones. But Emily held up, kissing him just as fiercely in return. Dee felt a pang of guilt as she watched the age-gapped lip 143

lock. She dipped her head under her hand and turned to the door as the sounds of their kiss drifted to her. The room soon fell quiet as the passionate moment passed.

“You,” the old woman said.

Dee turned to find Emily looking at her. She smiled at the elderly woman.

“You watch him,” Emily said. “He can’t take care of himself. Never could.”

“I’ll try,” Dee said, surprised at the crack of her own voice. She didn’t even realize she was crying until the salt of her tears reached her quivering lips.

Emily turned back to Joshua. “She’s very pretty.”

“Not as beautiful as you, my love,” Joshua said. He caressed her face again. “No one ever was, or ever will be.”

“I have to go now,” Emily said.

“Please don’t,” Joshua said. A single tear broke free and rolled down his pale face. “Not so soon.”

“I’m sorry. It’s time.”

“Emily. Please don’t leave me.”