The Hook

The lady at the pier sang beautifully, and it reminded me of a person very distant from my life. Mother.. She took to the excesses of a cruise and fancy travels, but always warned my brothers and I against the very habits she indulged in. She always said the lady at the pier would sing like a Sandra, and then they traded in your soul if you aren't taking careful steps on the wooden boards at the docks. I held Sparrow's hand firmly as we walked on the red carpets that lay across the path, feeling weirdly like celebrities. The big big cruise loomed ahead and I remember the warnings from her voice. Beware of the lady at the pier, its as if my mother was there with me.

Wooden Docks

Luck befell the ones in folly. We approached the sounds and they had the red carpet rolled out at the lower docks for those who would enter. It was a massive ship, and many people were queued into it. At that point, the hints of an apocalypse was pretty much awash in people's mind, but they had no imagination for it. I wouldn't put it past them to sleepwalk through an earthquake. Many just wanted to leave the city, whereas we were just talking out the perils of abandoning the lands for a closed shoebox. The lady formally dressed in waiting was happy to usher us in for no cost, for it was a casino thing.

Scream

I heard screams from the outside of the barricade. It was one of my grandmother. I pushed aside the barriers and hugged her, and it was one of sorrow. I love you, grandmama. She bit into me so tenderly, so much so I could experience the entire poison coursing through my veins. It was beautiful, knowing that the delusions of the past had such splendor, the smell of blood intoxicating. It meant so much to see this path they had set their mind to, the way it gestated them into the undead. No, I whispered as I rose from slumber, it was not true because of the squeeze of her hand. My lady Sparrow rested beside me, and that was the truth. The cruise could wait.

Mirage

The morning arose, my eyes refused to open in all that comfort and warmth around. I was careful not to strain it, just relaxed on the mat, she was breathing softly beside me. That was all that mattered. This part of town was supposed to be cordoned off, but then in a distance I heard something like a string of words. It was not incoherent, but something like an invitation to cruise.. It wasn't far away. Maybe that would be it. When my eyes opened, I was back in the house. My yearning and imaginations had been pathological all this while.

Retreat

Where'd you get that? I held her hand. She said it was from what used to be my grandma. My heart sank. It wasn't fair. No one ever recovered well from such a bite, but thankfully, the mummified state they were in were induced in the screens, not bites. She wasn't an afflicted, and yet it was still a harrowing thing. There was always the urge to tell her to be careful of the subliminal fluff around, but the fears of being an annoying orange kept my mouth shut. We kissed, it was the only thing to do after such a terrible week, and fell into slumber on the mats with the sounds of the waves crashing over our heads. Sweetness, it was the flavour of the night.

Its just a small one

What did it mean by seeing those streaks of makeup lining her cheeks? We had reunited in the most unlikely of places. I was happy to see her, I teared up and embraced her fast, ignoring the knife in her hand. There was no sense that she would be vengeful. I missed you boo. She dropped the knife and her eyes were closed and her arms clasping me. "Me too," She said finally.. and then she led me to a cavern close by. She asked about the chase, which I replied it was terrifying, and she too had to sneakily escape because she remembered about the Pikachu. Unmistakably, I saw a bite on her hand.

Sparrow

It wasn't so dramatic of course. I followed it down the stairs and to the grounds, where the waves crashed. She was sitting on the rocks, and I approached her carefully. There was no one else around, and it was strangely silent, save the coos of the receding waves. Was it for real, after all these days of solitude, that she just appeared in front of me? My footsteps were silent, then when I stepped on some dirt, there was a sound and she immediately turned to me with a knife in her hand. She was crying.

To be Brave

There was no examination. Before my awareness returned, the things are already gathered and I was ready to go to her. There were many misgivings we shared, but those were inconsequential now. Peering out, they were all roaming around aggressive and hungry, sleepless in the moonlight. It was a mess to drop those things, but I did it anyways, the scent was intoxicating, and the noise deafening, and I ran out following the lingering mist of her. If it were to lead me to jump off the block I would, for her.

Nightmare

Deep in slumber, it was the only refuge from the perpetual chase. In those pockets I had seen her but mostly in a twice removed vantage point. Still, there was something not considered surely? Stirred and sweaty, my eyes hovered at the entrance, boarded by cupboards and the locked gate. Wearily, there was an outline of Sparrow from the exposed top of the gate, looking at me with tears. I was too tired to fully gather, then my eyes shut and moments later, a bellowy chorus of voices. They were outside, the undead. Franticly, I checked the bearings from the shadows. She was gone.

Heartless

I opened the door. There was no one making a sound. The panic in my heart grew exponentially. It wasn't a friendly vibe. No no no. The hallucinations of death were inevitable, you had to think it through a hundred times to make it through these dreary moments. I held the stuffed toy dearly, its the only thing I had of her, other than pictures. But it turned out to be the only thing of her scent, as the house was emptied. Curious. She must have been here for a while and left. But it seemed that it was me who was heartless. The sounds of the dead grew louder as the sun set. It was not safe.

Home

It was the old block where the zombies had turned, the corridor that seemed to undulate in my own psychosis. It was also there I had housed the things we had, separate from the old family. Living right beneath their noses during the peace time. That was my way of being there. I saw the stuffed pikachu at the gate and the feelings just came back. It was home. The place was a war zone, and the waves were still hitting the blocks and now that the painkiller drugs weaned off, it was no longer the menacing tower that loomed over the hearts of me and Sparrow. I smelt her scent.

Aftermath

In the end it was hopeless to wait for the ship. The threat of virus was dissipating but she wasn't to be found. The pressing matter was to always gather food and lodging in nearby caverns and abandonments. It was a sorrowful first few days, then when reality hit, it was time to move forward. Leaving the carpark vicinity was a foreign feeling, even if it wasn't supposed to be home. The plan now was to go back to the shack I call home and get my things, as well as the yellow stuff toy she left behind in absentia. Something we had forgot, but always loved.