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“We’re not here to do you harm,” Rune said, breaking through the uncomfortable quiet.
“There is nothing you can offer me other than a cure.”
“We gave you food and-”
“Take it back then,” Macy cut in, glaring at Juan. “I’ll find my own supplies.”
This was not going the way Emma had thought it would.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” Juan said, raising his hands in surrender.
“Then what is it you’re saying?”
“We’re here to help, ma’am,” Rune said in a gentle voice.
The situation was getting away from them swiftly.
Julian snarled in the corner, straining on the leash, which made it difficult to think straight. The radiator let out a metallic groan as it pulled away from the wall. Julian flung himself at Emma, the zombie child’s fingers gripping her arm in a painful vise.
12
Time to Move On
The tiny fingers of the zombie child were surprisingly strong as they dug into the tough fabric of Emma’s denim jacket. Growling, Julian slammed the face guard of the mask he was wearing against her arm. Behind the slim metal bars, his teeth snapped together as he strained to bite her and the smell of rot that emanated from his blackened mouth was overpowering. Gagging, Emma attempted to jerk her arm away from the child’s bruising grip, but couldn’t break free.
With a cry of dismay, Macy dashed across the room and grabbed her son about the waist. The child’s hold tightened on Emma’s sleeve as his mother attempted to yank him off. Grunting, the dead boy thrashed in Macy’s arms, fighting to reach his prey. He slammed the face mask into Emma’s arm over and over again, frantic to bite her.
“Julian, stop it! You know better!”
Juan joined the struggle. He attempted to pry the dead child’s fingers off of Emma’s arm, but Macy shoved him away and shot him a furious look.
“Don’t! He’s delicate!”
“I can’t hurt him,” Juan protested. “He’s dead!”
“He’s rotting. You might pull off a finger, or even his arm,” Rune soberly remarked.
Macy glowered at Rune, but didn’t refute his assertion.
Though dead for months, his dark skin discolored, his fingernails blackened, and his once dark eyes pale and lifeless, the boy didn’t look as decomposed as other zombies. He was gradually decaying. The virus slowed the natural process of decomposition in the zombies. Emma had observed that herself while clearing out her town. Julian looked deceptively alive from a distance, but up close it was evident he was a zombie.
At last, Macy managed to pull her son off of Emma and dragged him to the corner. “Julian, I told you not to do that! You can’t bite people!”
Eerily calm, Macy re-tied the leash to a more solid part of the radiator. She ignored Julian as he clawed at her, his fingers hooking into her afro and jerking her head toward him. Once his leash was secure, she focused on the zombie child and patiently removed his hands from her curls.
“No, Julian. Be a good boy,” she chastised him in a patient, loving tone.
Emma exchanged disbelieving looks with Juan and Rune, who were clearly unnerved by Macy’s interaction with Julian. The mother was acting like her dead child was just being naughty instead of a monster attempting to tear into Emma’s flesh. Her denial of his condition was startling and unsettling.
When Emma had seen Billy’s zombified corpse, her only thought had been to release him from his terrible existence. The difference between the two mothers was that hope of a cure had given Macy time to grow accustomed to her son’s condition. She was blinded by hope and love to the truth. For the first time, Emma realized they might not be able to convince Macy to join the others at the Fort. Their task was definitely more daunting and complex than Emma had thought, and she realized there was a good chance they would leave without Macy.
Rune crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes downcast and his expression grim. A sigh escaped his lips and he nervously tugged at his mustache. Since he was privy to a world Emma couldn’t see, she wondered what was so unsettling. She moved closer to him and nudged him with her elbow.
“Do you see something?”
Rune nodded once.
Juan ventured over to Macy’s side to make doubly sure the leash was tied securely to the radiator and probably to make sure it would hold. While he worked, the distraught mother lectured her growling zombified son while holding his arms firmly to his sides to keep him from lunging at her.
