Apocalypse - 9. Chapter 9: Rejuvination

“Panah! Pahan!” was all I heard, along with a frantic banging against the door when I woke up.

“I-I'm okay Ashi,” I weakly choked out as I opened my eyes and found myself lying on the floor of the shower. The steamy water cascaded over my skin, but I had a feeling the steam came from the water vaporizing as it hit my burning flesh. My neck burned horribly, but I decided it would be best if I didn't tell Ashi or Ling.. I mean, why worry them?

“Open the door,” I heard Ashi plead from the other side. It took me a few minutes, but eventually I shakily stood, wrapped a towel around my waist, stumbled to the door, and fumbled with the lock. I had barely any strength left and needed to lean against the door, so when Ashi opened it I fell straight into him, catching us both by surprise as we fell to the ground.

“Panah? You're really hot.. Are you okay?” He held back my head to look in my eyes.

I forced a smile, “Yeah, I just took a really hot shower. Thought I would relax, you know?” I even managed to let out a small laugh. Ashi stared at me with a seemingly blank expression. I couldn't tell if he believed me or if he was still concerned. Luckily Ling spared me from having to find out.

“Stop sex!” She threw a magazine at us, “You come now. I fix,” she said dragging my by my arm away from a smiling Ashi. At least she let me go briefly so I could put my clothes back on, but as soon as I finished, she dragged me over to the bed furthest from the door and made me sit on it while Ashi sat a few feet across from me on the other bed. I just stared up at Ling as she began pulling a curved needle and string out of a suture kit from the store.

Ling was.. beautiful. Although I don't really go for girls, I could truly appreciate her beauty and ever-present grace. The twenty-year-old had straight black, shoulder-length hair, with several purple streaks running from her scalp to the tips. I was amazed at how natural they looked, I didn't even see any black roots underneath the purple. She was short, as I guessed, only 5'3, but her body was proportional. Her frame was slender, but although she showed know signs of muscle, it was obvious from her display on the street that she was fully capable of fighting. As far as her.. 'chest' went, there was not much to see there, which made Ashi and I even more fond of her.

“Lie down,” she said, and without waiting for me to move, pushed me over. She pressed my good cheek against the bed, and without warning brought her hand down as hard as she could against the gash.

“Fuck!” I screamed as I felt the wound open up again and begin bleeding. “What the hell?”

“Soften scar. No talk,” she said, pushing my head back down.

“What?” I asked her, truly confused, prompting her only to hit my arm.

“No talk!” I decided to stay silent, but gazed pleadingly at Ashi, who seemed to be enjoying this with a large grin on his face.

“I think she means she is breaking any scar tissue that was forming so she can sew it up,” he said as she gave just one quick nod. She then proceeded to hold my head down and picked up the needle with a pair of pliers.

“Hey where did you get pliers?”

“No talk!” she responded, adding to the bruise forming on my arm again. I decided my time would be better spent pleading with those azure eyes again.

“When you were in the shower we both went to a grocery store next door,” Ashi explained and when he saw my eyes widen and me begin to protest, he added, “Don't worry, the specters had left and we were fine.”

“Ashi was very brave. Kill undead in store. Maybe you call zombie. He kill three.” Ling said as she began to align the needle with my skin. Before I could even scold or question Ashi, I gasped as I felt the sharp pinch of her pushing the needle through and it emerging right below my eye.

”We should only travel as a group-” I began, but stopped as soon as I was slapped again.

Ashi broke eye-contact with me and said, “I'm really sorry Panah, but we needed food and more supplies. It was just a fast trip I promise.. Are you mad?” He gazed pleadingly into my eyes, tears beginning to form around his. I just smiled at him, letting him know I wasn't mad, not wanting to risk Ling smacking me again, or having her mess up the stitching.

“Ashi add to you book. He write about zombie.” Ling said, pushing the needle through, as I gazed up at Ashi again.

“Yeah, I followed your normal format from what I read,” he explained, “Their eye-color, smell, method of attacking, and intelligence.” When I raised my eyebrows, showing interest, he continued, “I think as you saw from earlier their eyes are yellow, a cloudy yellow; their smell is just decay, plain and simple; their method of attacking seems to be predatory.. like they rely on scent, but they seem to have no subtlety; and they don't seem to be too smart, but it seems like all the movies are true, that we need to destroy their brains.” Ashi concluded, looking very pleased with himself and more so when I smiled up at him, but after a short pause added, “I-I told Ling about.. Terku.. Neither of us could figure out how he.. changed.. No bite..” After he said this, we broke eye contact and another silence fell over us.

“Specter smell wintergreen,” Ling mumbled while leaning over my face, effectively breaking the silence. My only response was to look back at Ashi, waiting for him to explain.

“Oh yeah, and we noticed the lingering smell of wintergreen when we went out and assumed it was from the Specters, so I added that to your journal as well.” Ashi explained, seeming to enjoy the distraction.

“I done!” Ling proclaimed proudly, tying off and cutting the thread, “Now clean face.”

With that she let me up, “Thank you Ling,” I said pulling her into a hug, it made her stiffen, but she allowed it. I then made my way to the bathroom, feeling a dull throbbing and a tightness in my cheek. When I looked in the mirror, I was very impressed by Ling's handiwork. My cut was now neatly closed up, with seven small 'x's. They seemed to be flawless and each one was identical and evenly spaced out. I gently splashed some cold water against my burning cheek and washed away the little bit of blood seeping out. I then wet a tissue with cold water and pressed it against my throbbing neck, which was still causing me to have trouble keeping my balance. Before either of them could get suspicious, I returned back to the main room.

“So, what kind of stuff did you guys get?” I asked, sitting next to Ashi and cuddling with him.

“We get many can food, many bandage, many other.” Ling replied, sitting across from us on the other bed.

“Wow.. very descriptive Ling,” I replied, smiling as I stared into her brown eyes. In response she raised her hand threateningly and smiled back.

“Soon you whole arm turn purple,” she winked deviously at me, causing the three of us to laugh.

Ashi then spoke up, “So anyways, where do you guys want to go.. tomorrow? Or whenever we wake up, because it doesn't seem like the sky is changing,” causing us all to look out the window and see the black swirling sky, with the azure scar across it, still releasing glowing.. shards.. to the Earth below.

“There port close, yes? Father get many business item delivered there.” Ling spoke up.

“Yeah, Ling is right. If we continue down this road, going further from town, there is a trade-port. We might be able to take a boat to an island somewhere.. that's what they do in zombie movies at least.” I added.

Ashi shrugged, “Yeah, but that's only for zombies. Remember, we have also seen Vampires, Specters, and Ignari.” Just the mention of Vampires made my neck burn again.

“We look in cargo ship?” Ling suggested, as we pondered the possibility.

“Good point Ling. I think it's worth going just to check it out anyways,” Ashi replied, and then added as I leaned against him, “I think we should all rest now. I mean we have all had a big day.”

“Yes, so much run. I exhausted,” replied Ling, “I will take wash when wake up.”

“Oh that reminds me, we got some clothes too, Panah, so tomorrow morning we can all bathe again and then get some comfortable clothes.” Ashi said hugging me. “We even got some pajamas for tonight!” He added excitedly.

Not wanting to offend him, I smiled brightly at him, even though I felt like I was either going to pass out or throw up from the pain. “Thank you guys,” and then I added slightly sarcastically, “I'm glad out of everyone you were the only two survivors.”

“Maybe we find new,” Ling smiled, and we all pondered the possibility of adding more people to the group. After a pause Ling added, “Anyways, pajama now,” and we all proceeded to change into identical black sweatpants and long-sleeved shirts.

We then made sure the shades were tightly drawn and the door was locked well. We turned off all the lights and got into bed; Ling choosing the one nearest the door, leaving with Ashi and me to choose the one nearer the bathroom. We offered to switch with her, but Ling refused.

“Don't worry Ashi, if anything gets inside, just the sight of Ling will scare them off.” I joked causing Ashi to laugh.

“Tomorrow.. I hit you..” Ling said weakly, turning over on her bed and falling asleep. Ashi and I just cuddled closer, keeping each other warm in the slight chill of the motel room. It was fall after all, so it was almost time for frost to begin cutting through the air.

“I love you Panah,” Ashi said weakly, pulling me into a tighter hug and then closing his eyes.

“I love you too Ashi,” I replied, kissing him on the forehead and then leaning into him. Once I was sure he fell asleep, I let some tears flip from my eyes and whimpered slightly from the pain in my neck. What the hell was happening to me?

I decided I wasn't going to worry about it; wasn't going to think. Instead I enjoyed lying next to my partner and being able to hold him so tightly. I snuggled as closely as I could with him, and felt his icy breath against my burning face. Right before I fell asleep, I placed my warm lips on my lover's neck, feeling his blood flowing back and forth as my own neck throbbed in pain.