Time to Say Goodbye

Her mom answered the door and was surprised to see that it was me.

"I'm just dropping by, I need to ask Sammy something." I'm fluent in Liar.

Her mom told me to go up to her room and I took the stairs two at a time, all that unused testosterone was coming in handy. I knocked and before she could answer I opened the door and walked in. Sammy looked up to see who it was, frowned at me and then continued her very important phone call. Her room was the usual mess, which would help me a lot. I walked to the laundry basket which was in her range of vision and being a typical woman, she didn't disappoint me. As I came in range, she turned her back on me. Thank you. I reached in and pulled something out - a pink bra. Please don't look now. I silently begged while I stuffed her bra down the back of my pants. I reached for something else, hoping to sneak out two items before Sammy turned to face me, but I was too slow and I got caught red-handed, and the red extended to the tips of my ears. I could feel it.

"Hang on, I have a small problem here. Get back to you in a minute." She put the phone down.

"What the fuck are you doing Chuck?"

"I can't explain. Long story, but I need to borrow a change of clothes from you for another girl, please." Yes; it did sound like a bit of a cheek to me as well. She folded her arms over her chest and waited. I mentally compared the size of her breasts to Amy's, they looked about the same to me.

"Well?" Sammy said.

"Well what? Are you going to help me or not?"

"Who's the girl? Why does she need clothes?"

"I can't tell you that and I can't tell you that either. All I can say is that if you were in my position, you'd do the same. I think. I hope." Now she had the frown back, that meant more questions. I shook my head and turned to leave.

"Never mind." I walked towards her door.

"Wait."

I turned.

"Is that my bra in the back of your pants?" The flush on my cheeks deepened to purple, I swear.

"Yes." I said, ashamed and pulled it out. I handed it to her and she looked at me quizzically.

"You really can't tell me anything?"

"No, I'm sorry, I gave my word." I could see the gears churning in Sammy's head. I wisely used this opportunity to shut up. Anything I said now would make that process of empathy toward another woman come to a halt. I waited. She frowned again. Then Sammy came through for me and started digging in her drawers.

"Is she the same size as me?"

"Close enough." She handed me a black sports-bra.

"It stretches." She explained. I stretched it to see and she slapped my hand. In the end I had a complete change of clothes. I leaned over and kissed Sammy thank you. Sammy smiled.

"Whoever she is, she's got you to crawl out of your shell. That's a good thing Chuck."

"Yeah." I said going right back in. I didn't know what else to say so I waggled my fingers in good-bye and hurried back down the stairs and out before her mother could interrogate me. I live above the garage, granted my landlord is my dad, and my mother is a nosey woman but I still managed to slip up to my apartment and stash the clothes before either of them realised I was home. I was ravenous because I had chucked everything earlier, before mom could shout that dinner was ready, I was standing in her kitchen with a pickle bottle in my hand. My mother came to the kitchen to check on the food.

"You'll spoil your appetite Charles." Ugg, she was in one of those moods. I silently put the pickle bottle back and went to see if my dad wanted a beer. He was in his war room, painting his miniature soldiers, readying them for another battle.

"Hey, dad. Want a beer?"

"Is she still in her mood?" I nodded.

"Rather not." He replied. "But I'll come up later with a couple." He amended, shooting a glance to the door. I hung around the war room until my mother called us for dinner. I didn't want to give her any excuse to bring my dinner upstairs. Afterwards I made myself scarce and as soon as I was in my apartment, I sat down in front of my computer and began to gather information about zombies. It was easier than I thought it would be. I found a couple of good guides about zombies and a helpful survival guide. I couldn't believe it but there were even scientific papers on zombies. It appears they are not as fictional or uncommon as the world might think they are. By the time dad made his way up with a six-pack in hand, I had downloaded about a gig's worth of material that I would print on Ted's printer. My dad glanced at the computer screen.

"You and your friends playing zombies again?"

"Something like that."

"You should get a hobby." He sounded like my mother. I scowled.

"I met a girl today." I said purposely changing the subject from thin ice to cracking ice.

"That's great son, when will you bring her around so we can meet her?" Never.

"I'm not sure yet dad."

Dad drank his beer, I drank my beer. We both sat back in our chairs and contemplated life silently.

"It's good that you have yourself a girl. Grandma worried that I would spend life as a bachelor, we both suffer from shyness. If you ever need help knowing how to do... stuff... with her, I can help you."

"You mean like sex dad?" Dad blushed, his ears went red, I looked at a picture of myself thirty-five years from now. I had better get a woman now, I thought, dad wasn't ugly, just old. I would never find a wife if I left it for thirty-five years. My own mortality made my stomach sink like a stone. At twenty-five a large, delusional part of me still believed I was immortal. Death was something that happened to old people. When I thought about it, I realised death came just as easily to those who are young. I shuddered at the thought and quickly put it aside.

The following morning I was standing next to my bike at Eternal Rest a few minutes before six am, I was armed with a USB stick. I had found everything I needed to know and probably a whole lot Ted didn't know, even with ten years experience. I was very pleased with my efforts. Ted got out of his car scowling, he wasn't in the best of moods generally and this morning specifically. I would have to dance around him. He unlocked the office and we went inside, I immediately decided that sucking up was my best option so I put on the coffee pot and didn't attempt communication until I had handed him his coffee. He looked at me - waiting for me to say something.

"I found out a lot."

He looked at me disbelievingly.

"You do know the difference between reality and the zombie apocalypse right?"

"Zombies do exist." I said stubbornly and Ted shook his head. I wasn't going to get into a war about a technical term with him, so I left the head shaking and asked him if I could plug my stick into his computer. I wiggled my chair until it was next to his and took control of the mouse. I opened up the first book I found.

"See here? She's not a garden variety zombie, they have no brains and just shuffle on and on and on searching for human flesh. This is what I think Amy is," I said and pointed to the screen. A Voodoo zombie. I forged ahead as if Ted couldn't read.

"Although it is said that voodoo houngans (priests) can turn humans into zombies by magical means, the practice is rooted in hard, undeniable science." Ted began shaking his head even more.

"Rubbish." He said.

"No, listen," I continued. "Voodoo zombies show emotion." He looked at me and I thought I saw the same sadness I had seen the previous evening come back into his eyes, I didn't know if that sadness came with hope or without.

"It's a plant, the root is a neurotoxin, that's what the priests use." I said encouraging him to believe, Amy could show emotion, this is what she was.

Ted began reading to me, "They exhibit thought. They feel pain and recognize fire. They can communicate. They can be controlled..."

"And they don't need human flesh to survive." I finished for him.

"It says here a zombie will decay to nothing in two to five years." Ted looked at me questioningly. The tide was turning and I patted myself on the back - in my head.

"I haven't found the rate of decay for a voodoo zombie," I admitted, "but I see there are stories of people recognizing the same zombie in an area for twenty years."

"I don't want to keep her in a freezer drawer for another decade, but what choice do I have? The neighbors will smell the decaying flesh immediately."

"We'll figure something out. Two heads are better than one." Ease up on the ass licking Chuck, don't overdo it.

"Oh," I said pulling my bag towards me, I took out the clothes kindly donated by Sammy. "Before I forget, easy as pie." I said handing them to him. He looked very uncomfortable.

"I don't have to dress her do I? Can voodoo zombies dress themselves?"

"I don't know." I said, and then smoothly slid myself into my next meeting with Amy. "I guess we'll find out together." I could feel Ted staring at me, I refused to look at him. I continued scrolling zombie material as if it was my daddy's porn. When Dilly the receptionist arrived, our secret meeting broke up. I didn't see Ted for the rest of the day, until he closed up that afternoon. I pulled the hearse into the garage and met him at the door in the passage.

"You're not going to give up are you?" He asked me.

"Nope, 'fraid not." Ted shook his head again and we walked into the back room. I noticed he had brought the clothing along. He opened Amy's draw and nudged her shoulder gently. She opened her sapphire blue eyes. In my opinion, that's what her parents should have called her; sapphire. I drowned so easily in those eyes. Amy smiled up at us.

"She recognizes me from yesterday." I said, very pleased. My theory of a voodoo zombie was correct.

"Chuck got you some clothes." Ted said to her. As with the day before, she started off rusty, with a word at a time.

"Chuck. Thank. You."

"It's my pleasure." I said and beamed at her like a silly fool.

"Yeah, they've been lying under his bed for too long." I glared at Ted and he laughed. I could see that Amy had no idea why her father was laughing, but she giggled a little too. I realised he hadn't said it to be unkind to me, he had said it because he knew that if he laughed, his daughter would imitate him. He wanted to hear Amy laugh, that's all. Well, two can play that game.

"Yeah, I got tired of taking them to the Laundromat for your dad." I gave a hearty laugh, Ted didn't laugh, he was glaring at me, but Amy did. She giggled at my laughter as she did at Ted's. When he heard her, the glare softened. He understood, that I understood, from his expression he looked both happy and sad at that knowledge. He didn't want to share his secret, his daughter, yet the appreciation that someone else showed for his daughter made him less sad and lonely in the burden he carried.

Amy got the clothes on with a little help, I helped her with her bra and Ted glared six inch holes into my back, you'd think the man would have stepped out, but he didn't trust me with his zombie princess. After that day I tried different things, hoping one would perhaps reverse the neurotoxin, I helped myself to a pack of meat from home and tried to get Amy to eat raw meat instead of rats. I still shuddered every time I thought about it. She didn't seem to care what meat it was, she always said it was good. Then I tried herbs, and that was not a good idea, her body wouldn't tolerate anything but meat. She squished her face together as if I'd dumped tequila down her throat. I only tried herbs once, I didn't want to see a zombie throw up. I tried keeping her out of her drawer for a couple of hours, with a car freshener hanging around her neck, I didn't think she smelled bad, Ted thought differently.

What started as an intention to help Amy and perhaps Ted changed into something else. One day I realised I was trying to date her. I realised that I had forgotten that she was undead, or a zombie, I thought of her as a woman, a beautiful woman and nothing else. I walked into the back room and opened her drawer. I kissed her softly on her lips and sleeping beauty awoke.

"Hi." I said softly.

She smiled.

"Hi. Chuck." There was no improvement in her communication skills, but no deterioration either. She always started off in a low voice, reminiscent of smoker who liked a glass or two of Jack's finest. Always haltingly, a word at a time. It seemed that as she thawed she reached her full potential, but that crest didn't last long, then everything began to decay again. Her speech, her movements, even her expressions.

I gave her food to her and she hungrily devoured the steak.

"Good." Amy said, as always.

When she was done, we sat together on the floor talking, mainly about my day, since all she had done was sleep. It saddened me that she never dreamed. Sometimes Ted would come in, but I think he was relieved that the responsibility of Amy had been taken from his shoulders alone. She said something I thought was funny and I leaned over and kissed her. I kissed her a lot, but it seemed as if she wasn't aware of what a kiss meant. Today was different, when I kissed her she slowly reached up with her fingertips and touched her cheek where I had kissed her. She looked at me and it was as if something sparked in her eyes, I allowed myself a flicker of hope.

Amy leaned towards me and planted a very soft, very gentle kiss on my cheek. I didn't know if she had learnt something or was mimicking me, and I didn't care. I leaned over towards her and gently took her chin in my hand and turned her face towards me. She looked at me with those big blue eyes and watched as I kissed her on her mouth. I leaned back slightly to see her reaction. That was definitely a spark of recognition in her eyes, but she hadn't done this before, so there was nothing to recognize as a memory or something. She leaned toward me and holding my chin in her hand she kissed me on my mouth. I dare you Chuck. An improper, thoroughly improper, thought had weaseled its way into my mind.

I leaned towards her again and this time I kissed her over and over, I let my tongue run over her lips and kissed her again, her lips parted slightly and I let my tongue wander over her lips again and let it enter her mouth slightly before I pulled it back out again, as I had hoped, her tongue followed mine and I let her into my mouth. Our tongues touched and then began turning around, rolling and dancing with each other. By the time our kiss ended I was panting. I pulled back to see her reaction again and was rewarded with Amy attacking me; pressing her lips to mine. She kissed me so passionately, she wasn't imitating me, I had woken something up deep inside her. Her tongue was all over and she nuzzled and bit my neck softly and licked my ears. If I didn't stop things now... because my cock was straining and paining and the worst part was that this didn't feel wrong, it felt very, very right.

I wanted to push her away, I wanted to think about what I was doing but my cock wouldn't let me, I was his prisoner now and driven by his need. I let myself fall back on the floor and Amy instantly straddled me, still kissing me in a frenzy.

"Wait." I panted. "Let's slow down." You - are a first class idiot Chuck. She's practically having her way with you and you want to think about it? Since she ignored me, I ignored my little voice and gave myself to her completely. Somehow in the kissing and groping we turned and then I was on top. I undressed her and as soon as I got her blouse off (fucking buttons were a curse invented by women to frustrate men I decided) I just about ravished her breasts, holding, fondling, caressing, kissing and sucking her nipples into hard points. I couldn't get enough of them. When I stopped to draw a quick breath, I realised that Amy was arching her back off the floor and although she wasn't panting, she was moaning. Loudly.

I sat up and took my shirt off. Amy was tugging at her skirt, which I gladly helped her get rid of. I did the same thing with my jeans and underwear, got rid of them. She was entranced by my erect, pulsing cock. I was thrilled and I gasped when she touched me. God it felt good. I let her explore my body with her hands until I thought I was going to explode. I took her hands in mine, gathering strength to speak.

"Wait, if you carry on I'm going to cum. I don't want to cum outside of you. I want to feel you under me, I want to feel myself inside you and you open to me. And I want to touch you." I took a deep breath.

"Touch me Chuck." I did, I explored her beautiful, rounded, feminine body with my fingertips, I started at her slim and graceful neck and trailed my fingers over her breasts and nipples. I leaned down and kissed her navel, my fingers slipped into the wetness between her legs and my cock pained again. I looked up, Amy was staring at me with her blue eyes burning blue fire, she was definitely turned on. She touched my cock again, this time holding me while I let my fingers roamed wherever they wanted, I was not an expert. She gasped when I touched the top of her slit, so I did it again and she moaned and she let her head fall back. Ah, I had found the magic button, I focused on this tiny little area and Amy began to thrust her hips at me, she grabbed me behind my back and dug her fingernails in. Strangely, that was a turn on. I groaned with pleasure, she was jerking and shuddering and then just as suddenly she went slack and lay back on the floor. I stopped, worried I had hurt her or something. She was lying with her eyes closed.

"Amy?" I managed to squeak. Amy opened her eyes and the blue fire still burned, but the frenzied look had left her, leaving her looking content and satisfied. She smiled sweetly at me.

"Thank you." She said.

"We're not done sweetheart." I smiled feeling like a shark.

"More kissing?" She asked.

"Something much nicer." I rolled onto her and positioned myself at her entrance. I gave her a reassuring smile and pushed into her. I felt her hymen break and it was suddenly easier to push into her. I was carefully looking at her for signs of pain, but she didn't feel it. Her only reaction was to open her mouth in surprise. I was surprised myself, it felt so good. But then my brain froze and my body took over completely. I thrust into her and felt her tighten around my cock, a fire had started somewhere low down in my abdomen, a delicious fire which made me break out in sweat and want to rock us together even faster. The fire spread and joined my balls and my cock to the furious wave beginning to roll over me, she was tight, my balls felt tight, the wave rolled over my stomach and then rolled back down and I felt my cum pushing through my cock and in a victorious shout I burst into her. The wave came again and I felt the second burst, moaning as I let it go. The waves became smaller and the throbbing ebbed away and I realized my arms were about to collapse and I was going to squash Amy. I don't know where I got the strength, some super-human reserve, but I used it all to push myself up and off of Amy and collapsed into a pitiful little ball beside her, still sounding like steam train with no brakes. When I regained the power of speech, I lifted my head to her face.

"Thank you." I grinned at her.

"It was good." She said and grinned back.

It was the best night of my life. Amy had never been more - human - more animated. I began to hope that love could reverse the neurotoxin. Love was strong enough; wasn't it?

"I want to take you home and put you in my bed, but I guess someone will notice if you disappear."

Not to mention the fact that although I lived in a two room apartment above a garage, the owners of the apartment were my parents. And my mother was particularly nosey. Amy would be discovered in no time. After some more after-love-making loving, I helped her to dress again. I didn't want Ted to suspect anything. After Amy was safely back in her drawer with a good-night kiss from me and a longing sigh from her, I rode home. Only taking my hands off the handles long enough to punch the air several times in victory. I was the happiest man alive. Okay, we had some obstacles, I admitted to myself but love would overcome them, I was sure of it.