Undead Dilemma
Chapter 3: Back to Base

So on the looks side she seemed like the average high school girl to me. Definite notch on the okay to take to my place. On the down side column though is the big flashing wanted for a specific reason by monsters thing. To figure it out in the end though I guess I would have to wake her up and talk to her to get that final swing mark on if she was safe. Oh joy...I really don’t want to be the bearer of hey your family is dead and monsters want you for some spell that will make them immortal. No hope for it. I gently shook her shoulder, nothing. So grabbing her on both shoulders I shouted out, “Hey girl you need to wake up now!!” I know no not very sensitive but hey it worked. She started to moan a bit and her eyelashes fluttered a little before she finally opened her eyes. I could see she was a little bit unfocused, I could also tell the instant clarity came to her, because her pupils filled up her crystal blue eyes and she proceeded to shriek and shove at me trying to get away. “Hey, you’re okay.” “Stop screaming at me girl I am the good guy.” “I need you to calm down and talk to me okay.” I yelled at her. She stopped and sat staring at me. “Where are my mom and dad? Why did Tommy attack me?” she sobbed at me.

I winced and scooching a bit closer reached out to clasp her icy hands. “There is no nice or easy way for me to tell you, that your family was murdered by monsters.” I started. “They were killed because that is what bad monsters do...you were not killed and were taken because the monsters want you for some type of spell.” “Can you tell me what you remember? Anything you remember, it will help me figure out the best way to help you.” I said gently. She gripped my fingers a little and kind of dazed at the grass for a minute. “We were making a trip down to see all the old civil war sites. There was some kind of re-enactment going on in Praire Grove at one of the sites.” ” I was kind of against it at first, I had actually told my dad it was bound to be boring with just a couple of old dudes pretending to shoot at each other. It really ended up being pretty cool though, with everybody dressed up in that periods clothes. The actors did a really good job selling the enactment. The smoke in the air and everything.” “Tommy...” She choked for a minute. “Tommy especially enjoyed getting to watch and then getting to see the houses and weapons.” “He was really into seeing parts of history come alive.” she said.

“It took longer than I had thought it would so we didn’t get started back on the road to our historic hotel in Siloam Springs until it was already dark. We were all chatting back and forth about the day and mom was trying on the bonnet she had bought at the gift shop.” “Suddenly though dad kind of jerked in his seat, sat straight up and started steering towards the side of the road.” “It was really dark and I couldn’t make out anything outside the car. We weren’t near any houses it seemed.” “Mom was shaking dad’s shoulder and asking him what was wrong.” “Then I could kind of hear this quiet song coming from outside the car and everything started getting fuzzy it seemed. Kind of felt like my head and body were being filled up with cotton and I couldn’t move. Then it was like I was turned off like you would do with a light switch or the TV.” “When I came to I was laid out and trussed up on this table thing and...and all these scary things, like you hear about as a kid where standing around me.” “Then that weird, robed guy told Tommy to bite me ....and he did.” ” I guess I passed out then because it hurt and it didn’t look like my baby brother, you know.” she blubbered at the end.

She broke down crying then, covering her face with her hands. I moved over to her and just held her close while she cried out the terror and heartache. It reminded me painfully of when I had found my parents dead. At least I had known monsters where real and why they would destroy my life. This girl had no clue about the world she had been shoved into, the world that had torn her family from her and left her alone in this one. At least I could help her a little. She stopped sobbing after a bit and just kind of lay against me. She had reached the numb, dream like state that happens after a major drama. I rubbed small circles on her back, for the moment just giving her the comfort of my warmth and being there. When she started to pull away and sit up I figured it was time for me to do a small amount of explaining.

“My name is William you can call me Wit though. The simplest way to start this I guess is to first say that yes monsters are real.” “Most are nice just like people but just like people there are evil ones.” I explained. “The ones tonight were bad. They stopped and killed your family because you are apparently special.” “There is something about you that can’t be affected by the zombies’ poisonous bite.” ” I don’t know why or how. My family is a part of a select few who have known about monsters, we try to clean up after those that go bad and protect the humans as best we can.” ” I am sorry for your family, if you would like I can take you to where I have buried them?” I asked gently. “Yes please.” she whispered out. I led her the short distance. You could just make out the mound where I had placed them and the three crosses I had quickly made to mark the site of their grave. She knelt down and a fresh batch of tears began. I took about a dozen steps away to give her some space for her grief. Probably about an hour later she stumbled over to where I stood. I reached out and took her hand. “Come with me.” I said. “I will take you to my place where you can get some rest and we can talk more in the morning.” She shook her head yes and we started walking through the trees to where I had my car parked. She looked back only once at the place where her life had been changed, she looked at me for a second, put her head down and let me lead her away.

I woke in the morning around five like I always do. I stretched out my limbs before climbing off of my guest bed. Since my guest room doesn’t get used very often it hadn’t been aired out in a while, so I let the girl take my room. Having to take care of myself I had no reason to worry about her seeing any kind of mess. When we got back last night I had led her straight back, took off her shoes and just bundled her up under the covers. Now I got up, went to the restroom to attend my bodily needs and made my way to the kitchen to rustle up some breakfast. I figured for this morning I would make some egg burritos. She would need the filling food for energy as well as comfort. She shuffled in about the time I finished cooking the eggs up. “Sit down and eat for now.” I told her. “We can talk after you have some fuel in ya.” I prepared the plates, set them on the table and got us some apple juice to drink. I sat down and watched her until she started to eat and then started in on my own plate. I of course finished first, so I gave her more time by going to the sink and washing up the dishes I had used. Once done I took a coke out of the fridge, sat back down at the table and waited for her questions to begin.

I watched her toy with the food left on her plate for a bit, finally though she pushed the plate away and looked up at me. Her eyes struck me for a moment, they hadn’t looked quite so crystalline last night. It made her face from cute to breath-taking. I stared and waited for her to begin. I had said a piece last night and until she spoke I would not know which direction we would need to take from here. She gathered up her courage a moment, gripped her hands together and then spoke. “I want to thank you for helping me last night and for all the kindness that you have shown to me.” she said a bit quietly. “My name is Cassie Anne Kirk; my friends just call me Cake.” “William Isaac Tayler” I replied to her. “Which explains why you told me to call you Wit.” she smiled a little as she said it. “I can’t say that I understand the reason behind the whole attack last night. I don’t understand it at all. I do know that if I am special as you said, then they will be back for me at some point.” She voiced strongly now. “I have no family left to go to...and with my family dead I would rather not go back home.” She blushed. “I know the feeling.” I told her. She looked up at me then and we shared a joined moment.

“I am going to ask something of you and I know that it will cause you terrible trouble.” “I would like to stay and help you to get rid of the ...monsters that destroyed my family?” She looked at me pleadingly. I looked down at my coke and thought for a moment. I would be taking on a newbie. Someone that the they wanted. She would be dedicated enough I knew at least that much. I looked her over a little more carefully this time. I could see the fire in her eyes, I recognized it having seen it enough in my own eyes that first year after I lost my mom and pops. I looked at her arms and hands, I could see a little definition there, so at least I wouldn’t be having a complete wimp. Her hands had some callouses here and there and her nails were kept unpainted and short, so not a spoiled brat either. No need to look at the legs I had already seen the promise there from the informal viewing last night. I looked back up at her face. “You will face things that you believed were simply fantastical tales. If I agree...and you join, there will be no turning back.” I scowled just a little. “Most lesser humans no nothing of the monsters, just as you did not before last night.” “The secret must be kept, so if you join up it is for good and until your death.” “Do you understand this?” I asked her.

She clasped her hands together and stared at them for a while. She tightened her grip, clenched her jaw a moment and fired those eyes at me. “Yes.” she said ” Okay.” I replied. ” Well then, Cake, you will need to receive a crash course in the monster world.” “Normally for that I have plenty of books and there are several special websites where information can be added or gleaned when you have the time.” “For this though I believe we will need to get in contact with a good buddy of mine, goes by the name of James.” “Need to know anything about monster kind you look no further than him. He is also the only man I would one hundred percent trust at my back.” I eyed her meaningfully as I stated this. She had yet to be tested in the fire. “Let us go to my goody room and call him up, see if he has the next twenty-four hours free to train you up enough for field work.” I stood up and beckoned her to follow me back into my comp room. I sat down and wheeled over to my main system. Booted up and called up my skype for James. It rang only a couple of times before he picked up. He is somewhat on the lanky side just like me. He has short black hair, brown eyes and a thing for super hero tees. He was currently wearing one of his Batman ones from what I could tell. “What up Wit man! Been ages since you hit me up, buddy.” He immediately reminded me.