Zombies Need Love, Too, J.C. Laird [red seas under red skies txt] 📗

Jasper’s car was parked around the corner, out of sight. Keeping to the darkness away from the streetlights, he was a mere specter flitting among the shadows near her house. Dressed in black, he hoped he was invisible. He was supposed to wait for her in the car, but he couldn’t help himself; every second with her was precious, and besides, escorting her to the car seemed the gallant thing to do.

Zelda came creeping around the side of her house; she’d obviously made good her escape. Her blonde hair and ponytail practically gleamed in the ambient light. She certainly wasn’t much good at this clandestine stuff. Her pace quickened as she cleared the shadows of her home.

Jasper was hiding behind the shrubs dividing the yards of the neighbor’s house and hers. “Psssst, Zelda, over here,” he hissed.

She stopped, looked and ran into his open arms. They kissed long and hard, locked in each other’s embrace. Finally, she broke away. “Oh, Jasper, I’ve missed you so much,” she said.

“And how I’ve longed for you, Zelda,” he replied. “Was it hard to sneak out?

“Nah, my dad is spending the night at the mortuary; he has a lot of prepping to do for a memorial service tomorrow. My mother’s home, but she’s had a few nips of the ol’ bottle today and should be out for the night. No biggie climbing out of my bedroom window.” Grabbing his hand she pulled him along. “Let’s get going; I don’t want to miss the movies.”

Hand in hand they ran through the darkness to his car. They piled into his classic ’69 American Motors AMX. The 2-seater sport car’s 390 horsepower engine rumbled to life. Jasper eased the gleaming, forest green gem down the street, keeping its throaty roar under wraps.

The Starlight Drive-In was one of only two left in the entire state of New Mexico, a throwback to an age gone by. But drive-ins were now a ‘retro’ thing and had been making a novelty comeback of sorts. Jasper pulled up to the ticket booth, purchased two and headed into the huge lot. He found a space near the middle, parked, rolled down his window and pulled the bulky, metal speaker off its stand. He hooked it onto the glass, rolled the window back up and fiddled with the volume knob. The voices emitting from the antique speaker were tinny and one-dimensional, a far cry from the 21st century’s Dolby and Surround Sound systems.

Although the evening’s entertainment had started shortly after sundown, the drive-in was only half full. The five story tall screen at the front of the lot was still showing ‘previews of coming attractions’, interspersed with invitations to the snack-bar for pizza, hotdogs, hamburgers, pop and popcorn, candy and what-not. The movies were projected onto the big screen from this building; the antiquated technology providing grainy and inferior pictures, a world away from the HD, 3-D and Blue Ray wonders of the present. But the young couples who frequented drive-ins very often had ulterior motives for enjoying this type of movie experience. The darkness, the privacy, the closeness and potential intimacy often led young lovers to miss much of the movies…

Both Jasper and Zelda pushed their seats back to get more comfortable. He put his arm around her shoulders. “You know, next time I get to choose the flicks, maybe a couple of the vampire ‘Underworld’ movies with Kate Beckinsale.”

Zelda punched him in the shoulder. “Vampire movies I can understand; there are a million of them and they’re your faves. But I think you want to watch those because she looks hot in her tight leather outfits.”

He grimaced in mock pain. “So instead, I get to watch the ancient, black and white ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and that 80’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’?

She whacked him in the shoulder again. “Those are zombie cult classics, and you know they’re my favorites!”

Jasper leaned over and slowly pushed her back against the door with his body, his lips covering her face with kisses. “I love you Zelda. Let’s run away somewhere, somewhere where nobody knows us; we can start a new life.”

Her lips were by his ear and he could hear the catch in her voice. “How could we, Jasper? We’re safe here in Chaparral; it would be so dangerous to move. Besides, we manage to see each other…”

He pushed himself away. “I want to be with you all the time, not just when we can sneak away. Our families will never let us be together; they don’t want us to intermix. If they knew we were seeing each other…well, I don’t know what they’d do…it wouldn’t be pretty. Maybe if we run away, we could set things up like they have.”

“We’d have to finish college first.” Zelda shook her head, her blonde ponytail wagging. “You don’t just snap your fingers and start a business like my family, or become doctors, like yours.”

“Maybe there’s other things we can do,” he grumbled.

She took his hand. “We’re safe here. If we ever blew our cover we—and our families—would be hunted down. Besides, not only are we comfortable financially, we’re healthy too!” Zelda couldn’t keep from laughing at this oxymoronic joke. Even Jasper was smiling.

“Maybe you’re right; it’s just so hard sometimes,” he said. He decided to change the subject. “Have you had any more problems with your ex-boyfriend—what’s his name—Remy? That guy really is a loose cannon, talk about blowing covers…”

Zelda frowned. “You know how moody he gets when it’s his ‘time of the month’; he just kind of goes a little berserk. And his jealousy was getting a little out of hand, for sure. It’s true he took the breakup kind of hard, but I think he’ll be okay, he’ll get over it.”

“Do you want me to have a little 'man to man' talk with him?”

“No!” Zelda’s pony tail was wagging again. “It’s been hard enough keeping both of you a secret from my parents. Just let things die down.”

Now, she was the one who decided to change the subject. She rummaged in his glove compartment and pulled out a small flashlight he kept there and shined it on her face. “Look at my skin,” she said. “Remember how it was starting to flake and rot? My dad finally formulated the freeze dried compound so it works nearly as good as fresh brains. Unprocessed is still the best, of course, and owning a mortuary certainly has its perks.”

“Has it helped your brother, Josh, or is he still on the morality kick?” Jasper asked. “I kind of like the kid, even as uptight as he is.”

Zelda frowned and shook her head. “He’s still into the spiritual stuff; he won’t even try anything human anymore, but animal parts and brains just don’t do the trick. He’s looking pretty bad; his nose fell off last week and he doesn’t talk anymore—he accidentally ate his tongue yesterday. But the worst was when he and Alice, his ghoul girlfriend, were fooling around and he decided a dose of Viagra might help and…well…there’s no longer anything left to help; it fell off, too. My parents have him locked up in the basement. I think they’re going to try and force feed him from the bodies at the mortuary.”

“I’m really sorry to hear that,” Jasper said. “But I do have some good news. Like your father and his improvements for zombies, my dad has been working on improving the conditions of us vampire 'undead'. He’s come up with a super sunscreen with a SPF 5000 that, with his new and improved tinted contacts, will allow me to get out during daylight hours. No more getting stuck with all night classes at University. And my dad won’t have to work the graveyard shift at the hospital all the time.”

“That’s super, Jasper, things are really starting to look up...well…except maybe for Josh. Now, we can start seeing each other during the day sometimes.” Zelda gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, opened her purse and pulled out a baggy with a grey, chunky substance in it. “We pretty much blew the first movie and I’m hungry, fortunately I brought some of the dehydrated stuff for a snack.”

“Hold on,” said Jasper. He reached behind the seat and opened a cooler he had stowed there. He pulled out a thermos, opened it and poured a cupful of warm blood into the cap. The rich, coppery odor filled the car. He breathed in deeply, the aroma of the blood tripling the length of his canines. Jasper took a long drought, licked his lips and sighed with contentment, his pointed teeth glinting in the reflected light. He refilled the cup and offered it to Zelda. “A fringe benefit of having doctors for your parents. Of course, like you say, fresh is best."

Zelda gulped it down. “Thanks, babe, that was just the right temp.” She started to dip into her baggy, paused and coyly put her fingers to her lips as a dainty belch escaped her. “Sorry, Jasper, I drank it too fast,” she giggled. She went back to the baggy.

“Wait, save that for dessert; I have a surprise for you,” he said. Jasper reached back into the cooler and pulled out a human forearm with the hand still attached. “A little 'finger food' for my love to munch on during the second movie.” Jasper chuckled at his witty pun.

Zelda giggled again and looked from him to the bloody, pale limb with abject appreciation. “You’re so good to me, Jasper. I love you.”

He leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the mouth, the blood from their lips and tongues mingling sweetly. “I love you too, Zelda.”

A loud pounding on the driver’s side window interrupted their embrace. They looked over and saw a wild-eyed, hairy face glaring at them, the eyes a furnace red. Glistening white fangs, dripping saliva, accented the ominous visage. Zelda, whose head was resting against the passenger window, looked up and out at the dark sky and the perfectly round, white orb shining down on them.

“Oh damn, a full moon,” she sighed. “It’s Remy; his parents are supposed to keep him locked up when the moon is full.” They could hear a low, throaty growl coming from the angry, hungry beast. Zelda shook her head and looked at Jasper. “Besides that 'man to man' talk, I hope you have more food in that cooler, babe.”