Bloody Apples by Agent Aries (read an ebook week .txt) 📕

"Are you deaf?Come on, what do you want for dinner? If you don't pick something I'm just going to make boiled socks."I replied to her silence.

"There is so much."She whispered, seeming to be in awe of the canned goods in the fridge.

After the First Night, I went to every house I could see that was empty and took all the supplies I possibly could.Afterall it's not like the zombies had any use of the household items anymore.

"Well, of course.I'm paranoid and can't stand the look of a empty fridge." I don't know what I said but she suddenly burst into tears, causing the man to rush into the room.

"What did you do?"He hissed at me.

"I don't know.I just said that I was paranoid and couldn't stand the sight of an empty fridge."I snapped back, ready to strike out.

"Why are you not sad, or scared?"The girl asked between hiccuping gasps, catching me off guard.

"Why should I be?"I asked confused.

"Why?Because of those zombies outside!"The man looked at me disbelieving.

"But they're outside.I have no reason to be sad or scared if they are outside and I'm inside."I cocked a brow.

"But what if-"

"There is no what if.Now what do you want for dinner?I have all this and apples,and blackberries in the garden."I asked again.

There was silence for a beat before the little girl walked up to me and motioned me to kneel to her hieght.

"Can I have a apple?"She looked nervous at me, staring at her feet.

"Only an apple for dinner?No way!You have to have something else with it.Hmm, how about a can of chili with cooked veggies,ok?After that you can have an apple."She looked at me and started crying again causing me to whir back in bewilderment.

"Wha?I didn't do anything!Why are you-"She cut me off with a tight hug.

"Thank you!"I was beyond confused and looked up at the man who looked at first shocked then saw my face.

And chuckled.

"You!This isn't funny!Wha-"Then the woman came in, looking much better,took one look at me and started laughing too.

"Shut up!This isn't funny!"I growled embaressed.

I woke in the earliest hours of the day, barely still considered morning, to the shriek that rang through the house.

"Huh, what the fuck?"I grabbed my hammer, machete and bat before walking downstairs from the attic.

When I reached the bottom stair the kid slammed into me.

"Ah!What the hell kid?"I snapped.

"I saw a-a-a-"I slapped a hand over her mouth with my hand.

"If you can't speak without stuttering don't speak at all.Now take a deep breath and tell me what happened."I removed my hand.

It was comical watching her try to catch her breath when she was absolutely bursting with whatever she wanted to say.Finally she calmed down enough to take the deep breath I wanted her to.

"I saw a mommy and daddy deer!In the back yard garden!"She looked so excited, like she had discovered some new form of life.

Most of the animals around here had ran away after the First Night so I'm not too surprised that she was so excited.However that doesn't mean much aside from fresh meat on the table.

"They had a baby with it too!It was so cute and-and-"

"Girl if you keep chattering like that your going to pass out."I laughed as I pulled us up from the floor.

I smiled at her before turning towards the kitchen to make breakfast.Her little hand on my shirt stopped me though.I looked down at her when she tugged again at the hem of the ratty, torn grey shirt.

"What's your name?"She asked, her blue eyes shining up at me.

"Hmm, I don't know."I said,for some reason beyond my understanding.

"Huh, do you not remember?"She cocked her head, making her look even more adorable than before.

"No, it's just, I don't feel like the person who had the name.I'm not her anymore, I'm not anyone I used to know anymore.If that makes sense."I said looking off in the distance, a grimance starting to curl at the corners of my lips.

"Not really...Can I give you a name?"The girl asked, excited over the prospect of naming someone, like I was some kind of pet.

"Sure, if you tell me your name first."I said smartly, smiling gently.

"I'm Iris."

"Pretty name for a beautiful girl."I said and pinched her cheek lovingly.

"Hey!That's not nice!"I laughed at her flustered face.

"Well, what's my name Iris?"I smiled as I said it, my cheeks hurting from smiling so much recently.

"Hmmm.I don't know, I'll have to think about it."She looked thoughtful.

"Ok, how about in the meantime how about we have breakfast."She brightened, her eyes possitively glowing.

"Yeah!"I smiled and as I moved something caught my eye from the window.

It was an adult doe staring right at me,it's big huge eyes oddly colored like mine.One brown and one blue, before it rounded up her child and husband and disappeared into the brush.

I was in the kitchen, busy whisking the pancake mix with the water when someone tapped my shoulder.I was so shocked that my fork went flying with a blob of goo right into their face.

"Ugh!What the hell?"The man shouted wiping the sticky goo from his face.

"Oh!Sorry, actually no I'm not."I laughed in his face as I set down the bowl and went to get a rag.

"Why did we have to be saved by a pain in the ass?"He groaned rubbing his temples.

"Well soo sorry your highness.Maybe next time you'll get rescued by a dashing prince who gives a damn.Here wipe your face with this."I said cheekily as I handed him a rag.

"Where's Iri?"The man asked, his words slightly muffled by the rag over his face.

"Iri?Oh, you mean Iris.Yeah, she's in the back garden.She just loves that apple tree."I smiled as I finished cleaning up the last of the spill.

"Good, listen I have to tell you something."

"Oh goody is this a confession?If it is I must say that my life is very complicated right now, I'm not sur-"His large hands suddenly engulfed my lips, silencing my snarky replay.

"Can you shut up?This is serious, pay attention you-ow!"He jerked his hand away when I bit his palm.

"I normally don't do serious this early in the morning...But I'll listen this once."I said and stoked the fire in the woodstove I hauled in here about a month ago.

He was silent as he sat down in a chair to watch me grab a pan and set it on the stove top to heat up.It was when I was pouring the batter did he speak again.

"Before I tell you please promise to keep protecting Iri.No matter what."His green eyes looked up at me, defeated and pleading.

"I already love her like she was my own.Consider your promise a fact."I said solemly, knowing what his dreadful news was.

"Thank you.It's about my mother.She has-She is-She's been bitten.And she's turning."I flipped one of the four pancakes only to burn it black.

"I know."

"How did you know?"He asked disbelieving.

"I've seen the Fever before. Up close when it killed my mother and then my father to the madness of losing her."I replied my grip on the pan tightening until the knuckles of my hand were white.

"So?"He asked me.

"So what?"I flipped the other two large ones and the small pancake and all of them were a nice golden brown.

"What are we going to do?"I thought for a moment, putting the finished pancakes on a plate and pouring more in the pan.

"Well we could kill her now so she won't become a zombie.OR we can put a bullet in her skull when she's undead.To bad the bite isn't anywhere we can amputate.Oh well."I said recalling the red weeping on the side of the older woman's shirt when they first came.

"Oh well?OH WELL!That's my mother and all you say is 'oh well'?"He shouted, standing so fast that the chair fell to the floor with a crash.

I said nothing, just stared at him until he could get a hold of himself again.I sighed as I flipped the pancakes again.The silence was deafening.Only the sizzling of the pan and the quiet sobs from the man could be heard.I served a huge plate of six pancakes to the man, before slamming the syrup on the table in front of him.It seemed to jolt him back to reality as he just stared at the steaming pancakes.

"Hey I would eat those soon.Pancakes from mix are not that good cold."I said and shoved a fork in his hand.

He nodded and slowly picked up the chair and sat down.

"Coffee?"I asked as I poured myself a cup.

"Yeah."He said quietly.

"Here.Now about your mother."I said and put the hot mug in his hand.

"What am I going to do?What am I going to tell Iri.'Sorry Iri but we had to kill mom because she was going to eat us.'That's so fucked.This is so fucked up!"He ate a bite of the pancake then rested his head in his palms, elbows on the table.

"Yeah, life's fucked up.Always has been, always will be.But sometimes we can make it a little less shitty.I will do you one favor."

He looked up at me for the first time since losing it.His eyes made my heart hurt for the first time in a long time.The looked so dull and desolate.Dark circles hung under his eyes and dried up tear tracks down his face made me realise how long he's known about his mom.Those were eyes of the living dead.Like mine.Glassy and hopeless, like your just waiting for the next kick in the ribs.

"I can kill her for you."

"I-I shouldn't take your offer, but I-I can't!I-"I shushed him with my finger against his lips.

"I know.But let me help.It's understandable if you can't kill your own mother."I said lightly and moved back to flip the pancakes.

"Thank you."He said so softly I could barely hear him.

"Yeah, no problem.Watch the pancakes will you?I don't want them to burn."I said nodding to him before moving towards to back garden.

"Hey,my name is Aaron."He called after me.

"Well, I don't have a name yet, but I'll keep you updated."I smiled sorrowfully before turning away.

Walking down the hall with the hot mug of instant coffee in my hands I stopped for a moment just outside the glass door and watched Iri hop up and down trying to get an apple.When she noticed me she waved.I waved back cheerily as if I wasn't about to murder her mother.I stared at the hand that waved to her.It was bright red from the heat of the mug.I knew that but somehow it looked like it was already stained with blood.