Zombies Vs Aliens: Respawn

Chapter 2.2

He wore a fresh blue hoodie with some logo splashed across the front, jeans, sneakers, and a baseball cap over his sandy blond hair. An ordinary appearance in a surreal setting. There was an unzipped black backpack at his feet. He didn't notice me yet, but then, his attention was focused on the Maxim magazine clutched in his lily white fingers. White with black veins visible from my end cap lookout, at last I found another one. I padded up to him and reached out to tap him on the shoulder. At the last second, he whipped around.

            "Oh god, the Grudge!" He screamed, throwing the magazine in the air. By the time it plopped to floor between us, he had his arms up, shielding his face, peaking at me around his elbow.

            "The Grudge? Really? Asshole!" I kicked his shin for good measure.

            "Ow," he dropped his arms, going to rub his leg with a frown. "That didn't hurt." The frown stayed on his face as he got a good look at me. "You're wearing a pink Hello Kitty shirt."

            It took a lot of willpower not to smack my forehead. "Finally find someone like me and he's a freaking genius."

            "Jeeze, sorry Grudge girl, maybe you shouldn't sneak up on people." He bent down to snatch up the magazine, stuffing it into his bag. "Wait, did you say first?"

            "Yeah, smartass, you're the first lively dead person I've found." Hands on my hips, I inspected his face. Like me, he appeared mostly intact, though he sported a downright nasty gap of skin along his neck. I could see the muscles move when he spoke.

            "I haven't seen anyone like me either. I thought I was the only one," he gaze drifted behind me. "Uh, who are they?"

            "Oh, them," I rolled my shoulders, "those are my boys."

            "Your boys?" He straightened, the light hitting his eyes. Wow, what a side effect. The irises were an iridescent dark blue, the blood vessels running through the eyeball just dark enough to give them a webbed, faceted appearance, like real gem stones, odd and beautiful at the same time. What do I end up with? Eyeballs of the void, that's what, so unfair.

            "Yeah, I kinda made them. Tall one's Bert, other one's Ernie."

            One brow shot up. "You named them after Muppets? That's harsh, Grudge girl."

            "Stop calling me that, I have a name."

            He made a noise, could have been a snort; it was a bit twangy, with the hole in his throat. "Do tell, because I can't remember shit, including my name."

            It was my turn to frown. "I remember a couple of letters. Do you remember anything?"

            He looked upward, tapping his chin. His hands were fully restored. Maybe he had no skin somewhere really embarrassing, like his ass. "I remember being really good at video games, I knew all the secret levels in 'Grand Theft Auto'. My favorite food was nacho cheese Doritos, and I know the names of all the Playmates from the 2014 Playboy calendar."

            "Good to see you have your priorities straight."

            He gave me a sour look, crossing his arms. "First person I meet like me and she's a bitch." Okay, he had me there. I took a surly stance with him right out the door, but hey, the guy compared me to a horror movie ghost. I didn't look that awful.

            "We got off on the wrong foot. Maybe we can start over? I'm Li," I proffered a gloved hand. He stared at it for a moment before giving it a firm shake.