Corpse As Body, Corpse As Meal

2

AFTER talking with his father in his office, Cjay spent the next hours putting concealer on his face, neck, and hands, the only parts of his body that won’t be covered by the shoes, jeans, and long-sleeved hoodie that he would be wearing. He got some of his facial features altered using makeup. In particular, used eyelash extensions for thicker lashes, and an eyeliner to make his eyes look smaller.

When evening came, Cjay sneaked away from the building’s security team. He spent his stolen moment of freedom by going to the places where he wanted to be.

Even if he’s got mad makeup skills and he already got outside the presidential residence, Cjay kept his guard up. He had to be careful because once someone recognizes him, it’s over for him.

First, he went to the public park. At this hour, the area was almost isolated by people. Only the patrolling militia guards from Lawin Special Ops or some night joggers could be seen here occasionally.

The park looked so alive at night because the soft, yellow lighting from the lamppost made the green shade of the grass and trees look so lush and vivid. Some of the pathways and areas were blanketed by dark shadows though.

He sat on a wooden bench, slightly beneath the shade and shadow of a tree and breathed in deeply. He looked up to the sky but could not see the stars. Unfortunately, the glass of the dome reflected back the lights emitted by this city.

Cjay heard the alarm tone of his cell phone. When he looked at its screen, a notification popped up to remind him about his medication. He shoved the cell phone back in his hoodie’s kangaroo pocket. What came out next from that same pocket was a small, silver canister that contained the immortality pills.

He took one pill from the canister—a light-green colored liquid gel capsule. It seemed to be glowing even if that was not even one of the capsule’s features. He immediately swallowed it, then capped the canister close before shoving it back in his hoodie’s pocket. Cjay was always salivating, so needing water to push down the capsule was never a problem for him. Being a zombie made him produce more saliva, have thicker saliva, and swallow more frequently than ordinary people. In time, Cjay learned how to manage it by storing it in the middle of his throat first and swallowing it all when his throat felt full.

The immortality pill’s effect only lasts for seventy-two hours, which was why Cjay’s father strictly instructed that he should take it in the safety of his house at eleven in the evening. It would be scary if the effect of the pill wears of in a public place where Cjay should not be. What if he loses control and began eating people?

According to Cjay’s father, the immortality pill was formulated way before the epidemic. It wasn’t intended to cure the zombie virus, but when the situation grew fatal, his father was left with no choice but to make him intake the capsule. His father’s leap of faith paid off. It helped reduce the spread of the zombie virus by providing immunity to any human that intakes the pill, so they mass produced it.

But once the situation stabilized, the pill was priced pretty expensively in order to moderate its distribution and secure enough stocks for it. Moreover, stricter rules and regulations have been imposed on the sale of immortality pills when the militia began reporting to the president more frequently about the people who use immortality pills to commit crimes. Apparently, some of these criminals became bold, thanks to the pill, because their immunity help them survive physical combats or crossfires with the militia.

The immortality pill has room for improvement. It could be developed into something more, but during the chaotic first years of the Filipinos inside the Citadel, the scientist who made and formulated the pill died. Cjay’s father--as the president and gatekeeper of the formula--has all the means to assign another scientist to work on the pill, but he feared that selfish interests might put the immortality pill at risk. That’s why, the immortality pill stayed as it is. Worse, its production was discontinued and two warehouse full of its stocks solely belonged to Cjay now.