(On mobile for right now so sorry for any formatting/spelling errors)
Corbin kept a close eye on the zombie, specifically her hands and mouth. He wouldn’t want to be jumped while actively helping her. He got as much blood up as he was able to with the gauze before picking up the needle and thread. He paused when she made noise, frowning in confusion. “I don’t understand…” he mumbled before raising his brows in question. “Water? Are you trying to say water?” Did zombies even drink water, or was it another thing about this one being strange? He assumed zombies just drank blood.
She nodded, glad he understood. "Mhm, Wa-" she struggled on the sounds again before giving up. "Puh-ease?" she said again, to show that she was asking for some. she still pet the cute dog in her lap, watching the needle uneasily. "Hu-" She started, before being unable to make the other sounds. "po-" she started, stumbling on the k. She ended up lightly poking the dog's leg, extremely frustrated that she couldn't talk right, but trying not to show it. "Po….." she tried to form the word again. Eventually, she shook her head, doing the sign for water again. "Wa– puh-ease?"
Corbin could understand water, but wasn’t sure what else the zombie was trying to communicate to him. “Water, got it. Orion, fetch water,” he said, nodding at his dog. Orion jumped up and trotted across the room and into the open kitchen. He went to the fridge, grabbing onto a rope that was tied to the handle and pulled, successfully opening it. Orion grabbed a bottled water from the bottom shelf in his mouth before hitting the door closed with his paw. He trotted back over happily, tail wagging as he dropped the bottle into Corbin’s open hand.
“Good boy,” Corbin praised with a smile, reaching into his pocket to pull out a small dog treat. He tossed it to Orion, who caught and ate it happily.
Corbin took off the cap of the water bottle reaching to the zombie so she could take it. Would she need help drinking it? Why did she want to drink it? Was she going to go for his hand instead?
Zelda took the water bottle, smiling. She tried to form 'Thanks', but she couldn't do it, so she just nodded slightly. She started sipping the water, patting Orion. "oo boy!" she said, mimicking the words, before smiling when she realized she could say that. then she realized what was wrong. She didnt have a tongue. only the very back of one, so she could still form vowels, and some consonants…but not many… She'd mention it later, after the would on her leg was done. She sipped the water again, then nodded, pointing to the needle. "Eh-ey, oh ahea" (Ready, go ahead)
Corbin was extremely taken aback by the zombie's smile. He had never seen that before. Was that showing that she could feel emotions? As he knew, zombies were unfeeling, killing machines that only ever thought about eating. He shook off his thoughts, though, wanting to get back to work on her leg.
Orion jumped up onto the couch and settled back across Zelda's lap, enjoying the attention that he got from her. Corbin threaded the needle, holding tightly onto her leg so she wouldn't move and mess up his stitching. He stuck his needle into the slightly green tinted skin, making the first stitch. He stitched the wound up steadily and in a relatively clean manner. It was apparent that he had done this sort of thing before. He had learned to stitch wounds while in the Navy Seals and had to do it to help out his team quite a few times in emergency situations. It came quite in handy during the apocalypse situation.
Zelda winced, occasionally biting down on the rim of the water bottle, but mostly just sipping it. She pet Orion, using his softness to ground herself as well. She was still hungry, and something deep, deep inside of her registered that Corbin smelt like… food. Bus she didn't accept that, focusing on the pain, the softness of Orion, and the water in her mouth. When he was done, she sighed audibly in relief. "Mhm. Pai ove?" she said, using the sounds she could make to make very basic, childish sentences. But it was all she could do.
Corbin finished up with the stitches, tying the thread off before setting the needle and excess string aside. He grabbed the roll of bandages and wrapped them tightly around the wound for an extra layer of protection. After setting the bandages in place with some surgical tape, he moved the zombies leg off of his lap and onto the couch. "There, all done," he breathed, taking off his gloves and tossing them into a nearby trashcan. He wiped his forehead off on the back of his hand and got up from where he sat on the coffee table, standing now. What would he do with the zombie now? He hadn't quite thought this entire plan through. "Do you have a name?" he asked hesitantly, wondering if she remembered anything from when she had been a human and living.
She nodded, but then pointed to her mouth, which she opened wide, showing him her lack of a tongue. Then she mimed writing. She felt sure she could write the words, even though she couldn't say them. Then she drank more water, still thirsty. She looked around for paper and a pencil, absentmindedly chewing on her lip. "Mhm…"
Corbin’s eyes widened in the slightest at the sight of the zombies half missing tongue. That was only slightly terrifying. He watched her make a writing motion and he nodded his head. “Uh, let me see,” he said, stepping away to see if he could find something to write with. In a cabinet drawer in his kitchen, he found a notepad and pen. He returned to the room, setting it down on the coffee table in front of her before taking a step back to watch.
Zelda smiled, taking the paper and pen. She gently set the paper on Orion's back, having a hard time reaching around him, and softly, carefully wrote. 'ZELDA' her handwriting was messy, but it was legible, and she slid the paper back over to Corbin, smiling again and pointing to herself. "Me." Then she pointed at Corbin. "You?" She asked, unable to say 'Name' due to the n.
Corbin took the paper from the zombie, reading the scratchy writing. “Zelda,” he repeated, looking at her to make sure she confirmed it was correct.
“I’m Corbin, that’s Orion,” he replied, motioning to himself and then the golden retriever. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask the zombie. How was she sentient? What did she remember? Did she want to eat him and his dog right now?
“Are you hungry..?” he decided on, seeming a tad bit nervous to know the answer. He would hope that fresh meat from game he’s killed would work as a substitute for human flesh.
Zelda nodded when he said her name. She tried to say their names. "Orbi" She said, having figured out how to make an r sound without a tongue. "Orio" She said, patting the dog. She smiled, proud of herself. When he asked if he was hungry, her stomach growled again, and she nodded. "Mhm. Very." She said. "P-ease Foo?" she asked, hoping he had something. She finished the water, setting the bottle down.
“Right, Corbin and Orion,” Corning confirmed with a nod of his head. At the confirmation of food, his stomach churned a bit. “Give me one second.”
He grabbed his crutch from where it was leaning against the sofa, his leg beginning to ache from overuse. He made his way to the kitchen, opening up the fridge. He had some rabbit and venison meat stored away. Taking out the slab of venison, he cut off a third of it and put the rest back in storage.
Corbin made his way back to Zelda, setting the plated raw meat down on the coffee table. “It’s venison- deer. I hope you like non human meat, or else there may be a problem here,” he said with a dry, worried laugh.
She looked at the food. "Raw?" She asked, confused. "Why raw?" She said, looking for a fork. "Hmm…" She puzzled, confused. Then she looked at Corbin, noticing that he had been favoring his bad leg. She pointed to it, then pointed to her own "Hame?" (same?) She asked, worried about her friend's health. She ignored the food for now, studying Corbin's face, looking for the answer.
Corbin looked very confused when Zelda questioned the raw meat. “Isn’t that what you zombies eat?” he asked. Maybe she didn’t eat raw meat either, and it was just a nothing thing to add onto the list of things that made her not like the others. “If you don’t eat that, then what do you eat?”
When she asked about his leg, he shook his head. “Not the same,” he replied before pulling up his pant leg to show the back of his leg. There was a scar going from his upper thigh, all the way down to his boot. “I was in Afghanistan, if you even know where that is… Bomb went off, fucked up my leg.” The memory put a sour taste in his mouth.
"Mhm." She said, looking at his leg, shaking her head. "Ba pace." (bad place). Then she turned back to her food. "ever ha raw foo" (never had raw food). "Wi ry." (Will try.) She tentatively tore a small part off of the hunk, putting it in her mouth, before gagging, barely forcing it down. "Uh-uh" She said, shaking her head. "I hea i" (I'll heat it). She pat Orion, asking him to get up.
Corbin’s eyes widened with shock when Zelda gagged from the food. “You’ve never eaten raw meat? You have never eaten.. a person?” he asked, surprise clear in his tone. How was that even possible. “What have you survived on then?”
When Zelda moved to try to get up, he held up his hands. “Don’t, I’ll get it,” Corbin said, taking the plate of raw meat and going back to the kitchen. He tossed it in the trash, not possibly wanting to get sick from it. He took out a cooked chicken breast instead, putting a couple pieces on a plate before walking back to the living room.
Corbin sat it down in front of her before taking a seat on the chair across from the table, watching her closely. He wanted to see her eat every bit of it, just to be sure.
She motioned to the paper again, eating the chicken with much more content. After gaining the paper, she wrote that she couldn't talk that much, too many missing letters. She'd have to write it. She hadn't eaten since she woke up, several hours ago, and she didn't remember anything before then, so she had no idea of her previous diet. Also, thank you for the food, and the puppy, Orion, is adorable. Then she passed it back over to Corbin, eating again.
Corbin watched Zelda write on the paper, frowning in thought. “You must have eaten human flesh before now, you just don’t remember. But why not? Why are you different?” he asked, more to himself than to her. He ripped off the page, it being covered in writing, so there was a clean piece in its place. “You’re different. You must be, considering you haven’t tried to take a chunk out of me yet.”
He took his flashlight up again, clicking it on. He shined it on her eyes, checking for any dilation of the pupils that could show a sign of life. Zombies eyes would not have any reaction normally, not like a living human.
Zelda winced away from the light, but then corrected herself, letting him look. her pupils did seem to change, not quite like a human, but not like a zombie either. It seemed painful for her to continue looking into the light though. Like her eyes couldn't adjust enough to handle the amount of concentrated light. "mph-"
Corbin watched them sort of dilate for a moment before clicking the flashlight off, seeing Zelda’s discomfort. “Sorry,” he mumbled, putting it off to the side. This was puzzling. They didn’t fully react as a humans should, but they still reacted in the first place. What other things would she have in common to humans?
“Do you know anything about your life as a human? Anything at all?” Corbin pressed, his elbows against his knees as he studied her closely. Orion was beginning to fall asleep, content to do so on top of Zelda. He was a huge cuddler, and most of the time was content to be on top of Corbin at all times. Personal space did not exist with a dog like him.
"Mhm…" She thought about it, but she didn't remember anything from before she woke up, except for…… she shuddered as she remembered the amount of pain she had been in before she woke up. It felt like dry ice had gone through her veins. She really didn't want to relive that, but it might be important, so she wrote it down. 'It was dark, I couldn't see. And it hurt. It felt cold, painfully cold. I never went numb like I should have in the cold. I just continued feeling the pain, for a long time. Then it stopped, and I woke up. Then i stumbled into a fight. Thats where I met you.'
Corbin read along as Zelda wrote, being more and more puzzled. Great to know that was what death felt like- very reassuring. He wondered what could have happened between her dying and them meeting for things to change. What happened that made her wake up and become a little bit human again. He reached out, carefully taking a hold of her hand and pressing two of his fingers to her wrist. He was feeling to see if she had any sort of heartbeat. Something to show she was alive and not a more aware corpse.
It was slow.. barely there at all, really, but her heart… it was beating. Just enough to keep circulating her blood so it didn't dry and cause her to become paralyzed. It was probable most zombies had some sort of circulation through their bodies so that they could move. But their hearts beating? Probably not. Zelda's skin felt cold. Unnaturally cold. she seemed uncomfortable by the heat of his skin, but her skin was also uncomfortable for him.
Corbin dropped her hand quickly, jerking his own back. He had been surprised and startled by what he found. He’d never heard of a zombie having a steady beating heart before. As amazing as it was, it also scared the hell out of him. “Your heart, it’s fucking beating,” he breathed out, clasping his hands together. What was he supposed to do now? Was there someone who he should call about this? Who would even believe him? They would call him insane if he said ‘I brought a corpse into my home and I spoke to her and she has a heartbeat’. If it were possible, he would be institutionalized.
