Jonas’ story

The day my mother, Jaceline, was taken from me and my brother, Jacob, all my misconceptions on how zombies and humans worked were turned on its head, as my second mother, Bhavna, would say. Bhavna is a zombie but she was in the hoarde that saved us humans from the Bloodletter raids all those months ago. I try to remember my history, as well as the history of the world, even as everyone and everything always seems like it’s falling apart. My mother taught me Bible study lessons, history that was even before the zombie and human war that lasted over fifty years. I always gathered my strength from learning about Moses when he parted the Red Sea in Exodus.

I used to believe that these stories meant nothing after the Bloodletters came and killed almost all of us in our caves nearby. That was until the zombies came in to save the rest of us who managed to escape the kidnappers and killers. Bloodletters gave no mercy to us humans. Zombies, however, showed me and my brother, love. Knowing that something undead could love was what helped me carry on. My story and other stories were what kept hope alive.

My brother Jacob, who just turned six years old in February, still talks about mom like she’s here but clings to Bhavna for affection. I’m almost eleven years old. I don’t even remember that cool, damp cave where we all used to live. But really, all I want to remember my mother’s face. I just see Bhavna’s now. Her dark brown skin and red eyes. Her gentle caress. The hugs she us.

Now we’ve been living in a place where there is some sort of peace and quiet and safety, a medical facility that has basically been abandoned by all the staff ever since the main scientist, Jack, left. We take care of a Bloodletter that is in a coma, Asher, while the rest of the family ran off to get some special healing gems.

I got to know his daughter, a zombie girl named Shadow that Asher and his husband(a human), Hudson, adopted. She is really nice and cool, and I love spending time together with her. She’s like twelve years old but I don’t care. I can tell she’s mature for her zombie age. She tells me I’m also mature for my human age! I love her crystal clear eyes.

Shadow and I talk a lot and my brother and my other mom Bhavna (or Baba, as Jacob calls her), do art projects or knit stuff.

“My dad’s been acting like he’s been trying to wake up. Jonas, what can we do?” Shadow signs to me in a frustrated shrug.

I shrug back, patting her shoulder. “He will wake up once he gets tired of sleeping all day and night!” I joke and she makes a sound that sounds like a bird chirp and a hiccup. I think it’s a laugh.

“I wish you could hear how it sounds in my head when I want to talk to you,” Shadow signs.

“I think I know. But, it’s not a big deal. I really understand you. I learned lot of sign language from Bhavna.”

Bhavna comes over and signs, “Lunch time, dear!”

Shadow comes along with me even though she doesn’t eat.

Bhavna signs, “Your father did stir a bit, I am hopeful he will become better soon,” to a very wide-eyed Shadow.

She hugs me sideways as we walk to the kitchen area.

My brother eats with us and we all talk about doing art projects and other random stuff(gardening) around the place we live. It was almost a prison when Jack locked it down over six months ago. We thought we’d never leave when Kai, one of my older human friends, was bitten and turned, dying here. It was really hard because I thought we’d be experimented on too, just like that Bloodletter, India. I didn’t trust anyone back then. Now I feel like I’m home and ‘Letters & zombies can be not as scary as I once imagined.

Shadow makes me tell her that Exodus story again as we try to convince my mom that we won’t get into trouble again (we keep going back to that movie projector place near where our room is!) and it’s really nice to have someone listen so happily to a story I know well. Especially if it’s Shadow.