Smell of Decay

The ranch house sat at the side of a hill surrounded by a forest for miles in each direction. It was small, humble, with only a room for both living and sleep, one for storing his books and valuables, and another split for food, laundry, and bathing. The creature that lived inside of the ranch house had no need of fire so there was never a smoke trail in the sky. On a slightly chilly night late in February, Vernon sat comfortably in his favorite chair and flipped the page of his book.

The only light inside of the home was a single candle, but the male needed nothing more. There existed no need for electricity or plumbing for the home. His pale fingers, each tipped with a sharp fingernail, gently handled the book pages nearly a hundred years old. He hadn't trusted himself to read it too often but he did so occasionally when he had the patience.

The air didn't make him feel cold or warm; he had been cold longer than the ranch he lived in had stood. The home was roughly two hundred years old but, with minimal maintenance only when needed, Vernon had managed to keep everything looking as close to the same as before. With the ever-changing human world, he had clung to the beautiful, albeit lopsided, look to his doorways and roof.

He felt the wind slide in through the walls where no insulation protected the insides—his library was perfectly up to date in order to keep his collection pristine—and it made his eyes close a moment. Often, he could smell animals that were nearby, or even civilization if the wind was strong enough. The humans were so far away from him, though, that it was common he forgot they existed.

On this day, when the wind slipped to him and he closed his eyes and took in a deep, calming breath, it was anything but calming. The book he had been reading rested on the table so when he went slack, it did not fall and gain any damage. His head whipped around, eyes shinning a bit in the darkness, and stared at the wall where the smell had come from.

With quick movements, he pushed himself up and was out of the door. Making sure it was closed behind him, he strode with purposeful steps for nearly a mile before turning his nose up to the sky and sniffing. His eye shine flashed much like a nocturnal animal as he glanced about. The moon was not enough for a human to see by but he was perfectly capable.

Vernon changed his course a few degrees before heading further still through the forest. The minutes did not last long before he came upon the smell. It wasn't exactly rot, but it wasn't alive. From his home, it had nearly been that of possibly the yellow fever epidemic in 1973, which he'd smelled from his much closer home, not so isolated. The closer he had gotten, however, the less it had been familiar.

Coming within sight of what may be the cause, Vernon stopped and simply watched. A single woman wearing dirty, ragged clothes stood a few trees in from a gravel road. Though virtually able to see in the dark, he couldn't distinguish colors fairly well so her attire appeared on the darker greys and black spectrum. While he watched, she took a staggering step forward, leaves having been left to the winter, rustled and her head dropped to stare for a moment before it jerked back up.

The scent spiked when she moved so he assumed it was her which was odd. Why would a singular woman give off such intense smells of sickness that it drew him from miles away? Granted, he could smell much more coming from other places but, before diving in to whatever this was, he wanted to understand something about what he was smelling.

Her movements were sharp, long and dirty hair jerking with each shift. Arms snapped in their motions, hands and wrists curling and uncurling, legs jerking when she tried to move forward. Frowning, he watched, a hand on a tree as he leaned, while she turned and he saw that something dark covered most of her left side. Sniffing the air, he knew it was blood. He'd been so occupied with the sick, rancid smell that he'd not noticed she was dripping with crimson.

Glancing down the road, coming a few feet closer on soft steps, he saw no sign of wreckage. His first thought was she was confused, perhaps had tipped over her vehicle. There was no sign of tracks on the gravel or vehicle anywhere. He couldn't smell any exhaust on her or the air that would suggest she'd driven in the last day at least. Brows furrowing, he looked back to her and stopped.

This close, his shining eyes could catch more detail even in the darkness the trees gave. There appeared to be a large wound along her side mostly covered by what had once been a nice shirt. Though he was no longer human, Vernon had long ago started to feel compassion towards the thing he had used to be: human. Startled by her appearance, and the jerking motions of her body, he moved forward.

There existed no disease that could harm him, as his body was not exactly alive, so he did not fear for his own safety. He did, however, fear for hers.

"Ma'dam," he called out gently, hands held out to show he meant no harm. Coming into view, he offered a close-lipped smile to avoid her seeing his sharp teeth. "It appears you've had an accident, are you alright?" His accent was thick, something middle-eastern but he couldn't remember exactly. His particular dialect had been changed long ago.

The woman heard him, but didn't respond how he had thought she would. Her whole body snapped to attention and she spun the fraction it took for her to fully face him. Mouth opening, blood and drool slipped out of her mouth alongside an eerie moan. An arm rose, hands appearing claw-like, as she shoved towards him.

Vernon inhaled hard and pushed himself backwards, the sharp ends of her fingers nearly missing the cotton of his shirt. He opened his mouth to suggest she stay calm, to relax, but she kept coming. Feeling his slow, slow heart pick up pace he shot to the right and paced out of her reach even farther. She appeared confused for a moment and then turned to face him, body jerking and stumbling, the woman falling to the leaf-filled grass and gravel.

The moan from earlier came back as she struggled to get back up. Vernon watched her struggle, sharp eyes looking at the way she was banged up and her struggling muscles.

"No one... could stand with that kind of an injury..." he murmured to himself, mostly because he's becoming sure that she couldn't hear him. The injury in inspection was a large gash to one of her calves. It was one of multiple injuries upon her person, not the least of which the one he'd first seen to her side. "How are you alive?"

Finally, she stood on her legs and looked to him, her vacant eyes turned upwards for a moment before leveling down to him and continuing her shamble towards him.

"Mmm, so. The humans finally did it. They made zombies." Taking a slow step backwards when she got too close, he kept watching her. The behavior she exuded mimicked multiple books he had read in the years, all clearly fiction. Except now it appeared the humans had outdone themselves once more.

All he got in response was low moan and reaching fingers. Nodding as if that were good enough, he worked his way another step back. Raising a brow over shiny eye, he moved fast and sure, getting himself behind her enough to reach into her back pockets. In the late 21st century, he had noticed that women had taken to using wallets more often. Small details when he would return to civilization for supplies—mostly tea or books if he had the hankering—were hard to miss for a creature such as himself.

Backpedaling as she nearly caught him, he flipped open her wallet and held it up towards her face. He compared the bloody, shadowed mess to the drivers license and sighed softly. Lowering the wallet, taking a step backwards, he pulled out the laminated card.

"Natalia. That's a pretty name. It suits you." Offering her a smile, he slid the license back in and then played the chasing game with her to put it back. Someone else might want to know about her. Making sure he was a nice distance from her reach, he looked down the road both ways before sizing her up once more.

"You've come a far way from wherever you were. I didn't recognize the town on your card..." He stepped back from her when she got close again and sniffed the air. The way she smelled overpowered a lot of their surroundings but his nose was perfectly capable of scenting the nearest town.

"I need to get dressed before, though..." Reaching out, he waved a hand gently at the woman and she followed the movement. "I suppose I shouldn't leave you to stumble about all by yourself, Natalia. Why don't you come with me?"

Vernon turned to head towards his home and went slow, her shamble turning his pace into a literal crawl. They were miles off when he realized that she was going to drag him behind regardless of the fact that she was going as fast as she could. Blowing out an exasperated sigh, he glanced around a bit before rolling his eyes.

"You know... How about you just stay here? I'll be back before you'd even get halfway. Just because I'm a bloodsucker doesn't mean I have endless patience." The creature watched the woman shamble, listening to her moan for a few moments before he nodded. "Yeah, it is a good plan. You just... stay this direction, okay?" He took a few steps away, only slightly nervous about leaving her alone for reasons he couldn't understand, before he turned and left her.

It took him less than two hours to get back to his house, dress in clothes, and make it back to her. At first, it had taken him to use his nose again in order to find her as she'd wandered nearly a half mile away once he'd left her sight. She had stumbled herself away but once he found her, she willingly came for him.

Wearing clothes made from 1700s design, mostly tan and light brown, he stood before her as she shambled over. She looked no worse—or better—than before which was a plus. At least she hadn't harmed herself further. When she got too close, he walked back a bit and then carefully led her back to the road.

By the time they hit the road, the night had worn itself fairly thin, the sun closer to rising than the sunset. He smiled to himself, pulling the ties on his shirt at the neck a little tighter, letting the excess string dangle towards his ribs. Vernon wasn't used to speaking or having any noise that she was creating but it didn't bother him. In fact, he almost felt compelled to fill the silence between them with his own words.

"I'd like to have you come with so I can take you back to town. Perhaps the remaining humans will know what to do with you." He hoped it wasn't an apocalyptic scenario where everyone was dead or dying. Not that he needed them to survive, by any means, but it was nice not having to worry about hoards.

As expected, she didn't respond to him at all. She shambled, working her way over a stick that Vernon had to double back and remove before she ate some leaves, and kept moaning hungrily at him. He didn't need to feed or rest, so they kept moving even when the sun had started to show. Dark eyes looking upwards, he hissed low in his throat as the first rays started to sting and he sighed.

There was no trust that him hiding from the sun would grant him her company when it dropped below the horizon again. Pausing, he turned to watch her shamble closer to him. His hand rose to feel the string keeping a section of his shirt closed and started to undo the tie. He pulled it gently free, long fingers working quickly to help avoid the sun.

"Neither of us is going to enjoy this." Vernon mumbled the words, still feeling like he owed her words. Taking the string, knowing it could easily break, he worked it around her midsection while avoiding her grabbing hands and snapping teeth.

"I'm not positive this will work..." Licking his lips, he led her carefully to a tree and tied her to it. There wasn't a lot of give—the string was rather short-—but it would have to do. The only other thing he had was the string on his hips to keep his pants closed but he wouldn't chance having no string if she managed to escape.

Once assuring himself that she would be fine—as fine as he could make her—he took to the ground. The sun was a constant enemy to him, albeit fairly neutral because it didn't mean him harm. He burrowed himself almost a foot down and allowed his body to go into a deep slumber.

The human world had labeled his kind as dead but, in reality, he was only on a different plane of existence. He needed blood, but it could be animal blood just as much as human. His heart still beat but it didn't go fast even if he ran for days. He was no faster and could work up his muscles just like a human, though it would take half as long because his healing was fast and he was able to eat human food, he just didn't prefer it. Really, he could play human but, being as old as he was, he didn't find he wanted to. The silence of the forest kept him happier than the bustle of mankind.

It seemed Vernon had missed a rather large shift in the balance of earth while living his preternatural existence. Especially since Natalia was here.

Three minutes before the sun fully set, he would wake up. His heart would pick up only slightly in speed and he was not required to breathe but he took in a low breath, the dirt tasting horrible. He'd forgotten, momentarily, that he was underground. With the taste of dirt on his tongue, he shot up and shoved the dark soil from his person. Looking around, raising a hand to rustle his hair clean, he looked for his undead companion.

She was standing sort of where he had left her. There had been some moving, clearly, as she was facing another direction but her arms dangled in her stagnant state and the string was still there. Pushing up to his feet, he shook off as much of the dirt and foliage as he could. She apparently heard him and turned around, jaw slack. There was some drool coming from the corner of her lip that made him cringe.

"One day, you had been pretty. In a human way. Zombies are... messy." Vernon finished shaking himself off while watching her start to drag her feet to come closer. Her movements were slower and her sounds were more ragged. Curiously, he watched her and then realized he hadn't seen her eat anything. The only thing around here was himself and that was not happening.

"Mmm, I could... get you an animal." The pondering was out loud as he came forward and used her sluggish movements to his advantage. Once she was untied, he started back walking the way they had been heading. It wouldn't take very long to get to the closest city but he wanted to get her something to eat.

Walking slowly, Vernon made sure he was paying attention to sounds so he could fetch something to eat. This would be weird because he'd never been the best at hunting when there was a time limit. So engrossed in thinking of food for her, he didn't notice that she had gotten close.

Her hand grabbed hold of his shoulder and yanked, nails scratching into his shirt and threatening to cut into his flesh which was only a bit more durable than humans. Crying out in surprise, he couldn't stop from being jerked back from her unnatural strength. Twisting, he dropped down and shoved at her ribs to try and avoid her teeth which were coming down fast and sharp towards his flesh.

Gasping in air, he panicked when her teeth actually scratched along the side of his cheek. Her speed had obviously returned somehow and he hadn't been on that ball. Shoving her away, she tumbled over herself to the hard gravel. He stumbled, scraping his palm on the same gravel before standing upright. Touching where her teeth had cut, he brought back his hand and stared in horror at the blood.

"No, dammit!" He couldn't exactly suck the sickness from himself of whatever disease she may have that had turned her this way. Vernon could see it now, his entire life narrowed down to a shambling vampire zombie before someone pegged him between the eyes.

Breathing hard, he turned to look at her and paused. She was retching, actually throwing up, and appearing to have a rather hard time of herself. Frowning, he watched as she spit up his blood, whatever small droplet she'd gotten, and some other crap she'd eaten before wandering down the long road into the forest. That was an odd reaction that he had not expected, and he's sure she hadn't been aiming to vomit either.

"What...?" He looked to the minor blood on his fingers from his face and down to her, tilting his head to the side. Vernon didn't feel any different and wondered if her vomiting was because his blood was different. In a way, it might be poisonous. He watched her heave a little, curious at how a zombie could even react like that, and then realized that the lore of zombies probably wasn't exact. Most likely not exact.

"Didn't like that as much as you thought, huh?" The vampire inquired, walking over to help her to her feet. She didn't snap at him like she was going to eat him this time. She stood on her feet, wobbling a moment before moaning and groaning, one eye rolling a bit. Being this close to her leant an odd eye for detail that he had been trying to ignore until now.

Natalia was really screwed up in a way that a normal human would not have been able to survive. She hobbled and started to shift, making a half step forward with a moan. Nodding, Vernon turned and started walking the way they had been going. There was a purpose behind their journey, after all.

After listening to her zombie noises for nearly ten minutes, he rolled his neck and felt a pop occur. Situating his shirt a bit, fiddling with the string that held it closed again, he sighed.

"I wonder if your sluggishness was directly caused by the lack of stimulus." The only response to his inquiry was a groan and more shuffling on her end. "It's probable... considering you're not exactly alive though there has to be something. Biologically, you're not supposed to be dead and moving." His eyes traveled over his shoulder to watch her shamble. Her head was tilted to the side, hair flowing freely and more bloody drool slipping from her mouth. She wasn't reaching for him like before but her arms did jerk oddly forward when she forced herself to take another step.

"I wonder if I could just throw you at some scientists, maybe they'd be able to figure you out. The skies know I never cared for such things, though I admire them so." Vernon nodded to himself and looked forward. He had always enjoyed simply existing and learning languages more than anything else. What did the world need of a vampire scientist anyway? It wasn't like everyone near him wouldn't know right away that he burned when he came in at seven in the morning. Crispy Vernon was an unhappy Vernon.

They would be closer to the town in under an hour, he could smell the familiar scents of the industrial world. Along with the familiar scents, however, he started to catch hints of something wrong. At first, he couldn't place exactly what it was but, as they walked farther along, he knew.

It was the same thing he had smelled before meeting her, before leaving his home. With the forest all around them, it took a handful more minutes before they came around a bend in the road and could actually see buildings. A few cars littered the first street of the town but that wasn't an unusual sight.

"There aren't a lot of people here, huh," Vernon murmured to himself, Natalia making a louder moaning sound when they crossed into the town. "I wonder if they're all just asleep?" He was at least trying to be hopeful despite the overwhelming stench of decay, though it wasn't exactly decay. There was no equivalent likeness he was aware of for the smell, however, so decay would have to do.

They walked as fast as she could go, the male in no hurry, but he did stop to peak into a few windows. There was a curious smell of burning food, maybe even a home, though he couldn't see any smoke.

"Is this your home?" He didn't have to look at her to know she didn't respond. The water tower they passed—the town appeared to be one of the smaller towns that housed less than five thousand people—said the name was Copeland. That had not been the residential address on her license.

A loud noise sounded to which they both turned to. He watched her shamble forward, showing something that may have been curiosity. Less than half a block away, a male walked out. Vernon would not have been able to distinguish anything about the shadow-covered being had he not been able to see in the dark.

This male walked almost exactly like Natalia and the female zombie in question watched the male shuffle closer. Unconcerned about being attacked, as he had not been affected in the slightest by the bite from earlier, Vernon simply watched. The male came closer and his companion made the strangest noise he had ever heard: something much like a hiss of a lion being strangled. The vampire was unsure how to handle he mental image the noise handed to him but he supposed there was nothing to do besides run with it.

"What are you—?" He was cut off when Natalia, seeing the strange male zombie not slow down his advances, made the noise once more and shot herself forward. Vernon, having never seen her move so fast, twitched backwards. She practically fell on her face as she put herself between the two males, making a sound much like a scream. It hurt Vernon's ears, which were sensitive, to the point where he had to cover them up.

As he watched, face twisted in pain and ears covered, the male zombie stopped. Natalia stopped screaming, her whole body swaying on the spot. Wondering what had just happened, Vernon felt deeply frustrated at the lack of communication between his companion and himself. The strange zombie made a gurgling sound before shuffling his stance and heading out a different direction.

Eyes wide, Vernon came up to Natalia and went around her to look at her face. Jaw slack, her eyes didn't focus on him but they darted around, a few times coming close to actually locking with his own. He supposed it didn't help that his eyes shone and it probably drew her attention but otherwise she probably wouldn't have looked.

"You kept him away..." Watching her, he gained no response but he knew. He knew deep down that her reaction was either because his blood had made her throw up, or she had been protecting him. It was likely the former but he willingly deluded himself into thinking she had some feeling left. Adorable zombie, then. Check.

"It seems you're not the only zombie, sweetie." He touched a bloody cheek, gaining a moaning his in response, jaw opening but not going for a bite. It made him smile, pulling away. "Why don't... we go and see? We'll head on out, since you don't appear to have a destination in mind or a preference to the sun."

Smiling wider, he backed away and walked backwards a few steps. Without hesitation, she started to follow him once more. Taking that as a yes, he nodded and beamed, spinning around to walk forward.

"That's a yes, then! Alright, we'll have to find a ride, then head on out. This plague of yours couldn't have reached too far, right?" Once more, he received nothing in return for a response, but he hadn't expected anything.