Midnight Snack
The Further Adventures of zombieloz! The mythos expands before your very eyes.
Sorta humor, sorta angst, sorta not, honestly I'm not sure what you'd call it* - but it's got a zombie in it!
Edit: * = WAFFy Horror Goodness!
Loz’s strange not-death hadn’t diminished the strength of his body at all; mostly, it had just made him care a lot less what he did with it. Loz pointed at something would make sure that something broke, which was extremely valuable at times.
Not so much when Yazoo was trying to sleep, though. He rolled over crossly.
Behind him, Kadaj squirmed into a tighter curl against his back and made a cross sound. He hadn’t been sleeping either-who could? The only room in this foul old house with a door strong enough to withstand a casual swat from Loz had been the cellar. The metal hatch was strong and still had its bolt, but it made the most unholy racket when Loz hit it, which was what he was doing right now. Repeatedly.
Loz would be able to break his way out in half a second, if he really wanted to eat his and Kadaj’s brains, but he didn’t. It was sweet, really.
“Did you feed him today?” Kadaj mumbled into his shoulder.
“Mm. Once.” Yazoo tugged some of the blanket back over him. Even from across the room it was easy to see that the cellar hatch had an upward dent in the middle.
“He’s hungry again.”
“One is usually enough.”
Kadaj dug an elbow into Yazoo’s kidney, producing a grunt, and pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll tell you if it’s enough or not, and it isn’t. I can’t think when he’s doing that.”
The cellar produced an especially resonant thump, at that, and a long wavering groan that would have been pitiable to someone who couldn’t hear the click of teeth at the end.
“Get up and get dressed,” Kadaj told Yazoo, nudging his brother with a foot.
“If I went down there,” said Yazoo, rising and rummaging around for his clothes, “it might calm him down. Enough for you to sleep.”
The hatch whimpered.
“If you went down there right now,” Kadaj said, tossing Yazoo’s boot to him, “he’d crack your head open and lick it clean. You know that.”
Yazoo slid the boot on obediently. “I know.”
“So. You’re not going to do that,” Kadaj said, leaning back against the wall. He made no move to collect his clothing. “You’re going to go out there and find something he likes, bring it back, and in the morning we’ll let him out. I don’t think I like Kalm, and it’s close-we can take him there. Let him eat half the city if he wants. It might help.”
Yazoo nodded. “What about you?”
Kadaj seemed to think that was funny. “You don’t need to bring any heads back for me. Just him.”
“Hah.” It wasn’t funny, not really, but Yazoo wasn’t in a mood to get in an argument with Kadaj. He was tired.
He’d been tired for a while, really. Ever since Loz had godsdamn died on him; just because his brother had come lurching back after nearly a week didn’t make things better. Something about Mother’s blood wouldn’t let Loz stay dead, he supposed. They’d never had the chance to find out before now. Like as not it would happen to him, too, eventually.
The night in Midgar was cold and it stank. It hardly seemed important. Yazoo closed the house door behind him. It swung half-open again, broken, and Yazoo let it be. If anyone tried to break in, the first thing they’d find to steal would be Kadaj.
Loz seemed to prefer girl-brains. It didn’t take long for Yazoo to find one, a young woman and a man her age both smoking around the back door of a greasy little restaurant-closed, now, but recently so. Junan, by the smell. It took even less time to break their necks, though actually pulling the heads off was always a bit of hard work. Normally he brough a knife for this sort of thing. When their heads were stuffed properly into his bag, he headed back through the cluster of tiny streets back to the house. He half-expected that someone would object to him, or notice the bag dripping out blood and other things, but he saw nothing more active than a pair of cats as he picked his way along. There was no danger of losing the way. He knew where Loz was.
Kadaj had gone back to sleep when Yazoo found his way back, and the hatch had gone quiet too. Even so, he opened the hatch carefully and tossed one of the heads to the far side of the cellar. He heard Loz pounce clumsily on it, and after that it took several seconds for the cracking and the glutinous noises to die back down. Yazoo dangled the other head down into the hatch on its long hair, and before long the dull gleam of his brother’s eyes bobbed into view and he tugged the head out of Yazoo’s hand.
“Nks,” said Loz thickly from the inky darkness down there. “S’ry.”
“It’s all right. Feel better?”
“Some,” Loz said, crushing his thumb through a thin part of the girl’s skull.
“You’ll need to be quiet until morning. Kadaj and I have to sleep. He wants us to go to Kalm tomorrow.” He heard Loz peel away a shingle of bone and dip his thumb in for a taste-that would never, ever be appetizing.
“Huh?” The eye-gleam dimmed as Loz squinted in confusion.
“Quiet,” Yazoo repeated. “Sleep.”
Loz stuck his thumb into the girl’s head again, and held it up for Yazoo to lick.
“…not now,” Yazoo said.
Loz shrugged, licked the sludge off, and took the head back to where he’d eaten the other one-one of the corners, out of sight. The wet noises started again as Yazoo closed the hatch.
It was quiet-relatively, anyway.
He shrugged out of his clothes and rolled back into the heap of blankets next to Kadaj. Loz didn’t sleep now. He had tried, a few times, and nothing had come of it but a gradually increasing uneasiness and they’d given up the second time Yazoo had woken with teeth marks behind his ear. And if Loz happened to get hungry in the night, the way he just had, there would be worse than teeth marks.
It wasn’t right, not at all. The younger brother next to him was better than no brother at all, but it was still not right.
If it took the brains of half of Kalm to bring Loz back to bed, it was a small price. It was such a small thing, not even a price at all. Yazoo decided that Loz ought to eat all of Kalm, just in case. And if that wasn’t enough, Junon. Then Edge. The entirety of Midgar, in fact. Just in case. First thing in the morning.
Sorta humor, sorta angst, sorta not, honestly I'm not sure what you'd call it* - but it's got a zombie in it!
Edit: * = WAFFy Horror Goodness!
Loz’s strange not-death hadn’t diminished the strength of his body at all; mostly, it had just made him care a lot less what he did with it. Loz pointed at something would make sure that something broke, which was extremely valuable at times.
Not so much when Yazoo was trying to sleep, though. He rolled over crossly.
Behind him, Kadaj squirmed into a tighter curl against his back and made a cross sound. He hadn’t been sleeping either-who could? The only room in this foul old house with a door strong enough to withstand a casual swat from Loz had been the cellar. The metal hatch was strong and still had its bolt, but it made the most unholy racket when Loz hit it, which was what he was doing right now. Repeatedly.
Loz would be able to break his way out in half a second, if he really wanted to eat his and Kadaj’s brains, but he didn’t. It was sweet, really.
“Did you feed him today?” Kadaj mumbled into his shoulder.
“Mm. Once.” Yazoo tugged some of the blanket back over him. Even from across the room it was easy to see that the cellar hatch had an upward dent in the middle.
“He’s hungry again.”
“One is usually enough.”
Kadaj dug an elbow into Yazoo’s kidney, producing a grunt, and pushed himself to his feet. “I’ll tell you if it’s enough or not, and it isn’t. I can’t think when he’s doing that.”
The cellar produced an especially resonant thump, at that, and a long wavering groan that would have been pitiable to someone who couldn’t hear the click of teeth at the end.
“Get up and get dressed,” Kadaj told Yazoo, nudging his brother with a foot.
“If I went down there,” said Yazoo, rising and rummaging around for his clothes, “it might calm him down. Enough for you to sleep.”
The hatch whimpered.
“If you went down there right now,” Kadaj said, tossing Yazoo’s boot to him, “he’d crack your head open and lick it clean. You know that.”
Yazoo slid the boot on obediently. “I know.”
“So. You’re not going to do that,” Kadaj said, leaning back against the wall. He made no move to collect his clothing. “You’re going to go out there and find something he likes, bring it back, and in the morning we’ll let him out. I don’t think I like Kalm, and it’s close-we can take him there. Let him eat half the city if he wants. It might help.”
Yazoo nodded. “What about you?”
Kadaj seemed to think that was funny. “You don’t need to bring any heads back for me. Just him.”
“Hah.” It wasn’t funny, not really, but Yazoo wasn’t in a mood to get in an argument with Kadaj. He was tired.
He’d been tired for a while, really. Ever since Loz had godsdamn died on him; just because his brother had come lurching back after nearly a week didn’t make things better. Something about Mother’s blood wouldn’t let Loz stay dead, he supposed. They’d never had the chance to find out before now. Like as not it would happen to him, too, eventually.
The night in Midgar was cold and it stank. It hardly seemed important. Yazoo closed the house door behind him. It swung half-open again, broken, and Yazoo let it be. If anyone tried to break in, the first thing they’d find to steal would be Kadaj.
Loz seemed to prefer girl-brains. It didn’t take long for Yazoo to find one, a young woman and a man her age both smoking around the back door of a greasy little restaurant-closed, now, but recently so. Junan, by the smell. It took even less time to break their necks, though actually pulling the heads off was always a bit of hard work. Normally he brough a knife for this sort of thing. When their heads were stuffed properly into his bag, he headed back through the cluster of tiny streets back to the house. He half-expected that someone would object to him, or notice the bag dripping out blood and other things, but he saw nothing more active than a pair of cats as he picked his way along. There was no danger of losing the way. He knew where Loz was.
Kadaj had gone back to sleep when Yazoo found his way back, and the hatch had gone quiet too. Even so, he opened the hatch carefully and tossed one of the heads to the far side of the cellar. He heard Loz pounce clumsily on it, and after that it took several seconds for the cracking and the glutinous noises to die back down. Yazoo dangled the other head down into the hatch on its long hair, and before long the dull gleam of his brother’s eyes bobbed into view and he tugged the head out of Yazoo’s hand.
“Nks,” said Loz thickly from the inky darkness down there. “S’ry.”
“It’s all right. Feel better?”
“Some,” Loz said, crushing his thumb through a thin part of the girl’s skull.
“You’ll need to be quiet until morning. Kadaj and I have to sleep. He wants us to go to Kalm tomorrow.” He heard Loz peel away a shingle of bone and dip his thumb in for a taste-that would never, ever be appetizing.
“Huh?” The eye-gleam dimmed as Loz squinted in confusion.
“Quiet,” Yazoo repeated. “Sleep.”
Loz stuck his thumb into the girl’s head again, and held it up for Yazoo to lick.
“…not now,” Yazoo said.
Loz shrugged, licked the sludge off, and took the head back to where he’d eaten the other one-one of the corners, out of sight. The wet noises started again as Yazoo closed the hatch.
It was quiet-relatively, anyway.
He shrugged out of his clothes and rolled back into the heap of blankets next to Kadaj. Loz didn’t sleep now. He had tried, a few times, and nothing had come of it but a gradually increasing uneasiness and they’d given up the second time Yazoo had woken with teeth marks behind his ear. And if Loz happened to get hungry in the night, the way he just had, there would be worse than teeth marks.
It wasn’t right, not at all. The younger brother next to him was better than no brother at all, but it was still not right.
If it took the brains of half of Kalm to bring Loz back to bed, it was a small price. It was such a small thing, not even a price at all. Yazoo decided that Loz ought to eat all of Kalm, just in case. And if that wasn’t enough, Junon. Then Edge. The entirety of Midgar, in fact. Just in case. First thing in the morning.