Chapter Text
He"s awakened by a thunder so loud that he gasps, and the roaring that follows sounds like it"s tearing apart the sky itself.
Hears josh mutter a "Fucking shit." next to him.
There"s the drumming of the rain too, actually.
"Hello there. Sleepyhead."
Tyler takes a deep breath to let the scare flow away. "Let me guess, we"re not going anywhere today."
"That lightning landed something like thirty feet from us."
"Jeez."
"Go get your beauty shower if you want, I"m not moving from here."
Another rumble, this one a bit farther.
"Maybe later..."
Josh takes out scissors and pencil while he strips. "She was ecstatic when I showed her my notes."
"Really?"
"Oh, you should have seen her. She was almost as happy as for the researchers", even though most of what they wrote about was already known in the scientific community. Well... what"s left of it."
During the night Tyler"s arms bloomed like a lawn after the rain. From the total desert they were, now they"re even too crowded. "Gotta do some population control." said Josh. Who now approaches the weeds with a care that Tyler notices for the first time.
"Josh."
"Yeah?"
"What do you think of this?"
"This... what?"
"The fact that I accepted my plants."
"I told you yesterday-"
"I want your opinion on the current situation, not the future."
Swit. Clover. Josh lays it between two pages.
He sighs. "I couldn"t get it at first. Why you"d let yourself... decay instead of fighting it off. Considering the pain too, yes." he anticipates Tyler"s question. "Don"t take it as an insult, but I think I"d bear anything not to become a zombie."
Tyler doesn"t. "We"re simply different on this matter."
"Yeah, and... what I saw in the town, the colony... that made me think a lot too."
"Told ya they aren"t monsters."
"No, apart from that. You talked about co-living with your plants, but isn"t it actually a symbiosis?"
"Uh?"
"You"re literally hosting and feeding them. In exchange they saved your life. Look at you, you should be bedridden now, for... what, weeks?"
Swit. A dandelion that was going to bloom again with it"s silver seeds ready.
"Ashley"s hypothesis is that the gerbera is keeping your tissues togheter, either while they"re healing or forever, if they never heal. Add this to the rest." He chuckles. "Your new sense of smell... oh."
Another thunder. Josh"s finger freezes on his skin while it rolls around in the sky, loud even through the walls.
"What?"
Josh"s index moves to the left side on the nape of Tyler"s neck. "There"s something here."
Tyler smiles.
The storm gradually downsizes to a thick drizzle, yet it doesn"t give signals to stop any soon.
Josh is restless and the trashing in the shop is making Tyler feel ill at ease.
They don"t even talk, only exchange a glance. Tyler shrugs.
Those few minutes to pack their stuff and off they go under the rain.
He leaves the hood of his jacket down, sleeves rolled up so the weeds can take some water too.
There"s no need to go fast, not when any other survivor must be barricaded in a shelter and zombies can be simply outrun.
That"s another thing the rollers couldn"t do.
Josh snorts. "It wouldn"t rain so often, before."
"It wouldn"t rain at all. All those wildfires..."
"It feels done on purpose, doesn"t it? It"s like the Earth itself decided to take matters in it"s hands and get rid of us. We aren"t enough to even dream of polluting anymore."
He laughs.
Making us go from destroying Her to become a piece of Her, Tyler thinks.
"If during quarantine the environment had gotten that better, I wonder how good things are now."
"Maybe it"s a good thing after all."
"...you say?"
"Yeah, well. It"s evident."
Josh frowns, perplexed.
Tyler wonders if he should have kept it for himself.
But then-
"You definitely have a point."
The afternoon bleeds slowly through the hours, measured by the growing stiffness in their legs.
By the middle of sunset they still haven"t seen any building to find shelter in but Josh doesn"t seem too worried, and Tyler is perplexed. "Are you planning to... are we..."
"Uh?"
"What are we going to do for the night?"
"You know, I was thinking that we could sleep around. Literally."
Tyler stares weirded out at him. "What about safety?"
"There would be no human who could find us, especially if we camp out far enough from the road. As for the zombies... just keep an arm out of The Roll, I guess."
The Roll. The sleeping bag they found in the gas station while digging in the debris out of boredom, now tied to Tyler"s bike bag.
"It"s black, it"s impossible anyone would see us anyway."
"The zombies might smell us."
"As long as they smell at least you, we should be fine. Right?"
Tyler scratches his head. Josh"s reasoning is... fine.
"Might as well stop now." Josh adds.
"Okay then."
"You agree, right?"
He puffs out. "I mean... it"s not like we can do anything else, apart from going on until we find something, but my legs feel like they"re gonna fall off if we do."
"Same."
"Can"t believe they gave us these..."
"I guess it"s what they could afford to sacrifice."
But they don"t stop yet. Tyler wants a tree to lie under and Josh said, if we don"t see one in ten minutes we"re camping right where we are.
They do see one eventually, and drag bikes and stuff on the grass.
"It"s an oak."
"Hmm?" Tyler yawns. "Oh, yes."
"Do you think there might be tree zombies somewhere?"
Tyler thinks about Daphne"s metamorphosis in the myth.
"Doesn"t seem too unlikely to me. In the future, perhaps. If the Plague ever evolves."
"It probably is."
"What?"
"Evolving already."
He wouldn"t want to spend the remainder of his existence braided to the ground.
Their dinner and only meal of the day is the third and fourth cans of soup. It"s all they can have and it"s way too far from enough. Their stomachs rumble all the time.
Tyler doesn"t feel the need for meat today but he still opens a packet- mostly to force Josh to eat half of it.
They"re still so hungry.
Josh is studying the map. "There should be a town in the next forty miles."
"...fine..."
"Just... let"s try to avoid other people and do your trick. I"m starting to think that zombies would be safer."
"You aren"t wrong at all."
The drizzle never stopped in the meantime. The grass they lie The Roll on is completely wet, they"re lucky it"s waterproof, and turns out that Tyler"s wish to find a tree reveals to be a good idea. The leaves protect them a bit from the rain.
Josh crawls first in the sleeping bag and Tyler follows, turning himself so Josh can hug his back. The limited space and the jackets have them squished to each other, not that they mind. It"s just that Tyler would rather feel properly Josh"s body.
He does as asked, he leaves out an arm on the grass, sleeve rolled up to expose the weeds. It"s cold. Uncomfortable too.
It"s okay. They seem to appreciate.
Morning is... grey. Wet. Tyler finds himself awake with Josh"s breath tickling his neck.
Birds are singing right above their heads, it"s peaceful.
Barely dawn and he"s still sleepy, so he fixes himself closer to Josh"s body, moves the tattooed arm around his chest in a better position and closes his eyes again.
The second time it"s hunger cramps.
Josh is already awake then and the sun is completely up. "It stopped raining. How do you feel?"
"Like I haven"t eaten in days."
"We could... I was thinking... since there"s that town nearby, we could eat the last cans now and hope we find something there, or keep them for tonight, but-"
"Now. Please."
Josh takes out the can opener.
The town is, according to his sightings...
"...infested. Fuck."
"What do you see?"
"People, though they don"t walk like people" He puts down the binoculars. "What do we do?"
Tyler is pondering. Supposing, mostly.
The look on Josh"s face tells him they have the same idea.
"I"m not one hundred percent sure it will work. It"s better if I go alone."
"But what if I"m attacked while you"re far away and attract the town pack too?"
"I don"t know Josh. Just be careful I guess?"
"You never know."
So it"s low risk-high risk or medium risk, Tyler thinks.
Not if I force them to choose between fighting me too or none of us.
"Tyler?"
"I wish this was a "never hurts to try" situation, but you"re right."
Josh spots it after two hours of riding.
"What"s the plan?"
The knot in Tyler"s stomach tightens. "Uhm... let"s try to... befriend the ones closest to the crossroad. If it works with them, it should work for all of them... if it doesn"t-"
"I"m hopping back on the bike and running. Got it."
Tyler puffs out. "Alright."
The minutes they have left before this "experiment" may be their last but Josh seems eager to meet his fate, speeding up their pace, whatever it is.
Meanwhile Tyler is feeling almost sick.
There, there, getting closer. He too can see the town now with naked eyes, see also that there is no possible shelter for Josh to wait for him in. No trees, no isolated buildings, everywhere is flat and in full sight.
The first zombies are sitting on the ground, back to a pole. Three of them. "Two blue hydrangeas and one tiger lily. All in advanced state." says Josh.
His belly grumbles.
Tyler"s follows as if for sympathy, making Josh giggle, but Tyler"s isn"t as amused and Josh notices. "You good? Do you want a pack?"
"I should ration them."
"Why don"t you take a few strips now and keep the rest for tomorrow?"
Tyler is tempted to say no, I can resist, but then thinks that Josh is probably speaking for his own safety too.
And it makes him even sicker. "Okay."
They stop, close enough to see the zombies, far enough not to be seen. Tyler feels guilty in eating alone, in front of hungry Josh who refuses to accept anything from him, but also in front of them.
He rolls up his sleeves.
The weeds buzz and pulsate, already aware of the zombies.
And they too.
After a few moments, their heads turn all of a sudden towards thim.
"Stay behind me and don"t attack. Don"t do anything. Just run if things go south but don"t attack them."
"Got it."
His heart is hammering against his ribs.
"Okay."
"We"re going?"
"Yeah."
Up on the bikes and slow pace. Relax, Tyler says to himself, we"re friends. He"s a friend, we come in peace. He"s a friend.
The zombies get up from the asphalt, start to totter towards them.
Friend.
He replies to their hisses with a click. They stop abruptly, then click too but as the bikes get closer-
His weeds are pulsating louder now. Few feet separate the zombies from them. Tyler is hoping so hard his flowers are enough to convince them.
Friend. Friend.
They"re not attacking... yet their smells...
Without breaking eye contact with them he takes out the opened pack and hands it to Josh. "Give it to them."
"...peace offering?"
"Exactly."
The tyger lily zombie whistles, rapidly imitated by the others. They emanate confusion, suspicion.
Josh"s trembling arm enters his sight, stretched as much as he can while not coming down off the bike.
He gasps when it"s snatched from his hand.
They"re so close, the hatchets are closed inside the backpacks, if this is not enough...
The two hydrangeas shove their hands in the packet held by the tiger lily, the munching sounds mixed with the clicks are a bit disgusting. The smells are changing though, more delicate, smoothened. Still confused but non aggressive anymore.
Tyler whispers. "I think it worked."
The three escort them in the town, loudly clicking to wake it up; more and more bodies get out of houses, gardens and corners, clogging Tyler"s nose again. The same scene of the last time repeats, except that there are no teeth flashed to Josh.
Tyler has never been so relieved.
"Does this mean we can roam freely now?"
"I think so-"
The zombies gather around them a circle, like- like to trap them.
Still-
Josh clings to his arm. "Ty?"
Tyler can smell his terror.
Yet... the scents coming from the colony... "They don"t want to kill you."
"Then why are they doing this?"
Tyler listens. Rubs his nose and breathes, inhales... letting them enter his brain...
"Help."
"What?"
"They want help."
"With what?"
He looks down on his flowers. I need you now, he thinks. Friend. Friend.
In a matter of moments a cloud of friend scents emanated by the circle has inglobated them. Josh, most importantly. Tyler smiles.
"Do you trust me?"
"Yes."
"Then you can trust them."
"Uh?"
"Search the houses, they won"t bother you. I"ll go with them and see what they need."
"Are you sure?"
"Don"t take out the hatchet and you"ll be fine. Okay?"
"Okay. I love you."
He kisses Josh on the cheek. "I love you too."
Walking towards the pack and the zombies surround him, Tyler turns one last time to look at him. At his eyes wide and pale skin under the dirt.
"Don"t be scared!" he yells.
The circle closes again around Josh.
They don"t guide him too far. A few roads ahead there"s a building that looks like a school, looks like that is where they"re going.
It"s a strange, actually good feeling this one; to... walk with them, be a part of... something. Together.
They"re happy for his arrival and worried about something.
It"s strange because he"s still human - enough - and they"re only animals. Intelligent, loving animals.
He"s like them. He"s still different from them, still human. Mostly.
They don"t seem to care or know. They love him.
Inside the building, in front of a wooden door, they stop.
"You want me to open it...?"
There are weak clicks coming from behind it. Tyler tries to pull the handle, of course it doesn"t work.
It"s locked.
Tyler knows what to do.
"Stand back. Stand back, stand back." Waves his arms to make them move away, "Stand back."
When the head of the hatchet peeks out of his backpack the atmosphere darkens immediately and Tyler does his best to diffuse it"s okay, friend, friend.
The hisses stop after he blows the first hit on the door.
His arms are thin, this is much harder than cutting through a soft neck.
Tyler forces himself not to think about it.
Just smash the keyhole.
It takes nine strikes to break it, the door finally sways open; everyone is happy and Tyler puts away the hatchet with no threats thrown to him.
The pack doesn"t follow him back up, it remains there. Climbing up the stairs, he sees a giant covered in marigolds carrying two children out of the room.
He returns to where he left Josh, thinking he must be in the first or second house. He hasn"t been away for long-
The zombies in the street raise their arms to point to the end of it instead, understanding - or smelling - Tyler"s intention.
Tyler scratches his head but follows their indications.
All the ones he meets do the same. They roam quietly, in pure peace... like true inhabitants of the town, except for their gait.
The thought makes him smile.
In the end he"s directed to a grocery store much far from the crossroad, and in the last aisle-
-there"s Josh on the ground, surrounded by opened and unopened cans and his backpack looking on the verge of exploding. Josh himself is eating from one and stares at Tyler like he was caught red handed.
"They brought me here," he says with his mouth full, "and there"s so much food that after I stuffed my backpack and our bike bags there were shelves still full. So I opened some for them." He swallows. "They appreciated."
Tyler can"t help but admit he"s sorry to leave this town, but they have a destination to reach.
And this isn"t a place for them anyway. It belongs to the zombies now.
Who, too, weren"t that happy to see them leaving.
Now, lying in The Roll many miles and hours later, bellies full and enough provisions for ten days of traveling, Tyler leans his head on Josh"s chest to listen to his heartbeat.
The sky is clear, despite some clouds scattered around, the idea of falling asleep watching the stars sounded too good not to do it.
Even if Josh is the only one looking at them, as Tyler has already closed his eyes.
"You know, I"ve started to think that it"s a good thing you got infected."
Tyler hums. "Me too."
Josh kisses his hair goodnight and Tyler rolls on the side, waiting for his arm to wrap around him.
So the next days pass, in a cycle that blends them togheter and instead of oppressive and scary like it was weeks ago... it"s quiet.
The constant fear has long gone, suppressed by a sense of safety.
As Tyler learns how to control hsi flowers it gets easier to calm down the zombies; but the biggest surprise arrives when they enter their fourth city and not a hiss or whistle is thrown at them, not even when Josh gets off his bikes.
Only clicks of friendliness.
And when he turns to Tyler, who"s perplexed like him but has a theory about it...
"The wind must have spread the info."
..they shrug it off and look for a place to stay for the night.
Their hatchets haven"t touched a body in a long time.
In the meantime Josh keeps up with his translation and annotation work. He"s keeping a specimen for every plant he cuts off of Tyler to dry them between the pages, writing numbers and dates.
When the sunflower finally sprouts it"s rapidly followed by three more, all in the curve of Tyler"s right shoulder. Only one is spared, the closest to his head. Tyler is sad but it has to be done.
The gerberas... are either shy, or something"s off, because two weeks after the girl"s bite they have yet to come out. The only one remains that under his chest, still thriving and looking fresh.
"I"m not complaining." Josh gently taps on its petals, one night that they find a mall with it"s water aisle full and can improvise a shower. "No cutting, no pain."
"But it"s odd, isn"t it?"
"Maybe you already have too many species in you and the gerberas lost the fight for the territory."
Tyler chuckles, louder when Josh tickles him on the tummy. "Stop!"
It"s peaceful. They don"t have to fear for their lives anymore and Josh kisses the remained sunflower every night before lying down to sleep.
After sixteen days of travel, the settlement should be ahead of them, near. In his binoculars Josh spots a wide strip of charred ground, barbed wire and behind it, houses. "You should probably hide the plants."
Tyler tucks the sunflower under the collar of his jacket.
They reach the charred strip then walk their bikes through it, not to scare off eventual sentinels. It takes whole minutes to cross it; halfway to the barbed wire they see a gate opening and a group of people coming out of it.
One with a hunting rifle.
"That was predictable."
It was. Tyler is sweating anyway. "Do you think they"ve been warned of our arrival?"
"There"s a radio tower over there..."
Josh too is tense, but for excitement. "I can"t believe we"ve made it."
"Almost made it. I"d wait to see the house before saying it."
"Hey, relax. The researcher will vouch for us." He pats Tyler on the back. "We"ll be fine."
Still, the faces of their welcoming party are not welcoming at all.
Once they finally reach the gate Tyler"s heart is pounding.
These people are dressed like farmers and smell of cattle and their eyes are dissecting him alive.
The only one who does not look like she wants to shoot him steps in front of the group. "Are you Tyler and Josh?"
"Yeah." Josh hands her the envelope.
Tyler wonders if they know.
The woman opens it, reads, nods. "Good, good. Would you just show me...?"
He wants to become invisible instead. But he rolls up his sleeves.
The farmers" looks get even more suspicious and the one holding the rifle, even though pointing it to the ground, is fidgeting with the trigger. "How long since the bite?" he asks.
Josh replies for him. "More than a month."
The woman offers them a hand to shake. "I"m Hayley. Welcome to Trench."
The group escorts them through the main street of the town; there are people leaning out of windows, passers-by, children, couples, elders sitting at tables outside of some sort of tavern, all staring at them with wide eyes. At him.
Josh"s presence right next to him is the only thing that"s keeping him from ... dying on the spot, probably.
It"s lively here, a mixture of modern day cities and "Far West vibes." as Josh says in an attempt to ease his tension.
They come across a horse too, which shoves his big nose in the crook of Tyler"s shoulder while it passes next to them.
The town isn"t big, they reach the last houses before the barbed wire pretty soon. Hayley asks Josh to give her the researchers" notebooks before opening the gate on this side. "See that farm over there? Knock and tell Samuel your names. He will accompany you to your new house."
A good shiver agitates Tyler"s chest. Josh turns to him, failing in holding back a smile.
Samuel makes them sit on a cart and guides the horse on a dirt road. He doesn"t speak, they don"t speak, but the glance he gave to Tyler lacked the harshness of the other people and that was enough for Tyler to feel a bit better.
Their new house is of a faded pink, in the middle of a dirt clearing, in the middle of the meadow, in the middle of nowhere, almost. It took a long time for the horse to get them here from the town.
The old man points at the river, at the forest in the distance and warns them of the chance of coming across roaming zombies.
"Oh, we can deal with them. They don"t bother us anymore." says Josh.
"Really?"
"Yeah!"
"Then we could call you in case they bother us, I suppose?"
"Sure."
The man smiles. "Good."
Tyler wishes Josh had kept his mouth shut.
The last thing Samuel gives them before leaving is a paper sheet with phone numbers and other info written in pencil. "In the pantry there"s everything you need to start your own vegetable garden and tomorrow I"ll be back with some animals. We"re a community, we help each other as best as we can, but do your best to not need too much supplies from us, alright?"
"Yes sir."
"Good luck kids. Don"t hesitate to call me every now and then."
They watch the cart walk away, until Josh lightly hits him with an elbow. "Shall we explore our new home?"
It"s crystal clear that it"s very old, looking at the furniture, perhaps a grandparent"s house. Something that doesn"t belong to this century.
Apart from some dust here and there... it"s clean. Ready to be inhabited.
It"s nice.
"They really prepared it for us."
"Not to complain about this incredible present from Fate..." Josh chuckles. "But they could have given us one closer to the town."
"They would have never let us stay with them."
"Ty-"
"Have you seen how they looked at me? I don"t blame them for wanting to keep us far."
In the corridor on the upper floor, Josh ruffles his hair. "They don"t know what they"re missing, then."
Tyler tries to smile, he really does, but he can"t. He can"t match Josh"s positivity or... or certainty.
The bathroom is green and the bathtub has lion legs. Josh laughs.
Tyler turns the faucet and a clear flow comes out. "Oh God."
"Wh- running water?"
"Running water."
They bring two chairs outside to watch the sunset from the porch, drinking tea made from unknown dried leaves found in the pantry, then dine with something that isn"t coming out of a can and it"s the best thing ever, in this moment at least. The bed comes second.
"Hey."
Tyler doesn"t reply. There"s nothing he"d say that hasn"t been said already.
He doesn"t want to ruin Josh"s joy.
Still, Josh sighs and moves to be right on top of Tyler, elbows on his sides to be face to face. Tyler spreads his legs to make it more comfortable for both of them.
"I"m sorry."
"For what? Being worried? Don"t be."
"I can"t not be worried."
"I meant, don"t be sorry. It"s okay." Josh comes down until his head is laying on Tyler"s chest. "But if I were you I wouldn"t start to worry until things are going south, not before. We"ve fought so hard for this... don"t poison your mind. Especially since you don"t know how much time we have left. We"ll worry when we have to, not before. Please."
Tyler hugs him. "Okay." he whispers. "I"ll try."
In truth, the only thought he falls asleep with is how they"ve travelled for the last day of their life and aren"t going to leave this place. Josh was right, they"ve fought hard for this and this isn"t a stocked gas station, or the IKEA they were so tempted to stay in.
Home.
So flies the first night, and in the morning they"re awakened by the birdsong.
In the following days Samuel brings them six sheep, a cow, chickens and two horses, shocking them both, and shakes his head when they try to tell him they have never ridden one. I"ll teach you, he says.
Teaches them how to handle the animals and the garden, the town"s bartering rules, how to fish.
"I"ll give you everything you need."
They exchange perplexed glances and thank him too many times.
Most importantly, under Tyler"s request, how to set rabbit traps.
He takes care of the garden, Josh the cattle. They have milk, eggs, wild herbs and after two weeks the first vegetables grown by them.
"Yoi"ve got some green thumb there, uh." Josh smirks one time that he finds Tyler standing in the middle of the garden, staring proud at the fruit of his work.
Tyler shows him his hands. "They"re mostly grey now."
His skin keeps losing color. Hayley believes it"s because of the chlorophyll in his blood.
Meanwhile, the plants on the ground are doin as good as those on his body, except for the gerberas. The time of burst has long passed and not another one sprouted.
Hayley is confused. Tyler is confused.
Josh whistles happily.
The researcher came on the third week and asked to examine him, so Tyler stripped to his pants and let her touch the scars on his back, cut some flowers herself, take a blood sample. The face she made when she saw it come out pitch black from his finger was of pure shock.
"How often do you need to eat meat?"
"Once every two or three days. I get hungry after four."
That experiment was Josh"s idea. The fourth day was storming, forcing them to stay inside all the time, and Josh spent all of it carrying a pack of meat strips wherever he went until Tyler felt it.
It was awful from beginning to end.
They did it twice to be sure.
Getting used to this static life is easier than Tyler thought. It"s good to remain in the same place. Have somewhere to return every night.
"The citizens keep asking me about you."
"Oh?"
Every morning, after taking the cattle out of the barn, Josh rides Johnny Boy to town and barters eggs and milk for anything that"s still missing in the house, mostly clothes for now. He and the bay horse clicked immediately.
Ruby instead is more interested in Tyler"s weeds than Tyler himself.
"Many of them have lost someone to the Plague. They want to know how you made it."
With a swit of the shears he cuts the sunflower head. Tyler winces.
"They"re a bit envious."
"We"re just very lucky that we found those notebooks."
"You wouldn"t be infected if we didn"t go look for them, though..."
"Too late to think about it."
Josh writes in his book. "You know... your growing rates haven"t changed in a while."
"What about my skin then?"
"Tyler."
"It must mean something."
A warm hand lands on his back. "You"re almost at two months and completely lucid. Why do you care if you"re changing color? Afraid I might not like you anymore?"
Tyler holds a chuckle.
"I wouldn"t care even if you were purple or looked like a flower box. Which you don"t, by the way."
Swit. Clovers have stopped hurting.
"Are they afraid of me?"
"Except Sam, Hayley and few others, many are. They think I"m a fool for keeping you around."
"Do you tell them anything?"
"That they can say whatever they want but I am right and they are wrong as long as I keep showing up."
One month after they"ve settled here, the phone rings.
Tyler is pruning the cucumbers when Josh leans out of the kitchen window. "The Ryans called, they found a zombie in their barn."
He leaves gloves and scissors on the ground and dashed with Josh to their horses.
The sun sets as they ride to the Ryans farm, out of the barbed wire but much closer than their house.
The whole family greets them outside, parents and children. The latter hide behind their mother when Tyler gets down from Ruby.
He knows better than to feel offended. Or shaking the father"s hand. He leaves that to Josh.
"We heard the clicks." the man explains. "It"s with the cows, we can"t try to kill it or they might get hurt."
Josh nods. "We"ll handle it, don"t worry."
"Are you going to kill it?"
"I"ll take it out and tell it not to come back." says Tyler.
Both parents throw a sharp glance at him but he resists them.
The stench of cattle and manure makes his eyes water. He sweeps the torch around and the cows moos at him, bothered by the light but otherwise calm. This is a good sign.
The filthy air doesn"t let him perceive anything else...
He clicks.
On the opposite end of the barn, one responds.
Tyler tiptoes slowly between the sleepy animals, keeping his arms high on his head not to get his weeds bitten off. There it is... it"s a teenager.
Tyler sighs.
Ivy.
Now that they"re closer he can scent something... confusion, fear. to which he replies with it"s going to be okay. The girl clicks again through the branches that come out of her lips.
Tyler takes her hand.
He guides er back to the door, until they"re outside and both their noses get rid of the stench. In the distance Tyler can see Josh and the family, something that looks like a gun in the mother"s hand.
He points at the forest. Thinks very hard not safe here, stay away.
Tell the others.
Stay away.
The kid"s smell is sweeter as she totters towards the dark wall.
Tyler waits for her to blend with the night before returning to the family.
The father has crossed his arms. "So?"
"I sent her away."
"You should have killed it."
Be patient, he tells himself.
"I told her not to come ever again and she"ll tell to other zombies too."
"...oh."
Behind them, where they can"t see him, Josh smiles and gives him a thumbs up.
The woman asks-
"Do you want to stay for dinner?"
Ruby and Johnny Boy take them home with no need for guidance. They know the way, the moonlight shines strong on the dirt road.
"Was it a good idea to tell them about the infested towns?"
"I think so."
"I hope they believe us."
"After what they"ve see tonight I"m sure they do. I mean, yeah, they were shocked, but positively. You did a good impression."
"I"m just glad they stopped with the murder stare."
Hayley visits them two days later. "Doing good?"
"Yeah."
Tyler takes off his shirt. "Nothing new."
The woman walks around him like a tailor, takes samples and notes. Josh shows her his notebook.
She nods, satisfied. "I wouldn"t worry too much about your skin. It"s common in zombies in advanced state... what about your appetite and thirst?"
"Same as always."
"That"s great... we"re doing a potluck all together this evening, wanna come?"
Josh"s eyes widen.
"Me too?" Tyler asks.
"You in particular, yes. People want to meet you. Everybody knows what you did for the Ryans."
"Oh."
"Sure, we"ll be there." Josh smiles.
It"s like a giant buffet in the town square, only missing decorations to look like a county fair.
Tyler"s anxiety meets the citizens wariness but the latter gradually disappears, with the passing of hours- and flowing of beer. They want to see the flowers, obviously, most importantly listen to his story; which he and Josh tell in tandem to the group around them, slowly growing into a crowd. Questions, comments, Tyler would rather hide under a rock because of the pressure but he stays, for the sake of his and Josh"s stay in Trench and, hoping it will work, for the sake of awareness.
Shock and disbelief flash on people"s faces when Josh tells them of when the zombies brought him to the grocery store. Tyler pulls up his shirt and shows the gerbera that saved his life.
Then, while Hayley exposes her theory about the importance of zombies for vegetal biodiversity, they can finally enjoy some peace and quiet in a corner of the square, feeding each other bits of stew.
When it"s time to go home everyone wants to shake Tyler"s hand. Some say they"ve heard from Josh of his ability with the garden and ask for advices.
When it"s way past time to go home, he drags a tipsy Josh to the horses" paddock and helps him get on Johnny Boy.
"Told ya they would have loved you."
Tyler pats his ass before getting on Ruby. "You never said that."
"Well, then I thought that. Forgot to tell you."
He makes sure Johnny Boy is still following him, since Josh is too busy trying to remain straight on the saddle.
From that night on, he decides to join Josh in his morning walk tot the town at least once a week.
Josh is happy. Ruby is happy.
The citizens wave at him and ask how his garden is doing.
Bees come.
Out of nowhere, or perhaps they"ve always been there but they never approached him before. It may be because today he"s shirtless, the weather is pretty hot. It"s full Spring after all.
Tyler stops pruning the tomato plants to watch a bee land on the chamomile on his wrist.
He turns to the house. Calls for Josh, hoping his voice won"t disturb the bug"s business.
Josh comes running. "What?"
"Look." Tyler points at the flower. "I"m being pollinated."
And Josh stares at the bee, unaware of her audience, hands on the hips and head tilted. When she flies away he puffs out. "And I thought you were hurt."
"Sorry. I thought it was cute."
"It was, it was. I"ll write it in the notebook."
It often rains here, not as often as when they were on the road, though frequently enough for Tyler"s liking. When it does, especially now that the temperature allows it, he lies down in the grass and lets his body become one with the meadow. Listening to the tapping, feeling his flowers" buzzing, sometimes falling asleep.
Josh joins him every once in a while, sitting with Tyler"s head on his thighs.
A good trimming must always follow but it"s a price they"re more than glad to pay.
They both love doing this.
Then, one morning, Tyler wakes up with a tension in his tummy.
It"s a tickle too, under the gerbera"s stem which reminds him-
It reminds him-
"Josh."
"Yeah?"
"How much time?"
"Uh... two months and a half? Two and three weeks? I kinda lost track."
Hayley is coming tomorrow. He"ll tell her.
No need to worry Josh.
But Josh insists on being present during her visits and Tyler has no way to ask to be left alone with her without tipping him off.
At least she has good news.
"Your seed count has remained stable for all of the ten weeks you"ve been there. Same with the chlorophyll levels, every other human blood value is fine... you"re completely stable."
His chest is crossed by a lightning.
"So...?"
Josh"s hopeful tone is met with a smile. "I"m pretty sure that as long as you keep up with the diet and the daily trimming your state shouldn"t go further. Your body has adapted to sustain the balance between "human" and "plant"."
"Am I out of danger?"
"There are very high chances you"re out of danger."
A trembling puff leaves his mouth, before he blocks it with his hand.
To hold back the cry.
He"s going to live. He"s going to live.
"I"ll keep monitoring you, of course, the data I"ve collected is still limited but it"s very promising."
Josh"s voice too is shaky. "Thank you Hayley."
"No, thank you. You"ve done an incredible job, both of you. This is going to save lives... but we can talk about this another time. I"ll let you... digest... Bye!"
She closed the door behind her.
And Tyler can finally let go.
Josh runs to hug him through the sobs and hold him tight, kissing his head when Tyler sinks his head in Josh"s hoodie. "I told you." he keeps saying. "I told you, I told you."
Tyler hugs him back, as hard as he can.
"We made it, love."
"Yeah." he creaks, sniffs. Giggles, despite the panting.
Josh kisses his tears away.
Three days later the tension has become a very light pain.
It"s nothing - he keeps forgetting about it, he only feels it when he bends over - yet it"s there.
Too bad he didn"t have the chance to talk privately with Hayley. Maybe the gerbera is dying? Could it be that? It looks fine, though.
Tyler doesn"t know what to think.
Doesn"t want to think.
Not now. Not now that Josh looks like the Sun itself for how happy he is and Tyler too feels like an incredible weight has been lifted off his back.
He tries to water it, lying on the bed and gently pouring some water on the inch of stem that sticks out of his belly.
It seems to work.
It"s probably nothing.
One week. A ball of pain lights up everytime he touches the flower.
Working on the garden gets hard, then almost impossible. He"s glad Josh can"t see him, away with the cattle.
He should call Hayley. He should tell Josh- but what if it"s nothing and he"ll worry him for nonsense?
And what if it"s not?
And he just keeps postponing, and Josh returns home so the time window closes and Tyler says to himself, tomorrow. I"ll call her tomorrow.
Tomorrow comes five more times. Nothing seems to change.
Stability is good.
He stares at himself in the mirror in nothing but boxers. Slides the tip of his fingers under the petals to palpate the skin, hisses at the pangs. It"s warm, swollen.
The doctor has just returned from Nebraska, he can make up a pretext to go into town and-
Josh gets out of the bathroom at that moment, wearing only a towel around his waist. "What are you doing?"
Tyler lets his hands fall down. "Nothing."
"Hm?"
Josh brings himself by his side. "Hey, we"ve gained some weight! We don"t look like skeletons anymore! Look!"
He pinches Tyler"s waist, making him gasp. "Are those love handles?"
"Hey, stop!"
"What are these?" Pokes in his cheeks before Tyler can grab his wrists. "We look so good!"
"Josh- stop!"
Josh tickles his hips again and Tyler can"t flee the attack.
"Hey!"
But he keeps giggling, escaping every effort Tyler is making.
Then his fingers poke too close to the gerbera.
And Tyler winces.
Mirth blinks off of Josh"s face. "What was that?"
"Nothing?"
"Ty, don"t-"
Going straight for the flower. Two fingers, on the center.
Pain makes Tyler see stars for a moment.
He steps back safe from Josh"s hands, wiping the tears that threaten to fall off his eyes, but not from the worried glance.
And hurt.
"Explain."
"I think the area around the stem is inflamed. It"s probably nothing, the gerbera-"
"Since when?"
Tyler feels like a worm. "Few days."
"Why didn"t you tell me?"
"Because I didn"t want to worry you!"
"Tyler, I... fuck. I thought we had gotten past this."
"You were so happy, I didn"t want to ruin-"
"Shu-"
And stops. Tyler lets the words die on his tongue anyway.
Josh hits his own thigh with a fist. "I should stop telling you to shut up when we argue. I"m sorry."
He"d reply but the flower pulses hard and he winces again.
"I"m calling Hayley."
"Okay." he whispers. Lies down on the bed while Josh goes downstairs, trying to catch his breath.
An hour later there"s knocks on the door. Josh yells a "Coming!" out of the window before closing the buttons on Tyler"s pants.
In a moment there are two series of steps running up the stairs and Josh reappears in the room with Hayley.
"How"s it?"
Tyler speaks through minuscule breaths. "It"s gotten worse."
"Worse how?" She leans on the bed, her head hovering on his tummy. Josh sits next to him and takes his hand.
"Like I just got shot again."
He does his best not to move too much while she lifts up the petals but everything feels much stronger now. Pain, the ill warmth, the tension.
"It"s definitely inflamed." she declares.
The pressure.
Tyler whispers. "There"s another one underneath."
"What?"
"There"s another flower-" it pulses "-under this one."
"A seed?"
It"s-
"It"s coming out."
"What?"
"Take the- take this one out!"
His belly is being slashed open again.
Josh"s arms pin him on the bed by the shoulders. "Hayley, rip it out!"
"How?"
"Just pull! Ty?"
He hangs on them, holds tight. "It"s pushing." he pants.
Hayley slides her fingers under the petals and grabs the stem. "On my three?"
"Now!"
The sound is of ripped hair.
Tyler screams.
Then the pain quickly melts, from knife to a dull pool. A crawling feeling makes way into his flesh, and a new flower blooms from the grave of the one in Hayley"s hands.
It"s yellow like the sun.
Tyler"s sigh of relief is followed by the others" shook ones. Hayley whistles. "Wow."
"How are you feeling now?"
"Much better." He"s seeing stars and pinwheels, but much better.
She pats his shoulder. "Next time, tell me earlier. I"m glad I could assist to this, but... boy, that was brutal."
"...sorry. Lesson learned."
"I"m saying this for you. Do you mind if I take it with me?"
She"s pointing at the gerbera, now in a glass filled with water. Blood turned it black.
"I wonder if the seeds can grow in the ground too."
"Let us know."
Josh watches Hayley"s horse leave through the window. Then turns to Tyler, not saying anything.
There is no need to.
Tyler apologized already.
What matters is that everything has been solved.
"How are you?"
"Exhausted. Totally."
"Well..." Josh sits again. "This time, you"ll recover with every comfort this house has to offer."
"Right now I only want you. Come here."
He moves to take Tyler"s head in his lap, cheeks in his hands. Tyler might fall asleep here and now.
"This mustn"t happen again, Ty. You scared me to death."
"It won"t, I promise. I love you."
"I love you too."
______
He gently caresses the dark petals, careful not to ruin them by handling them too much.
Hayley managed somehow to keep her alive and gave her back to him, trusting that his hands would have taken better care than hers.
It"s been a few weeks. Tyler moved her in a vase, with the hope that she can adapt to live in the dirt. It"s tough but she"s proved to be a fighter. Tyler stares at her seeing a child, his own baby.
The new plug is happily thriving; smaller than her predecessor and of a much healthier color, bright like hope itself. The little girl"s legacy.
The red-black one... when she withers, be it soon or at the natural end of her - new - life, Tyler is going to gather her seeds and sow a corner of the garden.
"Let"s see what happens." he murmurs.
He"s almost, almost sure she"s buzzing back.
Josh calls him from the porch. "Wanna ride before dinner?"
"Sure!"
"I"ll saddle the horses."
The sun is going to set soon. Tyler gives her one last touch light as a feather on the stem, wishing she could still feel his love.
"Stay alive for me, okay?"
He smiles. Gets away from the windowsill, to meet with Josh in the barn.