Of Death and Apples

It was nice outside. Cool. Crisp. The night air was a welcome change from the musty apartment building. Leaning against the balcony railing, Rose lit a cigarette from a pack she’d found a while ago. She didn’t smoke, but enjoyed the feeling of something warm in between her chilly fingers. Autumn was in full swing, with the trees shedding brown, orange, red and yellow leaves. It was nice to see on whatever excursions she took during the week, but the cold was quickly settling in. She'd have to get a jacket soon. Turning her attention to the cigarette in her hand, Rose watched as the ring of orange flame worked its way down the thin tube. Just as it neared her skin, the sound of moaning refocused her attention back to the night. A few yards away, a zombie dragged itself towards the apartment’s parking lot. Rose sighed. She and James would have to keep an eye out for it the next day. Her eyes shifted down to the base of the complex.  

Corpses littered the pavement, some stacked on top of one another. The stench was beyond putrid, even from the eighth floor. Moonlight reflected off various pools of blood which, if you ignored the fact that you were living in a zombie apocalypse, almost looked like regular water. Just as she was straightening up to go inside, Rose yelped. The flame had reached past her fingertips, singeing the skin around it. With a grunt, Rose flicked the cigarette butt, embers and all, off the balcony. It soared through the air before unceremoniously landing in the hollowed-out eye socket of a still corpse. Rose grimaced; though the body was unmoving, it still felt off to treat it in such a manner.  

Stepping away from the balcony, Rose collapsed into a plastic chair the previous renter had graciously placed outside. The night was still quiet, save for a few groans and moans in the distance. The glass door behind her head slid open. Out popped James, holding two cups of something steaming. “M’lady.” He said jokingly. “Finally got the stove working. Guess this place forgot to shut off the gas, not that I’m complaining.” He passed her a cup, which Rose found contained vegetable soup. “Where’d you get the grub?” she questioned. “It was stashed in the back of a cupboard. We really lucked out on this place, huh?” Rose grasped her cup with both hands, savoring the warmth. “Yeah. Guess we did.” she trailed off. Saying a quick grace, Rose tucked into her helping of soup. The two were quiet for a while, until James spoke up. “Hey, you good? You seemed mopey earlier.” Rose downed whatever dregs were left, setting her cup down soon after. “What do you mean by that?” James shifted against the balcony. “You were staring into the ether, so to speak. And you’ve kinda been quiet all day. You didn’t even seem all that excited when we found this place.” Rose leaned back on her hands, glancing up at her friend. “I was just thinking about...everything. About how we’re just trying to avoid being eaten every waking moment. About life before all this. About...about whether or not my family’s still alive. I hadn’t seen them in so long, and the one time I book a flight back home, all heck breaks loose. And now, I have to rifle through the belongings of the dead to keep myself alive.” “To be fair, it’s not like they’re using it anymore.” James quipped. Rose shot him a withering look. “As I was saying, it’s just really weird that this is our reality now. There’s no going back to the way things were before; if they every do, that is.” James seemed to think about this for a minute, before saying “Well, the way I see it, we have two options; we can sit here and dwell on something we can’t change, or we can try our best to make do with what we have. I completely understand where you’re coming from; I saw my sister eaten alive right in front of me. And as much as I want to sit here and act like she’s still here, I can’t. I have to keep going. Yes, you can mourn the past and mourn what we all lost, but you can’t stay there. It’ll eat you up inside before the zombies do.” Rose chuckled at that. James cracked a wry smile and continued. “Anyways, there’s only so much we can do right now, so we might as well have fun. Right?” “But how much fun can you have, dude? Everything’s either abandoned or desecrated beyond repair.” At this, James’ wry smile turned into a full-blown grin, his eyes sparkling in the moonlight.  

“I’m glad you asked.” 

The next morning, Rose found herself in front of what appeared to be an abandoned apple orchard. James walked forward confidently, a knife firmly in his grip. He stopped in front of the 12- foot chain-link fence and poked at it with his foot. “Yeah, looks like we’re gonna have to scale it. C’mon, I’ll give you a boost.” Rose stepped towards him, surveying the area around them. The parking was nothing but cracked cement and faded lines, with weeds popping out wherever they could find space. From outside the orchard, the trees seemed fine enough, their leaves and branches unruly from a year without pruning. Fat, juicy apples hung from the branches and the ground beneath them covered in their fallen companions. Oh yeah, Rose thought, it’s gonna be a good day.  

Once they were over the fence, the real fun began. Rose and James dashed from tree to tree, yanking whatever apples were closest to their fingertips. It was exhilarating, doing something so normal, after months of fighting the undead. To be in such an unsuspecting place while the rest of the world crumbled around you. Rose thought back to all the times she’d freaked out over something minor. A missing homework assignment, forgetting to pick up milk while at the grocery store. It seemed so meaningless looking back on it. If only she had known...if only everyone had known. Maybe then the possibility of her family still being alive wouldn’t seem so idealistic. Suddenly, her paradise seemed a lot more sinister. What the heck was she doing? Frolicking around an abandoned orchard, eating apples when she could-no, should-have been looking for a safter place to stay, looking for medical supplies, looking for- 

“OW! James, what the heck?!” James rounded the corner, tossing an apple up in the air and catching it rhythmically. Rose looked to her feet. A tiny crabapple laid at her feet. “You were thinking too much. Again. I was being helpful.” Rose sighed, rubbing her eyes with her palms. “You’re not wrong. It just feels weird to be here when no one else is. And how’d you even find this place?” James bit into his apple, juice soon forming a ring around his lips. “Found it on a map in that apartment we just left. Figured it’d be a good surprise for the both of us.” James’ eyes softened before he spoke again. “I’m sorry. I know you probably think this is frivolous, especially when there’s so much we need to get done.” At this, Rose stiffened. She said nothing for a while, mulling over the fact that her friend had cared enough to plan this trip despite everything else happening. She turned quickly, launching herself into James’ arms. He startled, dropping his apple to the ground and awkwardly wrapping his arms around Rose’s shorter frame. The embrace was short but sweet, the pair separating and shyly smiling at each other. “Sorry, I kinda went-” “No, no, you’re fine-” They stumbled over each other, ending the ‘conversation’ in peals of laughter. Rose looked up at her friend, truly seeing him for the first time. The way he took care of her, made her laugh, made her smile. Something in her suddenly emboldened her, and she stepped forward. Cupping his face in her hands, she tilted his head to the side and gently placed her lips on his. It was sticky, sweet, and tasted like apples. The kiss, unlike the hug from earlier, was sure, steady. When they broke apart, there was no awkward smiling or broken conversations. There was only them. Rose gazed into James’ eyes, breaking the serenity to ask “James?” “Mmm?” he replied, dazed.  

“Thank you.”