Lost Souls

David glared through the trees at the two boys on the other side of the road. That's my land, my tree, my food, he thought. They happily continued eating the fruit off the tree, as if it belonged to them. Didn't think I would need signs during an apocalypse, David scoffed to himself. He raised his gun and walked into the street, toward the boys. 

“I'm sorry, I don't remember inviting you to my side of town,” he said sarcastically. The taller boy handed the fruit to the other and grabbed a knife from his belt. 

“And I don't remember seeing your name on the land.”

“What's your name?”

“I'm Jack. He,” he said, pointing his finger at the brunette beside him, “Is Peter. And you are?”

“My land, I ask the questions,” David demanded. “But I suppose if you know my name, you can warn everyone else to stay off my land. I'm David. I own this part of town; go find your own zombie infested area.”

“They're not zombies, you know,” Peter piped up behind Jack. “They're lost souls.” 

“Oh, shut up and get off my land.” David sighed. He had heard that before - but it was easier to believe they were zombies. Then they weren't real people, and he wouldn't feel as bad about killing them. The boys shrugged and turned to leave. “Drop the fruit,” he added, and heard a soft thunk as each fruit hit the ground. The boys continued, without looking back. Well that was easy, David thought. Wait until Jaspar hears about this! 

He let himself drop the tough guy act and smile, happily heading home. Home. More like an abandoned hospital. David walked through the gaping hole that used to be the entrance to the hospital, and ran across to the elevator. Prying the doors open, he jumped to the rope and slid down to the lower level. He knocked - twice, pause. Once, pause. Three times, pause again. Soon he heard the doors being opened on the other side and was greeted by Jaspar’s smiling green eyes. 

“David! How was hunting today?” He asked happily.

“Didn't find any animals, or zombies for that matter. But there were a few trespassers.” David informed him. He cracked his knuckles.

“Do they need to be taken care of?” 

“I took care of it!” David exclaimed, and Jaspar looked to to him in surprise.

“You did?” he asked, “So you killed them?”

“What? No!”

“Then they aren't taken care of, David. They'll just be smarter about it next time. You can't trust anyone,” Jaspar explained, “Didn't Dad teach you anything before he died?” David blinked back a few tears - his brother had no right to bring him up.

“Jaspar, stop it. Dad didn't kill innocent people.”

“That's what got him killed.”

“Jaspar that was one time-”

“One mistake can kill you, David! I'm not going to lose my little brother, too.”

“I'm fourteen now, I can make my own decisions.”

“I'm eighteen and I can make your decisions, too.” Jaspar said firmly, then sighed. “You know I'm just trying to protect you.” David nodded.

“But they're just trying to survive, like us.”

“You know what could happen to them. They could become one of those… Those things…”

“Zombies.”

“They're not zombies, David-” 

“Yes, they are.”

“They're possessed.”

“By demons?” David asked. He'd never heard that the creatures were possessed before.

“No, by lost souls. Not just any lost soul though. A human soul with a taste for blood.”

“Zombies.” David repeated, shaking off the feeling. 

“Sure.” 

***

“Jaspar get up here, the trespassers are back!” David yelled down the elevator shaft. He heard two knocks in reply - he would be there soon. David turned back to the two boys, and they stared right back. “Why are you here? I let you leave peacefully.”

“We want your land. We don't have any food at our camp, and you've got a forest,” Peter shrugged, “It's just not quite fair.”

Jaspar appeared beside David - he had taken the stairs, since he didn't have as much arm strength as David did and couldn't climb back up the elevator. “And who said we care about fairness?”

“We thought you might say that.” Jack said under his breath. David barely heard it, but he could tell by his tone that he wasn't happy. Jack drew a gun from his belt and pointed it straight at Jaspar. He didn't move a muscle. Jack smiled, and shifted his aim to David, putting his finger on the trigger.

“Wait!” Jaspar yelled, jumping in front of his brother. “I'm sure we could… Uh… Work something out?” Peter smirked and walked gallantly towards him, knife in hand.

“You give us the land, and we let him,” he gestured towards David mockingly, “Live. Deal?” Jaspar looked at David, who was rapidly shaking his head no, then back to Peter. He sighed defeatedly. 

“Deal…” he whispered back. “Just give us a while to gather our stuff, yeah?” Peter gave a short nod, then sat against a wall next to Jack. Jaspar looked to David and signaled for him to follow as he jumped into the elevator shaft and slid down the rope. David begrudgingly did the same, and soon they were in the small space that used to be the radiology lab. 

“What the hell was that, Jas?” David asked, bewildered. His brother was always the strong one, the one who took care of intruders. What happened to that Jaspar?

“I couldn't just let them kill you!”

“They might anyways, now all you've done is give them everything we had.”

“David-”

“Just get our stuff, okay?” 

The two fell silent as they packed their food, clothing and weapons into their bags. Every time one tried to make eye contact with the other, they'd look away. They finished very quickly, only having a few possessions each, then they headed upstairs together. Jaspar walked ahead, making sure the coast was clear. Jack and Peter were still sitting against the wall, waiting patiently. 

Jaspar signaled for David to stay back. The two boys were staring at the open elevator doors, oblivious to the fact that there was another way up. Jaspar smirked, raised his gun, and shot them both before they knew what hit them. David stared at him, eyes wide and mouth agape. 

“We have our home back,” Jaspar shrugged. “Now let's go hunting.” David’s face was frozen in shocked terror as he followed Jaspar out the door wordlessly, leaving the lifeless bodies against the hospital wall. “We stick together from now on, alright?” Jasper ordered. David nodded slightly. He knew his way around much better than Jaspar, as he usually did most of the exploring and food finding, so he would have to lead the way.

“Jas, why’d you have to-”

“Shh,” Jaspar warned quietly. He silently pointed to a figure close by. At first David thought it was another trespasser, but the closer it came the less alive it looked. It dragged its feet and its eyes were closed, yet somehow walked just fine. Half of its face looked dead, which made sense to Jaspar - it wasn't alive anymore, just a host for a lost soul. 

“A zombie,” David whispered. Jaspar shook his head. David had such a funny way of dealing with these things - whereas Jaspar had no trouble at all killing them, even knowing they were human souls. The creature came toward the boys with greater speed than anticipated and Jaspar jumped in front of David, gun raised in defense. 

“Stay calm, David. They're not hard to kill,” he said quietly to the nervous boy behind him. “Just watch me.” He raised his gun slowly, then shot the creature in the head. It fell down face first, and Jaspar turned to David, smiling. “See? Not hard at all!” But David's eyes only widened as he saw something floating above his brother’s head - the lost soul, detached from its host. 

“Jaspar-” he started nervously. 

“David, it's really-” Jaspar began, before the soul dropped suddenly and disappeared, as if becoming the boy himself. Jaspar’s frame shook and his eyes widened before shutting, forever. He had become a lost soul. David stood, rooted to his spot on the ground. His brother - no, the zombie - advanced towards him slowly, with no emotion left on what used to be Jaspar’s face. It still held the gun. David took one look at it and screamed, turning to run as fast as he could. His brother was gone; David was being hunted by a lost soul.