Deathsong

~ zombies, true love, and the end of the world ~

Prologue

“I love you,” he says, and laces his fingers through mine.

I stare at him and want to cry. His skin is white, so white I can see blue-green veins tracing across the backs of his hands and his forehead. I grip his cold hand tight, see him flinch, and loosen my fingers.

“Zach, I…”

He exhales slowly and looks away. “It’s okay.” His chest barely rises with his shallow breaths. “I don’t want you to say it if you don’t mean it.”

And now I really am crying, hot tears streaming down my cheeks. I try to wipe them away with the back of my hand, but too many fall too fast. A sob wracks my lungs with pain and turns to a rattling cough. For once, Zach doesn’t try to stop me from crying, just holds my hand.

“Here,” I rasp through my coughing, my sobbing. “Come here.”

He doesn’t resist, only sighs as I pull him closer, put my arms around his shoulders and cradle his head in my lap. I comb his hair back from his face and try to memorize every detail of him. But Zach has become a ghost, white hair and white skin, sunken, bruised eyes that shine bright blue with the last desperate light of the dying. I will remember him this way forever, but forever won’t be very long.

“I’m tired,” he murmurs.

“Go to sleep.” I lean down and kiss his forehead with chapped lips. “I’ll be here. I’ll take care of you.”

He sighs again, closes his eyes.

When he wakes, he won’t be Zach anymore.