Derek Goodman - The Reanimation of Edward Schuett

Rae fidgeted. “Oh.”

“The man who killed her is back there,” Edward said, cocking his thumb back over his shoulder. “Maybe if I ever see Liddie’s mother again I’ll turn him over to her. She can dissect him, if she wants.”

Rae looked less comfortable around him by the second. “You turned him into a zed?”

“He deserved worse.”

He noticed she held Spanky a little tighter in her hands, but he didn’t care if she suddenly got the urge to shoot him. He could understand her discomfort.

“Edward, what happened to you?” she asked. “This isn’t the person I met a couple weeks ago who just wanted to find his daughter.”

He snorted. “I’m sorry. I really am. But most people wouldn’t describe me as a person anymore.”

“Well I still do,” she said.

“Good,” Edward said. “That makes one of us.”

Cory, Luke, and Jojo were so engrossed in the bizarre powwow happening down the road from them that none of them noticed as Larissa backed away from the group and ducked out of sight behind a telephone pole off the highway. It was a terrible hiding place, but it wasn’t like she needed them not to see her. She just needed them to not see the phone she pulled out of her pocket. None of the others in the group had been able to get a signal out here, but Larissa’s phone was different. It ran on the same principles as the one that crazy old man kept, but Larissa’s had been given to her for completely different reasons.

She pushed a button. She didn’t need to do anything else, since the phone could only call one number.

“He’s here,” Larissa whispered into it. “And it’s a situation, uh, crap I can’t remember. Um, C? Yeah, situation C. No, I’m positive. Yes, that one. Okay. Don’t worry, I’ll do exactly like you told me. I’ll see you soon, Dr. Chella.”

Rae nervously fingered Spanky’s trigger. Edward was quite a sight, standing before her in ruined and blood-darkened clothing with his own personal army behind him. Everything she had done over the last several weeks had been due to the idea that an innocent man had been caught in circumstances beyond his control. He had plenty of control now, but he no longer seemed so innocent.

Ghostly memories of her parents screamed in her head, telling her to shoot him. He looked more human now than ever, but on the inside he might have gone in the opposite direction. This was not something her parents would have wanted to live.

In her own mind, however, Edward still was not a something. He was a some one . Whatever he had gone through and seen since he had left Wisconsin, she refused to believe it could possibly be enough to completely get rid of that scared yet determined man she’d first met.

She lowered Spanky, and his muscles visibly relaxed. There had been some sort of unspoken standoff here, but she wasn’t sure which of them had won.

“I suppose we should do this, then” Rae said. “The old man has been waiting for you. From what my lieutenant said, he’s probably even expecting you right now.”

Edward raised an eyebrow. “Your lieutenant? Since when do you have a lieutenant at Merton?”

“I don’t have one at Merton, I have one here. I told you, it’s been an interesting few weeks.”

“Why don’t you fill me in on our way to…I’m guessing this man is waiting for me at 210 North Elida Street?”

“That’s the place,” Rae said. “But, um, should you do something with…you know, them first?” She pointed back at the horde behind them.

“Do your people have ways of keeping them away without hurting them?” Edward asked.

“Low-level shock prods with every one of our vehicles, a few nets for larger groups. Don’t worry, I won’t let any of my people hurt your, um, I guess those would be your people.”

“I’ll do my best to return the favor, but mine don’t take orders too well.” His body tensed for a second, making Rae think something was wrong, until all the zombies dispersed in different directions. Not a one of them came toward Rae’s group.

“Okay, how the flying fuck did you just do that?” Rae asked.

“I smelled nice at them.”

Rae couldn’t tell if he was trying to be sarcastic or if that was really what he had done, but she didn’t think she really wanted to know.

She motioned for him to follow her, and they went back to the rest of her group. “Edward, go ahead and meet Neuman Security.”

Edward nodded at them. “Hello. Is this your whole group?”

“Unless you count the old man, then yeah. But he’s not exactly part of the team. He’s really more like our employer.”

Luke snorted. “Except he’s not paying us anything.”

Rae rolled her eyes. “He’s paid us in equipment, and damned good equipment considering what little else there is to find out here. Edward, that’s Jojo, Luke, Cory and…” She looked around. “Now where the hell did Larissa go this time?”

Larissa ran up them from off on the side of the road. “Sorry, had to go find a nice private bush.”

“And Larissa,” Rae finished. “Everyone, this is him. This is Edward Schuett.”

They all nodded or gave half-hearted waves, but Rae could see a little bit of fear in all their eyes. She would have reassured them, but she still wasn’t quite sure there was nothing to fear.

“Okay everyone, back to your regular patrols,” Rae said. “Keep an eye out for all our, uh, new arrivals. You know the drill with them. Cory, you continue coordinating everything and let me know by the walkies if there’s anything important. I’m going with Edward into town to see the old man.”

“Good luck,” Cory said. “You know, sometimes I’d rather hang out with the zeds than with that guy. He’s just plain not all there anymore, if you ask me.”

“Not to mention the zeds’ moans are easier to understand than anything that comes out of his mouth,” Luke said. They all got on their ATVs with Cory and Luke sharing one. Rae motioned for Edward to come with her to the car.

“Neuman Security, huh?” Edward asked.

“Yeah. After you were taken away, I started poking my nose in where it didn’t belong about the whole thing. I even thought I could find something somewhere about your daughter…”

“You wouldn’t,” Edward said. His voice was low with dark undertones, and Rae didn’t ask him to elaborate.

“Uh, when I did find enough to go to the press I was very sneaky about it, but as soon as my interview aired Merton tried to come down on me hard. Apparently the CRS had told them to make sure everything stayed quiet, and they wanted a little revenge for me making them look like fools.”

They got in the car, and Rae turned it around to head back into Winnebago. In many places the streets were broken up enough to be completely useless, but Rae had already explored the town enough to know exactly the quickest way to the old man’s place.

“Why did you do the interview, anyway?” Edward asked.

“Because I saw something with you I’d never seen before. A zombie who was actually more human than most humans. I hated the idea that you would be out there and no one would know or care what was happening to you.”

“And how have people actually reacted to it?” Edward asked. “It isn’t like I’ve been able to keep up on popular opinion much in the last week.”

Rae shrugged. “Most people think it’s all a scam. I mean, it wasn’t like the show I was on is exactly considered reliable, but there are enough people that take it seriously. Some think you should be destroyed if you’re ever found. Some think you should have all the same rights as any other human.”

“You say ‘other human’ as though I am one,” Edward said.