FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Rain pattered softly against the windows as a man stared out from inside the small cottage, looking out to the field beyond. He had just finished up breakfast when a pale, grey skinned woman sat down across from the table, hints of slightly purple veins showing under her skin. He smiled as he wiped toast crumbs away.

"You know, even in your state you're a fantastic cook. You make fantastic meals Liz."

The woman pulled out a notepad and one of many various pencils and pens from her pocket, writing what she wanted to say, before showing the page out to him. The man smiled.

"I'm sure it'll keep me warm and happy out there with the weather being what it is today."

The man rose from his chair, as did Liz. Liz picked up the dishes from his meal as the man started bundling up thick clothing on for the rain. He watched her as she walked off to the kitchen.

"You'll be out in a few minutes right? Can't work outside without someone to watch my back."

The blonde turned her head and nodded silently. The man turned back once more before stepping out the door.

"And be careful on those dishes! I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but just for reminders anyway."

She gave him a smile before he stepped out the door into the cold fall rain.

It was always funny. All those movies, games, and books. And even when it happened people still couldn't believe it. And worse still, they really couldn't fight it. Mass bombings and rallies only slowed the progress of it all and diminished what valuable resources there were to be had. And in the end, one always got through. And that was all it took. And just like the many games, movies and books, so too had they all told the tale of what would happen with uncanny consistency.

Living Human beings rallied in small groups, and for the most part, it was everybody for themselves. While the dead outnumbered all in staggering numbers, coming in many various forms. Walkers were the traditional zombie every sense of the word. Slow, shuffling corpses, tough as nails bullet sponges, and once they got your smell they would follow for miles on end through whatever lay in their path.

Obese people in life, turned into walking walls and barriers in death. Athletes, dead but still capable of outrunning you on your best day. Notably strong people in life becoming pillars of strength among the dead hoards. Soldiers in life, still wearing protective armour and clutching their guns, occasionally had an impulse twitch in death on their trigger fingers, spraying deadly volleys of military grade ammunition at you.

That was only a couple of years ago. And it seemed like Human encounters were becoming increasingly rarer. The cities had long since been ransacked for food, and the risk of going in for whatever was left was too great. So after all his time spent through experiencing the living hell of it all, how did he end up on a remote cottage farm like this, in an almost, peaceful, idyllic life?

Through something that was never ever truly conceived. A great cosmic fluke. Some Humans had something special in them, and when the undead infected them through and with whatever it was that they did, some Humans didn't go all the way. They died like all the rest, and stood back up like all the rest, but that was where similar things ended.

Some people called them Halfers. Some called them Cursed Ones. Occasionally Betweeners. They were caught in an in-between state of life or death, constantly. They did not degenerate and rot like other undead did. But they didn't heal, and for the most part, the vast majority of Human internal functions ceased. But here they were, alive as any, like the owner of this cottage, Liz. They were sapient too, for the most part retained that one small spark of what being alive and being Human was inside them. But the term Cursed Ones fit them the best, sadly.

In the early days, Cursed Ones were thought to be the same as other undead, and were killed on sight. But one day, word got around that said otherwise. The sad thing was, undead, cursed ones or no, were notoriously difficult to be truly killed. Every last piece of them had to be burned for them to be truly dead. Cutting off limbs only slowed them down, and even the limbs reanimated and became problems of their own. This was only discovered after no doubt many cursed ones had already been hacked to pieces instead of burned, and were now in a truly terrible state.

Even though they were out of the fire so to speak, things only got worse from there. In a world of nothing but every man for himself, cursed ones became extremely valuable due to their unique ability. They were in some form, undead, and could pass through all forms of undead without a second glance. Naturally, this was the perfect tool for scavengers, or even those who still somehow found a way to fight. And cursed ones had little power to fight back.

Because of their unique situation, when they died and came back, cursed ones often didn't come back with everything. Some came back with minimal intelligence. Some lost their vision, or hearing. Others, like Liz, had lost their voice. Liz had retained all of her intelligence, that much was clear. But there was still a problem with it all. Cursed ones, were in essence, immortal. But because they couldn't heal, any wounds sustained were permanent for as long as they were "alive." They were china dolls. And some people in their cruelty, abused their fragile psyche with the threat of abuse to their body that would stay forever, if they didn't work for them. And it was revealed just how fragile Humans really were. Even Liz, who used the utmost of caution, still had small cuts and bruises. And it was through him meeting her, that their agreement came to pass.

He had been here for a little over two months now, doing various work around the cottage and the land. The place was in disrepair, as things all eventually come to, and Liz just couldn't hack it. Hammering nails, cutting and sawing things, working in the fields, all of it was too much. And when he first met her she already bore the signs of trying to do things alone. One of her fingers was darker than the other, etched with the indent of a hammer, after multiple misses. She had various tiny small cuts and bruises from bumps and scrapes.

But then one day he walked up to her front door. He found this place, having walked out into the countryside, a few weeks after finally leaving the city once and for all. It looked like someone still lived here, or recently had, and he went up to the cottage, gun drawn, ready for anything. Evidently he had bumped into Liz, and half scared to death nearly shot her when she approached him. But he realized quickly just who she was.

They had ended up talking, or as close as one could get with pencil and paper, and settled into an agreement. He would do all the work that was needed to take care of things, while he was allowed to stay, eat, and sleep under her roof. Over the past two months, things had done well, and grown. Liz was a good companion, if a little quiet, and made for a refreshing change of company over two years alone.

She watched his back when he worked, as even out here there was always the possibility of undead. And, whenever she found herself with a large enough cut, he had always put things right with a few stitches. Most cursed ones, since they were still in essence human, had very diminished self-esteem and issues with themselves. And Liz bore all the signs. She always wore thick layers of clothing, trying to cover up and pad herself, and often hid the fact that she had a new injury of some sort, and it was only weeks after that he spotted it and talked to her about it.

Liz was intelligent, it seemed in a different manner than most. She had inherited the old farm from her parents, and had been living here a year before the crash. She had a small pen of chickens, a few cows, and a large enough garden that she could provide for herself when she was alive. She was already used to living without everyday commodities from the city, using wood for heating and various oils for lanterns when the power was out. She was country-savvy, so to speak. And in the time spent here, he had learned a lot. She had to teach him about what he was going to be doing in her place after all, and was patient and always helpful.

So it wasn't that bad out here. He had a nice companion and friend, was relatively safe and secure so far out here, and had the means to provide for himself. He couldn't really ask for more.

The rain pelted down on him as he pulled weeds out of the garden amongst the various vegetables and fruits. He had found that even though it was cold and not fun to hang around in the mud, larger weeds came out like charm. And today the garden had to be cleaned out before the weeds got a boost from the rain and choked everything out. Liz was always nearby, keeping a lookout. The work continued for a few hours as he traveled down rows in the cold, blustery rain, and eventually, he finally found himself on the last row of plants.

Something broke his attention when he heard three distinct claps. Liz couldn't shout to him, and in some scenarios, probably couldn't reach him in time either, so they had devised a method of warning him. She clapped three times quickly. Three targets. She let out another clap after a pause. One clap..... that meant they were human.....

Liz was already crouched down amongst the plants in the garden, and he drew his gun. He couldn't stay here with her. If they found him they would find her. He needed to divert their attention. He spoke quietly to her, telling her to stay put. The blonde nodded silently. He peeked over the plants, and saw that the trio had just started coming down the driveway from the road. He stepped out of the garden, and approached them with his revolver drawn, keeping it pointed at them as they noticed him.

All three had their hands up in the air, as one approached ahead of the rest. All three were middle aged, wearing raggedy weather worn clothes and packs, and looked like they had been traveling in the rain for a few days.

"Whoa, easy there friend, we don't want no trouble! We're just traveling buy and then we spotted this place. Thought it was worth a check is all."

He kept the revolver pointed at them, watching for any moves.

"Listen, I can't offer much, it's been a poor season for the garden. I can give you some things for the road, but not much. I have to fend for myself too."

The lead man nodded.

"I hear ya stranger. You work this whole place alone?"

He nodded.

"You the owner?"

"No. I found this place like you did. Had to get rid of the owners."

The leader nodded, still holding his arms up.

"Listen, if we could just stay the night, we'd be outta the way in the morning and back off to where we're going."

"I can't. I've got a very fine tuned system here for only one. You stay and you'll risk the chance of fucking with it. You have to turn around and keep going."

The man sighed.

"Okay kid, I tried doin things the nice way. Truth is, we've been watching this whole show for a few hours now. I've got a man in the woods with a rifle nearby, keeping tabs on you. I give the signal, he shoots. So let's keep things nice and civil."

The rain pattered down continuously overtop of them. He was beat. At the most he could probably take out all three of them before they got their guns out. But not with the supposed sniper on him. That wasn't a chance he wanted to risk. He held his revolver up anyway.

"What do you want?"

The man nodded.

"Simple request kid. We spotted the halfer."

He thought about it for a moment. If he called Liz out they'd kill him for sure. But if he didn't, and they did something, it would give her some time. He wasn't letting Liz go anywhere.

"Where are you going?"

The leader looked at him.

"The city."

"That's suicide."

"Not with a halfer it's not."

He held his revolver steady in the wind and rain.

"I'm not calling her out. You do anything to me and she'll run. Trust me, there's undead in the area, and she knows it too. This is her place, and I just work for an agreement. But you try and go after her and she'll lead you on a wild goose chase. Turn around and go to where you're going. Forget about this place."

The leader sighed visibly, before shrugging. A shot rang out and a lance of pain shot up his leg. The leader lunged forward and grabbed his revolver, and another blast broke the air as he fired. The revolver was ripped from his hands, an in an instant, he was bashed across the side of the head. Pain was quickly followed by darkness as he fell to the ground.

The first thing he had felt was cold. The cold of having been laying in rainfall for a few hours. He wiped his eyes, and smeared blood off the side of his forehead. He looked around slowly. There was silence, apart from the patter of rainfall and the howl of wind in the trees around the cottage. The light was fading too. The sky was a dark blue as the sun went down. He pushed himself up and felt fire travel up one of his legs. He pushed once more, standing up shakily on is feet.

He called out Liz's name around the yard, to nothing. He hobbled back up to the house, to find the door left wide open. He stepped in, and nearly tripped on something. He stepped over it, to a familiar spot where he knew a lamp would always sit. He opened up a cupboard, pulling out matches, and lit the old lamp. Light shined into the house, illuminating what he had tripped on. The apparent leader lay face up, clutching his gut. He'd been dead for a few hours.

Liz's home, and by extension, his home had been ransacked. Drawers had been flung open, contents thrown around and discarded. Knives, tools, anything they might use was looked through and taken. He checked in the old bathroom, and found anything he could use for his leg was gone. Panic began to overtake him as nightfall flooded in. But then he remembered that Liz had some supplies stashed around. He looked around the first spot, and slid one of the old comfy chairs across the floor, and removed a loose floorboard. Sure enough, there was something he could use.

He grabbed an old clunky pistol and a box of ammunition, before sliding everything back into place. He'd have to make do with that. He couldn't do anything about his leg right now. The more time he wasted the farther away they got and the more chances he had of losing their trail in the rain. They would probably stick to the road and to camping in fields. Forests, although great for cover, were as equally good for undead to ambush, surround, and get the drop on people. He gave the chamber a good spin, loading it up. Chances were they'd taken his stuff too. He rummaged around a bit, finding an old flashlight that still worked, before he stepped out the door. He took one last look back at the scene. He was disturbed by it all. The thought that Liz so calmly lived here, alone by herself and hurt no one, to have this dragged down on her. It wasn't right. This was beyond a simple agreement between him and her now.

He traveled all night along the roads in the rain. He passed by the corpse of another one of the men who he had seen in the group, and nearby down in the ditch lay several infected. They were chopped up beyond recognition, but as he watched, he could still make out pulses and bits of things moving. The thought only pushed him on further. If they had done anything to Liz he'd make them all pay.

The rain eventually slowed and finally stopped, as the very first rays of sunlight began to shine over the horizon, breaking through patches of clouds. He limped along the road, following etched footprints, and found another batch of infected, scattered across the road. This time only infected could be seen. Something wasn't right. In the time he'd spent here, he'd only encountered or seen at most, three undead over two months. Already he was looking at triple that, all along the roads. Liz must have found a way to get their attention.

As he traveled forward in the dim light and cold, he saw something that made his stomach churn. It was so simple, and compared to what he'd seen over the years, it paled in comparison. But the fact that it came from Liz made him sick to his stomach. There, on the road, was a hand. Cut off cleanly by something. He stepped closer. It was her writing hand too. He picked it up, and placed it in the small pack of his. He could fix that. He couldn't fix the trauma that would have been done to Liz.

As the sun rose and more light became available, he finally picked up the trail once more, by way of smoke in the sky. He limped along the road, tired and sore, but soon came upon the campsite. As he walked down the ditch and into the field, burning bodies became apparent, as more undead had assaulted the group. He kept his pistol drawn, as he limped over to the site. A pang of fear traveled through him that maybe one of these belonged to Liz, who may have been more trouble than their worth. But that thought was quickly slept away when he heard the sounds of a scuffle from a nearby tree.

He fired once into the air, shouting out hoarsely.

"Come out from behind that damn tree!"

A man slowly emerged, but quickly made his intentions clear. He was dragging Liz along the ground, and held a large blade up to her neck.

"You take a step closer and I put my foot down!"

He kept his gun drawn, shaking not to pull the trigger.

"I don't want any trouble! Look, I can see you lost some of your people. But I told you that didn't I!? I told you what would happen! You should have turned around and never looked back! But all I want is my friend back. You give me her, and I'll turn around like this never happened."

The man chuckled out weakly, staggering slightly.

"It's too late. I'm a dead man. Got bitten by one of those burnin fucks in the ditch."

"Then why are you even bothering!?"

The man laughed.

"I'm not going out without a fight. I hand her over and you'll shoot me! I seen the look on your eyes. Like you're sworn to protect her. Knew you'd come round."

The man coughed, staggering once more. He could see Liz was watching him, terrified.

"Where's your sniper?"

"Gone. The bitch ran away."

He didn't know what to do. The man was dead anyway, or would be soon, either way. But he was drawing things out. Why? He looked over to Liz, who was watching him closely.

"I'm sorry Liz! I can't hold out like this all day! I have to try!"

He took a step forward and fired his gun into the man's shoulder. The man yelled in pain, but brought his boot down on the blade. He fired his gun as many times as he was able to pull the trigger. The man dropped beside Liz, dead. He dropped his gun, running over to her.

"Liz!"

He dropped to his knees painfully as he caught her head.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I didn't know what to do! I can fix this!"

Liz gave him a simple smile, an "It's okay" type face. He set her head down gently in his lap as he started rummaging through his pack. It was a good thing he brought some sturdy thread along.

"I can fix that, all right? You'll just have to wear some fancy scarfs from now on."

Liz watched in silence as he lined her head back up to the rest of her body.

"I'm really sorry. But I was running on a limit here. I'm at the end of my rope."

Even from simple contact in the right manner, Liz found that she could move her limbs again, as he held her head in place. He noticed that her skin was extremely pale and grey now, much more than before. He started sewing things back into place, watching her eyes as she looked around.

"You bled out didn't you?"

She nodded slowly, making sure not to move too much. He smiled again.

"It was bound to happen sometime. We can't avoid stuff forever."

He made sure his work was tight and spaced out enough to allow her movement to her neck. Never in all his days did he think he'd be here of all places, sewing someone's head back on like a casual everyday occurrence. He was glad that Liz didn't rot, and, admittedly, had no blood left in her veins. He'd been desensitized to everything over the years, but if she was bleeding or anything like that he might not be able to take it. But her insides just seemed to be kind of, there, yet not messy. He was thankful for it. He continued on when she tapped on his shoulder, pointing behind her with her one remaining hand.

He didn't get a chance to ask as the end of a rifle poked into the back of his head. The voice of a woman could be heard as he stayed still.

"I just want to collect supplies. Nothing to do with you two."

He stayed quiet, as Liz looked over his shoulder silently. The gun eased off of him. He turned back to see the sniper, as raggedy as the others, keeping her rifle on them as she went through the dead man's pack next to them. He reached for his gun on the ground slowly, but found that Liz already had taken it quietly, and was loading it slowly with one hand.

"He said you were gone."

"He lied. I just didn't take the shot."

"You could've killed me back at her house. You shot me in the leg instead. Why?"

She looked over from her rummaging's.

"There's not many people left. Pretty soon I wouldn't be surprised if ones like her will even start to outnumber us. Killing a stranger who didn't shoot first and ask later wasn't right."

"You cut her hand off?"

"No."

She pointed to the man nearby.

"He did. She kept on finding things to make noise with. Got a bunch of them to come over from the fields."

"Where are you going now?"

The woman looked off into the distance.

"Back to the city, like we planned."

"You know that's suicide. I came from there two months ago. It was the first time I was able to get out without having any chance of getting mobbed."

The woman shrugged.

"It's like that all over. I'll take my chances."

She stood up, and backed off away from them.

"I'll watch while you finish your work. But that's it. I'll part ways afterwards. All your shooting probably got some of their attention."

She looked to the blood trail that led to the where he knelt over Liz.

"You didn't patch your leg up?"

He shook his head.

"I wasn't going to let you all just take her away. I didn't have anything to patch myself up with either. It was either that or sit and lose your trail."

She smiled, pointing over to Liz.

"You keep him close. It's not often halfers get somebody like him watching their back."

For the next few minutes, he worked quietly, putting everything back into place. He smiled, laughing somewhat as he brought her hand out. It was kind of funny to him, simply putting things back into place. He watched as Liz was able to move her fingers once more. He didn't understand how her system could function the way it did, but he was glad that it did. She pulled out a small piece of paper and wrote something down on it. He smiled.

"Yeah, guess you'll have to wear some nice bracelets over that or something."

The two stood back up, as the woman stood watch, keeping an eye out. Liz wrote something down on her paper, showing it to the woman. She smiled.

"Thanks but no thanks. I don't ever go back where I came from. If you don't move forward eventually some of them will catch up to you if you go back."

She stopped for a moment.

"You have animals right? How do you keep them from getting sick? It's spreading now, to animals around people. Cats, dogs, ones like that."

She shrugged, scribbling things down on her paper.

"You think they leave you alone because they can smell you?"

Liz nodded. He looked quietly at her notes. She figured they had an uncanny ability to smell things out. But her own body was a mix of the two, confusing them, and keeping them away. The woman nodded.

"I'll have to remember that. We need all the help we can get from halfers. I won't do it the wrong way though, I promise."

Liz nodded silently as the woman held her hand out, shaking both of theirs.

"You two take care out here. There's a lot of bad shit back where I came from. Here's hoping it doesn't find you."

The woman began walking off down the road, leaving them behind. It was still relatively early in the day. If they went for it, they could get back home before nightfall.

He rested quietly on the couch in the living room, having been cleaned up by Liz on their arrival. He had practically passed out when they got back, and when he woke up, Liz was busy cleaning the last of the mess up in the house. Everything looked relatively back to normal. When she found that he had woken, she was quick to make him something warm to eat. The rain had started back up again and pattered softly down on the roof of the house.

Liz was now working on the wound on his leg, having pulled the bullet out while he was out, and was wrapping things up carefully. It looked like he would be okay. He'd just need a few days rest and he'd be back to it. She finished up, before he smiled at her.

"Thanks Liz. Don't put that stuff away just yet though."

She raised her eyebrows.

"I saw that hole in your clothes. You got shot somewhere along the way. I need to pull the bullet out. It's up in your shoulder."

He pointed to the hole through the fabric of her clothing.

She pulled her pen and paper out, scribbling onto it.

"No, we can't leave it in there. That metal will poison your insides. You won't look very healthy that way."

She scribbled something down.

"Okay I know that was a bit tacky. But really. I don't think you want to turn various shades of colours once it works its way through your system."

She sat down against the couch on the floor close to him. He peeked over her shoulder to see what she was writing. What he saw was unexpected.

"I'd be crying now if I could."

_ _

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders slowly.

"Hey, no need to be upset! It's okay! You know me well enough by now. If I ever wanted to do anything bad I would have done it by now. You don't need to hide anything from me."

She nodded slowly.

"Now come on then, go get some tweezers and we'll get that damn thing out of you."

Liz got up slowly, headed off to another part of the house. She came back with a small pair of tweezers. He sat up on the couch, sitting cross legged.

"Okay, come here. You sit across from me. I don't know how long it'll take, so it'd be better if you took your tops off and sat still. Tell you what, if you catch my eyes going any lower than the bullet wound, you can slap me for it."

Liz sat down on the couch, sitting across from him. She slowly lifted up her first shirt, a thick sweater, over her head, and pulled off several more layers before revealing her paled skin below. He kept his eyes on hers, looking for the bullet wound slowly.

"See, you've got no reason to be afraid. You don't look ugly to me."

He spotted the hole, close to her collarbone, and slowly slid the tweezers inside. He'd removed bullets before, and was good enough that he could root around without using his eyes. In this case, this was a good thing for Liz as she seemed to calm down when he watched her. He'd never noticed it before much, but on inspection, found that her eyes still retained some pigment in them rather than clouding over, and were laced with stray lines and blotches of green.

"You know, you look a lot better than others I've seen like you. You've taken care of yourself well. Most of your skin is fare, your eyes still have colour, your hair hasn't lost most of its colour or fallen out, and the thing that put you this way isn't too obvious."

He looked over to the bite mark at the top of her shoulder, where the strongest hint of black and purple could be seen. Some cursed ones were a real mess, getting torn up real bad and then infected. Liz was actually pretty lucky. He felt around before finally finding where the bullet was lodged. He pulled it out, showing it to her.

"There you go, all done. Put a smiley face sticker over the hole and you're good to go!"

She smiled as she hugged him. The gesture was unexpected from her. But he guessed it made sense after the past few days. He returned the gesture back. This was one of the few times he'd ever had actual prolonged contact with her skin, and found that it wasn't cold like he always expected it to be, but rather, a fine mix between both. Not really warm, and not cold. Liz broke away before scribbling something on her notepad.

Once again, she had written something down that caught him off guard. But it was good to see her asking questions about herself.

"Yeah, I really do think you look nice. You'd look good in a summer dress."

She smiled back, scribbling once more. She was full of questions today. But it was good to see her so active. She had an almost timid manner to her, and he thought the experience she had not even a full two days ago would have done more to her.

"I came back for a lot of reasons. For starters, I stay true to my word. I help you with what you can't do alone. You give me room and board. And, you're the best face I've seen in a long time. I couldn't lose you and just take over your house. Now that I've got some company, I don't want to see you go anywhere."

Liz made a point to hug him again, keeping the embrace close. He hugged her back once more, feeling the back of her shoulders. It was funny, she almost seemed to cling to him in a way, stuck to warmth his own body generated in much higher outputs than her own. She finally broke the hug, and wrote something on her notepad. He peered at the writing.

"Thank you so much, for everything you've done. I want to thank you for everything. Lay back and relax. I know I'm a monster. But don't worry. I've got it covered. J"

_ _

He was drawing blanks as Liz took the tweezers and the bullet away from him, and placed them on a small coffee table nearby with her notes. She gave him one last smile before she turned around, and made her point obvious to him. She unclipped her bra, casually tossing it aside, before grabbing one of her sweaters and putting it back on over herself. She was back on the couch, leaning over top off him in a moment. He had no choice but to lay back down.

She leaned over top of him, and brought her face close to his as she flattened herself over him. Her eyes had an air of life to them he hadn't seen before, as she excitedly brought her face close to his in silence. She had no breath to speak of as she closed the gap, and placed both of her hands on the sides of his head, pulling him in close as she placed her lips against his.

She shook with emotion, and he could tell that she was scared to death by her actions, frightened of him turning away in disgust. But as her lips stayed near his, he didn't shy away. He brought both of his hands up to her head as well, caressing her cheeks. He himself was suddenly afraid of what he was doing, but admitted to himself, that if Liz were alive, she would have been a very beautiful woman. He didn't want to ruin this for her though, and kept the embrace against her lips, which were oddly very smooth, as if they had been glossed over to utter smooth perfection by lipstick.

Once again, the familiar tingling sensation was felt by him, as it seemed like she clung to him for life. She drew close to his skin, making contact, and kept her lips so close, as he breathed in and out, watching the tremble of her lips as the brief passage of air filled her. Her eyes fluttered briefly, before she shyly and suddenly broke away. The look of terror replaced her face as her rational self came back into focus. She turned to reach out to her pen and paper, when he clasped her arm gently. She looked back to him, as he put up a big smile.

"You don't have to worry Liz! It's okay."

So many things conflicted in his head as he thought about it. She would have been beautiful in life. But, she still was, when looked at under the right circumstances. But it seemed, so immoral to him, like he was breaking some unknown taboo. But, then again, the look on her face told everything. She was horrified as much as he was internally, contemplating what she had just done, or tried to start.

He looked into her eyes, etched with the remnants of green, before traveling down to her neck, looking at the complete ring of sturdy stitches he had put in to keep everything in place. She was so outside his bounds of normal and everything right with people. But she was a person too. And she had suffered more than he had. He couldn't imagine waking up one day, to find himself caught in a perpetual state of life and death. And he couldn't imagine how alone she really was, staring out into the world she had left behind in the wake of her death. She was always out of reach of everything. He owed it to her, whether he wanted it to happen or not. He wanted to make her feel happy. And it was when she was happy, that she truly looked and felt alive to him. He made the choice in his head, as he pulled her close once more.

"Okay Liz. I want to see the rest of your surprise. You're not a monster. You don't have to cover anything if you don't want to."

Her face changed as he slowly pulled her back towards him, the look of shock being replaced with one of her upbeat smiles. He ran a hand through what remained of her blonde hair, which was tied tightly together into a bun to keep anymore from ever falling out. Liz ended up taking a hold of one of his hands, and led it around slowly to the underside of her shirt. He slipped his hand underneath and came into contact with her bare skin. He watched the flutter in her eyes and motion of her lips as she went to bite them but stopped herself. He chuckled briefly. Contact must have been very special to her.

He made a point to keep every inch of his hand over her skin as she helped pull him along up higher. He slid across her smooth stomach, tracing every surface as he went, before he eventually found his way up to her breasts. She smirked somewhat as he slowly grasped one in his hand. To him it felt completely normal with the fact that there was a heavy sweater blocking his vision, almost exactly like a living person, except a little bit cold.

Liz had no reaction when he gently squeezed or tweaked something. Her nerves must have either been completely dead, or stunted. But he'd been watching her ever since he'd started, and noticed how much heat affected her, or at least, the feel of a living body against her own skin. Something about being alive invigorated her, caused momentary sparks of pleasure. He had a good idea now. He pushed her back gently, sliding his hand out from under her sweater.

"You wait here for a sec. I'll be right back. I'm going to get something."

Liz looked skeptical, but stayed put on the couch as he slid off and hobbled off elsewhere into the darkening house as night started to fall. He found Liz's room, and stared at the bed. The blanket over top was completely undisturbed, coated with a fine layer of dust which flew off when he pulled it off. The notion made him somewhat sad as he stared at the sheets below which were perfectly undisturbed. She didn't eat, or even sleep. All those hours at night, she was awake. Probably watching guard over everything. It was custom for him to sleep in his clothes so he could get up at a moment's notice. But tonight was going to be different.

Liz was still on the couch waiting for him, and gave him a puzzled look as he came wandering over with her blanket draped around him. He sat down on the couch beside her, and looked over to her.

"Sorry about that, just cold is all. Think I'm still not back to normal after being out in the rain for so long."

She nodded. He smiled once more.

"Turn around and close your eyes. Just relax and wait until I tell you to open them up again. I've got a surprise too."

Over his time with Liz, every once in a while, he had seen her bend at angles living humans couldn't, not even flexible ones. With great care she could dislocate bones without any repercussions or relax her muscles entirely allowing her to move about in ways that would tear or rip a living persons muscles up. This would come in handy.

Liz had her back to him now, and slowly, he ran both of his hands up her backside, pulling her sweater with him, as he deliberately made prolonged contact with her skin, tracing along curves as he went, until he slid the whole thing up over her head and arms, revealing her pale backside to him. He whispered into her ear, as he reached around to her front, sliding his hands down her stomach to her jeans, watching the shiver travel up her back.

"Bet you're wondering what I'm up to. Just wait a little bit longer. We're not at the surprise yet."

He unbuttoned her jeans, without any protest from her, and slowly began to lift her legs up into the air, until they were behind her head. There was no tension or resistance whatsoever, and without pause, he slowly began to slide her jeans off inch by inch. As he did so, he made a point to slide his hands along her curved, smooth legs, watching once more as she tried to bite her lip and stopped herself. He was right then for sure. She'd really like what he had planned.

He slipped her jeans off completely, dropping them onto the pile of her clothes on the floor, leaving her practically naked save for a small pair of lacy panties and her feet which were layered in many various knee high socks.

"Give me a nod if I can take the rest off."

Liz nodded slowly.

He smiled once more, sliding his hands down her stomach, tracing her hips as he slowly wrapped his fingers around the material of her panties and slid them off, brushing up against her legs as he did so. And at last, he pulled off the various layers of her socks, leaving her completely naked. Now was the time for the surprise. He got her to move forward a bit, and he pulled the blanket off him, while keeping her held upright. He spoke once more, while getting himself into position. He was careful not to brush up against her while getting ready, wanting to keep what he was doing a secret until the very last.

"Okay Liz, ready? I'm going to lower you down. Almost at the surprise now. I'll tell you when you can open your eyes."

Liz nodded silently, keeping her arms crossed tightly. He thought about it one last time as he held her up by her shoulders. Guess there wasn't any going back now. But it wasn't so bad. He had found that he was even a little bit excited as he slowly pulled off more and more of her clothing, revealing parts of herself that she tried so hard to keep hidden. He started letting her fall back gently, slowly at first, but just before she was about to touch him, he let her go all the way, as she laid back over top of him suddenly, coming into contact with his bare skin everywhere she touched. He pulled the blanket over top of them both, covering their heads up as well, so that they were trapped under a nice little protective bubble from the outside world. He wrapped his arms around her, sliding them all the way down her stomach, and rested them both above the her entrance. He felt the multiple shivers travel down her body as she reacted to the sensation of being held so closely, and finally whispered into her ears.

"You can open your eyes now."

The evening for both of them was more passionate than expected. The two had agreed early on that it probably wasn't a good idea to do anything with penetration. All the fluids involved would likely stay wherever they ended up, and it was clear as he held Liz close to him, teasing, pinching, and licking, that they were going to do this more in the future. It would probably be a bit of a mood killer if a month down the line he could feel the same stuff inside her from last time.

But he made due with what he could, and it was clear what he was doing was more than enough. He kept Liz close to him at all times, keeping her body pressed to his as she clung desperately to the life that was close to her. He ran his hands down her gentle curves, gently squeezing and caressing as he went. Over time the two grew more comfortable with each other, and Liz found ways to return the favor.

She wasn't particularly well endowed, but as he watched her gently slide her breasts up and down on his member, or grind her ass around it, in the end, it didn't matter. And she had hands too, to which she roamed over his body in turn granting odd sensations as well, with her semi-cold skin. She even got a little risky and used her lips at one point, never actually taking his member into her mouth, but gliding them smoothly across.

Eventually the time came when all her collective efforts added up and he was actually pleasured enough that any more would cause him to go over his peak. They had agreed that any penetration probably wouldn't end well, even though the more he entwined himself with her, the more he entertained the idea. If she could feel so good from contact like this, then maybe having him inside her would make her feel even better. But that was for another time.

In the end, as they laid entwined together, with Liz keeping her smooth lips wrapped over his, as he watched the fire in her eyes as he made a point to breathe deeply, while pressing herself so tightly against him, wrapping her legs up with his under the now warm blanket, he came, splashing his seed across her stomach and chest, as she paused, looking like she was about to giggle if she could, before kissing him once more.

The evening wound down, and they stayed huddled up together on the couch under the blanket, listening to the patter of rain on her small cottage's roof, as the light of her various lamps dimmed and went out. He watched her as she laid over top of him, sliding his hands across her ass as the fire of their night wound down. She had her eyes closed, and was resting her head gently on his chest, listening and feeling the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, the steady thump of his heart.

She wasn't actually sleeping, as it wasn't possible for her, but she was as close to it as she would ever get, in a state of pure happiness and relaxation, wanting to stay with him like this for an eternity. He ran a hand through her hair, eventually across her smooth cheek, wrapping his arms around her as he fell asleep.

He was glad he had found this place, this little haven, this barrier between the cruelties of the world, and most of all, out of all the people in his life he had ever met, the one who had died and not made it all the way was the one he had ever gotten so close to, the one he had the most connection with.

It wasn't a complete curse. Some small part of it was a second chance, for both of them.

Happy Valentines Day