A Rational Zombie

Chapter 12

I couldnt find hunger. Seventeen others, hunger inside none. Only tubes and tubes and more tubes. The sun is up; the day is bright, but hunger is hidden. Annoying. I ate the fallen preys brain before it rotted. I broke its bones up and stored the fragments in my bag. I left the sated others alone, waiting to see when theyd move. The hunger came back before the prey rotted back in the metal hunk. It wasnt the same for the others. They still havent moved. Why? Are they not hungry? Does their hunger not come back? But its not only them. The remaining others are more docile: less groaning, less drool. Is it the sun? I dont know. They still react to sound and smell. But theyre sluggish. One of the others is lying down. It didnt eat. It should be hungry. But its lying down in the sun, unmoving. Why? Not all others are the same. This one could be special. A stupid kind of special, but special. Maybe this is what its like to be fully consumed by hunger. Living but dead.

Ill crack its skull open. The hunger reached its brain. Will I find it there? Four swings later, the others brain appeared. Unlike preys the others brain was green. It smelled like rot. Disgusting. Even the others are shying away. I dont see hunger. Unless its the green color. If it is, it cant be removed. Removing things from a living brain, impossible. Exposing the brain kills. Will this be me one day? Succumbed to hunger, lying in the sun waiting to die? Never. I wont allow it. I have to find more food. Marrow is good, but not enough. I need brains. At least one a day. Two would be ideal.

Now that the sun is out, the floating cans are easy to see. They surround the clearing, suspended between the trees. The hair-like material is rope. I dont know why I remembered its name, but its rope. Rope is useful. It can suspend cans. When something hits the rope, the cans clank, making noise. Like I thought, prey is alerted by sound. It makes sense. When dark, they cant see, but they can hear. If they hear clanking, they point the light at the sound. Once the prey sees, they kill the one making the sound. If the sound lingers too long, others will hear. Prey have fewer numbers. They cant fight many others at once. It makes sense. When prey dies, they become others. But this one didnt. But maybe its because I ate its brain. And broke its bones and left only the annoying small bits behind. Doing that to an other kills it. If the prey is in a state that others cant survive, it doesnt come back to life. Or only the prey that ask God come back. This one didnt ask. It didnt come back. It makes sense.

But other than suspending cans, rope is useful. It can tie things together. These trees are tied together by rope. Trees cant move, but what if rope connects a tree and something that moves? Like an other. Or a prey. It took a while, eating marrow once, to untie one tree. The bulge around the loop is called a knot. Twisting the rope a certain way creates knots to maintain the loop. To untie the knot, I tugged until the rope came loose, then guided the loose end through the twists. It took a long time, but it was fun, interesting.

The second tree didnt take as long to untie. The third was even faster. The fourth faster still. By the time I untied all the ropes, I only ate another piece of marrow. Now, what happens when I tie an other to a tree? It was tricky, tying knots, but reversing the twists to undo the knots tied them again. Also, my finger nails are growing back. Tiny slivers peeking out of my skin, but theyre there. Once tied to the tree, the other didnt do anything special. But it couldnt move too far. When it tried, the rope held it back. It was stuck to the tree. It didnt try to untie the rope. Its too dumb to realize. This is only useful for others. Tying prey wont work, they know knots. No, it can work. I use my fingers to manipulate rope. If I tie the preys hands, or break their fingers, theyll be trapped. Yes, rope is very useful. I can preserve prey this way. Dying causes prey to rot. One prey is enough to sate my hunger. If theres a second prey, its a waste to let it go, a waste to kill it. Tying it wont kill it or let it go. I knew prey were the best to learn from. They have so many useful things. Lights and rope and the ability to command metal hunks. I dont know how they do it, but one day Ill learn. But to do that, I have to catch more prey.

Which way? Which way do I go to find more prey? The sun is high up; the prey wont use lights. Theres no sound either, just soft groans. The only smell is the smell of rotten brains. What if I follow the prey? The metal hunk left tracks behind. Some gouges in the earth. Prey are like me, afraid of dying. I surround myself with others to decrease my chance of death. Wouldnt prey do the same? Prey should know where other prey are. If I follow them, they should lead me there. But the metal hunk was moving fast. How long will it take to catch up? I dont know. But this is the only way. Come, others. Come. I banged the metal rods together, and the others groaned at me. One of them came close, then fell over. It was still tied to the tree. I forgot about it. And the rope. I have to bring it with me, but it wont fit in my bagits already filled with bones. How? The others. They follow me. If I put the rope on them, the rope follows me too.

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