My blackened eyes have never seen someone as beautiful as the disfigured goddess who walks across my block every day. After we were reborn as the flesh-eater you find before you, our subconscious mind would take us to the previous destinations we have found favorable, almost as though our body is trying to relive the life that our mind has killed off. Slowly, I can feel my mind fading. It’s hard for me to even remember my name anymore. I always have to look down at the blood stained name tag pinned to my skin to remind myself, “Jonathon.” It was such a simple name, as if it was foreshadowing the life that I have come to relive.
I worked as a Biohazard Removal and Crime Scene Cleaning Specialist. People seem to take my job for granted. They don’t realize that without me, a suicide victim’s home would never look as spotless as I can make it. I’m an unsung hero. The irony was that after I died, who was going to clean my remains? To only add more to the irony, I was the one who cleaned my remains.
When I awoke as the undead my mind was still fully functional, but with no recollection of the previous night. I acted on impulse, mostly, and began to clean the gore around me. I wasn’t even sure how I had gotten there. On the floor, next to a pool of fresh blood, was an engraved, white gold necklace. It was the necklace my mother gave to me the day my father died. It’s amazing that I still remember this. It’s one of the only things I can remember from my past life. I could feel the need to cry, but no tears escaped my eyes, only blood. The infection was caused by Chemical Warfare with the Russians. They created a more powerful version of Phosgene, a deadly chemical weapon, by adding a parasite. When the gas spread across the Eastern states, there was no hope. The gas entered the body and killed everything inside except for the brain. It attached itself to the cerebellum and began to feed. It eventually would take full control of the host. After death, most of my normal body functions stopped working, probably due to the fact that they were flooded with blood, and one of them was the Lacrimal Gland. This is the gland where tears were produced to keep the eye clean and moist. So, instead of tears being formed, all it could produce was more blood. I reached to scratch the back of my neck, only to find that half of my neck was completely missing. That’s when I realized who I was cleaning up. I was cleaning up Jonathon Glenn, a former Biohazard Removal and Crime Scene Clean-up specialist.
Every morning, including this one, I step down from the stoop in front of my former apartment. Across the street I can see Samantha. I don’t know if this is her real name, but she looked like a Samantha. I felt as if I didn’t give her a name, my recollection of her would slowly fade along with the rest of my memories. She became my one and only infatuation. You would think the rotting, yellow skin, grey hair, and missing limbs would only turn me off, but it did the exact opposite. It was someone I could relate to. When I was alive, and I use that word loosely, I couldn’t connect with anyone. Even though it was flooded with blood, I could feel my heart flutter with each step she took. I’ve been gazing upon her perceived beauty for the past 2 weeks. I wanted to speak to her, but I was too nervous. Well, it was either that, or the fact that I swallowed my own tongue soon after my death.
Another day went by only to lead to another sleepless, loveless night. My mind is ever slowly fading into the dark abyss of infinity. I used to fear what I would feel after my mind was completely gone, but now the only thing that consumed my mind was Samantha. Her blood stained lips, that formed perfectly around her chipped and broken teeth when she smiled made my stomach jump to my throat. I don’t plan on sleeping tonight…

The morning snuck up on me. I stepped down the stoop again once more, and peered off to the opposite end of the street, but Samantha was nowhere to be found. My eyes widened and my heart almost felt as though it was beating once again. She was the only thing that made the afterlife worth living. What would I do without her? Instantly, her shoulder appeared from the around the corner and the ends of my torn lips arose. I couldn’t stand feeling that pain again, the pain of losing someone you’ve never met. I knew exactly what I needed to do.

I stepped off the final step and made my way across the road. With each step closer I took, her smell filled my decayed nostrils. It was intoxicating. I limped my way in front of her and went to speak.

“I…. ah…. I….” but no words came out.

The look on her face was pure confusion, and my flooded heart dropped once again. I was completely ruining it. My entire life, and after life, have led me to this moment, and I can’t even speak. I felt the tears form again, but of course, only blood showed. My eyes followed the blood drip down my face and I noticed my mother’s necklace. With a shaky hand, I released the latch that held both ends of the chain. I moved closer and wrapped my arms around her neck. I linked the necklace and let it fall gracefully upon her chest. She looked down, and then back up into my eyes. She smiled at me. I extended my hand, as did she, and our fingers intertwined in perfect harmony. It was amazing that it took an entire life and a half to find love.
A moment later, I heard a loud bang come from behind. The wall next to us became a canvas, and her blood became the paint. A stranger whose name I did not know was holding a gun only 3 inches from her head, with his index finger exiting the trigger. I looked up and saw only half of her face looking back at me. She was still smiling…