Cope

The rest of the night , Lesley spent sleeping . His body was weak and honestly , he didn't have the strength to tell the zombie what he needed to eat anymore . Since he was injured , his stomach was empty and he was most likely going to be eaten by a wayward zombie .

Well , atleast another more wayward than the one he was with .

Even though he didn't like it , Lesley didn't fight or try to escape . He wouldn't get far in his condition and he didn't even know where he was or how close the safe zone was . The zombies outside would rip him apart if he walked out .

So he slept , slowly sinking into a restless and weak state between coma and slumber .

....

" Get up . "

Mel heard the voice in his head like a hand reaching into his skull . It was familiar , cold and terrifying . His body moved , getting up onto his feet and walking where the strange voice seemed to be pulling him .

He left the apartment , walking into a dark alley across the street . When he reached there , he found a black veiled woman standing on a floor of blazing green flames . The fire licked the pavement and even the edge of the long black veil she wore ,but no smell of burning or smoke came .

The woman raised her hand and Mel looked down at the ground , not daring to look at her . When Death saw his fear she gave a small exhalation, but her stone cold and bony face stayed impassive, as if it did not matter to her .

" I have come because I sensed ... the mortal's soul flickering . He's dying , and I wanted to know why . " She said and reached out to Mel's head as if to pet him .

That's when she tore through his mind like a saw.

Her hand faded into his skull , reaching in as if looking for something . Bit by bit, memories started filtering through Mel's eyes of his days with Lesley . A part of him felt anger , directed towards Death for taking something so personal .

When Death saw the lacks nature of the zombie infront of her , her face turned into a small frown . Her hand reached out from his head but then she placed it on his cheek .

" I should turn you to dust . " She said , her hand flickering with power on Mel's cheek .

" You're mind is so slow , so stupid and Lesley is so soft and foolish . He holds onto his past as if it can save him. " Death looked back across the street, " It can not but he doesn't believe that . He says he has hope that good things will come some day . Hope ... Very well . He can keep that but first, "

Death grabbed Mel's cheek roughly and a wave of power rushed into him . The flames under her feet rose up and engulfed them in a lotus of green fire . The light shone bright and illuminated all the way to the apartment.

After a few moments , the fire retracted itself and went back to Death's feet . She stood detached , physically and emotionally, as Mel knelt on the ground, his hands on his face .

" A fix . Now , get up . " Death said and he obeyed , his hands still on his face .

A strange tingling sensation was shaking through his body , like an after effect of electrocution . Death took her hands and removed Mel's, so as to see his face . What she saw made her nod her head before looking away .

" Feed him human food . Not human . You can find some by the lobby . I have sent you some , but only this once . The rest shall be yours and his will to obtain . Now go . "

Black and Green flames merged around the woman , pulling her into the darkness and she disappeared . After a moment of no one coming back , Mel went back to the apartment .

But as he passed the lobby , the zombie receptionist bashed the desk loudly and Mel turned to him . There in the zombies hands was a basket of fruit , each one fresh looking . The zombie motioned Mel to take it and he did , then he went back to the flat .

Lesley was on the bed as expected, but he wasn't sleeping. Instead he was just staring into space , his thoughts miles away . For a moment , a slight pang hit Mel's chest but it died before it could take shape or breath. He entered the bedroom and placed the basket on the side of the bed .

Grabbing an apple he presented it to Lesley , who just kept staring into the unknown . Since his body had gotten so weak , his mind was trying to keep him distracted as his hunger weakened him more and more .

Mel presented the apple again and recieved the same response . Finally he went down to his knees infont of Lesley until they were eye to eye .

" E...t" Mel tried to talk to him but it came out broken and incoherent .

" Ea...t " Mel tried again and this time it was close but Lesley still looked as vacant as a corpse .

Mel put on another expression that looked like a frown . He was confused on why the human was ignoring him now that he'd brought food. But he could not fail , Death would not allow it . The human was important to her .

Mel raised his hand and placed it on Lesley's cheek and gave him soft pats . It took a moment but slowly Mel dragged him out of his thoughts and , with a blink , the red head was back .

But what he saw was shocking .

Before when he'd first seen the zombie , he'd thought it was a typical one . Although it looked somewhat fresh , there were alot of obvious signs of decay . Especially the missing eyeball , that creeped Lesley out to no end .

However that was now gone .

Mel looked at him with two slightly glazed over blue eyes . His decayed face looked healed , the skin even gaining color . Then there was that thing he was doing with his mouth...he was smiling.

I'm hallucinating , Lesley thought disillusionly but before he could curse his broken mind , Mel presented the apple to him once more . When the red head saw it , he took it tentatively , sceptical about whether it was real , rotten or he was dead .

All those thoughts vanished when he took a bite from it . Never , since in a long time , had he tasted anything so delicious . The sweet juicy apple had a nice crunch with each bite and the skin was textured and scrumptious. Lesley ate it completely, seeds and all .

Mel reached down and presented more fruit to him . Thus the night was spent with Lesley eating his full and Mel smiling at him .