Do you ever heard the movie called Night of the Living Dead? The Dead hates the Living? I, Zombie? 28 Days Later? Or Zombie Land? Well neither did I, until I met that zombie movie obsessed man. I was 14 when I met him. I was siting on the chair on the hall way of the women's ward. I just sat there doing nothing but watching people as they passed by. Patients, Nurses, Doctors, they all walk on without noticing me. I guess I'm not even important to even be noticed by anyone, until he came. He passed me by at first, but then he turn back, and then he passed me again. He turned back and stood in front of me. He was tall and had black hair. He wore a patient clothes and his head was bandaged. I guess he must be another patient in the hospital. "Why so lonely, little girl?" he said to me smiling. I didn't answer him. At first I thought he was some kind of pervert. This was after all the women's ward. Except for doctors and families, no men were allowed inside even if he was a patient.
I thought if I kept quiet he would leave. But then he sat next to me. It was kind of awkward at first. A stranger I didn't even know his name sat next to me. "What are you in here for girly?" he said to me. "I'm here cause of an accident, slip on the floor and banged my head" he point to his head. "So what happen to you?" he asked me. "I've got cancer on my brain and I'm going to die soon" I answered him. He was silent for a moment. That usually do the trick. They always leave awkwardly after hearing something like that. They alway do. It was the truth and I really am dying.
He was silent for a few instant, but then he suddenly started talking. "Did you ever watch a movie called Zombie Land?" I ignored him thinking when he's going to leave but he kept on talking. "You haven't did you? Well it's a zombie movie but not as great as the one done by George A. Romero..." he kept talking about zombie stuff and I really could't understand him. It was mostly about gross stuff how zombie eat people or something. At first I think he was just trying to hide his sympathy towards me. Like all the grown up do when they heard I got cancer. Always changing the topic to how beautiful the day was. Trying to lift my spirit up by encouraging and all that. But this man was different. He talk about the walking dead to a girl whose going to die tomorrow or the day after that. If he was trying to lift my spirit up it was really in a weird way. But he was really spirited when he talks about the zombies. The way his eyes glows when he talks about something he liked it fascinates me. It been a while since someone talk to me like that. Most people just look me with the same look as if I was a freak or something. Those sympathetic eyes, always looking blank. Even my mom looked at me like that. I hate it.
"...well even it's not a really great movie. There something that I like about it. It has these 50 rules you have to follow in order to survive the zombie apocalypse. Here I'm going to show you." he stood up. "Listen carefully kid. Rule No. 1! Cardio!" And then started exercising in the hall ways. "You got to stay fit! You never know when you are going to be chase by a bunch of zombies!" he kept exercising and doing sit ups. It was kind of embarrassing. Exercising in the hall way and making noise. Everyone was watching. I tried to act as if i didn't know him. Well I really don't know him at all. "Hey what are you doing!" shouted the head nurse across the hall. "You shouldn't be here! This is the women ward" "Uh oh...the zombies has come...I got to get out of here. Hey by the way I'm Edward...you can call me Ed and you are...?" "I'm Deborah...Debby" I answered hesitantly. "Well Debby...its nice meeting you. Lets meet again tomorrow. I tell you more about the rules." and then he ran off chased by the head nurse. What a silly man.
The next day he really came to see me. He came to my room. "Hullo kid...It was hard to find your room. Do you know there's about 10 people with the name Deborah in this hospital. Quite a popular name you got there. Well...Deborah was the main character name in Night of the Living Dead...bla bla bla.." He kept on blabbing. Later I found out that he secretly check on my name on the patient list when the nurses was elsewhere. He entered several other girls room with the name as mine before he entered my room. He was chased off again and again by nurses. He said it was Rule No. 2; Double Tap. To always make sure the dead stays dead or in this case to make sure to check whether he got my room right or not. But to me it was just as an excuse to check up on girls. He also tried to sneak in the girls bathroom. But caught by the nurses. "Rule No 3; Beware of Bathroom." He said to me laughingly. What a pervert. After a while he was chased away from my room by the nurses again.
The third day, he came again. He brought a wheelchair with him. With so much persuasion, I finally sit on the wheelchair. "Rule No. 4; Fasten Your Seatbelt"."Huh? What's he talking about?" I thought to myself. "Just hold on tight" he said to me. With that he pushes the wheel chair across the hallways. We were going so fast. He was running as he pushes the wheel chair. It was embarrassing. Some patient shouted at us and some even cheer us on. It was pretty lively in the hospital that day. All thanks to him. The nurses immediately caught wind of us. The nurses tried to chase us. But we ran and hid on the roof top. I lay flat on the floor of the rooftop. Its been awhile since I ever get that excited. He lay next to me. Both of us looked at the sky. It was really beautiful. And then he started talking about the zombie nonsense again. I just listen, giggled and smiled.
He came on the fourth day to meet me. He was banned from entering the women's ward because the of the things he did earlier. So we had to secretly met at the roof top. It was our secret meeting place. I grew fond of him. Aside from the zombie obsession and a little bit of a pervert, he was actually a nice man. All he ever talks about was the zombie movies he watched and the rules. Maybe he was making up the rules I thought at first. But nevertheless, it makes me happy just to see him. We spent all day at the roof top that day.
On the fifth day, we met on the roof top. He was a little bit strange, he didn't talk about those dreadful zombies anymore. He talked about his life. He had a friend, a close friend. But she is getting married next month. I guess he kind of liked her. I knew because he said after he got heard of the news she was getting married, he drove so fast and rammed up at tree. Thats why he is in here. "If you liked her, why don't you just tell her? Maybe she got the same feeling as you. Well it's still not to late." He just looked at me and smiled. "Rule No. 17; Don't Be A Hero. Well we never really know that do we. If it was even true. It would just hurt us more"."So you just want to sit here and let her go without saying anything? You are just a coward. And those rules are nonsense. You even skip 5 other rules already. It just your excuse for hiding." I was mad at him for absolutely no reason. We fell silent for a while and then he spoke,"I'm checking out tomorrow." I was shocked, I knew he will eventually got out but not this early. "The doc said that I'm good to go. With all the ruckus I made they say I'm fit as a horse." I tried to hold my tears. "Would you come to visit me sometimes?"."I don't know kid, I don't think I can come to see you again. But don't worry I'm sure your friends will come and keep you company." After hearing that I just stood and started shouting at him. "You are just the same as them! As everyone else. You never understand! You never really cared about me! I have no friends that would come and visit me. Everybody thinks I'm a freak. Soon my hair will fall out cause of chemo...and then I'm really going to be a freak. I will be dead within a month, but you won't. If you know you have not long to live, would you waste your time like this? Don't you want to tell the one you love that you love her? I hate you and your zombie story!" I left for the roof exit. I will not cry for this man. "Hey wait! Don't you want to hear the next rule?" he said to me. I paused at the exit. "Rule No 32; Enjoy the Little things"."Silly, you just skipped 15 other rules again just now." He smiled and I left him there alone on the rooftop.
He didn't come so see me on the next day. I heard from the nurses that he checked out earlier that morning. He didn't even come to say goodbye. He never did finishes telling me all those silly rules. I wouldn't cry for him. I wouldn't miss that silly, perverted, zombie movie obsessed man. He was out enjoying his life and here I'm still in the hospital watching people pass by without ever noticing me. Day by day passed on, an all my hair was gone because of the chemotherapy. The cancer still is there inside me and I knew then there was no reason to live anymore.
One day a woman came to see me. I did not know her. She has this pale look and sadness in her eyes. "Are you Debbie?" she said to me. "Yes" I answered."I'm Ed's friend, Sarah. I'm here to give you these" her hand was shaken when she gave the parcel she was holding on. She was silent for a while then she started to spoke. "I'm sorry Ed is dead." I was shocked, but I will never cry for that silly man. "He was packing his stuff to go London and then he suddenly slipped down the stairs. He broke his neck." The woman was in tears as she said this. "It's been a while since I met him. The last time I met him, he always talks about you. A girl he met in the hospital. He said that you were timid and shy, so he talk about zombie to make you smile. He must have bored you with one of his silly zombie movie didn't he? I didn't know why he likes that dreadful stuff" She was silent a moment. "But that last time he was different somehow. He told me his feeling for me. Or so how long for I waited for him to say it to me. But he was already to late. I am getting married. But he said to me that it was okay. He love me with all his heart. He was just afraid to ruin our friendship and all he ever wanted for me was to be happy. He said he will be sad if he never get the chance to say his feeling towards me. I was silent all that time. But now I feared, that I was the one to late to tell him that I loved him also." Her tears drops like rain onto her dress. This was the girl that Ed loved. And this girl loved him also. "Um...sorry for all the talk. You still to young to understand." I did understand, all to well. "Its nice meeting you, Debbie. I'm sorry that Ed can't come to visit you anymore. He did plan to visit you before he went to London. Here he wanted you to have this. I don't know what's inside, but I guess he wanted you to have this. This was I'm here to to begin with. Goodbye Debbie.'' and then she left.
I was alone in my room with the parcel that was supposed to be given to me by Ed. But he was now dead. Inside the parcel was DVD case, it was a movie. The movie was entitled Zombie Land. I beg the nurse to watch the DVD. At first she refused, but when I said it was from a friend that had died recently, she agreed. That night I watch my first ever zombie movie. I didn't like it. With all the blood and gore stuff. I never understand why he even like this kind of thing. But in this movie it introduced the 50 rules that Ed so liked about. Now I knew why he skipped and never ever finishes telling about the rules. The 50 rules was just a symbol, in the movie it never tells all the rules. And some rules like don't be a hero can sometimes be changed. Like he did by telling Sarah, his feeling. But the most important rules of all, eventhough life get tough and sometime you have to break the rules, always remember Rule No 32.....Enjoy the Little thing. I cried that night. I cried for that silly man.
Well I suppose to die in a little while. But I didn't. I didn't die the next day. I didn't die the next week. I didn't die the next month or year. I eventually leaved the hospital. The doctor said it was a miracle. But I didn't care. Eventhough I didn't die, I just enjoyed being alive while I can. There was a man who I knew for five days, he was a perverted, zombie obsessed man. Although he was like that, he was really a nice man. He taught me to enjoy the little things while I can. And that what I'm planning to do with the rest of my life. THE END
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