OMG Zombies

"I'm Hannah," I say, as I shake her hand and then Johnny's. "And this is my girlfriend, Ngomi the Valkyrie. We haven't been dating long ..."

"One hour and ten minutes," Ngomi says.

I smile. "But, she has assured me that I will have a place by her side in Valhalla. So I've got that going for me. Plus, she's just the sweetest thing, and I absolutely fucking love her hair." I lean over to give Ngomi a smooch on the lips. She tastes like coffee. And I'm not at all surprised when I see the cap come off of the red Sharpie marker. My parents are going to shit when I tell them how we met.

With the formal introductions out of the way, we begin to formulate our plan to stay alive. I tell them about the broadcast studio, and we all agree that it's probably safe to use as a base, since the mob seems to be calmed by the sweet sounds of my vinyl selections. We gather up our coffee thermos and sandwiches, and make our way downstairs.

The mob that Ngomi first dispatched is nowhere to be seen, and fortunately they haven't wandered into the studio either. It's a tight fit with the four of us in here, but we are safe. I reach around and lock the door as we break out a round of sandwiches and discuss who will take the first watch.

Everyone seems to think that I should sleep first, since I've been up all night. Ngomi refuses to leave my side, so that settles it, we will sleep first while Johnny and Sarah take watch. As I show them how to operate the equipment and urge them to be careful with the precious vinyl, I'm wondering if I can even fall asleep with all the coffee I just put away.

The funky sounds of the Ohio Players fill the room momentarily before Johnny and Sarah don headphones to give Ngomi and me the chance to sleep. My beautiful Valkyrie touches her fingers to my cheek. "Sleep well my sweet sticky thing," she says, mimicking the lyrics of the song we just heard the beginning of.

"Don't think I can. Too much coffee."

"I will keep you safe." Ngomi begins running her fingertip slowly down my nose before picking it up and taking another run. "And I will help you sleep."

"Goodnight kiss?"

I feel the softness of her lips on mine as she answers by planting another sensuous kiss on me. I don't get a chance to see if the Sharpie comes out again, I've already closed my eyes.

In my dream, I'm standing under a gazebo in a beautiful outdoor space. My parents are there, as are Ngomi and her mom and dad. Some guy in a dark suit says, "You may now kiss the bride," and we embrace. A cheer goes up from the crowd and the Ohio Players start in with Sweet Sticky Thing. I smile and hope that I will remember this moment when I wake.

*

"We've got a plan, sleepyhead," Johnny says as he hands me a peanut butter sandwich. "Wanna hear it?"

I sit up and rub the back of my neck. "Mmm. How long was I out?"

"A while," Sarah says. She offers me coffee, but I wave her off.

Ngomi comes around to sit on the floor behind me so that I find my backside nestled up between her legs while she wraps her strong arms around my waist. I settle my head back against her chest and smile. A girl could definitely get spoiled having a Valkyrie around.

I hear the soulful sounds of Maceo Parker's saxophone drifting through the air as Johnny lays out the details of their plan. "Here's the deal, people. We know that Jazz and Funk mellow them out. Everybody saw what happened in the kitchen, right?"

Nods from Ngomi and me. Rapt admiration from Sarah as she gazes upon him with star-struck eyes. "We'll go out, three of us together for safety, and start turning on every radio we can find."

"And the fourth person?" I ask.

"Somebody has to stay here and keep the music playing, otherwise we're in trouble."

"I already told you Johnathan, I will not go anywhere without my sweet American girlfriend." Ngomi leans forward to kiss me on the back of my neck. I smile at her affectionate touch and the way she's determined to come to my rescue all the time.

"Fine," Johnny says. He's clearly irritated. I don't know if it's Ngomi's throwing a wrench in his plan, or the fact that she's called him Johnathan, or if he's just plain exhausted from everything that's been going on for the past eighteen hours. "Fine. We'll go in pairs."

"We'll need a place to put them," I say. "The mob that is. In case they get the idea to wander off and come after us again."

"Already got that covered," Sarah says.

I'm trying to pay attention to Sarah's part of the plan, I really am, but Ngomi is still kissing the back of my neck. It feels nice, and for the moment I'm barely able to concentrate on Sarah's description of the holding area. Something about using a couple of the meeting rooms as a disco.

I just nod my head and enjoy the warm soft feeling of Ngomi's lips brushing against my skin. I swear if she starts in with her tongue, I'm going to throw her down right here and ravage her, to hell with the plan.

"What do you think?" Sarah asks.

I give Sarah a little thumbs-up and go back to daydreaming about having my body pressed up against my beautiful Valkyrie. Mmm. And then the kisses stop. Why did you stop, Ngomi?

I soon understand as she lifts her head and begins to speak. "How will we keep them entertained? So they don't wander off?" Ngomi asks, before returning to plant more of her sweet kisses on the skin of my neck. Mmm.

"We've already scoped it out," Sarah responds. "Each of the meeting rooms is equipped with a PA system that we can patch into a radio tuned to the college station."

"The only thing we don't know yet is how to cure them," Johnny adds.

I reach over to my backpack to pull out the remainder of the Acapulco Gold. "I'll donate this to the cause, if you think it'll help." The three of them look at me sideways. "What?" I say.

I briefly think about trying to debate my point, but Ngomi is going after my neck again, and she's using tongue this time. I'm back in the gazebo of my dreams ready to say I do, until I hear Johnny's next suggestion.

"Maybe we should pray for them," he says. Another series of sideways looks go around the room, and this time they're not directed at me. "That's what my parent's did when I told them I was gay."

"And that so obviously worked." Sarah wraps her arm around Johnny's neck and wrestles him down as she sets about tousling his hair.

"Get your hands off my hair, girl, or I'm gonna rip your face off." He holds up a hand, making a claw-like gesture with his fingers and hisses at her, as he tries hard not to laugh.

Sarah giggles and soon they're both hugging and grinning madly. These two are really something else. I turn my head to look up at Ngomi.

"It will all work out," she whispers. "I will not let any harm come to my sweet American girlfriend."

"Thank you," I say using just my lips and no breath. I see her smile with understanding, before I decide to plant another passionate kiss on her. I don't even bother to see if she's uncapped the Sharpie.

*

"Are you sure we should not all stay together?" Ngomi asks Johnny and Sarah as they are preparing to depart. I'm still sitting on the floor as all this transpires.

"We're just going to pop over to my house and pick up a few more things for this plan of ours," Sarah says. "You two stay here and get some rest. We'll be back in two or three hours."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Johnny winks and closes the door on his way out.

Ngomi and I are alone together.

"Do you wish to sleep, my lovely American girlfriend? I can keep watch." She moves toward the broadcast console, I think planning to take a seat.

"Pick a long record" I say, and peel off my t-shirt. "I'd like to have you watch me a little more closely this time."

She smiles and her own Zombie Response Team t-shirt ends up draped over the back of the chair. I hear Earth Wind and Fire singing about the twelfth of never as I reach up to touch Ngomi's fingers with mine.

"Come here, Valkyrie," I say, and pull her down until she is kneeling between my thighs and looking down over me with barely-concealed lust. "Do you like what you see?"

"Oh yes, you are the most beautiful maiden I have ever had the pleasure of laying eyes upon."

She's a bit of a strange one, but by Odin, she sure knows how to make a girl feel special. I reach over to touch her shoulders and trail my fingers down to the lacy fabric that hides the two dark brown orbs that until now I've only witnessed stretching her t-shirt. "Mmm," I coo.

"And do you like what you see?" Her eyes are hopeful as her gaze meets mine.

"Yes, Valkyrie, I do. And I'd be most pleased if you would show me more." God, now I'm starting to talk like her. I grin.

"What has you so amused, my fair maiden?"

"I'm waiting, Valkyrie." I fumble with the clasp on my bra -- it hooks in the front, it shouldn't be this hard -- as I watch Ngomi bring her hands around to her back. I've freed mine, and Ngomi is already looking down in wonder. I'm beginning to crinkle and stiffen just watching as her eyes crawl over me.

She's released the clasp, but holds her hands to the cups, keeping me from getting the view I've only been imagining until now.

"I'm still waiting, Valkyrie," I whisper.

Ngomi smiles and lays her discarded bra across my forehead, smirking. "Are you now, my dear sweet maiden?"

My mouth moves, but no words come out. That little imp.

There is nothing to describe the lust I feel right now. And the view -- the view is incredible. Ngomi dips down to suck my lower lip into her mouth, effectively silencing anything I might have tried to say even if I could articulate it. I wrap my arms around her neck to ensure that she can't get away.

I feel her breath caress my bare skin as I pull her in close to whisper in her ear. "You're making your maiden very hot and bothered, Valkyrie." I smile and shift my leg so that my thigh is pressed right up against the crotch of her jeans.

"I feel as if I have the same problem, my fair maiden." She lowers her body onto mine and begins moving against my thigh. I feel her nipples pressing into my flesh, letting me know that she speaks the truth.

I move my hands to caress her wonderful Valkyrie ass as she takes her time exploring my neck with her tongue. All the while she's grinding away on my leg. We're both moaning and panting as I wrap my fingers up in her dreadlocks and convince her to position her lips on mine.

Pulling her pouting lower lip into my mouth, I hold it gently between my teeth while I run my tongue to map every bit of her softness. She squirms, but I arch my back to keep her warm skin in contact with mine.

I feel a shudder run the length of Ngomi, and grip her ass tightly in my hands as she continues grinding against my thigh. "Feeling good, Valkyrie?" I tease.

"Oh yes, my sweet maiden." She lifts her head and smiles, her eyes lighting up. "I have many more tallies to add to my arm when you feel the time is nigh to release me from your lover's embrace."

"Who says I'm ever going to release you, Valkyrie?" I wrap my hand behind her head and pull her lips to mine once again. I notice that I don't get any arguments from Ngomi.

I don't think I would have released her either, except the record was skipping away at the end of its groove and I was worried that Johnny and Sarah might be depending on the music to keep them safe from the snarling mobs. "We'd better flip it over," I say.

Ngomi pushes herself up onto her hands and knees and her skin seems glued to mine momentarily as we peel ourselves apart. She lowers her head and takes a quick swipe at my nipple with her tongue before rising up and settling back on her haunches.

"Valkyrie." I chastise, but she's not buying it. Obviously not buying it, because she reaches over to gently pinch the nipple that she's just slathered. I shiver. "Just flip the record please, before our friends get eaten."

I hoist myself to my feet as she takes on turntable duty, then wander off to pull a couple more selections from the stack. I show Ngomi my choices, but she just cocks her head, not really understanding. Eventually her eyes just settle on my chest.

"Trust me," I say. "It's all good stuff." I wrap my arms loosely about her neck and sit straddling her lap in the swivel chair that she now occupies. I press my body to hers, enjoying the feeling of her smooth skin as we melt into each other again. "You think they're OK?"

"Johnny and Sarah?" she says. "Yes, I think that they will always be OK." She plants a quick kiss on my lips before reaching around to her back pocket to fetch the Sharpie marker.

"How many more?" I ask as she begins adding to her tally.

"At the current rate, my lovely American girlfriend, we shall be married before sundown."

I smile and lean in for another kiss, which my Valkyrie graciously grants. I wonder if we'll go off to visit Asgard for our honeymoon?

My thoughts of wedding bells are interrupted by the studio request-line phone ringing. The sound causes me to jerk, and this causes Ngomi to chuckle.

"I said I would keep you safe, my fairest maiden," she says, "and that includes from telephones."

I stick my tongue out at her as she picks up the handset. Ngomi swoops in to nip at my ear before speaking into the mouthpiece.

"Hello?" she says. "Yes, I understand ... of course ... we will be there ... and good luck to you as well."

"Let me guess. Johnny and Sarah."

"Yes, my American girlfriend and soon to be bride, it was our friends Johnny and Sarah."

I look over at Ngomi's arm and the tally-marks she has accumulated. There must be fourteen or fifteen at least. "What'd they say?"

"They will meet us in twenty minutes. Upstairs in the cafeteria kitchen where we were before."

Before I get up from Ngomi's lap I plant another passionate kiss on her lips, with tongue, and watch the ground beneath my feet for any signs of movement. I swear I feel a little tremor make its way from my toes on upward until it bursts from my fingertips. I see the Sharpie come out again and know that I wasn't the only one who felt that.

*

"Alright, we're going on the offensive," Johnny says as he plops the boombox on the table. "How'd you two fare while we were gone?"

"Fine. Why do you ask?" Is there something he noticed? Is my shirt on backwards? Then I realize he's looking at my hair, which must be a rats nest of tangles. "Do we look alright?"

"You look fine, girl." He smirks. "Relax."

"Are the batteries fresh in this thing?" I ask, changing the subject.

"Brand new," he says. "Don't worry, we wouldn't let you get caught with your pants down." Johnny's eyes go wide and he quickly covers his mouth with his hand, like he's just revealed some kind of secret. Shit, he knows.

"Where's Sarah?" I ask. "She's not fucking dead is she?"

"She's fine, just finishing up a few things. Now, here's what we need you two to do." Johnny lays out the plan of herding the mob into a hallway while he and Sarah wait at the firestairs to lead them down into our makeshift conference room disco. "Any questions?"

Ngomi and I shake our heads.

"Get up or get down?" she asks handing me the boombox and picking up her sword.

"Let's try get up for this first one." I smile and kiss her hard on the mouth. "Good luck, baby."

"I do not require luck, my fair maiden. I am a Valkyrie. I am immortal." She laughs a deep belly-laugh and together we trudge forward into the fray.

*

Twenty-eight days later

Ngomi and I sit down at the table in the university library. We are the last to arrive, Johnny and Sarah are already here. We're all wearing matching Zombie Response Team t-shirts and zip-up hoodies. After the chaotic events of last month, the four of us agreed that we should check in on each other occasionally to see how we're holding up.

"You two are still together?" Johnny asks.

Ngomi and I bring our clenched hands up from under the table and nod.

"Good," he says, "I'm happy for you."

Sarah says nothing. After everything ended and the infection passed, she's kind of retreated back into her shell. Johnny says she's not that much different at school. He's taken an interest in her well-being and watches over her. Actually, they watch over each other, I think.

"How's color guard?" I ask. I look at both of them, but it's Johnny who answers.

"It's really great. I don't think I would have had the guts to even try out for it if it weren't for my silent partner over here." He cocks a thumb at Sarah. She sticks her tongue out at him, but then settles her head on his shoulder, wrapping his arm up in her hands.

"The first day of practice, some jock thought it would be fun to tease me about it, being the only boy on the team and all." Johnny pauses, no doubt replaying the events in his head. "But after Sarah laid him out flat, and he and his buddies think twice about messing with me now."

After all the chaos ended and the infection passed, we all figured out that there was more to our individual stories than we had initially let on. Parts were true, other parts had been embellished, and some had simply sprung up from our imaginations.

Like Sarah really did know how to fight, just not Capoeira, that was just something she saw in a movie and thought it looked cool. Sarah's fighting skills came from a combination of Taekwondo classes after school at the local Y, and street fighting that she learned out of necessity, being a small girl in a rough neighborhood.

The costume making though, that was real. Sarah's got amazing sewing skills. Johnny once told me that she finds clothes at thrift shops and garage sales, and uses them to create fabulous new outfits for herself. Sarah also designed and made the uniforms for the color guard. She won't perform with them though, because god forbid someone actually see her and realize that she's amazing.

Sarah really did come to the university that day to apply for financial aid, and I hope she gets it. She's planning to major in fashion design and merchandising, and I can't imagine a better career for her. She and Johnny have even talked about starting up a side business together, maybe even before starting at the university in the fall.

You might get the idea from all of this that Sarah and Johnny are boyfriend and girlfriend, but they're not. They just seen to fit together and their personalities complement each other really well. Besides, Johnny's still as queer as a two-dollar bill, even though he's planning to take Sarah to prom.

Johnny's real name is actually James, but Ngomi, Sarah and I still call him Johnny to this day. And he wasn't at the university for a figure skating competition. He lifted the whole idea from a magazine article he happened to be reading about Olympic figure skater Johnny Weir. I think there's more than just a little hero worship going on there.

That leaves Ngomi and me, the Valkyrie and the maiden she's sworn to protect. We're doing alright, but we're still getting used to being a couple so we're taking our time.

I really do have meathead guys trying to hit on me all the time, that was no lie. But all I ever really wanted was to go on a date with a girl and see what it was like. I'd known since high school that it's what I preferred, but I was so scared about what other people might think that I never came out of the closet.

It took an international student from Zimbabwe with an interest in Norse mythology and the art of fencing to show me that it was OK to be myself. And Ngomi isn't actually a Valkyrie, she's just a shy girl far from home, who spends a lot of her time alone reading when she isn't busy studying.

It turns out my girlfriend's a pretty smart cookie. She has a dual major in aerospace engineering and applied physics. I like to tease her about being a rocket scientist sometimes, but not too much 'cause I like it when she helps me with my math homework.