I tap my fingers nervously on the side of my bag strap, holding tightly onto it. I’m standing in a room with a long wooden table in it, alongside Chloe who is sitting at the head of the table. She coughs and then speaks up in a confident voice.

“Thank you all for coming today. I have gathered you here today to ask for your help regarding the media issue that the close by Cherrygrove College is experiencing regarding their latest student. This is Sylvie Wade, the student in question” I give a little wave, noticing one of the council members had animal-like ears, which were raised and pointed in the direction of Chloe and me.

“You have probably heard, and now seen that Sylvie here is, unfortunately, a Zombie. Which is unheard of. She is, to the best of my knowledge, the only one of her kind amongst us” she pauses to look back at me. I nod and smile, I understand that people are worried that I exist.

“The good news is, I been in constant communication with the school nurse, Ms. Minerva Jousset, as well as the specialist Shiori Rivers. Who I imagine you are very familiar with Devon? The man with the ears nods slowly. A fuzzy ear twitches when he is mentioned. “And both of them have given me enough information to the point where I am satisfied that Sylvie isn’t a danger to the public”

“So” a voice calls out from somewhere down the table. “I hope you had taken precautions before this whole thing”

“I had not, I had been beaten to it. Shiori had been contacted and reached her before I could. And had already taken necessary precautions such as a muzzle, alongside testing her diet. If she had been an unreasonable...pop culture-like brain eater…” I wince at this, it reminded me of the reactions I’d initially gotten at college.

“...then we wouldn’t already be at this point”

“Right, I see. So you can vouch for her?”

“100%”

“Then I trust your opinion. May I come meet her?” a different, more elderly voice asks, Shiori looks at me and I nod, I don’t mind shaking hands or whatever is needed of me.

“She says that is fine”

“She cannot speak?” I shake my head solemnly.

“No, she lost the ability to speak when she was brought back” The elderly lady stands slowly and moves towards me. She walked slowly but ably, and wasn’t much taller than me. When she neared I caught sight of her expression change from curiosity to sadness.

“Oh, you poor thing” She brushes a hair out of my face. “You must have been through a lot. I can only apologise for dragging you out here. I’m sure you understand our concerns” She adjusts her glasses. “I am fine with whatever plans you have Chloe. Don’t disappoint me”

“Thank you. I’m going to allow her all the privileges we usually reserve for the disabled, as for all intents and purposes in her current state she is disabled. Not only is she voiceless, but she can also fall apart under strenuous activity and in accidental circumstances, and she does not have the ability at this precise point in time to put herself back together. And we do not know if it is something she is capable of actually doing” positive sounding murmurs erupt from around the room, and about as much nodding as you’d find in a gift shop full of bobble-heads.

“Right, its time to deal with the press. David?!”

“Yes Miss Manfield?” The secretary speaks up from a seat in the back.

“Can you take Sylvie here back to Cherrygrove?”

“No problem” he stands and makes his way over to the door. “Come on Sylvie” I nod and walk towards him, past everyone still sitting at the table. I gave them all a little wave and a smile, I’m glad that they got what they wanted from this, and that it was over. I exited through the door of the meeting room and followed David back towards the car. “Miss Manfield is good at her job, what was she like before? I’m curious”

“She was...ordinary? She used to wear these eyeglasses. Big chunky ones. I guess they might have been what made her appear normal to us? Who knows. I thought they looked good on her. She used to get bullied a bit for them but I stood up for her. I suppose she is probably repaying the favour”

“Interesting, I am a few years younger than her, and first met her when I applied here. She’s a pretty good boss. I can’t imagine anyone bullied her”

“I guess it built her character somewhat, she certainly has bloomed far beyond the girl I knew, not to excuse bullying that is” At that point the back entrance looms into view through the bannister on the stairs. I wait behind as he goes to fetch the car, sitting down on a bench to play a game on my tablet.
All of a sudden I hear a large rush of footsteps and the roar of a bunch of people excitedly talking. They’re getting closer and closer from somewhere down the hall. I quickly stand, tuck away the tablet and rush outside, just to see David’s car slowly and silently pull up to the kerb.
I jump down the stairs and open the door to the tinted rear passenger compartment of the car, not even waiting from him to do his chauffeur act for me.

“Everything alright Sylvie? You look scared” he says, twisting in his seat to look at me.

“I heard people, inside. I had to get out in case it was the journalists” I exhale, realising I'd been holding my breath the entire time.

“They shouldn’t have access to that part of the hall, damn it. Someone must have let them through, don’t worry though. You’re safe now, lets get you back to college. You can watch the conference on the car’s TV screens if you’d like” he turns back around to fiddle with a screen in the front.

“I guess” The back of the chair opens up to reveal a TV that whirrs out of its tucked away compartment. “Woah, thats new to me. Thats kinda cool”

“These cars can do all sorts of neat things. I can play games up here too”

“Please concentrate on driving”

“Right, right, sorry” He chuckles as he indicates to turn out of the car park. I settle down to watch the conference, once I’d figured out how to operate the TV. I really wasn’t used to this sort of technology. The screen loads to show Chloe standing at a pedestal, looking confident and smart in her dark red trouser suit.

“Mayoress Manfield, is it true that there exist zombies now among us?”

“Not Zombies but a Zombie, singular”

“So its not an outbreak?” another reporter asks.

“No, you can drop all your preconceptions of what a zombie is. I have met her multiple times and I can assure you she is simply an unfortunate soul who died too soon and has been given a second chance at life”

“How did it happen?”

“I’m not at liberty to say right now, we are investigating the circumstances” I can understand that, I don’t think they caught the creep who did this to me yet.

“So she isn’t feral?”

“Not anything close. She’s oh so very nearly just another human, like you and I. And as such she deserves to start right where she left us. She has been enrolled at Cherryford for well over a month and has settled in very nicely. You can stop pestering the Principal for information”

“So parents have nothing to worry about?” A woman at the front chimes in, stretching a mic forwards towards Chloe.

“Nope, not at all. She is under regular observation and has already passed several tests including-” she holds up the letter from Shiori “-this from Ms Shiori Rivers, who is a specialist in the region on investigating and studying monster-folk like this particular student. This is a certificate to allow her muzzle, which she wore for the first couple of weeks, to be removed. As she was deemed not a threat to anyone, is that everything?”

The screen cuts back to your average news set, with a pair of men at the desk. “You heard it here first, parents in the south. Nothing to worry about, says the Mayoress, whether that ends up being true we’ll see in due time I suppose. Now onto the weather-” I tuned out mentally at this point, my mind replaying that last sentence. I don’t think the press much liked the gentle resolution Chloe tried to bring. I can’t help but think that this wasn’t going to be the end of this ordeal.