We Were(n’t) Prepared

On the first day of the outbreak, he and I had a zombie movie marathon. We thought nothing of the news coverage. "People wandering around in a zombie like trance. Be on the lookout for anyone showing the following symptoms...." We scoffed at the newest panic trend and proceeded to watch our favorites. Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days Later, and Shaun of the Dead. We threw popcorn at each other. Laughed at each other's shitty zombie impressions. Kissed. 

As the news got more frequent and frantic, we had to stop calling the outbreak "swine flu two point oh" and take it more seriously. Day of the Living Dead came on. We changed the channel to the news. Laughed nervously. He kissed me on the forehead. 

The news stopped playing. We boarded up the house. We watched our favorites again. This time..We took notes. Made jokes about how life imitates art imitates life. But we didn't laugh. And we didn't kiss. 

We boarded the doors and windows. We stockpiled food. We learned where to hit a zombie to kill it. All from movies. But falling out of love during a zombie apocalypse? They didn't cover that part. And when the skin you both live in is endangered...Well. You don't laugh. You don't kiss. You live like human museums. Separate. Protected. Silent. Preserved. 

Art imitates life imitates art.