Zombie Kales. It was your new nickname. Even Katie called you it, but at least she did it to your face. That was a plus when all was said and done. Zombie Kales was an improvement from your last bought in depression, Blob Kales. This time you weren’t holing yourself up in the bedroom on the quiet bus and not coming out regardless of the stink you created. So grateful for the change you brother didn’t bother you much about your change in mood, nor did he or anyone bug you about the change. People all had their own theories about your current status, all had a rough similar idea as to what started it but no one knew the entirety. Katie was the only that came even remotely close to understanding it all. And that only because not even you knew it all. Who had you been so mad at? Who had caused the hurt, the anger and range, the tears the most? Was it Zacky and his bimbo with their ignorance and stabbing comments? Was it Jeph and his new love interest and their laughter? They’re sharing of flowers and smiles like they owned the world? Was it the heartbreak or the hatred? You didn’t even know yourself, so rumors spread like VD in Zacky’s tour bunk. But at least you were out and about, moving around on your feet. Even if your head was hung a little low and you never looked much of anywhere but your feet if you weren’t needed to be the famous Kales Mae, at least you were out an about.

It wasn’t your brother that got you out of bed every day for tour, no. It was your pure and undeniable hatred for anything male. Well almost anything male, Jimmy, Johnny and Bert were free of your hatred even while you despised their sex. You couldn’t help it, you needed them and it couldn’t be helped that they had a penis. You chose to ignore the fact of what their equipment was.

Today wasn’t any different. You got up, threw on a torn up Romero zombie film t-shirt that wouldn’t be decent in any public society if you didn’t wear a black bikini top under it. You found it fitting when you thought about it, it should get a few chuckles out some. Next came a pair of old black running shorts with white trim that looked straight out of the 70’s followed lastly by a pair of black flip flops. You threw your green, black and white hair up into a small ponytail and brushed your bangs out so they didn’t plaster to your face. Uncaring as you were you at least had enough synapse function to throw on some eyeliner before visiting the wide world that existed outside the tour bus. Picking up your black and white cotton sling bag that already had everything in it you figured you were fit for society and the real world. Sliding your giant black sunglasses over your eyes to help your eyes transition to the sun outside you pushed the button for the automatic bus door. As you trudged down the steps and slumped off the last step you stumbled and almost fell on your face.

“Wh-what the hell?” you gasped as you grabbed for your sunglasses before they were whipped off your face.

Folding them and sticking them in your bag you looked around and were thankful you had put your hair up into a ponytail. Trash both intentional and unintentional flew passed you, tumbling with reckless abandon. The few trees and bushes near where you could see out behind the giant venue were whipping about and bending almost in half. Bending your head down against the high wind you made your way to the back entrance to help set up the merch booth for the concert. As your pulled the door open you let out a squeak as a streak of lightning lit up the gray outdoors followed by a thunder clap so loud you felt it in your chest. Ten seconds is what you had counted between the lightning and the thunder. Ten miles away wasn’t so bad. Course you didn’t feel it was enough when the rain exploded out of nowhere.

“Ow!” you exclaimed as you shut the door behind you.

The rain had hurt!

“What?” a techie asked as he pushed his headset away from his mouth.

“Nothing, just painful rain. Looks like a big one,” you replied with no feeling as you shouldered your bag higher and walked past him to find Cherise.
-xXx-
“Are they going to allow the kids inside to wait?” you asked Cherise as you finished the last touches on the merch booth in the special area the venue had for these types of things. Was a nice change from being just against some concrete wall in a hall.

“I would assume so. No one should be outside in this type of weather. This isn’t the dancing kind of rain,” Cherise replied, with a raised eyebrow on the last comment.

You scowled at her and almost made it to sticking my tongue out at her in fun. Almost.

“Fudge sticks!” came from down the hall, interrupting my lack of a thought process.

You felt the corner of your mouth lift a little at the power behind that word. Only one person used it instead of swearing that you knew of on this tour. Or on the planet to your knowledge. At least with the intensity that was behind it.

“Has the power flickered here?” Katie asked as she furiously scanned the clipboard in her hand and replied to a static-y voice over her radio as she approached our table, bypassing the other tables.

“Nooo. . . ?” you replied as you looked to the others at your table to see if they had noticed something you hadn’t while in your zombie state.

“It’s totally glitching back in the sound room and messing with my sound boards,” Katie near growled as she checked something off her list.

You gave her a sympathetic look as you were no help here, what she did was a total mystery to you that was written in a different language that you couldn’t read. Plainly put, what she did was beyond your understanding so you didn’t even try to help in fear of fucking something up.

“Page me if it does. I’m going to go see if I can salvage something before the show starts,” Katie said with a nod before she turned to walk off to wherever sound technicians went in the venue.

North Pole? Keebler Elf tree? Probably.

As you made the joke in your head with Katie not fifteen feet from you and the merch booth the lights not only above you all but in the whole hallway dimmed and then flickered.

“Hey Katie,” you called out causing her to pause in her tracks.

You grinned, ready to deliver your smart ass remark about the lights flickering even though she was there to experience it.

“The lights,” was all you got out of your mouth before you were all thrown into darkness.

“Are apparently out,” you ended in awe as you looked around and realized you couldn’t see a bloody thing. In that you couldn’t see your hand in from of your face type of way. Where were the flood lights? The emergency lights? Or the lights in general for the matter?

“Uhhh Katie?” you drew out in question as you waved your hands in front of your face just to test your vision. Your eyes would adjust at some point but till then it was still kinda off putting. If nifty.

“Apparently the power is gone,” Katie said rather as if she was lost.

“Duh,” you snorted.

Even though you couldn’t see her, or much of anything, you could feel her scowl across the hallway. It burned baby, it burned bad. You grinned. In fact you were still grinning like an idiot when a flashlight beam caught you dead in the face causing your hands to fly up to protect your eyesight.

“Night vision killer,” you grumbled under your breath, almost making it a witty remark. But zombies don’t give witty quips. Maybe after a week your zombie was dying? Maybe.

“Smart mouth I’m going to go check with the venue people and see what’s up. I’ll text you what I found yah?” Katie asked as she lowered her high-powered Maglite beam from my face to something lower and less painful.

“Aye aye Captain,” came the smart ass reply.

But not from you, from behind you. Must have been one of the other merch kids. You couldn’t help but grin just a smidge.

“Solute next time soldier,” Katie said about as superior as she could muster you were guessing before walking off with her Maglite guiding her feet.

“Come a long way our little sound hard hat has,” Cherise said with a grin in her words.

“I blame my brother,” you grumbled as you sat down in your folding chair and crossed your arms across your chest in wait for Katie’s text.

Were you mad about Katie’s slight change? Oh hell no! You knew it was good for her and it brought a smile to your face to see her acting more and more like she was a part of the family with not just you and the guys but with everyone on tour. That was what tour was, one giant family. A brotherhood. And to have her realizing more and more that she just wasn’t some head of sound but an integral part of your living breathing whole made you so happy you couldn’t put it to words. It was your brother that made you grumble, and not just because he had a penis either. Which is weird to say and sent a shiver down your spine, and not in a good way. So genitalia aside you were still not liking your brother. He was not only male, and had not only broken many a girls hearts but he had sided not with you. He had said Zacky may have over stepped things with the pouring of vodka and that he would speak to him about that. But he hadn’t said anything more about your and Zacky’s run in, probably because something like that happened almost every day. Which you saw as not entirely your fault. But the worst had been with Jeph and his new girl. He had sided with Jeph! He had said that was bound to happen sooner or later. Jimmy said the same thing more or less, but a little less harsh. Okay, so a lot less harsh. He also said a lot of other things but you decided not to think on them sitting in the dark in the powerless venue.

Your internal ranting was cut off by the vibrating of your cell that you had stuck in your hip band.

“Power completely gone. Break down shop. Show canceled. Call Jimmy” was all it said. Joys!

“Pack up shop Cherise,” you groaned as you stood up to prepare shutting down everything you had just spent time setting up.

“What’s up?” Cherise asked as she started stacking display t-shirts as she pulled them down off the cork board behind us.

“Powers completely blown and, and well I don’t know the rest. Show tonight is canceled everybody! Shut up shop!” you replied, yelling the last parts to everyone down the hallway.

“Just as we get it set up,” someone groaned behind you as you heard Rubbermaid totes being pushed around.

“Pretty much,” you said inside your head.

Notes

Woo hoo power outage!!!