Dieana smiled wide.

The red glow of the torch falling on her rotten face disturbed me and I had to look away. The queen stretched out her arm and grasped my hand, and began to rub it. She pulled me near her. My heart was beating fast. I knew what this could lead to. I must plan an escape.

“You stay away from me these days,” the zombie queen said, stroking my back like a lover.

“So, can I ask you the questions or not?” I said.

The zombie queen grimaced, but she agreed.

“Go on,” she said.

“What happened to the monsters and to the humans?” I asked.

“You are asking as if you don’t know anything,” she stated.

“Well, you do, so tell me,” I said.

Dieana went blank again, and ceased caressing me. I withdrew my arm from her grasp at the opportunity.

“Now that I think about it,” she said, “I don't really remember. When did my memory become so poor? I am getting old!”

The zombie queen suddenly placed her head on my lap. My heart somersaulted. I leapt away from the bed.

“Why are you going away from me?” she asked severely, taken aback.

“Tell me about the town of the monsters,” I demanded because I couldn’t invent any other reason. “What happened to the town and who lives there?”

“The town of the monsters?” the zombie queen said and became stiff again. She bit her lips, trying to retrieve information about the town from the poorly arranged shelves of her memory.

“Yes, I remember that,” Dieana said, “I went there… a long time back. I think I went there to meet you.”

Was she talking about the day of the explosion? Likely, since it was the only occasion she had visited the town.

“But I don’t remember much of it,” Dieana continued. “My memory is hazy. I don’t think anyone lives there,” she sighed, exasperated with her inability to recall, “I don’t really know. Why are you asking me all this?”

“Would you like me to go and find out who lives there?” I said. “The zombies should know their neighbours. Whether they are friends or enemies.”

“I don’t think that’s required,” Dieana said. “We are the neutral ones. We only have friends. We do not have enemies.”

“Still I am very curious,” I said. “I would like to go there someday.”

“It’s your wish then,” Dieana said. “But don’t take Kanim and Tulip with you. I don’t want you to repeat what happened yesterday. And I don’t really recommend you go out of the village either. This village is heaven. Why do you even want to go out of heaven?”

Some moments of silence passed. The zombie queen ran her fingers through her hair and pouted at me. I knew what she wanted. But I didn’t have a choice but to pour cold water on her desires.

“I was just wondering,” I said, avoiding the queen’s eye contact. “What if things are not as they seem to be?”

“What do you mean?”

“What if… this is all, some kind of a dream? What if I am not your husband?”

The zombie queen rolled on the bed in laughter.

“I know that this is not a dream, all right?” she said, fighting to suppress her sniggers.

“What if it is?” I said, maintaining my serious tone.

Dieana froze and observed me, no longer amused.

“Nobody can recall much in a dream, can they? What if the reason why you can’t remember much about the past is that this is all just a dream?”

Dieana’s eyes glistened as she tried to hold back tears.

“Please do not say so,” she requested, but with a stern edge to her tone.

“What if it was true?”

“Well,” she said, resolving not to surrender to my tricky words, “if it is, then this is the best dream ever.”

She strode over to me and wrapped her arms around my stomach. She tried to kiss me but I tilted my head back so her lips only found air.

“What’s up with you!” she complained.

“I think you should sleep,” I said.

The queen glared.

“You don’t like me anymore, do you?”

“No, it’s just… it’s just that… I want to poop. I must go to the toilet.”

Her jaw dropped.

“What?”

That was the last thing she had expected me to say. Even I hadn’t anticipated those words.

“Yes, now please let me go,” I said, as I removed her arms. “My stomach feels funny. Got to go!”

And without waiting for another word from her, I raced out of the room. Thankfully the toilet was far from the queen’s chamber, so she couldn’t see if I entered it.

I loitered in the backyard for almost an hour, resolving to depart for the town the next day. I also considered connecting with Kiara while in the forest. I would have to tell her everything, including that I was married. Kiara didn’t have the right to get angry since none of it was really my fault.