Robbie Zombie's Arc

Chapter 7 of 7

Robbie walked through Deadville until he reached the old town square. A bronze statue stood in the center, showing a zombie chef holding a perfect brain dish. The metal gleamed even in the gray light. Someone had built this to honor what chefs could do. Robbie touched the cool bronze base and read the worn plaque. It told about a chef who had started with nothing and built the best restaurant in town. His chest felt lighter. He kept walking until he found a stone bench carved with old graffiti. The words "beware, zombies" were scratched deep into the backrest. Robbie sat down and pulled his notebook from his pocket. The quiet helped him think clearly. The flooded restaurant and broken truck had pushed him back, but this bench gave him space to breathe. He flipped through his recipe notes and remembered the food critic's words: "Good balance. Strong finish." Those dishes had worked. He could make them again. A wooden pavilion stood nearby, its weathered boards sagging but still standing. Robbie walked over and sat at one of the droopy tables. Other zombies had carved their names into the wood, marking their presence over the years. He traced one carving with his finger and noticed words underneath: "Keep cooking." Someone else had struggled here too. The pavilion felt like a place where people came when things got hard, where they reminded themselves why they started. Robbie stood and headed back toward his restaurant. The bronze chef statue, the quiet bench, the old pavilion—they all showed him that setbacks happened to everyone. That legendary chef on the plaque had probably faced floods and broken equipment too. Robbie tucked his notebook away and walked faster. He would fix the pipe tomorrow and find a way to repair the truck. His brain-based restaurant would open, just like he planned.