luna mortimer-smith had long learned not to trust anyone, staying in the middle of the woods as to avoid any contact with the dead or any other humans.
one evening, she'd gone out to check her hunting traps like usual. little did she realize, thoug...
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Luna knocked lightly, but didn't hear anything. She knocked again, but still nothing. Sighing, she opened the door and peered inside. Unlike she'd figured, Carl wasn't in bed. The window was pushed all the way open, and Carl was sitting outside on the roof.
"Hey." She said lightly, walking over to the windowsill. Carl turned his head slightly, looking over his shoulder. "I made some dinner, you wanna come downstairs and eat?" He shrugged, turning his head and looking back out at the neighborhood. She climbed out onto the roof, sitting down next to him.
"What are you doing?" He asked, his voice rough. She looked over at him and he turned his head quickly, wiping his face with his sleeve. She looked ahead, pulling her knees up to her chest.
"Being alone down there was making me anxious so I figured I'd come see you." She shrugged. "Do you want me to go back inside?"
"No." She looked over at him, seeing him picking at his shirt. "Honestly I...I'm glad you're up here." He sighed, looking up at her and letting his hands fall into his lap. "We need to figure out what we're gonna do next."
"Well, I don't really care." She said. "We could go home, we could keep looking. Whatever you want." He sighed, looking back out at the street.
"Someone might've come this way when they escaped, since it's so close." He said. "Maybe we search these houses tomorrow, see what we can turn up?"
"That sounds like a good plan." She nodded. "Now come on, let's go eat and get some sleep. We've got a lot of work ahead of us tomorrow."
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"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Luna asked uneasily, looking over at Carl. They stopped in the middle of the street between two of the houses. "I mean, wouldn't it be safer if we went together?"
"Sure, but it would take twice as long." He nodded nonchalantly, glancing between the houses. "If we wanna finish the whole block before it gets late, we'll need to split up." She sighed, putting her hand over her eyes to shade from the sun as she looked around. They seemed to be the only people in the neighborhood-alive or dead.
"Okay, fine." She looked at Carl. "Which one do you want?"
"I'll go here." He motioned to his left. "Let's plan to meet back here in like...I dunno, twenty minutes. Just yell if something happens, okay?"
"I know." She nodded. "Don't die." She called over her shoulder as they split up. She got the front door quickly, but something was blocking it from the inside so she could only get it open a tiny crack. She sighed, moving around the back of the house and pulling out her gun before pushing open the back gate. The small yard was empty, so she made a beeline for the back door. Thankfully, it was unblocked, so she entered and found herself in the kitchen. Just as she was about to start loading up the cans that were sitting on the counter, she heard multiple gunshots. Dropping her bag and the can she was holding, she ran out the back door and across the street. The door was broken open, and Luna could hear scuffling upstairs.
"Carl!" She yelled, rushing around until she found the stairs. By the time she got to the top, the scuffling had stopped, and Carl was leaning against a door breathing heavy. "What happened? Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He nodded, pushing off of the door. "It got my shoe, though."
"But you're okay, right?" Luna could feel her anxiety bubbling up in her chest. "You didn't get scratched or anything?"
"No." He shook his head. She sighed, plopping down on the stairs. Carl joined her a few seconds later. "What's wrong?"
"I..." She trailed off, trying to put her feelings into words. "I just don't want to lose you." She stared down the stairs, only looking up when Carl put his hand on her knee.
