The Messengers of Sanctuary

7 - Loretta

Somewhere beyond the bounds of society, there was an inconspicuous cabin in the woods. Most folks would leave it alone, if only because of how spooky it looked in that part of the forest.

The inhabitants of that cabin agreed with the sentiment. If they didn't have to deal with humans unless absolutely necessary, it made their lives much easier.

Loretta growled a faintly sad greeting as she entered the cabin. It had been implausible in the beginning, but still, it made everyone sad when their attempt to keep chickens failed. It didn't help that it was the middle of winter, but Raven had been absolutely sure that starting a flock this time of year could still work.

Since Raven was the only one of them that knew anything about farms, she was considered the local expert on such. Though with only three other Runners to appreciate it, it wasn't really a high bar to surpass.

Raven seemed the most annoyed that the chickens had literally died of fear. Everything else had gone according to plan, Jeren had tracked down the annoying birds and brought them back, but the things could clearly recognize the scent of Runner and the prolonged exposure had decreased their lifespans significantly.

Considering Loretta had seen setups that worked perfectly, it just hit that much harder that their own attempts had been so laughable.

Being zombies really sucked, but it just made them feel more incompetent.

Loretta pushed her pages off the table, taking out a new design idea for their next try. She doubted she could convince Raven and Jeren to actually do it, but drawing always made her feel better about failures. The concept of having pages beneath her fingers and the way it bent her mind as she tried to visualize the space.

She took out her pencil, sharpening the tip with a knife since all the pencil sharpeners by now were duller than Jeren's personality.

They did have a whetstone but there was no sense in toiling over the tiny sharpener blade when a regular knife could do the job plenty well. Loretta might have cut herself several times while trying to figure out how to whittle, but that was part of the fun!

She sketched out a rough idea of a place to keep animals, using a ruler to make her lines and a protractor for the curves. It was far from the best blueprint, it wasn't even blue, but it did have all the right proportions.

She used the same measurements as the failed chicken coop, trying to figure out what they could do to make an animal unaware of their presence. Perhaps if they used a creature with a worse sense of smell? Or maybe make the feed come down from pipes instead of being physically lain down?

She wasn't sure about all the details yet, and she'd still have to talk with Raven if she wanted this to work at all, but as the hours passed, Loretta finally found herself relaxing.

And how long will that relaxation stay? You're still not human anymore, and you aren't satisfied.

Loretta sighed and stood up, pushing the pages to the side and exiting the cabin, it was probably past time to check the live traps again. She pushed through the darkening forest a couple of minutes later, peeking ahead to check the trap. There was no sense in walking all the way over there if there wasn't anything in it.

Loretta grinned at the bundle of fur caught inside, continuing toward it with easy steps. She knelt beside it, identifying the creature as a rabbit. It had stopped struggling with its bonds before, but as she approached it began to do so again, trying to escape from the wires that held it firmly.

Loretta looked at the creature for a long moment and then gently ended its life, this would be easier for both of them that way.

Even after twelve years of living as an undead creature. Twelve years where doing this was almost a daily occurrence, Loretta still felt bad as she stole its life force. Destruction. Animal blood helped to keep any weird urges the virus gave her to a minimum. Without animal blood, she was liable to accidentally hurt someone and end up losing her human mind and heart. With the blood, she wouldn't destroy any lives and she could move on with her life.

Her unfulfilling dull life.

Loretta took the rabbit back to the cabin once she was done with it.

Later that night, she went outside, unable and unwilling to sleep. This happened sometimes, and after the failure of the chicken coop, she needed some time to think.

Okay, so it was a really bad excuse, Loretta just felt out of sorts. But when drawing didn't calm her down, the stars did, and the stars were bright and happy on the cloudless winter night, as if waiting for someone to appreciate them.

Loretta remembered stars from before the collapse. Having lived in a big city, she'd had to go far out into the countryside to see their majesty, but now she could see them without any effort. There was little to no light pollution, and the bit that did exist was something you could simply blame nightstalkers for.

And so all Loretta had to do was sit outside and wait for her eyes to adjust. After that, she could see further than she'd ever seen before the fall of humanity.

Loretta jerked her head to the side as she spotted movement. Well, movement and the distinct scent of a human. Her nose wasn't nearly as good as a nightstalker's, but she could easily identify a human when they were only a few meters away and the wind was blowing toward her.

Loretta stood up, growling a warning at the hidden human, hoping that they would just go away. Everything would be more simple if the humans just left them alone, screw propriety.

The human didn't gasp or flee, in fact, Loretta was fairly sure that they weren't moving at all. Evaluating her...what kind of human would be out here without a flashlight anyway? Wasn't that kind of dangerous for them?

Her heartbeat sped up as Loretta thought of something ominous, perhaps they were here to kill her. Maybe they were one of those humans who'd lost too many loved ones and decided that the only way to move on with life was to remove all zombies from the picture entirely. The undead slayers had probably gotten more crafty in the past thirteen years...

Loretta shivered and opened her mouth, ready to scream and inform Raven and Jeren that something was wrong.

Then she spotted the glowing eyes. They were just like any other pair of glowing eyes, unsettling in the darkness, difficult to look away from, and a hallmark of the zombie virus. Loretta would have relaxed at that point and assumed it was a sane zombie that hung around humans a lot and therefore had their scent ingrained in their own.

But the glowing eyes weren't the familiar red that Loretta would have expected, they were a bright, piercing blue.

Instead of being sensible and calling for help as she'd planned. Loretta felt her eyes narrow. She took a step back, meeting the eyes of whoever this was. She let out another warning growl.

The person did not respond. Somehow that wasn't reassuring.

Loretta watched them for a long moment, trying to figure out what they might want. Eventually, she sighed and straightened, realizing she'd unconsciously fallen into a runner's crouch. She looked at the newcomer for a moment longer and finally spoke softly. "What are you?"

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