Dead Souls

Chapter Three

After a few moments of stunned silence, Meredith bursts out in laughter.
"I imagine I do. Mind giving me a hand?" She chokes out. The male continues to tower above her and shifts the unalive to the side to allow her out from underneath it. Meredith moves to stand and finds herself away to the right and latches herself to the fridge handle.
"Thanks. Truly. Despite what it looked like, I did have it."
The male continues standing, face covered keeping Meredith from reading his expressions. She can't remember the last time she had a run in with another runner.

Runners are those who choose to not conform to refugee camps and follow the ways of a self made leader. She had her fair share of months within one when she decided it wasn't for her. Running was more enjoyable than suppressing emotions and actions to appease greedy people.

Meredith dares a glance around the kitchen, hoping for something to wipe the slime off her face. Across the way is a kitchen sink with an old rag atop it. Meredith moves across the kitchen in three easy steps to the rag to remove the unalive from her face. Using the rag to clean up, Meredith chances another look in the direction of the strange man, but doesn't see him. She feels a slight pang in her heart at his absence. Not in a love like sense, but an alone sense. When was the last time she even spoke?

She moves around the open door to find the man wiping his blade onto the grass and adjusting it back into the sheath on his back. Fancy, she thinks.

He moves to face her when she notes the other features of his face with the blue bandana pulled down. His nose is long, but wide. His brows are furrowed together over those sea green eyes. His lips form a hard line as he glowers at Meredith.

"Where you from?" Meredith dares. It's been a while since she had to create small talk. She isn't quite ready to lose his company though.

"Doesn't matter. What matters is your lack of awareness as that DeSo attacked you." His gruff voice is unsettling. She hadn't intended to create such turmoil with the first human soul she'd seen in months. She adjusts her footing and holds her head high.

"It caught me off guard, I'll admit. But I really had it. I don't need saving." She spits back. The man apparently has no intention of making friends, so Meredith makes her move to head back into the home to search for cans of food. Before she can make her descent into the house, the man speaks up again.
"What's your name?"
Meredith looks over her shoulder and barks, "Irrelevant." It had been some time since another soul inquired about her name.
"Bullshit. Names give meaning to the kind of person someone is."

"I didn't choose my name- how can it define me if it wasn't my choice?" Who did this guy think he was? She decided in this moment that her name will remain her own and no one else's. She continues up the steps and enters the kitchen. Once she enters, her eyes begin to water due to the smell within. Meredith remembers that the unalive had brought something in that left behind a mess. She steps over the unalive lying lifeless on the kitchen floor, the head a few paces away. She snaps a flashlight out of backpack side pocket and clicks it on. She shines the light down the basement stairs and sees a mauled deer laying upon the steps. Gagging, Meredith covers her mouth with her opposite arm still shining on the dead animal.

Out in the middle of no man's land, this unalive must have strayed and had to use the only source of food it could manage. Meredith turns away from the crime scene and makes her way to the cabinets above the kitchen sink. She finds cups, coffee mugs, plates- ah ha! Meredith snatches the 'chicken noodle soup' can out of the cabinet and makes to find a can opener. After searching several different drawers containing silverware, old take out menus and old dish rags, she finds the utensils drawer and snags a can opener out of it. She makes to open the can and grabs a spoon out of the drawer and digs in.

After a few mouthfuls, Meredith remembers the term 'strange man' used when describing the unalive- DeSo. Curiosity gets the best of her a couple minutes later when she peaks out the back door and sees him digging around in the abandoned shed. She makes her way towards him as she wonders who he is.
"Why DeSo?" She inquired as he's digging through an old toolbox.
"Dead souls. What else are they if not soulless?" He sneers back. The lack of human skills this man has leaves Meredith questioning her next question. "Where you headed?"
For the first time, a smile spreads across the man's face as he says, "That desperate for human interaction, are we?"