Fragmented Zombie

Mudmen Gone South

While the mudmen were working in their respective areas, they wondered if it was okay for them to take a break. There was no telling if Becker was okay with them taking a break. Then again, it was possible that Becker would be okay with it. They were strict, not a monster. Then again, there was the secret Becker was keeping from the other survivors. If anything, the mudmen should be asking Thomas if they could take a break since Becker put him in charge.

The mudmen gathered around and asked if they could take a break. Thomas agreed to give them a break. Thomas didn't want the others to overwork themselves despite wanting to finish the village as soon as possible. Thomas knew that making the others work excessively would be torture. And he knew that Becker wouldn't want to do that to them. Thomas and Becker weren't too different from each other, but they still had their differences.

None of the mudmen knew what to do to entertain themselves. They were too used to working to the point they forgot how to entertain themselves without working. Dennis considered looking for worms to play with, but he knew how childish that would be. Dennis brought this up to Thomas, hoping he would understand. Thomas not only understood Dennis' plight, but he knew how to fix it. Thomas took Dennis to where he had been keeping a handful of worms. Thomas knew Dennis loved worms, so he kept some in a safe place for him. Dennis found himself watching the worms rather than playing with them.

Dennis may have outgrown his childish desire to play with worms, but he didn't outgrow his interest in worms. Thomas remained by Dennis' side as he watched the worms. The two talked about worms for what felt like hours, barely noticing the wind had picked up. The other mudmen sat around in different groups, talking about whatever came to mind. There was an occasional argument, but they remained respectful about it. Thomas made sure to keep an eye on the others to make sure they didn't get into a fight. Dennis stopped talking about worms every once in a while to make sure Thomas wasn't bothered by it. Thomas reassured Dennis that he wasn't bothered by Dennis only talking about worms. In fact, Thomas explained to Dennis that he shared the same interest in worms.

Thomas and Dennis were lost in their conversation, paying little attention to what's going on around them. Thomas subconsciously placed his hand on Dennis'. Dennis was too focused on what he was saying to notice. It was hard for them to stop talking. Unfortunately, Thomas and Dennis' conversation was interrupted by the other eighteen mudmen panicking. The two walked over to the others to see what was going on.

Thomas went up to Silvester to ask what was going on. Silvester explained that one of the buildings they built was on fire. Thomas looked towards where the smoke was coming from. Seeing the thick smoke, Thomas knew the fire was going to spread quickly. The wind speed picked up again, heightening the risk of the fire spreading. Thomas started ushering the mudmen out of the village. None of the other mudmen knew why they had to leave the village.

Once the mudmen were out of the village, Thomas started explaining why they had to leave the village. Thomas started by saying, "Listen, I know we could repair the village. Unfortunately, we can't. Not with the fire spreading the way it is. We don't even have anything to put the fire out with. Even if we did, we wouldn't be able to put it out fast enough."

The other mudmen muttered to each other. Dennis was getting nervous, not knowing how the others were going to react. Thomas put his arm around Dennis to comfort him. Evan finally spoke up by asking, "What are we going to do now? I mean, what are we supposed to do here?"

Thomas sighed and said, "We go looking for Becker. Explain what happened and hopefully they'll know what to do."

The other mudmen muttered in agreement. There was one problem, though: they didn't know where Becker was. They muttered to each other for a moment. Thomas was getting impatient. Rex finally said, "What if we can't find Becker? What do we do then?"