Autolysis

Part 3

Malon didn't want to leave the farm.

More accurately, she didn't want to leave the animals, the horses, the cows, the pigs, to their own devices. Time suggested opening their pens, letting them loose. He knew that would also guarantee their death, but what other choice do they have? They could not load up every horse and bring them along.

"We have time," Malon argued. "We can build more fences. More ditches-"

"That is not a long term situation," Time argued back. "You've seen the news, there's thousands of them now. They don't get tired, they don't take breaks to sleep. Not unless they're eating. You saw what happened at Ingo's farm."

Malon's eyes widened with tears. Time hated he brought that up but he needed to push the argument. Ingo had boasted to Malon's father all the security he put up around his farm. It was actually an impressive feat he pulled, turning his farm into a small fortress. High, electrical fences. Deep trenches filled with water. Armed guards patrolling the perimeters. Ingo had claimed his farm could outlast the undead, and when the world needed more food, they would come and beg him for his farming prowess.

Just to show off how great his barriers were, Ingo set off noise makers to encourage the hoard to come to his farm. He proudly live streamed the event.

The undead ravaged his farm in less than two hours. There was no point in having electrical fences when the undead could not feel pain. Every time the dead got electrocuted, they fell, got back up, and tried again. The fences were overwhelmed and once they crashed, everything else was a minor inconvenience to the undead. The moats were easily crossed, the guards abandoned their posts, and poor Ingo, cornered in his office, tried to radio in a helicopter to escape. He spent his last moments yelling into the webcam, begging the internet to help him. On livestream, everyone watched as the doors to his office smashed inward and the dead stormed in. Time ended up slamming Malon's laptop shut before the inevitable happened.

Time never liked Ingo but he wouldn't wish that on his worst enemy.

Malon bowed her head, tears still falling down her cheeks. "Alright," she said. "But we have to give the animals their best chances for survival. We owe it to them."

They opened the pens. They guided whom they were able into the open fields and the dense woods. Malon and Time shared tears as they said goodbye to their horses, kissing them on the nose and giving them one last sweet apple.

From there, they packed what they could and left Lon Lon Ranch.

***

The goal was to get to the shore, get on a boat, and sail to an island inhabited by one of the local Zoras. Time had confidence he could ask one of them for sanctuary, given their history together. Despite the world-ending apocalypse, the drive to the shore was a pleasant one. Thanks to their daily responsibilities on the ranch, going on vacations were a rare occurrence. So the two decided to indulge in the sights. The leaves were changing colors into golds and reds, and the hot air from summer finally gave way to the cool breeze of autumn. More than once Time and Malon stopped to take pictures and have picnics surrounded by the lovely colors.

Time will never know if their frequent rest stops was why the horde caught up.

Majority of side-road hotels they passed were deserted. (Time had suggested breaking in to one of the rooms, but Malon didn't want to risk squatters or dirty sheets.) If the area was nice enough, they made camp. Most of the time they drove through the night.

The time on the dashboard read 1:53 AM. The radio was turned down low to let Malon sleep. It had rained earlier in the day, leaving the roads slick. The headlights on Time's wagon reflected off of the wet asphalt, reminding him that his old, worn tires would not fare well in this weather. Woods surrounded the road, giving a very claustrophobic feel to it all. It had been well over an hour since they passed another car, and it had gone in the opposite direction at startling speed.