Godead

V

"You poor thing... your mother sounds rather unstable," she said.

"That's putting it mildly. Since she broke up with her new boyfriend, she's been extremely unhinged. Or at least she was, anyway. Knowing how crazy things have gone, I'm sure she's dead by now...," Claude replied somberly.

"...You don't know that for sure. She could still be alive," Blair said. Claude shrugged.

"...Who knows. Is she dead? Is she alive? To be honest... I'm not sure which I'm hoping for," he replied grimly, Blair looking to him in surprise. "...I know. It's an awful thing to say, especially about your own mother. But the truth is, she's been a nightmare to live with for awhile, now. It sounds crazy, but... I almost prefer this new, crazy world we live in," he concluded.

"Claude... you can't possibly mean that," Blair said worriedly. Claude remained silent, motionless as he stared at the linoleum tiles beneath them.

"...I don't know. It's just... now that everyone else is miserable, my own misery doesn't seem so bad, anymore," he replied, soon turning to Blair with a guilty expression. "...It's selfish, isn't it?" he asked shyly. She smiled, soon shaking her head.

"Not at all. The truth is, most everyone was miserable, even before all this happened. The only difference is, now we have something to be miserable about together. Collective misery, if you will," Blair explained. Claude paused, blinking in surprise.

"...Wow. That's pretty profound. You're really smart, Blair," he said. Blair froze, shyly looking away.

"...N—No I'm not...," she replied bashfully.

"No, really. What you said makes perfect sense. It's like—" Claude said, sentence cut short by a sudden ringing sound. He then paused, remembering the phone he'd found on the rooftops earlier. He took it out from the pocket of his dark blue pullover, answering it as Misty and Blair looked on.

"...Hello?" Claude said into the receiver.

"...Who is this?" a man's voice asked.

"You first, please."

"This is Andrew. I was calling to speak with Rachel. Is she there? Is she alright?"

"Well... this is Claude. I found this phone on the... remains of a young woman. She was cornered by a group of zombies on the roof of a building. I tried to save her, but... it was too late," Claude said. Andrew paused.

"...What did she look like?" he asked warily.

"...Well, let's see... long brown hair, blue eyes... thin... about twenty years old... wearing a red dress?" Claude said. Suddenly, the line fell silent. "...Are you there?" Claude asked.

"...Yes. It's just... that was Rachel. She was... my girlfriend..."

"I see. I'm sorry for your loss..."

"...It's alright. We weren't that close, but still...," Andrew said somberly.

"I'm really sorry. Where are you, anyhow? How do things look where you are?"

"I'm at my apartment on Ocean Drive, and can tell you things are a mess around here. What about you? Where you calling from?" Andrew asked. Claude paused, looking to Blair as she and Misty watched from nearby.

"Who is it?" Blair asked. Claude covered the phone.

"Some guy named Andrew."

"Do you know him?"

"No. This isn't even my phone. I just found it on a body, and this guy was expecting the woman it belonged to to answer. He's asking where we are. Should I tell him?" Claude asked.

"Go ahead. There's safety in numbers," Blair replied. Claude raised the phone again.

"Sorry. Are you there?"

"Yeah. What's going on?"

"We're at the police station on 22nd Street. Think you can make it?"

"Sure. That's not too far from here. I'll be there in about ten minutes."

"Alright. Be careful."

"Yeah. Back at you," Andrew said, the two soon ending the call.

"He's on his way. Said he'll arrive in a few minutes," Claude said.

"That's good. We stand a better chance if there's more of us," Blair replied.

After several minutes, the sounds of a car pulling up came from outside as Blair and the others went to the window, looking out at an old station wagon outside. As it came to a stop, the doors opened, a young man and woman exiting the car before looking around. As they approached the police station, Blair and the others went outside, David and Linda warily looking on at them from the parking lot.

"...Are you all still normal...?" David asked warily.

"Yes. We're fine. You must be Andrew," Blair replied.

"...Andrew? No, I—I'm David, and this is my wife, Linda."

"H—Hi," Linda said nervously.

"We thought we might find survivors if we came here, and it looks like we were right," David said.

"Not many, I'm afraid. The whole precinct's been ravaged, and I fear I'm the last cop alive in the whole city...," Blair said.

"...No way...!" Linda replied in shock.

"Afraid so," Claude said. "We were actually expecting a guy named Andrew to come by. We hardly know him, but he should be here any moment, and there's safety in numbers, I suppose."

"That's good. It's nice to know there's other survivors, at least," David said.

"Come on inside. It's probably safer in there than out here," Blair said, the five heading into the lobby of the police station. Upon entering, David and Linda looked around, shocked by the state of the interior.

"...Looks like they really did a number on this place," David remarked.

"Tell us about it. You should see the meeting room," Blair said grimly.

"Just what the hell is happening in this city, anyway!? What's going on!?" Linda asked frantically.

"No one knows. The TV reports said it's happening all over the world, though. Not just here, but everywhere," Blair said.

"...Everywhere?" David asked in shock.

"Indeed. Here... Japan... China... France. It's a global crisis. At least that's what the news said moments before the power went off. It's just the backup generators that are barely managing to keep the lights on, now," Blair explained, the fluorescent lights flickering above them.

Just then, Misty perked up.

"Misty... are you okay, honey?" Blair asked, lightly rubbing her back. Misty stood motionless, eyes wide as the others looked on at her.

"...Listen," she said, quietly staring off at the distance.

The group fell silent, listening close as eery moans came from outside. Blair tensed up, readying her pistol as she warily moved to a window, looking outside as the others did the same.