Godead

XXXI

Blair and Max returned to the car, driving back to the mayor's house moments later. Upon arrival, Blair knocked, her little brother looking around at the property.

"Nice place," Max said.

"Yeah. The mayor's always been a wealthy man. He must have supplies locked up in there somewhere," Blair replied, knocking again. "Open up! If you don't, we'll break down the door!"

"...Seriously?" Max asked.

"I'm afraid so. Those people are starving, and I don't think we have much choice," Blair replied. After several moments, Blair stepped back, raising her leg and kicking the door. "...Damn. The entrance is pretty strong. Max, on three, let's kick it together," she said. She then counted down, she and her brother kicking the door as it suddenly flew open.

The two stepped inside, Blair leading the way as she raised her shotgun at the dark interior of the house. By then, the sun had set, and the house was dark and dreary.

"I can barely see a thing," Max said.

"Be careful. And stay close," Blair replied, looking around the dimly lit residence. "...Hello?" she called.

No reply.

"...This is bad. I have a bad feeling about this, sis," Max said worriedly.

"...Yes. The mayor was alive earlier. Something may have happened to him quite recently," Blair replied.

The two continued through the house, finding no one on the first floor. They then moved to the second floor staircase, warily looking up before ascending. As they reached the second floor, they looked around, creeping through the dark halls and corridors. Just then, Blair stopped.

"Wait," she said, holding an arm out.

"What?" Max replied.

Blair stood still, looking to a nearby door. She approached it, slowly raising her shotgun before creaking it open. Suddenly, Blair and Max froze in place. They cringed, looking on at the darkened room nearby.

There, laying on the floor of the room was the mayor, dead and bloodied as his wife quietly feasted on his flesh. As Blair and Max stood at the door, the zombie fed, sinking its claws deep into the mayor's gut. It then looked over, moaning before rising to its feet. It shambled forward, Blair raising her shotgun before blasting the creature's head off.

As the zombie fell in a pool of blood and guts, Blair looked to it.

"Looks like the mayor's wife changed with the two of them locked in the manor," she said. Max stood in terror, holding a hand to his mouth as Blair looked to him with concern. "...You okay?"

"...Y... Yeah. I think so," he replied, voice shaking. He then turned to his sister. "...What about you, sis? Are you okay?" he asked, surprised by how unfazed Blair was.

"I'm fine. This is nothing compared to how many we've killed so far," she replied.

"...Seriously?"

"Yes."

"How many have you killed...?"

"I don't know. I'm afraid I've lost count."

"Like... dozens?"

"...More like hundreds."

"Whoa! That many?"

"Yes. And things far worse than this."

"Like what?"

"Well, besides adult zombies, we've also had to put down a few child zombies, as well. They tend to be stronger and faster than adults. We've also had to dispose of two oversized insects, one cockroach and one grasshopper-type... thing."

"...Oversized?"

"Yes. Very oversized."

"How big were they?"

"The roach was the size of a bus, and the grasshopper was the size of a car."

"...Are you serious?"

"Yes," Blair replied. As Max stood in silence, Blair moved to the corpses, kneeling down as she searched the mayor's pockets.

"What are you looking for?" Max asked. Blair rifled through the dead man's coat, suddenly removing a set of keys from the mayor's pocket.

"...This," she replied, holding up the keys as she rose to her feet. "Mansions like this tend to have storage basements beneath them. I'm guessing the mayor had emergency supplies locked away down there," she said. The two left the room, heading downstairs soon after.

After briefly looking around, the two located a hatch leading down to the basement. Blair unlocked it with the keys, heading down the stairs moments later. As she reached the cellar floor, she flipped an overhead light, looking around with a smile soon after.

"...Jackpot," she said, looking at the stacks of supplies around them.

"Wow. So they really were hoarding supplies," Max said.

"This should last a long time. We should return to the others and let them know what we've found," Blair said.

As the two headed back upstairs, Max paused.

"Sis...," the boy said hesitantly.

"What is it?" Blair replied. Max looked around at the fancy mansion.

"...Are you sure it's such a good idea to let everybody know what happened? I mean, who knows how long this mess is going to last? Maybe it's best if the two of us stayed in here without them?" he replied. Blair looked to him in surprise.

"...What? That's a tad selfish, don't you think?" she asked.

"I know it sounds that way, but be realistic, Blair. There's a lot of food down there, and it's not going to last forever. The more people we let know about it, the faster it's gonna run out. And besides, you're the only one left with any guns. Maybe we should just lock ourselves up in here. So what if the others don't like it? What are they gonna do about it?" Max asked. Blair shook her head.

"We can't leave them to die."

"But they're changing into zombies at random! What if they do that after we invite them here?"

"That's a risk we'll have to take."

"But that moron Patterson's with them, and doesn't like that you've taken over as leader."

"Neither do I. I never asked to be leader, and don't like suddenly having two dozen survivors to babysit. Nevertheless, we can't just leave them to die. We have to help them," Blair replied. Max fell silent as the two left the manor, returning to the gym minutes later.