Godead

XXXII

Upon arrival, Blair shared their findings with the others, explaining what had happened with the mayor. The survivors suddenly erupted in celebration, gathering their things before relocating to the mayor's large estate. As they entered the house, they hurried downstairs, helping themselves to the collection of rations in the basement.

As night fell, the group returned upstairs, settling into the mansion as the evening went by. As Blair and her brother were treated like heroes by the survivors, Patterson and the bearded man quietly watched from nearby.

"...Damn that woman. Who does she think she is?" Patterson asked snidely.

"She killed that zombie and took the mayor's house for us all. We should be grateful to her," the bearded man replied. Patterson turned to him with dismay.

"Whose side are you on, anyway? You actually buy that zombie bullsh*t? That cop probably murdered them both in cold blood."

"Give it a rest already, will you Mick? Even assuming that's true, her actions have saved more than they took. Lead to their own devices, the mayor and his wife would have stayed locked up in here, hoarding the supplies for themselves. Everyone knows the mayor was a selfish old recluse, anyhow. Lighten up, will ya?" the bearded man said, patting Patterson on the back before heading to the living room. Patterson stood in silence in the hallway, shaking his head in frustration.

As everyone thanked and praised Blair for what she'd done, Blair smiled, she and her brother feeling uncomfortable as they stood amidst the group. As the survivors passed the night, Blair and Max remained close, staying awake as the others fell asleep around them.

"You must be tired, sis. Maybe you should get some rest, too," Max said.

"No. Remember, any one of these people could turn at any second. I'm not sleeping anywhere near them, and neither are you," Blair replied quietly.

"So what are we gonna do? Stay up forever?"

"No," she replied, eyeing the room before turning to her brother. "...We're getting out of here."

"...What?"

"I put together some supplies from the basement we can use. These people are safe, now. They don't need us anymore, and if they really are sporadically changing to zombies, we need to get away from them as fast as possible."

"But—"

"Let's go," Blair said, interrupting her brother as she walked off. Max followed his sister out of the room, heading toward the manor's front door. As they left the residence, Patterson smirked, stepping out of the darkness as Blair and Max approached their vehicle.

"Well, well. Look at the fearless leader. Taking off into the night," he said. Blair paused, turning back to him.

"Don't give me that. I've done more for these people in a day than you've done in a whole month. If you'd ditch that massive ego of yours, maybe you could be of some use to these people," she replied, turning to the car and opening the door. As Blair and her brother prepared to leave, Patterson gritted his teeth.

"...Coward!" he exclaimed.

Upon hearing this, something in Blair snapped. The policewoman cringed, suddenly turning around and raising her shotgun. As Patterson's eyes went wide, Blair pulled her trigger, blasting the soldier from twenty feet away. His body flew backward, slamming into a cabinet near the door. As the commotion awoke the manor, Max turned to Blair in shock.

"Sis!" he exclaimed.

"Get in," she replied, the two entering the car before speeding away.

"F*ck, sis! What the hell!?" Max said in disbelief. Blair remained silent, coldly staring at the road as she drove into the night. "You... you just killed that guy!"

"...He asked for it. The others will be better off without him, anyhow," she replied.

"But he wasn't even a zombie, Blair! He was human!"

"Max, shut up. Just shut the f*ck up," Blair replied sharply. As Max fell silent, Blair eyed the road. "...I saved your life. Just be thankful for that," she concluded.

As the two drove through the night, they remained quiet, Blair watching the road as Max stared out a window. The pattern of the orange road reflectors hypnotized Blair, the officer thinking back on all that had happened. Until now, everything she'd killed was either zombies or insects. This time was different, however. Blair had an ill feeling about this one, and deep down, her brother was right.

Blair had killed a person.

This was hardly unheard of in her line of work. Blair was a police officer, and was trained to deal with death. Though she'd never actually taken anyone's life before, she recalled her partner Nelson telling her of someone he'd killed during his career. She remembered how he spoke of him often, and of how much he'd spent on psychiatrist visits before he could even get out of bed in the morning. Granted it was a different world then, and Patterson was hardly a charming individual. Nevertheless, the recruitment officer was Blair's first human kill, and she already felt uneasy at the thought she was now a murderer.

After hours of driving, Blair looked to the dashboard, noticing the car was low on gas. She then looked to the clock, realizing it was nearly 3:00 AM. Her brother was asleep in the passenger seat, Blair smiling as she briefly looked him over. She continued down the dark, rural road, spotting no signs of life anywhere in sight. She knew it would be trouble if they ran out of fuel this far out in the boondocks.

Moments later, she spotted a house off in the distance. She wondered if it was safe, but hadn't seen another house for miles. She pulled into the driveway, warily eyeing the house as her brother began to stir.