Godead

XXXIII

"...Where are we?" he asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Somewhere west of town. The way everyone there was randomly changing into zombies, I figured we should get as far away as possible. This house looks empty. Maybe we can stay here for the night," she said.

Blair and Max left the car, looking around the outside of the dark property. As they approached the front door, they knocked, moans slowly coming from the inside. As Max tensely stood at the door, Blair readied her shotgun, listening on as zombies clawed the door from inside.

"Sounds like they can't get out," Max said.

"Well too bad, 'cause we're breaking in," Blair replied.

"What? But there's zombies in there!"

"We don't have much choice. This could be the only house for miles, and the car's low on fuel. Stand back," Blair said.

As Max stepped back, Blair turned sideways, giving the door a kick as it suddenly broke open. The zombie inside snarled, swiftly falling from the force of Blair's kick.

As the creature rose to its feet, Blair raised her shotgun, taking aim before suddenly giving a pause. She then lowered her weapon, instead taking out her baton. She slammed it down on the zombie, blood splattering from its skull as it fell to the floor.

"You out of ammo or something?" Max asked.

"No. We should probably conserve, though. The ammunition won't last forever, and these things are attracted to noise. It's best if we remain quiet," Blair said.

She and her brother then entered the old, one story house. They quietly searched the place, finding no signs of life inside. They then dragged the fallen zombie out to the woods, dumping it in a thicket of bushes before returning to the car. They took the rations they'd taken from the manor into the house, placing them on the small kitchen table. As Max sorted them out, Blair opened the kitchen pantry, looking around at its contents through the dim light of the kitchen.

"Not much food here. Good thing I gathered those rations," she said.

"Yeah. Smart thinking, sis," Max replied. Blair smiled, weakly looking over to him.

"Max... I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. I guess I've been on edge lately...," she explained softly. Max shook his head.

"Don't apologize, Blair. After everything you've been through, I can hardly blame you."

"At least there's still electricity here. I'm surprised. I wonder if the appliances still work...," Blair said, trying out various appliances as Max went to the living room television. He turned it on, finding nothing but static on every channel.

"Nothing on TV," he said.

"Yeah. Same with the radio," Blair replied, trying said object in vain.

"...Looks like the microwave still works," Max said, removing a can of soup from the rations.

"Half a can. We need to make this stuff last," she said.

"Right," Max replied, preparing half a bowl of soup before putting it in the microwave. As he started it up, he turned to Blair, suddenly remembering something she'd said earlier. "Sis... you said back at the manor 'This is nothing compared to how many we've killed so far'. Who else did you mean?" he asked. Blair suddenly fell silent, slowly smiling as she quietly folded her arms.

"Oh yeah... Claude and I," she replied warmly.

"Claude?" Max asked.

"Yes. A young man I met back in Florida not much older than you. I first met him and a little girl named Misty the day things went mad. For awhile we traveled together, but then met a strange girl named Abby. She was psychotic, and had already killed countless people before siding with us. I tried to convince Claude she was dangerous, but he wouldn't listen. Not long after, Misty ran into the woods and went missing, and that's when I knew I was useless to them. They didn't need me anymore, so I decided to head north and see if you were alive," Blair explained.

"You mean... you just left them?"

"...Yes. It's shameful, I know. But I was worried about you. And besides, Abby is much stronger than I am. She literally killed an entire group of soldiers by herself. I'd be wary of leaving Claude with someone like that, but Abby seemed to have taken a shine to him, and I doubt she'd ever hurt the boy. I just hope Zoe is alright..."

"Zoe?"

"Yeah. She's a girl we found out in the woods Misty vanished off into. Zoe was a runaway like Claude, though Zoe had been at it much longer. She even had her own tent in the woods filled with survival gear. She was friendly, but had a strange, Gothic look about her despite camping in the woods. To be honest, I really don't know that much about her. I left not long after she joined with us. She seemed nice enough, but Abby's highly possessive of Claude. I can only hope Zoe is alright...," Blair explained worriedly.

"...Did you ever find Misty?" Max asked. Blair frowned.

"...No. We were staying with a mother and her daughters when she went missing. I was taking a shower when their neighbors daughter suddenly attacked, dragging Misty away along with her. The poor child's probably dead by now...," she replied, slowly shaking her head as she looked to the floor. "...It's all my fault. I should never have let her out of my sight. I'm truly the worst cop who ever lived..."

"Don't say that, sis. You saved all those people back in town. Even if you did kill that bastard Patterson," Max replied. He then moved to Blair, lightly rubbing her shoulder as Blair smiled.

"...Listen to you. Acting all cool all of a sudden. Since when are you such a good brother?" she asked teasingly. Max shrugged.

"Since everything went to hell, I guess," he replied, the microwave sounding moments later.

As the high pitched ding echoed through the house, something began rustling in the next room. It slowly stirred, emerging from a pile of laundry off in the corner. As Blair and Max stood in the kitchen, it crept through the darkness, quietly shuffling through the halls before noticing the light in the kitchen.

As Max stood with his back to the creature, it moaned, suddenly rushing forward with its arms outstretched. It grabbed him from behind, peeling his neck open as Blair's eyes suddenly shot open.

"Max!" she screamed, watching as her brother's blood spilled out. As Max fell to the floor, the zombie turned to Blair.