Well That's Not Good

Chapter Eighteen - Refugee Status

They all sleep together that night. True with his chest to Sky's back, Seto curled up in Sky's arms, and Sky comfortably sandwiched in the middle. Due to both the emotionally exhausting conversations and the grey weather, Sky manages to fall asleep after nightfall. Seto ends up hiding his face in Sky's chest to avoid having the light from Sky's face bother him. 

During this time, Lox paces the house. He checks for loose boards, and finds none. He reenforces the crawlspace cover with a bookshelf, although he doubts anything would get in that way. He sits on the rooftop and throws sticks from the gutter into the yard, causing the zombies to turn toward the sound for a moment, then seem to forget about it and continue wandering. 

When he runs out of sticks, he returns inside, contemplating his battery. At this point, he has less than a week of battery. Perhaps he could charge on the generator again when needed, but perhaps he isn't as much of a priority than say, heating in the winter. Lox considers this, settling down on the floor near the electric socket, watching his friends get the only peace they can in this quickly collapsing world. Gasoline expires fast, so would it be better for him to use it to help build up the home? Or should they risk loosing power to get heat when it cools? 

Morality is not his strong suit. 

Outside, a pig squeals. Lox looks up, eyes locking on the door. He hesitates, glancing back over at the sleeping trio. While he doesn't want True to be woken up, perhaps he would know what that had been about. 

The noise gets closer, and Lox makes up his mind, getting up and gently pulling True away from Sky, trying to wake him calmly. True stretches, sighs, then looks up at Lox. 

"What's going on? I thought I got everything dd you, do you think you're going to short circuit-?"

The pig outside snorts, and True frowns. 

"They left...? Lox, I left the door open, maybe they're just wandering now?" He looks somewhat saddened, and Lox shakes his head. 
"I shut the door. When I went outside." 
"Maybe they opened it." 
"No." 
"Can we look at least?" 

Lox sighs, waking over to the stairs. Together, they climb upstairs and go onto the rooftop. Lox points across the yard to the barn, doors shut completely. True rubs his eyes. 

"Um... weird." 
"Yes." 
"Lox, I just woke up, give me a second." 

He cracks his fingers, then slides down the rooftop to the edge. Glancing down, he can see the pig causing all the distress.  There's a gash in its side. 

"Someone's in the barn," True whispers. Lox looks down to him, then nods. 
"That would make sense. I didn't see anyone." 
"You might not have, and if they hadn't seen anyone, they might not have known people were here at all!" He turns and crawls back up the roof, now awake and concerned. 

"I can look," Lox offers, "They can't hurt me. I can hit them with my arms. or a wrench." 
"You could kill them!"
"They could kill you. And Sky. And Seto. And the pigs." True bites his lip and looks down at the barn. 

"I... you can go. Just- can you wake up Seto and Sky first? I don't want anyone left behind on what's going on," True says slowly. Lox nods, climbing back through the window and into the house. 

For a moment, True sits alone. He shakes his head, trying to wake up. The fog has almost gone completely, and most of the zombies have wandered off from lack of activity. The charred body of the one that Lox attacked is visible by the barn, as well as the red haired zombie that had arrived over a day ago now. True thinks, sliding back down the roof to the edge, of what he would want if he had been stuck in a world like this, and realizes he's had it easiest of everyone in his home. Sky lost his home planet to a trauma that took the zombie apocalypse to begin to talk about, Seto lived alone in fear of what overs would think of him, and now lost an entire hand. Lox hadn't asked to be built, and despite how much he treated everyone as friends, True never stops worrying that it's an obligation. He shakes his head, takes a deep breath, and drops onto the porch. 

Inside, True can hear Lox talking to Seto, and and Sky mumbling sleepily. True takes a deep breath, then climbs over the side of the porch. 

His feet squish into the ground. Ahead, he sees the redhaired zombie by the barn. True takes a deep breath, then starts making his way to the barn. He makes it halfway before Seto steps onto the porch and lets out a panicked squeak. 

"True! What are you-? True!" Seto calls out. True turns to glance at him just in time to see Seto jump the porch wall as well. 

"Seto wait- go back, I got this!" True 

Seto runs up to him, skidding on the mud. He links his bad arm around True clings to him. 

"Go back!" 
"You go back, I'm the one with fire!" 
"I'm the one in one piece!" 
"Not you're not, you're missing fingers!" 
"Seto please-"
"Back up!" 

Seto pulls True back, holding out his hand. Violet flames leap to life as the teenage zombie Lox had passed by during his adventure grabs at them from the ground. True yelps, pulling Seto away with him. The zombie's mouth opens, black liquid pouring onto the ground. His glasses are rendered useless by the black spatter from his eyes. Seto throws the fire to his feet, the black igniting like lighter fluid and the body going up in flames. When the fire goes out, there's char on the ground and melted plastic from his glasses. 

For a moment, it's quiet. True clings to Seto's arm, and Seto waves the flames away from his fingers. Smoke rises from the spot of the ground, and a whistle echoes through the empty yard. 

From the doorway to the barn, a young man can be seen learning  against the now open doorway. A hoodie is tied around his waist, and his shirt is stained with black splatters. Seto pulls True behind him again, and the man puts his hands up. 

"Hey, woah man, it's okay. Let's talk."