The Story Untold

Part 6 - The House

Shaun leads Tommy and Joel to the town's church, then goes upstairs and starts ringing the bell. Soon, people start moving into the church, filling up the pews while Shaun stands at the podium. Once everybody is in, Shaun calls Joel and Tommy up. 

"Everybody, we've got some newcomers in town. This is Joel and Tommy Miller. They're brothers who made it out of Austin, and they'll be staying with us for a while." Joel and Tommy wave awkwardly at the crowd, then go and sit in the front pew. Shaun waits until they're seated, then continues talking. 

"I have an announcement to make. After a thorough examination, I've found out how the runners got infected." Most people gasp, and some turn to each other in surprise. "It's caused by a fungus that infects and grows on the brain. Since it grows on the brain, there is no visible mushroom to identify it. However, besides biting, I have another theory as to how it spreads. Some plants and other fungi reproduce through spores in the air, moving with the wind to reach new locations. I believe that if we were to breathe these spores in, then we too would become infected. But don't worry, I think that because of the color of the fungus, the spores too would be yellow with a slight green tint. That is all. Thank you for your patience."

The townsfolk start leaving the church, and Shaun asks Joel and Tommy to stay. "I'll help you guys get properly settled in. We got some nicer houses than the one you guys are in now."

Joel stands and walks towards the door. "We're fine in our current house. We just might need some help getting it back in shape." 

Tommy follows Joel out and they walk back to their temporary home. Joel opens the door, and sees that there is more of a mess than they had thought. Some of the windows were smashed in, the furniture was ripped and broken, scattered throughout the house, and there were stains on the floor and walls. It was even worse upstairs. A red stain led to the bathroom, and Joel starts following  it. He opens the bathroom door, and finds a body on the floor. He pauses and stares at it for a minute, seeing Sarah's body. Joel closes his eyes for a moment, and when he opens them again, he sees that it isn't Sarah, but a woman's body. There is a splatter on the wall behind her, and a small hole through her forehead. She seems to be about Joel's age, but it's hard to tell since her skin is thin and tearing. 

He walks over to the bathtub and pulls back the curtain, revealing two more bodies. A young boy's body, laying on what Joel assumes to be the boy's father. The boy's back is torn open, revealing parts of his spine. One of the father's arms are wrapped around the boy, as if trying to comfort him. The other arm is draped out of the tub, with a gun in it's hand. There's another splatter above the father, and a hole on the top of his head. 

Joel stumbles backwards, trips over the mother's body behind him, and lands back in the hallway. He stares at the bodies, too disturbed and scared to move away. Tommy comes up the stairs and starts walking towards Joel. 

"Are you okay? I heard someth-- Jesus." Tommy steps back after seeing the bodies. He turns pale, then looks away and vomits on the ground. Joel looks at him and stands back up. 

"I guess we should try to find a new house." Joel puts his arm around Tommy's middle, helping him walk down the stairs. 

"Yeah, I think that'd be a good idea." Tommy wipes off his mouth, and when they're downstairs he gets a glass of water. After he finishes his drink, he grabs his coat and starts heading to the door. "I'm gonna go find Shaun and let him know. Wanna come with?"

"Maybe later. I'm gonna search the rest of the house, see if there's anything we can use."

"Alright. Don't push yourself. I'll be back soon." 

Tommy heads out the door and towards Shaun's house, while Joel turns away and heads towards a hallway across the room they slept in. Most of the rooms were already searched, but there was one locked door. Joel looks around the house for a key, but couldn't find one. He did however, find a hunting knife in good condition. He looked it over, tested the sharpness, and brought it to the door. The knife fit between the door and the wall, and Joel pushed the knife down on the lock, breaking it open. Behind the door, the room was pitch black. Joel turned on his flashlight, to reveal an empty room with a table at the back wall. 

He opened the drawers, finding more knives and some ammo. There is a button in the bottom of one of the drawers, and Joel pushes it. He hears a clicking, then a slight sliding sound. He shines the flashlight around the room, and sees that a section of one of the walls has started sliding open. Joel walks up to it and pulls it all the way open, revealing another room, but this one full of different types of weapons. The walls were lined with gun racks, all of them full. A table in the center was covered with handguns, all of them in good condition. 

Joel hears the front door open and close, and he sees that it's Tommy. Tommy looks at him and asks if he found anything good. Then, Joel leads him to the gun room and they both grab as much as they can carry. They bring the guns back to their new house, which is smaller but more clean than the previous one. Shaun makes sure they're settled in to their new house, then asks where they got the guns from.