What Now?

Chapter 1: Why am I here?

It has been a month since the reconning. I am forced to wear a bandana soaked in perfume whenever I go outside because of the smell of rotting corpses. Is this the new normal stench of the world? I remember the wonderfully delightful scents of flowers in the spring air, yet now the smell of spring has been overpowered by the stench of death.

A few days after the reconning I was walking to the store to get some food and I saw my neighbor's dog. He was sitting next to his owner's body, refusing to eat, yet when he saw me that dog became excited and came right to me. Avi is the dog's name. Thankfully, I got Avi to eat some canned food.

I always thought that when something like this happens, the stores would be emptied of all its resources. But people died too quickly to get anything from the stores. Those that did not die from the reconning, were killed in plane crashes, car crashes, or other acts of the universe saying "oh well, I did not mean to kill you, but tough shit I guess." Very few people in my neighborhood survived. My whole family died in the second hour. I had to get them out of the house so they would not stink up the house. It may sound harsh but in this world I now live in, you take care of yourself, then you worry about what comes next. You don't have time to mourn the dead. At least, you can't now considering that something is going around killing survivors. I am no crime scene detective, but those people did not die of natural causes or even from the remnants of the reconning. This was a totally new creature, and I am not sure that any of us have seen something the likes of this.

From what I could tell was that this guy, who I had lived near for a long time but never got to know him, was dragged out of his house after having his chest ripped open. I could not bring myself to figure out what was missing inside his chest, so I just decided to let him rot like the rest of the bodies of our loved ones we lost a month ago. The thing that I am confused about is why I am not concerned for my own safety as much as I think I should be. 

I decided around noon one day that I was going to take Avi out for a walk around the neighborhood so I could see how many people are left in my neighborhood. I haven't seen any other than the guy who now has a hole in his chest, but that must just be because people are too scared to leave their houses. Before I left the house to go on the walk I decided to gather some supplies. Not much considering I am just going around the neighborhood. I grabbed the pistol from under the bed that my parents used to sleep in, the ammunition for the gun, a first aid kit, my perfume soaked bandana, and a few dog treats that I gathered from the store not long after finding Avi.

As I walked around the neighborhood, scanning my surroundings for any movement, I noticed that there was someone that was staring at me from inside of a window. I made sure that my gun was not visible in order to not scare the person. Once I got to the door of the house with the person, this guy opened the door. He could not have been much older than me, with hair that looks like it had been freshly cut, clean-shaven, a bit muscular, and he was wearing jeans and a t-shirt that was torn a bit. It seemed like he got cut by something because there was blood on his shirt. 

"Hey, my name is Blake," I said calmly with a bit of hesitation in my voice. I am hesitant because I don't know this guy and I already feel like I am starting to blush. "Are you ok? You have blood on your shirt."

"Hey," he replied quietly. "This was actually my brother's shirt. He was attacked by something and he ended up dying a few days ago. That is why I am staying safe inside."

"Do you mind that I come in," I ask before noticing that his brother was laying on the table with towels over what looks like a large cut in his side that killed him. I feel sorry for this guy having to watch his brother bleed out.

"Sure," he said reluctantly motioning for me to come in. "My name is Ash."

After I got inside I got Avi to lay down and stay. Thankfully, Avi was not barking at Ash or scaring him. "Like the character from Pokemon?" I asked trying to lighten the mood in the room.

"Not really," he said with a grin. "Ash for Ashley."

"Oh, nice. Isn't that more of a feminine name?"

"Yeah," he said while putting his hand on the back of his neck. I could tell he was not too comfortable talking about his name, yet I did not understand why. "That is why I go by Ash."

"Cool. Well Ash, I was wondering if you would want to stay with me from now on. This world does not seem like it is that safe to be alone," I replied. I was honestly trying to flirt, but I have never been good at flirting. Yes, I know that his brother was still in the same room, or at least his brother's body, but this whole situation has made me a bit apathetic to the dead.

"Well, this is a bit soon. I don't even know you. On the other hand, considering you haven't killed me already is a good sign so sure, but I do have one request before we do. Can you help me bury my brother in our backyard? He deserves to be buried after being a great brother to me my whole life." He asked.

I nodded my head and he handed me a shovel and we started to dig a hole. It was not the six feet that were common of graves, but three feet deep wouldn't hurt anyone. After digging away at that hole, we brought over his brother and laid him gently in. After Ash said his goodbyes, we both buried him and Ash went to go grab clothes and supplies and put them in a bag. 

I was not sure what he grabbed until we got back to my house. When we did get back to my place, I noticed that something was different. I was not sure what it was, but something was definitely not the same. I grabbed the gun out of my waistline and told Ash to stay at the door with Avi. I could tell that Ash was surprised by the gun, but I did not care at that time, I had to make sure that my house was safe before inviting anyone in.

The door opened easier than it had ever, and I raised the gun to eye level so I could see the sights. I went from room to room making sure that nothing was wrong. But as soon as I got to my room, I heard some rustling inside. I was never one to take chances so I kicked open the door and pulled the trigger on my gun a few times before even processing who it was that I was shooting at, or what it was. Turns out that it was some sort of police officer. I had not seen any law enforcement in a month since the reconning considering that there are no laws to enforce. Now one was lying on my floor in full tactical gear. I was not sure how good of a shot I was until I noticed that one of my bullets managed to hit him in the head. It was not long before it finally set in what I just did. I just killed someone. Why do I not feel bad? Is it because I have seen so many dead people in the past month that dead bodies don't affect me?

"Come on in," I yelled to Ash. "Just leave your bags on the couch."

"Is everything alright," Ash asked as he was walking into my room. His demeanor changed as soon as he saw the cop just lying on my floor. "Is he..."

"Yes, I did not want to take any chance of getting killed by someone that broke into my house," I said defensively. "Can you help me grab the tactical gear off him? It could be useful." As I said that I saw the gun he had on him and that he had a few more loaded magazines in a pouch. "You should take the gun, it would be best if you could defend yourself too."

Reluctantly he took the gun and we stripped this poor guy of everything he had. I did not feel like he deserved to be buried, but I could not just leave him outside. I have to retain a bit of humanity, so I decided to bury him in the yard that once belonged to my neighbor. I buried my neighbor and my family about a week after the reconning in my yard.

I showed Ash to the room that was my brother's before he died. "If you need any food or drinks during the night, you know where the kitchen is. The restroom is down the hall, and my room is right next to yours. Get some rest," I said as I closed his door and walked back to my room so I could try to get a night's rest. Avi joined me on my bed like every other night. I haven't really gotten much sleep since the reconning, but I always manage to get some rest.