Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

All around her was red.

The pavement had splatters of red across it, and big puddles that stained the concrete and left it inexplicably marred with the violence that had just taken place. Gore and entrails were crushed up onto it, and smeared across it as a vulgar display of hunger and mindless violence.

The cool breeze contrasted the strange warmth Pomni felt at the sight, and she shivered when her senses came back to her. Fulfilled and no longer hungry, yet saddening at the same time. The disfigured face was still wet with fresh tears. But the eyes were empty and cold. 

She sobbed into her hands. His only crime was trusting her. He was wrong. Temptation was stronger than will.

Pomni watched as the undead desecrated his remains. Still warm, and very, very still. She let them continue their feast. She was full.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Bare feet smacked against the cold ground. 

She’d gotten used to the scratching and prodding feeling of concrete against bare feet by now. The fall air had chilled the ground beneath her feet, and left them reddened and sore. She was past the point of blisters. Her feet were usually in pain. 

She absentmindedly traced her fingers along the wall next to her. Smooth grooves in between red bricks guided her through the desolate streets. Occasionally she would pass by someone. But they never said anything to her. No one said a word anymore. It was so quiet. Dark clouds hovered overhead and cast a shadow over the dead city. She hugged the buildings, turning corners and slipping as far into the shadows as she could at each intersection and alleyway. This was how most of her days were spent.

She staggered along, avoiding anyone who still stood. Their jaws hung open unnaturally wide, letting saliva and blood seep out. Rotten tongues and yellow teeth smiled cruelly at her, and she shrunk back whenever that grin was directed her way. Cold and filmy eyes sat in the sockets, rocking back and forth without purpose, unfocused and confused. Occasionally she would meet their gaze, and it made her want to cry. Inhuman eyes that bore a hole straight through her gut.

Their limbs were crooked and hung limply a their sides. Every time they took a step the legs would squish and crack beneath their weight. Sometimes the unsteady legs would give way beneath them, though they never complained. Sometimes they’d be missing a limb, though they never minded dragging themselves along. The undead never had anywhere to be, but they traveled anyways. Pieces of cloth, that could hardly even be called clothes anymore hung from the devastated frames. They blew in the wind and had dried into wounds, becoming linked with decaying flesh beneath them.

What a horrible existence. 

And there was rarely ever just one. It was in human nature to group up, to make connections. Even in death this held true. She would occasionally pass through groups of them. These groups ranged from two to three, to hundreds of slowing moving and decaying corpses. The emaciated frames were slower than her, and she often pushed through crowds of them. Though the dead never complained, she was still careful not to disturb them anyways. 

As the rain began to trickle down, she was faced with one of the larger hordes. They walked opposite her, and stood in her path. They were numerous and in the hundreds, filling the entire street with the stench of decay and thick putrid blood. In each of their mouths sat a crooked yellow smile. 

She slipped into the crowd, wincing every time a cold arm would rub up against her. Occasionally a stray eye would roll around to face her, silently asking questions she didn’t know how to answer. She never let the unwanted contact last, tearing her gaze away from them. The crowd did not have the mind to part for her, so it was up to Pomni to slip through without making a scene. Occasionally the crowd would grow too tight, and she would push back against them. 

Most did not mind the disturbance, but some would hiss and snarl at her. They could smell her. Inhuman, but still not dead. She would walk faster, avoiding the confrontation. Pomni angled her head upwards, finally reaching the center of the horde. Here it was most densely packed with corpses, and she could not avoid the unwanted touch or the uncomfortable glares, so she chose to ignore it altogether.

She turned her attention to the dark sky, watching as water fell from it and carelessly pelted the world below. She shivered as her clothes soaked in the water, and her hair was dampened beneath it. Probably not the best way to wash her hair, but it would do.

The streetlights remained dark, even though the evening had already come. Pomni remembered early on, when they had still flickered and glowed during the night. Back then it was all noise. So much screaming.

She sobbed her eyes out when for the first time in her life, they remained dark. By then, the world had been silenced, and all that remained was empty space. She was long past that now, but her heart still ached every time she saw the dead lampposts. She turned away.

The old and run down buildings were dark. The windows were empty and the lights were off. Doors hung open and windows were smashed in. Glass and bottles were strewn across the now crowded sidewalk. Glass and debris crunched underfoot, lodging itself into the feet of the infected. They continued walking. Pomni looked up, and paused. 

In that moment the horde seemed to be the least of her concerns. She no longer felt the way cold water trailed down her back. All she could hear was the pounding of her own heart. All she could do was stand there. Her eyes were glued upon the figure in the distance. A single wide eye stared back at her. Both kept their eyes locked on the other.

Pomni held her breath, praying that she was just hallucinating, or maybe a dream. A messed up and very real feeling dream. She blinked hard, yet when her eyes opened again they were still there. This was real, she was caught.

In the dark she squinted hard to make out the finer details of the person. The lady was tall. Much taller than Pomni. She was tan, and a flurry of freckles dotted her face and shoulders. A wide brown eye stared at her, and her mouth hung open. Her other eye was obscured by a frilly blue patch, which looked homemade. A dark blue “x” was sewn into the front of it. Her face was framed by deep red curls. Her hair was wild and looked like it desperately need to be brushed. Pomni couldn’t judge her for not having a hair tie though, when she herself hadn’t given her hair a proper wash in months. In fact, if Pomni was in her right mind she might’ve even called her pretty.

It was a relief when the woman finally averted gaze from her, turning her back to Pomni. She yelled something Pomni did not care to hear. Pomni turned around, running back into the crowd she’d been so reluctant to be part of just a moment before.

She ducked into the crowd, hiding herself in the most densely packed area she could find. It helped that Pomni was naturally a very short person. She walked with the horde, further down the street and away from the building the woman still stood on. Pomni did not turn back. She didn’t even breathe. She just kept walking. She let the horde push her around and stare all they liked. 

She absentmindedly walked until she reached the beginning of the street. Finally she built up the courage to poke her head out from the crowd. The top of the building was empty now. Even still, she did not turn back.

That woman had caught her by surprise before. But next time she’d be prepared. 

No one was going to know what the woman had seen, she’d make sure of it.

Chapter Text

Ragatha tossed and turned in her bed, unable to get into a comfortable position.. She wasn’t sure if the emotions she was feeling was shock or disbelief, perhaps both, but something about that encounter had left her shaken up. More than anything else had in quite a while.

That girl. She knew what she’d seen. Ragatha was a lot of things, but crazy wasn’t one of them. She’d seen that girl walking through the horde! She’d seen her pushing through the undead and she had walked away unscathed! How did she do it? Maybe she wasn’t even human at all. What if the zombies were evolving?

The thought was troubling enough to keep her up at night. Enough so that she’d offered to take the first watch that night. Just thirty seconds before the kitchen timer was going to signal the end of her shift, she sighed and turned the dial back to the beginning of the hour. Ragatha wasn’t going to sleep anyways, so she’d do Gangle a favor and take the extra shift. 

Jax, Gangle, Zooble and Kinger, all slept so comfortably. She didn’t know how they could when that thing was still on the loose. She was out there somewhere, and Ragatha couldn’t guarantee she wasn’t out for blood. 

That, or maybe Ragatha really was starting to lose her mind from the stress and isolation of it all. She pondered at the person she saw again. She’d disappeared so suddenly!...what if she was never there at all?

She wasn’t sure which was worse.

Ragatha readjusted the blanket, pulling it closer in. Raindrops thudded loudly against the roof. She was surprised that her friends were sleeping in so soundly in such conditions. This was exactly why they needed someone to keep watch.

Startled by the booming roar of thunder, Ragatha shrieked at the intrusion.. Around her four individuals groaned, mumbling about being awoken so suddenly.

Ragatha smiled nervously “Sorry…”

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

The next morning was cooler than the day before. Thankfully, it appeared no water had leaked into their building. Structurally sound buildings were hard to come by when literally nothing was being repaired or constantly renovated.

Ragatha dreaded getting out of her covers that morning. She only did so because she knew the others wouldn’t take initiative. It seemed like keeping up morale always fell onto her shoulders.

“Good morning!” she smiled.

”Ugh, would you be quiet? It’s too early for your enthusiasm.”

“I missed out on precious sleep because of you. Let's just sleep in a little longer…”

“ I already said I was sorry… ” Ragatha mumbled.

“But it would be a waste of precious time to sleep in! Besides, the weather seems pretty decent. If we get a move on now we could cover a lot of ground.”

The first to rise out of their sleeping bag was Kinger, with Gangle arising in quick succession.

Kinger stared off lazy eyed into the dilapidated walls, looking for bugs perhaps? 

He blinked slowly, a lost expression on his face.

“Good morning K-”

“AAH!” He cried out, swinging around to find Gangle with tears in her eyes behind him. “Oh, Gangle! Don’t sneak up on me like that.”

“Sorry…” Gangle arose from her disheveled sleeping bag. Sleeping in clothes 2 sizes too big hung off her frame. At first, being so exposed might have felt a bit embarrassing, but by now they were all used to it. She scratched at her messy hair, matting it down the best she could until she could properly get a hold of the brush. Ragatha was busy fighting with her own hair at the moment.

She rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She would never complain aloud, but after Ragatha’s outburst, she had found it difficult to fall back asleep. She couldn’t bring herself to be angry about it though, because she really did wonder what scared Ragatha like that. Ragatha was never scared.

Gangle leaned down, rummaging through her bag until she found her usual set of clothes. She only had one change of clothes at a time. She never had enough room to carry more than one. She slipped into a corner and stripped herself of the night clothes.

With the bathroom in this place being infested and half collapsed, she had little choice but to change in front of the others. She was used to it now, but it would never stop feeling embarrassing. The day clothes were significantly more worn than her night clothes. Without having access to a proper washing machine (or clean water) the clothes had all sorts of stains littering them. The ends of the sleeves were frayed and the seams on her shirt had popped near the neckline. And they smelled.  She’d only gotten them about a month ago while ransacking a clothing store, but they were already falling apart. She’d have to replace them soon.

She walked back across the creaky floor, and over to her abandoned sleeping bag laying on the ground. By now Zooble and Jax had both risen from their bedrolls, and were getting ready for the day themselves. As Gangle began folding up her bag, Ragatha sat across the room brushing out Kingers hair.

They did this every morning, and Gangle always found it cute. Kinger hadn’t fully been there ever since she had died. Even still, he was fully capable of performing such tasks. He just preferred to skip out on taking care of his hair. So Ragatha had dedicated herself to making sure he looked tidy. His blonde hair was much more manageable than Ragatha’s, so she was quick to pass the brush off to Jax. He’d chosen to keep his hair longer (despite the inconvenience it might cause). Every morning he brushed it back into a ponytail. He was lucky to even still have a rubber band to use, gangle had lost track of all of hers only a month in.

Gangle shoved the now folded sleeping bag into her backpack, and set it off to the side. In the meantime she sat off to the side, doodling into her sketchbook. The book itself wasn’t very big as it would be a hassle to carry anything more, but she made it last. When the books were done she'd usually exchange them for fresh books. It always pained her to leave the sketchbooks behind, but she kept her favorite drawings with her so whenever she looked at them she would feel happy.

The others began the last step of packing away their sleeping bags just as Gangle finished doodling. Zooble packed away Kingers sleeping bag and helped him get on his backpack, before grabbing their own. Gangle shoved the book into her own bag and slung it over her shoulder.

Ragatha smiled “Everyone ready?”

They all nodded in unison, and one by one began making their way down the creaky steps of the old building. 

Ragatha sighed, turning to look out the window and catch one last glimpse of the pretty orange sunrise. She froze when out of the corner of her eye she saw 2 eyes peering out at her from the building across the street. She flinched and whipped her head around.

Just as quickly as it had appeared it was gone.

She patted her chest, trying to slow her heart rate. There was nothing there. God, what was wrong with her?

“Ragatha! Are you coming?”

She jumped “Be right there!”

Ragatha turned and hurried down the stairs. She shouldn’t waste her time with such nonsense.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

The streets were thankfully very desolate today. They’d only come across stragglers or pairs of infected, which were pretty easy to avoid or run away from if need be. Jax took the lead while Ragatha took the rear. While all of them carried guns, they never used them unless absolutely necessary. In the city being too loud would get you killed, especially on quiet days like these.

Ragatha wasn’t sure if she was relieved or concerned that there was no trace of the woman she’d seen the night before. The horde had passed them by, and so too had that woman apparently. 

A light breeze blew by, and Ragatha shivered. Even with the sun out completely, it was still freezing in the dead of winter. They were very lucky to have not had snow yet. She shifted the rifle in her hands, and further zipped up her coat.

The group ducked behind an abandoned vehicle as 2 zombies passed by. Their limbs hung limply, and swayed in the breeze. Putrid black drools dripped from their mouths. Yellow teeth stained with old blood were rooted into slimy rotten gums, and Ragatha prayed that she would never get a closer look.

“Ew.” Zooble muttered under their breath. Ragatha was inclined to agree. Ew.

It wasn’t long before they were walking again.It was only after a few more blocks that Gangle began to slow her pace. She shifted further and further behind. Kinger came up ahead of her, taking his place next to Zooble. Gangle groaned, shifting her belongings from one shoulder to the other in an attempt to evenly distribute the weight. Gangle sighed.

“Oh, this bag is really heavy… Could one of you help me?” Gangle- bless her poor soul -had always been the scrawniest of the group. No matter what they did she could never seem to put on any weight. It wasn’t uncommon for her to request help with her belongings.

“ Oh my bag is just sooo heavy too ” Jax mocked, mimicking Gangles' struggle. “ Be a dear and carry it for me won’t you Ragatha. ”

“Quit being an ass Jax.” Zooble sighed “I’ll help you, Gangle. Why don’t you give those here?”

Jax turned with the biggest puppy eyes he could manage “Zooble~-”

“No.”

“Bitch.” Jax huffed, turning away. Ragatha was almost positive Jax didn’t actually care whether or not his bags were carried for him, he just wanted to get under someone’s skin with his obnoxious behavior. The group had mostly learned to ignore it, but Zooble still took the bait once in a while. Being so close in age, the two often bickered, poked, and prodded at each other. From the outside looking in it may have even seemed like they hated each other. 

If you asked them, they despised each other, but Ragatha knew better. Jax cared, he just didn’t know how to show it.

Just at the end of Ragatha’s peripheral vision- so faint she might’ve missed it had she been paying less attention a figure stood at the end of a dark alley. She jumped, coming to a full stop and pivoting herself to look down it. She watched as the figure ran into the shadows. She squinted, maybe if she looked hard enough every detail of the retreating stranger would become clear . It did not.

“Ragatha?”

She turned back. The whole group stood, looking at her with funny expressions.

“You saw that right?” Ragatha asked. She desperately hoped the answer was yes.

“Saw what?” Zooble asked.

“The person!” Ragatha raised her voice, but only the tiniest bit. Yelling would do her no good.

They each shook their heads, shrugging at her. As if to say, we saw nothing and whatever you saw probably wasn’t real.

Ragatha sighed “ Nevermind , let's just get a move on. There’s still plenty of daylight left.” She forced the frustration out of her tone, leaving only the happy-go-lucky Ragatha this group so badly needed.

The group turned, and began walking in their line formation once again, Jax in front, and Ragatha in back.

Her hands trembled against the riffle.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Evening came faster than she’d hoped. It was her least favorite part of winter. The days started earlier than she would like, and they ended just as quickly.

It didn’t help that the city was absolutely humongous. Ragatha had grown up down south. Cities such as these were impossible for her to navigate even before the apocalypse had begun. The task was daunting now. None of them knew much about the city. It made traversing it on foot without even so much as a GPS feel impossible.  

At least what Ragatha thought of as she stared down at her map for what felt like the tenth time that evening. No matter how much she marked, color coded and turned it, the piece of paper never seemed to make any more sense. She couldn’t tell exactly where they were, but if her estimates were correct, they were barely a fourth of the way into the city. They’d only decided to travel through the city to cut back on time, and it still seemed like their trip would take the entirety of the winter. She was beginning to doubt that this was worth nursing the ache resting by her temples. But it would be a bad thing to admit, especially 2 weeks after they’d already committed to and agreed upon a plan…

She folded the piece of paper back up and shoved it into the side pocket of her bag. She didn’t have to worry about this now. Ragatha turned to take another glimpse out the window. The street was barren, just as it had been 5 minutes ago. She sighed, there were bigger problems for her to worry about.

The apartment they’d found was one of the most decent yet. It was clean, if a little dusty. The furniture was mostly still intact, and the smell of rot and decay wasn’t so strong here. Ragatha had even managed to dig up some unused candles from the closet!

There were 2 bedrooms in this place, and 5 of them, so the distribution of rooms was always gonna be a bit uneven. Somehow, Jax had ended up with the smaller of the two bedrooms to himself. The room was pink and filled to the brim with old toys.

Ragatha’s heart ached for whatever little girl this room had belonged to. Where was she now?

Jax had dug through the assortment of toys, and dug up a bunch of old board games. Like always, the two youngest had started an argument over which game to play. It wasn’t something either of them cared about. They just wanted an excuse to poke and prod at the other.

”What’s so wrong with Monopoly?”

”Nothing! I just don’t want to play that one.”

”You’re no fun Zoobs”

It was unimportant banter at best, and downright annoying at worst. She admired Kinger’s ability to tune everything out at a moment's notice. He sat on the couch reading one of the picture books from the child’s bedroom. At least he was doing something productive. She had no clue how arguing about whether they play Monopoly or Sorry would help them in the long run.

Gangle finally spoke up “Maybe we could-“

Jax cut her off with  a snort, ”I don’t remember asking for your opinion.”

”Jax! Stop being such a dick.” Ragatha smiled, at least Zooble had the sense to stick up for - “We’re playing Sorry.”

Nevermind…

“Would you both stop arguing about this?” Ragatha said exasperated. “We can play both. There’s plenty of time.”

There was a moment of silence before Jax spoke up again “ We’re playing Monopoly first. ”

”Ugh!” Zooble crossed their arms, leaning back into the chair and turning away frustrated. 

Ragatha was thankful that Zooble let the remark go. She didn’t have the patience to deal with this today. Gangle gingerly opened the box, spreading the pieces out onto the table.

Ragatha turned back to look out the window. The street was empty.

The next problem came when none of them could remember how the money distribution went. While Zooble and Jax debated over how many 20 dollar bills everyone received, Ragatha took the chance to begin setting up her stuff for the night. She rolled out her sleeping bag onto the sofa which had been designated as hers. Then she propped her bag up against it as well just so she wouldn’t lose track of her stuff.

The conversation at the table finally ended when Gangle found the money distribution written on the inside of the box. Apparently none of them had thought to check.

She sat back down at the table as the others began rolling the dice. Somehow, Ragatha had ended up going last. She didn’t mind it in the slightest, but she was almost certain it had something to do with Jax.

Despite Zoobles previous disposition to the game, they didn’t seem to mind all that much now that they were winning. She supposed that was part of being a kid. Or in Zooble and Jax’s cases; emotionally stunted twenty-somethings who had lost the last of their teenage years to an infection beyond their control. Ragatha truly did empathize with them, that’s why she let them get away with as much as they did. She really did care for all of her friends, even if they frustrated her to no end.

Ragatha turned to peer out the window. It was dark. She squinted, trying to make out the finer details of the street below. From the corner of her eyes she caught a glimpse of movement. She turned her attention to the alleyway. In the shadows, something stood ther-

“-atha?”

She swiveled back around to face the table.

”Hmm?”

”It’s your turn.” Gangle muttered and held out the dice, dropping them into Ragatha’s hands.

”Oh! Sorry, I didn’t notice.” Ragatha smiled sweetly.

She cupped the cubes in her hands and shook them around, blowing into her palms for goodluck just like her father had always done. Then she let the pieces roll out onto the board. They clacked and spun, stopping just halfway across the board. 

Snake eyes.

She repositioned her piece before turning back to glimpse the street below. Like the dozens of other times she’d checked, there was nothing there.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

From the shadows, two piercing eyes stared straight into hers.

A scream bubbled up in her throat.

It never reached her lips.

Chapter Text

As always, the morning was cold.

Zooble glanced out the window from their spot on the floor, they noticed  it was still dark outside, the sun only just beginning to rise. Without a clock it was impossible to tell the exact time, but if Zooble had to guess they would say it was around 5 am.

Gangle still slept soundly across from Zooble. They pushed the covers up, and slipped out of the sheets. The cold air hit the newly exposed limbs, and goosebumps emerged over the skin. They flexed their joints, trying to ease the stiffness from the hours of inactivity. It was to be expected at this point, but it was hard to get used to a pain that only continued to increase.

The limbs cracked and snapped  painfully as they sat up. What little light shined through the dusty windows offered just the slightest bit of visibility within the room. All was silent, except for the rustling of covers and the mutters of Zooble as they pushed past the pain to get to their feet. 

The old carpet still looked soft. They rubbed a foot idly against it, trying to recall a time when they would’ve been able to feel it beneath their foot. The sensation was lost on them. Zooble could not feel a thing past the knee on their right leg. Too similar to a toy that had a limb ripped off and then shoved back into the socket. Always wobbly, always loose, never quite right anymore.

Choppy black hair tickled their shoulders, and they distantly wondered if they should cut it back once again. Zooble rubbed the bags beneath their eyes, forever stuck no matter how much sleep they got. Even before the apocalypse, Zooble was always so tired.

They stumbled as slowly as they could, silently hoping their footsteps wouldn’t wake Gangle. After yesterday the girl looked like she needed it.

Zooble pushed past old floral curtains, and stared down into the street below. The dim world, almost completely devoid of people greeted them. Almost completely.

Towards the end of the street, a small crowd of undead staggered along. Only about ten of them. The rotting and sputtering corpses hobbled along on the cold concrete. But that wasn’t the thing that caught Zooble’s attention.

There was a woman. 

A living woman. She was very pale and thin. Her cheeks and nose had reddened from the cold. Her large eyes were filmy and glazed over. She looked lost, broken. The sickly-looking woman could not have been much taller than five feet. She stood on the concrete, her gaze fixed on Zooble, who shifted uncomfortably at the sudden spotlight placed on them. Unable to look away.

Zooble had seen eyes like those before.

It was early on, when the infection was new and the idea of Zombies was nothing more than a cheap horror trope. No one was prepared to fight for their lives yet, they had no reason to fear for them in the first place. 

The screams were so loud. But the ones who screamed the loudest were the survivors. Grief carried among them as they had lived, and their loved ones had not. Zooble screamed with them until their voice turned horse and tears dried. A dull ache remained in their chest when remembering those they’d left behind.

But for some, the loss was too much. The filmy glazed-over look in their eyes was one they could never forget. Trailing the ghosts of those they’ve known along only to whisper apologies as they walk into a horde.  At least then they wouldn’t be alone in death.

When the woman turned away, and began to stumble down the street, Zooble knew the feeling well, it was one of hopelessness. The thought of being a horrible person for letting someone kill themself so violently made their stomach churn.

The woman inched closer to the horde, and Zooble forced themself to turn away from the window. They shut the blinds, and crawled back into bed. That woman, whoever she had been, Zooble did not want to witness the last moments of a total stranger.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Once more, the morning unfolded with a chill that clung to the air, leaving a crispness that hinted at the pain that welcomed them should they wander outside... Dark clouds began bunching overhead, threatening to rain down upon the city. It was almost certain that the rainfall would reach the ground as snow by this point. The wind blew heavily that day. Enough so that if Jax let it, it would’ve knocked him over.

The group had been nearing the edge of the city for a while, but today seemed like the day that they would finally escape this torturous maze. Jax had never had an amazing sense of direction, but the city was a different breed of confusing and misleading. The five of them had spent weeks going in circles, accidentally looping back around over and over again. 

Another strong breeze passed by and Jax further zipped up his coat, tugging on it once more after it cinched at the top to make absolutely sure this was the furthest it would go. None of them were dressed for snow so once they found shelter they’d probably be confined to it for a few days. It wasn’t really a problem since they had the resources to do so, but that was precious time being wasted. Jax wondered how long the hordes would be prolonged by the cold. He’d lived down south all his life, he didn’t even know how regular people reacted to snow, much less hundreds of mindless zombies.

God he really was overthinking this, and overthinking was for stupid people like Ragatha and Gangle, not someone like him.

He did his best to focus on the road ahead of him and not the impending storm sitting overhead. Occasionally he glanced back, nothing ever changed though. The group stayed close, the group stayed together, and the group stayed aware. That was how they’d survived for so long. Even still such predictable monotony had gotten boring after a while. Jax often wondered if this was it. Would the rest of his days be spent like this? It sounded like a miserable existence, but probably better than living out the rest of eternity undead.

He kept his gun safely tucked beneath his arm, his other hand in his pocket shielded from the cold. He was beginning to lose feeling in the tips of his fingers, a result of only ever experiencing the mild cold winters down south offered. There were never any particularly cold winters, and certainly no snowfall.

He absentmindedly whistled as he walked. Jax turned back again to take count of the group, it was his main job after all. Keep an eye out for trouble.

Zooble outwardly acted unbothered by the cold, but the slight shaking of their hands gave them away. They shot a crooked glance at Jax, which he chose to ignore. 

Gangle sat directly behind them, shivering from the cold. She was extremely red from the tips of her ears to her nose and pulled her cardigan closer in an effort to conserve as much warmth as possible.

Behind her was Kinger, who stared off into the distance. His pupils were constantly dilating and unfocusing. Refocusing & then unfocusing again. As if he were fighting to stay present and in the moment. Jax ignored him. He was always like this and it had gotten stale quite fast.

Behind him was Raga-

Where was Ragatha?

Jax stopped abruptly, gesturing to the empty spot at the back of the line. Soon they were all focused in on the empty air. Jax muttered under his breath, half annoyed and half concerned. 

It wasn’t like Ragatha to run off, but she hadn’t really been acting herself lately now had she? Ever since that night on the roof, she’d been paranoid and tired. She always took the first watch when the need arose and she was much more snappy than usual. As entertaining as it was, concern had begun diluting Jax’s fun. Ragatha was supposed to be the calm and collected mother figure always keeping an eye on the group's back. She didn’t just run off for no reason.

“Where…” Zooble muttered, concern filling their voice.

”Oh, so neither of you saw her walk off?” Jax shot Gangle and Zooble accusatory glares. 

”Obviously not.” Zooble turned to him in disbelief. “You weren’t paying any more attention than us so don’t give me that bs!”

Kinger stepped off to the side, suddenly forgetting why he was even there in the first place. Gangle ran to his side grabbing his hand so that he wouldn’t also get lost. That was the last thing they needed at the moment.

”Maybe this isn’t a good time to-“

”I was watching out for incoming zombies! You both must be deaf if you didn’t hear her walk off.” Jax threw his arms into the air, suddenly forgetting about keeping his voice down.

”Oh you’re full of it.” Zooble inched closer “She didn’t say a word and the wind is much too loud. I didn’t realize it was my job to watch a grown woman to make sure she doesn’t wander off! How is this my fault?!”

”I’m just saying if I was in your position I would’ve noticed that she was gone at least a few blocks ago.”

Gangle frowned “I don’t think-“

”No you wouldn’t have! You do nothing all day you lazy piece of shit, you would’ve continued on without a clue.”

Gangle put an arm up “Oh please don’t-“

”I was the one who noticed she was gone in the first place! If it wasn’t for me you wouldn’t have even known she was gone at all. You’re the one who’s full of it.”

”Stop-“

”Ugh! You’re unbearable. You see that our friend is missing and your first thought is to shift the blame to me when it’s your job to keep an eye out for the group.” Zooble stuck out a finger jamming it into the empty space between his two eyes. “Except you’re incompetent and lazy so when inevitably you make a mistake you somehow try to make it my fault! You’re no better than a child.”

”How can you say that when you’re standing here arguing with me too?! You act all high and mighty but you’re no different from me you-“

”Cut it out!” Gangle finally spat it out. By now she was tearing up. “Does it really matter whose fault it was? Ragatha is still missing! The longer we wait to look for her the less chance we have of finding her. Ragatha is more important than winning some petty argument so can we please just go look for her now?!”

They both paused. Each had their own look of guilt. They probably were being dumb. It wasn’t new, just inconvenient right now.

”Sorry Gangle…” Zooble offered.

Jax said nothing, simply turning and heading back in the direction they’d come from. The others followed suit, their line formation collapsing without Ragatha to hold the back.

They scanned over the familiar scenery, once again walking through the same streets. Truly, no matter what they did the city was inescapable and constantly looping back around. Some minor setbacks always lead them back to where they’d begun.

Jax took in the same buildings he had before, cementing the scenery within his head. The winds picked up, and as the daylight began to fade the cold increased.

They knew better than to shout for Ragatha, so keeping a close watch was the best idea for now. It was only by pure luck that through one of the alleyways Zooble caught a glimpse of her bouncy red curls.

”There!” Zooble raised an arm pointing to the figure just across the way.

Jax rushed forward and the others followed suit. In the nothingness the sound of their feet pounding against the concrete and the strong winds was all they heard. And then they were before her, and all at once they slowed to a halt.

”Ragatha we-…”

Ragatha stood a few feet away, scarcely aware of the cold or her friends anymore. At that moment they hardly even mattered. She looked haunted, disturbed. Ragatha looked on into the empty space, looking for something that simply wasn’t there. The street was empty, devoid of the life she’d foolishly perceived to have ever existed. 

She was paranoid, she wasn’t sure if that fact made her want to laugh or cry. Maybe both. 

No words were shared, and for a moment it was silent. The wind screamed, and the first specks of snowfall finally drifted to the ground. The small white snowflakes were cold to the touch, and they melted on Jax’s palms. He breathed in sharply, not sure if to feel amazed by the new phenomenon, or disturbed by Ragatha’s sudden and unexplainable shift in personality. Deep red curls tangled and knotted amidst the wind, and wide eyes continued their search, never finding what they were looking for. Cold materialized over her freckled skin, never quite making it past as it was not registered within her mind.

Finally, someone spoke up. “Ragath-“

She spun around to face them, a pleading look in her eyes “You saw that right?!”

Jax wasn’t sure if it was a genuine question or not, but he answered anyway, “What are you talking about? You just disappeared and we came all the way back here to find you! Are you insane-“

”DID YOU SEE IT?!”

They all looked on at the madwoman before them, not sure how to feel. She patted her chest, trying to wish away every bit of anxiety and paranoia that had built up over the past few days, yet the sinking feeling never dwindled.

”Haven’t you noticed! That woman I saw in the horde, she’s been following us. ” 

They each gave her their own skeptical look, having thoughts of doubt, and awkwardly suppressing it to keep Ragatha’s panic from increasing. It had the opposite effect.

”Please just listen! I know it sounds crazy. Maybe I sound crazy…”  she trailed off for a moment before continuing on stronger than before “ But I know what I saw! I keep seeing her. She’s following us you have to believe me- “

”Calm down Ragatha!” Kinger shivered amidst the snow, before shuffling closer. “Of course, we believe you, but perhaps this isn’t the best place for this discussion…”

Ragatha finally noticed the snow and she shivered at the newfound cold. She sighed, still visibly shaking, though it was hard to discern if it was a result of the cold or something else…

”I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have let myself get lost like that. I’m just a little out of it is all, probably imagining things. We should get going before the storm picks up”

Then it was silent again, no room left for further discussion or negotiation. It was almost the same as before, except now Zooble stood at the back of the line, watching Ragatha’s back. She offered no complaint, keeping her head low and her breath quiet.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

That night was unbearably cold, even for Pomni. She violently shook even under the many blankets and sheets she’d gathered in the old apartment buildings. Pomni shivered in silence until the sun was fully down.

She’d almost gotten caught again today. Truly, she was beginning to get nervous. Pomni had seen the way the woman fidgeted and glanced, always acutely aware of her surroundings. Pomni admitted that her attention to detail was impressive. That’s why it had to be tonight.

Pomni counted the seconds down, waiting until the darkest part of the night. Half of her was ready to get it over with, the other half wanted nothing more than to stay tucked into her covers and hide away until the morning sun arose and brought warmth back to the dead city. But the unbearable cold and howling wind made proper sleep nearly impossible for a light sleeper like Pomni. And deep down, she knew if not tonight, then never.

She planted her bare feet on the ground, standing on shaky legs. Goosebumps ran up and down her limbs, and she absentmindedly rubbed at her arms in an attempt to generate heat. The brittle wood beneath her feet creaked loudly, though she didn’t mind in the slightest.

The old apartment building was void of any life. Some apartments still had footsteps coming from inside, which Pomni decided to ignore. Survivors did not hold themselves up in infested buildings.

The carpet felt nice against her bare feet, a welcome vacation from the usual cold concrete and splintering wood.

Eventually, she found what she was looking for. Farther down the dark hallway there was a bright red door. She pushed it open with a loud groan and a gust of cold air hit her as she stepped into the stairwell. 

The sound of her own feet smacking against the concrete reverberated off the walls and filled her ears as she began her ascent up the decrepit stairs. Jagged rocks and random pebbles found their way underfoot and lodged into the soles of her feet painfully, and Pomni had half the mind not to vocalize her discomfort. 

No light filtered in leaving the stairs almost completely dark. It was a bit unnerving, but Pomni had been through worse. When she reached the top step her hands found their way onto the door. With more force than she had expected, the door swung open and the chilly air found its way inside.

She stepped out onto the roof, shivering in the cold. She was pelted with cold snow, which did not melt when it came into contact with the cold flesh. Pomni raised a hand to shield her eyes from the oncoming snowflakes.

From this angle, the streets below looked so empty. A white blanket covered the city, only increasing with every minute. It wouldn’t be long before she was trapped outside at this rate.

Pomni turned her attention to the building across from her.

It was almost the same size as the apartments. The gap between the office and her current residence wasn’t too far either, but the fall was deadly. Not that Pomni was even sure she would die if she fell, but probably best not to test her luck.

She’d bridged gaps like these a million times, but her heart raced all the same. Pomni backed up until she was scarcely 5 feet from the drop. Then she ran as fast as she could.

Her feet pounded against the cold ground, although no one was there to hear it. She neared the edge and she felt her heart race. She took one last step, attempting a jump at the ledge but slipping on a patch of ice she hadn’t seen before.

She cried out as her jump became more of a tumble, that just barely allowed her to bridge the gap. However, it could hardly be called a success, as she suddenly felt a stinging pain all over her body, followed by the ringing of smashed glass in her ears. She smacked into the tiled floor of the office, pressing shards deep into her pale skin. Pomni did not register the pain, only hearing the shrieks of panic below her and the rush of footsteps.

They knew she was here.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

Ragatha pulled the covers closer, huddling further into her blanket. Even in the decrepit building the cool air still seeped in.

Everyone else slept soundly, yet Ragatha lay awake. They’d checked every corner of the building. The next floor they’d checked had always been as empty as the one before it. No one was here, and they’d even slept on one of the upper floors to ensure they’d have time if something or someone were to find their way inside. Even still Ragatha was on edge.

No one spoke of her disappearance, no one even bothered to ask what she saw. If the conversation was supposed to be saved for later, then later must’ve meant never.

The storm was picking up, and even if she wasn’t on edge she doubted she’d get any sleep thanks to the howling wind and unforgiving snow pelting the building. The world outside was a flurry of white, and despite how hard she looked the ground was not visible through the mass.

The group slept close together but not on top of each other as usual, a luxury afforded by the sheer amount of space inside the office. They slept in one of the empty spaces between the multitudes of tight cubicles and office spaces. Work buildings such as this one were abundant in the city, but the majority of them weren’t as desolate and barren as this one. She supposed it was a lucky find.

She rolled her tangled red curls between her fingertips, a nervous habit she’d had since she was little. Nervous ticks were abundant every day now. Everyone had one. Gangle played with the ends of her sleeves, Jax bounced a leg up and down, Zooble picked at the dirt beneath their nails, and Kinger bit his nails. They were little ticks she’d picked up on over the years. Her attentiveness made it easy for her to read people, a natural talent of hers.

Now all her friends slept peacefully, not the least bit uncomfortable in their current predicament. Why couldn’t she do the same? She busied herself with meaningless tasks, rearranging her bag for what felt like the hundredth time that night. She shuffled around, fishing the brush out of Jax’s bag and painfully pulling at the knots in her hair.

From the quiet, a voice murmured “Ugh, would you quit that?” 

She turned to face Jax, who was shuffling in his sleeping bag. 

“Oh, Jax!” Ragatha sighed “Sorry, did I wake you?”

”Yeah.” He shuffled out into the open and crossed his arms over his chest.

She looked down at the blanket, whispering a soft apology that was heard by no one other than the ground beneath her.

He let out a breath, crawling forward and grabbing the brush from her hands. “Y’know, usually when you’re on edge you do a better job of hiding it.” He took a handful of her red hair, feeling out the knots. “Jeez. You usually take better care of this.”

He began from the ends, working his way up on the strand.

”I’m sorry, I’ve just been a bit on edge.”

He smirked “A bit? No offense but you’ve been really weird lately.”

She sighed “…I know.” Ragatha brought her hands down tugging at the end of her shirt “It’s just-“

A loud crash was heard  from above, and everyone jolted awake. In shock Jax harshly brought the brush down, tearing through the knots painfully. The group erupted into a frenzy of panicked whispers as everyone ran for their possessions and any weapons they might have on them.

Ragatha tore into the nearest bag and desperately pulled out a handgun. They carried an array of guns, but at the moment this was all she could find.

Finally, she registered that the crash she heard was breaking glass. And this building was all windows. 

Something was inside with them.  

Zooble whispered, a sound heard clearly in the near silence “ What the fuck?! ”

Ragatha slipped a finger over her mouth, pointing to the ceiling above. Light thumps could be heard, alongside the newer and louder sound of rushing wind. Each step had a sickening crunch under it, which could only be assumed to be glass underfoot.

Another voice spoke up “ What do we do? ” She turned to Jax, who had found a weapon of his own in the ensuing panic. The weapon-- which she recognized to be her shotgun-- was already loaded.

As much as she wanted to storm up there altogether, their stuff was all still here, and there was still a massive storm outside. Options were limited. Although for the first time in a while, she was thinking with a clear mind.

” Jax, you come with me and check out the damage upstairs and whatever may have caused it. ” Then she turned to the others. “ You three stay here and guard our stuff. Start packing stuff away just in case. ”

She turned back to Jax, who’d already begun slipping his boots on. Ragatha followed suit, doing the same with hers.

Jax sped off ahead of her and she balanced precariously on one leg, slipping into her other boot.

” Stay safe! ” They nodded, and she watched them scatter to their belongings. She turned, racing after Jax who was already at the stairs.

He beckoned to her, throwing the door open so she could follow close behind. She rushed up the dark stairway, directly to the next floor. He stopped, swinging the door open. She rushed past him into the almost identical office space.

Hundreds of tightly packed cubicles.

They stopped to catch their breaths, giving Ragatha the time to silently think of a plan, which she hadn’t actually done up until this point. But as soon as the adrenaline ran dry the dread began to creep in.

It was only when Jax tapped her shoulder and motioned to the spot directly behind her that she remembered their usual game plan. She nodded, loading the gun as Jax stepped into place behind her. She walked forward into the sea of office spaces, Jax following behind closely and keeping an eye out on the rear.

The sound of the roaring wind was louder now. Ragatha rounded dark corners slowly, examining her surroundings closely. She followed the noise, gradually coming closer to the site. Jax tailed her, keeping a close eye behind them to ensure they weren’t being followed. They took slow and deliberate steps, to ensure the sound would be muffled underfoot.

Finally, she felt a cold gust of wind, and stepped out to find the shattered window. They both examined the sight, trying to determine the cause.

Large shards had scattered onto the floor, letting cold wind and snow begin seeping in through the opening. Small splatters of red dotted the windows and floor, signs that something had been injured. And the dead didn’t bleed, at least not the same as people did.

Jax leaned down, taking a closer look at the remains. Through sharp glass and dots of red, he fished out a single scrap. He held the brightly colored yarn up for Ragatha to see.

” Looks like we’ve got company. ”

She scowled “ We should go warn the others befor-“

From just behind Jax, a small noise was made, indiscernible but still very much noticeable in the quiet. 

She snapped to attention peering into the darkness beyond Jax. 

Ragatha shivered as a pair of eyes, all too familiar, stared back. The rising fear began to pool in her gut, but this time she could do something about it.

She stepped around Jax, raising her gun and firing into the darkness.

Chapter Text

She rounded the corner, sharply inhaling lungfuls of cool air. Her feet thudded against the ground, the footfalls behind her pounding in unison. 

Her feet burned with every step, embedding sharp glass further into her soles and leaving a bloody trail in her wake.

She made another sharp left and ducked forward as a stray bullet flew past her, hitting a nearby printer and sending papers flying. She clenched her eyes shut, running past and further into the darkness.

Voices rose from behind her, though she was in no state of mind to truly listen to what they had to say. Not when they were trying to kill her!

She stumbled, nearly falling as she raced through a set of doors and into a dark corridor. These new offices were much more exclusive than those that came before it. Pretty glass walls with what would’ve once been incredibly expensive and modern furniture held within them. They lacked all the clutter of the squeezing and tight cubicles that came before them. Like little capsules of what life had once been in what felt like the long distant past. When noise was abundant, and death did not feel so imminent.  The voices echoed off the glass walls surrounding them.

She stumbled, breath heavy and feet aching. Pomni ducked down, a bullet flying past her in what she assumed was a result of incredibly poor aim. But as the bullet flew into the glass wall ahead of her she quickly realized their true intention.

She tried to slow down, but the momentum she carried was too great. Glass shards rained over her painfully, the dull sting and painful red that followed made her wince.

Pomni stumbled, tripping over her own feet and tumbling into the glass. In the brief moment of rest, the voices came closer and closer. From here she could almost make out what was being said.

” Jax yo-…-god-…-okay? ” the woman. 

She tried her hardest to get up, pushing the shards into her palms as she did so. Pushing up past cold skin and into her blood, she felt it much more clearly now. The sharp stinging pain and the oozing full feeling that erupted into her palms. It’d been a while since she felt such full and unforgiving pain.

” I did-…sh-…stopped-… ” someone else.

Pomni teared up, though she could not bring her hands up to wipe the wetness from her eyes. She blinked rapidly trying to rid herself of the overwhelming feelings. Of the pain.

She turned, their boots crushing the splintered glass into even smaller pieces underfoot. The adrenaline rushed back in again. Sharp nails curled into fists, tearing the carpet beneath them. She took a handful of glass, and flung it back at her pursuers, not stopping to see the effect it might’ve had. The voices pitched up in surprise, and she stumbled to her feet, glass crunching underneath.

She began running again, the pain only just barely peeking through the new spike of adrenaline. The footsteps once again trailed after her, and she rounded another corner. She smashed through another set of doors, stumbling into the cold floor of what looked like a lobby area. 

Her hands brushed up against the cold floor, smearing deep red against stark white tile. Her feet pounded against the floor, and pairs of boots were heard from behind. The voices continued yelling, incoherent and all-encompassing. Her breath was heavy, cold shaky breaths being taken in.

She reached the lobbyist’s desk, eyeing the stuff still atop it. Random papers, messily strewn around, waiting for someone to begin reorganizing it the next morning. That person had never arrived.

She reached over, scooping up a handful of random items. Pens, pencils, cup holders, and scraps of paper. She tossed it at her pursuers. In the long run it really didn’t do anything, but she felt satisfied when she nailed them right in the face.

Pomni took off again, running into another interconnected hall. This hall was similar to the ones before it, housing an array of doorways. Each had a number in gold plating, though she didn’t have time to inspect each and every one. She shivered in the cold, only made worse by the rushing of air and the constant movement in her diaphragm. 

Not to mention the ever-looming footsteps, slowly closing in. 

Closer and closer every second. Unforgiving and critical of every stumble and every misstep. So loud and ringing in her ears. If she turned she would see them, if she looked away their presence would still be heard. She was trapped. Panic settled into her gut, bubbling uncomfortably as doubt began to seep in. God, it was hopeless, nothing could ever go right. She was going to be caught, when her breath would cease and her legs would give out beneath her the footsteps would reach her. It was so hopeless she was going to die and-

She rounded another corner. At the last moment she spotted the stairs, reaching out to the wall and just barely missing it. Her fingertips brushed up against the damp, dirty paint. And despite her best efforts, the momentum she carried was too great. Pomni lost her balance, and fell down the stairs. 

She landed painfully at the bottom. All she could see was red.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

The strange woman was still asleep, having been brought back with them and carried down to their spot on the seventh floor. 

Gangle pressed a swab into her bloody hands, trying to make a dent in the constant stream of pain. She’d been instructed to begin removing the shards, seeing as she was not doing anything else important at the moment. She offered little input, intently listening but choosing not to participate in the conversation behind her.

She unrolled some bandages, as the bickering behind her continued.

”Y’know Ragatha, sometimes you make stupid decisions but this? Are you insane!? This woman is crazy-”

“Well, I couldn’t leave her there! Look at her. She clearly needs some help.”

”And? It’s not our responsibility to help her. Not if it puts the rest of us at risk.”

”It’s not as if she really has anywhere to go in this weather. Either way, she’d be stuck here with us. Or maybe we’re stuck with her… ”

”Why don’t we just wait for her to wake up-“

”Oh yeah, so she can run off again? Yeah right.”

”Oh, couldn’t you just-“

The conversation had been going in circles for quite a while, all too stubborn to give in. Gangle would like to say she had some important input that might have pushed the conversation forward if she were allowed the chance to share it, but she wasn’t.

All she felt was pity for the bloodied woman. She couldn’t even bring herself to be angry, not when this woman looked so defenseless. 

She finished bandaging her hands, before moving down to her feet. Gangle was impressed the stranger had gotten as far as she did like this. It looked incredibly painful. Any normal person would’ve been crying in pain, though this woman was anything but normal.

It was a bit unsanitary, but this woman was far dirtier than Gangle so hopefully using her hands to dislodge some of the larger pieces of glass would be okay. 

The woman shifted in her sleep each time a new shard was removed. She’d been doing this for a while, so Gangle felt more reassured that she wouldn’t wake up by this point. 

Removing the smaller splinters was a bit more of a hassle, and she dug around the various wounds with tweezers. Gangle was surprised at how well the woman handled it, asleep or not. Gangle wasn’t a doctor or anything. She’d been studying to become a nurse for a bit, but she’d hardly be considered any sort of medical professional. And she wasn’t doing a clean job by any means. Not that the wounds were very clean anyways, but she digressed.

She pressed the cotton into bloody wounds, and wiped the dirt from the soles of her feet. Wherever she had been, it didn’t appear like she’d properly washed in a while. Gangle wouldn’t judge her for it, of course, it was normal by this point, but definitely didn’t help.

She pressed clean bandages into the wounds, wrapping them until she was fairly certain they wouldn’t loosen and get dirty again. 

Gangle shuffled back up to the woman's side, gently taking her hand. She looked so peaceful like this. Gangle couldn’t imagine her as any sort of threat in this state.

It was only at this point that she noticed how the room had gone silent. She turned and found that the group had dispersed, clearly understanding they were at a crossroads.

She watched them settle their belongings again, doing their best to get comfortable in an uncomfortable situation. But slowly, as the frustration died down, curiosity took its place.

It was Ragatha who took the first step forward, giving into the fascination that surrounded the woman. She took a seat next to her sleeping form, eyeing her over.

”How is she?” She asked gently.

Gangle took a good look at the girl before responding meekly “She’ll be okay…”

“That’s good…”

The conversation died off, though unasked questions still lingered in the air. Gangle chose to hold her silence, looking back to the woman whose hand was still in hers. Ragatha did the same.

The combination of thick layers of clothing and the blanket left the woman toasty enough in the cold weather. Gangle wouldn’t go as far as to say she was envious of her current predicament as that was far from the truth, but at the very least it made her wish she had a sweater to cover up with. She got cold far too easily.

Tiny little cuts and slashes still lined the woman, but she looked more comfortable than before, and for that she was thankful. She looked back at Ragatha, and for a moment she caught a glimpse of a more genuine expression. It was a look of regret, forlorn and strangely sympathetic, even if it was not her fault.

It melded into something sadder, and she gave Gangle a weak smile. “It’ll be okay.”

Despite the fact that Ragatha said it to Gangle, it felt more self-assuring than reassuring to Gangle.

From behind she felt footsteps, and she turned to find Zooble. They looked over the woman, and pity graced their features, before morphing into something more hollow. They looked disturbed and deeply concerned. It was a look of twisted recognition. They calmed after only a moment, but they still looked vaguely uncomfortable. 

If Gangle was braver she may have had the courage to ask about it. But she wasn’t, so she bowed her head and pretended she hadn’t seen it. Nope! The floor was much more interesting than whatever strange gears were turning inside Zooble’s head at seeing a complete stranger!

She traced circles into the cold floor, running her nails between the rough grooves. Gangle placed a rough nail between her teeth and mindlessly chewed it down. It left a rough edge, though it couldn’t be helped. 

The hand in hers squeezed just a bit, and she returned her attention to the sleeping girl. The sharp nails dug into her palms, and she flinched at the sudden pinch.

The woman groaned, her eyes fluttering open. The three stood stunned, unsure of how to react now. Her recovery was quite fast, all things considered. 

Jax shuffled closer, trying to get a better look at the stranger.

 Kinger laid in his sleeping bag, having already forgotten about the prior commotion. He drifted off easily.

Wide, glossy eyes opened to the dark office ceiling. It was hard to tell the exact color in the dim lighting. Her lips parted just slightly, only enough to let out a small and sharp breath. She turned to the side, and caught a glimpse of the group of 5 all at once. 

In an instant she flew up from her sleeping position, tearing her hand away from the Gangle’s embrace. Her eyes widened again, and she shuffled back in fear. She took quick, sharp inhales, trying and failing to stand. She crumpled back into her previous position on the floor.

Gangle held her hand, almost hurt by the rejection. She opened and closed her mouth again, trying to will any sort of sound out of her mouth. Any proper response to the situation, that might ease the woman’s nerves.

Or better yet, ease her own.

The silence was deafening. Snowfall pounded against the cold windows, and the wind howled. The cold seeped past the skin and down into her bones. Her pale skin reddened in the weather. Each breath of hers came out a thin cloud that quickly condensated, visible to no one but herself. Her oily hair fell in choppy layers upon her shoulders.

She was a mess. And yet this woman was unfortunate enough that even Gangle could pity her.

She was pale, almost sickly looking, and slightly green. She was red in the face, much more so than Gangle. The woman was bruised, battered, and covered in numerous little scrapes and cuts. She bled thick, chunky deep red blood- almost black -that Gangle had never seen in her entire lifetime come out of a still-living person. She was cold to the touch, even under layers of ill-fitting itchy sweaters. And on top of all that, she was incredibly malnourished. 

Maybe that’s why she broke the window…

She wished the thought away as quickly as it came.

It was Ragatha who broke their prolonged silence first.

”Are you okay?”

The silence persisted.

”You must be scared, I’m Ragatha.” She gave a shaky smile “What’s your name?” She spoke sweetly, the way an adult would to a kid.

Silence.

”…How did you get in here?”

Silence.

”… were you following us. ”

The woman turned away, though Gangle didn’t miss the guilty look on her face. She hadn’t said a word yet and she was already a terrible liar.

Ragatha chewed at the bottom of her lip, wringing her fingers between each other. She turned away, trying to think of anything to say.

“ Well… ” she grits her teeth unconsciously, not noticing the tightness in her jaw. Or the dryness in her throat. She didn’t even feel her nails digging into her palms.

She sank to her knees, getting down to the stranger’s level.

“Let’s start over.” The woman looked back, though the guilt did not leave her eyes.

“My name is Ragatha, and these are my friends.” She gestured to the group around her.

“What’s your name?”

Even still the woman remained silent.

Ragatha inched forward, just barely though. “You don’t speak much, do you?”

The woman shook her head, a silent answer. 

No.

Ragatha brought a hand up, twirling messy red curls between the pads of her index finger and thumb.

“ Can you write ?” She offered.

The woman nodded.

“Gangle, could I borrow a sheet of paper?”

Gangle nodded, digging into her bag for her sketchbook. She pulled it out, messily tearing a blank sheet out. She passed Ragatha the pencil and paper. She leaned closer to pass them, brow furrowing as the woman leaned back, shuffling away. Ragatha shuffled back into her previous spot, watching the woman inch forward, eye darting between the paper and Ragatha. She snatched it up, watching in horror as the pencil rolled just out of reach and into Ragatha’s grasp. She smiled, rolling it back along the floor. The woman said nothing, letting her gaze linger on the woman just a little bit longer.

“So, what’s your name?” Zooble muttered. Ragatha turned to them in confusion, but said nothing. They silently shrugged.

With shaky hands, the woman raised the pencil to the paper. How long had it been?

She held the pencil in a fist, strangely scribbling things onto the paper. Then she dropped the pencil, it clacking and rolling on the floor. She put a hand over it, ensuring it wouldn’t escape her again. With shaky hands she grasped the edges, holding it up for the group to see.

‘P o M n i’

“ Pomni? ” Ragatha questioned.

Pomni nodded.

Ragatha smiled, “Ok Pomni… you must be hungry right?”

Jax shot her a look of disbelief, which she did not acknowledge. Pomni looked down to the ground, tracing circles into the cold floor. Her eyes softened, and Ragatha did not miss it.

“Jax, could you go get her some food?”

His jaw dropped “ You can’t be serious…”

Her eyes narrowed “ Jax. ”

He rolled his eyes walking off to find something for their ‘ guest’.

“I still have a few questions, but they could wait till the morning, right ?”

Pomni’s lips parted, releasing a puff of air she’d been silently holding for at least a good few minutes. 

Then, she smiled, nodding. 

For the first time in a while, the butterflies in her stomach did not feel unpleasant.

Chapter Text

In the early hours of the morning, sunlight streamed through the open windows, welcoming the new day and signaling a new dawn. Pomni was still wrapped in the blanket she’d been so graciously gifted the night before. She laid her palm against the glass of the window, feeling the cold crawl down her arm and begin to seep into her bloodstream. Her life from before seemed like a distant dream, but the sunrise was always familiar. It never changed no matter what mankind did below it.

She breathed against the glass, never quite achieving the fogging effect she’d come to expect from such an action. She was used to it by now. The other’s still slept, though whenever she turned away she felt a pair of eyes trained on her back. But when she turned to find them, they were gone. She wondered if it was paranoia, or something more.

She turned back, watching as the first among them rose from their rest; the woman with curly hair, who had first forced her hand. 

Ragatha rubbed her eyes, catching sight of Pomni. She hadn’t slept all night, and it showed on her features.

“Oh, you’re awake already?” Ragatha phrased it like a question, but it was more of a statement. Even still she nodded.

“Well, good morning then.” She yawned, digging through her bag and pulling out a pile of clothes, which had been meticulously folded the night before. 

“I’m gonna go change, shout if you need anything.” Pomni wouldn’t do that, but she nodded anyway.

Ragatha walked out of view, clothes still in tow. No one rose after her for quite some time, and Pomni felt at ease in the near silence. For years she’d been nothing more than an on-looker into other people's lives. She’d watched it crumble all down and watched people struggle to pick up the pieces. And now here she was, sitting here next to a person. It was almost like she was still viewing, only closer now. So close she could touch. So close she could ta-

“ Do you always stare so much?” She jumped, whipping her head around to find the voice. She recognized it.

“God, you’re creepy…” He looked at her critically, judging every inch of her. She made herself smaller at the unwanted attention. 

He shuffled out of his bed, grabbing his bag and walking off to somewhere unknown. This time he did not preface where he was going, he just went. She sighed, feeling any tension in her muscles dissipate in his absence . 

It was understandable that he disliked her, but at least Ragatha hid her distaste well. Pomni would even go as far as to say she was kind. 

One by one, the others arose from their sleep, disappearing off into some corner to get dressed. Pomni stayed behind, alone once again. It’d been a while since she changed her clothes herself. Various stains littered her person, and she wondered if this was a sign to find something a little nicer…

She looked up, and footsteps neared. The tension returned, and she hugged herself closer to the ground. From just out of view, bouncy red curls filled her vision. She released a small puff of air, feeling her muscles relax slightly. Even still she did not take her eyes off the approaching figure.

Ragatha was kind, she was glad it was her and not someone else. They were much less welcoming. Much more likely to shoot.

Ragatha shot a smile her way, dropping to her knees at someone's bag. Pomni swore it wasn’t hers, but she hadn’t been paying enough attention to say for sure.

Whatever the case, she pulled out a brush and once again began the uphill battle of brushing through her hair. Pomni watched her begin at the bottom, slowly making her way upwards. She cringed at every little tug and pull, Ragatha pulling a face of discomfort and frustration. 

Her eyes landed upon Pomni’s, and she shied away from the woman's gaze.

She smiled, only slightly reassuring Pomni with the forced ease. It disappeared as she hit another knot, yanking at it and getting red hairs entangled into the bristles. She grimaced before continuing.

Pomni turned away, hugging herself tighter with the blanket. It was so cold…

The second person to return was the same as the second who left, and he looked upon her with distaste. From there he almost completely ignored her presence, and she wasn’t sure whether to be offended or thankful. She choose thankful, when he picked up a stray bug and flung it in Ragatha’s direction. The many legged centipede skittered across the floor in a hurry, knocking Ragatha out of her calm state.

Pomni jumped as she leaped up, screaming. She rambled on, cursing out Jax and attempting to locate the bug again, which had concerningly disappeared in her initial panic. He smirked,offering her nothing more than a wink and a slight shrug.

“Ragatha what the fuck are you doing?” Another person joined the party. This one was much less familiar than the two from before. They’d only briefly spoken, and the conversation was of course, one-sided. Pomni had yet to catch their name.

“There’s a bug! Is it on me?! Get it off!” Ragatha spun around, trying to find a sign of the hundred-legged insect.

They lazily rolled their eyes. “You’re fine. ”

It didn’t ease her panic in the slightest, and knowing it was a lost cause to attempt to console her, they ignored her. They took the brush off her hands, combing through their own hair.

“Pass me the brush.” The man looked at them impatiently.

“I just got it, you can have it when I’m done.”

They ran the brush through their matted hair, straightening out the waves into something more manageable. It was slow and nicely paced, unbothered by Jax’s foot impatiently hitting the floor beneath him.  They lifted the brush, tilting it to the other side of their head, and the man took the opportunity to snatch it from their hands.

”Hey!”

He roughly brushed through the tangles, not bothering to take his time. They cringed at the knots and tangles being torn through in his hair.

They looked at him judgingly ”I thought you knew how to care for your hair?” 

He shrugged “ Yeah, and I decided it wasn’t important.”

He threw the brush back to them, and they continued what they were doing before, watching him tie his hair into a ponytail from the corner of their eyes. It was still frizzy and would surely get caught on the rubber band later, but even still they said nothing. 

If anyone knew about hair it was him. He was just being lazy.

Pomni returned her gaze to the window, laying a bony hand along the glass. Puffy white clouds hung overhead, filling the sky and blocking out the sunlight. Even still the world was bright, white coating absolutely everything outside and chilling the air. She never minded the cold, but human instincts still told her to keep warm, so she obliged by removing the bandaged hand from the cold glass.  She tucked the sharp nails back into her sleeves.

She flexed the hand, almost relieved by the familiar dullness which had filtered back into her limbs by this point. No sharp glass, reaching just deep enough to hurt. No more red. Only dirty bandages, tangled hair, and a fuzzy feeling that pooled at the bottom of her stomach. She bit at the inside of her lip, peeling back the uppermost layer of dead skin and savoring the metallic taste that came with it.

God, she was hungry…

She looked back, finding the last of the group had arrived, each doing something different. They all kept to themselves, but stayed together. 

No one made any attempt to interact with her, and if she was being honest this was preferable. She looked back out the window, squinting her eyes at the ground. It really was bright due to the snow that coated the ground. It burned her eyes, and she tilted her head to get a better view of the ground.

She was supposed to be down there by now.

She briefly considered leaving, but quickly discarded it when she turned back and found a pair of spaced out eyes boring into her back. The old man hadn’t said a word yet. He looked lost, and unaware. Easy to kill.

And yet here he was, alive and well. He held something within his grasp, though it was concealed through his fingers. She squinted, almost annoyed at the inconvenience. His presence didn’t feel malicious though. If he wasn’t staring, she wouldn’t mind him in the slightest. She would even say they were similar to an extent. He was dead in mind and she-

The old man was suddenly far too aware, and a yelp punctuated through the air and filled her with a sharp spike of panic. 

She jumped, only to hit her head against the glass with a loud thud. Pomni raised an arm, rubbing the point of impact. It was certainly a bad first impression…

“Are you alright?” Ragatha’s voice was filled with concern.

The man next to her snickered, and she scolded him for being so inconsiderate.

Pomni didn’t reply, but in truth she was fine. She hardly even felt it…

She turned back to the old man, silently questioning his sanity.

”Don’t worry about him, Kinger does that a lot.” A new voice pitched in, and she turned at another one of the many strangers. Greasy black hair and a pair of tired eyes greeted her. They looked slightly entertained at best, and borderline bored at worst. Pomni really couldn’t tell the difference.

She turned back to the man, a new and hollow look in his eyes. She studied him, hoping to find the source of his new distress, which no one else had noticed yet. His hands were now empty, and her eyes scanned the floor for the missing object.

She caught sight of something small, rolling across the floor. At once she arose from her covers, something she hadn’t done since having been awoken the night before. It was completely silent now, the only sound was her feet against the floor as she ran to scoop the object off the floor. 

In her hands was something small and wooden. It was made of rich brown wood, and was beginning to lose some of its sheen. The dull wood was intricately carved, a slender body that began to taper off at the neck, and a crown that sat atop the piece's head. Similar feeling, but she couldn’t quite recall what it was called. The crown gave her a sense of royalty, and it made her handle the piece with care.

Pomni cupped it in her hands, walking back with much more care than before. She stopped in front of Kinger, dropping to her knees before him and offering it. The confusion on his face dissipated, becoming something foreign and new to her. He gently took the piece, rolling it around in his palms. Trying to recall the significance. But even without the context, his features subtly relaxed. He looked calm.

The others leaned over to peek at the object in his hands, and Pomni backed away. She once again wrapped herself in the covers, peering out into the city streets.

”Thank you…” Ragatha muttered in place of Kinger. Pomni said nothing in reply, fully focused on the world beyond them.

She missed the gentle smile that graced Ragatha’s features.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

The next day was as dull as the last. 

The group was confined to the building, as a result of the continually poor weather. Gangle expected they’d be stuck for another day or so at best. And even still she wasn’t eager to traverse the city in 2 feet of snow. Alas, it didn’t look like their rations would last much longer. And their uninvited guest didn’t help things.

After the initial fondness she felt for the woman had worn off, it was replaced by a strange discomfort that bubbled up whenever her eyes fell upon the hunched over figure. 

Pomni said nothing, her past couple days spent lurched over by the window. She had yet to even speak to the girl. All she had to remember her by were the scratch marks that dotted her palm. She remembered the squeezing sensation when she first awoke, followed by the prick of claws. Gangle knew deep down the woman hadn’t meant anything by it, she was literally half asleep! But even still…

Gangle said nothing, half convinced that they might never have to interact again after this. 

They were in the same boat. Gangle also had a streak of silence. Social interaction was hard for her too.

Today Gangle was left alone, the others had gone looking around the building for supplies. She was left to babysit Pomni, not that she really thought she could stop her from leaving if she wanted to.

Pomni traced shapes into the fogged up windows, small doodles that Gangle could almost appreciate. The incoherent scribbles were nothing more than an array of gibberish and squiggly lines that somewhat resembled an alphabet if you squinted. But in a way, it was comforting. She understood the feeling well.

She traced them into the windows with the pad of her finger, before wiping it away with her palm and patiently waiting for it to fog up again.

Gangle sat, watching her. Occasionally she would remember the pencil and pad sitting in her lap, but today she could not bring herself to pick it up. Not when all she really wanted was to make childish doodles in the glass and carelessly wipe them away, like Pomni. But asking for such a thing was such a daunting task. She’d rather just sit here and bore herself to death than be a minor inconvenience to anyone who had enough of a brain to judge her for it. 

Pomni continued to tap at the glass, hardly even noticing the other sitting no more than a few feet from her. Gangle picked at the dirt beneath her nails. When she was younger she loved to paint them all sorts of fun colors. She took great care of her nails because they meant a lot to her. Now, such things seem so trivial. She’d made up her mind that if she could paint them just one last time, they’d be pink. Not a light shade that would blend into the natural nail either. Moreso a hot pink that she’d always owned but had been too shy to wear. If she would die anyways then it didn’t matter. 

She looked back up at the other woman, who was still at the window, just like the dozens of other times she’d checked. Maybe she had something important to her as well. 

She’d like to find out. 

Finally, Gangle gathered the nerve to do something. She set her pencils down next to her, releasing a puff of air that drew Pomni’s attention. Immediately she felt her face flush at the sudden attention. Her legs moved before she could fully think it through, and then she was standing. Even though she felt the immediate urge to puke, it seemed to be too late to sit back down now. Every moment of strained eye contact was psycho-analyzed by her mind, which told her that she was awkward and weird almost every moment of her life. And eventually, she began to believe it.

Being medicated her whole life had kept the bad thoughts at bay for a very long time. Everytime she began to feel the existentialism creeping in, she would take more medication. It helped for a bit, but eventually the doses kept on getting higher and higher. 

Even still, she’d do anything to feel happy; anything to be normal .

And then one day she was cut off at the source. And that horrible feeling was back again, ten times worse than before. All she felt was emotion, pure and raw. Everlasting and never ending grief. Everything was so wrong, and it felt like the world would forever be crooked. 

She was bent out of shape after that…

… or maybe she always had been, and she just couldn’t see it before…

She opened her mouth, and the words came out choked and forced.

”Hi.”

Pomni made no response, staring straight through her. Gangle usually had a decent read on people, but this expression was so blank. There was nothing to see, only a pair of piercing, cloudy eyes.

”I… I’m sorry I don’t believe we’ve spoken yet.”

The intensity did not leave her eyes.

”I-I’m Gangle…” she muttered lower than before, the little amount of confidence in her voice lessening by the second.

Pomni sat very still, almost as if trying to process the information she’d been given. Her throat felt so dry.

She slightly tilted her head, and Gangle jumped at the sudden movement. 

She placed a hand over her mouth, turning and darting away,  squeaking out apologies too quiet to be heard. She shook her head, lightly scolding herself. Doubt and insecurity wormed their way into her mind, and she followed it. Eventually she was out of sight, and Pomni was left there, sitting alone.

She put a finger to her lips, trying to determine the cause of her companion’s sudden exit. 

She spoke so quietly…

For the first time that day she stood, wincing at the ache in her legs she’d just now realized was there. When you spent so much time in one spot though it was truly inevitable.

She walked towards the empty place where the girl had once sat, picking up the discarded notebook.

It was the cleanest book she’d seen in quite a bit, completely dry and filled with all sorts of doodles and little notes she didn’t bother attempting to decipher. Pomni flipped through the pages, coming to the most recent blank sheet. She gripped the pencil in her other hand, and scribbled something down onto the paper in the neatest handwriting she could manage. It still looked sloppy, but it was legible at the very least.

She set it back down, pencil clamped between the pages. Then she returned to her spot at the window, shuffling into the blankets. 

She was getting used to the warmth of the blankets. She wanted to enjoy it for just a little longer.

She brought a finger up to the glass, making 3 shaky strokes against the glass.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

A chill blew through the room, one which he ignored.

His white coat was stained an inky black from head to toe.

He stared listlessly at the cadaver below him, cut open and sliced into pieces. It moved in jerky motions, pulling at the leather restraints. It made noises which resembled something like a sob, forced through an ocean of rot and decay.  The sounds emerged from the lips a low gurgle, and filled the room. A putrid smell permeated from the thing, clogging up his nostrils.

He didn’t know what to call it, but it wasn’t human. It was abstract- changed- but still not human.

Another failure.

He jotted it down in his notebook, staining the pages with the viscous substance. 

# 0085 - Failure

# 0086 - Failure

# 0087 - Failure

# 0088 -

Failure.

Chapter Text

The snow had begun to melt into smaller puddles. Soon the streets would be clear enough to move through adequately. In the time that the unforeseen blockage gave them, Ragatha had spent hours staring at her map, trying to make sense of every twist and turn. She attempted to determine the best route, constantly getting stuck at the twisting and turning intersections.

Down south she’d rarely had to worry about finding her way. The land was familiar, it was home. Of course, she knew how to read maps, but she’d never had to so closely study such a confusing and densely packed area. None of them had ever needed to. 

But because Ragatha was the glue that held this group together, so the responsibility of leading them fell onto her shoulders. It didn’t help that they’d probably be walking it through at least a foot of snow since the rations were running low already. 

It wasn’t her fault that they had been accommodating for another person…

Ragatha sighed, folding it back up in her lap and slumping. She was sick of looking at it. To her left another person joined her, dropping to their knees and pulling the map from her hands.

”So this is what you’ve been staring at so intensely for almost an hour now?” Zooble questioned, giving the paper a quizzical look.

Ragatha shrugged, “Well I didn’t see anyone else trying to plan a route through the city…”

“It doesn’t make anymore sense to me than it does you, what was I supposed to do?” They sounded a little offended, confusing Ragatha’s statement with an accusation.

”I don’t know…” she admitted, “But either way two heads are better than one.”

She sounded defeated, which is something Ragatha didn’t do often. She was an optimist to the end, but at this moment she had to admit that she had no clue where to go. Her usual response would’ve been to wing it, but that’s what they’d been doing and obviously it wasn’t working all too well for them…

Her eyes were drawn to the world outside. In the horizon, she could see larger buildings yet to come. There was still so much more that they have yet to see. This was only the beginning.

Zooble’s eyes lay on the map, trying to decipher the secrets it held. They felt like a fool. It was a map, surely the best route was on it. All they had to do was find it… and yet the best route did not present itself. They would have to walk dozens of blocks before they could make any more progress, they were at a roadblock, the worst one yet. They ripped their eyes from the paper, depositing it back into Ragatha’s lap.

”You can keep it.”

Ragatha rolled her eyes “ Wow, thanks… ”

Zooble saw the helplessness in her eyes. Ragatha had always been a people pleaser, it hurt her to not be able to improve a situation. She put others first, she would walk the long road if it meant everyone else could take a short-cut. Unfortunately, this time they were forced to walk the long road with her.

Zooble found their eyes drawn to something else.

A small blanket lay shivering near the window, wisps of messy hair sticking out from the top of it. A pale and emaciated hand came from the mass, making small indiscernible doodles into the foggy window. 

Pomni had been sitting like that for quite some time. If she had left that spot, Zooble had not seen it. Zooble could only imagine the pain they’d been in if they tried something similar. Their joints ache at the thought.

They knew nothing about the woman, but as far as they’d seen she was the only still living inhabitant of the city they’d seen. It was a while since they’d seen a living person outside of their own group. It must’ve been the same for her because she’d followed them for so long.

Zooble remembered seeing her at the bottom of that building, her cloudy eyes and her blank expression. That pity they’d originally felt had transformed into something else. Something unexplainable and new to them. The emotion was raw, and instead of letting it bleed out, they sought to cover the wound and muffle it under layers of bandages. Every time a small voice spoke up, it was quickly silenced.

But then they remembered something important. Pomni had kept track of them all this time. She kept a close eye out for them, and had been aware of their position even after all this time.

She knew where she was going.

Zooble snatched the map from Ragatha’s lap once again, earning themself a startled gasp as they abruptly stood.

“Zooble!?”

They shuffled over to Pomni, plopping down next to her.

She jumped back at the sudden proximity, leaning further into her blanket hoping it would protect her from what had yet to come. Tensing as she braced herself.

Zooble had never made an effort to interact with Pomni before. On the off chance they did speak it was brief because Pomni couldn’t verbally respond. But now her continued silence seemed so trivial.

They splayed the map across the floor, flattening the grooves.

“Show me where we are on this map.” 

Pomni gave them a quizzical look before her eyes landed on the paper below. Her eyes scanned over the paper, different colored lines representing the various streets. Zooble slid the paper closer to give her a better view of it.

Ragatha sat up, curious.

Zooble tried not to let it show, but they were anxious. Subconsciously their pointer finger tapped against the floor, it lightly tapped against the paper making a light crinkling sound as it did so.

From the safety of the blanket, an emaciated hand emerged. The tips of her fingers just barely poking out of her sleeves, revealing her sharp nails. The hand hovered above the paper, before lowering down. The sharp nail dug into the spot, giving a very precise location. 

She pointed only an inch or two from the edge of the paper. And they’d started at the edge.

Zooble wasn’t sure if they were angry or disappointed, but it stung deep in their chest. God they just wanted to rip their hair out. 

They’d gotten literally nowhere. It felt like wasted effort, and SO much wasted time. Still, hope blossomed in their chest, rivaling the anger boiling through their veins.

She knew how to read the map.

They continued, voice slightly shaky “What’s the fastest route to get here?” Zooble’s finger landed somewhere in the middle of the map, only slightly off-center.

Pomni’s hand rose again, before repositioning itself a little to the left of where it’d been before. She dragged her finger, making a line across the map, landing somewhere near the spot, though not quite on it.

Zooble’s face contorted, eyes scrunching in thought.

”There’s buildings there?”

Pomni returned the look of confusion, shaking her head as if to indicate that wasn’t what she’d meant. Her hand left the paper, and she gestured to the floor vaguely.

” The floor ?” Zooble muttered. 

Pomni shook her head, increasing the intensity of the gesture. Zooble barely made a second attempt at guessing, throwing up their arms in exasperation

”What is this, charades?“ Their patience thinning at the vague answer.

Ragatha gazed harder, trying to find what Zooble had missed in the gesture. She finally stood, seating herself a few feet closer, but Ragatha had never been any good at puzzles.

Zooble walked off, leaving the two alone. They’d already figured she was an idiot, this was all the proof needed.

Ragatha tilted her head down as she sighed, disappointed in herself for not being able to figure out what the younger woman had meant.

” I can’t understand you… ”

Pomni’s hands dropped, once again slinking back into the covers they popped out of just moments before. Her eyes fell to the floor, unsure of how to go on. Ragatha didn’t give her the time to figure it out before rising to her feet, stirred by the thick atmosphere. 

She forced a painfully awkward smile, feigning happiness quite poorly. “Thanks for your help Pomni.”

When she too was gone, Pomni shivered once again. All alone, it felt just the least bit colder. She put cold fingertips to her neck, pressing against where she thought the sound came from within her throat.

At all times there was a burning feeling from deep within. The longer she left it to fester, the deeper down her throat it sunk. It itched and tore at raw meat, forcing crimson to ooze from it. She feared what might happen were she to cough up the blockage, and free herself of the permeating and suffocating silence that followed her wherever she went. 

In her presence, the world became so silent…

For the first time in a while, she heard a voice slip out of her throat. Dry and horse, painfully scratching at her vocal cords. It did not bring her the cathartic feeling she thought it might.

In the utter silence, with no one there to see it, she choked out only a single word.

” Sorry… ”

She coughed, trying to choke herself of the painful itch which had now doubled in intensity. All she could think was that it hadn’t been worth the effort.   

She was still alone.  

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

From up above, Pomni watched as the snow had melted down into small puddles upon the ground, though a thin coat of white still remained up the ground. Slowly but surely, the leftover snowfall had begun to lessen, having been eaten away by the warmth of the sunlight.

Pomni had often watched the snowfall when she was little. She remembered sitting inside watching it fall from the sky, a warm cup in her hand. Something sweet she was sure, but the exact taste still escaped her. She remembered the disappointment she felt when the last of it had melted away. But it was always exciting when she found the green grass that had emerged beneath it.

Now winter was nothing more than a hindrance.

It made her cold and hungry & forced her into the confines of the old and decaying buildings that lined desolate streets. She spent the entirety of winter wishing for summer, and the entirety of summer dreading the coming winter.

But for once being inside, free of the cold seemed less pleasant than the alternative. Because these people hated her, she just knew it.

For 4, agonizingly long days, she’d stayed in the same spot. Her muscles twitched anxiously and her bones ached. How long had it been since she’d stayed this still for so long?

Her patience was thinning, and she wasn’t the only one who felt that way.

For a while, the man had been avoiding her. Ever since their first encounter, he’d hardly said a word to her. She could tell that the source of his discomfort was her. Most problems around Pomni ended and began with herself.

This was the reason why when the snow had lessened by the dawn of the fifth day, she arose, earlier than anyone else. The blanket bunched up at her feet. With the layer of warmth finally off her shoulders, more than ever she felt the biting chill of wintertime.

She took shaky, quiet steps, each one becoming more confident as she got further and further from the sleeping group. Under their covers, they hardly even noticed her absence. Not that she was ever really with them in the first place, simply present in the same room they were. When they finally awoke and found her gone, she imagined it would be a relief to all of them, even Ragatha, who had been so kind to her over the past few days. Pomni was grateful, truly, but she couldn’t stand to be in their company for a moment longer. 

The wounds were still far too fresh.

She approached the stairwell, pushing the door and shivering at the gust of cold air that breezed past her. Through the cracks, the cold still found a way inside. Winter was truly a curse upon this earth, invented only to make life slightly harder.

She sighed, stepping onto the cold stone. Her bare feet slapped against it, and she tried not to remember what had happened the last time she’d stepped upon this stone. There was a dull ache in her legs, still remnant from her extended period of rest.

She held the rail tightly, beginning her descent into the dark abyss below. Pomni did her best not to let the random bumps and thuds get to her. Fear only led to misfortune, and misfortune got you killed. Of course, death was not an immediate concern of hers, but injury was definitely a possibility. 

This building was far too desolate and lonely, but for survivors, clean buildings were safe havens. For her, they were unbearably quiet and lonely. She hated places like these, and she hated feeling alone. And in this environment, she was completely alone.

Soon she neared the bottom, releasing the cold rail from her grasp and taking her first steps upon the ground floor. She pushed through the door, a newfound relief flooding her systems as she caught sight of the windows. 

At eye level with the snow now, she could now accurately guess how long she’d be walking for. Pomni imagined running out of here, and hopefully never having to see these miserable people again. She wrapped her arms around herself, continuing onward. 

Just beyond the glass, she could see the city streets, still dusted with white. Small drops fell from icicles which still hung from torn awnings and creaky roofs. The puddles along the pavement iced over, forming a glassy surface overtop that could be easily crushed in to reveal cold slushy water below. The streets remained empty, any bodies only just emerging from beneath the snow. 

She walked farther, enthralled by the world outside. She was so close. Almost there. She neared the front door, a rush of excitement and anxiousness washed over her. Just a little farther-

She felt a hand land on top of her shoulder.

Pomni yelped, pulling away and spinning to face… Ragatha?

Ragatha leaned down, panting “ Please… wait!” 

Pomni took a step back, and Ragatha reached out a hand, silently asking her to stay. Pomni took another shaky step back, glancing at the door directly behind her. She could leave. And yet she was stuck to the spot.

“ Just-” she panted “ -hear me out! ”

Ragatha straightened herself, still visibly out of breath.

“Can’t you see we’re struggling!” Ragatha raised her voice and Pomni flinched, sinking into herself. This time, Ragatha made no effort to calm herself.

“Zooble was right. I didn’t get it then but now I do!” Pomni frowned, Zooble thought she was useless…

“You’ve been here longer than any of us! You know where you’re going.”

Pomni felt something flutter in her chest, and she raised her head to once again look at Ragatha.

“Even if we don’t understand the map, you do! We missed something that you already saw.” Ragatha’s tone shifted “ Please don’t leave, we need help…” 

Pomni seemed taken aback by the offer.

“ I won’t ask why you were following us or why the zombies didn’t attack you if it’ll make you stay! Just…” Her voice trailed off, leading into something more somber and silent. 

“ Please. ”

Pomni remained silent, pinching the sleeves of her sweater between her fingertips.

Ragatha remained hopeful, as she watched Pomni take one last glance at the door.

So close…

Chapter Text

The wind blew hard, pushing thick tangles into Pomni’s face, which she reluctantly pushed away only to have it once again be blown into her face. She led the front of the group, and Ragatha took the rear. Jax stayed close behind her, not having uttered a word since their departure earlier that morning.

Ragatha had convinced her to stay, both a blessing and a curse for the group. For now, her only job was to guide them through the city. Nothing more and nothing less. Her first assignment was to help them restock their supplies.

Convenience stores were abundant within the city, but most were devoid of anything useful. All had been ransacked of whatever remained. But Pomni was diligent as she slowly maneuvered them through the city. Taking countless turns where the others would’ve surely gotten lost. 

A few blocks down was one convenience store, still filled with ample amounts of supplies. Most of what was left were perishable goods and had already rotted away, but towards the back of the store, plenty of canned food remained hidden from plain sight. Only revealed to those aware of the hidden section. 

Pomni stopped short, just a few feet from the store, and the others strolled past her. She watched as Zooble began tinkering with the door, trying to pry it open through the rusted hinges. Ragatha turned back to face Pomni, wordlessly beckoning her closer. She obliged.

They stepped into the convenience store, finding it in a sorry state, to say the least. 

The paint peeled at the corners, dust collecting on countertops.

The front counter lay in ruins, things on top of it having been scattered and toppled, laying across the floor. Releasing a foul odor strong enough to make them gag and stumble back. Tears prick their eyes as they muster the courage to continue, silently begging that their previous meal would not rest alongside the discarded food.   

The cashier’s body lay dead on the counter. Flesh and sinew had rotten away, decaying and becoming one with the counter beneath it. Blood dripped down, coating what remained of the survivor. Forever frozen in time, stuck in the memory of someone begging for salvation as scratches litter the furniture. Flies swarmed creating an incessant buzzing that filled the store. The corpse still moved, stuck to the spot. The decomposed meat squelched at the continued movement, bones creaking and cartilage cracking inside the hollow corpse. Teeth had yellowed, encased in inflamed and cracking gums. Its jaw was dislodged, hanging limply and swinging along with the head. From the maw, it released a series of moans that led off into a low gurgle with a bubble and pop. 

The ravaged body continued moving, still conscious and reaching for its next meal. Drool dribbled from its dry lips, and Pomni forced herself to turn away. It was a pitiful sight, and definitely one of the worst fates a person could suffer.

“Let’s move quickly, I don’t wanna spend another second in this place.” Jax grits his teeth, spinning on his heel and storming off. 

The others followed as the trance was broken but not before their gazes lingered on the body for a moment longer. It couldn’t be helped, the image shook them to their core.

Gangle sunk to the back, scanning the half-empty shelves for any edible food. She picked up a stray can, noting the weight and its sealed form. She turned it over inspecting the label still somehow stuck onto the metal, only just beginning to peel at the edges.

After making sure it was completely safe, she shrugged off her bag , letting it plot onto the floor. She stuffed the half-empty bag with as much as she could, ensuring she’d be set for the next few days. The others did the same, each taking their share. 

She spun on her heel, relief filling her heart. It dissipated as she caught sight of Pomni, who still stood stuck to her spot. She wrung her fingers, shuffling on her feet.

The second person to fill their bag was Zooble. They approached the front of the store, kicking any objects in their path,  only to furrow their brow when they saw Pomni. Unlike Gangle, they did not stop short and approached her.

”Aren’t you gonna take some?”

Pomni looked up, eyes large and shiny. Resembling a kicked puppy as she shook her head. Or maybe that’s just how Gangle saw it… 

“Well you should, you’re probably gonna get hungry and it’s easier if no one has to share.” Pomni slowly blinked, and Zooble rushed to add “ No offense.”

“It’s not like she has a bag to carry anything in anyways,” Jax said, flicking Zooble on the side of the head as he did. Their eye twitched, and they shot him a dirty look which he ignored.

Ragatha approached from behind, Kinger not far.

”What’re you talking about?”

Jax stepped forward, pointing a thumb at Zooble. “Zoobs said Pomni here needs to carry her own weight.”

Zooble spun to face him, face contorting into one of pure disbelief. “I never said that!”

”Yeah, but you wanted to.”

They turned to Ragatha. “All I said was that Pomni should carry some food as well!” Zooble pleaded.

Ragatha frowned “She doesn’t have a bag though…?”

”I literally just said that.” Jax intercepted. He was ignored.

Ragatha’s expression shifted to one of compassion. She leaned down, taking a good look at Pomni as she spoke. “Well, until we find you one I don’t mind carrying for the both of us. Is that alright Pomni?”

All eyes shifted to her, and she shrunk back at the sudden attention. She nodded before she even had time to fully process the offer, in the hopes that it would divert attention away from herself.

She didn’t like being seen.

“Problem solved!” Ragatha declared, earning an eye roll from Jax. She beamed, almost feeling relieved at having come to a solution everyone could agree with.

Gangle stood very still, silently watching her friends depart from the store. Yet Gangle remained, once again taking in the putrid smell. 6 pairs of footsteps became 4, then 3, and then it was just two.

And then, their eyes met for the first time in a while.

Pomni’s large eyes, dilating as they took in the sight of the other woman. She shifted uncomfortably, uselessly adjusting the straps of her bag. Gangle opened her mouth, closing it just as soon as it had opened, before opening it once again.

And yet no noise left her lips, throat offering nothing more than a pathetic-sounding whine. She closed them again, teeth clacking against each other. All the while Pomni stared right through her. 

From fraying sleeves, just barely visible, pointed claws poked through, tearing through the other sleeve unconsciously. Then a nail found its way between her teeth. Sharp jagged canines now on full display, she bent the nail between her teeth, until it snapped. Crushed at an awkward angle, it began to slightly bleed. Blood gently swelling.

Though if she did notice it, she paid it no mind, slipping her fingers back into her sleeves. All the while her gaze never left Gangle’s.

Gangle chewed her lip, now more uncomfortable than ever. A sick feeling washed over her, bubbling at the pit of her stomach and she found she could not pinpoint the exact source of her discomfort. In the humid store, the stench of decay clogging up her nostrils and sliding down her throat, a stranger stood before her, seeing something in Gangle that she did not see in herself.

Pomni’s gaze fell from Gangle’s, and all she was left with was a hollow feeling. The woman spun on her heel, pushing the door ajar and slipping through. As Pomni finally stepped onto the pavement, the door swung back behind her, slamming harshly. The force vibrated through the floor and echoed amongst the store. 

All Gangle heard was silence.

She bit into her lip pressing the jagged edges of her two front teeth into the soft flesh until a metallic taste engulfed her mouth. Gangle brought a hand up, cracking the joints. 

Her only companion now was the sputtering corpse. It writhed, fruitlessly trying to reach her. She wondered if it even knew it was trapped.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

That evening was warmer than the previous. Even after the sun had begun to dip over the horizon, depriving the world of its light, the temperature was far more tolerable than their corral days in the office.

It was a good thing, as they had yet to find adequate shelter. 

Ragatha wouldn’t lie, Pomni had done a good job steering them where they needed to go. Constantly guiding them away from corners she thought they needed to go past. Easily understanding the map, and would often show Ragatha where they currently were. Her adeptness at dodging the hordes went unnoticed by the group, all but Ragatha. Even if Ragatha knew she didn’t need to.  

The only disadvantage of having Pomni as a guide was her survival instincts. When it came to being cautious, her standards were much lower than theirs. A single person traveling could take the chance of sleeping in an infested building or venture out in the open, but a group as large as theirs couldn’t. Ragatha did her best to communicate this to Pomni, but the message wasn’t one she could grasp on so simply.

She often steered them through risky streets, casually passing by the animated corpses, barely within arms reach. Jax had commented she must’ve had a death wish, and Zooble wondered how their guide could’ve survived for as long as she had with her recklessness. Ragatha knew that Pomni wasn’t as lucky as the others thought, but she dared not voice these concerns and risk scaring off their guide.

Eventually, the head of their group came to a sudden halt.

Ragatha watched as Jax, too focused on antagonizing Zooble to notice, kicked the poor girl ahead of him in the back of her ankles.

They both stumbled, Jax quickly regaining his balance. Pomni wasn’t so lucky, and she tumbled to the ground.

“Jax!” Ragatha scolded.

He remained nonchalant, waving it off entirely. 

“ She’s fine. ” He remarked, hardly sparing her a glance to check if that was true.

Pomni arose in strange jerky motions, hair tangled over her face. Her hands repeatedly clenched and unclenched, until they eventually found their way to her face, sweeping it away from her face. Giving Ragatha a proper view of the girl's face.

Scanning her over, Ragatha found no obvious wounds. A few rocks were embedded in her knees along with some dust, but to her relief, the cloth hadn’t torn. She brushed them away. Ragatha saw no stain on her clothes that hadn’t already been there before. 

Pomni stood on unsteady feet, and twitched oddly in a way she hadn’t seen anyone else do before. Her right arm in particular jerked the hardest, nails digging into the pale skin. They squeezed until the fist was pale from lack of circulation and deep red liquid oozed down in small droplets from the palm. She looked down at the floor, inspecting the pebbles at her feet just a bit too closely. It was concerning. If she stared any harder, Ragatha was sure the concrete would begin to melt beneath her scrutinizing gaze. Her eyelids tightened, searching for something that Ragatha was certain she would not find embedded in the pavement. And still, she searched anyway. 

Fist clenching and unclenching, then clenching again. She squeezed hard on nothing but her palm. Red stains embraced the pavement and coated sharp nails. Weaving itself between the small cracks of debris below. Pomni’s left hand rose to her neck, trembling when she reached down the turtle neck of the sweater to scratch an itch. Her face contorted in frustration, and her hand sunk deeper, scratching hard at the itch. 

And yet that feeling, whatever it was that tormented her, did not seem to dissipate. Her fist unclenched once more, before squeezing in again, stronger than before. She scratched at the itch until Ragatha was certain it must have irritated her skin beyond belief. She scowled at the pavement, eyes peering. They found nothing, yet the search continued. Fist clenching and unclenching. The scratching was audible now, and Ragatha heard the way sharp nails peeled back layers of dead skin, desperately begging for the warm red beneath. The rough scratches audible to Ragatha. Goosebumps rapidly traveled down her skin as shivers shook her body. 

A silent scream trapped in her throat. She was sure Pomni was tearing into the skin beneath, all the while her fist clenched and unclenched, and blood formed beneath the fist. God Ragatha couldn’t take it anymore, she was going to cry, she was going to scream. She wanted to- 

“Pomni…?” Her voice croaked. At least, she thought it was hers. Except, it didn’t sound anything like her, did it?

In that microinstant, everything stopped. She blinked hard, wide saucers finding their way to Ragatha. Her fist unclenched one last time, and the incessant scratching ceased. It made Ragatha almost want to sigh in relief.

Regaining her bearings, and with the rest of the group still rambling on, she cleared her throat. It didn’t receive the attention from the others that she was hoping it might though, only adding to the pressure of Pomni’s gaze fixed on her once again. 

“Why-“ she paused at an audible voice crack, swallowing thickly before continuing. “Why did you stop here?”

Pomni blinked slowly, processing the information. Then her expression became one of recognition, and her arm raised, pointer finger lurching out to properly bring attention to the building just beside her. Ragatha noted that this hand was not as red as her other one, the only noticeable injury being a broken nail. From the strange angle it had snapped at, she could just begin to glance at the red laid beneath it. It had already begun to scab over, but looked fairly recent. 

The building itself had multiple windows, showing off what looked to be 5 or 4 floors at maximum. Many, if not most of the windows were boarded up, though it didn’t seem to matter anyway as what she could see of them was fogged up. Many out of place pipes and shredded power lines stemmed from the building's rough exterior. Unkempt plants found their way over the bricks, staking claim to the building as much as they could manage.

Ragatha squinted, raising a finger and gesturing to the building. “ That? ”

Pomni nodded, and for just a second Ragatha hoped Pomni was joking. Of course, the silly smile she might usually expect from Jax never came, and her expression stayed completely neutral. A light breeze brushed red curls into her face, and she swiped them away tucking it behind her ear once again.

Ragatha thought the answer to this question was fairly obvious, but she chose to ask anyway: “Is it safe?”

Pomni blinked hard, offering no other response to the question.

Ragatha tried again. “Pomni, is it safe?”

Nothing.

Ragatha tried rephrasing the question. “Are there any zombies inside?”

Pomni was still for only a moment longer. She glanced upon the building once again before offering a halfhearted shrug.

Ragatha threw her arms out “What’s that supposed to mean?!?” 

Ragatha felt a new weight upon her shoulder, and she turned to find Jax giving her a smug look.

”Relax! Pomni has our best interest at heart, I’m sure.” He said it in the most convincing voice he could manage, but she’d known him for long enough to know he was being sarcastic. She pushed the arm off her shoulder, deadpanning. 

“Uh-huh.”

Gangle interjected, voice full of dread. “It’s not like we have any other options…”

She sounded as if she were about to cry, and with the mood swings Gangle would go through on a daily basis, Ragatha didn’t doubt it.

”This is really our only option?” Zooble muttered.

Pomni offered no clear answer, and this time no one nagged her for one. Jax’s smile had fallen away by now, and he groaned. Zooble murmured something under their breath, though Jax seemed to catch the insult. He forgot about his immense dissatisfaction, starting up the argument once again.

Kinger rambled on to no one specifically, about some subject he’d just remembered he was knowledgeable on. Ragatha rubbed at her eyes, trying to wipe away the evidence of her previous nights, which had been filled with minimal amounts of sleep. It didn’t look like she’d get much sleep tonight either, and for that, her frown deepened. 

Gangle's eyes glistened with unshed tears, though it wasn’t for the less-than-quality accommodations that their newest member had provided them with. It was something else about that woman entirely.

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

The inside of the building wasn’t any better than the exterior. Dim lighting and a repugnant smell permeated through the air, wafting out the door as Ragatha forced it open.

Many of them clamped their noses between their fingers, hesitant to move past the doors. A strange creaking echoed through the walls, the popping and groaning sound of metal ringing out. The building was incredibly humid, almost unbearably so. From just out of the corner of her eye, bugs skittered into the various cracks in the walls. They found their way under the carpets and up the walls, and Ragatha shuddered at the thought of where else they might be found.

Kinger had no such issues, darting over to one of the walls and picking the bugs out of the cracking drywall. He turned his hand over, watching an array of insects crawl over it. 

Pomni stepped inside, hardly noticing the unpleasant atmosphere. No more did she mind the dampness of the carpet beneath her feet. 

Water came in drops down from the ceiling, forming puddles across the rotted wooden floor. The front desk had long been abandoned. Atop it, a few scattered items still sat. Ragatha reached over it, and found some sort of molded food atop it. Whatever it had been, it must’ve been there for a long while. A few flies buzzed over the black mush, having spilled over the tabletop at some point, making a goopy puddle on the ground.

It was both a blessing and a curse, as the smell was strongest here. The smell wasn’t a corpse, which was a relief, but the fact that it existed at all was awful.

Ragatha gagged. “Ew.”

She pushed away from the desk, spinning on her heel and rejoining the group. She wiped the disgusted look off her face, opting to put on a more content facade.

“Well…” Pomni eyed her, patiently awaiting her response. “It could be worse!”

Jax raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

She swallowed thickly. “It could be infested?” She phrased it like a question, though it was more of a statement. 

“You don’t know that it isn’t,” Zooble interjected. 

“Well, you don’t know that it is.” Ragatha countered. 

Unfortunately, this left them at a stalemate. 

Jax crossed his arms “As long as the rest of the building doesn’t smell this bad it’s fine.”

Ragatha grinned, “My thoughts exactly!”

She began the process of herding everyone to a different section of the building. After a vote, they decided the upper floors would be preferable, simply because it would give them more time to get their belongings should trouble arise. The old stairway was narrow, they were left to squish into one another as they ascended. Their bodies coated in a thin layer of sweat from the rise in sudden temperature. Impatient, Jax sped ahead, displeased at the crew’s pace while waiting at the top for them. On the other hand, Ragatha lagged behind, making sure everyone got up safely. 

Kinger cupped a small insect in his hands, careful not to let it slip from his grasp. He smiled as he watched it crawl around. Ragatha was glad to see he was enjoying himself, but for now,  she chose to steer clear of him. The others sat comfortably in the middle, walking at a leisurely pace. Zooble muttered something indecipherable under their breath, fiddling with something in their hands. Ragatha couldn’t see what it was, but she assumed they’d found it at the entrance.

When they finally reached Jax, everyone took a small pause. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Zoobles growing irritation. They moved sluggishly, slumped posture crumbling onto themselves as hand rubbed their temple. It made her want to reach out, but something in her gut told her it’d be better if she didn’t. She heeded.

They emerged from the stairwell, though the halls weren’t much better. The first thing to note was the humidity, not helped by the tightness of the space, almost seemed to grow denser. There were many doors, some in worse states than others. Gold plaques had been nailed onto each, giving them a number. 

[412]

[414]

[416]

Doors on the right were even.

[411]

[413]

[415]

Doors on the left were odd.

Some doors were devoid of the plaque altogether, breaking the sequence and depriving them of their number. A few doors had been boarded up. It wasn’t unusual, but the strange part was… they’d been boarded up from the outside. 

Ragatha tried to avoid the sinking feeling she got while they walked. 

As always, Jax had shifted to the front, with Ragatha sinking to the back. The further they went, the more Zooble’s pace slowed, a clear indication that they might not have felt as alright as they appeared. Kinger walked slowly still, taking the extra precaution for his bug friend.

Gangle and Pomni stayed close to each other, but not enough where their shoulders could meet. They followed close behind Jax, making a small gap between the group. They looked more like 2 groups of 3 than a group of 6. It was a flaw that Ragatha sought to correct.

“Jax! Don’t go so far ahead, you might get lost.” Ragatha called.

Jax brushed her off “It’s fine! You know I’m always careful.”

Zooble grunted, but said nothing.

“Huh, this place is awfully big on the inside…” Ragatha thought aloud. It gave her a bad feeling.

“Hey guys, maybe we could-” she didn’t get a chance to finish her thought.

Uphead, there was a straining sound of wood, and a snapping of old planks. The warning had not come soon enough, however the floor bent unnaturally beneath the weight of 3 people. The floor shook, forcing Ragatha onto her knees as she sought to steady herself.

Gangle screamed, slipping over her own feet as the ground became more misshapen beneath her. She scrambled back up, wobbly on her feet. 

Pomni fell hard and a new, more rare emotion was forced from her. Fear. She covered her ears and closed her eyes tight, trying to drown out the noise.

 Ragatha lost track of everything beneath the overwhelming sound. She crawled forward, trying to grab anything to steady herself. Her hands found purchase on an old doorknob. It was locked, but in this instance, that seemed preferable. 

And then just as suddenly as the noise had begun, it culminated in the collapse of the wooden floor beneath their feet. Ragatha could do nothing but watch as half of the group fell down into the newly formed hole beneath them. 

Jax screamed as he was swallowed up by the hole. Gangle scrambled, trying to escape from it. But instead of finding steady ground, she hit a loose board, and slid down into it. Pomni, for the first time, screamed as she too was lost in the flurry of sawdust and splinters. 

And then they were simply gone, completely out of sight.

Ragatha shuffled back, pulling Kinger along with her. The insect in his hands had disappeared in the chaos, though that was the least of her concerns. They slid across the creaky floor until they sat just a few feet from the edge. She turned, relieved to find Zooble laying not a foot behind them. 

The last few splintering boards fell, kicking up dust and small particles. The cloud was thick, almost completely obscuring the hole. 

Her bag sat heavily on her back, gun thankfully sitting alongside it. The adrenaline still coursed through her veins. She panted, still processing what had just happened. Her thoughts ran a mile a minute, and in her confusion, a single thing slipped out.

  “Shit.”

Chapter Text

Silence permeated through the air, almost as heavy as the dust filling their lungs and the bags sitting on their backs. In the dark halls, the fog began to clear, albeit slowly.  Ragatha let her bag slide off her back, clinking to the floor as the items inside shifted. Her gun came with it, and she took extra care to take it within her grasp as she shuffled forward.

Her fingers grasped the splintered edge, and her head peeked over just enough to get a good look. Even still, all she could see was darkness. She sucked in the air, trying to regain her composure. 

“H-hello?” She called, voice wobbly. Even just the single phrase reverberated off the walls, coming back at her only half the volume it’d originally been said. Her voice was the only response she’d gotten, so she tried again.

“Is anyone down there?”

Silence. 

Ragatha bit her lip, leaning in just the slightest bit further as she gripped the edge. Desperate to avoid the same fate. 

“Are you-”

“I heard you the first time!” A voice!

Ragatha felt waves of relief and serotonin rush through her veins “Jax!” 

There was shuffling from down below, the clattering of boards and the whoosh of particles pushed from their resting place among the wreckage reverberated in the space. In the dark, she saw just the slightest bit of movement, and Jax grunted as he painfully got to his feet.

“Are you alright?” Ragatha asked sincerely. In the empty space below her voice echoed, multiplying in sound before fading out. 

“Could be better…” Jax complained. 

…

“But yeah.”

Ragatha sighed, “Alright, good.”

She sat up, gun still in her clutch. Her grip tightened as another thing came to mind. 

“What about the others?”

For a moment there was silence, and then a shuffling among the ruble. A pause in the steps, followed by a heavy landing, muffled by the broken plaster and wood chips below. 

“Not sure.” 

“Hmm.” Ragatha turned, finding the other two still sitting behind her. Kinger stared off into the distance, no clear emotion in his eyes. Zooble on the other hand seemed completely aware, almost painfully so. The bags under their eyes were a clear indicator that the day had taken more of a toll on them than they’d willingly admit. Even still, they knew better than to let their guard down now.

“Zooble, you still have the flashlight?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” They shuffled through their bag, pulling out the industrial flashlight. It was bigger than most and it was well used. Small chips and scratches ran along its frame. It had a handle due to the fact that it would otherwise need to be carried using both hands.

“I still don’t know why you have me lug this thing around…” they complained.

Ragatha took it off their hands, choosing to ignore that comment. She flicked it on and watched as it illuminated the wall next to her. Another body took its place next to hers, and she didn’t have to look to know it was Zooble. She angled the flashlight into the hole, and at first, all they saw was rubble.

“Over here!” Jax called. His voice echoing off the walls.

She repositioned the light to the source of his voice, and it quickly fell upon his head. Rich curls, with bits of rock and sawdust mixed in greeted them. Two eyes squinted at them, and a hand raised to block out the searing light.

“ Would it kill you to lower that thing ?!”

Ragatha chuckled, angling the flashlight just the slightest bit downward so it wouldn’t shine in his eyes. “Sorry!”

Now she could clearly see the bag sitting on his back. She could also see the gun between his palms.

”Can you see the others?” Ragatha inquired.

”I can see the ground beneath me.” He unhelpfully commented.

Before Ragatha could comment, a noise interrupted her. 

An odd skittering, not so dissimilar to the fleeting sound of footsteps. The scattering of trash underfoot accompanied it, a slight scratching fizzling in and out momentarily. Closer, closer, and then further still. The noise came and went, almost disorientingly so.

”Zombies?” Zooble suggested.

”I’ve never heard any zombie like that.” He replied, a twinge of anxiety evident within his voice.

Ragatha passed the light off the Zooble, picking up her discarded shotgun. “Better safe than sorry.”

He too raised his own weapon, and spun around trying to follow the path of the fleeting noise. The light danced around him, it too having trouble locking onto the figure in the dark. All it caught were quick glimpses of moving boards and shifting dirt, nothing substantial enough to prove another person might be in the space, but with it all happening in quick succession the evidence of company seemed overwhelming. 

To his left, then to the right, from behind, and directly in front of him, the shuffling traveled. Place to place, ear to ear, board to board. And yet nothing was caught under the gaze of the light. Zoobles hand shook the slightest bit, arms beginning to feel the fatigue of holding up the light for so long. But for Jax’s sake, they endured the pain just a bit longer.

Closer, closer, closer.

So close they could touch, too close. Overwhelmingly so. The noise was directly behind him now, disappearing from earshot whenever he spun to face it. Closer, and then closer. And then-

— it was gone.

The tension did not leave his muscles, and he turned to look for the imposing threat that simply wasn’t there. Or was it?

“Whew.” Zooble huffed, shoving the light back into Ragatha’s arms. “Had me worried there for a sec-“

Suddenly an ear-piercing scream reverberated through the space, bringing the tension back tenfold. Jax raced to find the voice, the familiar sound making his ears twitch. 

Ragatha panicked, and Jax raised his weapon toward one of the dark corners the shreik had come from. Ragatha scrambled to follow, shaky hands moving to illuminate the space. And there they found the source of the noise.

Gangle shuffled back among the dirt and sawdust, flinging whatever she could at a slightly bewildered Pomni. She hardly flinched at the woodchips and drywall that easily bounced off her skin.

”Zombies! Zombies!” she cried.

She never thought to open her eyes to check though…

”Um, Gangle?”

She paused her barrage, peaking a single eye open to glance at her attacker. Only to find that in place of her worst fear, stood a meek and disheveled Pomni. Big round eyes once again met hers, missing that same composure Gangle was used to. The smaller woman took a step back, interlacing her fingers and gazing at a random board in favor of meeting the other’s gaze. 

Gangle redirected her attention to the others, who stood similarly bewildered, if not slightly amused. 

Gangle flushed. “Sorry…”

Ragatha wasted no time on the theatrics. “Gangle, Pomni! You’re both okay!” she warmly smiled.

“I’m so glad you’re all okay.” She leaned further over the edge as another show of her jubilation, with Zooble pulling her back slightly. 

Though she hardly noticed in her joy and relief. She jumped up, gun in hand. Zooble, with exponentially less enthusiasm, joined them.

”Okay listen, I need you all to stay put. Me, Zooble, and Kinger are gonna come down there to find you. Hang tight!” 

And then, from below, the figures up above disappeared from sight. Their gazes lingered for only a moment longer. 

Plunged into darkness again, it took a moment for his eyes to adjust in the darkness. He found that the void slowly formed into something just barely recognizable. Two silhouettes stood out in the darkness, only contrasted by the darker walls surrounding them. He guessed who was who only by the difference in stature and positioning, one of whom still lay upon the rubble. 

”Get up you big crybaby.” He urged.

Gangle frowned “ I’m not a crybaby! ”

” Mhm.”

“I mean it!”

Jax walked around her, searching for her bag. “Then get up and help me find your stuff.”

She placed her hands on the ground, moving to stand. But when her left foot touched the ground, she cried out, stumbling back down.

Pomni turned to her, and Gangle moved to rub her sore ankle. She groaned, complaining of the shooting pain running up her leg. Jax barely spared her a glance, digging through the rubble to reach the visible strap of a bag. 

Pomni stepped forward, but didn’t initiate contact. She simply observed. Fresh tears gathered in Gangle’s eyes.

Jax finally emerged from the rubble, a second bag in his hands. “Ha!”

” Hey Jax… ” Gangle whispered.

”What?” Jax turned, annoyance clear in his voice. “Didn’t I tell you to get up?”

”I think I hurt myself.” She sniffled. 

He threw the bag down, coming closer. “ How? ”

”I don’t know, but my ankle hurts really bad. I think I sprained it…”

He groaned, dragging a hand across his face. “ Well, that’s just wonderful! ”

”I’m sorry!” She cried. “I didn’t mean to!”

”Stop yelling dumbass! Are you trying to get us killed?”

”Sorry!” Tears rolled down her cheeks.

”Stop apologizing!” Now he was yelling.

”I didn’t”-

Pomni zoned out of their conversation, finding it to be a waste of time.

The halls down here were so much darker. Both in front of and behind them the halls stretched on, thankfully undamaged by the breakage that had brought them down here in the first place. 

The walls groaned, and from somewhere not too distant she swore she could hear the uneven footsteps of something caught between life and death. A constant drip and metallic clang in the walls accompanied it, dust floating along. 

And yet the sounds so distant before only continued to get closer.

Why were they getting closer?

She stepped back. Such sounds could not be a coincidence or a trick of the senses. She recognized the familiar groan and the continual thump.

Something was coming.

She turned back to the others, who’d made little progress in their earlier dispute. Pomni waved an arm around trying to grab their attention. And in spite of this, the conversation continued. They were unaware of what was to come.

She jumped up and down, moving awkwardly and erratically, trying to regain the attention she’d never truly had to begin with. She made strange noises, a high-pitched cry followed by another assortment of strange sounds alongside the failing of her arms. They almost resembled words. Words that went ignored. 

She slowed, swallowing.

It was just around the corner now.

Pomni inched forward, reaching a single shaky hand out. Creeping forward. Jax’s back turned to her meant he didn’t notice her. It meant he didn’t see the hesitation in the motion and the conflict across her features. He only noticed her presence when the hand finally latched onto his clothed back, tugging at the fabric.

He spun around in an instant, and she jumped back, eyes wide. 

“ What. ”

She raised her hand once again, pointing down the hall. A figure rounded the corner, a slight limp in its step. It groaned unnaturally, sounds that almost constituted words slipping out of the open maw. Myopic eyes locked onto them.

There was only one, but soon there would be more. There was never just one.

“ Ohh shit.”

He spun back around to face Gangle. “Can you walk?”

“I don’t think so…”

“Too bad!” 

He looped an arm under her shoulder and hauled her to her feet. She stumbled for a second before regaining her footing, resting her weight all on her good foot. The two moved awkwardly and slowly, unused to the strange arrangement they’d found themselves in.

Jax turned to the last person in the room. 

“Grab Gangle’s bag!” He ordered.

And who was Pomni to say no?

The corpse staggered closer, and she inched forward to take the straps and drag the bag backwards. She pulled it over her shoulders, noting the sheer weight of it. It hurt to walk with, she couldn’t even begin to imagine how awful running with this thing would be. When Pomni turned back, she found the other two had already started down the hall without her. 

She scrambled to catch up, and behind her, she faintly heard the others. They weren’t too far. She just had to survive until they found her.

Chapter Text

Uneven and awkward footfalls precedes Pomni’s admittedly lighter set. If it wasn’t for the bag weighing her down she might’ve been almost silent. She followed the other two in front of her, unknowingly hindering her in the long run. But as they rounded the corner, she trusted that they knew what they were doing. 

As they continued, the building only seemed to become more dilapidated and dirty. Broken boards and large gashes littered the walls and floor. Many of the doors had been boarded up, but signs of struggle were still present. Some of them were partially broken through, while others were complete. There was a continuous thump overhead, too heavy to be anything but a person, or at least what was left of one.

The noises from behind had not dwindled, only increasing in intensity and volume. She whipped her head around, and jumped when she saw the small crowd that all their noise had attracted. Hungry animalistic gazes stayed fixed on them, and the attention made her squirm. A rush of emotions ran through her at once. A fear that she had not felt for quite some time effloresced deep in her chest. For once, she felt as a normal person should when facing the bundle of corpses: like running.  

Jax led the group as fast as he could, but the extra weight on his shoulders significantly slowed him. Gangle limped along, supported by Jax still. 

Pomni watched from behind with fear, as the horde slowly gained on them. She forced something close to words from her lips, making an incessant whining accompanied by harsh gesturing.

He grits his teeth. “Would you be quiet?!”

But she couldn’t, not when the dead were so close! Pomni put her hands upon his back, pushing him forward, hardly doing anything except spreading his patience even thinner. 

Gangle broke down into tears not a moment later, rubbing her eyes and pleading for her life. A strangled cry ripped from her throat, multiplied by Pomni’s voice behind him which only raised in volume as they went. It culminated in a loud shrieking that wormed its way past his eardrums and reverberated inside his skull.  

Having one person prone to temper tantrums and meltdowns was bad enough, but the thought of having a second made him want to explode. If he had to endure another second of this he might just let the zombies eat his brain. Anything was better than this.

Eventually, they came to a crossroad, and rounded another corner, only to stop short as they saw more of them. They were closing in now. Wherever they’d been hiding before had been abandoned, as the dead had found their way upon what looked to be their next victims. 

Cracking joints and squishing flesh punctuated their arrival. The unnatural groans and gurgling lit something within Pomni’s chest. While the other 2 were still in shock she whipped around and darted away, down a clearer path.

Gangle finally let out a cry as she regained her bearings, stumbling back as she forgot all about the injury that plagued her. She tumbled to the floor, making an “oomph”as she landed on her ass.

”Not good!” Jax hissed as he leaned down to grab hold of her arm. He dug his nails into her flesh as he hauled her back to her feet, with the dead coming closer still.

They stumbled forward, sidestepping as a stray arm shot out to reach Jax. It just barely missed him, clutching onto thin air as they darted down the hall much the same as Pomni, albeit slower.

Jax cursed under his breath, scrambling to make up for lost time, and lose the horde that they’d entered the building precisely to avoid. A crash came from behind, the splintering of wood. Following that, an unnatural groan, loud and raspy, practically shrieking. 

Empty, exasperated lungs released the last of the air held within, calling out for them. Even still, they dared not turn back. 

Just up ahead, they watched their companion slip into a doorway, leaving it just slightly ajar for those who followed.

Gangle gasped for breath, a metallic taste filling her throat the harder she wheezed. Jax took it upon himself to pick up the pace for both of them, using what little of his strength to haul them to the door.

He swung it open, and it noisily crashed against the rotted wood and creaked on its rusty hinges.

Jax practically threw the girl to the ground, and she unceremoniously landed on her hands and knees. She didn’t even have enough breath to complain.

Close now, the voices were so close.

Jax swung around, finding that the dead were barely a foot away. Close enough to touch. Close enough to ta-

He grabbed the knob, swinging it so hard that it crashed against its weakened frame, spewing splinters and wood chips across the already ruined floors. He pushed his back against the door, just as something came into contact on the other side.

Repeatedly, it banged against the door trying to pry its way in through any means necessary. As the horde closed in, one voice became many.

A foul odor followed the dead, and a series of guttural groans found their way past the door.

The pounding never ceased, and Jax struggled to hold it back. His bag shifted on his back, and from the loops, the gun at his hip was dislodged. It found its way to his feet, clattering as it hit the ground.

Something heavier pounded at the door now.

Jax kicked the gun at his feet away, and Gangle winced as it hit the sole of her shoe. He yelped as there was another hit against the floor, and he momentarily lost his footing, lurching forward before throwing himself back against it.

Gangle clutched at the weapon, holding it with shaky hands. The cold surface was uncomfortable against her already reddened hands. Her heavy breath puffed up in the air around her.

She bit her lip, lifting the gun, trying to better her aim. She looked through the optic. Preparation for what would come next, whatever it might be.

Something finally gave, and through a newly formed hole within the door, a rotten hand came through. It violently clutched onto Jax’s shoulder, clawing at the fabric. It ripped and tore at the jacket, unrelenting.

Jagged nails lifted just slightly from the nail bed, loosening more the harder it tugged. Rotten meat peeled from bone, uncomfortably moist. It left a putrid residue that soaked into the fabric. It would certainly stain, though that didn’t seem like the most pressing issue at the moment. 

From his pocket, Jax fished out his pocket knife. He flicked and the sharper end popped out. He turned it upon the hand on his shoulder. Jax stabbed down, slicing at the flesh and stopping at the bone. He lifted his hand, before repeatedly swinging it back down upon the hand.

The hand twitched and jutted strangely. Large cuts upon the flesh produced chunky meager blood, which pooled in the palm of the hand and dripped down.

The hand tore away, and with another quick swing of the knife, it found itself lodged within the wood of the door. The hand slipped back through the hole that it had first created, leaving dark stains upon the cracks as it squeezed through.

He grunted, dislodging the knife from the wood. He kept it within his grasp, even as the pressure upon the door mounted. 

Gangle held the weapon closer, shuffling further back the more Jax struggled against the door. Something loud began outside, muffled by the door. 

Gunshots?

Not like it was important at the moment anyways, not when death was standing outside the door…

Finally, something banged against the door, lurching it forward as the mounting pressure became too much to bear. The hinges squeezed and popped, and Jax stumbled forward as the door began to collapse on top of him.

Gangle screamed as the dead stumbled in, rotten to the very core. From such a close range everything was visible. Myopic eyes sat inside the sockets, swaying back and forth with the head. Joints creaked and cracked as they were overworked, forced into motion even after death. Rigor mortis had yet to fully set in, even after so many years. Their jaws swung open, giving visibility to yellowing teeth, just about ready to pop out of the gums. Drool spewed from the open maws, and dribbled down its chin, soaking into what remained of their clothes. 

Jax shuffled, stumbling for the gun. The zombies lurched forward, an arms distance away. He snatched the gun from his companions hands, only slightly too late.

Cold skin brushed against the warm flesh upon the back of his neck. Blood pumped just beneath, faster than before, and he didn’t even have time to scream as it came in to bite at him.

He closed his eyes, the fear of death setting in for only just a second. 

And yet when he opened them, he was still intact, living and breathing. No blood rushed from an open wound, as he had no such injury to bleed from. 

He was alive. 

He was alive!

He spun to face the zombies, only to find someone else.

Pomni breathed heavily, eyes fixed on the twitching figure upon the floor. It’s face had been ruined further, fragile skin having torn on impact. What remained of the weapon used against it lay still within Pomni’s grasp. The splintered top half of a wooden chair, stained with the violence that it had just been exposed to, broken into smaller pieces that found their way upon the floor and lodged into its victim’s face.

It twitched and attempted to stand, only for her to grip the chair legs and beat it back down. Splinters flew from what remained, as the chair got smaller and smaller the harder Pomni battered the dead man.

Jax shielded his face from being pelted with the woodchips, as did Gangle.

And then she slowed, catching her breath as her eyes remained on the blooded mass on the floor. It’s writhing had ceased, both a blessing and a curse upon the woman who stood above it.

She let the wood clatter to the ground, no longer recognizable the chair it might’ve once been. Her panting continued, the only sound inside the dark room.

Jax turned to the hall, finding that all the dead that had been previously chasing them lie dead now. He could take a pretty good guess who helped them.

A set of heavy footsteps approached from outside, putting them all on edge.

The tension quickly disappeared as they caught sight of fluffy red curls round the corner. 

The 3 newcomers panted. 

“Are you…Okay?” Ragatha wheezed.

Jax turned, getting into a more comfortable sitting position upon the floor, gun resting in his lap.

”Could be better.”

She stood tall, taking a good look at the group. Gangle sat upon the floor, next to Jax. They both seemed to be in decent shape, if not slightly roughed up from the running.

Her gaze moved to the other person still within the room.

Pomni sat on her knees now, disheveled more than ever. She leaned her head down over the putrid smelling body, hair a tangle over her face. She shivered slightly, running her hands over her arms in an attempt to warm herself. Her clothes were stained from the substance leaking out of the dead thing’s body.

Ragatha scrunched her face up at the body. “What happened here?”

Jax shrugged “Pomni.”

Concern brushed over her features, and despite her better judgment she found herself moving closer to the odd woman.

”Pomni, are you alright?”

Pomni craned her head up at the sound of her name, and turned to face the other woman, and strangely enough, she was crying.

Chapter Text

At Pomni's knees, the bloodied figure lay. 

Its limbs twisted strangely and jutted out oddly, forming a strange lump upon the wood that folded in on itself. Where the thing’s face should’ve been, a chunky pulp oozed in its stead. Jagged flesh and bone greeted her; the jaw had been torn away from the rest of the face, left hanging by nothing but just a small patch of skin. Several teeth were enveloped in its ebonied, decaying gum, jagged enough that no person could distinguish it’s human origin. Yellow teeth littered the floor, making awkward squeaks as Ragatha stepped on them.

The sickly skin of the creature had been bashed in, and peeled away to reveal the revolting interior. Maggots squirmed between the layers of muscle and fat, savoring the cartilage and only stopping at the bone. Flies danced around the head, picking at what little the maggots left behind. Juicier bits were consumed the fastest by the greedy insects, leaving the tougher parts for last. Even still, none of it would go to waste, that Ragatha could be sure of. As if to agree, a group of maggots emerged from its throat, coated in a color far too similar to wine. She would have to avoid drinking any in the near future (if that was even a possibility to begin with).
The eye sockets were full, one of blood, the liquid still swaying slightly from the attacks. The other eye appeared as if coated in mold, a sickly milky film veiling whatever semblance of life remained. Its gaze was straight ahead, looking nowhere in particular, an unseeing glare. Its Myopic scowl was empty now, just as hollow as its skull.

There is a steady drip, soaking into the tattered remains of its clothes and staining the floorboards a deep red. It pooled beneath the thing’s head, and began to spread. Little chunks of red floated in the ever-growing puddle, and the red was so rich it was almost black. It coated the teeth lying on the floor and began to stain the wood. The puddle eventually reached Pomni. The blood did little to gain her attention, it almost hypnotized her further as the seconds passed by. 

Above it, Pomni sat. She said nothing, and not a sound made it past her lips. Her tangled hair drooped down, sticking to her wet cheeks and just barely brushing against the body. Absorbing droplets of the viscous substance that continued to leak from the remains. She brought a bloodied hand up to wipe her cheek, inadvertently amplifying the red mark on her face. A similar smudge was made on the other cheek when she brought a hand up to wipe away the tears with her palm. It smeared across her face, dirtying her further.
A smell of pure rot wafted through the room, no doubt coming from the body.

Ragatha’s eyes watered.

It was horrific. She wanted to look away, she really did, but now she found herself unable to. On the floor Pomni sat bloodied, silently weeping for a man that she’d never known and had so brutally decimated the body of. A filthy corpse, rotten even before Pomni had laid a hand upon it, only ruined further by the desperate acts of a single woman. So putrid and horrible and yet… gratitude was all that filled Ragatha’s heart.
Something had compelled Pomni to brutalize this corpse, and in doing so she’d saved the life of someone still living. Someone Ragatha still had the capacity and the ability to care for, not in memory but in the present. Pomni had bloodied her hands, and for that, she was eternally grateful. 

And yet… Pomni didn’t seem to feel the same.

Maybe they were opposites in this way?

Even if Ragatha didn’t understand Pomni, she found herself pitying her. Such genuine sadness. It’d been a while since she’d seen someone cry over a body hadn’t it? When had she become so desensitized?

“Why don’t the rest of you go on ahead of us?”

Zooble frowned “You sure, we did just rejoin-“

”Yeah, I’m sure. Pomni and I will catch up with y’all in just a minute.” Ragatha forced a small smile, an act of reassurance and a sign of trust. 
Zoobles frown deepened, only to soften as their eyes landed upon Pomni again. “If you say so…”
Together, Zooble and Kinger hauled Gangle to her feet, with the older man acting as a sort of crutch for the girl. He didn’t seem to mind much, however, smiling and helping her through the door the best he could. 

Jax followed, unusually quiet in contrast with his usual demeanor. Ragatha chalked it up to his near-death experience just a few minutes earlier.
Zooble trailed behind, the last to leave. They sighed, shooting Ragatha one last sympathetic look. Then they limped through the open doorway, leaving the other two alone. 
In the time that it took for the others to gather themselves, Pomni had gotten noticeably quieter. Even still, she remained glued to her spot. 
Worry was etched into Ragatha’s face. She lowered herself, taking her place by Pomni’s side.

”Pomni… are you alright?” Her sincerity received no response, though by this point that was the expected response. 

Pomni gripped the end of her sweater firmly, pulling at the loose strings on the end and unraveling the knots that held the latter half of the garment together. 

“I know it hurts, I get it, we all do. But still…” Ragatha continued, regret beginning to squeeze its way into her tone.  

She paused for a moment, considering her next statement before it left her lips. “…Thank you.” 
Finally, Pomni lifted her head. She frowned at the other woman, face still damp, and cheeks smeared red before it was partially washed away by the influx of tears that followed.

”I know we don’t mean all that much to you, but I value my friends more than anything.” Ragatha turned away, tone shifting for a brief moment. “I don’t know what I’d do if any of them…” Ragatha found difficulty in finishing her statement, though it didn’t seem like she really had to. She turned back to the other woman, finding her voice again. “That’s why I’m grateful, for all that you’ve done. Thank yo-“

Before Ragatha could utter the last of her statement, Pomni lunged forward, arms outstretched. Ragatha jumped, but without time to move out of the way, Pomni collided with her. She yelped, looking back down at the other woman. Pomni squeezed her arms around the larger woman’s body, fingers intertwining at her back and squeezing her closer. Ragatha held her arms up, not quite sure how to handle the woman squeezing her at her waist. In the middle of her chest, her shirt began to feel more damp. Pomni lifted her head from Ragatha’s shirt to glance at her. 

From this small glimpse at Pomni, Ragatha found that whatever odd guesses as to what was happening that she’d conjured up in the moments prior had been incorrect.

Pomni wailed, tears having returned tenfold. Her eyes were puffy from all the water, and splotches of blood still remained on her cheeks. The rest had either been washed away by tears or smeared onto Ragatha’s shirt, though oddly enough, she didn’t seem to mind. A bit of snot trailed from Pomni’s nose, which was quickly sucked back up as she sniffled. She leaned back down into Ragatha’s chest, and her loud cries were muffled, muscles relaxed as she did so.

The annoyance that one might expect from such a revelation never came to Ragatha. She let her arms fall back down to her sides. A small smile graced her features, as she brought a hand up to smooth over the tangles in Pomni’s hair. The growing wet spot on her shirt didn’t seem so bad at the moment. 

Pomni squeezed harder, though the growing pressure was hardly an issue for Ragatha. She hummed lightly as she worked through the bigger tangles in Pomni’s hair, seemingly unconcerned with her crying. 

Ragatha could work with this. Everyone came to Ragatha for comfort. At one point or another everyone in their group had cried to Ragatha. And Ragatha, an empath to the very end, had no problem taking their grief upon herself. It was always what she’d been best at. 

This was nothing new.

A bold move for Pomni, but certainly not new, not for Ragatha at least.

In a way, Ragatha found comfort in Pomni’s grief. 

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

The rusty hinges squealed, as the door was pried open. It barely budged a few inches before getting caught on a snag, and getting stuck once again. A single thud pounded against the door, earning nothing but an echoing silence. 

Through the door, a figure slipped through the crack, his lab coat still stained with splotches of deep red, some were still dripping while the others began to flake away with every breath.  He was just barely able to squeeze through the open door, grunting as his boots landed among the rubble inside. 

Something crunched beneath the underside of his boots, and he shifted taking a step back to better view the interior. His arms brushed against the damp wall, further dirtying his coat with grime. He frowned, shuffling slightly from the wall and brushing up against his coat sleeves with gloved hands. 

Bits of it stuck to the latex. Not a problem, as they were easy to replace, simply an annoyance if anything. 

The floor was covered in bits of debris, which had been dislodged from the ceiling, and had found their new home on the floor. In their place, plants grew from the cracks in the ceiling, and sunlight shone through, partially illuminating the lab. 

A steady drip, just barely loud enough to be heard echoed out. Items on the countertops had been scattered and broken. Papers fanned out across the floor, ink smudged across the pages with the time they’d spent there. Shards of glass lay upon the floor, almost visible if not for the minimal amount of light the holes in the ceiling gave way. On one table, a leg had been partially busted through, leaving the tabletop leaning on an edge. Near the lower end of the broken table, everything atop it had crashed down, and remained that way ever since. 

Something shone on the floor, and the man adjusted forward to get a closer look. His boots protected him from the sharp rocks and shards of glass underfoot. Behind him, something else found its way through the open door, stepping precariously through the rubble in an effort to reach the man faster. 

He paid it no mind, leaning down as he reached the edge of the table. His gloved hands brushed against the sharp end of a scalpel, clearly uncleaned from the last time it had been used. The substance upon it had dried, and then corroded away into something unrecognizable from what it’d once been. Of course, knowing what went on here the man had a pretty solid guess on what it might be.

He let it drop from his hands again, clattering onto the floor and slipping between cracks until out of sight. The man continued on, finding his way to the discarded papers. The ink bled oddly, distorting the small printed letters and making them almost impossible to read. Even still, he went through the tedious process of scanning through them. 

From the text documents, he could find nothing of use or relevance due to the poor condition of the papers. Instead, he aimed for anything with pictures, as those would not so easily be smudged to the point of being completely indecipherable.

And it wasn’t long before he found what he was looking for. 

It was a page of computer paper. A single black and white image was printed onto it.
The MRI was— from everything he’d learned in his extensive research— quite strange. The brain was considerably smaller than what would be considered average, certainly worrying for whoever it had been for, though considering the current state of the world everyone’s life expectancies had been cut far too short anyway. 

In odd places, the MRI was dark, perhaps a sign of some sort of head injury prior to the scan? Either way, it didn’t look good for this person. At least, that's what most trained professionals might say. But he knew better than to call it a lost cause.

He handled it delicately, folding it up neatly in half a decent few times until it slid into his pocket without a problem. 

He shifted to his feet, careful to balance on the uneven ground. Insects skittered and darted between cracks in the walls, plants up above hanging precariously down into the old lab. 
It smelled strongly of rot, a scent he knew well by now. Were it not for the letters he’d received so long ago, he might’ve never known of the research his relative had been conducting here. And he would’ve never seen just how similar the two of them truly were.

Something was here, he was sure of it.

He eyed the door to the far end of the room. Deep scratches had been torn into the door, pulling up paint and wood chips from what had once been pristine. Next to it was a countertop, on which a sink had been installed. He found that from lack of use and proper care, it’d begun to grow mold. It rose up from the drain and extended outward, tainting what was supposed to be a place of hygiene.

He slipped his gloved hand over the doorknob and twisted. The door creaked open, and he peeked inside. 

He leaned forward inquisitive eyes scanning the dark room.
Then he flinched back, shock overtaking him. It was no wonder the putrid smell was so strong here.

And yet, he found the corners of his mouth twitching. Against his better judgment, he let the smile slip through. It was wide and unnerving, teeth on full display. His eyes scrunched up, giving the impression of someone experiencing true and wholehearted joy. 

He dipped a hand into his pocket, fishing out a notebook, which he’d used consistently for documentation in the past few years— despite the fact that there were rarely any developments within his studies worth documenting at all. 

His notes were extensive, beginning to reach into the last few pages. But instead of flipping all the way through, he opened up to the first few pages of the notebook. He’d filled them in with dark ink long ago, slightly smudged due to his haste when he’d first written them. 

He slipped a pen out from between the pages. He clicked the end, flicking across the page. Then in the margins, he added a small note. Then he flipped to the very end, scribbled down a quick note before he stumbled his way through the open door, and rushed further in for a better look.
His nose scrunched up as the smell became stronger once fully inside. Had he not been accustomed to the smells of corpses already, he might’ve regurgitated his last meal onto the dirty floors of the lab. 

The doctor leaned down to better assess the corpse which had laid rotting on the floor of the lab for nearly 3 years. Suddenly everything made so much more sense, and the reason for the sudden cease in communication between the two was so much more obvious. His only regret was not having come to visit sooner. The prolonged period between death and the body’s discovery left much of what happened to the imagination. 

In this room especially it was a complete mess. Remnants of a struggle were engraved into the furniture in the form of scratches and claw marks. A chair in the corner had been smashed to pieces and the shards left behind from a ceramic vase were splattered with red, unbefitting of the white and blue floral pattern that'd been painted onto it while it was still whole.

But most notably was a large notebook, filled only halfway and uncaringly discarded onto the floor, along with any other contents that the table may have once held.
He brushed his fingers against the leather casing and dug his nails into the spine as he stood to his full height to examine it. 

He flipped through the pages, watching as the documentation of the chaos and terror of the earliest days of the plague morphed into something far more insightful. He clung onto every syllable, watching as the beautiful script devolved into chicken scratch etched between boxes of grid paper. Revisions in the form of little sticky notes and crude sketches filled up empty space not taken up by his initial notations. 
One page held not words but a single drawing, this one more carefully drawn than the other small

sketches. He tore the rendition from the pages and folded it, the wide and fearful eyes of the drawing's subject were obscured beneath the creases of paper. He slipped it into the very first pages of his own notebook before dropping it into his coat pocket. The final pages were incomplete, not quite yet full with the revisions and notes of the previous. His final projects were never completed in his absence.

On the very last page, halfway through the letters came to an abrupt halt. Its white pages were stained with deep red splatters and a single bloody fingerprint in the bottom right of the page, which smeared down and then disappeared. 

He shut the book, slipping it under his arm as he headed away from the body and towards the door. He looked back at the gnawed bones, and selfishly took the research of someone he’d used to call a brother. Not an ounce of remorse filled his heart.

He smiled wide. 

Chapter Text

The morning was warm, a light breeze drifting across and sweeping up empty wrappers & old newspapers. Tattered curtains swayed from the gust, the jagged tears fluttered with each breath the wind took. Stains were permanently ingrained within the fabric. From an ajar window, left behind from the building's most recent residents, the breeze found its way inside, further cooling the already-dampened contents of the old apartment. Unfortunately, the residents that still resided within had no warmth left to be cooled. 

Ragatha rummaged through her bag for one last time before their departure, ensuring that nothing of value would be left behind within the building. Items were shoved around in the bag as she did so, rattling them further. 

Pomni rubbed her tired eyes, finding them to have been more irritated than usual when she’d woken up that morning. She’d slept longer than usual, having been the last one up that morning. In fact, her sleeping was a rarity on its own. She’d be hard-pressed to say her prolonged rest didn’t bother her. She mindlessly picked at the sleeves of her sweater, pulling loose pieces of yarn from the knit fabric. Slowly but surely, her sweater was beginning to get smaller. If she were her own, she may have replaced it. Pomni glanced towards the others, but unfortunately in her current circumstances, she wasn’t afforded such luxuries as the freedom to go wherever she pleased. 

She sighed, looking back towards the rest of the group. The constant rubbing left her vision blurry from the pressure, obscuring the finer details of their faces.

The girl’s cardigan was pulled taut around her waist in an effort to preserve warmth in the cool morning air, though it was a vast improvement from the frigid conditions of the days previous. Not that Pomni had many problems with the cold, but clearly this girl did. 

Two others stood a bit apart from her, bickering about something she chose not to pay any mind to. Despite how much they seemingly disliked being in each other's company, they talked quite often. Pomni had found that most of their conversations took on a more hostile tone, but the reason as to why was still unclear. She never looked further into it, as quite frankly Pomni would’ve found herself hard-pressed to say she cared at all.

The old man stood on his own not too far from the rest, seemingly conversing with nobody. She’d learned not to question this behavior, as the others never seemed to mind him. Though it did freak Pomni out at times. He’d made a habit of catching her off guard. He was unnaturally quiet at times…

And then there was Ragatha, who called the group in as she found herself reassured that everything necessary for the last leg of the journey was still within the confines of her bag. She had an uncanny ability to round people up, and get the focus on herself whenever need be. Pomni didn’t care for the majority of this strange group- for most she hardly even remembered their names -but Ragatha was an outlier. She sat uncategorized within Pomni’s mind, neither an enemy nor a friend. 

Pomni paid no attention to her words, finding that everything these people spoke was jumbled and weird. Their voices were hard to understand, and multiple times she found herself unable to decipher any meaning behind their gibberish.

“Pomni?”

Pomni snapped to attention, eyes widening just the slightest bit as she turned towards the figure. Ragatha had a gentle smile on her face, a look of reassurance that served to ease Pomni’s nerves just slightly. They looked mostly the same as always, the only major difference being that Gangle was being carried on Ragatha’s back.It was mostly due to her injury, which had been exacerbated by all the running she’d had to do yesterday. Ragatha didn’t seem to mind though, calm and collected as she always was.

“Lead the way.”

Pomni yawned, making her way to the front of the group.

Every step she took was religiously followed, a reminder of the knowledge that Pomni held over the heads of this group. There was chatter from behind, noticeably quieter than back at the apartments. Every so often the conversation would be silenced with a “shhh”, though to Pomni the purpose was defeated since the noise was in and of itself louder than their words previous to it. Each time the conversation would shortly pick back up, the volume naturally rose no matter what they did to prevent it.

Again, the meaning of their words was lost on her. Being noisy in such a place was absurd. Unless they didn’t know…?

Pomni chewed the inside of her cheek and wrung her fingers through each other. They were trusting her not to lead them astray, and there was an odd sense of guilt that pooled in her chest. Pomni was sure that if she let her diaphragm push the air up and out of her lungs it would leave her mouth as 3 fatal words of warning. 

She sucked it down.

It wouldn’t be her fault if something bad happened. 

And suddenly, her weight shifted as a hand locked onto her shoulder. She barely had time to scream as she was thrown back. She landed on her ass at the side of the road. Then another pair of hands, just as sudden as the last pulled her further back. Pomni found herself at the center of a tight huddle behind an old car. Ragatha found her way to Pomni’s side. Using her height to peek up and through the shattered windows of the car. 

She nodded back to the group, and they all ducked down further, pushing Pomni closer to the ground than they’d already been before.

Pomni held her breath tightly, not for fear of what walked through the street, but for what didn’t. She’d forgotten how warm people were, though she was reminded any time Ragatha had the nerve to touch her. Not that she was completely opposed to the feeling, but being squeezed into such a tight space so quickly. She didn’t like it, not at all.

She brought a hand up, clamping down on her mouth, trying to hold it in. The warmth still lingered from the invasive hand upon her shoulder, and even if the contact was for just for a moment it had felt prolonged simply by the memory. It was uncomfortable, almost suffocating. She sharply inhaled, cool air in and cool air out. Pomni kept as still as possible.

From behind, somewhere out of sight, there was a low gurgling. Not just one voice, but a symphony of unorganized, cracking, and popping voices. It sounded as if the sound had to be squeezed from their throats, leaving cracked lips as an incoherent grumble. As they walked there was a sickening crack. Joints cracked and twisted oddly, just barely supporting their weight. They clawed their way forward, past them and up the street. 

As the sound got farther, the group slowly expanded outward and away from each other. Pomni felt like she could breathe again, and took the opportunity to do so. She sharply inhaled, and shakily exhaled.

Ragatha wiped the sweat from her brow, slumping over as she eased her tense muscles. 

“Is everyone okay?” she whispered. 

There was no verbal response to the question, but a series of nods told her everything she needed to know. Pomni took the short moment to collect herself. She leaned against the car, using it as leverage to prop herself up. She brought a hand up and pushed her tangled hair out of her face. A few loose strands swung back down as she did so, which served to irritate her as she blew it out of her eyes.

From behind, a hand brushed up against her shoulder. Pomni flinched away from the contact. Zooble raised a hand, a sign that they were no threat. Pomni already knew they were no threat of course, but in that moment it soothed her nerves. They nodded her in the direction they’d been heading before, and the message was received. She rubbed a hand against her arm, the sweater brushing against her arm as she did so. Pomni took a few more steps forward before her stride once again became steady.

The group shuffled forward, taking shorter steps to accommodate for Pomni’s admittedly slower pace. 

Up above, clouds began to bunch overhead. Every so often the clouds would cross paths with the sun, and momentarily deprive them of its light and warmth. Pomni was hardly bothered by the slight change in temperature, and she continued onward. 

They weren’t far now.

There was no light banter of which to speak of anymore, the group had gone completely silent. The occasional zombie passed by, more often than what was comfortable. Something sticky squelched beneath Pomni’s bare feet and she cringed, cautiously taking a step back. The unidentifiable substance stuck to the sole of her foot. She dragged her foot across the curb in an attempt to rid herself of it.

“Maybe you should get some shoes?” Someone suggested. Their tired eyes met her own wide eyes. She tilted her head slightly.

“Y’know, since this city is so fucking disgusting maybe you shouldn’t walk around barefoot.” Zooble continued. 

Pomni shook her head no. She brushed the dirt from her soiled pants, offering little explanation past that. 

Sparing no time, she continued walking. Pomni was acutely aware of the stares digging into her back, only breaking the contact for a brief moment to shuffle back into the line they’d been walking in previously. Zooble grumbled something under their breath, but dropped the topic just as quickly as they’d picked it up. 

Up ahead, another horde was staggering down the street, and this time Pomni made sure not to let herself be taken by surprise. She only staggered for a brief moment, before she began walking again, keeping her pace steady. In contrast, the others slowed their stroll, discomfort, and uncertainty filling the air. Ragatha took a step back, and her grip on her weapon steadily tightened.

Pomni slowed as she realized she wasn’t being trailed anymore. Her brows knit, and despite her silent hand gestures ushering them forward, no one budged. She looked back to the horde, about 20 or so undead steadily approaching, having not yet noticed them only thanks to their dulled senses. It wasn’t an unusually large amount for this part of the city, in fact, she generally considered this to be a smaller-sized horde. Then again, the discomfort this clearly brought her companions certainly could not be overlooked. 

Pomni sighed, she waved to them and their attention was now split between her and the horde up ahead. She took a few steps back, coming closer to the buildings as she did so. She ran a nail across the wall, letting it slide across the mortar between the individual bricks. Her fingertip hit the corner, and her entire body pivoted with it, slipping into an alleyway. The cold concrete of the sidewalk was replaced with slimy mud, creating a squelching sound as it pressed into the soles of her feet. Every time her foot was lifted, mud would pull up with it, sticking to her feet. All the while, bits of glass scattered about scratched at her feet as she walked. Were it not for the stabilizing hand against the wall, she might’ve slipped in the mud.

The others peaked into the alleyway, gazes following her even as their feet did not. Jax frowned skeptically. This was a dead end. Pomni wobbled and teetered in the mud, nearing the dead end more with every step. Despite thinking hard on it, he could not determine any reason Pomni would want to approach the dumpster at the end of the alleyway— Unless maybe she planned to sleep in it.

The next person to take a gamble with the alleyway was Kinger. He did not have the same hesitation as the others, thanks in no small part to his utter and complete lack of rationality. Zooble went to grab him, but found that he’d already ventured out of reach, following Pomni without question. But just before Pomni reached the end of the alleyway she paused.

From just up ahead in the streets there was a gurgling noise, followed by a groan. One audible voice became many and filled the air. They turned to find the horde was much closer than before, dangerously so. Without a second thought, Ragatha roughly took Jax and Zoobles wrist’s into her grasp, and with Gangle on her back, she dragged all three of them into the alleyway. Jax harshly protested with a few choice words which she chose to ignore, there were more pressing issues at the moment. 

Pomni had repositioned herself in the middle of the alleyway, pointing upward, oblivious to the horde about to round the corner. Ragatha followed her finger, and her eyes landed upon an old balcony, once used as a fire escape. It did not reach the ground, as the ladder that should allow access to it was held in place by a rusted chain. Certainly no good for safely escaping the building, and certainly no good for getting into the building.

A rotten hand latched onto the end of the alleyway, and a figure staggered into the alleyway. Panic overtook the group, well all except Pomni and Kinger, the two were completely oblivious…

Jax reached over, snatching the gun right from Ragatha’s grasp. She barely had time to utter a word as he aimed and fired, filling the alleyway with a loud bang. Everyone winced at the sound, not helped as the chain holding the ladder— which had just been shot— flew into pieces. The ladder came crashing down, the old metal screeching as it did so. It stopped with a jolt just above the muddied ground. Jax thrust the gun back into Ragatha’s arms, wasting no time before he began scurrying up the ladder. Catching on fast, Zooble grabbed onto Kinger’s arm, urging the old man to climb behind them as they trailed Jax. 

With the dead closing in fast, Ragatha stumbled to grab onto the ladder, weight distributed oddly as she’d never climbed carrying someone on her back before. She sloppily grabbed onto the bars and hoisted herself up. Gangle squeaked and held on as tight as she could. Their progression up the ladder was much slower than all the others, who were already pulling themselves onto the balcony. 

Kinger turned, reaching an arm out to grab at them as the dead approached far too quickly for comfort. Zooble took a place by the man’s side, and together they awkwardly hoisted Gangle up from Ragatha’s back. Her knees accidentally hit Ragatha in the head, and she groaned as she was forced face-first into a metal bar. She squeaked, muttering out apologies too rushed to properly hear.

At the bottom of the ladder sat Pomni. She hung onto the rungs waiting for Ragatha to give her the room she needed to ascend. The zombies converged on her, though the sting of a bite did not greet her. They smelled of putrid filth, and were she not used to the scent she might’ve gagged. Their hands came upon her, not to pull her closer but to use her as leverage, as the corpses uselessly attempted to grab at the warm flesh of the living above. Pomni pushed for room, and using the minimal space on the ladder she scooched upward. As Ragatha finally made it onto the balcony, she followed closely behind, kicking at grabbing hands that brushed against her ankles. She scrambled onto the balcony, aided by warmer hands that lifted her. 

The uncomfortable rusty and peeling metal of the fire escape rubbed against her pants, staining them with the same grime that coated the balcony. She rubbed at her clothes and wiped at her ankles, trying to rub off their stench.

Ragatha leaned closer and Pomni flinched back at their proximity. 

“Are you alright? You didn’t get bitten did you?” She questioned.

Pomni frowned as Ragatha grabbed her wrists to inspect them. Her fingers lightly brushed over her scarred palms, sharp nails fully coming into view. Little slashes were abundant, and for the first time since they’d met, it occurred to Ragatha that she knew nothing of this woman, nor what she’d done during the years before they’d met. 

Her fingers clipped onto the sleeve of her sweater, pushing it upward. Long jagged lines were etched into her skin and running up and down her arms. The cuts were still reddened and soft, not scabbed over like she would’ve thought. She pushed the sleeve further-

Pomni yanked back her arm violently, smoothing her sleeve back over her arm. She shrunk back, away from Ragatha. She held her arm close, almost as if she was scared Ragatha might snatch it away.

Ragatha turned away, shame apparent in her expression as she remembered once again that she was nothing more than a stranger. “...Sorry Pomni.”

Pomni shook her head, lips parting for just a moment. A puff of air left her lips, and for a moment she contemplated something. Then she closed them again.

“That was too close,” Zooble complained. “Is this really how the rest of our time in the city is gonna be?”

“Seems like it,” Jax chimed in “especially since our guide isn’t the best.”

If Pomni had noticed the pointed insult, she’d chosen to ignore it. 

“Be nice, Jax.” Ragatha scolded, too exhausted to really put her energy into it.

“Well, there's no place to go but up!” Kinger chimed in unhelpfully.

He began climbing the steps, waving for the others to come with. He didn’t wait for a response as he began moving to the next balcony

“Come back, we shouldn’t split up!” Ragatha called.

“Then come with.” He smiled.

Ragatha sighed, muttering something to Zooble. After a moment’s hesitation, they reluctantly followed him. 

Gangle grabbed onto the railing, leaning over and peering down into the sea of bodies below. Their forms twitched oddly, sputtering and gasping. With emaciated frames and devastating injuries, they reached for her, calling out almost. Their myopic eyes rolled in the sockets, before eventually settling onto her, and with toothy grins, they muttered words incomprehensible to her. 

She squeaked, leaning back in. Their smell was so putrid she could almost taste it. Just the thought made her gag. 

Even after all this time her eyes still watered at the sight of corpses. 

︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

 The bridge was massive, and from start to end it was packed with vehicles. Cars and trucks, all of different shapes and sizes left to rot on that old bridge. It was out of the way enough that the few living corpses were easily evaded. Jax led the charge, gun still within grasp. After his near-death encounter, he took great joy in shooting them down so that the group could pass through. 

Zooble grumbled about something unimportant as they walked, beginning to feel a familiar ache in the soles of their feet. Directly at the center of their soles, there was a stabbing pain that shot up every time they took a step. It was inconvenient enough that they’d taken to balancing on the sides of their feet, but even this came with its own downsides. 

Pomni walked by their side, though neither took notice of the other. She studied her palm intently, noting the roughness of her hands. She couldn’t recall the last time they’d felt soft, but she knew her fingertips hadn’t always been so rough. She pressed a sharp nail into her palm, tracing the grooves in her hands lightly. When she once again found herself drawn to the center, she pressed harder. She felt the pressure, but not the pain that should’ve followed when she broke the surface. A small drop of red pooled in her palm. She licked it away without a second thought.

In her inattentiveness, she didn’t notice the tire in her path. Her foot caught on the rubber edge, and she subsequently face-planted onto the pavement. The others turned back, and from up above she could hear Jax laughing at her. Footsteps approached, and she peaked up to look at Kinger.

He looked down with a mild interest.

“Y’know, you should really watch where you’re going Pomni” Kinger noted, having forgotten about all the other times he’d bumped into things and tripped that day.

He held out a hand, a kind smile forming on his face. She sat up, brushing dirt and debris from her face. The corners of her lips quirked downward, which was in stark contrast to Kinger’s friendly expression. She put her hands on the ground, hauling herself up. She shooed Kinger’s hand away, continuing walking. He seemed confused, though the feeling was quickly eclipsed as a pretty white butterfly fluttered past him. 

At the end of the bridge, the street was at a downward slant, heavy concrete walls blocking the road off at either end as the road transferred from bridge to land. In this way, they were not able to peek over the edge and glimpse the water below. 

Further down the street, zombies pooled, walking aimlessly. The amount of zombies they’d seen before was incomparable to now. They were absolutely everywhere. Flooding the streets and spilling out of open windows. Wedged under crashed cars– and if they’d looked– flooding the shoreline. 

Pomni slipped into an alleyway, letting Jax dispatch of the zombies in their path fairly quickly. Pomni infrequently found herself actively avoiding the hordes when she was on her own, so thinking of a clear path proved difficult for her. This dilemma was not helped by the added problem of constantly moving hordes. The hordes in this part of the city were far larger than any the group may have come into contact with previously, so in that regard they were ill-prepared. 

The six of them would have to be careful where they stepped.

Pomni stuck close to alleyway walls, peeking her head out to glance at the hordes. The group was lucky today, as it seemed that at least in this area the hordes were thinner than usual. She waved for them to follow, as they stepped out onto the streets. Bullets would attract far too much attention in this area, so guns were swapped out for pocket knives. They ducked down low, slashing at any undead who happened to stray too close.

Slowly but surely, the group was steadily advancing up the street. Jax twitched with irritation, the snail’s pace they were going at bugging him more than he’d care to admit. In contrast, Zooble’s sour mood began to dissipate, the slow movements allowing for longer periods of rest, and nursing the ache in their feet. 

From up ahead, another undead began to approach. It broke away from the cold horde as it noticed the sounds coming from behind a nearby car, fully intending to steal the warmth from whatever lay behind it. It was hardly given the chance as it rounded the corner. A warm hand snatched at the back of it’s collar, tugging the zombie low to the ground. The back of it’s skull smacked against the pavement, and before it could even attempt to bite, the chipped end of a pocket knife painfully lodged itself into the creature’s neck. It pulled away from the flesh with a sickening rip, and from the open wound, a few drops of blood began to dribble. The wound then started to pour as Jax carelessly tossed the body away. 

He turned back to the group, wiping the grime from his palms with disgust as he muttered “So what now?”

All eyes turned to Pomni, who choked down her anxiety at that moment. She popped her head out from behind the vehicle, raising a finger to direct their attention to the other side of the street. 

A set of stairs led downward, beneath the pavement and out of sight. Railings surrounded the stairs on three sides, with a fourth far less permanent gateway carelessly tossed in front of the last open side. The ineffective barrier wouldn’t give them much trouble getting down the stairs, the real problem was reaching them in the first place. 

By sticking to the sidewalk and ducking behind vehicles they were able to slip down the street quite uneventfully, but crossing it might prove more difficult. Zombies occupied the street as far as Pomni could see, and while the horde was moving, it would probably be a while before the street was empty enough to allow safe passage. For now, their best option was to wait. (Or throw someone out as bait so the rest were allowed safe passage, which was also an option, though she wasn’t sure how well the group would take to that.)

Pomni stood, quietly letting herself into the closest building she could find. It was all windows, and honestly, it was a miracle the store-front hadn’t been smashed to pieces yet. The store was slightly humid. Past the counter and front windows, the store was actually fairly large. Clothes of all different colors, shapes, and sizes had been abandoned within the store. They were everywhere, falling off hangers and strewed onto the floor as far as the eye could see. She cautiously stepped over a floral patterned dress, only to accidentally smear a pink shirt with  dirt that still stubbornly clung to the bottom of her feet.

The rest of the group followed her inside cautiously. Jax unceremoniously plopped down into a pile of dusty clothes, sighing at how nice it felt to lay down after having walked all day. Ragatha set Gangle down onto the counter, who offered her a nervous smile and shyly thanked her for carrying her all the way here. Ragatha shrugged it off, walking further into the store to find a good spot for their things. 

Zooble joined Gangle on the counter, wasting no time voicing their concerns about their current surroundings.

”Should we be in here? I mean- don’t get me wrong, being in here is way better than being outside-“, they stuck a thumb out and motioned to streets beyond the windows, “but wouldn’t we be cornered if that horde notices us? I mean we’re pretty hard to miss when there’s more windows than walls in this place.”

Kinger pipped up, turning his head to face Zooble after he set his stuff down near a knocked over pile of graphic tees. “No, it should be fine. From what I can tell the majority of zombies have pretty bad eyesight, so the chances of one spotting us from in here are pretty low. As long as we’re quiet enough that they don’t hear us, everything should be fine. Right, Pomni?”

Pomni startled at the mention of her name, dropping the t-shirt in her hands out of shock. She spun around to face him, tilting her head in confusion. He took no notice of her, continuing what he was doing previously without another word. 

She frowned, turning to fetch the t-shirt from the floor. On the front of it, a happy cartoon dog was printed onto the fabric. Or at least— it looked happy to her. It was a white dog with black scribbled onto the ears and nose, and Pomni could’ve sworn this wasn’t the first time she’d seen him. A little yellow bird flew not too far from the dog. 

Pomni tossed it aside. Cute as the shirt was, the lack of sleeves made things difficult. She wandered to the opposite side of the store, tugging thick sweaters off their hangers to get a better look at them. 

After her fourth shirt tossed aside, Jax spoke up from his spot among the garments. “What, you’re looking for new clothes? Yeah, you could use the wardrobe change.” He said judgmentally, eyeing her up and down before quietly adding, “and it might help with the smell.”

She paused, letting his words soak in, before she turned back to him just the slightest bit peeved. She let her annoyance show through. Pomni stuck her tongue out at him, tossing the sweater in her hands onto his head. She turned back to the sweaters, ignoring his stifled laughter beneath the fabric.  

What finally caught her eye was a plain red sweater which— upon first glance— looked just a little bit too big for her. Though considering how scrawny she was, that could probably be said for most clothes she tried on. Pomni had never been a fan of particularly bright colors, but she had to admit that she did love this color red. And considering how grimy her current sweater was, maybe she was in order for a replacement. She turned her attention to her leggings. They were comfortable, but not particularly warm. And on top of that they were ripped in numerous places as well. If she was replacing one, it was probably best to replace the other. 

She staggered over to the wall opposite to where she’d found the red sweater–which was now sitting tucked under her arm–and she shifted onto her toes and leaned up awkwardly to claw at the edge of a neatly folded stack of jeans. The sharp ends of her nails were scratchy on the denim, which slowly shifted just a smidge more with every little prod and poke. Finally, she watched as the pile began to wobble, sent out of balance by her hands. Though she’d failed to anticipate that the pile had nowhere to go except down, something she quickly realized as the jeans fell onto her head, then slipping to the ground.

She blinked, lowering herself to her knees to grab at the now much messier pile of pants on the floor. Picking up a pair by the pant leg, she slipped it under her arm as well and let the other leg drag behind her as she slipped into one of the changing rooms. She let the garments plop down onto an old bench. She pulled at the curtains, which slid quite poorly and almost didn’t close at all.

She turned back in the now secluded dressing room, finding that her sweatshirt had slipped down onto the floor in the few seconds she’d turned her attention elsewhere. She frowned, picking it up and shaking it out. The soft fabric offered nothing but dust, much to her relief. 

Pomni balled it up, taking one more good look at it before jumping as her eyes locked onto a second pair staring her down.

She scrambled back, nearly screaming as her heart rate skyrocketed. 

Only to fall again as she realized it was only her reflection in the mirror. Pomni stared into the mirror, and the same wide-eyed and pale face stared back. She watched as her reflection untensed, the same as she did. Slowly, she came closer to the mirror, watching as her reflection did the same. She brushed her fingers against the glass, and from the other side, the same clawed hands came to meet her own. She tilted her head, and for the first time in a while, she inspected her reflection. 

Her cheeks were gaunt and her skin was pale and sickly-looking. She blinked slowly. Her eyes were big and watery, and it looked as if she was only a few seconds away from letting all her unshed-tears flow out. Her eyes were different than she remembered, her once pretty blue eyes having been tainted with a few darker specks of brown spread throughout. Her eyes had clouded just the tiniest bit, the dark of her pupils just beginning to bleed into the iris. She now understood why her vision had become so poor in the past few months. 

She lowered her myopic eyes back down to the sweater safely cradled between her arms. She set it down, more carefully than before. Then, she took the hem of her shirt between her hands, and lifted them up and over her head. Cool air hit her skin and for a brief moment, she shivered. Pomni let the shirt slip to the ground as her reflection in the mirror caught her eye. 

It’d been a while since she’d seen herself. Deep scars and little gashes were all across her chest and arms, the largest of which began at her right shoulder and descended down to her left hip.  Despite how gruesome the injuries looked, they never caused her any pain. Most injuries didn’t. 

She snatched up the sweater on the chair, slipping into it with ease due to how big it was on her. It engulfed her hands, only leaving her fingertips visible. She preferred it this way though, as you would never be able to see the state of her body through her shirt.

Pomni exchanged her pants just as easily as she had her shirt, noting the scars that engulfed her legs as well. The pants were far too big, and the cuffs bunched up around her feet. She found herself stepping over the ends of her pants as she walked. Pomni wasn’t sure how much she liked these pants, but when she caught sight of her old torn-up leggings on the ground, she made up her mind fairly quickly.

She slipped back through the curtains and back out into the store.

All of her companions had disbanded into different corners of the store, eager to enjoy the fleeting moment of rest that their pit stop offered. She too decided the best way to spend the time was to rest, as she had been feeling quite tired since they’d crossed the bridge.

Pomni found a soft pile of clothes to lay in, just near enough to the door that she could see Ragatha’s red hair as she sat pressed up against the glass, occasionally turning to get a glimpse of the street. Pomni let her eyes slip shut, and shifted to get comfortable. 

For a few hours, she drifted in and out of consciousness. She could hardly call it proper rest, but it was the best nap she’d gotten in a while. The thing to fully snap her awake, was the sound of Ragatha’s voice, calling to the group as the street had finally cleared of the undead. The sun had set, and the sky overhead was now dark.

Pomni sat up, her joints popping as she stretched them for the first time in a few hours. Despite the comfort a bit of rest should’ve brought her, it didn’t. With her newfound awareness, she finally noticed the emptiness of her stomach. How long had it been since her last meal? She wasn’t sure, but the low gurgling of her stomach cued her in that it’d been far too long. 

Pomni frowned, shifting to her feet and stumbling her way to the door, fighting against the cuffs of her jeans the whole way there. She eyed the stairs across the street, a clear path having been revealed to them with the departure of the undead. Ragatha smiled at her, making some offhand comment about her clothes that she no longer had the patience to pretend to be interested in. 

Pomni bit at the dead skin on her lips, and sighed. The air passed by her lips just as cold as it had entered.