Nate came to a realization that he would be better off learning some things from Erlina and he found it quite fascinating. Not only was it because he wanted to help her but from the looks and sounds of things, she was just the person he needed as some sort of support. Although she was just a child, she was rank with potential and he couldn't forgive himself if he were to let her wander to a premature death. With Erlina more than ready, she followed closely behind Nate as he made his way out into the collapsed hallway. The side in which they were on still had a substantial amount of uncollapsed flooring, so they weren't in any dire need to be too heedful about their movements and they could walk around freely.
Erlina's eyes were attracted to the locked door of the nurses' office once again. Before she could step a foot closer, Nate advised her to stand a good distance away. Initially thinking he was going to waste a bullet, Erlina saw that Nate had a better idea. He grabbed hold of his gun and practically pistol-whipped the window, breaking it with ease. Before the broken shards of glass could shatter into more pieces upon impact, Nate aimed his gun through the window and pointed it around the interior of the office. Sure, they hadn't heard anything from the outside but it didn't hurt to be sure.
Alarmed by the noise, the whining Stalker down below managed to crawl a fair foot away and became far more neurotic when it heard the shattering of the glass,
"Can that thing shut up?!" Nate rhetorically asked, sounding frustrated.
"Got it," Erlina claimed.
She prepped her bow and arrow and aimed down at the level before them. Taking gravity into consideration, she released the bowstring and fired the twirling arrow into the face of the Stalker—an easy shot due to the Infected's immobility,
"You had a lot of practice with that thing?" Nate question.
"A bit," Erlina responded.
"They do say kids learn quicker..." Nate sighed, taking his impression as a sign of inferiority.
Reaching inside, through the opening, he unlocked the door from inside and pushed it open. Stepping aside, he left the rest to her while he waited beside the door frame,
"...who said that?" Erlina asked curiously, putting her bow away.
Without expecting an answer, Erlina entered the office and felt the glass crunch underneath her feet despite attempting to take a massive step over them. Once she entered the office, Erlina began to turn the office inside-out without much prompt. She dropped things onto the floor, shoved things aside, and from how things were looking, she wasn't having much luck. She didn't come all this way for nothing—there had to be something. Walking further into the office, she pushed aside an office chair leading into a bathroom. Entering, the first thing she did was open up the mirrored cabinet and the bottom cupboards beneath the sink. There wasn't much of anything except for a couple of painkillers and a half-used bottle of disinfectant. Although it was a much better find than the previous rooms, it wasn't enough. She tightened the caps beforehand and made sure they were properly sealed before shoving it to the bottom of her bag.
"Did you find anything yet?" she heard Nate call out from the outside.
"Yeah," she replied, unsure whether to be satisfied or not, "Just no stitches..." she added.
Closing up her bag, she unenthusiastically made her way back to the exit of the nurse's office. Outside in the hallway, she noticed Nate maneuvering himself out of the room, opposite their initial classroom, with a tall, thick plank in hand. Setting it down, it reached one edge of the collapsed hallway to the other. After some minor adjustments, Nate began teetering over the plank like he had done it a million times before. Once he successfully reached the other side, Erlina was allowed to safely follow.
"How'd you know that was in there?"
"I didn't. At least, not until I made the jump," Nate enlightened, "I searched around here earlier and I guess someone used to regularly come in and out of here...but I don't think they made it either. There's a dead body in that room. The plank was in there with them, so..."
This was the first time Erlina had something like this. The plank had a slight bend to it but if it could support adults going back and forth on it, she believed it could support her without a doubt. Refraining to look down at all costs, she kept her eyes on Nate and swiftly made her way to the other side.
Already starting off before she could officially make it to the other side, Nate turned away and began to briskly walk towards the emergency stairways since the regular staircases weren't an option after the first level. Nate slowly opened the door, trying to prevent making even the slightest sound. To Erlina, Nate was far more paranoid than she was, but she understood that he had just been through hell and that it was ultimately a good tactic since one could never be too careful. He listened closely from atop the stairs and looked down through to all levels. As far as he knew, Stalkers weren't even this quiet, so Nate gave themselves the green light to resume moving. Erlina followed, slowly letting the door close behind them. As they both ran down the stairs, instead of continuing until they reached the ground level, Nate stopped at the first level and approached the door. Assuming the adult had better judgment, Erlina didn't bother questioning aloud although she pondered on his actions.
Taking the lead, Nate went ahead of her and carefully opened the door, looking around to make sure that the Stalker wasn't present with friends. Confirming that the floor was vacant, he halted around the middle of the corridor and led Erlina to a door labeled 'art room'. Having no recollection of this being part of the escape plan, Erlina held back for a few minutes,
"...Why are we here?" she questioned, sounding quite skeptical.
"It's the art room," he responded, grasping the knob. Just like the previous office, the door was locked. Doing the same he did with the nurses' office, he shattered the windows, "Maybe there's something in here that can help," he suggested. Unfortunately, the door was barricaded by some tall fixtures and shelves. However, that wasn't the only surprise—there were dozens of microscopic spores. The amount wasn't too overwhelming but Nate jumped back like never before, pulling Erlina back a safe distance with him. As per request, Erlina placed on her gas mask just as Nate did and approached the door once again. Unlocking the knob from the inside, Nate opened the door but was only allowed to get an opening about three inches wide, "Come here," he beckoned Erlina over, "Help me with this."
Erlina firmly stood beside him and they both got to work, pushing the door with all their might. She might have been much smaller but the additional help was all that was really needed to get inside. From where they stood, they could see the stacks of school desks and miscellaneous objects tumble to the floor. Nate complimented Erlina for her support and once they both pushed the door wide enough for both of them to squeeze through, Nate went first without question. Considering that it was his idea to come here in the first place, it made sense. Erlina followed as she watched him wander into the classroom and just as she was slightly through, Nate was surprised by something from behind. Erlina froze and watched as the random Infected bum-rushed him into a collapsed chalkboard. As fearful as Erlina was, she had to keep this guy around if it meant getting out of here alive or getting whatever it was he was after. Carefully squeezing through, she quickly equipped both her bow and arrow and prepared to aim it but something odd happened,
"NO! WAIT!" Nate shouted looking directly at her. A moment's hesitation was never tolerated in situations like this but she did it anyway, mostly from a poor understanding of why Nate seemed to be so opposed to her killing it. Without even being able to process it, she was randomly tackled from the side as well by a much bigger Infected. She shrieked, being surprised by an older male Infected as well, "NO! DAMN IT!" Nate shouted.
This time, Erlina was sure that the reaction was certainly a response to her attack. Simultaneously, her bow fell out of her hand as her small body was violently jerked into a corner. She yelped in pain as her shoulder and head bumped into some pretty defined corners of an old, worn-out bookshelf, where books and pages rained on top of them both upon the impact that caused the shelf to slightly rocked back and forth. Thankfully due to their lack of intelligence, the sheets of paper threw off the Infected's concentration. Still wielding an arrow in hand, she took it as an opportunity to pierce the Infected in the side. Temporarily stunned, it was ruled ineffective seeing that it let out a deafening scream before pouncing back on her yet again.
This time, Erlina was weaponless and becoming easily overpowered by the male Infected, weighing almost close to nothing compared to it. Just when Erlina thought she was going to have her face chomped by it's watering mouth, she heard gunshots. Soon afterward, Erlina's opponent let out more roars as two bullets were put into its back. Given the chance, Nate yanked the Runner off of Erlina and pushed it away. Weakened but still staunch, it attempted to run after Nate, whom Erlina was now taking cover behind.
Nate didn't bother giving the Infected a chance to grab him and, instead, pushed it back a couple of times. Erlina kept her distance at this point, observing Nate consistently thrust back the Infected like he was playing with it. And the more he pushed it back, it would return to him even weaker. It went on up until the Runner was faltering to all fours. Finally, Nate watched as the Runner fell to a crawl and still fought to get his targets. This time Nate fell to his knees, aggressively holding down the Infected almost as if it were a rabid pet. Nate watched on painfully, mumbling words Elrina couldn't make out before he finally decided to very hesitantly put the monstrous brute out of its misery.
Standing from afar, Erlina took his reactions into question. Even though she didn't know him from a can of paint, she thought it was unusual for Nate to be even more speechless after the effort it took for him to get himself out of the office.
"Nate…?" Erlina watched on in perplexion.
"Yeah?" he sniffled, keeping himself faced away from her. Feeling somewhat judged by her burning gazes, he cleared his throat and continued searching the room. What made it even more bizarre was that he was pretending to be so unfazed by what just occurred—no matter what the situation, it wasn't normal for someone to just bounce back from such a surprisingly intense moment that could've very well taken their lives. Verifying a single bullet left in his gun, he placed it back into his pocket, "Sorry about that," he apologized, "Gonna look around for a bit..." he announced. Erlina remained in place as Nate continued searching around from drawers to dismantled book shelves. Finally, Nate let it be known that he stumbled across his unknown treasure, "Here we go," he said, sounding more elated than before. In his hand, he held up and showcased a thinning roll of fuchsia-colored sewing thread.
"Uh," Erlina eased her way towards him, "What's that for?"
"Nylon thread," Nate enlightened, "Not ideal but...they work for stitching. A regular needle will do," he claimed almost as if it was from experience. Nate seemed to be far more experienced in things that Erlina could ever imagine to be, so she wasn't going to doubt his word. Standing a fair distance apart, he tossed it towards her, "Come on, let's get out of here."
After Erlina stuffed the roll of thread into her crossbody-bag, she approached the corpse in which her arrow was still impaled. She yanked it clean out of the Runner's side and cleaned the head before placing it back into her quiver. After making sure that her bow was still intact, she buckled up her bag and prepared to exit the room. However, Nate seemed preoccupied with the Runners lying lifelessly about in the spore-filled room,
"Are you coming?" Erlina inquired as she was preparing herself to return to the hallway.
He was probably okay with it, but luckily for him, Nate's expressions were unreadable underneath his gas mask.
"Uh, can you..." he took a break mid-sentence, almost like he gave a hard swallow, "Do you mind giving me a second?"
Taking into account the weight gain of her bag, Erlina couldn't wait to have the time to boast about the success of her findings. Although she virtually found everything she needed, it was important to remind herself that she wasn't out of the woods just yet. Now, Erlina was wrestling on what to do next. She had yet to get herself out of this spore-infested building and as selfish as it may have seemed, now wasn't the best time for him to be dealing with whatever it was he was dealing with. Just then, Nate exited the art room, unintentionally giving Erlina a startle from the shutting of the door. The pairs' eyes briefly met through the lenses of the masks and Nate looked down, almost ashamed,
"Sorry about that," he apologized. Erlina didn't respond but only because she didn't know how to. She knew something was affecting Nate internally, for whatever reason, but it wasn't any of her business and he respected her desire to not touch the subject any further, "Thanks for not leaving me. Ready to go?"
Upon the retrieval of a nod, the two got a move on with Nate taking the lead. Since the two were closest to the regular flight of stairs that Erlina initially made her way up, they decided to make their way down those instead. Since it was the one path Erlina was familiar with, it sounded promising—until they both heard a disruptive shatter. Nate immediately froze and looked up at Erlina, bringing his finger to his lips. As they listened closely, they could hear the familiar croaks of a Clicker, prompting Erlina's grip to tighten around the railings as she slowed down behind Nate. Standing on the quarter landing that led to the base level of the buildings, Nate noticed the broken glass of the chapel doors spread all over the floors. Not only did glass scatter, but the sealed in spores did as well, doubling the amount that was initially there. From the jump, Erlina knew it was the trapped Clicker she saw earlier.
Just then, the Clicker revealed themselves after cowering from the sidelines, surprising both of them with its careless movements. Although it was the norm, there was no amount of time that could ever get someone used to them. So the high-pitched gasp that escaped Erlina's interior was enough to alarm the Clicker. To be sure, it appeared to be listening around for them. They may have seemed senseless but they weren't completely robbed of it—their common sense was merely exchanged for something else. They were always calculating and the shuffling of Nate and Erlina's fumbling feet caused it to quickly turn and roar at them,
"SHIT!" Nate screeched, arming himself with his pistol.
Upon pulling the trigger, nothing was expelled from it. Although it was hugely unadvised to engage in physical combat with a Clicker, Nick prepared himself to pistol-whip it to death. Due to the layered plates of fungus all over its body, a regular beat down would be a lot harder to take effect. However, thanks to Erlina's quick thinking, she removed an arrow from her quiver and shot the Infected down before it had the chance to make it within three feet of them. An arrow to the face allowed its body to slightly jerk back and lift its feet into the air as it tumbled back down the stairs. Nate didn't freeze up and was more than sure that he had some sort of plan, but he was more than thankful to have the talented archer at his side. Not only did he want to compliment her quick-thinking but he also wanted to express his gratitude, however, something cut his positive thoughts short—Loud and aggressive pounds were coming from deep within the chapel,
"What the hell...?" Nate questioned aloud as he slowly made his way down the stairs. Once their feet fully touched the base level, they quietly walked to a section of the corridor where different paths—even paths they had never been—met up. Ultimately leading to the large pair of chapel doors that were still intact. Despite the plexiglass and light population of spores, Nate and Erlina could both see a suspiciously active door at the back of the chapel room. The crucifixes and religious statues made Nate react with a very ironic whimper, "Please, god..."
He didn't know for sure, but he encountered enough of them to know what type of creature made the low, guttural sounds that were being emitted. Just as expected, the door was violently flown wide open, almost as if it was slammed with a battering ram from the inside. Emerging from the trapped cloud of spores was the latest stage of infection—a massive figure that was piled with plates of fungus that could easily be compared to a knight's armor. Before it was even given the chance to locate them, Nate grabbed a staggered Erlina by the wrist and dragged her with him as they beamed down the nearest set of stairs that led to the closest exit. After picking up their sounds, the Infected's deep growls could be heard, but it wasn't too long before they were both dashed out of the building. Nate slammed his shoulder into the crash bar door and practically flung himself outside. Hopefully out of its range of hearing, Nate and Erlina allowed the door to shut on its own.
Taking themselves a safe distance from the school building, they cowered behind a vehicle where they could remain well hidden in case anything managed to follow them to the outside. Having not put up a fight like this in quite some time, his arms felt like noodles. Bringing them up, he removed his gas mask and inhaled the fresh cool air almost as if it were more rejuvenating than a gulp of ice-cold water. Being a mini-bystander, Erlina gently followed suit,
"Finally," Nate said, practically sitting on the ground of the parking lot, "I never thought I'd get out of there..." he rubbed his dirty palms over his face, somewhat smearing specs of dirt over his head and around the edges of his hairline. Looking over at Erlina, he could see her shrugging through her bag for the third time that day, "You good?" he quizzed.
"Yeah," Erlina confirmed with subtle nods. Finally finding a sense of comfortability with him, she walked beside him and looked down, "Hey. Thanks for helping me."
"Eh, don't mention it, kid. You saved my ass back there a few times too," he pridefully reminded her. Afterward, it remained a little silent until Nate decided to stand and dust himself off to no avail. Reaching into his back pocket, he removed his pistol and checked the magazine, "Well...that's empty," he realized. Just after returning it to his pocket, he began to aimlessly stroll in a separate direction.
"W-what now?" Erlina questioned, nearly rushing after him. Nate looked over his shoulder before fully facing her. To him, Erlina looked lost at this point, "I mean...where are you gonna go?"
Nate sighed, easily discerning that she may have become attached to him despite spending such limited time together. Unfortunately, he'd never tell her that she was nothing more than a temporary ally, but that still didn't negate the fact that he had great respect for her and that she'd be a wonderful fighter to have around,
"I have a home and family too, Erlina," he needlessly explained, "They're probably wondering where I've been. Plus, I have to tell the others about..."
It wasn't hard for Erlina to notice that Nate purposely stopped himself,
"...about what?" she repeated as she nervously watched him disassociate. She stared at him as he anxiously looked back at her. The feeling of anxiety became so great that Erlina practically felt it and became anxious herself. Before deciding to speak, she bit her bottom lip, "Is it about what happened back at the art room?" she recalled their brief time together.
"It was them," Nate finally broke his silence. Before Erlina could interrogate further, he got to the point, "Those were the friends I was looking for..."
"Oh..." Erlina obviously became saddened, sharing emotions with him, "I'm sorry."
Nate didn't know how to respond to that. He couldn't thank her or say it was okay because there was nothing ever natural about what led up to an Infected's death—especially that of a loved one. Although it didn't take a genius to guess the culprit, which was obviously spores, Nate could confirm because he remained behind to check their body for the bites in which they were absent of.
"Anyway," Nate announced, sounding choked up, "I've got to get going."
"Are you going to be okay...?" Erlina fearfully looked up at him, "I can get you some bullets if you'd like."
"Tempting. But I'll be fine. Now, are you going to be okay?" He pointed down at her, turning the question back on her.
"I'm not too far from here..." she vaguely answered, "I'll be fine."
"Yeah, don't worry about me either," Nate reassured with an illusive smirk, "Just worry about yourself. Got it? You're one of the bravest kids I've ever met," his smirk turned into a modest chuckle, "Shit, the kids back home have nothing on you. The way you fought for your family today? Always fight like that and trust no one. Not even me. Got it? Or else it could bite you in the ass."
Not quite the message or farewell she'd expect, but she took it like a sponge anyway. There was some truth to it and, admittedly, she did feel quite comfortable with Nate despite barely knowing him. Not much else had to be said. It was more than obvious that they were more thankful than words could express. They both made their way down the slope that served as the path that led in and out of the parkway and was now standing on the sidewalk that wrapped itself around the block,
"You take care, Erlina," Nate farewelled. He balled up his fists and offered it to her.
Balling up her own, she softly tapped her own with his. While Nate backed away, he gave a calm wave before officially turning away. Once given the green light, he did a one-eighty and walked off until he vanished around the corner. Until he was fully out of sight, Erlina took it as her cue to safely return home undetected.
AUTUMN
Josh had his leg propped up on the dashboard, looking at the bright pink nylon yarn stitched into the calf of his leg. He would play with them from time to time, rubbing his fingers along it back and forth as if he was strumming a stringed instrument. He was, without a doubt, feeling much better since the incident and was looking forward to getting rid of them when the time came. To make sure he didn't sit back and wear out, he participated in constant scavenging and hunting to help build and improve his leg through its healing process but was careful not to overdo it. While his mother drove through the streets as if it were a casual drive to the supermarket, Erlina sat behind her in the backseat. She noticed that the number of abandoned cars on the road had fluctuated rapidly since they last left their residence. At this point, there were about five to six cars every mile or so. The road had become foggy and the sky looked gloomy and solid grey—a sign of incoming rain.
For the sake of their safety, they left the home in which they found temporary refuge. Apparently, more bandits made their way into town and Pam wasn't going to stick around and wait for someone to put her son's life in danger again. It was fortunate that they were even able to make it out alive and undetected. Now, they were heading west for whatever reason. They drove for miles, and according to the highway signs, they made their way to Nebraska. Every now and then, Pam would stop at practically any rest stops they could find to literally both stop and rest. Siphoning gas every couple of miles worked efficiently too. Depending on how many Infected had overrun places, they chose their camps very wisely. Just as expected, the presence of Infected was a lot less than it was back in the big city but it didn't mean giving your surroundings leeway.
"Mom," Josh started, looking over at her while she kept her eyes on the road, 'Where are we even going?" he questioned.
It took her awhile to reply. Truthfully, she didn't know where she was going. As far as she knew, she had heard stories about the west having an uprising in non-FEDRA communities, but there was one other thing she was hiding from both of them. Spotting something at the right moment, it helped her avoid the question,
"Let's take a look through here..." Pam said while slightly turning the steering wheel, "We can look for some more things."
Pam exited the highway and followed a sign that read "Crawford". Josh looked out the window and examined the area they were driving through. It was completely different from where he spent most of his life back on the east coast. What would normally be towering buildings and various houses, Crawford sorely lacked—spotting two-story buildings that were all roughly the same height if not shorter. Abandoned cars weren't nearly as present and overwhelming like they were back at home and there were fewer signs of wearing and looting.
After a couple of minutes of driving, Pam made a full stop in the middle of the road before deciding to park discreetly. Just as everyone climbed out of the car, they made sure to lock the doors behind them.
Unlike before, their grabs were different—finally acquiring some new clothes. Josh wore a dark grey sweater coat, made of enough acrylic and wool to keep him warm and snug in the dropping weather. In addition to that, he wore an old pair of denim jeans. Erlina was the only one among them who had an entire makeover, wearing dark burgundy legging pants, a navy rain jacket, with an ordinary black top underneath.
Manually opening the trunk, they all grabbed their backpacks from the truck and immediately began scavenging. So far, the area seemed safe and as long as they were quiet with the environment there wasn't much to worry about. As Josh was allowed to venture off on his own, Pam pulled Erlina underneath her arm and walked in a separate direction not too far off from her song.
Josh's concern for their safety was eventually becoming a distraction and he watched as they safely made it across the two-laned road and opened a door leading into an old discount store. Observing his chosen location, he read the signs on the windows indicating an old diner. Pushing past the door that had been opened due to past break-ins, he could gather that the diner was about average in terms of space. Among the debris and other miscellaneous diner supplies on the floor, there were shards of broken glass all over. Dangling like icicles over the large broken window along the perimeters were petioles, stems, and browning leaves due to the change in season. Food, on the other hand, was something nice to come across every once in a while, but not like this. Restaurants tended to have funky smells due to expired, rotten food left to spoil, and if you were lucky you could find some preservatives that could handle another few years or so.
Josh searched and searched to no avail, concluding that it had been one of the many candidates to be looted dry considering how food is a necessity. While on the lookout for Infected in the area, he quietly wandered behind the counter and searched every nook and cranny. Wandering into the chef's kitchen, he found nothing except empty bottles and cans. It may have been useful to other folks, but it was nothing but useless junk in Josh's eyes.
Luckily, he managed to find a box of matches. Shaking it, he heard a sparse rattle before looking inside and counted seven unused matches. He rejoiced silently on the inside and tried remembering the last time they slept in front of a warm fire.
Maneuvering his backpack to his side, he quickly unzipped it and tossed it in before zipping it back shut. He moved on to the fridge next, which he felt stupid in approaching after the fact of checking inside. Shutting it, he gave a deep sigh of disappointment and walked out from behind the counter and carefully made his way back to the exit, remembering that being surrounded by glass was one of his worst enemies seeing that he could easily reopen his wound. Once he exited the diner, he bumped into his mother and Erlina who were just on their way to see him,
"We were just coming to check on you," Pam informed, "Found anything?"
"Nah," Josh shook his head, "How about you guys?"
They performed the same gesture.
Josh looked around and noticed an old church down the street that he couldn't get his mind off of since they arrived. It wasn't huge like the catholic churches back in the east, but that was good on their part. But despite that, it was definitely the most attractive building in the area.
"What about there?" Josh asked, pointing at it.
Pam, as well as her son, had been drawn to the church also. It was hard to imagine who wouldn't be in such a small town in the first place,
"Are you sure?" she questioned reassuringly. She witnessed his nod and continued walking up as the mist nearly obscured the road in the distance, "It's like a ghost town," Pam said while following.
"For now," he said looking over his shoulder, "There's gotta be Infected around somewhere so let's try to not get too comfortable."
Pam figured her son might've meant that since small towns had fewer chances of too many people getting infected, even though fewer people were around, fewer humans meant less Infected being hunted and most likely doing all the hunting.
They were all armed. Thankfully, they were able to take care of themselves these past few weeks. Things were going smoothly and they found enough bullets that hadn't gone to too much waste. Unfortunately, Erlina probably found one arrow for every three she used, but she definitely improved with shooting sharper, quicker, and with perfect timing. Not only was it because she was trained to believe it but she preferred her bow and arrows over guns anyway because it was definitely a silent killer.
Finally, they reached the doors of the church. Just like every other area, it was overwhelmed with vegetation. Vines crawled up and down the chipped wood of the walls and wrapped themselves around old columns. The doorway welcomed them with one door that was left slightly open. In the front yard of the church was a statue, with sculpted, moldy drapery. Erlina stood behind to examine it while Josh and his mother made their way to the stairs.
"Who's that?" Erlina asked looking closely at the face of the statue. It didn't take her long to notice that it was a woman, "I thought you told me that God was a man?" she asked her aunt specifically.
Pam looked over her shoulder, finding this a moment to educate her son and niece on something. Whether big or small there were things Pam wanted to teach her kids so they could, in turn, teach someone else or use it to their advantage if they ever needed it. Even if the topic and demand for this information was questionable, it still felt great being a teacher,
"He is," she confirmed as if she met him before, "But a lot of other churches praised Mother Mary, the woman who gave birth to God,"
"Why?" Erlina asked even more.
"Well, she was a virgin...and God sent down an angel to give birth to the son of God..."
"Wait," Josh became involved, "But how did God exist before he was born...?"
"And a virgin can't have a baby," Erlina added to the interrogation, looking unconvinced.
"How do you know what a virgin is?" Josh questioned with a raised brow.
"It's..." Pam paused and sighed. It wasn't as bothersome to her. In fact, she knew these things when she was just as young as Erlina, "...complicated. Maybe we can discuss that another time."
Pam was the first to turn her attention back to the church doors. Before she could even step a foot forward, Josh pointed out something along the right side of the doorway—words spray-painted in black. It read 'INTRUSOS SON ASESINADOS'.
Josh read the words aloud. Despite not knowing a lick of non-English languages, he had quite a knack for identifying other languages by ear or appearance. When you were a nerdy kid who only liked to stay indoors and read, you learned things that no one could really imagine you'd know. But those days were over ever since he and his mother left their first quarantine zones and been on the run ever since. Pam only knew the basics, like si, gracias, and de nada but nothing as complex as this. Either way, everyone knew to look his way and they both gave him looks of curiosity.
Although he should, Josh really didn't really care and thought it would be best not to ponder on it too long so they could avoid wasting time and carry on to their next destination. The doors creaked loudly as he pushed them open, echoing within the wooden lobby. Startled avians flew away from the abrupt sounds making their way towards the holes blown in through the top portions of the walls and shattered nearby windows. Further into the interior possessed tiled floors that were old and cracked in most places, some even missing.
"It's been forever since I've stepped foot in a church," Pam announced, the heels of her knee-high boots clicked to the beat of her voice.
Erlina wandered off to the front of the church from everyone else, spotting an actual piano. Almost immediately, Erlina walked to the front of it and uncovered the music keys by lifting the fallboard. Carelessly, she cut through the heavy dust by blowing through it and causing the harmless particles to scatter in the air. Josh put his hands into his pockets and casually leaned on a nearby pew as he intriguingly observed her curiosity. She ran her fingers back and forth on the piano, leaving a line of fingerprints through the dust. Most importantly, she listened out for the sounds it emitted, getting a mix of robust and dull keys. Using one hand, she pressed a random order, pretending as if she was playing a simple song she knew by memory. A smile blossomed upon her little face,
"This is cool," Erlina said, almost infatuated.
"It still needs tuning, believe it or not," Pam informed, "Some of the tunes are off."
"How long has it been since you've played piano?" Erlina asked before placing the fallboard back and stepping off the small stage.
"Years. The last instrument I touched was a guitar. I was pretty good at that," She pridefully boasted, "Even wrote my own song once."
"About?" Josh questioned, slightly interested.
"A song about you the day you were born," Pam smiled.
Josh was touched from the thought of having a song about him and before his mom could begin to sing it, he had to put a stop to it before they got too carried away. If he didn't know any better, they would've pulled out some blankets and slept in the pews
There was still much more to explore and despite it looking like mythological ruins, it definitely looked larger inside than it did from the outside. Continuing on towards the back end of the church was a dim corridor. Cautiously making his way deeper, Josh looked around in case there was any surprising danger—a constant reminder from his mother regardless of how tedious he moved. He continued walking quietly, practically tiptoeing, at this point. While walking through the darkened corridor, which just so happened to have a speck of light, Josh missed his step and nearly tripped on a torn segment of the mildewy carpet that abruptly ended. Apart from the wide-open exit at the end of the corridor that led to another area of the church, there were two separate doorways that led to other rooms as well. One was labeled 'Baptistery' and the other was labeled 'Library'. Encountering the latter first, he played with the knobs, unable to get past the both of them. Already, Josh was becoming fed up and he wished he knew from the start that coming to this place would be useless just like any other. Not that he wanted anything otherwise, but he was almost sure that it was a ghost town even before the outbreak. Finally making it through the corridor, he made it out to a more open area. Now, in front of him were numerous staircases that led to both the upper and lower floors of the church. Immediately, to his right was a woman's restroom with a sky blue door paint that had endlessly chipped over the years and would continue years to come.
"There's a woman's room here," Josh elevated his voice enough to be heard by his party. Yet, he was careful to not alert anything or anyone else if they just so happened to be nearby, "...and there are some steps. I think I should check downstairs."
Pam inched closer to the corridor for easier communication between them. Making her way down the aisle given to her by the rows of rotting pews, she spoke sternly,
"I don't think we should be separating," she said before looking around, "Something about this place feels a little off to me."
"We do this all the time," he shrugged, displaying a little carelessness while harmlessly signaling his mother to not come any closer, "Just stay put with Erlina."
Erlina fixed her posture when hearing her name. She fixated her glance and looked for the most suitable pew nearby as if it had to be used for a royal hiney. To be honest, she sometimes hated it when her older cousin would become distant at the most inconvenient times. It was annoying, and even though her aunt never really tried to show concern, Erlina knew it bothered her too. Not to mention, Erlina didn't appreciate his actions after she was practically still on punishment from doing the unimaginable back home.
Josh traveled down the steps and eventually made his way to a basement. This, by far, was the darkest area in the entire building. The only source of sunlight was the murky lights that remotely peered in through the thin windows, that were near the ceilings, from little rooms along the margins of the basement. Either way, the doors were shut, making the light even harder to do its job. Putting his most important tool to use, the first thing he did was put on his flashlight. Sure, things must've been quiet but just like humans, Stalkers were capable of being one of the best spies. The further in he walked, a disgusting scent surprised him, nearly smacking him in the face like a solid barrier. It smelled like something was rotting and Josh couldn't help but bring his hand to his face and clench his nose shut. Coughing and retching, he held the walls as support to have time and recover from the sudden surprise. Almost as if the smell had formulated itself in his mouth, he spat into the far corner of the stairway, closing his eyes as they teared up from the pure unsettling feeling of wanting to throw up.
Constantly scaring away random flies that flew around his face, it meant that there was something obviously decaying down here. Infected were checked off the list because spores would've swarmed the place but at this point, Josh completely denied that fact. He just didn't want to believe that something more heinous was buried down here after his initial thoughts. The more Josh looked around the place, the more his eyes caught noticeable supplies. Walking back into the men's room that was by the bottom of the stairs, he saw what appeared to be half-filled bottles of prescribed medication and recently used soap bars in opened boxes. However, he didn't want to take anything just yet. Backing out, he walked into another room that was across from the bathroom. The door was unlocked and Josh easily entered. At first, the room seemed empty but directly to his right was another sealed-off entrance. The knob gave way as soon as he jimmied it with his thin, ashy hands. Once the room was opened, he peered inside, revealing shelves full of canned goods and other items. Some were already sitting on the tables, opened with empty half-empty beverages, mostly flat beer.
This is where Josh's contemplating began. He began to ponder whether or not it would greatly impact whoever this possibly belonged to and if these survivors had many mouths to feed. Josh and his family managed to eat this morning and skipping lunch was something that was often pretty common and he could tell it would be one of those days again. In times of desperation like these, there wasn't time to think about others but Josh did it anyway. All the teen explorer could plan to do was take three unopened cans of peaches and some stale energy bars. Biting his lip, he thought hard until he came to the conclusion that taking just a little bit more shouldn't harm anyone else. From the look of things, the group had food that could last them for months, maybe a year. There was no way they could possibly realize that a few things were missing; the shelves barely looked like a dent was made even after Josh managed to visit it a third time. He rested his backpack on a nearby wooden table and tossed in canned goods of beans, fruits, and veges. He looked back at the shelves momentarily,
"Yeah...that should do it," he sighed with relief.
Hastily, he zipped up his bag and tossed it back unto his shoulders. Marching out of the room, Josh closed both doors behind him hoping to leave the impression that things were left untouched. Since it was clearly out of Josh's interest to explore anywhere else, he wanted to get his family and leave knowing that this place clearly belonged to someone. Twisting in the opposite direction to climb back upstairs, there was another door that seemed much more different than the others once Josh's flashlight hit it. It was large and black, almost giving the illusion that it was missing if no flashlight was used. It was labeled "boiler room".
In addition to the sickening smell, it gave an ominous feeling that twisted his gut literally and figuratively. Almost like he was being called to it, he neared the door and could feel the decaying smell grow immensely. Carelessly, it was left ajar, and following the push of one arm, the heavy door swung open and noticed a swarm of flies flock everywhere. The narrow room was easily illuminated as Josh's flashlights bounced off the walls and objects. If it weren't for Josh's common sense, flies would have flown down his throat due to his shock.
In plain sight was a dark-brown, wooden butcher table with a filthy knife cut right in the center. At this point, Josh was trembling and his shaking hands couldn't let go of the doorknob that rattled within his thin grip. His breathing became unstable and it intensified when he noticed a trail of streaky blood leading to a small opening further towards the back of the room. It took a lot for him to do exactly what his conscience advised against, but Josh hesitated and slowly began following it, passing the butcher table with caution, his trembling legs made it feel like the earth was quaking beneath him. But before fully making his way towards the back room, Josh paused at the opening and looked down at the two steps that led into the following room. He anticipated at first but he needed to know what kind of territory he and his family were in. With his instincts overcoming the fear embedded in his bones at this point, he took one step down and angled his body and flashlight to the left, noticing an old furnace and a stack of decaying human corpses near it.
Nearly speechless and petrified, Josh nearly lost his mind and stumbled backward, tripping over another corpse that seemed to be looking right up at him with its eyes nearly rolled to the back of its head. Witnessing this level of bloodshed was something new for the teen and he began to hyperventilate as he was backed into the corner of a room. This had no relation to how many bodies Josh had seen in his lifetime—but in his life alone he had never seen something this inhumane and gruesome. The corpses were a mixture of women, children, and men with wounds that only a serial murderer could commit. You could tell they were all tortured souls and the thought of them being here made Josh tear up. His arms were having difficulty pushing him off the walls, taking notice of more things such as missing limbs, fingers, and toes.
Whoever these victims dealt with were bloodthirsty animals and, unfortunately, something else more terrifying than what was at hand alarmed Josh. Sharply lifting his head towards the ceiling, Josh heard a young. shriek followed by the shout of Erlina's name and a gunshot,
"Shit!" Josh finally said overcoming the traumatic event, "No!" he yelled while dashing out of the room.