II - Secret

The fireplace burned slowly as Becky came into the living room with a small metal pot filled with snow inside of it. She walked over to the fireplace and grabbed a metal poker, attaching the metal pot to the poker. She then sat down next to the fireplace and held the pot above the fire, watching the flames melt the snow.

Behind her lay Sam, who groaned softly as she fidgeted around the couch. She then turned towards Becky and smiled.

"Thanks, Becky. I appreciate you heating that up for me."

Becky continued to look at the flames as she placed her fingers on her throat, her eyes reflecting the light of the fire.

"This isn't for you," said Becky. "It's for Luan."

"Luan? Oh, right. I forgot… she's sick too."

Sam then heard footsteps from the kitchen and turned towards it. She saw Ronnie Anne walk out while holding a can on her hand. She heard liquid sloshing around inside.

"Hey, Ron," called out Sam. "Is that water in your hands?"

"No," said Ronnie Anne. "That's what I want the rat to think it is. But it's actually poison. For the rat."

"Oh. Go on."

Ronnie Anne nodded as she walked past Sam. She then looked back and heard a disappointed sigh before she saw Luna sitting by the windows. She shook her head and walked towards the dining room where she saw Lana setting up mousetraps on the floor.

"You know you actually need to put food in that stuff?"

"Yeah," said Lana.

"I don't see any."

"We don't have any."

"Is that supposed to make me understand? Because I want you to understand that we're not eating something that's carrying like fifty different diseases. We don't need another freakin' Black Death."

"I don't know what that is. But I do know… that I finished!"

Lana stood up and smiled as she looked at the mousetraps set up by the cracks in the walls. Ronnie Anne rolled her eyes and began to walk up to the mousetraps as she opened up her bottle of rat poison.

"Hey, you better not spill any of that on my traps!" exclaimed Lana.

Ronnie Anne nodded. She then poured some poison around a mousetrap before lifting up the empty bottle.

"How rude!"

"You didn't say I couldn't use it around your traps," said Ronnie Anne. "Besides, where'd you get these mousetraps?"

"In the attic."

"Attic? How'd you get there?"

"I… I didn't. Cl-Cl-Clynn did. Clyde and Lynn."

"Alright. Let me ask Clyde what else he found."

"That won't be necessary. There's nothing else."

"Cool. I'm still asking," said Ronnie Anne as she began to walk out of the dining room.

"Looks like I'm getting the rat first then!" smiled Lana.

Ronnie Anne stopped at her tracks. She then turned around and frowned.

"I'll just wait for the rat to die first," said Ronnie Anne.

Becky looked at Ronnie Anne before looking at Kimi. She then shook her head softly as she removed the metal pot from the fireplace. Steam floated away from the pot as she walked towards the stairs. Before she knew it, Kimi was following her.

"Get away from me, Ki— dog," grumbled Becky.

Kimi panted with her tongue out and looked up at Becky as she placed a foot on the stairwell. Becky felt a certain turmoil build up inside her mind as her thoughts began to race quickly. She walked up the stairs as Kimi followed her, making her way to the bathroom at the end of the hallway. However, she almost passed a room with Carol inside and decided to stop and peek inside, finding her friend wiping her tears. Kimi, however, continued to run ahead towards the bathroom.

"Hey, Carol?" whispered Becky.

"Oh!" gasped Carol, quickly blinking her tears away. "Becky. What is it?"

"You should be the one answering that question."

Carol gulped as she pressed an arm against her abdomen. Becky walked in and lowered her poker and metal pot.

"You really need to get that to Luan," said Carol. "Don't worry about me."

"By now you should know that I won't ever stop worrying about you."

Carol let out a tear before quickly wiping it away with a hand. Becky sat down next to Carol on the bed and placed her arms around her shoulders.

"You're probably one of the best friends a girl could ask for…" said Carol, her voice sounding weak, "...but there isn't anything you can do for me this time."

Becky let out a disappointed sigh before Carol let out a small scream while holding back her abdomen, clenching her teeth immediately after to suppress her urge to scream any further. Becky quickly ran towards the hot metal pot and grabbed it with her bare hands before hopping back onto the bed.

"Here, drink up!" exclaimed Becky.

"No, just give it to Luan!"

"But your stomach—!"

"It's not my stomach! It's my uterus!"

Becky placed the metal pot on top of the night stand while hissing in pain. She looked at her palms and saw red spots on them before turning towards Carol.

"Your uterus?" asked Becky.

Carol released her teeth as she softly signaled Becky to move away while lying herself on the bed against her stomach. She let out a relieved sigh before tearing up again.

"Cramps…" sniffled Carol, "...but no menstrual blood. Just like… when I was pregnant with… with Zoey."

"I'm sorry," said Becky. "When was your last period?"

"Not long before we lost the White House."

"So over two months. Are you… are you implying you're pregnant?"

"No, never again."

Carol let out a tear.

"We're all starving," she added. "But there's nothing you can do. You're in no condition to hunt."

"I can just take someone with me though, right?" asked Becky.

"These are desperate times. We did many things out of desperation. With your PTSD… you'd be a danger to yourself and to others. At least… wait until I get better… and then I can hunt with you."

Becky grabbed her poker and picked up the metal pot with it.

"I know why you're crying. I don't know what day it is… but we're close to what would have been a special day. Zoey's first birthday. It doesn't get better until you talk about it."

"Psychology would've been a great major for you," said Carol. "Go. Give the water to Luan."

Becky nodded as she walked out of the room. She then heard Carol groan in pain again before closing the door. She headed for the bathroom and upon arriving, knocked on the door that secured Luan's privacy.

However, the door wasn't completely closed and Becky's knock opened the door, revealing Benny holding Luan's ponytail back as she continued to vomit into the toilet while Kimi licked Luan's leg. Becky lowered the poker and placed the metal pot in the sink before grabbing Luan's canteen. She grabbed a towel and placed it around the small handle before pouring the water into the canteen.

"With that much vomiting, she's gonna need some food inside her soon."

"Not to mention the constant crap that flows outta my asshole," said Luan. "Thanks for the water, Becky, but when can I drink it? Because it looks like it's all gonna turn into steam before I have a chance to drink it."

"Just give it a couple minutes. I'm going to get more. But you should also worry about food."

"We got our people out there looking for some," said Benny.

Becky's thoughts swirled around her head as they began to get louder, like voices talking to her. At least, that's what she heard. Voices.

"We… we have a food source here," said Becky, scratching her neck.

"Where?"

"I hope you're not talking about the shit and vomit in the toilet," said Luan. "Speaking of which, you all have to leave now. I gotta go again."

Becky and Benny left the bathroom as Kimi followed them out. Luan closed the door and locked it.

"What are you talking about?" asked Benny. "You're not referring to… us, right?"

"Don't remind me of the cannibals," said Becky.

"I'm sorry. I just… I don't know what you're saying."

"We can eat right now if we really wanted to."

"I still don't understand what you're saying. You sound a little crazy."

"We kill the dog and feed her to Luan. Feed her to Carol. Feed her to Sam. Feed what remains of her to all of us."

"Now you sound really crazy."

"We're all desperate. We're all fighting to survive, like your girlfriend."

"But that's wrong! Kimi's like a pet to us. She's Hana's pet!"

"Murder is wrong. But when someone threatens our family, what do we do? We end them! We do this not because we want to but because we need to. And right now… we need to kill the dog… and feed her to our sick."

"No!" exclaimed Benny. "That'd be like killing one of our own! It is killing one of our own!"

"It's a dog. Don't give me that bullshit that its life is just as valuable as ours—!"

"Say her name."

"Wha—?"

"Kimi. Say her damn name."

Becky huffed as she felt the voices in her head getting louder and louder.

"Kill the dog. Feed your people. Kill the dog. Feed yourself. Kill the dog."

"Back off," groaned Becky as she struggled to contain her thoughts.

"You're the one that needs to back off," said Benny. "How can you disrespect Hana like that?"

"Shut up. I'm not disrespecting anyone."

"If Hana was here, she'd tell you to leave. But she isn't and who's fault is that?"

"Certainly not mine's! If you got something you wanna say to me, then say it! Otherwise I'm gonna… I'm gonna…"

Becky continued to huff and puff as she looked at Kimi snuggling her head on Benny's arms. She then growled and stormed away.

"Thanks for the water, Becky. I'll watch Kimi from now on."

Becky grabbed her metal pot and tossed it across the hallway towards Benny, who quickly ducked and shielded Kimi with his body. The metal pot bounced off the bathroom door and clattered across the floor.

"What was that for?!" yelled Benny.

"Get your own water," growled Becky before storming down the stairwell.

Benny let out a sigh as Carol came out of her room in confusion.

"What's going on?" asked Carol.

"Becky lost her dang mind. She just threw a pot at me! After I told her that she couldn't kill Kimi for food! What the frick is wrong with her?"

Carol looked at the end of the hallway as fear began to set into her heart. She gulped as she came out of the room.

"Stay here," said Carol. "I'll talk to her."

"W-Wait. What's happening to her?"

"She's been through a lot."

"Haven't we all?"

Carol took a deep breath.

"Stay. If you see her, don't provoke her."

Benny nodded as Carol walked towards the end of the hallway before making her way down the stairs. He sighed before rubbing Kimi's back.

Lily looked at Becky passing her to walk towards the dining room. Lily looked at her before spotting Carol walking down the stairs. She quickly darted into the kitchen and looked at the open back door. She peeked out through the open door and looked at the falling snowflakes littering the white ground. She smiled and ran out the cabin door, giggling as she felt the soft, wet snowflakes touch her face. She continued to jump around before spotting a rabbit in the ground.

"Bun-bun!" gasped Lily.

She ran towards the rabbit, which began hopping away as Lily chased her around the cabin. After a few seconds, Clyde sighed in relief as he zipped up his pants and stumbled towards the back door. He entered and then closed the back door before locking it.

"Come back here, Bun-bun!" panted Lily.

The rabbit quickly hopped towards the woods, before approaching a shrub. It then looked back at Lily who stood by the back door.

"Too far," said Lily. "Bye, Bun-bun."

Lily then pushed herself against the door, which refused to budge. She grabbed the slippery doorknob with her gloves and struggled to turn it to no avail. She then knocked on the door with her soft gloves.

Clyde looked at his detached metal leg while sitting on his seat, holding a screwdriver. He heard soft thumps against the back door, causing him to look up with suspicion. He then put the metal leg back into his left limb and began to screw it back on with the small screws that he had just removed.

"No one can hear me," sighed Lily. "I will just wait for Lori and Linky and Lynn and Bobby and Vee."

She then looked at the rabbit again, which continued to stare at her. She smiled and ran towards it, causing it to jump into the nearby shrub.

"I'm coming for you, Bun-bun!"

Lily then disappeared into the woods as the wind began to pick up speed. A few branches fell from nearby trees, causing it to fall near the back door, which— after a second— opened up.

Clyde looked out the back door while holding a baseball bat, wondering where the thumping noise against the door was coming from. However, he saw nothing but branches lying nearby.

"Nothing to be scared of," said Clyde. "Just sticks. Nothing out there. No cannibals… Lynn's okay. You're okay. All right."

Clyde then went back inside and closed the back door, locking it once more.

The wind grew stronger with the branches swaying more and more. The snow fell towards the ground at a much faster rate as dark-gray clouds began to overwhelm the sky.

Lori sniffled as she picked her head up above her knees. She wiped her tears away and grabbed the AR-15 on the ground before standing up, moving her back away from the tree. She then saw a figure leaning next to a nearby tree.

"Bobby?"

Bobby continued to look at her as he wiped his own eyes. He then stood himself upright.

"If you still want me to leave, I'll leave," he said. "Just wanted to make sure you were okay."

Lori nodded with an unempathetic expression.

"I'm okay. You can leave now."

Bobby gave a soft and sorrowful nod before he began to walk away. Lori then took a few steps forward, before she stopped herself. However, she felt the regret and guilt of screaming at her husband for being too compassionate creeping up to her. But her anger still clouded her thoughts.

Bobby continued to walk forward before stepping onto a hole in the ground. His right boot dug in deep into the hole as he struggled to get it out.

"Aw, dang it."

He removed his foot from his right boot and kept it hovered next to the hole as he bent down and reached for his boot. He pulled it out with ease before finding a brown snake peeking its head out from its burrow. His eyes snapped open in fear as the snake quickly lunged its fangs into his exposed right ankle.

Lori adjusted the scope in the AR-15 before hearing Bobby's scream nearby. She quickly turned and ran towards the scream, her fingers on the trigger ready to fire.

"Bobby!" shouted Lori.

Bobby screamed as he fell back, flailing his foot around though the snake continued to press its fangs against his ankle. Lori approached Bobby and saw the snake, causing her to react by shrieking and firing near it with the rifle. The snake quickly released its fangs and slithered back into its burrow as Lori aimed at the hole.

"Babe! My ankle!"

"Oh my god, Bobby!"

Lori tossed the AR-15 aside and knelt down next to Bobby as she looked at his right ankle, which bore two small holes and a reddish spot around them. He groaned as he grabbed Lori's arm in an attempt to stand up. However, the bite wound caused too much pain for him to stand on his own.

"We gotta get you back to the cabin," said Lori.

"And then what? We have no medicine."

"You got any other options in mind?"

"No. Please take me inside."

Lori grabbed Bobby's right boot and placed it back into his foot. She then grabbed him and placed one of his arms around her shoulders before helping him up to his feet.

Bobby looked ahead and saw an overwhelming white fog clouding his vision of the woods. However, Lori was navigating through the woods as if the white fog didn't blind her.

"Babe… my vision. It's blurry. I-I can't see very well."

"Please walk faster then!"

Bobby tried to push his legs ahead but they felt like stiff boulders that were hardening with every movement he made. Eventually, the scathing winds, along with the snake venom, were numbing his right leg.

"I don't know what's happening. My leg— it— I can't feel it so much."

"Wha—"

"I can't feel it! I can't move it!"

"Alright, calm down. Calm down."

"My leg's paralyzed!"

"Okay, calm down, please!"

Bobby stumbled around more as Lori took faster steps with a few things in mind, one that included getting into the cabin as fast as possible. Looking for Vonda was no longer in her mind.

The rabbit hopped back into its burrow as Lily panted from the distance. The little girl did not see where the rabbit went. She scanned her surroundings for the first time in fifteen minutes, looking around the woods. There were trees without leaves everywhere she looked and the wind and snow caused her footprints to vanish. The woods were quiet and unfamiliar, causing Lily to feel uneasy and lost.

"Bun-bun?" she said out loud.

Suddenly, she heard footsteps crunching against the snow in the distance. She turned around and saw a dead body wandering around the woods, paying no mind to the snowfall. Its yellow eyes gleamed softly but were pale compared to the glowing eyes that Lily was used to seeing. It growled quietly as it continued to wander around aimlessly, unwittingly approaching her. The roamer wore layers of clothes and seemed to carry a heavy backpack.

Lily took a few steps back as the roamer lifted its head up, hearing a light distant crunching noise that broke through the constant wind noise. Then, it saw a human being wearing a lavender coat standing next to a tree. Its eyes met her eyes before it growled.

Lily screamed and darted away from the roamer as it took chase after her. The roamer stumbled towards Lily, but could not catch up as it was too slow. Her screams turned into exhausted cries as she ran past the trees and branches on the ground.

Suddenly, Lily lost her footing and saw the world turning round and round as the snow ruffled her face and hair and clothes. She continued to roll down a hill, letting out small cries before finally landing facefront at the bottom.

Her heart beat quickly, causing the inside of her face and ears to rush with hot blood. Her face remained buried in an inch of snow as she felt her face pulse and her breaths inhale and exhale heavily. After a few seconds, she lifted her head and looked ahead of her, finding more clusters of naked trees. She then turned around and saw the hill in which she just rolled down from before making an attempt to stand up. However, an arm arose from a pile of snow and latched on to one of Lily's legs before raising a portion of its body, causing the snow that was atop it to fall from its back.

Lily screamed as she tried to kick her legs around, though the roamer kept a strong grip on it. The roamer then crawled towards her, pinning her arm with its torso. With its free arm, it tried to reach for her face, though Lily continued to flail and slap and shove the roamer's arm away. Using her free hand, she grabbed the skin of the roamer's jaw and began pulling on it before seeing it rip away from the roamer's face.

She screamed louder as the inner flesh and tissues of the roamer's jaw was exposed, causing its hideous teeth to be more visible. The roamer then began to lean its arm and exposed jaws towards Lily.

Suddenly, a burst of blood flew out from behind the roamer's shoulder as a loud sound immediately followed it. Its arms went limp as the roamer looked up, finding a target ahead of him. Very quickly though, he was met with another bullet, one to the chest, then another bullet, which delivered a fatal blow through his skull, causing it to drop next to Lily.

Lily's wide eyes remained staring at the roamer for a second before turning around, finding a stranger standing a few meters away, holding a gun which was aimed towards the roamer. The stranger looked to be male, with dark mid-length hair and a roundish face. Apart from a blue jacket, grey pants and hiking boots, the stranger also had on a pair of fingerless gloves, a green backpack, and strange circular-shaped thingies over his ears, like the ones Sam sometimes wore. Lily was unable to see the stranger's eyes however, for they also had on a pair of glasses with lenses that were slightly coated in frost.

The stranger moved towards the roamer with his gun still aimed at the roamer, walking past Lily, who remained seated and confused. He approached the roamer and stood above it while keeping his eyes at it, tapping on its head with his foot. Upon seeing no movement, he holstered his gun and raised his foot and stomped on its head, fracturing the skull. He then stomped on the head again and crushed the roamer's head, causing Lily to flinch. Then, he bent down and began to check the roamer's pockets as Lily continued to stare at him. He pocketed a couple bullets as Lily stood herself up.

Lily's sudden movement caused the stranger to unholster his gun and turn around, pointing it at her. She raised her hands and lowered her back as she tried to cover her face.

"Your name?" asked the stranger.

Lily squirmed as she closed her eyes, whimpering softly.

"Don't hurt me," Lily whimpered. "Please, don't hurt me."

The stranger lowered his gun and crouched, meeting Lily at eye-level. Lily opened her eyes again and lowered her hands, though she was still at the brink of fainting from fear.

"Little girl. Your name?"

Lily gulped before the stranger looked upwards and stood up. He grabbed Lily's jacket and pulled her behind his legs before raising his gun. The heavy-layered roamer that chased Lily earlier rolled down the hill and eventually landed at where Lily lay earlier. She grabbed the stranger's pants and cowered behind it as he shot a bullet at the roamer's neck, causing the roamer to drop its head. However, it still growled, prompting the stranger to shoot it in the head— which was covered by the roamer's coat hoodie— causing it growl in response. He then shot the roamer in the head again immediately after, causing its growling to cease, though the sound of the bullet was louder than the previous one.

The stranger walked forward, causing Lily to let go of his pants. He removed the suppressor from his gun and inspected it before placing it in his pocket. He then knelt down and pulled down the roamer's hoodie, revealing fungus plates growing out of its head.

"Hmm. Fifth one. Interesting."

He then dropped the roamer's head and frantically began to reach for its backpack, taking out some stuff from it. He pocketed some of the items in the pocket with his suppressor and the other items into his backpack. He then zipped up his backpack and grabbed a quarter-filled water bottle from the roamer's backpack and a granola bar and began to run away.

Lily looked at him before seeing him turn around. The stranger grabbed her arm and took her with him, both of them now running away from the two dead roamer corpses.

"So dumb…" groaned Lynn as she continued climbing up the tree with the hanged roamer.

She looked at Lincoln who returned with a long rope and scoffed at his decision.

"What are ya' gonna do? Hang the roamer again?"

"Just watch," said Lincoln. "You might learn something from this."

"Oh yea—?"

Lynn shrieked as she fell down from the tree again. There were scratches all over her face and her hair was all ruffled up.

"Damn," groaned Lynn.

Lincoln tied a rock to the end of the rope and then looked up at the roamer. He grabbed the other end of the rope and spun the end of the rope with the rock and then swung it upwards, causing it to fly over the roamer's shoulder before descending to the snowy ground. Lincoln kept a grip on the loose end, causing the rope to land on the roamer's shoulder and tense up near the neck. He then walked over to the rock on the ground and grabbed the tied end while keeping his grip on the loose end, now holding both ends of the rope while the middle section pulled back against the roamer's neck. The boy then began to pull one end of the rope at a time before quickly pulling the other end, causing the rope to rub back and forth against the roamer's neck. Using the friction like a saw, the rope began to tear apart the roamer's neck slowly and steadily.

"Pfft, I coulda' thought about that," said Lynn.

"So, why didn't you?" asked Lincoln.

"I… I didn't— where'd you get that rope?"

"Remember the playground we passed by earlier? There was a really long rope tied to a wheel. All I did was go back and take it."

"Ah, good memory. If I had a rope though— I coulda' thought of what you did."

"Sure thing, Ki Bo… whatever her last name is."

"Ki Bo-bae! Shut up! Just get the damn roamer down."

"You might wanna move out of the way."

Lynn backed away from the ground sitting below the branch as the roamer's neck began to tear off on its own. Suddenly, the bone in the neck snapped and the body of the roamer fell, leaving the head and neck behind on the rope. The body fell to the ground causing the contents inside the backpack to create a loud clutter of noises. Then, a few seconds later, the wind blew the hanging rope, causing the head to sway before slipping out of the rope, sending it to plummet to the ground.

"Nice," said Lynn. "Sounds like a bunch of stuff in the backpack."

"Can you take out the roamer?" asked Lincoln.

Lynn grabbed an arrow from her quiver on the ground and walked over to the decapitated head as Lincoln flipped the body over. He then opened the backpack as Lynn knelt down next to the head. He rummaged his hands inside the backpack, finding medications and water bottles as Lynn placed her hand on the roamer's forehead. He then found a note inside the backpack and read it as Lynn pierced her arrow through the roamer's eye. The note read:

'To those who bothered to take me down and bury me, giving me my final peace.'

"Hey, Lynn," said Lincoln. "Whoever she was… she's asking us to bury her."

"Forget it. What'd you find in there?"

"Medicine. Water."

"How much water?"

"Maybe like five bottles."

"We could split that evenly among us. Now, come on, let's go back to the cabin. I'm tired."

Lincoln nodded as he removed the backpack from the roamer. He carried it with one arm and looked back at the body before following Lynn out of the area and towards the direction of the cabin.

The stranger continued to run while holding Lily's arm. He then came to a sudden stop, causing Lily to trip and fall forward.

"Ow," she groaned.

"We're safe. I think," said the stranger.

Lily stood herself up and looked behind. She seemed to be in a different part of the woods, now feeling more lost than ever. She then frowned as the stranger handed her a water bottle and a granola bar.

"Never got your name," he said.

Lily looked up and sniffled.

"Lily."

The stranger took out a plastic bag from his backpack and handed it to Lily.

"Where am I?" asked Lily.

"Don't know."

"You know where Lori is? Lori is my sister."

"Don't know who that is. You got a group?"

"Yes."

The stranger twitched at the response. He looked away and began to mutter to himself as he paced around.

"...leave her… ignore…"

The stranger took out the magazine from his gun before placing it back in.

"...murder her— no, not that…"

Lily raised her eyebrows as she approached him.

"We are in a cabin. But I'm lost."

"A cabin?"

Lily nodded.

The stranger continued to mutter to himself.

"...threats… too safe… not safe enough…" muttered the stranger, which was all what Lily could hear.

The stranger looked up towards the descending sun to his left. He then turned around and pointed his arms towards the direction of the south. Lily looked puzzled.

"Run there. But before you do—"

The stranger looked around before facing back at Lily.

"Do you know what a secret is?"

"No, what's that?" asked Lily excitedly.

The stranger smiled.