Dearly Departed

(read authors note for the new story page)

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“I can’t be fucked with these detours!” Grace hacked at the tree nearest her with her hawk, each hit getting harder. “I have to find my brother!”

Michael shushed her. She froze and swung around ready to have a go at him, but stopped when she saw the look he gave her. His eyes widened when he heard the first groan, “Quick, over to that house!” He whispered in a frantic tone.

If the horde they ditched two days ago hadn't forced them out from their small piece of heaven, they would have went to take the corpse's out. The escape happened for four nights straight, it frustrated and made them tired. They couldn’t take their chances with this group, not until they were able to see if this was a horde or not from afar.

They ran around the dirty blue house, to find a road that they guessed lead to the shops. Grace looked around the corner they came from to see how far the corpses were. They haven't reached the house yet, but the groans overpowered their heavy breathing. From the corner of her eye Grace saw Michael turn to face the house.

“We need to get on a roof.”

She assessed the house, and found that there was no way for them to get on it. She cursed, and twirled in her spot looking for another option. Closer to the road, beside a few trees was an old white shed. In a hurry, Grace tugged on Michael’s leather covered sleeve and ran to the shed.

They dropped their bags on the ground and climbed to the roof of the shed, Grace struggling in the process. When Michael was safe on the roof, he pulled her up beside him with ease. She huffed and leaned back against the boards to catch her breath.

Grace tried to shake herself aware when she heard Michael’s laugh. He better not be laughing at me, she frowned. But when she turned to him, he wasn’t facing her. He was facing the house, where three corpses appeared.

It hadn’t been a horde. She groaned, “Are you bloody kidding me?” She started to curse, she was ready to sleep and the fact that they were running all day by three corpses upset her. Grace tried to convince herself that she didn’t care when Michael rushed to kill them. But wait- she smirked. Oh… she definitely cared.

Although the running Grace did that day drained her of energy and knowing that her aim would be off; she tossed her tomahawk at a corpse. She would not let Michael rack up on the points. Grace cheered when her weapon embed itself in the corpse’s head. Michael let out a light-hearted groan when he seen her weapon, she grinned in return.

The sun was setting, and Michael guessed it would take fifteen more minutes before the sky turned dark. He grabbed the hawk from the skull of the corpse and wiped off the black blood with its now dark red jumper. When he was back to sitting on the boards of the shed, he scanned the area and saw that there were no more threats.

Now able to relax, Michael lifted his arm for Grace to situate herself beside him. “Come, sleep.”

The slanted roof was difficult to lay on, so she’d have to sleep sitting up. When she got under his arm, he laid it over her shoulders and pulled her closer. As Grace moved to get comfortable, he explained that they’ll look through the shops in the morning. She yawned nodding before she fell into slumber.