“What are you doing?” Amy asked.

“I’m keeping a record of my journey so far. I’m going to leave the cassette here.”

“I’ve seen you do that once before. Why do you even bother?”

“It’s for my friends. Or, at least…I hope they’re still my friends. I know they’re gonna come here eventually and find it.”

“How can you tell? There’s nothing in this church”, she said impatiently.

“One sec,” Matt responded. His face tensed up.

“So, you’re just going to ignore me now?” she asked. The tone she used was meant to be playful; she wanted to tease her new friend, not make him angry, but the adrenaline high she got from the deadly fight a few minutes prior hadn’t yet worn off. It had sounded a little rougher than she wanted.

She noticed the crispation in the corner of his mouth even though he wasn’t looking straight at her. Her tone of voice had made him believe she was annoyed at him, she thought. Unsurprising — he was somewhat awkward, perhaps a little too eager to please her. She initially thought he wanted to increase his odds of survival by making her like him since she was so strong but, over time, she discovered it was more than that. He needed her to remain sane. He feared loneliness and would do anything to make her stay at his side.

In a way, she pitied him. If she ever was to leave or die, there is no doubt he would find it insanely hard, until he found someone else to take care of him. But his reliance on her was annoying. He was skilled and clever, but his psychological issues sort of made him look like a loser, sometimes.

Matt removed the cassette from his recorder and left it on one of the pews. He then took a step back and turned in her direction and looked at her for a second before disappearing and reappearing right in front of her. Where he previously had been, an ethereal doppelganger stood perfectly immobile, its form gleaming in the rising light of the morning sun. It blinked twice, then vanished.

“You’re really taking a liking to your new abilities, huh. How about we plan our next move, whenever you’re done showing off?”

“Sure,” he said, “but how ‘bout we find you some new clothes?”

“Do you see any anywhere? We’re not in a mall. And I’m not going to pick those off the guy we… killed.”

They both turned towards the corpse. They paused for a moment, observing what they had done… what had to be done. She never liked people in general, and always thought she wouldn’t hesitate to end someone who would be a threat to her. Of course, that was before she had discovered her new powers. Because of them, it had gone differently than how she had imagined it would. It had happened so quickly, with a shocking amount of violence.

Matt approached the dead man. Multiple spikes impaled the corpse in multiple locations, nailing it to the wooden wall a few feet off the ground. They were originally red, since she had created them from solidified blood, but they had changed to brown and black colors after a few minutes. In turn, the man’s skin became pale, his face stuck in an expression of surprise, more than fear. Amy had become monstrously powerful; the poor bastard never stood a chance.

“I guess it was him or us,” Matt sighed.

She lowered her head to look at him, but he was still fixated on their victim.

“Are you having regrets now?” she asked.

“No. I just… I never killed anyone before, you know? It’s a bit unsettling. But that’s just how it is these days, I guess. I’ll get over it.”

“Must be harder for you than for me. I don’t feel sorry for him.”

“Oh, I don’t blame you. He chose to come after us.”

She had been worried the whole situation would create a rift between them. She had a feeling he was morally idealistic. She half-expected him to throw a tantrum whenever she did something he didn’t like, but his reaction was good so far: no panic, no resentment, no blame.

“It’s beautiful, in a morbid kind of way. He died in a church. One with the Lord, and all that,” he said.

“More like one with the wall, in his case. Didn’t think of you as a religious kind of person, though.”

“I’m not. I guess I just like art… and I thought it was oddly poetic.”

He smiled lightly. “Come on, let’s look around,” he said as he picked the handgun from the dead man’s hands. Neither of them were familiar with firearms, but he could identify the model thanks to the text engraved on it. “Five-seven,” he muttered. He then faced her to show her what he had found but turned away almost immediately. Her clothes had torn during the fight and now revealed a little too much.

“I’m making you uncomfortable,” she said.

“Sorry. Let’s just search the place. Maybe we can find temporary clothes. It’s cold for October, wouldn’t want you to get sick.”

“Better not go out now, day broke already. I’d say it’s about nine, so it would be better to stay here and rest.”

He agreed. Ambushes by tainted creatures and abominations of all kinds were more than likely to happen during nighttime. In broad daylight, though, they were nowhere to be found. Resting during the day was much safer, they decided, as they didn’t have to worry too much about getting attacked wherever they slept. Besides, remaining in one place for too long was never a good idea; it made them an easy target for a swarm of Corrupted.

As far as they were aware, away parties opted to sleep in shifts and leave a few people up as guards, but it would always lead to gunfights, which would wake everybody up in a panic. In the end, nobody got much rest. Yet they were so anchored in their beliefs that they refused to think strategically and adapt.

When they had been forced out of Basin four days ago, it was the first thing Matt wanted to change in their daily survival strategies. Sleeping during the day had obviously worked for them so far, and they noticed it allowed them to sleep better and feel more rested. The drawback was that they only had a few hours of light before night time – especially going further into the autumn since days were getting shorter. They were left with only a few hours to safely scavenge for whatever they needed. Still, seeing as it was only the two of them, they required fewer supplies. Besides, they were both mobile and she was able to fight in the dark, which opened new avenues others couldn’t reach.

She was grateful to him. He was flawed, but he was there to help her when others wouldn’t. Plus, whenever they met someone on the road, he was the one who did the talking. Despite all his faults, he was, in a way, the best ally she could ask for.