Costco's parking lot, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 14:50

She came to her senses in a parking lot covered in broken glass. She was on a blanket though. Anyway, waking up on broken glass felt like the daily forecast for her. Cloudy with a chance of broken glass. Sara looked around and shrieked as she saw a left leg. It was Keynes sitting in his wheelchair next to her.

"Girl, what the fuck is going on here?" Keynes asked. "What did you do to Trevor?"

Out of breath and still dazed, she looked around. The gunfight must've ended, and it seems the only casualty on the visitor team was Mr. Black. Trevor looked fine if not a bit scared.

Sara stared at the wheelchair cop, avoiding the stump on his left leg. "Is Trevor okay?" Noticing the stupidity of asking about someone's well-being to a third party when the person was right there, she shifted her gaze. "Trevor, are you okay? Do you have any injuries?"

Surprised, Trevor patted his torso. "No, none. I'm just a bit scared. I felt something... evil coming from where you swung that skillet."

"Not from the skillet?" She asked, wondering if they too saw the red light. She thought they should've mentioned it if they did.

"Is the skillet evil?" Trevor asked, his voice shaken.

"No," she stifled a chuckle and raised the item, "it's a weapon of justice."

That drew a wry chuckle from the young man.

"Can we talk in private?" She asked the cop.

"Whatever you got to say, girlie," Joe called on her with a heavy southern accent he put on purpose, "you can say in front of all of us."

She felt Abby circulating mana inside her body but she could tell that they had very little available mana. It was just a chill breeze compared to the ice moving underneath her skin from before. In any case, the cold sensation of something flowing inside her was unmistakable. It helped her recover. She stood up, the weaponized skillet still in her hands. She stared at the tool and for a moment had a compulsion to toss it on Joe's head. She reined it in and kept her Composure.

"Then I guess I have nothing to say except that I saved Trevor's life," she spoke staring into Keynes' eyes. "I'm still sorry about Phillip's loss. At least this time I wasn't entirely overtaken by panic."

Apparently absorbed in deep thought, Keynes nodded. Sara took that as her leave to go loot the supermarket and go back home with a truck loaded with food. Standing up, she removed the ruined folding cart on her back and dropped it next to the large skillet. She also had to go back inside and retrieve her foster father's knife.

As she attempted to go on her way, Joe jumped forward and forcefully grabbed her arm. Sara's eyes lazily drifted to the hand as she wondered how to react.

"Joe! Release Sara immediately!" Keynes warned.

"Spill the guts, girl. What the fuck happened here?"

With a wave of cold anger that would usher in an ice age, Sara stared at Joe's eyes. She felt only a faint pressure on her skin from his iron-like grip. The girl thought she could toss Joe over the armored trucks if she wanted. Strength thrummed inside her, begging to be released. A fury for all the indignity she suffered, ready to be bestowed upon Joe the asshole. Violence was not her thing, though. She decided to put her Social Skills to work.

"They are everywhere. The restless dead," she doomsayed. "I wish I was on drugs. A hallucination would be better than this cruel reality. They are invisible and deadly. Don't go near the interstate, and stop murdering each other."

Then she stared at Joe's eyes and did her best Haley Joel Osment's impression, "I see dead people. All the time."

Disgusted and a bit scared, Joe let go of her arm. "Drugged freak." He stumbled away muttering, "not worth it."

"Joe, we are going to talk about this later," Keynes warned as the rude man walked past his wheelchair. "That's now how we treat our people."

"This girl is not one of us, Keynes! Get a grip!" Joe spat next to the wheelchair and stormed away, vanishing behind the armored truck.

Sara shrugged and watched the rude man walk away. Then she shifted her gaze to the cop. "He's right. I'm not. One of you. Glad to find you hale, Trevor. Keep it safe. I'm gone. I'm calling dibs on all the chocolate, candy, and first loot rights on Costco. Trick or treat, Detective!"

She waved goodbye and dashed into the supermarket.

*

*

Costco, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 15:00

Sara turned her flashlight on at the maximum power. The horrors of the dead supermarket made her regret that decision immediately. The place was buzzing with bugs of all kinds, both crawling and flying ones. She felt thankful for her respirator. Though she needed food for Abby, insect protein wasn't on the menu.

The front was littered with the money from the manager's safe, mixed with rat poop. A lot of money. Apparently, when the wraith burst out of the manager's office, it caused all the cash to scatter everywhere. It was a lot of money. Like, thousands of dollars. Sara had to remind her that it was worthless paper now. She'd get the money even with the rat poo four years ago.

"Are we alone?" She asked the fairy.

"What happened? Why did I blackout?"

She recalled something about mages passing out for not having mana in popular media.

"Couldn't you stop me?"

She hated being lectured but Abby had a point. Sara vaguely remembered Abby shouting for her to stop. Overwhelmed as she was, she could've pleaded insanity at court and walked away with it.

Shoving those concerns aside, she moved on, exploring the supermarket. A massive pile of empty booze bottles and cans, from beers to whiskey to wine sat on a corner next to discarded packets of snacks. The Remnants were having a never-ending party while hiding from the vengeful survivors. Didn't they call them rapists? Sara shuddered at the thought.

Leaving those concerns to the bellicose survivors, she took one of those large flatbed shopping carts and went onward. Most of the corridors were impassable, with dead bodies and stray, half-filled shopping carts everywhere. She would've eaten a dozen bugs even with her mouth closed, were it not for the respirator she got from Christine's dad.

Most bodies were already chewed clean by the rats, skeletons with bits of sinew attached to the gnawed bones. Small pellets of feces littered the ground making it impossible to avoid them. Sara decided to find a new pair of sneakers. Those she borrowed from Christine would definitely go straight to the trash. But still, a little bit of her died every time she stepped on a tiny turd.

Her first stop was the lighting aisle. She picked several types of lanterns and those attachable battery-operated LED bed lamps, several of each. Then batteries, of which she picked a whole pallet. She had no idea where she would put these. Maybe she could get a truck from the parking lot. Remembering her mission, she went to the clothing department and get several sets of winter gear for a child around six and eight years old. She hoped little Catherine would survive long enough to wear the larger clothes. She took a few dolls and stuffed toys too. And some cheap Converse sneakers her size.

Ahead she went navigating around the dead bodies and causing the rodents to scatter away from the light. She found herself in the electronics aisle. She took all the portable power banks and a few Android phones and tablets. She looked at the Apple section and sighed. Those were impossible to activate without the officially defunct internet, she recalled. At the end of the aisle, she grabbed four laptop PCs.

Sara also took all the seeds and spices she could find. Who knew when they would trade for black peppers again? Where were they originally from? Did black peppers grow on trees or bushes? Sara had no idea, which made these dark brown balls even more valuable. She was afraid the food would get blander and blander as time went by if they had any food, to begin with. When would she ever eat a pizza again? Tomatoes? Cheese? What were those that again?

For Abby's energy requirements, boxes upon boxes of chocolates. Sara found that she could eat forever if her stomach kept complaining about being empty. Maybe that's what people did in ancient Rome.

Sara also raided the personal hygiene aisle, getting several packs of shampoo, conditioner, and liquid soap, as well as toothpaste and spare toothbrushes. Then she loaded up with enough feminine products to last her well until past their expiration date. She had no idea what she would do after she ran out of those. How did women survive in medieval times, again?

With the non-food goods she wanted all accounted for, she went to the food section. Non-perishable, because everything in the grocery section was covered in a black blanket of bugs and mold. The first thing that came to her mind was canned snacks like Danish butter cookies. Anything in a metal shell was safe from the bugs and the real canned stuff was golden in this post-Apocalyptical world.

The number of dead people and exposed groceries meant the rats went for the easy pickings and left the top shelves mostly alone. She gave each box of biscuits and chocolates a brief inspection for obvious rodent holes or mold before putting them on the cart. Boxes of chocolate bars, she took them all. Finally, she took a few gallons of fruit juice and water to wash down all the food she was about to consume.

Sara grunted as she used all her might to push the overloaded shopping cart. Maybe she should've parked this one halfway and fetched a second one but she didn't want to go back and forth in this filth-ridden supermarket. She had to push some skeletons out of the way because the loaded cart wouldn't steer around the dead bodies anymore. She went past the open doors into the afternoon sunlight and found a handful of people apparently waiting for her, wheelchair-toting one-legged detective Keynes included.

"There she is," the cop said.

*

*

East Conley near I-20 [1], Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 16:00

[1]: MDW: Remember that because Lake Stonecrest occupies most of the Eastern part of DeKalb county, the Terrell Starr Parkway (i-675) does not exist. It is replaced by I-20 that goes south and around the lake.

They searched the shipping companies for spare electrical parts to repair the alternators. Hauling a no-break to power computers, they checked inventory whenever they could log into the computers.

It was rather fruitless. They would have to search the hundreds of shipping containers for their prize.

Frustrated, they were going to the next company, when one of them shouted to stop the car. Tires screamed as the car stopped.

"What is it?" The driver asked.

"There's something strange ahead," The tall guy said as he stepped out of the vehicle. "Look, the wind is blowing, but the grass ahead of us is not moving."

The other two got out and checked for themselves. "Yeah, it's weird."

The road ahead of them was completely still. After observing for a minute or so, the woman took a rock from the curb and tossed it ahead. The rock stopped mid-air and refused to move any further in either direction. Or fall. It had lost all momentum.

"What the f—" She cursed.

"Throw another rock!" The short guy suggested.

They threw a few more rocks, managing to even hit the still ones. All rocks that crossed some imaginary boundary a few meters ahead of them stopped just like the first, while the ones that hit the still rocks just fell down, a few hitting the ground, a few halting somewhere below the point of collision.

The woman took a handful of dirt from the curb and threw it in a spray near where the rocks had halted. Like it had been tossed into flypaper, the dirt formed a film at the boundary. Some fell in a spray before the boundary.

"This is Twilight Zone stuff," the tall man remarked. "Is this area frozen in time?"

"Your guess is as good as mine, dude."

"I don't think it is safe for us to stick a finger in there."

"We should go back and report this to Hainsworth," the woman suggested. "Also, we should throw more dirt to mark the anomaly.

*

*

Costco, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 16:20

Keynes was there with a lot of new faces. Apparently, he dispatched Joe to loot the Target store.

Sara halted her shopping cart and took her time appraising every one of the newcomers. They looked like everyday people from all walks of life. Survivors, just like her. Their faces were a bit sallow but they seemed to be lacking sleep if not food. After that awkward silent minute, Sara glowered at the cop.

"What do you want, Detective Keynes?" She hissed.

"Nothing. Just introduce the girl who scared the gunners away to a few people from the survivor camp. These are all college students near your age, Brett, Kelly, Amanda, and Peterson."

She assumed he mentioned their age to build some rapport. Too bad it failed. Sara studied the newcomers. The quartet seemed to be in their early twenties From Amanda's body language and overprotective posture she knew Peterson was already taken but Brett and Kelly didn't seem to have any chemistry between them.

The cop seemed to be challenging her to say something. Deny she'd scared the gunners away. She remembered how he hadn't believed her while she spoke in a daze and decided to let sleeping dragons lie.

"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Sara," she addressed the quartet of young people, then shifted back to the cop. "Am I free to go now, Officer?" She asked sarcastically.

"I'll let you go with just a warning, ma'am," he said with his roadside cop voice. "You can go ahead. Please remember to wear your seat belt."

Sara sneered and poked her tongue at him from behind her respirator. She grunted as she steered her cart to the side, "Well, I recommend you put on some masks before entering the store. It's creepy crawler season in there."

"Wait, Sara," Kelly, if her memory served, approached her. "Don't you want to come to visit our camp? We are gathering everyone alive. There's strength in numbers."

"Except the remnants of the Necropolis King's army, apparently," Sara quipped as she kept her personal space from being invaded.

"They did some bad things," Keynes glossed over the subject. "We want to bring them to do justice to them."

She snorted at the word 'justice'. "What goes for justice these days? Flogging, hanging, burning at the stake—"

"What's your problem, girl? Did all the drugs you took melted your brain?' Amanda admonished.

The girl raised an eyebrow and spared just a sideways glance.

Kelly sighed and smiled sympathetically.

Keynes was the one to talk back, "Amanda, those rumors were lies. Sara's never used drugs. I regret being the one to spread them, but it's the truth."

She wanted to ask...

"How can you be so sure?" Amanda crowed with disbelief. Were these two women close before the world's end?

... how can a woman be so abrasive. Sara wasn't a role model on politeness either, but Amanda made the orphan girl look like a Victorian lady. And what about the big guy standing behind her. Was he a bouncer or something?

Kelly tittered and walked between the two, showing support for Sara. She rested a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Sara's first reaction at your baseless slander was one of disgust and disbelief. I bet Sara has seen what drugs can do to a person up close. Didn't you?"

Kelly was the kind of easygoing and relaxed person who could ignore other people's personal spaces and make herself welcome. Hideaki Anno, beware: no AT field would survive this cheerful woman. It didn't feel like she had invaded Sara's personal space but that, at a subconscious level, that Kelly belonged there. It felt like Kelly was really on her side, defending her. It didn't trigger any alarms inside the girl's head.

Wordlessly, Sara looked away and shook her head. Kelly was right on the money, which impressed the girl even more. Back in Seattle, she had witnessed one of the homeless guys that lived in the abandoned building she squatted on die of an overdose.

"Amanda, I was responsible for starting these rumors, but I'll ask you to stop it now," Keynes interfered. "Sara's family was involved with federal law enforcement. Trust me, she wouldn't be able to buy drugs even if she wanted to. Which she didn't, doesn't, you got it. So, drop it."

The last sentence was in his well-modulated and authoritative cop voice. Amanda shut the hell up.

"You got quite the haul there," Kelly misdirected by drawing attention to the shopping cart. "Do you want help carrying it to your car? Brett told me he wanted to do some exercise."

Brett made a funny face but didn't deny it. He approached and nodded. Sara let him push her rather loaded shopping cart even though it was effortless to her. with Kelly by her side, they went to where the Silverado was parked to unload her loot.

*

*

Mt. Sion Road, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 16:40

"What are you going to do with all these computers?" Brett asked, genuinely interested, as he arranged the electronics on the rear seat.

The guy seemed to be some sort of tech geek and was probably trying to find a kindred spirit in her. Sara shrugged. "No idea yet. I just thought it would be hard to find new computers after a while, so I wanted to save a few for myself."

"The survivors are keeping our generator refueled. We got electricity at the campus if you want to charge your phone or something," Kelly offered with a giggle.

"Thanks for offering," the girl smiled back, "I intend to going there anyway. I have a delivery to make," Sara replied and put the crate of Danish cookie tins and the coats at the foot of the passenger seat.

"Great. Come on, Brett! Flex those muscles," Kelly ordered with a whimsical grin.

"Aye, mistress," The guy rolled his eyes.

After loading the Silverado with what she got, Sara went into the supermarket one more time. The truck's bed was huge and she had a good idea of what she should get next.

Sara went back to the manager's office and found her knife in a corner. She checked it for damage and sighed in relief as, aside from the burn marks from imbuing it at the crash site, it was just a bit roughed and dirt from being tossed around. No damage as far as she could tell. With a reluctant sigh, she left the cash behind. Down she went, back into the store to get Kelly and Brett some masks, gloves, and more flashlights. She could be magnanimous when she wanted to. Along the way, she loaded more boxes of chocolate and candy into an empty dishwasher box.

The other three college students also came back with their own loot.

As she got out of the store, Kelly laughed softly as she peeked inside the large box, "Oh, goodness! More chocolate. Then again, Halloween is right around the corner," The woman then studied Sara's figure.

"I am still in my growing phase," Sara justified with another shrug.

The bubbly college student took a box of candy from Sara's crate, "You have a great figure. Don't go and ruin it. What happened to your face, you have some open wounds! Did you disinfect your cuts?"

"I did, mom," Sara rolled her eyes. Kelly just nodded and laughed in relief.

"Kelly and Keynes have a kid, who would've thought of that," Brett joked. "And you already have a kid this tall?"

"You better take care, we have more women than men," Amanda broke her silence and ruined the mood. "So you'll have a tough competition."

'Bitch, who was talking about men', Sara thought, then let the intended slight wash past her. She pointed at Jeff's dead body inside the store, "Figured it would be like that. I mean guys keep shooting each other until they are either dead or crippled. Plus all the explosives they chuck around like water balloons. As for myself, I'm stuck in the 'boys are yucky' phase."

Amanda let out a peal of cackles that reminded Sara of a flock of cockatiels bent on stealing a kangaroo's food. "You'll get over it soon enough. I hope you remember my warning."

She could only nod and stare at her boyfriend. "You don't have to worry. I won't forget." Then she spoke slowly like she was writing a note. "Peterson is both a yucky boy and already accounted for, dumb Sara. Signed, Sara!" She grinned and stared at the jelly woman.

Sara could see the color set on Amanda's face as she let her temper flare. Maybe to keep both women from fighting, Peterson held her by the shoulder.

"Peace, Amanda," pushing her disgust at the woman aside, Sara spoke as candidly as she could. "I don't want to pick a fight with you but I am no pushover either. You may find that hard to believe, but I'm really not looking for a boyfriend right now. And Peterson is not my type, really." She then turned to Kelly. "That's why I don't think it is the right time for me to join your merry band of survivors. I'll do my thing and keep in touch from time to time."

Amanda was about to snap something back but Peterson squeezed her shoulder, instantly silencing the woman. Their couple dynamic was quite something. The irritating blabbermouth and the stoic silent type.

Kelly grimaced, apologetic. "That's okay, Sara. You do you, and I'll... try to keep Amanda off your neck."

"That's a deal," Ignoring the person behind them, Sara flashed a grin. They couldn't see it behind the mask.

"But I'm riding on your truck with you!" Kelly demanded with a cute pout.

"Ladies, if I may?" Keynes said as he drove his wheelchair closer to them. "I need a moment with Sara."

They all stopped to hear. "Go ahead, I'll see if I can get him to dismiss the felony charges," Sara said.

Kelly laughed again. They put on their masks and went into the supermarket to get more stuff.

"Would you push the chair, please? This motor is ridiculously slow," the cop asked.

*

*

Costco, Loading Bay B. Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 17:30

Sara went with him to an empty loading dock. She mentally poked Abby and got confirmation that nobody was nearby.

"I need confirmation. You can see the invisible creatures, don't you? The undead who killed Phillip and almost got Trevor."

She nodded and decided to spit it all out.

"Those who died during Armageddon didn't leave Earth. They are around here. Some are benign, most were corrupted by whatever took over the speedways. The ones who keep their sanity I call ghosts, then the deformed deranged murderous ones are wraiths, and the walking ones are ghouls. Not zombies. Killing the walking bodies releases the wraith, and the incorporeal ones aren't limited by physical restraints. You've seen firsthand what they can do."

"What can we do about them? You can clearly see, interact, and even kill them."

"Leave them alone for now. Don't let anyone go near the interstate. There's not much we can do about that. We are trapped for now. Not that there's much out there to visit."

"People want to go to the city, to look for survivors. Family. Friends."

"They'll find only death," Sara remarked somberly.

"You can kill them."

The girl crossed her arms and frowned. "I killed one. And only because it was fixated on killing Trevor and ignored me. I won't clear a path. Trust me, they're horrifying, Deformed. They wear their sin as their skins."

"Can you teach others to do that?"

"No. That's pretty impossible right now. It's not that I don't want to."

They remained silent for a moment.

"Do you know what happened to the world?"

"Yes. I told you several times. I won't repeat myself or I'll sound more like a crazy person or a fraud. Believe what you want."

"Armageddon," Keynes said. "The final battle between Heaven and Hell."

Sara looked away.

"NASA didn't detect the meteor shower because it didn't come from space."

The girl closed her eyes and let the cop ramble.

"Is this the judgment of God? Are we the ones left behind?" Keynes took a deep breath, then recited. "The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done."

"Don't go down the rabbit hole of the scriptures, I have it from a reliable source they were grossly misconstrued," Sara warned without turning around, then changed the subject. "These two supermarkets should have enough food to last us through winter and more. No angels are coming to deliver us, detective."

She jumped and sat on the edge of the loading bay pit. Keynes drove next to her.

"What do you think we should do?"

"I'm not telling you what to do," Sara snapped back right away. "But if I were in your place, I would settle down and plan what to do to keep people alive after winter. Farming, raising livestock, preserving what knowledge we can. Keep people alive. The whole world is in the same boat as us, Keynes. Don't let anyone delude themselves that everything is going back to what it was in a year or even ten. Let me ask you this. Who amputated your leg? Was it a physician?"

"No. It was Hainsworth and a few other guys. We have nobody with medical knowledge. Not even an EMT or a nurse."

Sara finally found what she wanted to say. She looked up. "I'm already doing what I can. What only I can do. I wish I could either help or ask for help, but this is my burden, mine alone." The girl stared at the sky. "It's getting late. I'm going to the university with Kelly and probably sleep there today. Remember this, detective. I'm not loitering around." She huffed and rubbed her temples. "These last two weeks, it's been a roller coaster. I've been so busy and it's so emotionally taxing that most nights I cry until I sleep."

"Do the dead know you can see them?"

"I'd rather not talk more about this. Sorry, I said too much. It would be so easier if I was just high on something and hallucinating all this. But no, it's real!" She stood up. "The monsters are real, detective. Keep your people alive. Stop these stupid gunfights. Keep them away from the speedways. Survive this winter. Spring might be better. Or not. That's all I can tell you."

She was about to go away but Keynes held her hand. Staring into her eyes, he spoke candidly, "Thank you for sharing this with me, Sara. Can we talk about this later, on another occasion?"

"Maybe. I'm sorry I ran away from the pilot's wraith and let Phillip die. I... I chickened out."

"Was it the pilot?"

"From what she said, people made her fly at gunpoint. She crashed the plane on purpose and killed everyone. I doubt you'll find any survivors at the airport."

"Again, thank you. Stay safe, Sara."

Sara walked away. The conversation was getting too soppy for her taste.

*

*

Northern Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 18:51.

It was almost night when they finally left Costco. True to her vow, Sara had dumped the clothes and shoes she used inside that hellish store in a trash bag and changed into a summer dress. This autumn was particularly hot. Kelly rode on the Silverado with her and the two made small talk as they slowly went back to the university campus.

The convoy had a few delivery trucks that were emptied and then loaded with stuff the survivors wanted. They hadn't put a dent in the massive stock of food and sundries. The plan was to send more people tomorrow and eventually bring everything to the university.

The main group of survivors spent most of their time cleaning up the campus.

"We are going to have a massive funeral pyre for the students and faculty tonight," Kelly revealed as they drove into the university's parking lot. "And a feast. You're obviously invited. I heard you did the same for the people in your apartment building."

"Yes. My foster parents deserved their last rites. Too bad we can't do the same for everyone unless we set fire to the whole city."

"Nobody wants that."

"True."

"Were you close to your foster parents?"

"Not really, but they were nice people," Sara spoke fondly of them. "I was on witness protection, they were selected by the marshals."

"Should you be telling me that?" Kelly said in an ominous voice.

Sara gasped loudly. "Oh, no! Did you work for the mafia?"

Kelly chortled, "No!"

The girl grinned, "Then it's fine."

"Was it even the mafia?"

"I have no idea."

"Oh, turn left there, then right on the next street after the train rail."

The survivors did a good job of cleaning up the dead bodies. Sara could only see a few fat stains on the pavement from the body fluids that oozed from the corpses. She also saw some people taking a late afternoon swim in an illuminated swimming pool. Kelly noticed her interest.

"The water is heated up. We hooked up the dorms to the solar panels on the Atlanta archives next door and some guys brought a whole gasoline tanker from one of the gas stations. We're running a generator to supplement the solar panels, but there are plans to go entirely green."

"Isn't it a waste of gasoline?" Sara asked.

"No. They said this summer gasoline will freeze during the winter. The volatile compounds, those that create the smell of gasoline, will evaporate during these months, and we'll be left with just a sludge. So, it's better to burn it now. Come spring, we will need to all ride either electric cars or bicycles. There's a group of guys working at the landfill to the north to get us more solar power."

Sara was shocked. These dorms felt so normal, so every day.

"Is everyone here at the dorms?"

"No. A few guys decided to shack up at the campus. Some converted classrooms into apartments."

"Where was Mr. Brown's place?"

"He's one of those who stayed at the campus."

Sara stopped the Silverado. "Why did you take me here, then?"

"So you can pick an apartment for yourself. You can take one near the north exit, it's quite isolated and quiet. Most people decided to live near the swimming pool and campus."

The girl shook her head. "I need to see to Mr. Brown's."

"Oh. Sorry for assuming."

"It's fine. Let's head to the campus."

*

*

Clayton State University, Clayton County, Georgia. Sunday, October 20th, 2019. 19:20

As she drove into the campus, she noticed the survivors had also cleaned up the campus nicely. She could barely smell cadaverine, and the place was well illuminated. Sara told Kelly that and got an explanation.

"The university didn't offer night courses, so it was mostly empty when the world ended."

It was the first time Sara saw Kelly's mask drop and she saw the woman's regret. Previously, the girl was off-put by the woman's bubbly demeanor as if Kelly didn't care the world ended. It was the opposite. Kelly was trying to be uplifting and to raise everyone's spirits by burying her sorrow deep inside. Such realization made Sara's respect for Kelly soar. It wasn't something the girl could pull off even with a hundred points in each social Skill under the sun.

"Are you a local?" Sara asked carefully.

Kelly sniffled. "Yes. Gresham Park."

It was to the north, on the other side of the southeastern arm of the perimeter. Kelly had an undead-infested highway or two between her and home.

"I'm sorry."

Kelly wiped a single tear off the corner of her eye, "Thank you, Sara."

As she parked next to the trucks, she saw people unloading IKEA boxes and some personal belongings from another truck. It was a way to keep people busy assembling the furniture and also to make the place theirs. The survivors seemed intent on converting the campus into their own little village.

The quartet of young adults stayed behind to unload their truck. Sara was exempted from work because she was a guest.

Leaving her loaded Silverado behind, she fell in place next to Keynes as they strolled through the campus.

"So, no government at all?" She asked. "Are the US of A really dead?"

The detective shook his head. "I'm afraid so. All radio frequencies are dead, save for one FM radio station that's still operating from god knows where. Satellite networks are down. No GPS. No internet. The guy on the radio said that everyone in his little town is dead. He also vowed to keep broadcasting until he dies, in hopes someone is listening. Some guys are trying their luck with setting up a broadcast of our own. We have scouts on the roof all the time, nobody saw a single airplane other than the one that crashed. Not even from the military."

"I have to drop by Mr. Brown's room. Is that okay?"

"Sure," he replied, his mind elsewhere. Keynes seemed filled with sorrow.

"Thank you."

Before she could get away from the awkward atmosphere around the crippled cop, a guy approached in a hurry. "Keynes, sir! We spotted a smoke column coming from the federal prison. I gotta go warn Hainsworth," he ran away.

The crippled cop frowned. "Damn. I had hoped none of them survived."

"The prison inmates?" Sara asked.

"Yes. They should've been kept locked in their cells even without electricity. But maybe one of them was out when Armageddon came and probably has released the others."

"Why should we worry? They are on the other side of the Perimeter anyway."

"We have no idea how many of them are there, and they are very, very dangerous. Not only the prison is out of our reach but we also have to assume they got the guards' weapons. We're talking about sniper rifles. It was a maximum-security federal prison, Sara. They can shoot us from across the highway. It makes the task of the 'smoke watch' very dangerous."

"Doesn't sound so maximum right now. Wait, was that how you found my building? The 'smoke watch'? I set the fire at night!"

"Damn right you did," Keynes grinned. "Too bad our guys have military infrared binoculars."

"That's cheating!" She protested. It was Keynes' turn to shrug.

"We may call it that from now on. Sara, we need to help each other. Keep that in mind."

"You guys control Fort Gillem, why can't you just, dunno, Howitzer the prison?"

"The inmates might have captured civilian survivors. I bet they did. Do you think it's prudent to just shoot them with artillery?"

Sara huffed and shook her head, "No, I do not, sir." The last word was full of sarcasm.

"You have the spirit of a warrior, Sara. We'll deal with the prison when the time comes. I need to know, are these ghouls and ghosts going to be a problem?"

"You really believed me?" She scoffed.

"I did," he deadpanned. "Look, when it all began, people dropped dead out of nowhere all at once. I was at the station, I saw dozens of cops drop dead like that," he snapped his finger. " Before I was burned and fell unconscious for two days. It was like someone pulled a circuit break. At first, I thought it was a virus or radiation from a bomb, but no explanation covered everything. Walking bodies, people's heads splitting open out of nowhere. The way people burned at the onset. The supernatural explanation checks all boxes. So yes, I'm going to believe you. Are they going to become a bigger problem going forward?"

"No. For the time being, they will stick to the highways. Or places nearby where a lot of negative feelings accumulate. Like the airport."

Keynes studied her body language, "You met a ghost at the plane crash." It wasn't a question.

"The pilot. She... I'm sorry. She had turned feral and become a wraith. I..." Sara sobbed.

"It was the pilot's wraith that killed Phillip, right?" Keynes asked with a soft tone. Sara nodded. "You feel guilty. Sara, it was not your fault. If these... wraiths, if they have the power to slice people in half as they did to Phillip, I don't fault you for running away. And you saved Trevor from another one, right?"

Sara nodded and bit her lip. She decided to open up. "That's what I'm doing all this time. Helping the ghosts move on. That's why I went to the crash site. That's why I am roaming around."

"Is this related to that black oil?" Sara just nodded at Keynes' question. "Did any of them try to harm you?"

"Just the pilot who killed Phillip, but she wanted to see the world burn. They usually aren't aggressive. The ghosts, at least. Wraiths are usually related to the highway network. There's something evil seeping through the speedways."

The detective probed, "but it wasn't the first time it happened."

Sara remembered the best boy ever and a tear formed in her eye. She just shook her head affirmatively. Keynes held her hand.

"I believe you are doing a good thing, Sara. You're helping them move on, aren't you?" She nodded. "Like you did to Mr. Brown, right?" He made a wild guess.

She retrieved her hand and narrowed her eyes. "You are too smart for your own good, detective," She grumbled.

The need for human interaction after two weeks of going crazy alone (ghosts notwithstanding) made Sara drop her guard. She'd go away if she hadn't a task at the campus.

"is that a threat?" He lightheartedly joked.

Sara crossed her arms. It was off-character for the cop to be so friendly and she went on the defensive. "What do you want?"

"I want to help you. Train you. I am... I am still in law enforcement, to serve and protect, you know? I was a P.I. before I joined the force. I want to teach you my skills, Sara. I am sure it will help you in whatever you are doing. Training you to use that weapon properly is one such skill. Tell me. Back in Seattle, how did you open the safe?"

"It had a hidden override keyway."

"And where did you learn to pick locks?"

Sara started to recite with a sugary voice like she was reading a children's book, "My teacher's name was Seattle. You know most of the story. Girl gets her inheritance stolen by scumbag foster parents, is kicked out of home, lives in an abandoned building for two years, commits petty theft for a living, attempts to burgle the wrong house, and ends up in witness protection. Quite ordinary. Are you going to arrest me, officer?"

Keynes chuckled, "I thought we didn't have any laws anymore."

The cop's peals of laughter irritated her. "Then fuck off, Keynes," she hissed. "I spent two years in the streets after the worst foster home, okay? A girl had to learn a skill or two to survive. I had worse choices to make. Like dealing drugs, or selling myself on the streets. Instead, I just picked some pockets and robbed a few houses."

"Okay, okay," he nodded sympathetically, "We all have things we aren't proud of, Sara."

"Like kidnapping kids from their homes?" She snapped.

"Exactly," Keynes lowered his head and stared at his leg stump.

She was about to ask why he was in a wheelchair as he'd lost only one leg when she was interrupted by a speeding ball of sunshine.