Southlake Parkway, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 24th, 2019. 10:45

Sara watched as the Silverado went down the road. The girl had zero fucks to give to the truck or the people in the front seat. She only wished Amanda would stay away from her. Big fat chance of that happening. She was sure the craven bitch would come back for more.

Pushing those concerns to the gutter where they belonged, she turned around and faced Kelly. The usually cheerful woman looked both forlorn and angry.

"Thank you, I guess. And.. I'm sorry," Sara offered placatingly.

"You are sorry. Great. It's not me who you owe an apology to," Kelly stated coldly, trying to keep her anger bottled up. "That thing about her parents... That was not acceptable."

"Why follow me, then?" Sara asked, going on the defensive. "Go on, give me your lecture. The mall is less than half a mile away, you can catch up with them."

"Is this what you want?" Kelly pointed around. "To be alone in a dead world?"

"No!" Sara protested.

"Because if you want me to go, I'll go. But don't expect me back so soon. You're a gro–. No. You are seventeen, Sara. A minor by all accounts. Legally a child. You're allowed to make mistakes but you went too far," Kelly patronized.

Sara sloshed the half-gallon water bottles in her hands to distract herself and keep her mouth shut. The things she was about to say would shatter her relationship with Kelly for good. She dropped a bag and a bottle to free one arm, then opened the bottle and drank half of it in one go while spilling a lot of water down the corners of her mouth. She took a deep breath and closed the bottle.

"Let's go to the mall," she suggested. "I'll apologize to Amanda."

Her animosity almost got the better of her and she almost added something she'd regret. With a heavy sigh, she stared at the sky. Some rain clouds were forming on the horizon. It was probably going to rain today or tomorrow.

"This is hard," she confessed.

"Being a responsible adult is hard," Kelly corrected.

"What would a responsible adult do in my place?"

"After you insulted her dead parents?"

"I guess."

"I... I... " Kelly paused, sucked in a huge breath, then shook her head as she sighed loudly. "I don't know. Let's stay away from Amanda for a while. I know Peterson will have a talk with her on their side."

"What's their deal, anyway?"

"None of your business, to be honest. They are in love with each other, let them have it."

It was so out of character for Kelly to be blunt that it put Sara out of her game. Maybe the stress wore her down enough that she had to stop with her cheerful act. Sara felt bad for what she'd done.

"Maybe we should put a pin on this matter and address it later after we had some time to think about it."

Kelly shook her head, "She's not usually like that. I don't know why she disliked you instantly, but Amanda—"

Sara remained silent. They started to walk in the direction she pointed.

*

*

Southlake Parkway, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 24th, 2019. 11:00

"You said something about doing god's work?" Kelly inquired.

"You would think I'm crazy."

"Try me."

"You were there at the meeting. I can see the dead. I can lay them to rest. There's a ghost in that direction. I'm going to..."

"Exorcise it? Them? Is it dangerous?""

"No!" Sara protested. "Nothing like that. I usually interact with them and get their last wish fulfilled. If possible. Once it's done, they are at peace and go away on their own."

"Neat. Met many ghosts?" Kelly asked, skeptical.

"More than I wanted to."

They crossed the road and stopped in the shade of a tree. "There's a car dealership there," Kelly pointed. "At least we can get a new ride."

Sara covered her mouth and whispered, "Where is it?"

Abby replied.

"What's wrong?" Kelly asked, confused.

"That's where the ghost is at. After I am done with them, we can try to find a car that works."

"Don't they keep the keys in a safe or something?"

Sara shrugged, "We'll cross that bridge when we reach it. Let's go."

*

*

Jackson's Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Southlake Parkway, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 24th, 2019.11:20

The whole car industry was a scam. Sara was sure of it and could prove it. She believed one could gauge the health of an industry by how it treated its customers. A healthy one used mutual respect and fair deals because the customer could always go somewhere else. Only the most crooked, corrupted, and screwed-up industries could deal to treat their customers like shit as dealerships ought to do back in the day. How would people exercise their freedom to go back and forth without cars? Was it even freedom?

None of that mattered anymore. Everyone was dead, the car industry, the car sellers, and the drivers. Especially the drivers as she spared a gaze north, in the direction of the interstate.

Thinking back to the fateful October 7th, by the time Armageddon came crashing down on Earth it was already near closing time. Only the poor stooges who would be upsold on dozens of unneeded items would still be inside a dealership. They found very few bodies as they walked into the main hall. A couple of high-end sports cars were on display, their paint untarnished by blood but covered in dust. The poor car salespeople were dead on the ground, their flesh already consumed by cannibal rodents, their body fluids already dried up.

Small mercy for the survivors was that a lot of the moisture in the corpses boiled away when they were burned alive by the infusion of Mana during Armageddon.

"What are we looking for here?" Avoiding either looking or approaching the dead salespeople, Kelly asked.

"I think we should start getting all the electric vehicles back to the campus," Sara suggested. "Gasoline will go bad but it seems we won't have a shortage of electricity anytime soon."

"If they can hook the university with the solar plant. Last I heard, they needed an alternator."

"Big if. Anyway, I have about ten bicycles stashed away. Cars will become a thing of the past soon enough. Even the EVs will be piles of junk in a couple of years at most when their batteries go bad."

"We should get horses. Some guys are visiting the farms south of here. They'll be back in a couple of days."

They wandered the dealership for a while more, then reached a set of stairs.

"Let's try the manager's office," Sara suggested and they climbed the stairs to the second floor.

Inside the manager's office, Sara found what she came for. The office was posh, with several features. A meeting table, fancy couch, and armchairs, a liquor cabinet, and even an indoor golf training set. The girl thought it was too much of a cliché.

The ghost was sitting on one of those grandpa armchairs. A middle-aged Caucasian man, with almost no fat on his body, just skin draped over bones, he was a miser in life. He had a long nose she associated with him being a compulsive liar and wore a bathrobe with stamps of car brand logos. Ford, GM, Chrysler, KIA, Nissan, Peugeot, Volkswagen, you name it. He held a cocktail glass in his left hand, complete with the lime slice, bottom olive, and paper umbrella.

"Stay here," Sara pointed at the door as she went further in.

"What? Is the ghost in here?" Kelly asked.

Sara didn't reply, her focus on the spectral being. She figured out what profession he was in life. A car dealer. Kelly entered behind her.

"Good morning, Sara," he said, a smirk on the corner of his mouth as he swirled the cocktail in his hand.

"Morning," she replied, already feeling a deep disgust for the car salesman. "You must be Jackson, I presume."

"Indeed," Jackson's ghost ogled the girl, creeping her out.

"Excuse me?" Kelly asked. "Who are you talking to, Sara?"

She exchanged a glance with Kelly and then nudged her head toward the armchair. "Are you dead?"

"You're scaring me, Sara."

"You should listen to your friend."

Sara turned back to Kelly. "I want you to stay right where you are. I'm going to explain everything after it's over, okay? I need you to trust me."

Kelly widened her eyes, then nodded back. She stood by the door, worried.

Sara went back to the ghost. "I asked, are you aware you are dead?"

"As dead as the certified pre-owned cars I sold after a month," he chuckled. "Oh, good times."

She crossed her arms in front of her, a defensive reflex. Kelly flinched. "Did nobody ever notice the contradiction?"

"They did, but what could they do? Not buy a car? This is America and not having a car is the most anti-American thing one can do! America's freedom runs over rubber wheels! I sell those too. Refurbished tires."

She had little patience for this kind of people when alive, and her yearly budget was already eaten up by Mr. Taylor and the other asshole ghosts. She went straight to the point.

"So, is there anything I can do for you? Any last wishes so you can pass on peacefully?"

"Yes," he said with a sincerity his profession had a want for. "I want a lap dance."

A vein almost popped in her throbbing forehead. "Sure," Sara shrugged and scowled.

She moved in front of the chair and pulled her right leg over the armrest.

"What are you doing, Sara?" Kelly asked in shock.

The ghost was getting in the mood. Sara was thoroughly disgusted.

In a quick move, she drew her foster father's knife, infused it with Mana, and slammed it right through the ghost's forehead. The knife sunk a few inches into the upholstery and the cocktail glass crashed on the floor. Kelly screeched in surprise.

> Assignment Complete!

> You gained 1 point of Adroitness

> You gained 1 point of Mana Infusion

The girl had to remind herself that killing the ghosts instead of helping them reduced the rewards.

Sara removed her knife from the ruined armchair, and carefully sheathed it. "It's over," she vented.

The college student was taking shallow breaths and trembling.

"It's fine, Kelly. It was a pervert's ghost. Car dealer to boot."

"What? You told me they went out peacefully!" Kelly protested.

"Most of the time. This one would too, but the creep's last request was... unconscionable."

"Do tell."

"A lap dance," Sara cringed. "I instead stabbed him in the head, he's gone now. I can kill the dead too. That's my secret, Kelly. That's why Hainsworth and Keynes are so interested in me. You've seen the dead walking on the interstate, right?"

Kelly nodded slowly. She was finding it hard to believe.

"The ghouls are mostly harmless. But there's another type of undead. One that comes out whenever someone kills a ghoul."

"Zombies, you mean."

"I call them 'ghouls'. Using the term zombies brings up a lot of pop media baggage that doesn't belong there. For example, the belief you can stop them by shooting their heads. That's how a lot of people got themselves murdered by the wraiths. Oh. Wraiths are the incorporeal aggressive undead."

Kelly lifted a hand and Sara respected her wish for some time to digest what she just revealed. A few minutes of awkward silence later, she spoke.

"Was this a wraith?" She pointed at the armchair and broken cocktail glass. "Is that vodka?"

"Guess so. Did you see the glass float?"

"No. It appeared out of thin air right after you stabbed the armchair."

"Ghost had it in his hand all the time. Answering your previous question, no. He wasn't aggressive, just disgusting. Therefore, not a wraith. Ghosts usually go away when I fulfill their last wish. Had to off this one, though."

Dazed, Kelly went to the liquor cabinet. "Do you mind?"

"Knock yourself out. I will have a sip of my own water, though."

"You're underage, young lady," Kelly berated then poked the tip of her tongue out. She took a bottle of scotch out of the cabinet.

*

*

Parking lot, Jackson's Certified Pre-Owned Vehicles, Southlake Parkway, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 24th, 2019.12:00

Sara didn't let Kelly get wasted on the vintage scotch. She instead insisted they should go outside and eat their lunch. After getting food in their bellies the women searched the parking lot. Jackson had six EVs in his parking lot. Which now by the laws of the new world, belonged to Sara and Kelly.

"Here's something the survivors could barter for your drugs," Kelly teased.

"Yeah. I'd take a Tesla for my crack pipe," Sara rolled her eyes. "If I only had found it back in the bedroom."

"A guy told me once you could make one out of a soda can."

"Pfft," Sara deflated with a sputter, "There goes the market value of my imaginary drug paraphernalia. Maybe I should offer some to Amanda as a peace offering."

"I thought we agreed not to talk about it," she slurred a bit.

Sara assumed Kelly was responsible enough to not get drunk in the morning but she might need to review that notion. Maybe she was more scared by the supernatural encounter than she let in. In any case, Sara was driving today.

"It could've been worse. None of us went for our guns," Sara joked.

"Sara..."

"And I didn't kick that door in her face, which I could totally do. See? I'm a mature girl." Sara flexed and grinned.

"You surely are," Kelly replied in a sing-along voice, then became serious. "Amanda lost everyone she ever loved, including her parents which you insulted thoroughly. Please cut her some slack."

Sara grunted, then snorted derisively. "Everyone who's alive today lost everyone they ever loved! I doubt we'd ever find two survivors of the same family. And Amanda wasn't the one who saw her parents dead in the middle of having intercourse!" She protested.

"Oh. I see." Kelly clasped Sara's shoulder sympathetically. "I'm sorry for your loss," She said sincerely. "And that you had to see them like that."

"They were only foster parents. See, I might've lied. I didn't lose everyone I ever loved. Because I had nobody!" Sara threw her arms up as she kicked a car to vent her frustration. "I'm used to dealing with bitches. My skin is too thick for Amanda to get under."

Kelly hugged her from behind, believing Sara's situation was even more pitiful. "You poor thing," she crooned. "You aren't alone anymore."

Her breath reeked of malt and alcohol.

"Get in the car, Kelly. I'm driving us back to the university. We should ask for some people to come back with us and help take the EVs home.

The skies rumbled in disagreement. The rain started pouring like it would cleanse the world's sins. Maybe help with the cleanup of the dead bodies, Sara wished. Nevertheless, their plans for driving back and forth were shelved for later. Sara drove a tipsy Kelly back to the campus.

They took shelter from the rain in the library for most of the afternoon.

*

*

Library, Clayton State University, Morrow, Clayton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 24th, 2019. 16:30.

"Are you even reading those books?" Kelly complained. "All you do is flip the pages as fast as you can. At least you didn't destroy any books."

"Are you feeling better?" Sara asked Kelly as she nursed her hangover with lots of water.

Maybe that's why people didn't usually drink in the mornings; It gave their bodies a whole night to process the alcohol. Sara never bothered to learn more about it. She steered far away from any controlled substance during her street years back in Seattle.

Outside, heaven's wrath showered the world with torrential rains. All the burning debris from literal Hell that fell on the ocean caused massive clouds of vapor to rise from the boiling seas, and the winds had already carried those clouds inland.

"Yes, thank you," Kelly groaned. So, the dead. Can we talk about the dead?"

Sara chuckled and shrugged. The cafeteria was empty right now but would soon fill with people seeking dinner. She could hear those on cooking duty working in the kitchen. "Not many subjects to talk about nowadays, I reckon."

"And most of them are about you," Kelly winked. "Until people vanished the other day. Did you hear about it?"

Sara froze. "I beg your pardon?"

"The women they rescued from the... Necropolis King," Kelly shook her head, distressed. "They decided to leave during the night. Hainsworth said they went south, to Florida."

No, they didn't. But Sara didn't want to become more involved in the lie than she already was. These people placed their trust in Hainsworth, maybe the man was right and they needed to cover the mass suicide. Politics, she internally complained.

"I only hope they find the peace they deserve," Sara replied.

"Me too."

A brief lull in the conversation followed. Abby reminded her of their schedule. Tonight, she would cleanse her circulatory system.

"Kelly, I have to go tonight. I won't sleep at the campus."

"What? Where? In this downpour?"

"Somewhere safe. I need to go, the new moon is coming, and I have an occult ritual to perform."

Oddly enough, her statements were absolutely truthful.

Kelly stared through narrowed eyes. "Not only drugs but witchcraft also. I fear I might need to accuse you of consorting with the Devil!"

"I wasn't being sarcastic! And consorting with the devil?" Sara cackled. "You have no idea!"

They laughed. Sara thought about showing Kelly the feather. Then she had an idea. "Wait here. I need paper and a pencil."

Sara went into the staff room. "Abby, can you project a photo on a sheet of paper?"

"And make it half transparent?"

"Great."

She returned with a pencil and a sheaf of white paper.

"What is it?" Kelly asked, curious.

"Can you pose for me? Like you're singing? Can you sing something for me?"

Kelly grinned. She stood and put a foot on a chair. After she did a short round of vocal exercises, she sang the solo from the Phantom of the Opera. The one that ends with a falling chandelier. She cut it right before the high note, though.

"Sorry. I can't hit the E right now," Kelly apologized.

Sara was in awe. "Marry me. Have my babies, Kelly."

They laughed.

"I don't think you have what it takes to knock me up," Kelly purred. "But I'd love to see you try."

Sara bit her lower lip. Maybe she'd gone too far again.

"Don't make that face. I'm just joking!" Kelly giggled.

"Okay. Now it's my turn," she lowered her head to the paper. "Let's see, Kelly wearing a gown, singing like that."

Abby projected the image on the paper. All Sara had to do was trace the picture. Her Adroitness and mana-infused muscles gave her unnatural precision of movement. An hour later, she had a pencil drawing of Kelly singing at a grand theater. The lines were stiff here and there and they twisted erroneously in some places. A careful observer could tell that Sara had traced over some template.

The woman soundlessly moved her mouth like a fish as she stared at her portrait. "That's... it's amazing. I can't believe you can do this. It's beautiful." Sara felt bad for cheating. Kelly mistook her embarrassment for modesty. "You have an amazing talent, Sara."

"I cheated," she admitted. "I used magic. I'm sorry. I can't draw shit, actually."

"Too late to tell me otherwise," Kelly drawled theatrically, her lips curled into a mischievous smirk. "You're burning at the stake, little witch. But this? I'm going to keep it."

"If you please," Sara looked down. She was conflicted. "I should go. It's getting late, and I have to prepare."

"Why do you have to go?"

The girl felt uncomfortable with both disclosing what she intended to do, and ditching the friendly woman. Kelly had a way into people's hearts that was quite rare and efficient. Even Sara's standoffish nature was powerless against the cheerful and understanding woman.

After a minute of silence, Sara offered. "You may come with me if you want. You'll regret it, though."

"A sleepover!" Kelly clapped her hands. "I think we'll need to postpone your execution."

"By a century or more," Sara demanded.

"At least," Kelly smirked. "You're too precious, little ghost-killing pencil-drawing witch." She cooed while pinching Sara's rather pliable cheeks.

Something in Kelly's voice bothered Sara. Blunt as she was, the girl asked straight away, "You still don't believe what you saw."

Kelly let go of the girl's cheeks and looked down, "No, sorry. It's... too much. Zombies, ghosts... What's next? Vampires?"

"I don't believe vampires are on the menu."

"Is there one? A monster menu, I mean?"

"More like a monster manual, but no," The girl shook her head, "If only I knew what would come next." She glanced out the window. "Oh, the rain's weak now. Let's go and get our things."

They traded the EV they drove in for a U-haul truck and Sara took the rest of her stuff from Mr. Brown's classroom, including the dozens of fully-charged power banks. With Kelly by her side, she drove back to Forest Park.

*

*

Christine Appleby's street, Forest Park, Clayton County, Georgia. Thursday, October 24th, 2019. 19:00

The rain relentlessly poured over them as Sara drove into the street. She couldn't see if the houses were disturbed but everything hinted they weren't.

"Is this where you lived?" Kelly asked.

"No. I lived in Lakeview Apartments by Jonesboro across from the military base. I had a front-row ticket to the end of the Necropolis King. Got a faceful of glass. Do you know how I got these scars?" She made her best Joker impression. "Keynes and Hainsworth sent a suicide bomber at the maniac's building, and wrecked mine too. I had to move after that, and I took my stuff here."

"Officer Jones. Everyone knows of his sacrifice," Kelly reminisced forlornly.

She pulled into a driveway and parked the truck in reverse near the garage door. "This is the best I can do. Let's go."

They moved to the back through the door in the middle of the cabin and opened the cargo doors. After donning a raincoat, Sara jumped in the gap and pulled the garage door up. Holding her raincoat over her head, Kelly threw the luggage over and then jumped the three feet rainy gap, landing in the dry garage.

"Now I know why you took the truck," Kelly said.

"It wasn't to shield us from the rain," Sara said as she shut the cargo doors and brought the garage door down. "I need the truck to carry my loot. Can't leave two weeks of work lying around for anyone to grab."

"Two weeks?" Kelly did the math.

"Yeah."

"You never answered how long you stayed unconscious," Kelly remembered their conversation over lunch.

"Keep it a secret. I didn't."

"What?"

"Fall unconscious when the world ended. I remained awake and witnessed it all," the girl confessed with a shudder.

"Bullshit," Kelly challenged her allegations with wide eyes.

Sara dismissed and ushered Kelly in after unlocking the inner door with the keys. "You're shivering. Come, let's turn the stove on before it gets dark."

*

*

Some house on the same street, Forest Park, Clayton County, Georgia. Tuesday, October 22th, 2019. 20:00

Sara picked this house because of the colonial-style wood stove in the living room. It worked both as a fireplace and an actual stove. They could boil water or heat their food over it.

After drying themselves, changing into warm dry clothes, and setting their stuff in the bedrooms, the two women sat next to the wood stove, cooking soup for dinner. It was already dark and the rain showed no signs of going anywhere.

Sara produced a pack of marshmallows and they each set a

"It's like camping, but indoors," Kelly remarked.

Sara bumped her shoulder. "I'm glad you are enjoying it."

"How did you find this house?"

"By scouting it beforehand. The former owner was dead in his car, on the driveway. All I had to do was to pry the keys out of his dead pockets. I did bury him in the backyard, though. As a courtesy."

"Of course," Kelly said with disbelief in her eyes. "Was he a ghost too?"

Sara had no idea what she could do to prove it to Kelly and it frustrated her. Display her enhanced prowess? She was only at the level of an Olympic athlete. Maybe after she cleansed her circulatory system and gained a buff to her Mana conductivity.

"No. From what I experienced these last few weeks, about one in every twenty to thirty homes have a ghost in it."

"That's still a lot of 'em."

Sara huffed and almost cried. The memory of Mrs. Wilson was still fresh. "There's more undead than living humans on Earth right now. And the difference kept getting bigger and bigger because people are too stupid to remain alive."

"Whoa, that's not your fault. Calm down."

"It's frustrating," Sara confessed, feeling the bottled emotions well up. "The world has gone to shit, and most people have their heads stuck up their butts."

Kelly's tone lowered a bit and lost its usual softness, "They're living their lives. They're grieving. They're confused, afraid. They lost everything. Some are even moving out to try a new life in the countryside."

"Who?" Sara challenged.

"I told you about the women who departed—"

Sara interrupted Kelly with a cruel laugh. She recomposed herself quickly. "Sorry. Those women didn't move to Florida."

"What?"

"Hainsworth lied. They didn't depart, they committed mass suicide in the Athletics Center swimming pool. Joe spent the night fishing bodies from the water. This whole 'departed in the dead of the night to find a better place to live' is a cover-up."

Kelly widened her eyes in disbelief, "Why would..."

"My guess is that he didn't want to cause a panic. Maybe he believed people would freak out if they knew the truth."

"How do you know that, then?"

"I can see ghosts," Sara started. "I can also sense when people die near me. I hope you can believe me."

"The jury is still out on this one," Kelly sent her a skeptical glance.

"Let's assume it's true, okay?" Sara drew a nod from Kelly. "Assume I can see the dead. I can also sense when someone dies near me. That night, the mass suicide woke me up."

It was partially a lie, it was Abby who could sense the deaths. But in a way, Abby was part of Sara now. She told what happened that night, including her talk with Hainsworth.

"I can see why he would do that. I don't agree with him, though," Kelly said with a shake of her head.

A bright flash of light illuminated the outside world. Moments later, thunder rang somewhere nearby. The two tacitly and wordlessly agreed to drop the uncomfortable subject of the mass suicide.

"Three seconds," Kelly remarked. "That's a bit more than half a mile away."

"The storm is worsening," Sara noted.

"The soup is boiling. I need to stir it."

They had dinner. Canned bean soup, with meat Jerky, then their burnt balls of molten sugar. For drinks, they had grape juice. No alcohol.

"So, what's this ritual you're going to do?"

"I'm going to clean my meridians to make magical energy flow better inside me. It makes me stronger and tougher."

"My little witch is becoming superhuman," Kelly swooned, drawing a giggle from Sara.

"Stop it. Did you hear the tale of how Keynes tried to 'rescue' me?"

"Yeah. You were high on drugs, covered in tar, and crying something about your constitutional rights being violated," Kelly chuckled. "Such a patriot."

"The drug part is slander. The rest is true. I was on the worst day of my period, and I'm always a mess that time of the month."

"Mine are bad too. I feel like murdering someone, sometimes," Kelly interrupted. "What about the black stuff? Some skin treatment?"

"Sort of? You'll get to see it tomorrow morning. That's the stuff that comes out when I cleanse my body."

"Does it happen very often?"

"Not really. That time, I was working on my skin."

Kelly pinched her cheek again. "Is that why it's so silky and pliable?"

"Yeah. I'm super strong and fast too."

"I bet. Does it stink? The black stuff?"

"You have no idea," Sara rolled her eyes and pinched her nose. "Tomorrow morning, this house will be inhabitable."

Kelly pushed her away. "Eww. Why did you drag me here, then? And this will be such a waste. This house is lovely."

"You were the one who insisted on tagging along, woman! If you want, you can walk back to the university in the storm."

"You're so cruel! Why won't you drive me home? It's not like I can call an Uber!"

"I'm not leaving. It's damp and freezing out there."

"That's it. I'm sleeping with the gas mask on."

"Suit yourself."

"Meanie!"

"You have no idea."

"Okay. I did walk into this one. But some warning would be appreciated."

"Would you have listened? Believed?"

"No and no," Kelly shrugged and made a funny face.

The two broke into giggles.

"Where did you learn how to do it?" Kelly asked after their burst of mirth ended.

"Do what?" Sara asked with a smug grin. "I have so many talents..."

"Oh, so humble! So, let's start reviewing your talents. Where did you learn how to... Break into houses."

"The two years I spent homeless in Seattle."

"You?"

"Me."

"You mentioned you were in foster care but never that you slipped out of the system's grasp."

"Not a very pleasant story."

"You don't have to—"

"No, I'm not bothered by it. Not anymore, after the world ended and most people died. Puts things in perspective, you know?"

"I guess?" Kelly tilted her head. "So, you lived in Seattle streets for two years? How old were you?"

"Thirteen."

"I can't imagine it was easy. I guess at least you learned how to survive winter with little shelter."

"Yeah, I did. I would break into some unused house or one whose owners went on vacation. It was pretty tough. One time I stole a guy's wallet with two grand in cash. I spent a month in a cheap motel and it felt like a king's castle."

"You poor thing. Why did you end up in the streets? Did you run away from your foster home?"

"No. Foster home ran away from me. After stealing all my mom's inheritance," Sara sizzled and hissed. "My case worker was a scumbag and took a bribe to look the other way. He wanted to retire earlier, now he's... was, serving time in jail for it."

"Why did you come all the way south, then?"

"Witness protection," Sara revealed. It didn't matter anymore. "The mob was after my life. I had to testify in a rather big case up there."

Kelly squealed, "You're 'Safe burglar girl!' I can't believe, you became a meme! you're like a celebrity! Right here next to me!"

A photo of Sara opening the gangster's safe leaked on the internet. She couldn't be identified in it but she basically became an "advice animal". Phrases like "I'm here just to... Steal memes", "Why do you make it so hard... To steal your heart?", or even, just because the story blew around Christmas, "Hey Santa... This fucker locked his sock in the vault!". Among thousands of other memes Sara worked very hard to ignore.

"Yeah. That's me. Anyway, the mafia wants me dead, so the Marshals brought me all the way to peachy Georgia."

"Wow. Just wow." Kelly gasped in awe.

"Stop it! You're faking it."

More giggles.

"Okay, let's change the subject," Kelly conceded. "The meridian thing. That sounds like some Eastern Asian thing. Do you know kung-fu?"

"No to the kung-fu part. How can I explain this..."

Abby offered, and Sara repeated it.

"A system that circulates metaphysics?" Abby corrected her and she replied word for word. "No. A metaphysical circulation that is infused with both magic and life energy. Or Mana and Qi, respectively. Qi can also be called, Prana, Reiki, even chakra energy."

"Oh, chakras. The thing related to your endocrine system. And why do you have to clean it up?"

"Because everyone has their meridians clogged with impurities. That's why everyone died when the Earth got infused with transcendental energies. Most people's bodies couldn't withstand the energy, and burned up."

Sara took a sip of her soda to wet her lips. "Do you remember when you guys asked me how long I was unconscious? Even the people who survived took heavy damage to their bodies. Those that woke up earlier had a cleaner meridian system than the rest."

"And I remember you saying you didn't even fall unconscious."

"Yeah. I had to suffer all the pain awake. It was horrible"

"Beats losing a week of your life only to wake up with rats eating your dead roommates," Kelly remembered wistfully.

"It's crappy either way."

"Agreed."

They made small talk for a while more. and made their way to bed. Kelly had the master bedroom, while Sara would use a sleeping bag in the guest room, which had a private bathroom. Sara had liquid soap, towels, and buckets of water ready to clean her up in the morning. She slept naked.

*

*

Still the same house, Forest Park, Clayton County, Georgia. Friday, October 25th, 2019. 06:00.

The sound of stuff crashing on the roof was proof that the rain was still going strong outside.

Sara woke up spitting black gunk. It tasted awful even though a bit sweet, had a greasy texture, and smelled like an evil crossbreed between baby poo and stale chocolate. It was worse than before, and she suspected it wasn't yet the worst.

Perhaps she should be glad she hadn't drowned in the half-congealed stuff but now she felt like the filling of a chocolate eclair a year past its best by date.

Crawling out of the sleeping bag like a worm from hell, she left a trail of the black stuff as she made her way to the bathroom. There, Sara took the first towel from a stack of twenty, dipped it in a water bucket, and rubbed her face with it. While it looked, tasted, and felt greasy, the impurities were oddly water-soluble. She asked Abby about that.

The fairy explained as if Sara understood the underlying principles.

The way Abby said "Water" was also strange. It hinted at some hidden significance. Maybe Water wasn't just plain old hydrogen monoxide or water, but the metaphysical concept of Water.

She didn't dare duck that towel back into the water. Instead, she bunched her hair inside the dirty towel and pulled, causing more impurities to ooze on the floor. Tossing that towel into a corner, she took another from the pile to wipe her hands and forearms. A third and fourth for her torso and legs, and she felt ready to scrub her skin clean.

A trail of dripping impurities still followed her to the shower. She rubbed herself with another damp towel, shivering from the cold. With a huge dollop of liquid soap and a loofah, she started to lather her skin.

Sara was almost done with her hair when she heard someone cough and retch outside.

"Lord, have mercy!" Kelly shouted from the corridor. "What is this stench?"

"I TOLD YOU!" Sara shouted from the bathroom.

Kelly gagged. "I'm outside, meet me at the porch after you're done."