at the ceiling and pulled the blanket up to the bottom of my chin. I gripped the edge of the blanket tightly, wrapping my fists around them. I had once believed that my blanket would protect me from all the scary monsters, as if pulling it over my eyes would make all those big bad monsters go away. But I knew better now. Mommy was gone. There were bad guys out there trying to kill all us. And Cassie still hadn't come even though she had promised.

I was scared.

I was scared that Cassie wouldn't come.

I was scared that I would never see Bear again.

Oh Bear. I miss you. I thought.

Oh Cassie. Please come.

There was a crack in the ceiling and I pulled the blanket up over my eyes, wiggling down inside it. I could just imagine one of those green, ugly monsters squeezing through the crack and jumping down to my bed to take me away. Its horrible, sucking arms would plunge itself into my eyes and make its way to my brain, and I would become one of the things that killed Mommy.

I shivered, squeezing my eyes shut as tightly as I could.

I knew that wasn't how the monsters killed...but just the thought of it made my stomach churn. I wished I could just wake up and be back at home, with Mommy, with Daddy, with Cassie, and with Bear. I just wanted everything to go back to what it used to be like; I missed coloring and reading my books...especially the ones with Winnie The Pooh. Those were my favorite.

A single tear cascaded down my cheek and I hastily wiped it away with the blanket.

I missed Winnie The Pooh. I missed Bear. I missed Cassie. I missed Mommy and Daddy.

Before long, the single tear gave way to a thousand more, and my body shook with sobs.

I missed them.

I wanted them like Winnie The Pooh wanted honey. I needed them like Winnie The Pooh needed honey. I couldn't do this without them.

"Nugget?"

I peered out of the blanket, bringing it down far enough to look at Canary.

Canary stood by the foot of my bed. She looked worried. Well, Canary always looked worried. Canary was always strong though. I wanted to be strong like her; I wanted to be strong like her and Zombie.

I hiccuped. "Canary?"

Canary gave me a small, sad look and climbed up my ladder, settling in beside me.

We both laid side by side, looking up at ceiling.

"What's up?" she asked quietly.

I sniffled, bringing the blanket up to cover my body again. "I miss them," I whimpered.

I felt her shift beside me and I offered her part of my blanket.

She smiled and took it, ruffling my hair in thanks. "I know you miss them," she said.

"My sister promised me she would come," I said. "She promised..."

Canary squeezed my hand. "She'll come."

I felt the tears coming again, and I had to sniffle in order to keep them in. "She always use to sing to me," I said, my voice breaking.

"I can sing for you," she said reassuringly. "If you want me to."

A small smile broke my face, wiping away my previous feelings of sadness for a brief moment. "Yes, please."

Canary held onto my hand as she started singing softly.

Bones are sinking like stones

All that we fall for

Homes places we've grown

All of us are done for

I joined her for the next line, the line that Cassie and I used to always sing together.

And we live in a beautiful world

We live in a beautiful world

~*~*~*~

"I'm so tired of doing this shit," Flintstone grumbled.

"Aren't we all," Poundcake muttered, taking the wallet out of a man's pocket.

The corner of my lips turned down into a half frown. P&D had to be the least liked and most dreaded job of all the chores we had to do. Every day, the same time, the same bodies.

Well, not the same bodies. Just the same kinds. Either 'Teds' or 'un Teds', those bodies that were infected or those that weren't. Their stories were similar too, deciphered and inferred from what we discovered in their pockets or from what clothing they wore. Despite any differences the victims did have, their lives had ended the same way. The Others had murdered them, all of them.

Zombie carried over another dead body, setting the limp little girl on the table I was working at.

He cleared his throat. "Find anything good?" he asked, trying to lighten the heavy air surrounding the squad.

I coughed, overwhelmed by the new stench brought to the table. "Just a ring," I said quietly, sliding a wedding ring off of a woman's slender finger.

I stared at the ring, a pit dropping in my stomach. I wondered if her husband was still alive, out in the ruined world, searching for someone he would never find. Or, perhaps, if he was one of the other forgotten bodies crushed in our never-ending pile.

My lips quivered as I threw the ring angrily into the bucket of valuables, making it imperative to avoid Zombie's eyes.

I didn't want him to see me like this, like I was weak.

It was easy to act tough and strong when I was in hand to hand combat, or when we were at one of our shooting practices with Ringer. It was easy to act tough and strong when I was playing a game of poker with Poundcake and Oompa, or when I was singing Nugget to sleep. It was easy to forget that I was living in a broken world, to simply close of the lights for a little while and pretend I couldn't see what was happening around me. But when forced to stare and search victim's bodies, any of whom could've been someone I knew, It wasn't easy to act tough. It was easier to be weak, to cry.

"Hey, hey," he breathed. "I didn't mean to upset you."

I wiped the brim of my eye with my sleeve, shielding my dry cheeks from the threatening tears.

"No-" I said, my voice cracking. "It's not you."

"Would you two get back to sorting bodies before Reznik stops by and blames the squad for your lack of work ethic?" Ringer snapped.

I set my jaw, trying to prevent my tears from being unleashed. I looked at the ring, in the pile of valued objects, set upon at least a dozen more just like it- more glittering diamonds and gleaming silver bands, more lost promises.

Despite the glossiness set in my eyes, I could still see Zombie send Ringer a seething glare. His eyes seemed to tear through her flesh, scorching away everything inside her.

Ringer matched his hard glare before looked away, directing her attention back to a man's jacket pocket.

I felt Zombie's warm, comforting hand on my arm as he led me a couple paces away, behind one of the many cinderblock beams littering the ground floor.

He turned me to face him, moving his hands to my shoulders to hold me at arms length. He searched my eyes, concern plastered on his face.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have said anything."

I shook my head. "No," I repeated. "It's not you...i-it's the ring, the people, the the-"

I couldn't carry on. Instead, I chose to look down, at the ground.

It wasn't his fault we had to scrounge through the pockets of bodies like rats in a dumpster. It wasn't his fault we were taking away the last memories of who these people were.

He stepped closer, and I looked up to meet his eyes again. They were still sunken and clouded, seeping with nothing but pain. And his hair. His hair wasn't flawless any more. It was flawed, unkempt, and disheveled.

"I can ask Reznik-"

I shook my head again. "Thank you, but no," I said. "If Nugget couldn't get out of this then I can't either."

Zombie nodded and rose his hand to the side of my face, wiping a tear from my cheek with his thumb.

My breath hitched in my throat, surprised at the sudden movement.

Zombie quickly let his hand drop from my face, reaching into the pocket of his cargo pants. When he pulled it back out, he was holding a small, golden locket.

He looked at it, probably emerging himself into its history for a moment. He looked up from it through his eyelashes, his eyes meeting mine again.

"I want you to keep this," he said, his voice trailing off.

"It was my s-," he paused. "It was someone's who was important to me," he corrected. "And you're important to me now- you and Nugget are. But since Nugget really shouldn't be wearing lockets," he made an effort to laugh softly before saying, "I want you to have it."

My lips parted, drawn back by surprise. "I don't know what to say," I drifted off.

And as much as I tried denying it, I wanted to do nothing more than stare at the locket all day; knowing that Zombie had given something so special to me made me giddy beyond belief. But it wasn't like I could actually say that to him. Someday, I'd pour out the feelings I had for him, but today was most certainly not that day.

Zombie gave me a small, distant smile. "You don't have to say anything," he said, pressing it into my palm.

I looked down at the new weight in my hand, feeling the smooth, cool surface of the locket against my skin.

"I want you to know that I'm here for you," he said gently. "I know I wasn't there when you first arrived- I was actually kind of a jerk." He looked down at the ground, seeming almost ashamed. "But I want to make it up to you."

A flurry of emotions came sweeping through me. Happiness was there, at the front, followed by relief, and then by a sliver of fear.

Happiness because I'd waited so long for something like this. Relief because it was encouraging to know that I had someone on my side, looking out for me. And fear because I was worried I could possibly lose him.

With fear as my motivator, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him, squeezing my eyes shut. His body went rigid with surprise before he eventually relaxed and wound his strong arms around me, holding me close to him.

I breathed in the musky smell of his jacket and let a couple tears puddle onto its thick fabric.

"Thank you," I murmured.

<><><>

Parts of this chapter really didn't come together the way I wanted...so if you read anything that made you go: "What the heck?", please let me know!

I know I've been updating a lot lately, but I'm leaving for vacation tomorrow morning at 3am (cries) for a good week and a half. So this will be it until then (unless I can find the motivation to type it on my phone).

I love all my active readers so much, your comments make my day! And big thanks to all those who commented on the author's note! Knowing that you guys are still interested in reading 'Perish' makes me super happy!

Oh and thanks for 10k! We made it guys!