The following days after the group split from Mr. Lee. were rather peaceful. The elder had not followed them back home even though the place was fairly close to the shop, making life easier for all of those involved in that disagreement.

They also had not stumbled upon any other survivors since then, and it was not for a lack of opportunity as well.

Despite the disappointing encounter they had with the shopkeeper, the group kept their hopes up as to meet with other people and to find out more about what was going on, but whatever the reason may be; be it because the neighborhood was already sparsely populated in the first place; or be it because the zombies had managed to take out most of the inhabitants out already, they could not find a single soul around. Not that they wandered very far until now, but they were disappointed by the lack of news and human contact anyway.

A few days ago, the group had already hit the medical clinic successfully and cleaned quite a few of its supplies. Having everything they needed at the moment accounted for and in generous quantities as well, the group did not feel the need to keep accumulating more and more indefinitely, meaning that all that remained for them to do was to explore the area looking for help and answers. Of course, that did not mean that they would pass up on any findings henceforth, only that their priorities changes. They would still pick up stuff along the way.

After raiding the mini-market and meeting Mr. Lee, the group avoided that direction both intentionally and subconsciously, as to spare themselves anymore interactions with the troublesome elder that most likely remained there, opting instead to search for good news in other directions.

Uncharted territory was one thing they had in spades, therefore there was no reason to knowingly make trouble for themselves by heading towards the most bothersome way.

The absence of contact from anyone was getting on everyone’s nerves and tension was on the rise. The total isolation from the rest of the world was something unprecedented for most of them, and it was clearly taking its toll.

Truly, it was only when someone lost something that they could really feel its value. Not one of them, not even Danny, ever stopped to dedicate one second of their lives to contemplate how incredible it was that they could reach anyone on the planet with the press of a button. Long distance communication was truly a marvel of modern society, one that they missed dearly more and more as the days passed.

Those of them with families close by were particularly skittish. If one had no family, then it simply wouldn’t matter what they did and how they reacted to the separation, they only had to take care of themselves; if they had family but that family lived far away, then they could only shrug their shoulders and swallow their grievances since there was nothing they could possibly do that would make a difference for their relatives right now; however, those that had family members living nearby or even a little ways from where they were holing up started feeling more and more compelled to head there and do something, anything, in order to reunite with their loved ones.

The desolation that had settled on the surroundings of their dwelling only served to fuel those anxieties and depict pessimistic odds for their loved ones, increasing the impatience and fear in the air.

Maybe that compulsion and desire to do something about their situation was the reason a second person got injured not long after Janice’s accident.

While they were exploring one of the houses that were still standing, Donovan had been surprised by a zombie that managed to break through a locked door right as he was passing by it.

At the time, Donovan was at the second floor and had just finished climbing a set of stairs. The first door to his right after getting there was exactly the one that presented him with that nasty surprise.

After being startled, he instinctively took a couple of backsteps, completely forgetting the staircase he had just climbed. Without support, his unfortunate backtracking led him to a painful and inelegant tumble back to the ground floor.

Fortunately, his fall was not as severe as it could have been, resulting only in a sprained wrist on his dominant arm. Whereas he could have reacted better if he had not been distracted by his concerns or not did not matter anymore. The fact that remained was that the team had one less viable combatant now.

Donovan would never make a great warrior given his non-athletic predisposition, but now even his ability to try was taken from him. Losing his ability to hold anything that could be used to fight on his right hand meant he had no ability to defend himself essentially, taking into account that his dexterity with his other hand was even more atrocious than the right one.

That ended up slowing down their progress on scouting their surroundings by a lot.

As if to add insult to injury, Danny now had to face an even more complicated matter: the deadline for his second payment was already upon him.

All this time he spent with his companions he had been contemplating one glaring problem: how the hell would he manage to call the demon while keeping the rest of them in the dark. Figuratively speaking obviously.

Even though the house was big enough to fit all of them in relative comfort, it definitely was not spacious enough to keep secrets from the other residents. All of them could hear Carl and Janice’s moments of intimacy when they went at it, even if they did not make any particular effort to encroach on their privacy.

It was understandable that such things were bound to happen, they were a couple and had needs after all. Besides, there was not much to pass their time with.

Of course, no one commented about their love making to avoid embarrassing the couple even if they all knew that secrecy was dead and buried.

The quietude that now permeated the city only served to exacerbate the issue. By taking out electricity and cars, all the noise the city folk were accustomed to hear day and night were replaced by the much softer groans of zombies. The silence had become all the more encompassing.

Thus, Danny spent most of the hours of his days trying to think a way out of this quagmire, but he simply could not find a solution other than to wait for an opportunity to present itself.

Sure, Danny could try to leave the house and find someplace else to carry the ritual to avoid prying eyes and ears, but even if he ignored the stupid risk that came along with going outside alone at night, how would he explain himself when they inevitably noticed his outing?

Most of them already had their misgivings about Danny and the secrecy with which he carried himself. He was not sure how much more he could pile up on top of that while keeping things cordial given the tense state of affairs.

The situation right now was akin to a powder keg. With no news of a rescue team, and no knowledge of the world’s state, people had already started showing signs of panicking and breaking down. Danny knew that unstable people were dangerous people, so he wished to tread carefully but he did not know which path was the best to take.

Should he remain inside and hope for the best? Should he take his chances outside and deal with the fallout later? Or should he keep waiting?

He did not like any of the choices he could think of as they all seemed like equally dangerous gambles and he did not feel comfortable taking any of them. Thus, Danny did the only thing he could, and waited for a chance.

This time luck was not on his side however, and time inexorably and mercilessly ticked away until it ran out.

An overwhelming pain that could only be described as a burning poker being thrust to the very core of his very being came completely unannounced one night. At one moment Danny was walking down the corridor, and the other he was on the ground convulsing.

At that moment, sight, smell, touch, taste and hearing all left him. There was only pain. White and black, up and down, burning and freezing, he could not tell what it was. It was as if someone took his wiring and was plugging and unplugging the connectors at different spots at a time. Danny could not make any sense of what he was feeling, he only knew he did not like it.

The agony was so overpowering that Danny did not even have the strength to scream. For all the good that did in keeping his feeble state hidden from the others, Danny did not feel thankful at all.

It felt like minutes had passed, but when his vision returned to normal together with his other senses, and Danny could control his body again, by checking his watch, Danny realized then that only five seconds had actually passed.

Luckily for him, there was no one around to witness his weak display when his ‘debt reminder’ hit. That did nothing to alleviate his concerns though. As of this moment Danny was officially out of time and would have to deal with it, ready or not.

He shakily stood up from the ground while leaning into the walls for support. Danny’s face was pale like a sheet of paper and sweat was dripping from his brows but he uttered no sound, keeping his eyes steady and composed while gritting his teeth.

At the very least he had to reach a room to hide himself before retrieving the dark chalice from his shadow. He did not know when the pain would return but he did not dare to delay. One dose of that was more than enough.

To his defense, Danny never imagined that there would be such a huge pressure from the get go. The way the demon had described what would happen if he missed the deadline by a few moments, Danny had thought that he would start feeling something akin to a headache that would progressively deteriorate until it killed him, not that he would be blasted with some kind of mind fuckery that would completely paralyze him and make him wish he was dead, while actually preventing him from killing himself.

“You live and learn, I guess. Fucking demon…” Danny cursed in his mind while distracting himself from the dreadful memory of the pain and the promise that it would return if he did not do something about it.

Danny staggered forward as his strength constantly returned to him in wobbling but sure steps. Danny already knew where to go from there.

Judging by the color of his hands and the wet sweat on his forehead, Danny did not need to see his own face to know that crossing anyone right now would definitely draw attention, which was something he hoped to avoid dearly.

Danny did not trust in his ability to go back to his room unnoticed, since he would have to cross the living room and go upstairs to reach it, so he headed towards the closest unoccupied bedroom instead, just a few steps away from him.

Performing a blood ritual in the middle of the house was not what he would call subtle, but we all have to do the best with the hands we are dealt with. He had chosen to help his classmates without further planning in the past, and now he would have to deal with the consequences, be they good or bad.

Fortunately, given the fact that both the boys and girls were sharing rooms in order to feel more secure in these trying times – with him being the sole exception as he was still sleeping alone –, there were still a couple of unclaimed spots around the place.

He was just about to turn the doorknob and seclude himself inside, when his bad luck streak hit again and Chris appeared on the other side of the corridor.

Danny tried his best to appear normal as if there was nothing wrong, but Chris chose a bad time to be observant.

“Jesus Danny, you look sick. Are you okay?” Chris asked upon noticing Danny’s pale countenance.

“Yeah, I am fine. I am just going to lay down for a while and rest, okay?” Danny gave a reassuring smile before entering the room and closing it behind himself. Chris on his turn merely nodded and watched with concern as Danny disappeared from his sight.

“Well, shit. That went poorly.” Danny thought. He could only hope that Chris would buy his story and leave it be.

Now he only had to summon a demon and perform a blood offering in the middle of an occupied house. What could possibly go wrong?