As each swipe of his knife takes more and more of the hair, I feel my shoulders grow lighter. I feel like I’m shedding away the man those people took, allowing my true self to come forth. I had to build up walls and defenses in order to survive and now, I still need to survive, but something has changed. I don’t have to be brazen and cold, I’m allowed to just be Wade. I’m allowed to survive on my terms and my terms alone.
Briggs gently runs his fingers over my scalp once he’s done, pushing the hair off my head and shoulders. Tears spring to my eyes against my permission and I breathe through it, not wanting to shed them in front of Briggs. He squeezes my shoulder before standing back, giving me a moment.
I cover my face with my hands, letting it all out.
Eventually, I wipe the tears from my face and stand up. Briggs is leaning against the wall, sharpening his knife again. He looks up at me, cautiously smiling.
“Thank you,” I say, ignoring the way my voice cracks.
“No worries, Wade. I’m happy to help. Got everything you need?”
“I think so.” Then I touch my head, another shaky sigh leaving me at the feel of my bald head. “How does it look?”
“Suits you,” Briggs says with a nod. I believe him.
“Should we keep looking around?”
“Yeah. Let’s finish raiding the neighborhood and then we can either start moving or spend another night in that bunker outside of town.”
It takes a few hours for us to get through every house. We find all sorts of supplies we pack away into our bags. We’re fully stocked on canned goods, weapons, clothes, and medical supplies. As we go, I might feel lighter but there’s still a part of me that finds this entire town creepy as fuck.
Where is everyone? Why are there no zombies? What the fuck happened to this town when the zombies hit?
The longer we’re here, the more my stomach feels like it’s filled with rocks. Something isn’t right and I don’t know if I want to find the answer.
Whether I wanted to know or not, we find out anyway.
“What the hell?” Briggs murmurs as we find a church in the middle of the town. It’s got giant stained glass windows on the upper levels and huge towering crosses at the steeple. It’s a beautiful building. This church must have been here foryearsbased on the wooden walls and doors.
The thing that we both stare at though is the chains around the doors. I can’t tell if they were trying to lock someone out or keep someone in. I stop and listen, my entire body freezing.
For the first time since entering this town, I pick up the sound of zombies. Not just one or two. No. The church is filled with them.
Briggs reaches out to touch the chain but I stop him. I put a hand on Briggs’ shoulder, stopping him. “Wait.”
I stare up at the church, my eyes widening. Then I turn towards Briggs, shaking my head and taking a step back. Then another.
“What’s going on?”
“They’re here.”
“Who’s here?”
“The zombies. The town. Everyone. They must have come to church when everything hit and locked themselves inside.”
“What? Why would they do that?”
I shake my head again. “Maybe they thought they’d be safe inside? There were rumors at the beginning that this was God sending plagues to Earth. Maybe they thought if they were faithful enough, they’d be spared or something?”
Briggs looks back at the church, letting out a frustrated noise. “We can’t just leave them like this.”
“We arenotfighting an entire hoard of starved zombies, Briggs. Hell no.”
“No, that would be stupid,” he says, still staring at the church. “I have a better idea.”
We go through town again, this time stopping in everyone’s backyards and garages. We find more than enough gasoline for what we need. We take our time, covering the church in gasoline and oil and anything else we think will keep the place lit up.
“Ready?”
