Jack sat there on his front porch, soaking in the remaining sun with his rifle on his lap, waiting for dusk to hit, letting himself stare at the tulips that sat in the flowerbed across from him. Those were the ones he planted for his wife. He stared at the many many colors, remembering how Diane couldn't decide on just one to decorate the front yard with. But the colors didn't matter to Jack now, he could only focus on its presence and the lack of by its caretaker. He watched as some petals browned and wilted by the lack of water, understanding that he didn't know how to water them: that was always his wife's job.

Usually he hid in his home, locked away like Rapunzel in her tower but intentionally, confining himself to solitude. Like everyone else that still lived in Cedarsville, Jack lived in a house with boards of wood as curtains. For the Undead, wood was harder than glass to get through, just like a human could. Jack took them down during the day and put them back up at night, wasting screws; he didn't want to live in the dark. He didn't want to give up seeing the sun, rarely ever leaving his house. He had already given up his freedom, and unknowingly gave up the love of his life. But last night he gave up moving the boards everyday, becoming so tired he wanted to leave them on the windows 24/7. The door was a different story, of which he secured by moving the big cabinet to be in front of the door at night, and between the window and door in the morning.

It was just two nights ago when he sat out here with his wife soaking in the summer breeze once more. The night carried on as normal. Hell, Jack didn't even hear a thing out in his yard to be concerned about. They snuck up on him and Diane. Jack was unprepared, his wife even more sitting in the white rocking chair closest to the porch stairs. That cost Diane her life. It lunged up at her, who was slow to hear anything above the wind. The Undead monster ripped open her neck with its mouth, somehow knowing the best arteries were there, letting blood spray and gush out over its teeth. Diane tried to pry the monster from her neck, flailing her arms until they went limp by her side seconds later. Jack was on the other side of her, watching in horror as the beast relinquished his wife's neck from its mouth. The body slumped over the side of the chair. He sat still not wanting to let his presence be known. The little hope that was left was crushed when the monster snapped its neck and torso to face Jack seconds after dropping Diane, allowing itself to see where it was going when it sprinted. 

Then the adrenaline kicked in. Jack threw out his arms to hold back the thing that was raging to get to his skin. He struggled against the beastly strength as it twisted out from his arms. It unhinged its jaw to bite wherever it could, but Jack whipped his head forward, smashing it into the creature's skull. It knocked back enough feet for Jack to get out of his chair and hit it once again. Its lower jaw detached itself on the left side and it rocked back once more. It didn't hesitate though to lunge forward again, but Jack stepped out of its way so he could wrap himself around its neck. He hinged back and forth bringing the monster with him to the porch table. He smashed its head down on it as hard as he could and more than enough times, watching as the dead skin and skull were crushed and turned into pieces that fell on his porch, feeling the dead vermin stop resisting and go limp. Like his wife did. He almost imagined it was her in his arms.

The memory faded in and out as Jack stared at the flowers even harder, watching them blur into colorful ovals, letting the pain sit in his heart and head. His mind was tired of repeating the same gruesome scene over and over again, fixating on every detail to make the loss ever more hurtful. It floated to the remembrance of life three days ago. It was one specific setting: the coffee shop Brian owned right next to the pharmacy. It wasn't pictured in his mind but he saw himself standing next to Diane and Mariem, his close friend, and Brian. They were all in a circle laughing. He could hear the laughter, Mariem's powerful laugh especially. Jack knew this memory very well. They were all laughing at a joke Brian said, as if he hadn't said it before, all without a worry. The air in and out of the store was cheerful. People, both residents and visitors alike, felt it. Now both Mariem's pharmacy and Brain's coffee shop just sit empty, disheveled, with all their goods on the floor.

Cedarsville used to be something to celebrate. It used to be full of life, buzz, and color. A tourism hotspot. A dream for visitors passing through to the cities. It was two sides of a coin: helping the sales on one side but ruining the town on the other. And its people. The amount of people that came through polluted the stores, streets, parks, and made moving around impossible. "Outsiders", that's what Jack called them, who was, amongst others, annoyed at their constant presence. That, in turn, annoyed Mariem, whose convenience store got a lot of traction of course. "That fits your brutish personality, Jack." She loved the company of those tourists, despite her own brutish appearance. "Hearing their life stories" she called it. "'Outsiders' have feelings too, y'know." Jack joked that she used her store to only talk to tourists. Now he kind of regretted not at least talking to some of them.

Six months ago an oil company came to claim the town, raging about how Cedarsville was sitting atop of major oil deposits. The townspeople didn't want to give up their homes, their lives. They ran to the mayor to voice their outrage, hoping she would say no to the company. She did and the town thought that would be the last of them. A week later the company put up oil drills around the town but never in it. They tore down trees, uprooted flowers and plants, browned the grass. Then the fracking began, driving out many tourists with their loudness and upsetting the residents that loved this picture-perfect town. 

Then three months ago people started disappearing. It started with Jerry, who Brian said never came in for his regular coffee and donut. Brain claimed it was unusual, saying the nearly retired man never missed a day. He spread a word around, and the news got back to him that Jerry left the town the day before. They gave it two days but his car still hadn't returned, the mail started overflowing from his mailbox, and the newspapers remained untouched; something was wrong. Brian banded together with Mariem and Jack to notify the state police at the closest city; there wasn't a force in town. The police tried but didn't find anything. No clues, no traces, nothing. Nothing ever turned up. The town kept trying to find Jerry. They did almost forget about his disappearance when Holly disappeared just three days later. It was in the same manner: she left on a business trip, never came back and never returned her son's calls. Slowly but surely, one by one, more and more disappeared. With the first five, they kept going to the police hoping to get somewhere. Brain ranted on and on about how five people could go missing and there were no leads or clues. The police sent patrols out around the town to help solve the cases and keep the town safe. When the fourth person went missing, that's when people really glued themselves together, swearing a Buddy System would work. No one ever left the town by themselves ever again.

But the number just kept going up. The town lost any idea of what to do and eventually so did the police, stopping what they thought were useless patrols.

That started three months ago. three days ago it got worse. It just kept getting worse. They came without warning, these monsters. Without a notice, a message over the television, a flyer. There wasn't much to prepare them, especially time: it came sharply at 8:40 pm, crashing down like a flood instead of waves. The days before and day of were normal, as normal as they could be in this fear-driven town. The sun rose and set like it was supposed to. The cars moved like they should. Neighbors greeted each other like they usually do, like everyone does in a small town even if they hated each other. And yet, three days ago, they came. They came and they never left.

On the first night these creatures destroyed every piece of human flesh they could get their dead hands on like they were feasting. Many unsuspecting men, women, and children lost their lives. The parents never eased up on watching their children, fearing they too would disappear. They'd watch their children play in the back or front yard. That didn't help though. The kids were so loud and rambunctious they were easy targets. And then when trying to protect them from the enemy, save them even, the parents became an even easier target. It was a bloodbath, a "war" on this town that no one was anticipating, least of all the people inside. What shell was left of the town after six months of terror was laughable to the ''outsider". 

Cedarsville, Oregon. Population: 26.

On the first day, when the sun was mid-way through the sky–somehow it rose again–the Jones family drove back into Cedarsville claiming there was a high standing fence blocking the road out of town. Others drove around, reporting back that the fence surrounded the town, locking them in. Those remaining–those few remaining–had to digest that while relinquishing in the aftermath of the night before. While swimming in the dead bodies of the monsters and neighbors–which stayed in their place because the people didn't know what to do with them– they had to deal with the terrifying and odd news that there was no way out anymore. Those lucky were able to gather their loved ones right away and leave before this gateless, barbed fence appeared. Jack doubted they were able to pack up anything else besides those that were closest to them, but he cursed their luck regardless. 

It was like they were in a simulation, an arena for them to be attacked and killed in by some sick game developer. Jack riddled with that idea as he sat on the porch, now looking past the flower bed to the hill that slightly dipped down into dark blue forestry, taking in the breeze. The sun ticked away behind the hills and the hands on Jack's watch slipped down. He got up from his rocking chair and turned the safety off of his rifle, loaded it up, and leaned over the porch railing. Keeping his eyes locked on every movement in the trees. The wind died down, and never rose back up. Even with that silence, Jack couldn't hear the squirrel hopping on the leaves and out of the trees. The movement made him jump the gun, firing a shot at what he thought was a dead man walking. He hit pretty close to it but not the squirrel itself, all while triggering one of the monsters to come running out. It charged out of the woods, parting the trees and the flower bed, towards where the sound of the gun came from. Jack looked past the danger charging at him. He couldn't focus on it. He only saw the bent stems, crushed petals. Dead, crushed flowers. 

He jerked up his rifle and shot out another bullet before he could react with anything else. The monster's jaw shot off fully exposing the top teeth, and the bottom teeth but only when Jack followed its arch to where it landed. Its head rocked back, its body following. It didn't rise but Jack figured there was no way it was dead. He waited a couple of moments, waited for anything else to jump out, waited for the thing he shot down to rise up. But only silence and the rustling of the breeze through the trees followed. He slowly walked down the steps and towards the thing he just killed. When he was close he looked into its eyes. He saw something truly lifeless reflect back at him and he knew the beast was dead. 

Jack looked away and took one step towards the flower bed, preparing himself to see the damage that would stab knives into his heart but stopped himself, and bent over to take another look at the Undead's face. It looked oddly familiar. The eyes a shade of bluish-green, the nose slightly crooked. Without the jaw, the part of his face that was gone, he couldn't figure it out. He pictured in the missing puzzle piece and– 

Jerry. 

The thing–the man he just murdered was Jerry. 

It was Jerry, the person that went missing months ago. And he was here now, back from the dead, dead once more. By his gun.

Jack was horrified. He killed his friend. He was surprised he didn't recognize Jerry by his clothes. The white button down and khakis was something he would wear all the time. The horror faded as he soon realized it wasn't his friend. Jack doubted that Jerry would've recognized him in this state if he was closer to him. It was some monstrous version of him. Something–someone did that to him, manipulated him, harmed him, changed him. Programmed him–almost–to kill things. Jack couldn't figure out exactly how one could do that, how one could actually make another's bones and skin so brittle. Make them dead but able to still walk, move, think, do. Who the hell was behind this?

Jack rose back up, somehow I managed to do that. Still staring at his dead-undead creature of a friend, he wondered if the others that went missing also met the same fate. If they returned to Cedarsville. If they were dead, lying around without people noting it was them.

He had to tell Mariem and Anna about this. They needed to know too. But he had to take care of the corpse in his front yard first. He grabbed Jerry by the ankles and dragged him to the backyard, thankful that whoever took these people made them keep their clothes; Jack didn't want to feel their dead, dry skin. As it was, he could feel it fray away. The longer he pulled on Jerry's skin, the more he could feel it wear down. Jack swore he felt the bones of the Undead's right leg, feeling a sliver of something solid. He quickly got to the place where he wanted to bury the creature. The shovel was still there from when he dug his wife's grave, remembering he did that yesterday. He looked down at the corpse and was surprised to see it wasn't Diane, thinking he was back to last night dragging her all over again. 

That's when he collapsed. He put his hands on his knees and cried. Sobbed. Heaved. The first time he's sobbed in a long time. It all came crashing down on him. When he finally processed everything. A tsunami. He collapsed even further, his knees and elbows touched the blueish-green grass of his backyard. He finally let himself actually understand what was happening. Jack now felt like he was living in reality. Everything before felt like a dream. A dream–a nightmare–a game, a crazy story someone told him before that he was replaying in his head. He was glad he was surrounded by forest and meadows. They acted as a wall that shaded his emotions. He would never tell Mariem or Anna about this, if he ever talked to them again.

Through gasps of air, through uncontrolled drops of spit, he said to himself and no one else for there wasn't anyone else to say it to, "This is fucked up. This is all so fucked up."

Jack didn't know how long he stood there but when he felt the tears run out, he looked towards the shovel, giving himself a few more moments before he walked over and grabbed it. He walked over to where his wife's grave was. He could tell where it was by the disturbance in the soil and grass. It wasn't marked with anything yet. He wanted to write something special but didn't have the mental capacity to figure it out yet. Later, when this is all over. He took the shovel, firmly grasped it in both hands, and shoved it into the dirt once more. 

*  *  *

"Jack! Jack, I'mma need you to answer the door! There's something you've gotta see!" Jack woke up to the banging at his door.  It was most likely that his ears were adjusting to the world around him but it was so loud. A battering ram being slammed against his door carrying the sound all the way to his eardrums. 

The banging stopped for a second, long enough for Jack to hear a woman call out his name. Mariem. "What does she want?" He hobbled out of bed like he didn't get enough sleep and muddled through the almost dark room. There was enough light seeping through the cracks of the wood curtains that he could manage finding his way to the door. He moved the cabinet out of its nightly security guard position and opened up his white front door. 

"Oh–you are alive," She said. "Thank God! I think this time I was gonna have to break down the door." She laughed at her own joke. The even whiter and brighter sunlight entered his house. He wasn't ready for that. As his eyes got used to it, the outline of a figure turned into Mariem standing on the other side of the doorway. 

Annoyed that she was laughing at her own joke, and that she was even here at all, Jack whined out, "Mariem, what do you want? I want to go back to sleep."

"You ain't going back to sleep! No, no you gotta come check this out." 

"What?"

"Yeah, I found three black cars on Main Street, just outside my store. I was going to my pharmacy to see if there was any medicine left that I could take, and there they were! All in a row! One after another after another. Bumper to bumper too. And they weren't there yesterday, I swear on that."

Getting more annoyed, he said, "Three black cars? I don't understand, Mariem. They're just cars."

"Jay, how the hell can someone get in or out of here? We're closed off!" There was a silence as Jack took in the importance of this information and remembered the fence that blocked off the two parts of Oregon from each other. In the silence that he took he registered the chirping birds, focusing on the mourning dove's calming yet sorrowful call. He felt a little at peace but never happy; he was surprised the birds were still here. The trees swished to match only that calmness. "What I'm saying is there's a new development, and it's strange. I mean hell everything's been strange but it just makes everything even more strange. Now I can't figure out what exactly all of this is…"

"I mean, all of these things fit in with each other. The creatures, the fence, the missing people–" Jack fully woke up. He snapped his fingers at Mariem and rambled off. The 6 words crashed as one. "The Undead are the missing people!"

Mariem looked at him confused. "...say that again, Jack."

"The Undead are the people who went missing three months ago, at least some of them are." His crazed look turned somber quickly as he dropped into telling Mariem about the events that happened the night before. Mariem never moved, her eyes, eyebrows, and mouth stayed neutral as if the news didn't faze her. 

When he finished, Mariem only sighed, answering his question of if the news affected her at all. She wiped her wrist across her forehead and walked a few steps towards the stairs of the porch. She was facing away from Jack as she said, "God damn! I can't deal with this right now. Our own friends…our own damn friends…" She mumbled the last part as sorrow filled in the spot where adrenaline once was. Mariem turned to Jack as she sighed once more. "You gotta come see the cars in town. Anna must be there now. I told her about them first and then made my way to yours. She said she was going to check it out. She musta found something by now." The man in the door frame looked down at himself, motioning with his eyes that he wanted to go change first. "Oh, go in your pj's! We're in the middle of an apocalypse; no one's gonna give a damn."

*  *  *

Mariem turned her truck onto the street that was two away from where the black cars were. Jack was sitting in the passenger seat, the only other one in the vehicle. He watched as the trees flew by along the hilly dirt road, only paying attention to the dots of various colors that were low to the ground. He couldn't make out what shapes of the flowers they were, driving too fast to find out if they were tulips. Neither one of them were talking now after spending the first four minutes out of the five minute drive processing every new bit of news out loud. Mariem wasn't trying to keep the conversation going, wasn't trying to pry information out of him. She understood that it would only push him away further. It felt good. And to Jack, it felt good to try to talk it through, especially with someone else who knew this confusion and pain; they were going through it at the same time. Guilt started trickling in again and it was directed towards Mariem. He felt pity towards Anna too, finally starting to recognize shutting them out might not have been a good idea. Though, that's what he needed at the time. They kept checking on him, bringing him food, bringing him words of encouragement. And always, he shut them down. He had always done this: turned people away when there was a problem. Even to Daine. She hated it when he wouldn't talk to her. Her blood would've been boiling if she knew. That made him chuckle.

Mariem smirked and looked at him sideways. "Whatcha laughing at over there?"

"Oh, nothing." Jack thought back to the last thing Mariem said before they hopped into her truck: "We're in the middle of an apocalypse; no one's gonna give a damn." That made him chuckle even more.

Mariem turned left onto the street right before another turn onto Main Street, still using her blinker. He was surprised she still used her blinker when there was no need to signal. There was no one to signal to. She then slammed on her brakes, snapping Jack out of his head. He looked to her quickly to see she was looking to her left. He had to lean forward as Mariem was blocking the view of Anna running down the sidewalk. The truck came to a stop and Anna ran right up to her window. Through gasps of air she said, "Men. There's a bunch of men. They're all in business suits. They got–they got–" 

"Honey, take a moment. Take a breath." Mariem said. "I can barely understand what you're saying." 

Anna put her hands on her knees and took a moment. She rose and said, "I just got here not too long ago. I've been watching them. There's a bunch of men walking around, and they're all in business suits. They're walking around and pointing at the buildings up and down Main Street. Then they write things down on the clipboards that they have."

"Men in business suits…" Mariem mumbled.

"Yeah."

"Did you see anything else?" Jack jumped in.

"No. I heard the car and came running as soon as I could. I didn't want them to know we were here, or that they knew they were here. Turn off the car so they don't hear you." 

"If you heard me they probably did too but I will." Mariem put the truck in park and turned it off. 

"You said they're surveying the area?" Jack nodded.

Anna made a clicking noise with her mouth. "Yeah, like they're scoping out the town, seeing what they can renovate."

"Probably the whole damn town, most of the buildings are from the 1800s." Mariem joked. Anna laughed, Jack didn't respond.

"So what's our next move? We can spy on them" Anna asked.

Jack thought for a moment. "Interrogate them."

"Interrogate them? Like, ask them why they're here?"

"No, it's better if they don't know we're here." Mariem said.

"I don't want to sit back and watch them take over our town. Hell, they've done enough damage as it is."

"You think they're a part of this whole apocalypse…debacle?" Mariem asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't they be? They've shown up out of nowhere while all of this is going down. They have to know there are creatures running around. They have to know something. And I'd like to know too!" Jack unbuckled himself and got out of the car. He started rushing towards Main Street, fully aware of how stupid he looked in his pj's, racing towards some strange men he knew nothing about. 

He kept walking towards the street corner when Mariem shouted at him to get his attention. She was out of her truck, reaching into the bed. "Jay, you're gonna want this!" She held up a rifle. She walked over to Jack and handed it to him, with Anna on her heels. They were going at a casual pace until they heard the sound of car doors slam, engines turning on, and gravel being moved. Jack knew immediately that it had to be the men getting in those black cars, knew that they were about to get away. He ran, sprinted up the corner of where Main Street met with the one he was on now. He turned left and continued running, yelling at them to stop as if they would actually listen. The cars turned right.

"Fuck!" Jack turned around to see Mariem and Anna at the top of the street. They needed to catch up to them now and quickly. "Run! Get to the truck now! We have to see where these fuckers go!" All three traced their steps to where they came from, without a second thought. Each one knew the urgency, each one sprinted as fast as they could. 

When Jack turned the corner again, he saw Anna was ahead of Mariem and that she had the keys. Jack caught up to Mariem, grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the passenger side of the truck. Anna hopped in and started the engine. 

Mariem got into the passenger seat and Jack hopped into the bed of the truck almost missing the step. He crouched down and smacked the side of the bed. Anna zoomed forward. They teetered around the turns, left, then right, then left again, passing the still intact stores of Main Street. There were three pairs of very faint red dots down at the end of the stretch of road. They all turned right towards the fence, igniting a flame in Anna to move even faster. Jack was holding on for dear life.

When they got to the turn, Anna eased on the gas and then picked it back up. They were turning as the last pair of lights were exiting through a now open part of the fence. It looks like a gate. Though Jack swore there wasn't an entrance before. 

Anna pressed on the gas again trying to get to the gate before it closed. Jack could feel her adrenaline though he was all the way in the back. He wondered if it was his own. We're going to make it. We're going to make it! Just as he thought that the last car made it through and the gate was closing shut. He could hear the rattle of the fence letting him know they weren't going to make it. Luckily they were still a far enough distance away for Anna to pump the brakes instead of slamming on them. 

They slowed right up to the gate and as soon as the vehicle stopped Jack hopped out. He walked right up and slammed on the fence. "Dammit!" 

Truck still running Anna hopped out to follow him. "I'm sorry, Jack. I tried." 

"No, I know. It's not your fault. They were many steps ahead of us. And I don't think we were expecting them to leave…they'll be back."

*  *  *

Mariem parked her truck down on that right turn before the gate. Jack hopped out of the bed of the truck again, this time with a rifle in his hand. The other two women hopped out, and they started walking as a unit again towards the gate the cars left from. They planned to meet the strange men before they even got close to the town, hiding out in the trees that were lined against the fence. It was Anna's plan, it was surprising to Jack for her to suggest something so bold. They brainstormed it on the third night in Mariem's home as she cooked them dinner.

It was early in the morning on Day 5. Day 4 turned up nothing. Jack, Anna, and Mariem stayed by the gate all day, waiting for the cars to show up, for the men to hop out in their same prim and proper suits. The men didn't show up.

They got down to the end of the road and assumed the positions they were in the previous day: Anna and Mariem hiding in the bushes on the left, Jack behind the tree on the right close to the fence. He was joined by Michael Hapsburger and his gun. Jack figured since he was given more time to prepare he should use it to ask for backup. He didn't know how many of these strange men we're going to be there. It didn't take much convincing for Michael to join. Like Jack, like most people in this town probably, he had a vengeance he wanted to use. Jack hoped they wouldn't have to wait long. 

Jack wouldn't admit it to anyone but himself but even if they were crouched so huddled together in a small space, he was happy he wasn't alone, glad another could join him on this "mission". It made it feel like a collective effort, something the town had been missing ever since the Undead came. Those monsters separated the town, in more ways than one. Everyone was fighting on their own for their own or their family's survival. He remembered how disheveled the town looked on Day 2, how the pharmacy and Mariem's store had been picked clean. He wasn't there when it happened, but he could imagine the fights breaking out over the important stuff, each person needing it for themselves. Jack was lucky to have Mariem and Anna.

He didn't know how long it had been. Maybe ten minutes or so. He heard engines roaring in the distance. Michael did too as he tensed up behind him. So did the two women on the other side: they hushed their whispering. Jack didn't look over at them though. He had to squint through the holes of bushes and the chain links to make out at least one black car. He couldn't see any others. He picked up his rifle, aimed it through the same hole he was peering through, and waited till a loud buzz came through along with metal moving across the dirt road. When the car was close enough to the gate, Jack aimed at the tires, hitting the two on the left side of the car, the only two he could. Bursts of tire air blew out. The car bumped up and down against the loose rocks in the road until it came to a stop, the engine still running.

It continued to run as the car door opened. Someone hopped out and closed the door. Jack saw the same black suit and black sunglasses. Even though Cedarsville was surrounded by a forest the man chose to wear them. Jack wondered if he was trying to hide something about his eyes. No one else joined him. It was just this agent. Only him. He took out something from his jacket pocket. A gun, most likely. He moved to be in front of the car, occupying the space where the gate door used to be. Jack didn't like that he couldn't see the agent anymore.

"Alright, come out guys." He yelled. "You are trespassing on private, government property. We can do this the easy, more civilized way where you cooperate with us. That's the way I assume–-or want–you to prefer. No one will get hurt. And less papers I have to write up." He mumbled that last part. No one moved, no one said anything, least of all Jack. Now he looked at Anna and Mariem to signal to them to stay where they were. When they nodded in confirmation, he turned back to the man. Jack didn't believe him for one second, focusing on the "government property" part. Wouldn't we be kicked off or received a notice if it was owned by the government? 

Business Suit tried again, "I know you're here somewhere. Come out, come out wherever you are!"

Jack shifted in to see how dangerous the man was. He could see the weapon in his left hand. It was nothing more than a small handgun. I can take him. Jack got up out of his hiding spot with his rifle out, continuously pointing the barrel at the man even as he was turning like it was an eye locked in on prey. The facial expression on the man didn't change. It remained neutral, unphased. Robotic. Jack suppressed a shiver, not wanting to show fear, scared almost that the man standing before him would note it or record it.

"You're the man that chased us." He said.

"And you are?" Jack asked, hiding how bothered he was by the man not moving, flinching, or twitching. A numbing gut feeling started to creep in.

Michael hopped out of the bushes, his gun pointing at the man standing across from them. He still didn't move. "And who the hell are you? How many people are hiding in these bushes?"

"Answer the question." Michael commanded as he stepped out from behind the tree.

The stranger's gun shifted between Jack and Michael, landing on the one who just popped out. He used his right to reach back into his jacket, pulling out a black wallet. As he opened it up to show his badge he said, "I work with the FBI. You're trespassing on government owned property. We own this little town now." The FBI agent held his badge far enough away from Jack to where he could barely read it. He could see that the picture of the agent on the badge had brown hair when the hair of the man standing in front of Jack was black. He became suspicious. Jack reasoned that it could be the sunlight peering through the trees that made badge's hair lighter but the agent's tone said differently. "We need you and anyone else still living in this town to leave. Granted, I could have taken a few of you in my car if you didn't blow up the tires. More cars will come, so don't worry about that. We'll take you guys away."

Jack's face hardened as he questioned why the agent would say that, why anyone would handle the situation like he is right now. "When did this become government property? And how come we weren't notified of it?" 

"Oh, you were, I swear by it."

"I don't recall seeing a notice anywhere." Michael added in, his tone matching the suspicion Jack felt.

"Listen, it was there, you can trust me. I will say I am sorry that you didn't see it, you could've avoided all of this." 

The gut feeling took up more space as Jack trusted him less. What that man said exactly reinforced Jack's idea that these people knew what was going on. How did he know what "all of this" was? The suspicion mixed in with the anger that also rose, stirred by Business Suit's insensitive comments. "What's your badge number?" Did FBI agents even have numbers? "Or how about your name?"

"That's not important right now. What is important is telling me if there are other survivors. I need to get you guys out." Jack figured that the man was caught off balance with Jack scrunching his eyes and tilting his head in suspicion, because he continued on. "If you could lower your guns–both of you–I'll lower mine, right, and then I'll call for more cars to transport you all out of here." He started lowering himself and the gun to the ground.

Not taking his requests at all, Michael continued to interrogate him, "When did this become your property? Was it because of the Undead?" 

"That's what you call them? Not very creative." Business Suit gawked.

Guns fired in Jack's head. He brought up the one in his hand to his face and aimed it to that of the stranger's. "Okay, tell us what's really going on here. I don't believe you for one fucking second that you're an FBI agent! You know more than you're letting on; you know exactly what has happened to us!"

The "agent" rose back up but kept his gun by his left side. "Alright, but those two need to come out." He pointed to his right. Jack had to restrain from following his finger, trying to pretend like no one was there, hoping it acted as a signal. He couldn't really give one without truly giving them away. Michael did not follow Jack's plan. Like they knew their queue, like it was a play, Mariem and Anna walked out from their hiding spot. Heads down, walking slowly like they were ashamed to be caught. How long did he know they were there?

"Now that that's situated, you're right! I am not an FBI agent. No, no I'm employed under Big Shredder Oil Company." The employee used the gun instead of just his hands to help him talk, waving it around. 

"That's the same one that's been ruining our town!" Mariem stated.

"Yeah! See, she gets it. Though the word I would use is 'torment'. The Big Boss has been really throwing that word around. I think it's becoming his favorite."

Never moving from his stance, Jack hardened his grip on the rifle. "You're responsible for all of this."

"What do you mean by 'this'? There's a lot we could be responsible for–"

"The Undead, you bastard!" Jack was shaking the rifle now, almost in the way the man was waving his handgun. 

Business Suit raised his hands in defense. "Hey, hey! There's no need to call each other names…but yeah you're right. Big Shred. Co. is responsible for the zombies. Though they aren't really zombies. It's kind of cool actually. We–I can't tell you that. That's top secret."

"Ugh! To hell with you!"

"Thanks!" The smirk on the stranger's face turned into a smile.

"Why us? But why us? What did we do to deserve this?" Michael asked.

"Project: Z-Town."

"What?" Jack asked

"Project: Z-Town, that's what the Big Boss called the operation to get you and every other resident out of town. He wanted Cedarsville all to himself. See, you're sitting on some major oil deposits, I don't know if you know that. When the drilling didn't work–and kidnapping some of the residents–Big Boss took it a step further and created said 'monsters' to…kill…those that wouldn't leave." 

"Did you kidnap our people to turn into zombies? What twisted mind does ya boss have?" Mariem yelled.

"No, kidnapping came before we created zombies. Our boss needed people to be the zombies, and also test on. They just got muddled into the mix. And what you see as twisted I see as cool…and necessary. Necessary to keep the economy, oil supply and demand, and business–specifically ours–going. That's just the way it works."

"Go to hell!" Jack yelled. "You and all the other machines in suits!"

"Hey, not my fault. We live in a greedy, capitalistic society. Like you I'm just a pawn in this game. But I gotta keep it going to keep the King safe–-and happy. So, now if you'll excuse me–"

"You're not calling back up. Stay right where you are!"

"Ohhh…I wasn't going to call. Ya see, you know everything now, I can't let you leave. Big Boss wouldn't like that. I think you're going to have to be joining your wife, Jack." 

"How-" 

It didn't take long, less than two seconds maybe. The stranger raised the gun right at Mariem and fired. Anna's scream was overshadowed by another bang. They both went down with two shots, one each. It happened so easily. And that's all it took for Jack to fire his gun. A boom came from his right as Michael too shot the man before them. At a living, breathing, human being. He never thought he would ever shoot a person. But out of anger, rage, frustration, shock, the bullet from his gun plummeted itself into the stranger's stomach. He could say it was from those emotions, but this happened with no time to breath, think, or blink.

He planned on shooting the man regardless of which side was to fall first.

When Jack took in his first breath and lowered his gun, Michael also lowered his. Jack forced himself to look down at the stranger grabbing his stomach and his car, banishing himself to not look at the two women knowing it would break him. He did not want to show the utter wreck he felt, he could not in front of the enemy. No instead he thought about how he was surprised Michael wasn't the one shot and it disgusted him. It should've been Michael then him. Left to right. It disgusted Jack even more that he wished it was Michael instead of the women who were lying in their own blood. 

The stranger snapped over then falling down to one knee. Blood dripped out from where both of his hands were now clutching, in the middle of his abdomen just below the ribs. Jack could see two places where red swelled out across the man's shirt.  

This was the one time Jack was actually satisfied with who he shot. With the many Undead before today, he felt neutral knowing he was shooting at things that were once human for survival. With Jerry he felt despair and disgust of course, for he killed a friend, a neighbor, someone who was personal to him. For this man right in front of him, it felt good. He smirked. It was revenge.

"Oh it's useless to be so happy. Shooting one of us down won't change anything, we'll just be replaced." The stranger said through pained, gritted teeth. Jack could see lines of blood snaking out through the white squares. "When we fail to do our task, to keep the system going, we are so easily replaced, swept by, overlooked. We mean nothing to the system other than something with the ability to keep it alive." The man smiled, his picture perfect white teeth poking through the blood that was boiling through his mouth. It rooted another feeling in Jack's stomach: terror. "You're not winning this, Jack." Jack watched the last of the man's breath escape his weakly and partly open mouth; it looked like steam.

Jack stood still for way too long, still straining to not look down. He wanted to fall to the ground and cry just like he did two days ago. But he couldn't: there was nothing left in the tank. He couldn't feel his fingers, the rifle by his left hip, the utter rage that just controlled him died when the man did. He did feel the hand on his shoulder. It was strong. It shook him a little. It was warm, radiating through his chest, bringing some life back. 

"It's going to be okay, Jack." Michael said. He came around to stand in front of Jack. 

It made Jack laugh a little. "That's a loaded-"

"I know. I know it is. It looks bleak–the future. But regardless I just know it'll all be okay. Intuition." 

Jack laughed a little bit more. "We have to figure out what to put on their gravestones, what to write for Anna and Mariem. Yet I still haven't figured out what to do for Diane."

"Any ideas?"

"No, none." 

"Well, was there a quote she used to say all the time?" 

"Like a motto?"

"Sure!" Jack thought about that for a moment before shaking his head "no". "Okay…how about a favorite song? Or band? Maybe you could use a lyric from one of their songs." This utterly stumped Jack. He could not think of one option that would be right, going over all the rock bands he could think of. Diane loved rock and roll, this he knew. But the band, he did not.

With a blank stare Jack sadly murmured, "I don't know my wife's favorite band."

"What was that?" 

"I don't know my wife's favorite band. Ha! She was the love of my life and I don't even know the simplest fact about her. The most basic thing!" The hysteria kicked in, at least Jack thought it was that for he could not stop laughing. It freaked Michael out a little bit: his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes widened. 

"Okay…"

"No but that is a good idea. I guess I'll just have to pick one. I'll pick a band and have it be known forever–till the end of time–that it is my wife's favorite band. And she'll have no say in it!"

Michael moved to grab Jack's arm. "Okay, you should get some rest. C'mon, I'll take–" 

"No no, rest won't help. It didn't before. I need therapy!" Jack laughed. "Besides, there's no time for rest. No, the war's just started."

"War?"

"Yeah, well, you think that oil company is just going to let us sit by with all the knowledge of what has happened to us? They're going to come in here and make sure we're dead. All of us survivors."

"I…don't think they know we know."

"They at least know of us. They know our names and those that have died…at least, they knew Diane was…there's a lot more they know about than we think."

After a slight pause where Michael looked at the ground he asked, "What do you think is going to happen?" 

"I don't know but I feel like it's going to be bigger than what we faced now. Maybe a whole army. We should warn the rest of the survivors, maybe band all of us together to fight."

"I was going to suggest that. All of us against how many there are of them, that's the best option that we have." Michael stopped himself short and turned around to face the fence. "We could also just leave. He left the gate wide open."

"Yeah we could. We could tell everyone about it and escape and be free. But we'd be abandoning this town, and those that we loved that died here. Leaving now would be like handing over the town to those greedy pigs. And after all the hell we've been through?"

Michael turned back around. "Okay, okay…" He let out a breath. "I-I just don't think I'm prepared for this, Jack."

"We weren't prepared for any of this. But we're more experienced now. We have to do this."

Michael nodded and waited a few moments while he thought. When he looked back up he said, "...then let's do it."

About the Author

Emily Ruggiero graduated in the class of 2025 at Arcadia University, getting a Bachelor in English with a Creative Writing Concentration. At Arcadia, she was a member of the Women's Lacrosse team, she was on the Honors Council for three years, an editor for Issue #12 of The Compass, and a part of the social media team for the English Department.