“Zay, let’s just do…” I wave my hand and Akina goes silent. Staining my ears, I place extra focus onto the wardrobe. Another Thump. Inside. And then the corpse claws at the wardrobe.

“Irene, light on the corpse.”

My gun rattles as I bring it up and aim it to the corpse. The creature lazily turns its head to me and snarls. Exhaling, I slip my finger onto the trigger and begin slowly squeezing.

“Wait!”

Akina places her hand on the barrel on my gun, and my eyes tear themselves from the target.

“What’s wrong”?

From the wardrobe, another sound is heard. This time, a small, tiny voice leaks out.

“Don’t…! That’s…that’s my mom…”

The voice sobs as it escapes the closed doors. I exchange glances with Akina and Irene. Equally, they both raise their eyebrows in question. Suddenly, the watch on my wrist comes alive and beeps furiously. It’s been five minutes already. As if on cue, our radios join my watch in noise.

“Vice-captain! Akina! Irene! It’s been five minutes! Are you guys still there? Come back!

All in one breath, Kouz blares out from the radios.

“Akina, respond to Kouz. Irene, place the purifier as soon as I am back.”

“Zay?!”

Irene’s voice is full of surprise while Akina nods. Slinging the shotgun across my shoulder, I look around quickly. Among the debris, I see large pieces of flat, broad wooden boards. Piece by piece, I place them onto the black Web Rot, making a path to the wardrobe. The dark, sticky substance clings onto the boards. It is like forest foliage, creeping onto the boards as I lay them down. I grab a hammer off a decaying tool rack nearby and march onto the boards.

The corpse claws desperately as I approach it, and begins emitting all sorts of sounds as I observe the rot-ridden container.

“Light me”.

Irene’s light travels from the Web Rot to me. The side of the wardrobe was at one point sturdy, but it is now weak and rotting in its current state. Lightly tapping the hammer on the wood, and the reverberating tapping can be heard from inside the furniture. It is hollow, but there is something inside.

“Breaching! Move away from my voice.”

There is some scampering from inside before I slam the hammer into the upper part of the wardrobe. The wood instantly caves in, and dusting flies from the impact. Keeping the hammer inside the hole I just made, I rip the hammer downwards and to the bottom, dragging more of the wardrobe along. Repeating the action, I yank the hammer out and slam it into the wood again. After several more swings, there is a large opening in the side of the wardrobe. Flicking my maglite on, I shine it inside the wardrobe.

“Survivor located! Extracting!”

I reach my arm inside, and as soon as I do, the corpse below starts screaming. Its shrill voice echoes all around us, piercing all the way into our ears.

“Ahh!”

I instinctively retract my arm and cover my ears. Both Akina and Irene do the same. Through the shrieking, I eye the corpse and immediately step away. As soon as my boots leave the vicinity of the wardrobe, the corpse stops screaming and returns to clawing.

“What the hell?!”

My voice stressed and strained, I reassess the situation with the girls.

“That was not normal. She has to be a stage 5, she’s special.” Akina says, while staring hard at the corpse. The creature returns her gaze.

“Zay, let’s power through it. I’m sure she’ll scream again, but let’s save the kid.” Irene’s voice is refreshing after the horrid noise that just came from the corpse.

The radio comes alive again.

“Hello? Jesus, what the hell was that” There’s still more!?! Come on, hurry up! Let’s get out of there!”

Kouz’s hearty voice springs out from the electronic. He is at the end of his ropes, his trait of being left alone showing itself.

“Akina, tell him we’ll be right out.”

I rub my chin and stare right at the corpse.

“Irene, Akina, I think you two are right. She’s a special one, definitely stage 5 material. The kid said that she’s his mom, right? I think she’s trying to protect him, even after she’s no longer herself.”

They both nod.

“Okay, let’s do it then. I’m going to grab the kid quickly. As soon as I do, purify the building.”

Straining my voice again, I shout to the kid inside the wardrobe.

“Hey kid. I’m a Corpse Collector. This is my team, and we’re here to rescue you. That used to be your mom…but not anymore. I’m going to come grab you, and then get you out. As soon as I get you, close your eyes, okay?”

I don’t wait for the child to respond. As soon as I am done talking, I shine my light at the pathway and race to the kid.

The corpse starts screaming again as my boots thunder over the boards and to the wardrobe. I cover one ear as I march to the kid. Carefully, I step onto the final wood board and reach inside. The screaming is unrelenting, I feel my ears ringing. I thrust my arm further inside and wrap it around the small frame of the child. Through the terrible screaming, I can hear the kid plead to me.

“Please…that’s my mom…that’s my mom…”

“Cover your ears!” I yell to the kid, even though he’s practically right next to me.

Pulling my arm out with him, and I tightly tuck him against me and carefully make my way back to the other two.

“That’s my mom…”

The kid begins sobbing, and I can feel his wet tears seep into my vest. As I carry the kid away, the corpse screams even louder.

“Ahhh!”

I grit my teeth together. Step by step, I finally make it back to Akina and Irene. Quickly, I hand the kid over to Akina and she darts out of the basement with him. Behind me, the corpse is still screaming and this time, also clawing furiously at the Web Rot. Her arm makes contact with the Rot, and the sticky, black substance latches onto her. Like a rat caught in a trap, the corpse tries to yank its arm out of the rot, but to no avail. As if accepting defeat, the corpse goes limp and stares at us. It is as if the corpse is asking us, pleading to us, to not harm that child.

“Do it, Irene”. I stand next to her and she recites an old prayer.

“Lost souls, all of you who have been trapped. I send you now to complete your journey. You are free.”

Irene twists the top of the canister and it starts hissing. She sets it down, right in front of the Web Rot and we step onto the higher level of the basement towards the exit. A wave of black smoke erupts from the canister, and travels down onto the Web Rot. The smoke speeds across the Rot-covered floor and onto the corpse. The Rot fizzles, and then disintegrates into ash.The corpse coughs twice, and then the light leaves its second life. It never stopped staring at us after Akina left. The corpse, just like the Web Rot, breaks down upon contact with the smoke. Soon, there is ash floating everywhere.

We both close our eyes and clasp our hands together. We give the final, silent prayer.

“Let’s go home”. I tug on her shirt and step back outside.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

Soon, the unmistakable smell of burning debris floods my nose, and the house becomes a living blaze. Through the windows, pitch-black smoke bellows out and to the sky. I can feel the heat emit from the building as Irene and I hurry back to the truck.

Kouz is standing outside, nervously looking around. Akina exits the vehicle as we approach them.

“Kouz, you’re driving. Akina, you ride alongside him.”

Both of them nod and quickly head to their seats. Irene trails behind me and we both enter through the back of the truck. Inside, there is a large open space and then two rows of sears on the side. Captain Diller is laying on one set of seats. His large body is almost hanging off the edge, and leaves a little room near his feet. The young child is resting unconscious on that same set of seats, with his own feet pointed to Captain. He completely fills the remaining seat space, his head at the very edge near the door. Keenan is laying on the other side, with just enough space for two people to sit.

“Go ahead”. I gesture to Irene and follow after her inside the truck. Inside of Captain Diller’s vest pocket are his keys, and I retrieve them. Sliding open the small window connecting the back of the truck to the front, I thrust my hand through and give Kouz the keys. The engine comes alive with a sputter, and off we go.

“How are they?” I ask Irene as I head to the back of the truck, where the open seat is, right at the bottom of Keenan’s boots.

Irene is checking Keenan’s pulse. Her slim, elegant fingers pressed into his neck and onto his carotid artery. She intensely scans her eyes between his face, neck, and chest. She softens her eyes and looks at me.

“Captain Diller is stable. His wound is mildly deep, but he didn’t lose a lot of blood. I think he’ll be fine.”

Irene smiles gently at Captain Diller, then she looks back at Keena. She has a stoic look, but she’s sad, and almost frowns as she looks upon him.

“He’s slightly worse than Captain. He lost a lot of blood, and it soaked into his clothes. We need to clean him up and give him some more blood.”

Her eyes soften immensely when she looks at the child.

“He’s okay. There’s nothing majorly wrong with him. He’s just malnutritioned and weak. Some rest will recover him.”

Irene sits next to me, right near the door of the truck and folds her hands together. Something’s bothering her. Rather, the whole situation is suspicious. Before she can say anything however, Akina speaks through the tiny window.

“Zay.”

“Mhmmm?”

The smoothing hum of the truck rumbles around us.

“That wasn’t right. There was definitely something wrong back there”

Between all of us, there is silence. I have no answer for her. Besides me, Irene shifts uncomfortably in her seat. I knew this was the same exact thing bothering Irene.

“Yeah, I know. That was… not something that should’ve happened. I don’t know what command was thinking.”

The kid coughs once. Then twice. He exhales a weak, pained breath. Irene crouches her way over to him, and checks him over again.

Outside, leaves rustle and crunch as the truck speeds by, the wind tremoring along the windows. We pass dozens of houses, row by row on both sides of the truck. They are all white or tan, and occasionally a blue or yellow house shows up. Trees line the streets in symmetric order, just like the house we just purified. The numbers of the steps and fronts of the houses gradually decrease, and then there are no more houses.

The truck thumps as it crosses onto the ruined freeway pass connecting this district to the next one. All alongside the freeway pass, cars scatter and litter the edges of the road. They may have all been different colors once, but are all now faded and a dirty brown, the passage of time dominating the man-made wonders.

About halfway through the freeway, Kouz suddenly stops the truck. Irene jolts onto me, and I onto Keenan. He’s still unconscious and doesn’t wake.

“Ow, what the hell?”

Irene gently, with haste and a bit of bashfulness, pulls herself off me, and I head to the small window by Akina and Kouz.

“Why’d you stop?” I say to the two in the front.

Kouz’s loud voice booms back at me, without removing his eyes from in front of him.

“That. It wasn’t there before this morning.”

He points to near the end of the freeway bridge. Along the guard rails, there is a streak of blood. Parallel to the fresh blood, tire streaks stain the road. There are cars scattered near the end, but the single path we’re traveling on allows us passage across the bridge. The military shoved apart most of the cars in their last operative days. The skid marks indicate rapid movement, but why the blood?

“Do you see anything else on the road? Any spike traps or movement? I squint my eyes to the outer edges of the bridge. Most ambushes happen this way, with a distraction and then a momentary lapse in judgment.

“Negative, vice-capt. I don’t see anything other than the blood and skid marks.”

“Drive slow, and prepare to gas it if it looks bad.”

The familiar sound of a pistol slide being drawn back and snapping forward echoes throughout the truck. Akina readies her sidearm and focuses on the surroundings. We all hold our breath as we inch closer to the marks.

The skid marks travel through the gap and to the left, behind one of the deserted cars. There is a large concrete highway wall in front of the car, with the front portion of the car sticking out. Slowly, we pass the wall and car, and cross onto the other side of the freeway pass. Each of us peer through the small windows on the side of our armored truck.

There is only the rumbling of the engine as we drive to the other side. We all prepare for an attack, but Kouz breaks the spell of silence.

“There!” His excited, but relieved voice thunders out loud.

He’s pointing to a motorcycle behind the scrap car. The black motorcycle is on its side and in bad shape. I scan the nearby area for the owner. Nothing. There are only bloody handprints around the bike, another trail of blood moving further left, and a small bag attached to the motorcycle.

“Kouz, keep the engine running. Try to contact Base again.”

I lightly tap the metal behind Akina’s seat.

“Let’s go.”

On cue, she opens her door and hops out. I peer through the back windows, and seeing nothing, I ready the shotgun and also step outside.

Akina already has her pistol aimed towards the deserted cars scattered around, and is slowly moving towards the motorcycle. Her eyes focused and clear, scanning the area for any signs of danger. She spares one second to meet my eyes, nods, then continues scanning the surroundings.

On one knee, I swing the gun behind me and make sure I feel the strap tight against my chest. Slowly, I lift the flap of the bag up. Multiple items fall out onto the road. Most of them are junk, but among the spilled contents there are various bullets and small candy bars.

From underneath the nearby car, there is suddenly a clunk and then rapid movement, like the scraping of claws across tile.

I draw my sidearm out and aim. I use the gun to scan the underside of the vehicle. Next to me, Akina is doing the same thing.

We both hold our weapons in silence while peering into the darkness of the car. Straining my eyes, I focus into the blackness. A pair of circles stare back at me. After meeting my eyes and as if half dead, a raccoon drags itself out from the underside of the car.

The rodent huffs at the two of us, and scampers off. A couple of candy wrappers drift from the car and towards the raccoon. Within seconds, the rodent is gone, and so is the suspense.

I clear my throat to ease the tension.

“Ah-hem. He was after these.” I grin to Akina and gesture to the candy.

She shakes her head and returns to scanning the surrounding area.

“Let me gather everything and we can go.”

Scooping all the candies and various junks, I shovel them into the bag and tear it off the bike.

“Give me a second to stash it. There could be some good parts left.”

She nods and speaks into the radio.

“Zay’s stashing the bike in the nearby bushes. Give us a sec.”

“Roger, Roger” I hear Kouz’s voice from the radio.

Behind me, Akina rearms herself and marches past me and to the nearby shrubs. Bending down, I lift the bike back up by the handles. I check the fuel gauge. Empty. Figures… Below the dial, on the ground, I see something glimmer that I didn’t see before. Next to the tire, there is a small ring, with a sizable stone. The stone glints in the sunlight. No time to admire it though, so I scoop it up quickly and pocket it into my vest.

“It’s empty, of course.” I say to Akina as I roll the motorcycle behind the greenery.

“Hey, it never hurts to check”.

She shyly smiles at our terrible luck. It was all we could do, really.

“Yeah, looks hidden. Let’s head back.”

Inside the truck, Irene is monitoring their conditions, while Kouz is anxiously peering around for any danger.

“Any luck with Base?”

The worry on Kouz’s face deepens, and he drives forward on the empty but littered road.

“None. Shouldn’t we, you know, hurry back to base?” His voice is riddled with concern.

“Yeah, but we need to conserve the gas. I understand your concern, but we’re doing all we can. The worst thing we can do is panic and rush ahead. We need to be patient and be smart about this.”

I try my best to address his concerns. He seems to understand, but I know he’s still anxious. There’s nothing we can do, except trudge forward.