Around ten in the morning, Marshall woke up feeling super energized. The fatigue of last night faded away as if nothing had happened. Then, when he stretched his body, it opened up like a blooming flower in spring. It was a magical feeling.

Good morning, Marshall said softly to the sleeping kitten.

Marshall got off his bed, scratching his head and ass. While at the same time trying not to wake up the sleeping beauty.

Minutes later, after doing his daily necessities, he had to decide whether or not he wanted to take another shower. After taking two showers a few hours prior, it did not make sense to take another one so soon after. He was not even dirty. So, with that in mind, Marshall took no time to deliberate his decision. He chose to delay taking that shower for later on, if possible.

Out of the bathroom, Marshall peeked into his room to find the little kitten still sleeping. Deciding not to wake it up, Marshal went to make breakfast.

Thirty minutes later, Marshall sat in the living room with his plate clean. He was feeling content with the breakfast he had just eaten, and so was the kitten. It awoke as soon as it smelt the food Marshall was making. As soon as that happened, Marshall noticed as long as he had food with him to eat, the little kitten would be his friend. If Marshall had to be honest with himself, he did not mind having the kitten in his company. It would be lonely with only his thoughts.

After sitting for a while, Marshall started to feel restless. He felt both lost and bored without his phone being able to connect to the internet. This was maybe the third time Marshall did not have his phone on him or properly working. The first time he left the phone, he forgot to do his checklist before leaving for work. The list consisted of patting down his body for his wallet, his keys, and his phone. The second time this happened, Marshall felt like he was getting addicted to his phone, just like any modern person. To curb the habit, he decided to go on a detox from his phone. He could only use his phone for calls or work, nothing else. Marshall only lasted two days before indulging in his desires. This past day was the third time and would most likely be his last. For a modern person, this was a cruel thought he had to swallow.

Time seemed to pass at a dastardly slow pace without a distraction. It felt like torture to Marshall. To keep his mind and body busy, he chose to take inventory of the remaining food and water. Even though he did the same thing yesterday, the action by proxy made the perception of time faster. With every move Marshall made, he felt himself gaining some semblance of normalcy.

At the end of all his activities, he found himself in a state of boredom and ended up back on the couch. Lost in thought, Marshall picked up the TV remote and turned it on. He was greeted by the no signal screen. This was far from a surprise. Marshall already anticipated the results. Sometimes being right about something leaves a bitter taste in the mouth.

Marshall walked to the living room window while thinking about the future. At the window, he pushed aside the vertical blinds. The bright sunlight greeted his eyes. After adjusting to the light, Marshall saw the world outside his home. Nothing new seemed to have happened since he went to sleep. The cars were still in the same place, the dead man was still on the ground needing a burial, and the street was still deathly quiet.

At this point, Marshall was willing to do anything to alleviate his boredom. After closing the blinds, he went to his room to get something to wear. In the process, Marshall started planning for the future.

For today, the task would be to bury all the dead bodies. Especially the two people who died in the car accident. They deserved to have a proper burial. From there, Marshall would have to think about scavenging for food and water. For now, that part would not be too difficult. As long as he entered the empty apartments, he would most likely find the spoils. Before breaking and entering through the missing peoples' apartments, he would give them a few days to come home. If they were alive, that is.

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Before finding food, Marshall would have to find a way to barricade his apartment. He could not be awakened in the middle of the night by freaking zombies all the time. That would drive any sane man into fear and insanity.

With these thoughts sorted out, Marshall finished changing his clothes and putting some running shoes on his feet. Before leaving his room, he did not forget to bring his metal bat with him.

As soon as he touched the bat. The hot energy flow trickled through his palm. Maybe it was due to his new ability, but Marshall felt the difference between the energy he got from last night and this morning. The energy felt more potent.

Weird, Marshall silently thought.

Not thinking too hard about the new discovery, Marshall wanted to try something he thought of when he was dead tired last night. He wanted to see if he could stop the energy from passively entering his body. With this new finding, his intuition hinted to him that his idea would be a success.

Marshall tried to empty his mind of all distractions. He was pleasantly surprised at how easily he was able to accomplish this. Before today, no matter how hard he tried to empty his mind, it was always a battle, navigating through his random thoughts.

Weird, Marshall randomly thought.

Marshall blocked that thought out before it could go down the rabbit hole. After regaining his lost focus, he focused on the hand holding the bat. He felt how the energy funneled from the bat into his hand. Highlighting that feeling, Marshall tried controlling the flowing energy to stop. The same thing happened last night when he tried to control the energy dots happened again. They would escape his control. No matter how hard he tried, it would not work for him. Marshall started to doubt his idea and his intuition. Though feeling this way, he did not stop trying to make it work. There was this elusive feeling in the back of his mind that his idea was right but was maybe going about it the wrong way.

Clanging on the feeling, Marshall chose to change his approach. He had the idea to give the bat a command. It was a weird idea, to say the least. With that said Marshall was very unsure if this idea would work. But, considering how trying to control the energy was a bust, he had nothing to lose.

Marshall focused his attention on the connection between his hand and the bat. STOP, he commanded. A few seconds passed before Marshall worried that his thoughts and this approach were wrong. But a few seconds later, the energy flow between his hand and the bat began to slow down until it stopped. Pleasantly surprised with the results, his eyebrows rose in excitement. His stupid idea somehow worked.

Feeling oddly relaxed, Marshall looked through his window. He did now want to be surprised by a zombie by his window. The coast was clear, with no zombies in sight.

When Marshall exited his room, the little kitten was following behind him. When it started following him, only the gods could tell. Marshall stopped walking to pat the kitten, but it moved away. When that happened, he got up while shaking his head.

Who didn’t see that coming? Marshall muttered to himself.

To be safe, Marshall looked through the peephole in the door. As far as he could see, he was safe. Still, Marshall opened the door slowly out of precaution.

When the front door was fully opened, a faint odor from the pervasive wind entered his nose. Looking at the sun and then at the dead body, it was pretty obvious where the smell was coming from. The combination of the two in any scenario would be terrible.

The little kitten escaped outside before Marshall closed the door. He wondered between putting the kitten back in the apartment or letting it roam outside free. When he saw the kitten waiting for him a few feet away, he knew the decision was made for him. Marshall would let the kitten do whatever it wanted.

The first thing he needed to do was find a shovel and a tarp to cover the bodies. Marshall did not have to think long about them. About half a mile from his apartment, there was a pool, and by the pool, there was a tool shed. The last time he looked in it, there was a shovel and other gardening tools to be used. There should be one or two tarps near the pool. If someone did not take them home, they would be there. Then again, the last time Marshall went to the pool was about a month-in-a-half ago.

With the direction in mind, Marshall in the kitten headed for the pool.