After a few moments, Greg finally managed to pull himself back together and climbed to his feet, wiping the tears from his eyes and leaving streaks of blood in their place, accentuating a twisted grin he wasn't quite able to get rid of. He grunted as he picked Tessa up, feeling a weird sense of strain, and carried her back into the house, only to find the little girl cowering against the wall, curled up into a little ball, shivering in fright. "Nonononono…" She muttered over and over again as she rocked back and forth, sobbing in fear and misery. As she heard Greg step into the house, she cried even louder. "No! I didn't mean to, I didn't mean to!" She protested, horror clear in her voice.
"Oh… should I just go then?" Greg interrupted her babbling in a bland voice, his grin subsiding into a cheeky smirk.
The girls looked up in shock, seemingly unable to comprehend that the one who stepped through the door was Greg, instead of the sharkman. "You- you- you-" She began to stutter in a loop, seemingly unable to get off the word 'you'.
"I killed a sharkman. Not bad for my second day in the Apocalypse, eh?" Greg commented through her stuttering, heading deeper into the house, placing Tessa on a relatively intact couch. "I did lose my shirt in the process though…" He complained. "But, that's to be expected, right? Can't count the number of people who've lost their shirts due to bad business with sharks." He made a joke, bursting out into another fit of giggles. He turned to the very confused and concerned looking little girl. "Get it? Cause sharks are cutthroat business men, and losing your shirt is a way to say you lost money!"
"I- I don't…" The girl backed away slightly, wondering whether she'd just traded one crazy man for another… Well, at least this one looked human.
Greg clicked his tongue, waving his hand at her. "Calm down, it's just a bad joke." Greg explained. "I think I use humor as a defense mechanism, you know? If you can make a joke about it, it isn't really all that bad." Greg paused. "Or, I'm just really amused by death and suffering…" He considered it for a moment, then shrugged dismissively, glancing at the girl again. "Anyway, you can watch her for a moment while I check out the rest of the house, right? You won't go all crazy and stab her with a screwdriver or anything?"
"No!" The girl protested immediately, shaking her head, denying that she would ever do any such thing.
"Ah, good. Cause, you know, if you did, I'd probably have to kill you… which would kinda make everything that just happened sort of pointless, wouldn't it?" Greg muttered absently as he headed towards the stairs. "So be a good girl, huh?" He commented as he passed, patting her lightly on the head, causing her to freeze in horror. She watched as Greg calmly climbed the stairs, before rushing over to the couch to stand guard, looking like she'd die before she let anyone touch Tessa.
Greg climbed the stairs, humming slightly as he did so. Compared to his attitude before the fight, he'd become much more carefree. Turns out, when something strong repeatedly tries to kill you and fails, you gain a bit of confidence. Well, at least Greg did. Whether it was from the rush of adrenaline or the sheer joy he found in not only surviving but defeating the first feral he'd encountered, saving not only the girl, but Tessa as well, Greg was feeling pretty good. Did he even have adrenaline? He didn't have a heartbeat… and apparently he was made of some kind of acidic smoke. Eh, it didn't matter. Point was, he was feeling good! Of course, the only reason Tessa was in danger in the first place was because of him, so… not entirely something to celebrate, but still! The high was almost enough to get him over what he saw upstairs… almost.
What he saw was an open door, and inside, a woman lying on a worn out mattress on the floor, completely naked. She didn't even seem to be aware of her surroundings, simply lying there with her legs spread. The insides of her thighs were rubbed raw, as if someone had repeatedly rubbed sandpaper against them, over and over, the wounds scabbing over and swelling as they got infected, dripping pus as they burst. Her body was covered in scratches and abrasions, particularly her breasts, all in various stages of infection. There were even a few bites taken out, as if the sharkman couldn't resist taking a nibble in the throws of passion. Even if they still had access to modern medical care, it didn't look like she'd survive much longer. Greg blanched, feeling nauseous as he wondered whether he should try to help her or just put the poor woman out of her misery.
He quickly checked the other two rooms, one of which was obviously where the sharkman slept with a king bed all scratched the hell, while the other seemed to be where the girl slept. Surprisingly, her room looked rather nice, almost completely untouched by the horror that had obviously taken over the rest of the house. He stumbled back down the stairs, glancing at the girl, involuntarily looking down at her legs, before breathing out a sigh of relief. It was clear the sharkman hadn't touched her in that way.
"Who- who's the woman upstairs?" Greg asked the girl, grimacing as he pushed down his nausea.
"I- I don't know…" She answered, biting her lip nervously. "He- he… every time they… he's gone through so many… I- I stopped learning their names…" She finished in a hoarse whisper, looking at the ground.
"Jesus." Greg muttered, running his hand through his hair, realizing too late it was the bloody one, grimacing as he pulled it away. "God da-" He began to curse, before remembering the situation upstairs. "Not important." He shook his head, cursing his inability to stay on topic. He hesitated by the stairs for a bit, thoughts going in circles as he tried to think of what to do about the woman, but he couldn't make a decision. He just didn't have enough information. He didn't know if there was anyone at the safe zone who could help her, if they could even get her to the safe zone, how to treat her wounds in the meantime, if there was any medicine they could give her to help… he just didn't know.
Finally, he decided the best method was to wait for Tessa to wake up. Or should he try to wake her up? He remembered something about not letting people with concussions sleep, but is being knocked out a concussion? What do they do with those MMA fighters when they're knocked unconscious? For the first time, Greg cursed his complete disinterest in sports. Finally, he decided that he'd try to wake her up, but if he couldn't, he'd just wait.
He walked over to the couch, standing over her, pausing hesitantly as he considered how to actually go about doing this. He grabbed her shoulder and shook her a bit. Then a bit more, then more, until finally Tessa started to groan in discomfort, cracking open her eyes painfully. "Who-" Suddenly she shot up, eyes wide, panting as she remembered what she'd been doing before she went unconscious, holding her still bladed arms up, ready to attack. "Where did he go!?!"
"Tessa, calm down! He's dead! We won!" Greg waved his hands, pulling the girl behind him just in case.
Tessa paused, confusion painting itself across her face. "W-what? We won?!? How!?!"
Greg raised his still bloody arm. "He cut my arm off." Tessa looked at the arm, then at Greg, then back to the arm, clearly not getting the connection. "Er, basically, when my body regenerates, it replaces whatever is in the way… so, when I pushed my severed arm against his chest, and the smoke returned… big hole."
Tessa still looked confused, staring at him as if everything he'd just said was in some sort of foreign language. "I need to lie down." She muttered, falling back onto the couch.
"Wait!" Greg panicked slightly. "First, you might have a concussion, so… I'm pretty sure we aren't supposed to let you sleep. Secondly… How am I supposed to deal with the woman upstairs?"
Tessa sat up again with a groan of complaint, as if just doing so was some sort of herculean task. "I don't have a… a… brain thingy."
"Yeah… I'm gonna go ahead and assume you're wrong on that one, and you're going to stay awake for a bit." Greg shook his head, not buying that the woman who couldn't even remember the word concussion when he'd just said it didn't have anything wrong with her.
Tessa glared at him, waving an arm blade at him. "Stab you." She mumbled.
"Go for it." Greg shrugged, before pausing. "Actually, don't… you might leave it in there too long, and then you'd lose part of your arm." He muttered awkwardly, before shaking his head. "Alright, sit up, turn your arms back into… arms."
Tessa let out a frustrated groan, but did as he said, leaning on the couch arm, looking miserable. She then looked at Greg with a questioning look. "Girl?"
Greg frowned, turning to the girl, who was still standing by, looking nervous, not sure what to do. "What about her?" He asked, turning back to Tessa.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
"No, not her! Upstairs girl! You said… said there's a deal?" Tessa elaborated.
"Oh! Right, shit, her… uh, you really need to see the situation… Can you move?" Greg asked, before shaking his head. "No, of course you can't… Alright, come on." Greg leaned down and picked her up, taking her to the stairs.
"What are you- put me down!" Tessa protested.
"Are you- okay, fine!" Greg gave her a skeptical look before her finger sharpened and she waved it threateningly. He let her down carefully and she managed to take a few steps before she swayed, stumbling to the side. Greg caught her and picked her back up. "See? No walking for you."
"Nooo…" Tessa protested weakly, giving in with a pitiful expression as Greg carried her up the stairs. The girl followed behind, too scared to stay downstairs by herself. She'd finally found people who could help her, and she wasn't going to let them out of her sight.
As they reached the top of the stairs, Tessa looked over, catching sight of the woman, who hadn't moved since Greg left. He'd almost think she was dead already if he couldn't see her chest rising and falling. Tessa's eyes widened in horror as she quickly looked away, burying her face in Greg's chest. She made a retching sound and Greg grimaced as he felt something warm and wet spread from that spot. "S-sorry." She muttered apologetically.
"It's fine." Greg sighed. "Is there anything we can do for her? Like, if we get her to the safe zone?"
Tessa shook her head, refusing to look at the woman. "No… she's too far gone… even if… they'd only be able to make her comfortable before she died." Tessa muttered, strangely lucid.
"Shit… so what do we do?" Greg asked, grimacing.
"Make it quick." Tessa muttered, a new level of miserable coloring her face. "That's all we can do."
Greg's eyes widened. "You mean…"
Tessa nodded, before trying to struggle out of his arms. "I'll do it… used to it." She muttered.
"No, you won't." Greg countered, keeping her in his arms and heading back downstairs. "You can barely stand, let alone do… do that. I- I'll handle it." Greg declared as he set her back down on the couch. "Watch her. Make sure she doesn't fall asleep." He told the girl, before heading off to find something… sharp.
He searched through the kitchen first, finding a few knives, but they all seemed slightly too flimsy to make things quick. He wanted something that would take out her brain before she had the time to process anything. Or maybe… were there some pills he could use that would just let her slip away? He began looking for a medicine cabinet or something, finding a few bottles, but they were all over the counter stuff, like advil. Nothing that he thought would kill anyone. He also found some cleaning supplies, but… he wasn't sure how painless that would be. He then checked a storage shed out back and managed to find a sturdy ax which… well, if it didn't chop, it'd crush.
Now that he'd found his tool of execution, he had to actually go up there and… hah. Almost unwillingly, Greg climbed the stairs and entered the room. He took position above the woman, raising the ax, before pausing. If he left her on the mattress, it might soften the blow… it probably wasn't likely, but Greg wanted to do everything possible to avoid needing to take a second swing. He put the ax down and carefully began to drag the woman off the bed. As he did, the woman's head turned slightly, fixing her gaze on him. A slight frown creased her brows. "Who are you?" She croaked in a barely audible whisper.
Greg froze, eyes widening as he stopped what he was doing. He hadn't realized the woman could still talk. "Uh… I'm Greg… we, uh… we killed the sharkman dude and found you, but… I'm sorry, we- we can't save you."
"I- I understand." The woman closed her eyes, a few tears running down the side of her face. "Thank you."
Greg grimaced, before finishing pulling her off the bed. He picked the ax up again, readying it, before pausing, putting it down again. "Before I do this… what's your name?" He asked.
"Gabrielle." The woman croaked out.
Greg nodded, sighing as he lifted the ax again. "I'm sorry, Gabrielle." He whispered, before bringing it down. He found some sheets and draped them over her body. He then headed back out to the shed and found a shovel, spending most of the night carefully digging a hole in the shed, trying not to make too much noise, thankful for the fact that he didn't seem to need sleep anymore, the strain he'd felt after the fight with the sharkman slowly fading as he dug. Once he finished, he carefully brought her body down the stairs, bringing her out and placing her in the hole, burying her. He found a decent sized rock and placed it over where her head should be, carefully carving her name into it. He stood over it for a moment, before letting out a bitter sigh. "Man, fuck the Apocalypse."
*
By the time Greg returned to the house, both Tessa and the girl were red eyed, glaring at each other angrily. "Uh… what's up with you two?"
Tessa whipped around to glare at him. "Because you told her not to let me sleep, she has insisted on keeping me awake despite the fact that I've told her several times I'm okay now!" She growled through clenched teeth.
"Well, to be fair, you insisted you were okay despite the fact you could barely string a sentence together, so… not exactly going to judge her for not believing you." Greg countered, causing Tessa to scoff and roll her eyes. "Though, you do seem to be a lot more coherent now… can you walk?"
Tessa climbed to her feet, pacing around the couch, before holding out her arms. "Good enough?!?"
"Yeah, I suppose we can let you sleep now." Greg nodded. Tessa threw herself onto the couch with a sigh of relief, quickly falling asleep. Greg grinned slightly, amused by her antics, before turning to the girl. "You too… uh, actually, what is your name? I never got it."
"S-Sarah." She muttered nervously, looking down at the ground. She was like this every time he talked to her. She had the confidence to stare down Tessa, something even Greg would hesitate to do, but whatever her impression of him was seemed to make her absolutely terrified of him. Admittedly, her few impressions of him did seem to involve a lot of death, blood, and a slight period of unhinged Greg interaction… eh, maybe she had a point.
"Nice to meet you, Sarah, I'm Greg. Get some sleep, alright?" Greg grinned, patting her on the head. She nodded profusely, looking around, before curling up in a nearby recliner. Greg watched her, frowning for a moment before shaking his head. "Need to get you some new clothes." He muttered, leaving the room to the two girls as he explored the rest of the house, looking for anything useful they could use.
The first thing he found was a few blankets, which he draped over the sleeping girls. As much as it wasn't particularly cold, it still wasn't particularly comfortable to sleep without one at the moment, especially in a house without heat. He also found a bucket full of games, including a few packs of cards, which he had to resist celebrating. He didn't find any books though, at least none that were intact… even without everything else the sharkman had done, that was enough for Greg to condemn him as a monster. Books were precious objects! It was like throwing away a diamond, simply barbaric. Once he finished searching the house, finding nothing else of note, not even a damn shirt, he sat down at the kitchen table, using the least broken chair, and started playing with the cards until the girls woke up.
"Why is it that every time I wake up you're doing something weird?" Tessa grumbled as she walked into the kitchen, yawning and rubbing her eyes.
Greg looked down at his card castle with a frown. "How is this weird?"
Tessa gestured at the cups and utensils he used to add more complexity. "Doesn't that defeat the purpose of building a card castle? It's cheating. Also, why are you not asleep?!?"
"Well, no, cause you're still using cards… plus, the difficulty of making them sturdy enough to bear the weight of the cups and utensils was interesting." Greg retorted.
"Greg, sleep." Tessa groaned.
"Oh, right… I don't think I need to." Greg responded with a shrug. "Ever since I woke up, I just haven't been getting tired. Weird, right?"
Tessa frowned. "Like, at all?"
"Not that I can tell, and believe me, I've been trying. I like sleep. One of the best things we get to experience in this world." Greg sighed, shaking his head morosely. “I felt something after the fight, but it went away on its own, no sleep required.”
"Okay…" Tessa replied, giving him a weird look. "So, what's the plan here?" She asked, shaking her head, moving on from the weird conversation.
Greg frowned. "What do you mean? We're heading to the safe zone, right? What else would we do?"
Tessa frowned. "Greg… have you seen the condition that girl is in? I don't know if she has the strength to make it through some of the areas we'll need to cross… "
"I'll take care of it." Greg stated definitively.
"Greg-" Tessa began again, before he cut her off.
"Tessa, I can't abandon someone like that. I just… I can't." Greg sighed. "If you can, then fine, go, but-"
"That's not what I'm saying!" Tessa hissed, giving him a harsh glare. "If I was the type to abandon people, you wouldn't even have made it here and I'd never have fought that sharkman." She spat angrily. She took a deep breath, calming down before continuing. "If we try to drag her through areas she can't maneuver in, we'll just get her killed, and probably us as well. However, if I can make it back to the safe zone, I can reunite with my team, and together, we have the skills to sneak all of us into the safe zone."
"Oh… okay, yeah, that works." Greg nodded along. "You know, you could have just said that. Literally only my second- er, third day here. No need to consult me on plans."
Tessa rolled her eyes. "It's called being polite."
"If you insist… seems kinda dumb to me." Greg replied, giving her a weird look.
"You!" Tessa glared at him, before turning her fingers into small claws and scratching him.
"Ow! Hey! Quit it!" Greg protested, backing away. "What about being polite?!?"
"You don't deserve it!" Tessa snarled with a final slash, before stomping back into the other room.