Ch. 04 - Still Human

He knocked on the door gently. His voice came out calm and collected. “Hey, are you ok in there? You can come out now. It’s safe.”

The door creaked ajar. Enough for her to peep through and check the situation. The first thing she saw were three undead on the wooden floor, with their heads bashed open, resting in pools of blood. She gasped at the sight and took a step back.

After making sure they wouldn’t move, she pushed the door a little more and saw a young man holding a rock, smiling the whole time. The girl shyly walked out. She surveyed the room while fidgeting with her fingers. She looked at Jin and nervously uttered. “I-Is it really safe?”

Before him appeared a girl, no older than fourteen years old. She had frilly brown hair and honest eyes that matched the color. Playfully placed freckles on her cheeks created a charming face.

Jin nodded and stepped to the side to seem less threatening. He looked at her and smiled. “Of course. Big brother wouldn’t lie to you.”

The girl stared at Jin for a while before she smiled at him warmly. Seconds later, they walked out of the house, but not before Jin looked back and sighed when he saw the undead. “What a waste… Who knows what treasures those guys hold?!”

“I’m Jin. What’s your name?”

Surprised by Jin’s question, the girl blushed and looked down. “L-Lily…”

“Oh, that’s a pretty name.”

Embarrassed, Lily slowed down her pace and stayed a step behind Jin, but in her heart, she smiled. She felt at ease with him, safe. After walking for a few minutes, Jin uttered. “Are you alone out here?”

Lily shook her head, and tears welled in her eyes. “No… I was with my parents when we got separated. We were on the way to my grandfather.”

Jin turned around and approached her. He was taller than her, so he had to lean forward a bit to match her height. “Shall we go find them, then?”

Overjoyed, Lily looked into Jin’s eyes. Because of the running tears, his figure was blurry. She rubbed her eyes several times to the point they became red and yet, like streams, they flowed. Jin’s suggestion filled her heart with bliss. She nodded endlessly until he patted her head. “It’s going to be ok.”

Lily accepted his gesture and smiled. She looked at him with sorrowful eyes. “Where do we start? Everything happened so fast. I don’t remember where I was before I got here…”

“Don’t worry. We’ll figure it out. For now, let’s see if we can find anyone else around as we work our way towards my house.”

Jin pointed toward his home, which was ‌further than a couple of blocks. Lily nodded with a face full of confidence.

Together, Jin and Lily walked around the town and searched for other survivors. They entered a house where an eerie sensation surrounded it. Jin walked in first and, with his voice barely audible, he uttered. “Anyone here?”

When no one answered his call, Lily followed behind him, holding his shirt with her slender fingers, clenching it as hard as she could. She barely kept her eyes open, with only a slither of light could enter, so she could avoid seeing anything scary.

They searched the house, but from the looks of it; It’s been a while since the owners had abandoned the place. Spluttered blood on the walls, already dried, and the cupboards were empty.

After exiting the house, Jin rushed straight to his house. Worried about what he might find, he remained silent and focused on getting there. Lily followed along in silence.

Moments later, they arrived, and the unlocked door concerned him deeply. He gently pushed. As it creaked open, the first thing he saw was a pool of blood in the middle of the living room. Cold sweat ran down his nape, enveloping his whole body in a goosebump.

Lily gasped when she saw it and blood froze in her veins. She looked at Jin worriedly. She clapped her small hands together, close to her heart, but couldn’t say anything to him.

Without a second thought, Jin ran around the entire house, searching for his parents. From one room to the other, Jin called out to them. “Mom! Dad!”

He did so repeatedly, but to no avail. He searched every inch of the house. Bedrooms, bathroom, even the closets, but there was no sign of them. Panic set in and, in a fit of rage, he grabbed a chair and threw it against the wall. The impact demolished the chair in pieces, which flew in different directions. A piece almost impaled him.

Lily gasped, as she feared for the worst. She sighed in relief when the fragment from the chair missed. After that close call, he stopped what he was doing and stood in front of the pool of blood. He pondered for several seconds and glanced around. Words, his mind thought, blurted out of his mouth. “Where’s the body?”

He sort of found it southing that nothing seemed touched. Clothes, food, photo albums. Nothing out of place, nothing missing. He took a couple of deep breaths to ease his nerves. If his heart was beating, it would race out of his body.

Jin walked out and went around the house, searching for clues. Even though he had little faith to begin with, he felt that hope would keep him going. He expected little, but anything he could find would help.

Around the house, they had a fence. It wasn’t the sturdiest of things, but it kept some animals out of the garden. Every year, before the rain season, his dad would polish the wood to keep it from rotting. Jin helped him whenever he didn’t have practice or a match.

His mother would watch over them and offer lemonade or water from time to time while keeping up with mending her flowers. Jin contemplated those things as he stared at the wooden picket fence.

He finished his round and went back into the house. He sat at the dinner table and stared at the distant wall across from him. Jin recalled they had a car. Ejected from his chair, he ran back outside. The car was missing. Jin sighed in relief, thinking they might have gone somewhere, but the pool of blood inside the house still bothered him.

A thought then crossed his mind. If one of them got hurt, they would have gone to the hospital. Jin, with a new goal in mind, took off his bloodied clothes. Lily didn’t expect that and blushed at the sight of his refined body and pecs. Shyly, she glanced once more and closed her eyes. The light created shadows that toned his body ‌further, and Lily peeped through her half-open eyelids. Jin realized his blunder and did his best to cover up. He coughed in awkwardness. “Sorry about that.”

He hurriedly went to the bathroom and washed off the dirt. After his long bath, he went into his room and put on a fresh change of clothes. In the corner of his bedroom, next to the desk, his baseball bat rested. He walked out of his room and called out to Lily. “You can use the bathroom. There’s still plenty of hot water.”

He returned to his room after finding some clothes for the girl. From his window, Jin saw the sun going down. Traveling at night was out of the question, with Lily tagging along. He decided they should spend the night at home.

After they had dinner, he locked the doors and turned off the lights. There was a candle to keep the place lit. Lily had already fallen asleep and ‌just as he felt his eyelids getting heavier, he blew out the candle. Besides a couple of loud thuds outside, nothing else happened, and Jin got a shut-eye.

The next day, bright and early, Jin left the house and returned to the one he rescued Lily from. The undead lay where he left them. A grin appeared on his face and a glint flashed in his eyes. “Let’s see what you have for me…”