Perhaps We'll Meet Another Day

Guilt

Law sat with his back to house, his rifle in hand and loaded, ready for any sign of danger. Their little group had managed to find a small town along the road they were traveling. It wasn't large by any means, in fact it bordered more on the edge of a modern village than a town, really. But it had a local grocery store and other buildings lining the main street, with individual houses branching off on separate roads, so it would make do for the time being.

"Do we really need to keep a watch, Law?" Shachi asked, poking his head out of one of the bedroom windows, wearing a different set of clothes than before. "We haven't seen anyone around for awhile, and the zombies seem to be pretty calm around here."

"Better to be safe than sorry." He glanced over at his friend, who shrugged and returned back into the inside of the house to find a book or something else to occupy his time with. Penguin was already there as well, which left Law alone on the roof to watch the zombie shamble by in the streets aimlessly down below. He gathered his jacket tighter around himself. Even though winter was quickly turning into spring, the nights and mornings could still get rather cold.

Shachi was right. The zombies around here seemed less aggressive. He'd noticed that they all seemed to be unique to the regions in which they resided, which was very strange. Law had no way of explaining the occurrence, or even why it happened, but he did notice it. They seemed to retain a small inkling of their original personality. But only minutely.

They were holed up in one of the small houses lining the side streets of the town. The structures weren't built defensively, that was for sure, and they'd had to barricade a few of the weaker entryways into the house before deciding to sleep there. Law even had Shachi and Penguin hang up makeshift curtains to block the light from inside giving away their location to the zombies.

The small group of zombies that had chased them towards the house had dispersed, losing interest after they didn't hear or smell anything for awhile. They wandered off, probably forgetting that there'd even been people around to begin with. He noticed that they were only really dangerous once they sensed you, and were in pursuit. Get out of their sight and range of smell, and they quickly backed off.

A few of the zombies in the street below turned towards the end of the street, and they sniffed the air. Law frowned, noticing the sudden shift in activity. The few that sensed a change in the are began to walk towards where they sensed it, their soft groans punctuating every few shuffling steps. One didn't even have legs, but it dragged itself over the gravel street by its arms towards whatever had caught its attention.

Law tried to see what was causing the zombies to act up, but the fading light made it difficult to discern anything. While his vantage point gave him the best view of the street, he could only see so far down either direction. Whatever was causing the zombies to act up was out of his field of view.

Down at the end of the street were quick flashes of light accompanied by a series of loud pops. Every muscle tensed up, and he held his rifle ready for any sign of danger. The remaining zombies close to the house they were in turned towards the street, wandering to whatever the source of the noise was.

Law waited, wondering what was going on and who was in the town with them. About a week back, they'd seen a group of men and women from a distance, but never made themselves known. Perhaps it was them, though he didn't believe in coincidences, and wondered if they had been followed.

The noises and flashes of light soon ceased, but the zombies continued to wander in that general direction. They groaned and growled, dragging themselves past where Law could see. But something moving closer towards him caught his eye, and he swiveled his head to where it had been.

Another movement further left, and this time he was able to catch a flash of someone running behind the houses on the opposite side of the street. Law clicked off the safety of the rifle, looking ahead to see where they would appear next.