# Chapter 8 [[Arden Monroe|Arden]] poured the last of the dry dog food into the bowl. She felt the familiar vibrations of kibble on metal faintly under her boots. [[Scrap BWR|Scrap]], a dog she and [[Corinne Ice|Corinne]] had rescued just after the fall, padded up, sitting in front of the bowl. “Good boy.” Arden said audibly, “Eat.” The undead pushed and strained silently against the chain link fence surrounding the Jackson County prison they currently resided in. Arden imagined in her head how the slackjaws would sound, probably not far off from reality. She had been deaf since she was 13 years old. 9 years before. Corinne walked out of the B block, covered in blood, mostly on the right side of her body. *That poor narcoleptic girl.* “I uhh, well.” Corinne said aloud, then signing. “Nevermind. I need to shower.” Arden smiled, “better than that time you fell asleep in the bathroom.” “Gods Art. Don't get me started,” Corinne signed, shaking her head. They generally used Dixie Standard sign language, thus they were able to easily make nicknames and made up words with combinations of gestures and signals. “Just the child molesters left right?” Arden asked through signs. “Yes. However, I want to take my time with them.” Corinne said aloud with a sadistic smile. Arden used to be an assassin for the [[Dixie Central Intelligence Agency]], DCIA, Corinne was a serial killer recruiter by the DCIA. Both spent the last 6 years in that line of work, until everything collapsed. Arden did what she did for the money, Corinne for the pleasure. *At least she can do it more feeely now. Not gonna go off the rails every few weeks.* “First, I shower.” Corinne said, heading for the showers in the women's block. Arden was then left alone, and she grabbed a lawn chair to sit with Scrap. He looked like an older dog, eyes a little cloudy, hair greying around his nose and eyes. He was a brown pitbull, not fullbred, but he was a handsome man. When he finished his meal, he looked uo at her, then walked to her right knee and sat his heavy head on it. “Sweet old man.” Arden whispered to him. His ears perked up, “Oh you like being called that huh. I’ll keep that in mind.” after Corinne didn't show up for an hour, Arden sighed and stood. Scrap want over and sat in the shade. *Corinne. You better not have fallen asleep in the shower.* Arden knew she wouldn't have died to a slackjaw, the pair could easily fend for themselves. However, Corinne’s narcolepsy had never gotten better over the years. “God dammit girl.” Arden said seeing Corinne sprawled out on the bathroom floor. She awoke a couple moments later. “Dammit.” “At least it wasn’t in the shower this time.” “Lord will you ever stop teasing me.” Corinne shook her head, swaying her blonde curls. Arden had piebaldism, causing her to have white front locks. She also had sectoral heterochromia, so to someone who didnt know her, she would look rather strange. Her eyes were both brown and blue, multiple sections turned brown in both eyes. Corinne only had her narcolepsy, and an addiction to adrenaline. She had long wavy red and purple dyed hair, brown eyes, and always wore cargo jeans or leggings. As soon as they made it outside, Arden saw smoke toward the D block. Corinne covered her ears next, then signed “Fire alarm.” “We need to leave.” Arden signed back, then felt a strong vibration in the air. “Fuck, yeah we do.” Corinne said, the pair running to a prisoner transport bus and taking off. ___ The fire raged behind the pair as Arden looked at a map. It had been over 2 days since the fire and it was still raging. *How much wood must be in that prison.* They were going down back roads, away from Pendergrass. “So where to?” Corinne asked, signing, knees under the steering wheel. “Statham if we want to raid homes and get a bunch of supplies.” Arden signed back. Corinne had complained of the noise of the engine, so the pair resorted to signs. “That sounds fun honestly.” ___ It only took half an hour to actually get to Statham. Would have taken less time if they had more than pagers. As far as Corinne and Arden knew the entirety of the internet was now dead, so there wasnt much hope In using a mapping software. *Man I miss radio pagers. They'd actually do something.* The pair had been on leave from their work at the DCIA, having recently silenced a Statie Spy. “Which one first?” Arden asked aloud, over the sound she knew came from the engine. “Doesn't matter to me.” Corinne signed back, “but we should probably start at the end and work our way out.” “In that case let's get to the end and bounce back and fourth across the sides.” Arden replied. All the while the girls drove, Scrap never once sat down. He just stood, patiently, falling over occasionally from the bumps in the road. *Weird old man. If you sat you’d probably enjoy the trip.* They walked to the house at the very end of the street, a mural of a cross and Jesus upon it on the garage door, a gold painted crucifix upon the door. *Well, Christ. This one is weird.* Corinne kicked at the door just next to the door knob, easily breaking the door around its lock. It swung open freely, hitting the coat rack beside the entrance. “No sounds thus far.” Corinne signed. “This place is weird though.” Understatement. Religious iconography was up everywhere. Every single table, wall, everything. A blood trail led up the stairs to the right of the entrance, but the girls pushed through to the end of the first floor. Corinne turned around and pointed to the staircase. The blood wasn’t just in drips, but pooled in areas, causing their feet to stick slightly to the wood staircase. *Ugh* As soon as they topped the stairs, they were met with a message. “GOD HATH FORSAKEN” Written in blood or brown/red paint. *Lord* No bodies yet. The place had a soft stench, but what didnt. Arden wasn’t sure whether the new pathogen or parasite or whatever dampened everything's smell, but now death smelled like normal air to her. Blood spattered the walls, not cleaned, left to dry. The iconography now either turned around, or covered over in red. “Gods above Rin. This is bad.” “Fuck yeah it is.” When they got closer to the end, presumably the master bedroom, it got worse. “GOD IS DEAD.” And “LUCIFER SAVE US,” were the worst. Then the final room. “GOD FORGIVE THEM FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO.” Corinne doubled over, vomiting to the side. Arden covered her mouth in shock. 5 corpses. “God almighty.” Arden said aloud. On the ground, 3 children lay, on their backs. The boy had 2 shotgun wounds, one to the chest, the other to his head. They were brutal, clearly done at a close range. His two sisters each had a single wound to the head. Their mother, or what was left of her, was in the corner, 3 or 4 wounds to her head and chest. The father sat in a chair at the end, wound near his jaw, skull fractured and fragments embedded in the ceiling as well as the wall behind. Blood was dried and oxidized on the ceiling. But the real shocker was what was in the middle of the room. A small crib. Blood from the other children and mother were splattered on the rails, but the white sheets inside were wholly soaked in blood. It was a picture Arden or Corinne would never be able to unsee. In between the pried open rib cage, a knife sat still impaled into the heart. Both eyes were in the same condition. Corinne sat in stunned silence. As much as the pair had seen and done, nothing even remotely compared. Arden composed herself, retrieving the pistol and shotgun that sat next to the father. A bottle of vodka sat finished on his other side. The pair got out of there, not speaking a word. Arden sat down next to Corinne in the shade of a tree. Scrap walked up, then laid down on Arden, head on her lap. ___ After an hour or so, the pair raided a few more houses, ultimately finding most to be empty. Others fully stocked, but a dead body was left hanging from the banister. Later that day they went back to the second house, opening its garage door manually, and stole their Jeep. “That first house looked like something out of Jonestown.” Corinne finally said, pulling the jeep around the back of one of the houses. “I haven't heard of Jonestown in a long time.” Arden signed. “But that fits. It was something my grandmother would have talked about. Shit it was even before her time by a couple years.” --- [[09 Mortals]]