《Path of Power》 Chapter 1 [Survive or die trying] Marshall was abruptly woken up by a voice in his head. He looked around his room in a state of confusion and fear. He didn¡¯t know what was going on. It took a couple of seconds before Marshall calmed down. He told himself that he was just imagining things and put it out of mind. Wiping his face, he took his phone from the nightstand to see the time. It was 11:59am, Marshall groaned with the new knowledge. It was his second week at his new job working the night shift. From 1am to 9am, the job was taking a toll on Marshall¡¯s body, and it was taking time for him to adjust. After getting off of work, to taking a quick shower, it was already past 10am before Marshall laid his head on his pillow. Just having less than two hours of sleep after a long day would have any sane person fuming. Marshall on the other hand kept a calm mind and tried falling asleep once more. It just was not destined to be. Not more than ten seconds after Marshall closed his eyes, he heard the voice in his head again. [Begin] Groaning and visibly upset Marshall opened his eyes to find a metal bat hovering above him. Marshall¡¯s body reacted before his brain fully understood what was going on and hit his head on the end of the metal bat. Holding his forehead and wincing in pain Marshall could not help himself from cursing three generations of the metal bats family. Awake as he could possibly be, Marshall got off his comfy bed, to make sense of what was going on. The first thing he checked was the floating bat. Being quite aware that he didn¡¯t own a bat much less a metal one. Where did it come from? Why was it in his room? And most importantly how was it floating in the air? These questions were like a revolving door in his head with no way to know. For the most part that was the truth unless he was somehow being pranked. It didn¡¯t make sense because his closest friend and roommate was at work and his parents lived an hour away. There was no reason for a floating bat to be in his room. Curious Marshall checked to see if the bat was actually floating or being held by a string. Try as he might, he couldn¡¯t find any strings. He laughed softly while shaking his head. ¡°I must still be dreaming, yeah that¡¯s what it is,¡± he said to himself. Marshall grabbed the handle of the bat to find it heavier than it looked. Usually when touching something metal it would have a coldness about it. Surprisingly as Marshall held the bat, he felt warmth and a feeling that the bat was always with him. Marshall proceeded to swing the bat around to get a feel for it. As he was doing that, he noticed that there really weren¡¯t any strings or anything connected to the bat. ¡°Strange,¡± he thought. Having played with the bat enough. Marshall walked over to the window. He squinted his eyes as the sunlight shined through the blinds as he slowly opened them. The sun was shining bright as the white clouds blocked part of the blue sky. It was a typical morning one that he hadn''t seen in two weeks. As beautiful as the sky was, there wasn¡¯t much going on outside. Marshall was about to close the blinds when he saw a person trudging over slowly. It was weird since the person seemed to have a major limp but wasn¡¯t using a walking cane. As weird as that was, Marshall was about to close the blinds and mind his business. Until he saw three more people with the same limp walking past his window. Curious Marshall continued to watch. Maybe there was a charity walk featuring disabled people that he wasn¡¯t aware of. Marshall walked to pick up the phone to check. He searched for any charity happening around his area code. No matter how much he looked he couldn¡¯t find any. ¡°Weird,¡± Marshall thought once again. Peeking out the window, Marshall saw more and more of the limping people walk by. Suddenly one of the people broke from the crowd. That person started limping in the direction of Marshall¡¯s apartment. Marshall¡¯s face scrunched up in both puzzlement and worry. He had a feeling that something was wrong. He just couldn¡¯t put his finger on it. The limping person deviated from his path a bit leading him to another apartment. Seeing this Marshall let out a breath of relief that he didn¡¯t know he was holding. The moment was short lived as two more people broke from the limping crowd. This made Marshall more nervous than he thought possible. The situation was too weird. Why were these people coming so close to his apartment? Even if this was an impromptu event, people shouldn¡¯t be coming this close. Marshall closed the blinds ever so slightly so that he wasn¡¯t visible to the people outside. Then he waited while watching the people. The bad thing about waiting was that the limping people were moving so slow that it made the situation more unnerving. Marshall¡¯s apartment was so quiet that he only heard the sounds of his shallow breathing and the ticking of his analogue clock in the living room. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. HAAA HAAAA, TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK, HAAA HAAAA, TICK TOCK, TICK TOCK, It¡¯s funny how loud unnoticeable sounds become when everything is dead quiet. Everything just becomes magnified. Funny how this is in retrospect, it wasn''t funny for Marshall. He felt like he was in a low budget scary movie. Unlike the horror movies where the black guy dies first, he refused to be that character. Marshall took a long deep breath to calm down. This wasn¡¯t a scary movie, and he wasn¡¯t in danger or so he thought. He watched as the first limping person walked right into his neighbor''s door. Instead of stopping and orienting itself, the person kept trying to walk through the door. Marshall wiped his eyes to make sure that his eyes were working properly. They were working just fine, and he definitely wasn¡¯t seeing things. That begged to believe what was happening. Marshall took an involuntary step backwards in disbelief. ¡°WTF is going on,¡± he yelled under his breath. Marshall looked around his room for something to give him security. He saw the metal bat and immediately took it from his bed. With his hand on the bat¡¯s handle, the familiar warm feeling took over his body. It seemed to melt away the creepy atmosphere. Not falling too deep in the feeling, Marshall saw and picked up his phone. Turning it on, he found that it was 12:07pm. Marshall looked at the time in disbelief. Barely anytime passed but it felt like a lifetime for him. After rubbing his head and eyes with his forearm he got back on the phone. While looking through his apps, Marshall found Contacts, looked for his best friend Von and called him. ¡°We¡¯re sorry, you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel this is,¡± Marshall hung up his phone without letting the rest of the message play out. He attempted to call Von¡¯s number again and got the same message. Frustrated, Marshall tried calling his parents. Again, the call couldn¡¯t go through. In a last ditch of effort, he tried calling the police. Low and behold, the same thing happened without skipping a beat. Without a shadow of a doubt Marshall knew something was wrong. There was no possible way that the people he called didn¡¯t pay their phone bill, especially the police. Marshall was about to turn off the phone, before the thought of checking on the internet came to mind. The thought was so infectious he immediately checked on Google. He gazed at the error page stating no internet service. That didn¡¯t make sense, so he checked to see if he was still connected to the Wi-Fi. It was connected so where was the problem. Something was wrong, very wrong. Not giving up, Marshall checked to see if he accidentally turned off his cellular data. There was no problem there either. One thing being wrong was a coincidence but so many things happening back-to-back was a problem. BAM! Marshall almost jumped out his skin from the sudden noise. Without having to think, Marshall already knew where the sound was coming from. Scared and trembling he took small deliberate steps towards the window. With a trembling hand Marshall slowly pushed up a slat. Nothing could have prepared him for what he saw. Unblinking lifeless bloodshot eyes. Frightened Marshall stepped back and tripped on his own feet causing him to fall to the floor. CLANG, CLANG That was the sound the metal bat made when hitting the floor. It took Marshall a split second for him to register the sound and snap his neck towards the window. He felt his heart about to rip out of his chest. AaaaaaaaaAAAAAAA, BAM, AaaaaaaaAAAAAAAA, BAM Marshall¡¯s blood pressure shot through the roof. In that moment of panic the first thing Marshall did was grab the bat and hugged it close to his chest. The soothing feeling the bat usually gave him couldn¡¯t alleviate the stress he was feeling. While trying to calm down Marshall heard more than one person hitting his window. Every time the window was hit, he flinched making it harder to calm down. Without having a choice Marshall tried blocking out the noise and focusing on the metal bat. It was starting to work. His body was releasing the built-up tension. Marshall remembered to take a long deep breath and release that breath slowly. This accelerated his peace of mind and the release of fear. As calm as he could possibly be in this situation, he got off the floor. Marshall then took one last deep breath before walking to the window. He paused a second before pulling up a slat. Through that slat he saw multiple people mindlessly trying to walk through the window. Though still scared Marshall scanned outside and found that more of these things were coming for him. CRACK, CRACK After hearing the obvious sounds of his window about to break, Marshall saw the fractures start to spread. Seeing the fractures, he had a fight or flight moment. Instead of running away scared somehow, he had the backbone to stand up for himself. As calmly and fast as he could, Marshall took a couple of steps back. Done doing so he stared hard at the cracking window, while holding his bat tightly in preparation to use it. Seconds passed as if hours. Then out of nowhere he heard the loud noise of the police car sirens and those beautiful flashing red and blue lights. Without warning the cracking of Marshall¡¯s window stopped. Waiting a couple of seconds to catch his bearings he walked back to the window to check on the situation. Through the slat Marshall saw the ghoulish people walking towards the police car. Releasing a sigh Marshall released all his pent-up tension. Having time to truly think, all the odd things came to focus. An odd voice in his head that he knew he wasn¡¯t making up, an impromptu event with slowly limping people. To the more bizarre things like walking into a solid object without having the brains to stop. Then those ghastly eyes. If Marshall wasn¡¯t dreaming, he knew what they were ¡­ zombies. Chapter 2 "How is that possible? WTF is going on here?¡± Marshall had to ask himself. There was no possible way that he was seeing zombies. This wasn¡¯t a zombie apocalypse movie. So, how was this possible? Marshall just couldn¡¯t understand what was happening. He tried blaming it on people taking hard drugs or something similar. Try as he could, Marshall couldn¡¯t forget those eyes. Bloodshot and lifeless. If those people were not on drugs, they had to be zombies. Feeling mentally and somehow physically drained, Marshall had to sit down. Staring blankly at the ceiling, he went into a trance with no thoughts on his mind. More than ten minutes passed before Marshall snapped out of it. A flood of thoughts invaded his mind. If this was a zombie apocalypse, how would I survive? What should I do next? Are my parents safe? What is happening with Von? Am I going to die? What was that voice? Why is this happening? Why was I given a bat? The more questions Marshall asked himself the more he found he knew nothing. That started a cycle of questioning with no answers. The thoughts almost paralyzed him. ¡°No, I have to do something, anything FCK,¡± Marshall muttered to himself. Looking around his room for something to get his mind off his endless pointless questions. If he could not find answers to those questions the least, he could do was find something to keep him busy. His eyes landed on an open pack of bottled water. ¡°Water and food,¡± He exclaimed. Having found a direction of attack, Marshall didn¡¯t waste any time taking action. In the room, he had three packs of bottled water. That included two unopened forty packs of bottled water and one package that had only twenty-eight bottles left. In total, he had one hundred-eight bottles of water to drink. If Marshall only drank two bottles of water per day, he would have had enough for fifty-four days. That would be for the best since with every extra water he drinks the more danger he would put himself in. Marshall would be able to go a couple of days without food even though he would be terribly weak, he would be alive. Without water, the same could not be presumed. Besides water, there wasn¡¯t any other food or drinks in his room. Taking one last peek out the window Marshall saw even more zombies walking past. Shaking his head, he headed for the living room as quietly as possible. Marshall walked past the living room without paying much attention and went straight for the kitchen. Looking through the cabinets he saw enough food that could possibly last for a week or two if he was being frugal. Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions. There was some junk food like chips, cookies, cereal, and sweets. He also found three packs of pasta, a bag of rice, some flour, condiments, and other small things. In the fridge, there was fresh fruit, milk, eggs, juice, vegetables, and some leftover food. The freezer had some frozen vegetables, ice, and frozen meat. All in all, there wasn¡¯t a lot of food but at the same time, it wasn¡¯t too small either. As long as Marshall wasn¡¯t wasting the food, he would be fine. One thing that did make him worry was the power. If this happened to be a zombie apocalypse, he didn¡¯t know how long the power grid would operate. If the power did not last more than a day, all the perishable food in the fridge would be a waste. On the other hand, if it lasted longer, it would be great in the short term, but not knowing when it would last would always be a worry. Usually, Marshall would not go into Von''s room without him knowing but the situation he was in wasn¡¯t normal, to say the least. Without being able to call him, Marshall was put in a slightly difficult position. That did not last long since they had been friends since preschool, and as long as he was not stealing Von''s things it would be fine. Walking out of the kitchen, Marshall headed for Von¡¯s room. When he got there, he paused with his hand on the doorknob. He reassured himself that he was not invading Von¡¯s privacy before he walked in. Von¡¯s room was similar to his own. The only difference was that Von¡¯s room was more personalized to his personality and his room wasn¡¯t. With this not being Marshall''s first time in this room, he went to the closet to find what he was looking for. There he found three packs of water with four straggling bottles. With that, water wouldn¡¯t be too much of an issue. Marshall felt his mind clearing up from its haze. His tiredness due to abruptly waking up started to catch up to him. He couldn¡¯t help but yawn. Marshall knew that he still had some things to figure out; but with some of his worries alleviated it was hard to fight off his drowsiness. Yawning Marshall walked out of Von¡¯s room and plopped on his bed. He fell asleep immediately afterward. Hours passed as Marshall fell asleep through the disaster that was happening outside of his room. From loud sirens of emergency vehicles, gunshots, and people screaming from misery, Marshall slept. He was too tired to wake up. When Marshall woke up it was already past five in the afternoon. Feeling refreshed he couldn¡¯t help but stretch and yawn. While smacking his lips everything came back to him. Hurriedly trying to go to his window, he fell off the bed. It wasn¡¯t a loud fall, but he stopped moving instinctually as he waited briefly for something to happen. Nothing out of the ordinary happened. Releasing his breath, he carefully got off the floor and walked to the window. What Marshall saw shocked the hell out of him. There was an accident scene of at least ten cars. It was mayhem with car parts all over the place. ¡°How did I sleep through this?¡± Marshall was in genuine shock. All the noise that must have happened due to the accident should have woken him up. On a closer look, Marshall saw something that made his blood freeze. An unmoving person was on the road next to the wreckage. Marshall had the thought to check on the body to see if the person was alive. Marshall ran out of his room out his to check on the person. As he rounded the corner, he heard a noise outside the door. Chapter 3 Marshall slowed to a halt. He wasn¡¯t sure if he was hearing things or if the sound was really there. Walking slowly to the front door, he perked up his ears while trying to hear the sound again. Marshall heard nothing. Maybe it was his imagination after all. Picking up his speed Marshall paused with his hand on the doorknob. He wanted to open the door but was hesitant. With his hand still on the knob, he looked through the peephole. Besides the accident scene, he did not see any other weird thing of concern. Marshall heard the creaking of the door as he slowly opened it. When it was wide enough for him to take a good view outside. A little kitten ran inside. Surprised, Marshall did a double take from the little kitten to the door and back. ¡°Huh. What? OHHH. So that was the sound I heard.¡± Marshall shook his head and wiped his face. ¡°What a strange day,¡± he muttered. He looked at the kitten as it ran deeper into the apartment. It stopped by the dining room table and turned to face him. Marshall could have sworn he had seen an intelligent glint in its eyes. He gave the kitten a wry smile before opening the door wider. He had something more important to take care of. Before stepping outside, he panned his surroundings for any signs of danger. Not seeing anything dangerous per se, he walked out. Before going too far, he closed the door just enough to give the illusion that it was not open. Marshall, while still being careful, ran to the person. When he got close enough, the first thing he noticed was the person was bleeding badly from his head. As he walked closer to the person, he saw a worrying sight. The person¡¯s arm was twisted at a weird angle almost as if it had broken, and so was his neck. Not trying to mind the blood, Marshall kneeled to feel the person''s pulse. No matter where he pressed, he found no pulse. Marshall did not give up. He scooted closer to the man''s wrist and tried again. Marshall still did not find a pulse. On the verge of giving up, he summarized that perhaps from the blood loss, the person had a faint pulse too small for him to feel. Marshall then put his hand on the man¡¯s chest. There was no heartbeat. Marshall sighed for the man. It was sad that he was dead, but at least he was not suffering anymore. While looking closely at the man¡¯s face, Marshall saw that his eyes were wide open and his mouth slightly ajar. Marshall closed both eyes and gave a small prayer. After the prayer, Marshall wiped his hands to remove the dead man''s blood. Stepping back and getting a full view of the accident scene Marshall sighed. It was tragic. Looking at the closest car to him and the dead man, he saw the window was broken, but the side of the car didn¡¯t seem to be hit. As Marshall walked closer to the vehicle to investigate, it made sense to him why the window was broken instead of the door being opened. When he tried opening the car door, it wouldn¡¯t open since it was locked inside. It seemed that either the man died from the impact and was incapable of opening the door or was immobilized by his injuries and couldn''t open the door. Either way, someone had to break the window to help the person. This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon. Releasing another sigh, Marshall started to walk around the accident scene just in case he could help. Sadly, he was not able to truly help. Marshall saw one female that he believed was alive and could possibly help, but on a closer look, her neck was broken. Marshall walked around the accident twice to confirm he didn¡¯t miss anything. Finding nothing he could do or help, Marshall had to walk away. Before going back inside the apartment, he looked around to find abandoned cars and a quiet street. It was never this quiet before. Even at the peak of a weekday, there was always something happening. Marshall could not put his finger on it, but the atmosphere felt weird and creepy. After waiting a minute or two for something to happen, Marshall jogged back to his apartment. Getting inside, he closed the door. While inside the little kitten stared at Marshall quizzically. Marshall stared back at the kitten thinking about what he would do with it. If he put the kitten outside, would it be safe? The outside of the apartment was a bit too creepy, so putting it out would be inhumane. Marshall found himself sighing more and more lately. Putting the thought out of his mind, he walked towards the kitten. When he was about five feet away from it, the kitten started to step back. It seemed to be scared of Marshall. When the kitten first ran inside the apartment, it didn¡¯t seem that way. It felt courageous. Maybe it saw something outside that scared it. Marshall stopped walking and bent down to seem less threatening. After a while, his knees started to hurt. He was not a flexible person at all. The pain got to a point where it was not worth it, so Marshall had to sit on the floor. Getting comfortable, he waited for the kitten to come to him. The kitten just sat there and stared at him. This went on for a while until Marshall¡¯s stomach growled. He had not eaten since nine PM yesterday. After waiting about ten minutes for the kitten to warm up to him, his stomach growled again. Marshall deliberated between filling his stomach or waiting for a kitten to warm up to him. Not being a saint, it was an easy choice... Food. Without waiting too much longer, Marshall got up and headed to the kitchen. Looking in the fridge for something easy to make, his eyes land on the left-over rice bowl from Chipotle. It was a no-brainer between cooking and microwaving food. While waiting for the food to heat up, it slipped his mind to call the police. Since when he tried calling them earlier and it wouldn¡¯t go through, it was an honest oversight. Not wanting to have bad karma for leaving the bodies unattended, he went to get his phone from where he left it last. Lo and behold, the phone call didn¡¯t go through. There wasn¡¯t much he could realistically do other than bury them himself. Knowing the person that he was, Marshall wasn¡¯t going to do that, at least not now. BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! Marshall heard the beeping of the microwave. His food was ready. While taking the food out of the microwave, the aroma hit his nose. It smelt great and at the same time made his stomach growl. Marshall first walked over to the dining room table and sat his food down. Then he went to get the TV remote. It was a habit that became ingrained in him. He liked to watch something while eating. While turning on the Tv, Marshall remembered that his phone had a problem with its connection perhaps the Tv had the same problem. It did not hurt to try again, so he turned it on. When the Tv turned on, it had the no signal screen on. Turning the channel, Marshall ran into the other black and white no signal screen. As Marshall was about to turn off the Tv, he had a gut feeling he should keep it turned on. Not one to neglect his gut feelings, he left it on. Walking back to the dining room table, he saw the kitten was close to the part of the table with the food on it. Marshall knew from this that the kitten was hungry too. As he walked closer to the little kitten, it didn¡¯t back away from him. Taking the lucky chance, Marshall picked it up and sat it on his lap. The kitten surprisingly let him do it without fighting back. While eating his food and putting some on his lap for the kitten to eat with him, he heard a voice coming from the living room. Chapter 4 Marshall almost snapped his neck, trying to turn towards the television. This was the first form of communication from the outside world since being abruptly woken up from his brief slumber. Not wanting to miss the information, he closed his eyes and focused on the Tv. State... emergency... armed forces... the problem... an enclosed area... ability... into one... safety... protection. The message was both sporadic and incoherent. It was hard to understand what was going on. At the same time, from the words that Marshall did understand, it was not looking good. Just hearing the terms state and emergency followed by armed forces painted the picture of what Marshall feared the most. He was not imagining things, especially the creepy atmosphere he felt outside. As Marshall continued to watch the television, he soon found that the recording was in a loop. The more he listened, Marshall could hear the missing content to thoroughly understand the message. I declare a state of emergency. The police and the armed forces are trying to solve the problem. If you are not in an enclosed area, try to the best of your ability to get into one. This is for your safety. I repeat, get into an enclosed space for your protection. The governor continued to give minor suggestions to the people, but this was the most important statement that Marshall needed to understand. Marshall turned off the television before turning to the kitten and his food. He had a worried look on his face. He was concerned for both his parents and his friend Von. The only thing that comforted Marshall was the little kitten eating its food. As Marshall watched the kitten eat, he subconsciously started to rub its little head. The kitten stopped eating for a moment to look at Marshall. It meowed a couple of times before going back to its meal. Marshall did not understand what the kitten was trying to say when it meowed. The message that he interpreted was that while he couldn¡¯t help his parents or Von, the only thing he could do was keep his head up and eat his food. Marshall could not help but smile. Before eating his food, Marshall swore that if he had the chance to help his parents and Von, no zombies or obstacles would get in his way of accomplishing that goal. Though the message on the Tv wasn¡¯t long, the loops and trying to fully understand it was long enough for his food to go cold. Before taking the kitten off his lap, Marshall took some of his food from his plate and put it on the table. The food was for the kitten to eat when he got up to heat his food. The author''s content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. During the meal, Marshall considered the food the best he had eaten in a long time. The food wasn¡¯t prepared differently from when he bought and ate it yesterday. It had to be the gratitude he felt from still being alive. Yet, there was one thing that Marshall felt was off about the food. It was subtle but somehow apparent why the food was different. The food was fresher. How was that possible? Marshall didn¡¯t know. He only knew that the food tasted better, and he was all for it. After eating the delicious food, Marshall got up to his comfortable seat to clean up after himself. He did not forget to clean the table of the leftovers the kitten couldn¡¯t finish eating. While washing his plate, Marshall realized he didn¡¯t know what to do next. He was unable to call his parents or Von. Going outside the apartment would be dangerous, not knowing if or when a zombie would come to attack him. The internet wasn¡¯t working. The only activities he could think of were playing phone games or exercising. Though playing games would be a worthy distraction from reality, Marshall wasn¡¯t interested in playing them. That only left the choice to exercise. With the choice made, Marshall finished cleaning and putting away his plate. Marshall then passed by the little kitten pacing around the tail end of the table. Every time the kitten was at the edge of the table, it would poke out its little head as if gauging about how far it would fall to get to the ground. Every time it would back away and start pacing again. Marshall found the whole situation amusing. At the time, it did not occur to him to put the kitten on the ground. The kitten stopped pacing when it caught sight of Marshall. It meowed before raising its paw. Marshall got the picture. After putting the kitten down, it scurried under the table. Marshall was amused and involuntarily chuckled. The kitten was only friendly when food was involved but was scared of him otherwise. The situation didn¡¯t discourage Marshall. It was nice to have a companion in this dark time. Plus, conscious that cats were wholly independent creatures, it made sense. Not minding the kitten, Marshall went into his room to change his clothes into something more appropriate for exercising. With some random black gym pants, he did some basic exercises consisting of different variations of pushups, abs, and squats. About an hour later, Marshall was sweaty and had to shower. As the warm water trickled down his brown skin, Marshall relaxed. He took in all of his body and all its imperfections. Marshall admitted to himself while squeezing the fat on his belly, I have some work to do. Smiling at the thought of a small-term goal made Marshall feel wonderful. Time passed without Marshall not noticing it. During that time, the kitten wandered into Marshall''s room to search for his presence. The kitten laid its head about three feet away from him. In all that time, not one zombie wandered its way in front of Marshall. After some time, Marshall came to himself. When he looked at the time, it was already past eleven Pm. Usually, at this time of night, Marshall would prepare his food to eat and later get ready for work. With the situation as it stood, that was not happening. Feeling tired, Marshall walked by the sleeping kitten without waking it up. It was time for him to go to sleep. In the middle of the night, Marshall and the kitten were awoken by the loud noise from the living room door. Chapter 5 BAM! Startled awoke by the sudden loud noise, Marshall looked around his room in a drunken daze. His eyes were heavy with sleep. They would hardly open enough for him to register the moonlight. Marshall kept on bobbing his head to keep it from touching his pillow, which was so soft and inviting. After waiting about twenty seconds, he lost the fight to his sleep. As his head hit the pillow, he started snoring. BAM! For the second time, Marshall was awoken by a sudden noise. He got up with his heart almost beating out of his chest. Almost as if waking up from a nightmare. Breathing hard, Marshall tried pinpointing the origin of the sound. He heard the thunderous sounds of silence. With too much adrenaline running through his veins, Marshall felt his drowsiness clearing up. Having no choice, Marshall sat at the edge of his bed contemplating nothing. Though he was awake, it was similarly too early and too late to have anything on his mind. So, Marshall waited for something to happen. Seconds flew by like minutes, and minutes like an eternity. The quiet room amplified the strange atmosphere. It was as if something in the dark was waiting to pounce on its prey. The prey was Marshall. It was safe to say Marshall was not having a good time. Not more than two minutes passed when Marshall''s heartbeat returned to normal, and the adrenaline started fading. The creepy atmosphere started to ease, and Marshall began to hear sounds again. First, the sounds of his heart beating at a steady rhythm. Then to the ticking of the analog clock. Marshall released a turbid breath of relief. Marshall got off his bed to get a bottle of water. When the cold water entered his mouth, it moistened the dryness and quenched his thirst. The water was akin to a rejuvenation potion. It was delightful. Marshall then drank more than half of the bottle before he was satisfied. After wiping the nonexistent water from his lips, Marshall went to his phone to check the time. It was three-sixteen a.m. Usually, during this time of night, he would be at his night job. There was once a time before his current night job when he woke up in the middle of the night; Marshall would scroll through social media until he fell asleep. With the situation being what it was, that was not destined to happen. Marshall was dually happy to be away from work and frustrated with the lack of internet and service connection. He had no choice but to put the phone down. Having nothing to do, Marshall rested on the bed with his feet partially touching the ground and stared at the dark ceiling. Bored out of his mind, Marshall was left with his thoughts and the loud ticking of the wall clock. TICK TOCK! TICK TOCK! TICK TOCK! Time seemed to pass at a snail''s pace. Marshall started tapping on the bed loud enough to register the sound but not loud enough to awaken the sleeping kitten. The boredom got to the point where he began to swing his dangling legs like a little kid. Eventually, Marshall got tired of the antics and sat up. Not knowing what else to do to pass his time, he got up and headed for the window. While peeking through the slit in the window blinds, the bright moonlight hit his eyes. It caused Marshall''s eyes to start to water and squint. After taking time to adjust to the brightness, Marshall spied on the street in front of his eyes. The first thing that Marshall noticed was the car pileup was left in the same place untouched, and on a closer glance, he saw the dead body from earlier. After seeing the dead body, Marshall had the inkling that he would be the one to bury it. He was not looking forward to that moment, but it would be the right thing to do. Marshall looked to his left to find nothing of note. Then he turned to his right and saw a shadow close to his door. Thinking that his mind and eyes were playing a trick on him, Marshall counted silently to three before wiping his eyes for insurance. When he looked again, the shadow was still there. On a closer glance, the shadow seemed to clear up. It was the silhouette of a man. Marshall flinched. Seemingly able to feel Marshall''s gaze, the shadow figure moved. BAM! This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. Marshall almost jumped out of his skin. WTF, Marshall almost yelled out. He felt his heart trying to escape from his chest. This was straight out of a horror movie. BAM! Marshall stepped back from the window with quick and shallow breaths. Panic started to set in. BAM! FCK, Marshall yelled out audibly. As soon as the words escaped from his mouth, he cupped it. At that moment, Marshall immediately knew that it was a mistake. He waited silently to hear the shadow figures'' next move. It took about five seconds before the shadow reacted. BAM! BAM! BAM! At that moment, Marshall froze in fear. This was one of the most traumatizing moments in his life. He was honestly unprepared for a crisis like this. Out of nowhere, Marshall felt something touch his feet. He jumped in fright. When he looked to see what touched his feet, he was surprised to see the little kitten. While still being creeped out, Marshall was honestly happy by the little kitten''s action. He would have been stuck without outside stimulation. Finally, being able to think, his mind started running at a hundred thoughts per second. At the back of his mind, his intuition hinted that he should act soon, or he would painfully regret it. From what Marshall learned about zombies, he knew that loud sounds would attract them. That thought scared Marshall. BAM! BAM! Although startled, Marshall did not let the fear overcome him. He looked at the little kitten and silently thanked it before looking around his room. Marshall did not have to wait long before he found the metal bat to the right of the window. When he touched the bat, a warm feeling flooded his body. The warmth was the last element he needed to calm down and plan his next move. Marshall had to choose between going out his window or through the front door. Looking through the window one last time, Marshall knew that the front door was not a viable option. So, he could only choose to go out the window. Before acting on his plan, Marshall had to take a deep breath and exhale slowly to psych himself in preparation for the danger ahead. He slowly pulled on the lift cord to lift the blinds to touch the bottom of the headrail, without alerting the shadow figure. Success, Marshall thought after completing the task. Alright now for the next step, he finished saying. Marshall had to lift the window up without making any loud sounds. This was the step Marshall was unsure about. Since he moved into the apartment with Von, he never had the chance nor the need to lift the window up. It would all be left to fate. After putting his fingers underneath the lift, Marshall counted to three before taking action. He put just enough force on his fingers, for the window to move. To his surprise, the window did not make any sounds. What a F***ING miracle, Marshall said to himself. Though happy, Marshall did not let this small amount of success get to his head. There were still more important things to do. Sweat started falling down his face. Trying not to make a loud noise in a dreadful situation like this was stressful, and his face showed it. When the window was pulled to the top, Marshall released a quiet breath of relief. The chilly night air entered the room, dropping the temperature. Marshall got goosebumps from the sudden temperature change. Subconsciously he released his breath and saw its fog. It was colder than it was supposed to be. Strange, Marshall thought. He quickly snapped out of it. He had some work to do. BAM! BAM! Usually, the banging noise would have scared Marshall, but this time he knew it was a good sign, relatively speaking. This meant the shadow figure had not moved from his front door. Marshall then silently climbed out the window, one limb at a time. When his foot touched the ground, it was cold to the touch. This was not a surprise considering the temperature. Finally, outside his room, he reached into the room to get the metal bat. While picking the bat up, he caught sight of the little kitten. Marshall proceeded to make the shushing gesture at it. The kitten stared back at him as if he was stupid. Marshall almost let out a chuckle. With the bat in hand, Marshall felt confident. Walking slowly with deliberate steps, he crept up on the shadowy figure. As Marshall got closer, he noticed the shadowy figure was a man in regular clothing. The closer he got to the man; he noticed something else. The man was giving off a distinctive odder. The smell was sharp and smelly similar to the smell of rotten eggs. Marshall wanted to gag, but he would not let himself. About six feet away from the man, Marshall came to a stop. He was close enough to confirm the man''s identity without compromising his safety. ¡°What''s your problem? Stop hitting my door,¡± Marshall exclaimed to the man to gauge his reaction. AaaaaAAAAAA! The man turned around slowly, making ghoulish sounds. Marshall got a good look at the man''s face. Maybe due to the moonlight, the face of the man appeared extremely pale, as if he was dead. The irony was the man was a zombie. Marshall almost swung his bat preemptively from the not-so-shocking discovery. He had to strain himself from doing so. It was not the right time. The zombie was not within his reach and was too close to his front door. ¡°Hey! Hey! Hey!¡± Marshall spoke to the zombie while taking steps backward to lure it toward him. He succeeded in doing just that. The zombies'' first couple of steps seemed to be labored as it struggled to walk towards Marshall. Then it started to speed up out of nowhere. Marshall was not prepared for that. He almost stumbled due to this. FCK, Marshall yelled to himself. This was going to be more difficult than he thought. Marshall sped up and kept a safe distance away from the zombie. chapter 6 It did not take long before Marshall was about twenty to twenty-five meters away from his front door. He did not want to kill the zombie too close to his apartment. So, when he felt he was far enough from the apartment, he stopped backpedaling. He soon found out that was a terrible decision. All the while, the zombie was about six to seven steps away from Marshall. When Marshall stopped, the zombie kept coming toward him. The small cushion between them was shortened in a heartbeat. Fuck, Marshall yelled to himself while jumping out of the zombie''s way. With his heart beating fast, Marshall turned to face the zombie. It was still trotting forward but was slowing down as time passed. This was enough time for Marshall to calm down and catch his bearings. AaaaaaAAAA! The zombie came to a stop and slowly turned toward Marshall. Its eyes screamed of bloody murder and hunger. This was an unholy sight causing Marshal to almost buckle. After seeing its prey through its deteriorating eyes, the zombie took an unsteady step forward. One step, then two steps forward, and on the third step, the zombie had its body under control and sped towards its delicious prey... Marshall. Marshall watched every action the zombie took carefully. He did not want to make a mistake that would cause him his death. It became apparent to Marshall that the zombie was not simple. After the zombie took its first unsteady steps toward him, it would speed up out of nowhere. This was the second time Marshall noticed it. The first time caught him off guard, but there would be no third time. The zombies'' speed was between a fast-speed walk and a slow jog. This was not slow by any stretch of the imagination but was not fast enough for Marshall not to react. Marshall thought of taking more time to observe the zombie as it neared him, but he knew in the back of his mind that would be unwise. It was late in the middle of the night, and he was unsure if more zombies would come after him. When the zombie was about five feet away from Marshall, he sidestepped to his left. With the metal bat in a batter''s stance, Marshall bent down and swung for the zombies'' knees. THWACK! Marshall heard the sickening sound of the bat hitting the zombie''s knee right before he saw something he was unprepared for. The bat had hit the zombie''s right knee, forcefully terminating its momentum, while the other leg was still moving. Since the right leg was straight when the zombie fell forward, the right knee snapped. Marshall almost gagged AAAaaaaaAAAaaAAA! Marshall almost felt bad for the zombie after hearing its ghastly grunt. While on the ground, the zombie did not let its egregious injury get in its way. It tried to get up, but before that could happen, it saw the last image it would see. In the corner of its eye, it saw Marshall walking up to it and raising his bat. THWACK! The zombie twitched for a few seconds after getting hit in the back of its head. Seeing that Marshall hit it once more. When the twitching stopped, reality caught up to Marshall. He involuntarily threw up right beside the zombie''s head. Marshall had no choice but to turn away from the crime scene. If he looked any longer, he would continue to throw up. After turning around, Marshall started dry heaving. This was the first time he killed something so big. What made it worse was the zombie was human. Even though Marshall knew the zombie was the living dead, he could not separate the two. This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience. It took some time before Marshall stopped dry heaving and got his stomach under control. When this happened, he started feeling a subtle change from the metal bat. Usually, when Marshall held the metal bat, he would get a calming feeling of warmth. This time the bat was giving off a soothing heat almost similar to the temperature of a hot shower. As Marshall paid attention to the heat, he felt a trickle of foreign energy entering his body. It gave off the warmth of a mother''s loving embrace. Something at the back of Marshall''s mind urged him to focus the energy slightly above the center of his brow. Marshall did not stop to think of why he was getting that feeling. He knew that following his intuition would lead him to a great outcome. Not wasting time, Marshall focused on the energy entering his body through his arm. Since this was the first time trying to control this energy and much less energy flowing through his body, Marshall failed. The elusive energy force somehow escaped his grasp every time he had an ounce of control over it. It was a frustrating experience. After trying for a minute, Marshall felt defeated and was about to give up and let the energy do whatever it wanted. The thing about Marshall was that he could not stand the thought of losing, especially to something his intuition was telling him was important. Marshall stood still while trying to think of how to control the energy, but as time passed, he started to smell the dead zombie. The smell was worse than the first time he smelled it. After walking far enough from the dead zombie, Marshall felt the mysterious energy waning. Fuck, Marshall muttered in frustration. Feeling the urgency, Marshall sat crisscrossed on the cold ground with the bat on his lap while positioning his hands in the enlightenment mudra stance. This helped Marshall calm down and strengthen his control over his senses. After taking some deep breaths and releasing them, Marshall left all distractions and failure out of his mind and focused purely on the bat. Marshall then noticed the foreign energy entering his body through his legs. He had an inkling that that would be the case but was still surprised at how right he was. That thought came fast and left faster since Marshall had something more important to figure out. There were hundreds of little dots of energy entering his legs. Marshall knew he did not have the ability to control all of them, so he started handling one energy dot and increased from there. The first thirteenth dots of the energy were the easiest to have under control. When he got to the fifteenth dot, it became harder to control. By the nineteenth energy dot, he could not handle it anymore. No matter how hard he tried to direct it, the twentieth energy dot would wiggle out of his control. With that settled, Marshall tried moving the dots of energy from his legs through his stomach and all the way to the spot his intuition was hinting for. It was a frustrating experience. Since every few moments, a dot of energy would try and escape his control. When that happened, he had to stop and watch as the energy assimilated in his body. By the time he controlled the energy dots to reach above the center of his brow, Marshall only had four energy dots under his control. When Marshall let go of the four energy dots, they assimilated on the spot. He felt something was trying to awaken above the center of his brow but was still missing more energy. With a clear goal to accomplish, Marshall did not wait long before taking action. On the third cycle, Marshall accomplished his goal. As soon as he did that, he felt something in his mind eye break. Marshall got scared that he was making a mistake, or something went wrong, but within moments he knew that that was untrue. [Innate ability ¨C Third eye] As soon as Marshall heard the same voice from earlier that day, he was put in a trance. At first, he felt nothing was happening, and then, in a second, he felt all his senses opening up. The world of possibilities seemed to flash before his eyes. His confidence was on cloud nine, and he felt more powerful than he ever had in his entire life. The omnipotent feeling soon faded away before Marshall opened his eyes. He did not know how much time past. It could have been a second, a minute, an hour, or even an eternity. Whatever time passed; Marshall felt tranquil. The world felt brighter, the colors more vibrant, and life seemed to blossom. One thing Marshall noticed was the air felt fresher and not as polluted. Looking down at his metal bat, he also felt how magical and strange it was. Turning his eyes away from the bat, Marshall noticed something strange about the zombie. He might be misjudging something, but it looked smaller. It was as if something was missing from it. That was when Marshall put two and two together. The energy he was getting from the bat came from the zombie. Marshall was worried that there might be something wrong with him absorbing the strange energy from the zombie. That thought did not stay long before he heard multiple groans. Chapter 7 After hearing the groans, Marshall sensed that he would be in danger if he did not move to safety. Usually, Marshall would heed the warning, but after awakening his innate ability and falling into the trance-like state of mind, he felt invincible. He felt like nothing in this world could get in his way to stop him from accomplishing his goals, and Marshall welcomed the new challenge. Time passed as Marshall waited for the zombies to come to him. While at the same time centering himself and keeping calm. All the while, his sense of danger was ringing in his ears nonstop. It was an annoying feeling, but he chose to ignore it completely. Marshall turned to face the new zombies when they were about thirty feet away from him. When he laid eyes on the new zombies, his confidence waned. Four zombies were coming toward him at the same time. Marshall initially believed there were only two of them. Earlier, when he faced his first zombie, although he was scared, it was not that hard to kill it. So, when Marshall believed it would only be two zombies he would be going against, he thought it would only be slightly harder to win. That was why he was so overly confident. Marshall did not waste time getting off the cold ground. Even with his confidence grazed, he was still looking forward to the challenge. About twenty feet across from Marshall, the zombies seemed to have caught sight of him. They did not waste time trying to reach their prey. Holding his metal bar tightly, Marshall watched every action the zombies took. All four zombies were different in how they moved. Which made the speed at which the zombies closed in on him different. What kind of shit did I myself into, Marshall could not help but mutter to himself. It did not take more than seven seconds before the first zombie was upon him. THWACK! Marshall swung his bat at the zombie''s knee, hoping it would go down like the first zombie he fought. That did not go as planned since he had three more zombies to pay attention to. Marshall only hit the zombie''s thigh. The zombie stumbled to the ground due to the hit. Before Marshall could finish killing the zombie, another zombie was already in front of him. Marshall had no choice but to jump out of the way. Lucky for him, the second zombie ran into the first zombie falling to the ground. Marshall quickly glanced at the two fallen zombies before deciding to focus on the last two zombies. AAaaAAAA! AaaaaAAAA! The zombie''s groans entered Marshall''s unwilling ears as the two slower zombies closed on him. The two zombies tried attacking his head at the same time. Marshall had no choice but to dodge to his left. With his heart pumping fast, he barely got out of the way. The two zombies'' attacks were faster than their running speed. The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. Reacting faster than humanly possible, Marshall turned around and swung his bat at one of the zombies'' heads. He missed completely. The zombies were going too fast for him to attack. Suddenly Marshall felt a sense of danger coming from the back of his neck. Before even turning around, Marshall jumped away from the feeling of danger. When Marshall had the chance to turn around, he saw one of the fallen zombies had gotten off the ground to attack him. Marshall also saw the other fallen zombie trying to get up. Not wanting to miss the chance to eliminate one of the zombies, Marshall ran to the fallen zombie. THWACK! THWACK! From one of the old zombie movies Marshall had seen, he did not forget to double-tap. With one zombie dead, he only had to face three zombies. Marshall¡¯s waning confidence was starting to come back, but his time, he did not let it get to his head. THWACK! After more than five minutes of fighting, Marshall killed his last zombie. It was a bittersweet win. Bitter since he was too overconfident in his abilities and sweet for winning such an unnecessary battle. Looking around him, Marshall saw all the zombies he had to fight and kill. It was a gruesome sight making his stomach rumble and almost causing him to throw up. Not wanting to be by the dead zombies, Marshall walked away. After taking about ten steps toward his home, his knees buckled from exhaustion, almost making him fall hard to the cold ground. Marshall held on strong, but his tired hands almost lost grip of his bat. Marshall had no choice but to sit down and catch his breath. Not much later, Marshall got off the cold ground and slowly walked toward his room. He had not fully recovered and was still honestly dead tired, but his survival instincts were in full gear. If he was unlucky and had to fight zombies again, he would die in his current condition. It did not take long before Marshall was close to his open window. When he reached his window, Marshall immediately wanted to go inside to rest but remembered he had just killed a few zombies. Marshall wanted to clean the bat as soon as he remembered. While trying to see how dirty the bat was, Marshall noticed the bat was squeaky clean. Though presently surprised, he was too tired to really care. With that out of the way, Marshall put the bat inside the room before entering through the window. As soon as he was inside his room, Marshall closed the window behind him. He was not going to leave it open like an idiot. MEOW! Marshall turned to face the kitten. He bent down to stroke the little kitten. He forgot the kitten was weary towards him. Instead of moving away from Marshall, the little kitten allowed him to caress it about five times before it moved away. Marshall smiled as he got up. He could be mad at the kitten, but there was no need to. At least he got to pat it. As soon as Marshall saw his comfy bed, he wanted to do nothing more than lay his head to rest, but too bad he had to shower first. Dragging his weary body to the shower, Marshall did not forget his bat. While the bat was blood free to be completely safe, he wanted to clean it. Twenty minutes later, Marshall was sleeping with the kitten on his bed. He was too tired to remember to meditate with the bat. Chapter 8 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. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. 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. Chapter 9 This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. Chapter 10 This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.