The farther they traveled, the more blatant the Apocalypse became.
Homes had been torn apart by runaway vehicles. Utility poles leaned at impossible angles. Cars lay crushed beneath fallen trees or wrapped around streetlights, their horns still blaring into the empty streets.
What got to them most were the corpses.
Some lay motionless where they had fallen. Others staggered aimlessly through the streets, their gray, decaying flesh making it impossible to mistake them for the living.
The familiar sounds of tearing flesh echoed through the neighborhood as walkers fed without restraint, oblivious to everything around them.
Noah's heart sank.
He pushed himself slightly harder, his enhanced Strength and Agility carrying him across the broken streets at a breakneck pace.
Beside him, Levy remained silent, matching his pace stride for stride. He knew there was nothing he could say that would ease the fear driving Noah forward.
By the time Noah and Levy reached the outskirts of his neighborhood, the sun had begun to break through the clouds.
The sounds of the city had gradually faded behind them, replaced by the occasional groan of a walker wandering somewhere out of sight.
Noah slowed his pace.
He recognized the street ahead.
His street.
The familiar houses stretched along both sides of the road, their lawns and driveways looking almost untouched compared to the devastation they'd passed through.
For a brief moment, Noah stopped.
Levy nearly walked past him before noticing.
"What is it?"
He didn't answer immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the neighborhood.
There were no overturned cars blocking the road. No shattered windows. No fires licking at the rooftops.
Nothing.
It looked... normal.
Almost as if the Apocalypse was a tornado and happened to miss this one area.
Noah's heart began pounding harder.
He knew this street.
He'd walked it countless times. He'd driven down it on his way home from school. He knew which houses belonged to which families, which driveways were always filled with cars, which yards were poorly maintained.
And somehow, after everything they'd seen, his neighborhood looked almost untouched.
Hope began creeping into his chest.
Maybe they were okay. Maybe his parents had been spared.
Noah tightened his grip around his spear and started walking again.
His house was only a few minutes away.
For the first time since the apocalypse began, the thought of home didn't feel impossibly distant.
Noah looked around as they made their way down the familiar street. It was strange seeing everything still standing.
The sprinklers in the Hendersons' yard were still running, sending thin arcs of water across the grass and sidewalk. Noah had passed that house countless times, usually without giving it a second thought. Now, seeing the water continue to spray into the empty street felt almost nostalgic in a way.
A few houses down sat an old yellow Cadillac—Mr. Reynolds' car.
Noah couldn't help but remember how obnoxiously loud that thing was on winter mornings. Whenever Mr. Reynolds started it up, the engine would roar to life loud enough to make half the neighborhood's dogs yelp before breaking into a chorus of barking.
Noah almost smiled.
He kept walking
The familiar houses passed by one after another, each carrying some small memory he'd never thought he'd need to remember. The cracked mailbox he'd watched get replaced twice. The basketball hoop at the end of the cul-de-sac. The tree he'd climbed when he was younger, back when scraped knees were the worst thing he'd had to worry about.
Everything looked almost exactly as he remembered it.
That was what made it so unsettling.
No broken windows.
No bodies scattered across the pavement.
For a place that should have been swallowed by the same chaos as the rest of the city, his neighborhood looked unbothered.
Then he saw it.
A black house some would mistake for a modern haunted house.
His modern haunted house.
He stopped.
For several seconds, he simply stared. The front yard looked normal. The windows were intact. Nothing appeared damaged.
His heart stuttered.
Levy stopped beside him. Noah adjusted his bag before taking another step toward the house.
He crossed the familiar lawn, following the stepping stones that led to the front door. His fingers wrapped around the handle and turned it.
Locked.
A small sense of relief washed over him.
They'd locked the door.
Maybe they had realized what was happening. Maybe they'd heard the commotion outside and understood that whatever was happening wasn't something to take lightly.
Noah quickly dug through his backpack.
His fingers brushed against several loose items before finally finding what he was looking for.
His house key.
He pulled it free and held it tightly between his fingers. He took a deep breath before inserting the key and twisting.
The lock gave with a soft click.
Noah's hand remained on the knob for a moment. Then he slowly turned it and pushed the door open.
"...I'll wait out here," Levy quietly said.
Noah looked back at him.
"If they're inside..."
"You should face that with them."
For a moment, Noah stared at him before giving a silent nod.
"...Thanks."
Levy sat down on the porch, his eyes sweeping the street for any walkers.
Noah slowly pushed the front door open. The familiar scent of freshly washed linen drifted through the house.
Mom...
His eyes swept across the living room.
Nothing was out of place.
Furniture remained exactly where it had always been. Family photos still decorated the walls. A folded blanket rested neatly over the couch.
It looked... peaceful. Like it always had.
Neither of his parents had gone to work that day. With his dad still home, Noah had expected anything but silence.
He quietly set his backpack beside the entrance before tightening his hands around his spear.
There were no signs of a struggle.
No blood.
No broken glass.
Nothing
"Dad?" His voice echoed through the house. "Mom?"
Silence.
He called out again.
Still nothing.
His heart slowly sank.
Then a low groan drifted down from the second floor.
Noah froze.
"No..." The word slipped out before his brain could register it.
He slowly moved toward the stairs. "No, no, no."
Without hesitation, he rushed upstairs, taking the steps two at a time until he found himself standing outside his parents' bedroom.
"Mom?"
"Dad?"
"Are you in there?"
The groaning abruptly stopped.
Seconds later...
Footsteps.
Slow.
Dragging.
They stopped just beyond the bedroom door.
The handle began rattling.
Someone—rather something—was trying to open it.
Noah swallowed hard. His throat felt increasingly dry.
The rattling continued for several agonizing seconds before falling silent.
The footsteps never moved away.
Taking a shaky breath, Noah slowly wrapped his hand around the doorknob.
The instant it began to turn, the groaning resumed—louder this time.
Something slammed against the other side.
Noah instinctively stepped back, raising his spear.
Then the door suddenly burst open.
The force sent the walker stumbling through the doorway. It crashed onto the floor, its own momentum carrying it several feet into the hallway.
Noah froze.
His pulse thundered in his ears.
Every happy memory of his parents flashed through his mind in an instant—birthdays, holidays, family dinners, quiet evenings watching television together.
His vision blurred.
Before he could stop himself, he doubled over and vomited onto the hallway floor.
The walker slowly pushed itself up, and Noah finally saw its face.
Everything inside him froze.
His father.
The bald head. The familiar clothes. Even his wedding ring still clung to one decaying finger.
His 'father' slowly began crawling toward him, mouth hanging open as those inhuman groans escaped his throat.
Noah's legs trembled.
Cold sweat soaked his back.
"D...Dad..."
His voice cracked. The walker continued crawling.
There wasn't even the slightest hint of recognition in its clouded eyes.
Tears spilled freely down Noah's cheeks.
"Please don't make me do this."
His grip tightened around the spear.
"...Please."
He swallowed hard, suppressing another wave of vomit.
"Please snap out of it..."
But the walker kept coming.
Noah clenched his teeth as his breathing grew heavier.
"...I'm sorry."
His grip tightened around the weapon for the last time.
"Say hi to Mom for me."
With a cry that was equal parts grief and desperation, Noah drove the spear downward.
It pierced his father's skull cleanly.
The groaning stopped.
A translucent notification appeared before him.
〔+5 EXP〕
〔EXP: 200/400〕
Noah stared blankly at the screen. The numbers meant nothing to him.
After a few seconds, the notification disappeared.
"..."
His knees buckled.
His stomach churned again, but there was nothing left. Noah simply sat there in silence, hugging his knees as tears fell onto the bloodstained floor.
Footsteps hurried up the stairs.
Noah didn't look up.
Levy appeared at the top of the staircase a few seconds later, his breathing slightly heavier from the rush. His eyes immediately swept across the hallway before settling on Noah.
Then he saw the body.
Levy stopped.
His gaze shifted from the walker lying motionless on the floor to Noah sitting beside it.
He didn't need to ask.
Noah's shoulders trembled as he stared down at the bloodstained floor, tears continuing to fall freely from his eyes.
Levy slowly approached, then he stopped a few feet away, unsure of what to say. So he simply stood there.
...
Several minutes passed before Noah finally moved.
Without saying a word, he rose to his feet and carefully picked up his father's body, heading toward the stairs.
Levy watched him for a moment before following.
By the time they reached the backyard, Noah had already found a place beneath the shade of the old tree.
He lowered his father's body beside the trunk and stood there silently. Then his eyes drifted toward the house with a dispirited sigh.
Levy followed his gaze.
Noah turned toward the back door.
"I'll be right back."
Levy nodded.
Noah returned inside alone. It didn't take long to find her in their bedroom.
When Noah emerged from the house carrying what remained of his mother, Levy quietly looked away, giving him the dignity to grieve.
Together, they laid the couple side by side beneath the shade of the old tree in the backyard.
Noah found a shovel in the garage beside his father's workbench.
Thanks to his enhanced attributes, the grave took only minutes to dig.
It wasn't the funeral they deserved. But it was all he could give them.
He lowered his parents into the earth before bowing his head.
"See you guys on the flip side."
His voice barely rose above a whisper.
When the prayer ended, he buried them both before planting the broken shaft of his makeshift spear at the head of the grave as a temporary marker.
Only after the final mound of dirt had been smoothed over did Noah turn away from the graves.
Levy followed closely behind.
They locked every door and boarded every accessible window before collapsing onto the living room couch, exhausted beyond words.
Noah leaned back, exhaustion settling over him all at once. He raised an arm over his eyes, shielding them from the light as his breathing slowly steadied.
Levy sank into the opposite side of the couch, too exhausted to say anything.
Their eyes slowly closed as their breaths evened out, both allowing themselves a moment's rest.