Following Icarus' entrance, continuous screams echoed from somewhere within the neighboring houses.
The world beyond the house was growing louder again.
Whatever brief refuge the staff quarters had offered was no more.
It then dawned on Jon why the staff quarters had suddenly grown so loud. Survivors had likely reached the residential area believing it was safe.
Instead, they had found infected waiting inside.
Or worse...
The infected had followed them here.
Just as he was about to ask the stranger named Icarus…
"What happened here?" Icarus asked quietly.
Jon's eyes followed Icarus' gaze that looked at the living room.
Tables were broken, their pieces scattered all over the place; the chairs were pushed aside; broken pieces of glass, pictures, and the television, which had stopped functioning at some point during the chase, hung.
Then their gaze landed on the body.
"She was infected," Jon responded.
Icarus slowly looked up, his expression heavy, then nodded.
"I was just about to enter the stadium when people started bursting out. I had only a brief moment to understand what was happening and..." He couldn't finish his words.
And he didn't need to. What he saw was traumatizing.
"We can't leave that here." Icarus pointed at the corpse.
Jon nodded and extended his hand. "Help me."
Icarus grabbed the arm and got up.
Immediately they got to work.
Jon and Icarus held an arm and dragged the corpse. Her heels scraped across the wooden floor with a slow, grating sound.
They dragged the body into one of the bedrooms.
For one terrible moment he caught himself apologizing every time her shoulder struck the doorframe. Except for that, his thoughts remained quiet.
When the body was finally inside, Icarus was the first to step back.
Jon remained for a moment, silently staring at the corpse. His mind searched for various other methods he could have used to prevent this situation.
He could have very well just left the house, leaving the infected old woman in the house. He could have found out more about the situation to see if there was a method to revert her back.
However, as he thought of the various situations, he also thought of the counter reasons why he couldn't have taken them.
If he left the house, what was to say that the old woman wasn't going to follow him, and if she perhaps didn't, what was to say that he wouldn't meet another infected just on his way. He didn't know why, but upon seeing that infected woman up close, he was certain that there was no method of reversing her back to how she was.
Apologizing a final time, he turned and reached for the bedroom door.
His hand paused on the handle, then gently he closed the door behind him.
Click.
"...We should make sure there's no one inside."
Icarus nodded once.
Together they searched the house, starting with the living room.
Jon covered the hallway while Icarus checked behind the sofa.
The search was light because the entire place was already scattered; still, they searched everywhere thoroughly.
In the process, they arranged the living room to a more acceptable state before continuing.
…
The dining room.
It held a small table with three chairs surrounding it, and a little fridge beside it.
…
The kitchen was the hardest because every cupboard they opened made them flinch and every creak of a hinge sounded too loud.
Jon retrieved his silver book where he had dropped it after the reveal.
…
The hallway led to two bedrooms, including the room where the dead infected corpse was placed.
…
The bathroom
…
They then made their way up the stairs to the second floor that held four rooms.
A study, two bedrooms, and a guest room.
Every door was opened slowly and searched for signs of anyone.
Each room proved empty.
When they reached the final room, Jon slowly pushed the door open with the end of an extinguisher, and like usual, they saw nothing.
However, it had only an unmade bed and sunlight spilling through thin curtains.
He unknowingly released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
Jon carefully lifted one corner just enough to see outside without being easily seen, and the campus road stretched before them.
It was empty for several seconds. Then a man suddenly sprinted into view.
His shirt was soaked with sweat, and he looked over his shoulder every few steps.
Soon enough, what he was running away from came into view.
There were two infected creatures.
Their clawed arms were outstretched, their movements were jerky, yet they lunged and chased the man relentlessly.
The man eventually reached a parked car and yanked desperately at the driver's door.
However, it didn't budge. The car was locked.
He turned, about to sprint away, but unfortunately, the first infected had reached him.
"No…" Jon instinctively stepped forward, his hand touching the window.
The man resisted the infected for a moment, then the second infected joined in. In an instant, he disappeared beneath the attackers.
His screams lasted only a few moments before they fell silent.
Icarus quietly lowered the curtain.
The silence became heavier.
"I thought..." Icarus hesitated. "I thought once the pain would be the end of it... but people attacking each other?"
Jon looked at the empty streets.
"So did I."
"Do you think this is happening everywhere?"
"I don't know," Jon responded.
"I think…I think this situation is happening everywhere."
The words hung in the air.
Jon was aware it was just wishful thinking, but it was safer to assume they were the only ones experiencing this calamity.
His words only made them understand something else.
No one was coming to help.
Jon closed the curtains.
"...I hope not."