Naseem slashes at the roaming corpses that remain in the streets. Eventually he spots a building that has lights on. As he looks at the building gunshots ring out followed by shouts and someone barking orders.
Naseem quickly runs over and sees corpses crawling and some stumbling towards two survivors. "Stay behind me you dumbass," one of them grabs the other and quickly pulls them behind them.
"You're wasting our bullets, we need those for the next time the fog rolls around," the other survivor tries to grab the gun.
Naseem sighs as he quickly runs towards them and hacks at one of the corpses before setting another aflame. "You'll get nowhere fighting each other instead of the dead."
"Shit its a mage!" the two survivors quickly stop fighting as the gun is pointed at Naseem. "What do you want from us? We ain't got supplies for you!"
Naseem sighs and quickly chops the head off a walking corpse while he stares them down. "I want to make sure you guys survive," Naseem hooks his axe to his waist as he looks at the two survivors. "You guys got a community of some form round here or you just on your own?"
Slowly the survivor lowers his gun as the other slightly shakes with fear. "Why should we tell you anything?"
"Because I can protect you and your people. I'm a fire mage who was taught so I have none of the ancient corruption your generation fears," Naseem begins to push corpses around searching for anything useful.
"You look too old to have been taught," the survivor pauses for a second looking over at the other. "But we are in need of help and I don't see any reason that you could be lying to us."
"You really want to trust a mage man. Just cause he was taught doesn't mean that he isn't being influenced by the one who taught him."
Naseem sighs as he picks a watch off a corpse. "If I was being influenced by my master I would've killed you already or subdued you in some other form. Besides, my master is long dead."
"What generation of mage are you?"
Naseem simply holds up three fingers as sets the watch into his pocket.
"A third generation has no chance of being influenced and the fact his master is dead. He has to be safe."
"You're right I guess I haven't seen or heard of many third generations who have gone mad with power. Yo mage we'll lead you to our community!"
Naseem smiles as he looks at the two of them. "Thank you."
As they walk out of the city and through a dense forest the two survivors occasionally glance curiously back at Naseem but always choose to hold their tongue and not speak. Naseem watches them as they glance back thinking nothing of it as he quickly dispatches any remaining corpses that still roam before the survivors get a chance to even prepare themselves.
"Does this community of yours have anyone who has been looking into this fog?" Naseem questions the two of them as he quickly hacks at a crawling corpse before returning to the two.
One of them shakes their head while the other starts to speak as he grabs some berries. "There is a small group of people who are trying to make sense of this thing but even after all the time this hell has been going for they've found very little. Or at least very little has been shared."
Naseem nods as they continue to walk, eventually reaching a slight opening where a fence surrounds a large house. The two stand outside a gate and one of them pulls a bell out of their pocket and begins to ring it. Seconds later a woman walks up to the gate looking at the two. "You guys find anything useful out there?" the woman looks at Naseem before looking at the other two. "Actually, don't answer that. Why in the hell did you bring someone back with you? You both should be well aware that what little food production we have can barely keep up with everyone here," the woman looks at the two, her face filled with anger.
"We want to bring him to Flora. We believe he can help us if you'd just be willing to make some form of change," the one with the bell says, his voice filled with anger as well as he stares at the woman.
"You say that so many times and look at where it has gotten us, you dumbasses. You said a second generation mage was gonna help us and now you both had to go find replacement supplies for what you got stolen from us," the woman looks over at Naseem. "Let me guess you're some first generation mage. I bet they managed to get convinced that a first generation would help us."
Naseem stands tall as he looks at the woman. "I'm sorry for the losses you seem to have had recently. And no I'm not a first generation mage but a third and my master is long dead. I wish to offer protection to you and your community."
"Another mage you dumbasses!" the woman quickly bursts into anger looking at them through the fence. "I should leave this fence shut and leave you two out there!"
"I mean no harm and merely wish to protect you all in exchange for any possible knowledge about this fog and what it's doing to the dead," Naseem grabs his axe and sets it on the ground.
"What is that supposed to mean? You can still blast me with whatever magic you have," the woman looks at the axe as another woman begins to walk towards the gate from behind her. "You think not having access to your weapon is a good gesture of your pacifism.?"
The two survivors look over at Naseem as they notice the other woman approaching the gate. "It is the best I can do to show you I mean no harm to you or your people."
The woman was getting ready to shout again until the other woman set her hand on her shoulder, her voice calm and soft. "Open the gate for them."
The woman's voice is filled with surprise as she speaks. "Flora? Why are you down here? Shouldn't you be up helping with supplies?"
"I said open the gate Yasmin or do I need to do it myself?" Flora says as she locks eyes with Naseem the gate slowly opening as she speaks. "I'm sorry for Yasmin's attitude towards you. While it may be valid against these two morons it is not valid against someone we do not know."
"Flora he is a third generation mage we can't trust to let any of them in here," as the two survivors quickly run past Flora and Yasmin, Flora gestures for him to enter her moves fluid. Wounds can be seen up her arm and a few cuts on her face as Naseem gets closer.
"If we continue how we are now do you think we will make it far?" Flora speaks to Yasmin as she leads Naseem forward. "Three people are suffering from malnutrition as we speak and the few crops we have left won't be ready to harvest for a few days. I do agree that trusting this mage is a risk but it is one I must take to allow us to survive."
"I thank you for your trust," Naseem looks at Flora as they enter the house. The sound of an argument and casual chatter can be heard.
"Only berries and some small snacks. Did you guys even look that long?" in a small kitchen stands the two survivors who have set out berries and some other small foods on a table as an older man looks at the table.
"The fog must've just swept through the corpses were roaming."
The man sighs as he grabs the food, setting it all in different cabinets. As Flora continues to lead Naseem through the building reaching a flight of stares. "So tell me why you are here?" Flora doesn't turn to look at Naseem, instead looking at pictures of different people that are hung on the wall of the staircase.
"I wish to offer protection to your community in exchange for knowledge about this fog and the living dead it creates," Naseem glances at some of the pictures as they reach the end.
"There must be more than just that. I highly doubt that the only reason you are here is cause you want to learn about this fog that must be," Flora pasuses setting a finger on her chin as she thinks.
"Most likely it has been around the past fifty years," a woman says as she walks up to the two of them, a man next to her. "If my memory serves me right and if I've been able to correctly keep track of time, the fog would have been here for around fifty-two years."
"Mom you really need to stop shoving your knowledge at everyone," the man looks at Naseem. "Sorry about her, she can't help but share everything she knows."
Flora looks at the two of them and smiles. "Well actually this man seeks to protect us in exchange for your mothers knowledge."
Almost instantly in response the woman smacks the man in the back of the head. "Hah. See, some people want to know the things I know."
"Just once Mom."
Naseem looks at the two of them. "What is it you've been studying exactly miss," he pauses for a second.
"Sao and this is my son Felix," Sao smiles as she looks at Naseem. "Well I've been studying the fog mainly ever since it first arrived and I saw what it did. It is so fascinating to me, and the mages have made it so much more interesting," she walks up to Naseem. "Have you ever seen the ancients that we've been told taught people magic?"
"I'm a third generation mage so I've never seen an ancient. From what I know only first generations have seen the ancients and not even for that long," Naseem looks at Sao as she begins to look Naseem up and down. "What is it you have learned about the fog?"
"So the ancients choose to hide from us unless we need them and they must've viewed the third year of this as a good time to show themselves and give us some means to defend ourselves," Sao continues to ramble to herself before Felix flicks her head. "Oh sorry. Well I haven't learned much other than it has something to do with the fog coming in contact with a corpse which of course you yourself already know."
Naseem lets out a disappointed sigh before Felix walks forward. "But we believe that whatever is in the fog that causes a corpse to move again can only do so with a corpse that hasn't significantly decomposed," Felix walks into a room next to them and looks over at a whiteboard that holds several images. "All of these are from an area that was either in the middle of a fog running through or shortly after. Some of the images are blurry and harder to make things out with. "However in these two you can see the corpse is a full skeleton which was not being brought back by the active fog. The oldest corpse we've seen walking looked about to be a year or two dead. However this corpse was kept in a coffin as we quite literally saw it climb out of the earth meaning the fog is somehow able to get around through the ground.."
Sao looks at Naseem and interrupts Felix. "You know there is a theory we both hold that we could test. However it requires a live corpse which is of course too dangerous for us to get," Sao smiles at Naseem as it seems he understands what she wants.
"I can try to retrieve a corpse alive is possible," Naseem quickly turns around not waiting for anyone to say anything. "I shall return with a corpse for you."