Joe made it back to his duplex in ten minutes flat. He was utterly winded but slowing down hadn't been an option. Realistically Joe knew that there was no bloodthirsty monster breathing down his neck, but the sight of all that death had spooked him somewhere deep. Life had sucked these last two years, but it hadn't been full-on Mad Max up to this point. Jacob had only been the second dead body he'd seen in his life. Despite his casual acceptance of fighting monsters seeing that much death and carnage on Earth was disturbing.

It took all his willpower not to slam the door to the duplex and lock himself upstairs. Joe forced himself to breathe and drink from his canteen. His hands shook, and he counted to ten before trying again. Eventually, he drank some water, and his pulse calmed down.

"I've got to tell someone. Someone needs to know so we can figure this out before it gets worse." When Joe was stressed, he tended to mumble to himself. It was a bad habit, but now was not the time to worry about that sort of thing.

Joe turned and forced himself to go outside and make his loop to the rift. He had only met the daytime guards once, but someone had to do something. A couple of minutes later, Joe did his best to be confident while walking up to the guards. Joe saw recognition in their eyes, but they didn't say anything as he approached. A new man that reeked of Council Official walked out to block his path as he approached.

"This area is off-limits to anyone not a member of the council. If you want access, you can try to join at our headquarters in the center of town."

"I'm not here for the rift. I need to talk to someone about what I found at the farm southwest of town."

The man paused and looked Joe over before sneering. Joe hadn't brought any of his weapons to prevent any misunderstandings. It was probably a good thing as he felt his blood start to boil. Why was everything so hard when it came to other people?

"The farmers refused to join the council. Why would we help them now?"

"They don't need your help. They're all dead. Someone needs to go bury the bodies and stop whatever is roaming around out there." There was a pause at Joe's words, but the council member steamrolled ahead as if this was the least important part of his day."Run along and tell our headquarters. We'll spare someone to round up the animals. Now go away. You're impeding council business."

The man made a shooing gesture with his hand before he turned his back to Joe, walking towards a group of three people under a small awning off to the side. Joe's hands shook, and his body trembled. Over a dozen people were dead. People that had lived around here for years and no one cared? This wasn't how people were supposed to act.

"Listen, you stupid asshole. The animals were all torn to pieces, and whatever did it dragged some snacks off into the corn field. They could be anywhere, and when the food runs out, you know they will come looking over here. Now get off your fat fucking ass and do something."

By the end, Joe was almost screaming. Later he would find it cathartic, but now he couldn't believe what he'd just said. Years of frustration about the world and humanity, in general, had poured out of him. The guards were staring with their mouths hanging wide open. The other people under the awning were the same. Mr. Official turned, and his face was beet red as he yelled in a higher pitch voice than Joe would have thought.

"Who do you think you are, giving me orders. Restrain him and get him shipped to the work teams. We'll see how high and mighty you are after a couple of days."

The guards paused for a moment before a furious look from the red-faced official got them moving. The two men and a woman from the tent moved up behind them as well. Five to one odds were terrible, but Joe had been working four to one in the rift for days now, and everyone here felt weak. Joe couldn't tell their level, but he doubted any of them had faced the fox. They were tough in a group but hadn't seen a fight to the death.

"Guys, I don't want to hurt anyone, but if you try to send me to a work crew, I'm gonna feed someone their teeth."

Joe squared off and lowered his center of gravity slightly. The guards moved to surround him, and Joe bared his teeth. It wasn't something he did for effect. It just came naturally in a fight lately. He dashed right and put a fist into the person behind him. The man dropped with a squeak, and Joe spun to block whoever would attack him from behind. Joe was surprised to see that everyone had frozen in place, staring at him with wide eyes.

"There are five of us. Let's end this now. We need to be back before sundown."

Mr. Council Official had joined the group and was urging them forward. Joe smiled before dashing forward. The guards were in the wrong but ultimately doing their jobs. Joe didn't know their stories or anything about them. This guy, though, Joe knew him. He'd seen a hundred of them over the last two years—petty little despots who loved flexing the power they never had in the world before the disappearance. Anyone who wouldn't bat an eye at his neighbors being dead deserved a beating.

Joe pushed his legs as hard as possible and did his best wrestling spear. He collided with the man's midsection, and with a whoosh, all the air left him. Joe scrambled to his feet and picked the man up by his hair. The guards had turned, but their eyes were almost as wide open as their mouths. Joe didn't care. He'd burnt any bridges he had here, but that hadn't been many. He couldn't keep running from petty little men like this.

His opponent reached up with both hands to grab Joe's wrist and keep his hair attached to his head while gasping like a fish. Joe hooked his left arm over and cold-cocked him. One hit, and he went limp. Joe dropped him and turned to everyone else.

"I don't like being threatened." Joe's voice sounded cold even to himself. "I also don't like people that could ignore what I just saw. If someone doesn't handle that farm tomorrow, I'll do it, and then I'm coming back here. I know all your faces."

Joe made a point of staring at each one of them before he walked back towards the entrance, and everyone got out of his way. He kept a side-eye open for a dogpile, but the group stood still and watched him leave. Joe took the wide loop home at almost full speed. He didn't want anyone following him before he got his stuff and got out of town.

Five minutes later, he was inside and dashing upstairs. It only took a minute to pack his bag and grab the coins stuffed under the sink. Joe paused and took five more minutes to unpack it and do it the right way. Chances were low that they were about to storm the condo, and if he didn't do this right, it would bite him in the ass later. Joe bound up the pillow and blanket, wedging them on top of his pack. He had wanted to return them, but it didn't look like that would happen. Joe looked around with regret in his heart. The place had worked out pretty well until today.

Joe firmed his resolve. There was no help for it. He grabbed his water jugs out of the kitchen on his way to the door. It would slow him down to carry them, but the water wasn't something he would leave to chance. Joe walked out the front door with a last fond look at his temporary residence. A shout to his right drew his attention towards the rift.

The woman from earlier was standing on the sidewalk talking with the three people he hadn't recognized from the rift. Joe moved to the side of the condo, getting out of their view. If she was in the council, they knew where he lived. The voices raised, and Joe could start to make out the conversation. He paused and listened, mentally cursing himself for a fool. One of the men's voices reached him first, sounding stern and annoyed.

"Diana, we thought you'd left. You know that everyone is required to move to the center of town."

"I told you I'm not part of your council. I've lived here for a year and never caused any trouble. I'm going, so I won't be causing any trouble in the future either. Let me through."

Her voice was strong and had the tiniest hint of an accent on the vowels. That was the first time Joe had heard her speak when he wasn't dying of poison, and it confirmed that this was the woman that had saved his life. The woman in the council group spoke up while Joe was processing this new information.

"Anyone who lives in Plain City is part of the council. We got word in from Columbus to send you back to Dublin. They'll even give you a ride with the next messenger. Now come with us."

"I'm not going anywhere with you, especially not Dublin." She sounded upset, but Joe thought there was a note of fear in it.

"It wasn't a request."

Joe peeked around and saw the two men grab her arms. She struggled to get away, but the large backpack weighed her down.

"Let me go!" The woman, Diana, Joe mentally corrected himself, screamed at the group, and redoubled her efforts. There wasn't much she could do against two grown men, and they dragged her back towards their canopy by the rift. Joe didn't know what was going on, but it was pretty apparent she wasn't going willingly.

"That's enough!" Joe yelled, genuine anger deepening his voice and making it harsh. He walked out from behind the house and towards the group. As one, they turned and froze, recognizing his voice from earlier. Joe continued his walk and frowned that they hadn't let go of Diana yet. He'd been hoping that a bit of bravado would give her a chance to break for it, and he could leave without a second scene. Joe didn't know why he thought anything would go to plan anymore.

"Let her go and get to cleaning up that mess. I'm not playing around. If you won't do the right thing, we will have problems."

The councilwoman backed away, and the two men released Diana. Unfortunately, they grabbed knives from their belts and charged him. Joe jumped back and shrugged out of his backpack. His bat became tangled, and he dropped it rather than waste the time with two people closing in. He dashed to the side, getting between the condos and keeping both men in front of him.

They advanced slowly, clearly wary of him. Joe grabbed a rock from the landscaping beside the house and whipped it at the guy in the lead. Luck was finally on his side as it hit the man right in the kiwis. Joe hoped he popped something as the man crumpled to the ground. His partner didn't like one-on-one odds anymore and started backing away. Joe took a second to pocket the first guy's knife and kick him in the head. He went limp, and Joe walked back to the street.

"Fuck you guys!" Joe yelled as he saw what was waiting for him. The two gate guards had joined the fun, and all four were advancing on him with weapons drawn. The only upside was that Diana had managed to bolt at some point while he was fighting. Joe bent down to retrieve his bat before facing the group.

"I'm not playing around. If you come at me, it's on you."

The group paused but started forward again. Joe saw two knives, two batons, and at least three shaking sets of hands. He targeted the man with the knife and dashed forward. A knife flashed at Joe, but it was panicked and too soon. Joe used his bat's reach and crushed the man's knee with a one-handed swing. This time, he heard a pop right before the man's anguished scream. The man dropped the knife and clutched his knee as he fell.

Joe casually walked over and kicked him in the head, ending the noise. Only hard breathing sounded in the air as Joe turned to the rest of the group. They could have rushed him, but the fear was too great for them. They hadn't been in fights the way he had. Aside from the calibration, they'd always had strength in numbers. A fight to the death on a sunny morning in Plain City wasn't something they were ready to handle.

"Drop your weapons, or every one of you gets the same treatment!" Joe waved his bat around for emphasis while he yelled at them. They flinched almost in unison, and the clatter of weapons preceded the sound of them running back towards the rift.

Joe shook slightly from the adrenaline and stress of the confrontation. He scooped up the weapons and, after a second, took the belts from both unconscious men. The second guy was about his size, so Joe took his shoes as well. He might have to do a lot of walking soon. The backpack was weighted awkwardly, but Joe ignored it and booked it towards the south road. He was sure they could see what direction he went, but it didn't make a difference.

Going north would have him heading right through town. Dublin was back east and whatever the fuck was in the cornfield lay to the west. South was his only realistic option at this point. He didn't make good time, with a full pack and each arm holding over a gallon of water. After twenty minutes, he sat in the shade of the burnt-out store and caught his breath. The hair on his neck stood up, thinking about the scene just a half-mile west of where he sat.

Joe hoped that the council would do the right thing, but in his heart, he knew they wouldn't. There was nothing in it for them. They might send someone to look around and scavenge, but that would be it. He felt torn when he thought about it. Joe's rational side told him they were already dead, and he didn't owe them anything. His heart and moral compass told him that they were still people, and they deserved better. That voice was soft but growing increasingly insistent.

Gazing north, Joe spotted someone walking down the main road from town. He hunched back so that the rubble mostly blocked him from view. It was only a single person, so he thought it was unlikely it was a council member. They usually moved in groups. The figure resolved itself to be Diana. She was still a quarter of a mile away but heading due south. She stopped for a minute and then started cutting across the fields, heading west. She was heading straight to the farmhouse. Joe was up and moving without even thinking about it.

"Hey, stop!" Joe yelled at the top of his lungs while waving his arms. "It's dangerous!"

Diana froze at the sound of him and then bolted towards the farm. Joe followed on the road, making up ground thanks to its smooth surface.

"Stop! Danger!"

Joe didn't know if the words reached her, but they didn't have the desired effect. She continued moving towards the farm and soon disappeared around the corner of one of the buildings. He didn't have the wind to keep yelling while carrying all his possession at a sprint. Fear bloomed in his heart as he waited to hear the scream that would let him know he was too late. Joe never stopped running towards the farm.

An eternity later, or two minutes for anyone with a watch keeping track, Joe managed to get to the farmyard. Even panicked and distracted, the smell was awful and getting worse. The backdoor to the farmhouse banged open, and Diana ran out two paces before doubling over. She heaved violently and vomited on the gravel by her feet. Joe didn't blame her at all. The sights here were awful.

The farmhouse sat at the top of what Ohioans would call a hill, meaning it wasn't perfectly flat. The cornfield that would haunt Joe's dream for the foreseeable future fell away from the house for the next half mile. At the far range of his vision, he saw two spots of displaced corn, and they were heading in his direction. Joe's stomach clenched, and panic shot through him like a triple espresso.

"We've got to go. Now!" Joe yelled at Diana as she remained hunched over with her hands on her knees. She didn't move or acknowledge him in any way. Joe risked a glance, and the motion in the field continued to get closer. He couldn't tell if they were moving faster or his fear made it look that way. He didn't think they had time to get back to town.

"Run to the barn!" Joe yelled again, but still no response. In desperation, he grabbed Diana's arm, determined to drag her there if he needed to. A punch to the side of the head stopped him. It wasn't enough to truly hurt him, but he hadn't expected it. He didn't let go and began to haul her towards the barn.

A ladder appeared in his view through the open barn door. Joe hadn't remembered, but he knew that every barn with a hay mow had a ladder somewhere, and he'd hoped it would be there. The house had too many windows to stop something that could cause this carnage.

"Get up that ladder if you want to live!" Joe hadn't meant to yell this close to her, and she visibly flinched. Still, she moved up the ladder, swayed by the panic and fear he knew filled his voice. He followed quickly behind and spun as soon as his feet hit the loft. Joe grabbed the ladder and pulled it up behind him. His muscles screamed in protest at the pace, but adrenaline let him get it off the ground before anything appeared. The ladder was raised and hit the hay mow floor with a loud clang.

Joe looked over to see Diana backed against the hay bales on the far side. A knife was in her hands, and she watched him with unblinking eyes. Despite the situation, he noted that they were a vibrant blue-green. Joe shook his head to focus and ran over to the outer wall of the barn. There were enough gaps to get a partial view of the farmyard and the edge of their field.

Diana started to talk, but Joe couldn't make out the words. He looked over and shushed her, putting a finger to his lips. She glared at him, and the knife pointed in his direction never wavered, but she went silent. Joe looked back at the farmyard, and his stomach dropped as the corn at the edge of the field parted.