The darkness turned into light as night ebbed away. 

Ringer had made it quite clear to us that there was nothing left in the caverns for us. Throughout our travels during the night, she'd convinced us that the Other we'd seen wasn't a threat to us anymore. 

It hadn't taken much for me to be persuaded to forget the caverns. The sooner we headed back, the sooner we'd be able to get to Dumbo. 

Zombie seemed to think the same thing because he'd barely said a word since we'd met up with Ringer and Constance. 

Zombie and I had fallen to the back, letting Ringer lead the way to Urbana. 

Once there, we'd get Dumbo and then head back to Grace's house. We needed to get back to try and form some plan. We were running out of time with the Others' complete obliteration of the human race in only a few days time. 

"Zombie?" I said, keeping my eyes trained on the ground in front of me. 

"Mm?" He responded. 

"Do you think we made the right decision to leave Dumbo alone?" I asked quietly. I rubbed my arm, worried. 

Obviously, it hadn't been ideal to leave Dumbo alone. It wouldn't have been smart to have only Zombie or I go find Ringer, which had been our reasoning at the time we'd left Dumbo. But now? Now, there was no way of telling if we made the right decision or not. 

Zombie sighed. "I don't know," he said, his deep voice tinged with helplessness. "I don't know." 

I bit my lip softly, moving my hand from my arm to reach for my gun. 

We were approaching Urbana, the blurred outline of the ghost town coming into our line of vision. And as we moved closer, I began to see the shambles of its remains and the all too familiar deserted streets.

My heart started thudding against my ribcage uncontrollably. Memories of the previous night terrorized my mind. Dumbo falling to the ground. The Other hitting Zombie to the floor. 

I shook my head slightly, forcing myself to focus. Dumbo needed us now. 

"Which way did you say Dumbo was?" Ringer asked, her authoritative voice echoing back to us. 

I tightened my grip on my gun, my jaw setting. "Straight and then in the alley to the right," I said. 

Ringer nodded once, stalking off in the direction I'd indicated. 

A sharp breath escaped my lips. I was already utterly annoyed by Ringer. She had no idea the trouble we went through to find her. And now? Now, she was bossing me around like the good ol' days when we were back at Wright Patterson. 

There were many reasons why I hated my time there. But above them all, it was because Ringer had made it her mission to make everyone else feel incompetent and inferior every little chance she got. 

Part of me had thought Ringer would've changed a little after the effort we put in to find her. But no, she still had the same blasted stick stuck up her ass. 

A warm hand touched mine briefly. I looked up to see Zombie, who gave me a small, reassuring smile. 

I nodded once before letting my gaze rest on the crumbled dirt beneath my boots. I needed to stop getting so worked up about Ringer. My rivalry with her wasn't important right now. 

Eventually, We found our way to the block we'd walked through last night. 

"There," Zombie said gruffly, pointing to the street a couple buildings down. 

Then, when we reached the alley where we'd left Dumbo, Zombie pushed ahead of the group, a look of determination radiating on his face. He slung his bag to one shoulder and took off into the alleyway. 

I looked once at Ringer before running after him. I instinctively touched my gun as I rounded the corner, fully prepared to draw it if necessary.

Zombie let out a yell of anguish and my heart stopped. That could only mean one thing. 

I approached Zombie, who was on the ground near the brick wall at the end of the alley. 

There were no Others, no soldiers, and no Dumbo. The alley, like the rest of Urbana, was abandoned. 

Streaks of blood trailed across the ground, indicating that an injured Dumbo had dragged himself away. 

I took a shaky breath, my initial reaction being one of surprise and disbelief. Amongst the surprise and disbelief, I also found guilt. There was only one reason why Dumbo would've pulled himself out of the alley... and that was to find us. 

"What's happening?" Ringer asked, turning the corner. She came into my line of vision and I slowly lifted my eyes to meet her's. Before I could wonder anymore where Dumbo had gone or what we'd do about it, I was completely overtaken by pure rage.

Constance came into view as well, moving to the side of Ringer to get a better look. 

I clenched both my fists, my eyes narrowing ever so slightly. 

"Where is your friend?" Constance asked. She looked genuinely troubled. My gaze flitted to Ringer. Her disgusting face showed no emotion - she was as stoic, as unmoved, as uncaring as ever. 

Constance said something else, but I didn't listen. I was only concerned with one thing right now. And it had to do with Ringer. 

Before I could think twice about what I was doing, I rushed forward and swung at Ringer's head, my fist colliding with her jaw. In normal circumstances, my jab would've sent a devastating blow to her perfectly pale face. But instead, I let out a gasp of pain, drawing my hand back. I cradled it against my stomach, my knuckles spilling blood onto my already-dirty jacket. 

It was as if her skin was impenetrable and she was incapable of being harmed. Ringer was tough, but my jab should've done damage, even to her. 

I grit my teeth, my anger forcing me to fight through my pain. 

I let out a strangled cry, throwing my leg out to kick her in the stomach. "This is your fault!" I shouted. 

Ringer grunted softly, my kick sending her back only a few mere inches. She bared her teeth and shoved me away from her, sending me tumbling to the ground. 

"What the hell are you talking about?" she seethed. "You're the one that fucking left him!"

I groaned softly as I sailed head first into the rough pavement. Bits of cement tore into my skin and the impact with the cement sent streaks of pain through my body. 

I heaved myself up off the ground, drawing my sleeve across my face to wipe the blood away. 

I took my good hand and took another swing. I wouldn't stop until I drew blood. And even that probably wouldn't be enough for me. 

"Dumbo is gone, and it's your fault," I shouted, "All of this is your fault. Do you even know what we went through to find you? Don't you even care you ungrateful little bit-" 

I hadn't realized I'd been crying until strong arms pulled me away from Ringer. 

Zombie held me to him in such a strong hold that I could not fight my way out. "Shh it's ok," he murmured, his deep, comforting voice flooding into my ear. 

Almost immediately, my will to battle his grasp withered away and I felt myself crumbling into him. "Where'd he go?" I whispered, my voice trembling. "I-I knew we shouldn't have left him alone...and it's her fault...if she had just come back-"

"I know, I know," he said softly. "But hurting Ringer isn't going to make things better. It's not going to bring Dumbo back."

I shook my head against his chest, my eyes squeezed shut. "It would make things better," I said, "It would make me feel better. This is because of her-"

Zombie pulled me out to arms length, and I blinked my tears away as I opened my eyes. 

"You know that's not true, Canary," he said, "You don't hurt people. That's not who you are." 

Tears fogged my vision again. "You don't know that," I countered, my voice trembling. 

"Yes, I do," he said. 

I wanted to be mad at Zombie, to push past him and find my way to Ringer again. But he was right. And I knew hitting Ringer wasn't something Dumbo would've wanted anyway. 

"Are you guys done with whatever the hell is going on? We need to get going if we're going to make it back to the rest of the squad before nightfall." 

I looked around Zombie to find Ringer, who had receded back to the entry to the alley. She was with Constance, who was muttering something in her ear. 

Zombie's jaw set. "I know you more than I know myself," he said softly, ignoring her. "If you hurt Ringer, you'd only beat yourself up about it later. And trust me...we'll find him," he continued, "We'll find Dumbo."

"But...what if he's-" 

"If he's gone, we'll deal with it together," he said, his eyes darting to the ground for a brief moment before resting again on my face. 

"Okay," I said quietly. 

Ringer cleared her voice loudly, giving a big cough. "Can you two-" 

"Can you shut up, Ringer?" Zombie interrupted, shouting over his shoulder. 

I felt the corner of my lips tug upwards into a small smile. Every part of me was enraptured by the boy who managed to make me smile in even the most horrible of circumstances. 

Zombie turned back around to face me, shaking his head softly. 

Then he took my hand in his and we walked, following the trail Dumbo's blood had left for us. 

It wasn't long before the blood thinned and we came across yet another lifeless body of a soldier from Squad 53. 

Neither Zombie nor I spoke as we took our bare hands to the earth, digging a place for our friend to rest. Ringer and Constance stood by, keeping watch as we dug. They didn't say a word to us and we didn't say a word to them. Despite Ringer's eagerness to get the Grace's house, we all knew what had to be done. 

Eventually, after finding a set of shovels, we finished furnishing the grave. I wrapped Dumbo's body in some tattered, ragged cloth before Zombie lowered his body into the ground. 

Then we covered him and with one last look, we continued our journey. 

Dumbo had found himself in Dubuque. Through the winter, through the turmoil with Megan's bomb and Grace, he'd been scared, simply horrified of approaching the day when he'd find himself there. 

I didn't know what it was like, but I guessed Dumbo was in a better place, away from the hold of the Others and away from the constant urge to flee. And he was with Oompa and Poundcake and Teacup. He was with his fallen friends. 

Dumbo was gone, but wherever he truly was, he was much happier there than he had been here. 

And above all, he was in peace. 

Knowing this was what kept me from running back to his grave. It was what restrained my urge to pour out endless tears. 

Now the only thing to do was to stumble on. 

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Long time, everyone! I have some excuses for not writing but I know you all probably aren't really interested in hearing them. Regardless, I'm making it a priority to write and update now. There's only a little longer in Perish and then I'll be taking a much needed break from Wattpad for a little while (don't worry! I will most certainly be finishing Perish before I take that break). 

As always, a big thanks to all who have stuck with me thus far! I hope you like what's to come in Perish! Any scene requests, please comment them or private message me! 

And um did anyone see IT? Bomb diggity movie. 10/10 recommend.