He Becomes (open)

[Miss Gates]

In a little neighborhood on Lake Drive, there were several modern day homes. The sun was out and it was a hot day. The houses' lawns were dead, the streets were quiet, and the neighborhoods were cleared out. Well, for the most part. In one of the houses there were two brothers that took up residence. Owen Black peered out the small hole in his boarded up windows. He kept his blue eyes on the black pavement. The sun shone brightly on the ground, lighting up the earth. It was quiet now, but not too quiet.

Owen watched the battered up shoes of the zombies trudge against the pavement of Lake Drive. The hole was not big enough to see a full zombie, but to see enough. He didn't want to alert them to his and his brother's presence. Right now, it looked like a herd was walking by. As long as he and his brother were quiet during this time, the brothers would safe. Owen glanced over to the other side of the room to see his brother, Sage, reading a book. Owen mentally chuckled and turned his attention back to his hole.

There were shoes still on the pavement that Owen was able to see as he stared out the hole. Owen looked down at his watch on his left wrist and realized that this herd was bigger than the last one. The last time that he and his brother saw a herd, it only took the herd two minutes to clear out. This time it last three minutes longer. Owen grew worried. He wondered if the herd had smelled him and Sage. What if the previous herd combined with this new herd? Maybe that's why it was taking so long to clear out. Owen was beginning to get impatient. He really wanted this herd to leave. Another minute went by and then he finally started to clear road.

Sage stood up and walked over to his brother. He put his hand on his brother's shoulder, which was code for talking. Owen knew exactly what his brother was going to ask. Owen knew that Sage wondered if it was safe. He looked over at his brother and nodded. Sage exhaled, relieved. The room was thick with tension and fear while the herd was there. Owen walked away from the boarded window and sat down on the couch that was next to his brother's armchair. Owen rubbed his forehead and said,

"That's the second herd today." He paused. "We might have to move on."

"But we barely got out last time we did that Owen!" Sage whispered loudly.

Owen sighed. "I know," he said. "But the herds are never this bad and it's going to make raiding harder to do."

"I know, but Owen, it just doesn't make sense to leave." Sage said. "We've been living here for a few weeks. It's been nice to stay in once place."

"Sage, you know it can't be like the old days." Owen snapped. "Now stop whining and let's make sure that the coast is clear."

Owen walked back over to the boarded windows and stared out his hole. For now, the roads were clear. For weeks, he and his brother had been living here safely. So far, no one had attacked them from the outside world and the zombies hadn't picked up on them. Owen wanted to keep it that way. He wanted to keep he and his brother safe. When this all started there were some horror days that Owen never wanted to return to. He needed to decide how to act quickly.
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((Feel free to jump in as a human that wants to attack, raid, or be friendly. Feel free to jump in as a zombie and want to attack. Or even just a random storm! Anything can happen!))

[ithevulture]

Jeff shuffled down an empty road inside a small neighborhood. The heard he was about a half a mile in front of him. The groaning clumsy bodies were not the best traveling partners but made for a great way of finding food. He wasn't proud of it but Jeff was a part of the horde. Somehow he had retained his original human consciousness but gained all the traits of a zombie; including the hunger for human flesh. Killing never sat right with Jeff, so he let the mindless horde do it for him, picking up the leftovers.

As he meandered down the road Jeff put an old harmonica to his grey lips. The old instrument was salvaged from one of his first and only kills. The harmonica still worked beautifully even with what little lung function he had left. It also helped pass the time. As he played he began to think to himself. He wondered what would happen to him if all the humans had been either eaten or turned. Would all of the zombies continue on? Or would they eventually die?

The life, or un-life, of a zombie, was a confusing time for Jeff and his conscious self was craving a connection. Any connection. However, there were two major problems in that desire; one being that his only companions were groaning shambling corpses. The other that no human would ever give him time to even introduce himself, they were all shoot first ask questions later. Jeff couldn't blame them though, the humans that were still alive were fighting for their lives in a world of undead cannibals. Their tension was valid.

He hoped something would change. Jeff often daydreamed of a companion to talk to. Sometimes he'd even talk to himself.

A sad lonely tune of his harmonica rang through the empty neighborhood.

[Miss Gates]

The sound of the harmonica hit Owen's ears instantly. Worry immediately washed over him. The herd had just left. Why is there a sounding harmonica? Owen wondered. He looked out his hole in the boarded-up window and scanned the pavement for signs of movement. There was no one there. Suddenly, he felt the hand of his brother again on his shoulder. Owen whirled around and looked at his brother. The looks they shared were looks of paranoia, fear, and worry. Many different sounds attracted zombies. Who the hell would be playing the harmonica? Owen wondered.

"Stay down here and watch the hole. I'm going upstairs to see if I can find anyone." Owen told him.

Sage nodded and watched his brother head upstairs. He ignored his brother's orders because he remembered there was another way that they could watch the roads. Sage looked out another window that had a bigger hole on the other side of the house. He was in the dining room, where the windows also faced out the Lake Drive road. Sage scanned the road and saw a zombie. His eyes grew wide and he saw that the zombie had the harmonica in his hands.

He ran upstairs to his brother. "Owen! It looks like a zombie!"

"Sage, shut up!" Owen yelled. "You're going to alert them to our presence!" He whispered.

Owen grabbed a pair of Bioniclers and zoomed in on the zombie with the harmonica. He was flabbergasted, but also furious that the creature was playing music. Music would have given them away. Then he thought for a moment. What if it was a trap? Owen wondered. He hadn't heard anything from anyone about the walking dead being able to talk, but then again there was no one to gossip with. Owen sighed and rubbed his head.

Meanwhile, the herd slightly lingered. The sound awakened hunger in the creatures and some of them stopped. Owen wasn't sure what to do. He had no idea that the herd was on the way back. Not all of them could hear the sound of the music. Some of them were too starved to even notice the sound, but the few that did hear the music turned around. Owen wanted the music to stop. He wasn't sure what to do. Sage sighed and said,

"We have to stop the music somehow."

"Yes, but," Owen said. "What if the herd comes back while we're out?"

"What if the herd comes back right now?" Sage made a point.

Owen sighed. "Very well." He walked over to the front door and grabbed his crossbow.

Guns were loud as hell and discouraged in this world. The only time where guns were necessary was if it was a legit emergency. Owen carefully opened the door and looked outside. He saw the person with the harmonica a bit more clearly now. Sage was right. They looked like a zombie. Owen turned to Sage and said,

"Stay here."

He slowly walked over to Jeff.

[ithevulture]

Jeff dropped the harmonica from his lips. He used the harmonica to slow down the horde when he lost sight of them. Never had it brought out a human from hiding. The confused zombie furrows his brow at the stranger approaching. It dawned on Jeff that this person might not know what he was, zombies don't play music. That meant this human was in danger. Jeff was yet again torn between his human soul wanting desperately to save this man and his zombie body wanting to tear the man limb from limb. He stood there in shock for a second while his tiered brain tried to make a decision.

The human soul won today.

Jeff raised his hands in surrender at first, then tried to motion for the human to stay away and to back where he came. This came out in mouthing words and wildly shooing with his enire arm. If this human did get back the horde would smell him.

[Miss Gates]

The herd stopped for a moment when the music stopped. A few of them sniffed the air and then a couple of them groaned. However, Owen was not close enough at the moment. If he had gotten any closer to Jeff then the herd would have smelled him. He and his brother would have had to run. He squinted his eyes and saw that the creature signaled to him. Owen stopped dead in his tracks.

The herd must be close, he thought. If that's the case then why is he playing the harmonica?

The signal reminded him of a warning. Owen Black was very intuitive. Meanwhile, his brother continued to stare out the window. He saw his brother stop in his tracks and Sage grew worried. He wanted to go out there and see what was wrong, but it was too dangerous. Sage then saw his brother turn around and head back to the house. Sage opened the door for him and Owen walked inside.

The brothers closed the door to the house and Owen signaled his brother to join him downstairs in the basement. Sage made sure that the front door was secure first. Once everything was secure, Sage and Owen walked downstairs into the darkness. There was a pully light above them and Owen turned on the light. He looked at Sage and sighed.

"I'm not sure who that was, but whoever he was, he warned us," Owen said truthfully. "We have to be careful and see what they want when it's safe. The herd almost caught a whiff of us and I don't want it to turn into a nightmare."

Sage nodded. "We will have to wait a few hours then."

"If it gets dark out and he's still there, whoever he is, we can't go outside and investigate," Owen said. "We have to be smart about this. If we leave now, we will have a group of the undead after us. If we wait for the morning, we will have plenty of sunshine and hopefully, he will still be there."

Sage nodded. "It was hard to tell whether he was alive or dead."

"He could have covered himself in entrails. Some people do that to mask themselves." Owen said. "I just don't know why that idiot was playing music."

"It didn't seem like the herd was bothered by him," Sage said. "I was surprised not to see any undead come running when he walked outside."

"I agree," Owen said. "But we need to make ourselves known. We need to figure out how he can survive and how the herd cannot sense him."

Speaking of the herd, the herd started to trudge and groan away. The smell of fresh human flesh was gone and the two brothers were safe; for now. Until another herd decided to walk by. Sage wondered what was with all the activity lately. Normally it was quiet, except at night. Now during the day and the night, there was undead activity. Sage couldn't even imagine being torn limb from limb with those creatures. He would rather be turned into one of them than eaten by one of them. Sage shook his heads at those thoughts.

There was no way his brother was going to allow him to get eaten. There was no way he was going to turn. At first, Sage thought he couldn't have survived this new world. With his brother, he was safe; for now. Owen turned to Sage and said,

"You should get some rest. We have a few hours before the midday."

"I think you should rest Owen," Sage argued. "You haven't slept since yesterday."

Owen nodded. "If you insist, but you need to keep an eye on the weapons and the sounds of the upstairs."

Sage nodded, "I understand. Sleep. I'll wake you up in a little bit."

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Outside the neighborhood, there was a group of travelers headed towards the home of the Black brothers and the questionable figure. There was a man with two women. The women were young. One of the women was in her early 30s and one that was a teenager. The man was an uncle. His sister and niece had lost their head of the family when the virus first broke out. So far, the three had survived everything and anything.

They found each other when the virus broke out, they fought through herds of the undead, and they survived other humans that tried to hurt them. This family was strong together and they could handle a lot. However, it had been a long time since they had to confront a herd. They were completely unaware that there was a herd just around the corner. The wind picked up and the herd stopped. The undead smelled the sweet smell of fresh meat.

"Chase, this town looks perfect." His sister said.

"We don't know anything yet Erin." Her brother warned. "We need to see if this town is safe. We don't want to run into another herd." 

"There's a lot more lately." Erin said. 

"I think that's because more and more people are being infected." Her brother said. 

"That's scary to think about Chase." Erin admitted. 

"I'm hot, I'm hungry, and I'm tired." The teenager complained. 

"We'll find shelter soon, Zoey." Chase said. 

As they got closer to the town, the herd grew further away. There were a few that lingered. They stopped and turned back towards the town. The rest of the herd paid no attention. The herd kept trudging through the streets of Prairie. The few that lingered walked back towards Jeff. The new family was closer to the house with the Black brothers. 

((if you want to try to write with the other characters or the herd, feel free to! I thought I would bring in more people))

[ithevulture]

Jeff stood in the street wondering what he should do. It had been a long time since he had talked to anyone. Could he still speak at all? He could still push air out of his lungs for his harmonica so there was a possibility. Jeff pursed his lips, there was no place left for him in the human world. But he was so desperately lonely, zombies were terrible companions. He wanted to be with people again, to have friends, to laugh.

But was that possible?

Jeff scratched the back of his head. He would always want to eat people, he never fancied animals. Jeff had tried so hard as soon as he woke as an undead to eat animals and not humans. Though if worse got to worse he could at least sustain himself with animals. But the hunger, the want and need for human flesh would always be there.

Jeff's thoughts were broken by a few of the horde brushing past him in the opposite direction. His head turned in curiosity. Where were they going? And then he smelled them too. Humans. They had entered into the area and unfortunately for them were downwind from the zombies that had stuck around. There were about 20 including himself now shambling in their direction. Jeff bounced from one foot to another not knowing what to do.

In the end, Jeff turned and followed his fellow zombies, trying to move faster than the rest. He decided that if he reached them first maybe he could warn them. If he didn't...well, at least he'd have something to eat.

[Miss Gates]

Chase was a bit further than the women at this point and he saw the herd. He stopped and whirled around. The girls stopped immediately. Chase lowered his hands as a signal for the women to get down. In his mind, Chase was freaked out. There were so many zombies. It had been awhile since the family had to fight off a herd this size. Chase got down to the ground low and the women followed in pursuit. They went the opposite direction. They turned left instead of going straight. They hoped that the misdirection would confuse the undead and they would be able to still get to the neighborhood. 

Zoey was terrified. Whenever her uncle signaled something, it meant that something was bad was out there. Each time he did signal, she feared the worst. She feared that she would lose her family. The memory of her father being torn to shreds passed through her mind and her eyes began to water. She was still not over it. She still had not accepted the fact that it was the apocalypse and this was her life now. Zoey crawled on the ground along with her sister Erin and tried not to make a sound. 

Chase grew closer to them and signaled for them to stop. The herd was still behind them, but thankfully they were going straight ahead. The plan was working. Chase looked down at the ground and noticed the mud. He hoped that the mud would mask the smell and that the family could run away without drawing any attention. 

"Girls, grab the mud." He whispered. 

Erin and Zoey looked at him like he was crazy, but it wasn't the worst thing that they had done to survive. Erin and Zoey did as they were told and covered their skin in mud. Meanwhile, the undead continued to walk straight. They had missed the family. The misdirection worked. Chase sighed with relief and walked behind the houses. They were definitely outside the neighborhood, but with the herd gone they were home free. Zoey sighed with disgust at all the mud that was on her skin. She hated that feeling. 

"So now, what?" Zoey asked them. "Now, how do we get this stuff off our skin?" 

"Zoey, please relax." Chase said. "You need to remember that we are not in the real world anymore. That world is gone. Electricity is gone, showers are gone, phones are gone, and texting is gone. Please stop being a teenage girl and act like an adult. We don't have those privileges anymore."

Zoey's eyes watered and Chase sighed. Erin walked next to Zoey and hugged her. "Look, we all miss how it used to be, but Chase is right. We need to accept the life that we have now."