Slurred cries stirred me awake. I cracked my eyes open just to find someone oogling them. Startled, I crawled back. "Ge-Get away!"

The more distance I put between us, I noticed the person was neither Guno nor Freddy back for more, but a girl wearing a bloodied dress. She kept her mouth agape, mumbling, "Mama... candy... save?"

"Huh?" I tilted my head, less defensive. "What about your mom?"

The girl took deep breaths and pointed to the candy swallowing up our feet."I... I want to h-help Mama. Found you. Thought you were dead-dead... took sticks out... buried you."

It took me a few seconds to piece together her puzzle of a sentence. I looked down, taking in the view of pastries sticking, sliding and dripping on my clothes. "Ah, thanks." I think.

After ripping the melted lollipops and crushed macarons off, I gripped onto the counter and tried to stand. Only to fall flat on my face. I gritted my teeth and huffed. "Dammit, I can't find Jack like this!" Those fucking savages, when I find them I'll make sure to―

Before I could finish the thought, a foul smell caught my attention. My head whipped left and right to find the source, until I spotted two corpses whose ribcages were in plain sight, bloodied and cracked. The grotesque odor made my stomach churn, yet I was captivated by it.

Wait...

My gaze switched from them to the girl, who was hauling a pile of candy in her thin arms. Did she do this?

Rainbow-colored vomit ejected from my mouth before I could ask. It splattered on the black-and-white checkered floor, landed on me and stained the steel racks greenish-pink. Once I hacked up the last of it, I wiped my lips. Gross.

A lollipop waved in front of me. The girl tapped it on my nose with a smile. "Miss... okay?"

I took her offer and sat back down. The stick twisted between my fingers. "Nah, not really. Glad those crowbars are out, though. Thanks, uh... what's your name, kid?"

She smiled big and folded her arms behind her back. "Mary!"

I couldn't help chuckling at her innocence. "I see. Well, Mary, can you tell me what happened here?"

The girl lowered her head, allowing blonde curls to veil her closed eyes. She smirked, pointing to the bodies. "You ate them. Chomp, chomp, chomp."

What? My eyes widened as I licked the back of my mouth. Blood and frosting covered the bumpy surface. "No, no, no, why? I'm... I can't be like them! Yeah, that's it. It's a lie, a lie, a lie―"

Yet Mary shook her head. "Truth. You're like me. Dead, right?"

"No!" I slapped my hands over my face while incoherent mumbles sputtered from my quivering lips. Looking to Mary, then back to Freddy and Guno's corpses, it wasn't long before a scream erupted. However, the sound was muffled by Mary's sticky hands.

Her nails dug in my skin, but did little to stop my rampage. Still, she continued. "Shush. People may come. We... need to leave. Don't want to die again."

Once my voice lowered, she let go. I took that as a chance to speak. "Leave? How can I even crawl when my ankles and wrists are broke?"

"I'll drag you."

Looking her up and down, the little girl was about the size of my old labrador if he stood on his hind legs. When she opened her arms wide, I chuckled and said, "You're kidding, right?"

Her head swayed once more. She hummed in protest. "Don't worry, Mama will fix your boo-boo."

A smile spread across my face slower than maple syrup. "Okay... but what did you say about the candy?"

Her gaze fell to the floor for a moment, arms crossed. "Oh, yeah. I guess you'll... carry them."

I wasn't sure how believable her story was, but anything was better than staying here. So I gathered lollipops, cakes, chocolates and candies in my arms and wobbled to Mary's side. "Let's get going, then."

**

Rocks and dust clouded my face, forcing a cough from my throat. "Y'know," I started after waving the menacing dirt away, "when you said 'drag', I didn't think you meant literally."

Mary peeked back to me, then huffed. "You can't walk. Injured, like Mama."

My head bumped against the rough ground. I looked back and sighed. She pulled me by my thighs to avoid ripping off my ankles. In doing so, made it difficult for me to hold onto the assorted sweets. When a gumdrop rolled on my chin, I stuck my tongue out to catch it before it went to waste. Its overwhelming amount of sugar took my mind off the possibility of me committing cannibalism.

Still, that meant Freddy and Guno were gone. I liked the sound of that.

While chewing on the candy, my fried mind wandered to the depths of my memories. Back to my childhood, when there were no zombies and no savages. Or at least, that was what Jack and I thought.

We didn't know any better. I wasn't aware of how horrible people could become, and our parents wanted to keep it that way. However, they couldn't hide it anymore when criminals set our home aflame.

As we watched our home burn, Ma and Pa's screams mixed with the image of our memories being swallowed by flames made Jack promise me one thing. He'd always stick with me, no matter what. What made him change?

Mary dropped my legs before I could ponder the answer.

I lifted my head to look at her. "What's wrong?"

The girl helped me up, then pointed to an old barn just a few feet away. "Mama's there. Wait," she mumbled, sprinting inside.

Yeah, sure. Like I'll be moving anythime soon. She slipped in through a broken window, making me chuckle. The girl was stubborn, I'd give her that.

I brought my knees to my chest. Despite the anger boiling in my gut, I couldn't bring myself to hate Jack. "This has to be some kind of mistake. There's no way he'd do that."

But really, how much did I know about Jack? I bit my thumbnail, frustrated. Obviously not enough if I didn't expect him to abandon me. That bastard, when I find him I'll...

I'll what? Yell at him? Punch him? Or...

My eyes turned their gaze to the candy squished between my fingers. "'Chomp, chomp, chomp', huh." I popped a chocolate in my mouth. "How disgusting."

A tall woman eventually came out bearing resemblance to Mary, who clung to her dress' hem. She smiled at me as dried blood rolled down her legs.

After she draped her arm around my shoulders and hoistered me up, Mary's mother took us inside. "Thank you for keeping my daughter safe," she said once I settled on a haystack.

The barn was old and dusty. Hell, if I stared long enough I could even see spiderwebs dangling on the beams. Across from us was a pitchfork leaned on the wall. I didn't dare mention it―having anymore holes in my rotting body didn't sound fun. "No problem. I wouldn't want her to experience... this."

She brought a small metal box to my side and snapped it open. A sympathetic smile crawled on her face. "Ah, Mary told me about that." She then pulled out a needle along with threads in various colors. "I'll fix you up in just a moment."

At first I kept my eyes on her hands as she wiped the needle with disinfectant, then gradually scanned her body. The woman's legs trembled while her skin paled. I grimaced. She should be getting help instead. "But, you're injured."

Alas, she waved off my worries. With a shake of her head, she insisted, "It's just a scratch."

The gashes and swollen bumps on her calves said otherwise. Despite sugar being my true love, I licked my lips at the sight. "Why're you helping me? I could eat you, y'know."

Her hands clamped together when she averted her gaze. "In a way, it's to make up for what happened to Mary. She died... because of me."

"No, Mama got hurt! I didn't protect," the said girl's slurred yells interrupted our conversation. She slid off the haystack she sat on and ran to her mother's side. "Not your fault."

"Thank you, sweetie." Tears made her turquoise eyes glisten. "You're such a good girl."

...Tears? I stared at them, wide-eyed while they slid down her cheeks. Funny, I couldn't feel warmth after I died. I watched her chest rise and fall without effort, as if it was natural.

As if she was alive.

"Uh, s'cuse me, ma'am. I have a request."

"Oh, yes?" She turned to me, rising her brows.

A cough left my lips before I muttered, "Would you mind me touching your breasts?"