une.
chapter one.

xxx.

Whether it was a reoccurring muscle memory or the actual thing, Zara could hear the jangling of Sheriff Boyd's cowbell in the distance from the bathroom at the clinic. It was a warning, as it had been the past three months she'd been there, a reminder that the sun was setting and it would be dangerous to be anywhere but indoors soon. She was a little too busy to listen to that preemptive warning though; Zara was leaned as close to the bathroom mirror as she could be, her fingers pinching the end of a needle, heated by a lighter she stole from one of the Colony House dwellers.

With one eye squinted to focus her vision, the brunette touched the sharp end of the needle to the dot she had drawn on her nostril to position the piercing before she took in a deep breath, then exhaled. The needle went straight through, an uncomfortable burning tingling her nose as she blinked away the tears while trying to find the jewelry—which, she also took from Colony House. She was able to push the jewelry through after the needle with little resistance, cleaning it up with a q tip when someone's reflection walked by in the mirror before they ultimately backtracked to look at her.

" What the hell are you doing, Zara? " Kenny questioned, though his tone was more curious than authoritative as he met her eyes through the mirror.

Her lips split into a small smile as she turned away from the mirror, tossing the q tip into the trash can and holding her hands out, " Look, I can be the town's piercer now, and your mom can get off my ass about helping at the diner. "

" Ha, ha, funny. " Kenny replied with a dry tone, though his face reflected hers with humor. His eyes moved over the homemade piercing before he asked, " You sure that's not gonna get infected? "

" Well, Kristi can fix it for me if it does. " Zara stated matter-of-factly, shrugging.

" Kristi can fix what? " The aforementioned woman asked as she walked into Zara's sight as if on cue. She crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow as she glanced over Zara's reddened skin. The med student hummed and commented, " It looks cute. Just make sure to wash it with soap once a day, you'll be fine. "

Zara shot Kenny a look that said 'see?', making him open his mouth to retort, but Kristi interrupted before he could, " You two should probably head home. Gina's about to take your dad downstairs, Kenny. "

" Yeah, sure, " Kenny agreed, nodding to Kristi with a grateful expression before he gestured for Zara to leave the bathroom.

Once she was out and gathering her stuff to leave, Kenny left her side to bid his father farewell, promising to finish their game of chess tomorrow. Kenny's father, Bing-Qian, suffered from dementia, and due to their fear of him unlocking the doors at night, he and his mother had decided to have him stay at the clinic where Gina could lock them both in the basement every night.

Zara usually didn't stick around to hear the goodbye since Bing-Qian often got pretty upset about it and something about him just broke her heart a little. Plus, she didn't like the feeling of intruding on a family moment between him and Kenny, so she waited at the door of the clinic, eyeing the talisman that hung by a hook.

Eventually, Kenny rejoined her with Kristi close behind. They exchanged goodbyes and goodnights before Kenny and Zara left, heading down the dirt road together like they did on days when Zara didn't feel like causing trouble elsewhere. The sun was setting and the sky was dimming, but they still had enough time to get to the Liu house before the monsters would appear, so they were in no rush.

Sometimes, though, Zara wished they were in a rush. Maybe then, Kenny wouldn't have time to ask her questions she would rather not answer.

" Hey, Kristi mentioned you'd been at the clinic a few times this week. Is everything okay? " It was out of genuine concern, Zara was aware of that, but she also wished he didn't care as much as he did.

" Yeah, I just wanted to bother her. Why, was she complaining about me? " Zara tried to change the tone of conversation as she tilted her head towards him, raising a brow.

" No! No, uh, really she was just talking about it and I asked. " Kenny clarified, raising his hands innocently before letting them drop to his sides.

" Good. " She remarked, hoping he'd let the conversation end there, but she knew better than to believe that. Zara glanced over at him and sighed when she saw his uncertain expression, " Seriously, Kenny, I'm good. I like to keep Kristi on her toes sometimes. "

" Mm, like Boyd? "

" Exactly. " Zara agreed with a grin, both of them fully aware of how annoyed Boyd could get with her antics. She pulled at the strap of her bag, trying to alleviate some of the weight that was pressing into her already aching back.

xxx.

In the bar, Bailey sat at the counter with a glass in hand, staring hard at the rim of it. Tom, the bartender, must've done a shit job of cleaning it before pouring a whiskey-wannabe into it; Bailey could see the water stains on the glass, but what did he really give a damn? Not like he could complain about it anyways, since Tom was busy arguing with the only other patron, Frank.

Frank was a drunk, to be..frank. He had a wife and daughter that he should've been worried about getting home to, but he couldn't so much as stand, let alone walk home this late at night. Tom had been trying to convince him to head out for what might've been the last hour, Bailey wasn't sure, but with no success. Eventually, Tom gave up and moved back to the counter so he could close the blinds around the building.

" Lauren's gonna kill you, man. " He stated, shaking his head as Frank simply groaned from where he sat across the room.

Seemingly unprompted, Bailey's stool screeched against the wooden floor as he suddenly stood up. Before Tom could fully turn around, the other man was looming over Frank. When the drunkard finally looked up at him, Bailey lifted him by the front of his stained shirt, his fist balling against his chest.

" You plan on spending the night here instead of with your girls? " Bailey questioned flatly, shaking Frank a little when he didn't get a coherent response, " You really want them to be alone with those things outside? You know how this goes, man. "

Still, Frank couldn't manage anything that was legible. Bailey nearly raised his fist as he knocked the other man back into the wall, his voice raising, " You really drank yourself into stupidity or what, Frank? You can't fucking speak? I'm sure your daughter would love to see you like this, why don't you do this shit at home, huh? "

" Bailey, enough, " Tom called from behind the bar, his lips pressed to a thin line. When the mentioned man glanced over his shoulder at him, the bartender added, " He's not worth it, man. "

He was right, Bailey knew that. It didn't mean he thought he deserved to have a black eye on his walk home any less, but still, he listened and backed off. It wasn't his problem, not his wife and daughter, and not his drinking problem, but Bailey couldn't stand people who took advantage of the things—the people—they had, especially in a place like this.

Muttering under his breath, Bailey loosened his hold on Frank until he was slumping back down into his chair with a slew of incoherent words. The dark haired man stalked back to the counter, sitting down and grasping his glass again like he never left.

He could feel Tom watching him as he cleaned another glass, though he waited for him to speak before he did.

" You staying the night here tonight, too? Shit, if I had known this would be a party, I would've gotten snacks. " Tom joked dryly, gesturing towards Bailey with the rag, " I thought you were a Colony House guy. "

" I just stay wherever I end up. "

xxx.

There's a smell reeking from the Pratt house the next morning and this time, it wasn't Frank's custom odor of alcohol and smoke. Zara stood outside of the home, staring up at the open window as the pink curtains inside blew through the cracks with help of the cool morning breeze. Boyd had nearly broken down the door of the Liu house merely thirty minutes before to drag Kenny out, saying nothing more than there was a 'situation' at the Pratt's. Naturally, Zara followed them, even though the dreadful look that Boyd gave Kenny told her she probably didn't want to know what had happened.

        And though Boyd didn't verbally say what happened, Zara could put two and two together, and she was sure that the growing crowd outside the house would do the same. One of the monsters had got into the Pratt's house, and that smell could only be that of decaying bodies that they left inside.

       " Zara, where's Boyd? " Father Khatri's voice broke her from her silent thinking, causing her to turn just as he grabbed her shoulder, though he was already following her attention to the door. She barely had to point at the house before Father Khatri gave her a grim nod and jogged up the porch.

       " Jesus. " Another voice breathed behind Zara as Father Khatri disappeared inside the house, too. Nehemia crossed her arms over her chest as she settled beside the younger woman, fiddling with the string of her jacket, " Both of them? "

      " Mmhm, I think so. " Zara answered, not even questioning why she didn't say 'all of them' instead. Most of the town knew that it was likely Lauren and her daughter Meagan were alone last night when they were attacked, as the husband of the family, Frank, spent almost every other night at Tom's bar. And this night had been no different.

As if cued in, the group that had begun to congregate outside the house heard the stumbling footsteps of a man with a harsh hangover approaching. As Zara and Nehemia both turned around to see Frank, they wore similar grimaces. A bad migraine was about to be the least of his problems.

None the wiser, he raised a hand in greeting to the group as he called, " Mornin', what is it this time? Did Lauren rope you guys into another bake off, or what? "

However, his playful tone was evaporated when he realized the expressions of those surrounding him were anything but pleasant. He didn't have time to process the looks of horror on their faces before Boyd suddenly flung open the front door.

      They locked eyes and Boyd didn't waste a second to storm off of the porch, " Motherfucker. "

      Frank tried to back up a step as Boyd approached him, his face contorted in confusion, but the sheriff was on him within seconds, " What'd I tell you, Frank? "

       " I-it got late, and I didn't— "

       Frank's excuse was cut short when Boyd smacked him across the face, nearly knocking what little sense he had out of his body. Zara flinched at the sound, Boyd's voice booming without a second for Frank to process, " You got kids, you nail the window shut. You nail the motherfucking window shut, Frank! "

       He hit him again, and that seemed to cause Frank to realize what was going on. He shook his head, " No, no—"

       Boyd grabbed him by his shirt, dragging him up the porch steps and into the house as Frank murmured, " No, no, I can't—don't! "

       Even though they disappeared inside, their screaming didn't. Zara could still hear Boyd yelling at Frank, Frank pleading and weeping through the open window once he'd seen the massacred corpses of his wife and daughter. Their last incident had been 96 days ago, six days before Zara showed up. This was the first time she had to hear someone find the dead bodies of their loved ones, the first time she'd had to hear screams like that, wails of agony and guilt.

       It was the first time anyone had ever died because of the recklessness of another person, though.

       Nehemia reached out to the younger woman, squeezing her shoulder to grab her attention as she murmured, " Come on, we don't need to be here when they take the bodies out. "

    xxx.

          It took Father Khatri and Boyd around an hour and a half to have Lauren and Meagan's graves dug, but another two hours passed before their funeral. They didn't have a funeral home in the Town, that might've been too morbid, but they had come up with a makeshift graveyard that sat just across from the Liu home. There were a dozen or so marked graves with wooden crosses, but there were so many more bodies buried within the Town's grounds. Sometimes, when Zara sat at the kitchen window, she'd look out to the graveyard and wonder exactly how many people had died. Victor was the longest living resident, and he had been there for a very long time, but had there been more people before him?

       As Father Khatri was speaking, lost in some Bible verse or saying that she didn't quite understand enough to pay attention to, Zara side glanced at Kenny who stood next to her. His hands were clasped behind his back as if he really were a deputy on duty, shoulders rigid and face hardened as if he couldn't allow himself to show emotions at a funeral.

       Zara inched over, swaying enough to nudge him, meeting his eyes when his head snapped over to her. She knew it wasn't appropriate for a funeral, but she was hoping to make it a bit more lighthearted. At least she didn't have to see Lauren and Meagan's ripped apart bodies like Kenny did; he might act tough to keep up with the deputy persona like Boyd, but it was easy to see that Kenny didn't take things like this lightly.

       He shifted on his feet like he was unsure, but he eventually settled, facing forward again, though he dropped a shoulder and quietly asked her, " How's the nose? "

      " Not infected yet. " She whispered back, though it must've been loud enough to disturb a few of the people in front of them, causing Kristi to glance at them over her shoulder. Her eyes moved between the two of them with a disapproving look before she turned back around. Still, Zara just held her hands in front of herself, rubbing her thumb against her wrist as she then asked, " What are you guys going to do with Frank? Keep him locked up? "

       " I don't— "

       " And so, we commit to the earth Lauren and Meagan Pratt. May the life they know behind this world be kinder, and may the mysteries of their time here be solved. " Father Khatri seemed to speak louder then, as if he was trying to politely and discreetly shush them. " For the peace we shall know in the kingdom of God is certain, and in that..peace.."

     Nehemia turned her head to follow Father Khatri's gaze as his words began to trail off, and soon, everyone gathered together would turn around to see an RV slowly rolling down the road. It was jittery as it came to a slow stop, the brakes squealing loudly, taking all attention away from the viewing.

       " Shit.. " Boyd muttered as the group all stared at the RV. Another group of new people, right after the violent death of Lauren and Meagan, was an inconvenience to say the least.

       The last new people they got were Sara and Nathan, siblings from Boston who came no more than a week after Zara had shown up. It had been three months since then. This was Zara's first death to witness, and her first true arrival of new people; when Sara and Nathan arrived, Zara was still spiralling and trying to comprehend the situation she was in.

       They all eventually turned back around to face Father Khatri, as ignoring new people was practically custom for anyone that wasn't Boyd. He claimed that too many strangers trying to talk to them on their first day would be too overwhelming, and asked that the others allowed him and Donna to do most of the explaining. Father Khatri continued with his blessing, determined to finish out the funeral before they took on a new problem.

        " Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. " He finished, closing his book and bowing his head before Boyd stepped in front of the group.

       " Alright, now, you all remember what it was like for you. Just leave these people be. Kenny and I will handle it, okay? " When everyone seemed to be in silent agreement, Boyd clasped Kenny's shoulder and began to walk towards the man that had come out of the RV, just as the others began to disperse to their normal lives.

       Zara stayed behind idly alongside Kristi and Nehemia, watching Boyd and Kenny speak with the man. She couldn't make out any of what they were saying so she became more interested in who else was in the RV. She craned her neck to try and look at the front of the RV but she couldn't see much, just three figures sitting and watching them, just as she was doing.

      " Hey, how have you been feeling? " Kristi's voice suddenly broke her from her thoughts, making Zara look over at her questionably. The taller woman tilted her head, " Zara. "

      " I'm fine, Kristi. " She insisted, shaking her head when the other woman gave her a disbelieving frown. Zara dismissively waved her off, stepping away from her, " Seriously, I'm good. Still throwing up my guts every morning, that's good, right? "

       " Relatively. " Kristi confirmed with a halfhearted grin, though she knew she wouldn't be able to press more on Zara as Boyd and Kenny parted with the man and began to walk back to them. Still, as a last ditch effort, she quickly said, " Just come see me at the clinic later, okay? I just want to check on everything. "

       " Sure, Kristi. " Zara agreed, knowing she'd likely pretend to 'forget' about it later on. She heard Boyd ask Nehemia to help them with the spike strips once they thought the family in the RV were 'ready', but her focus was more on the RV as it began to pull away.

        Is anyone ever 'ready' to be told that a random wrong turn was going to be the start of the worst day of the rest of their lives?

xxx.

          It's another hour later when Kenny, Boyd, and Nehemia drop the spike strip for the RV to eventually run over. The family inside drove around a total of eight times before they made the call. Nehemia and Kenny were busy covering the spike strip in dirt to hide it, digging into the ground beside the road to provide coverage.

        Pausing to wipe her forehead from sweat, Nehemia leaned against the shovel, staring out into the horizon with a huff to catch her breath. She pushed her hair back and crinkled her eyes as she asked, " Isn't it kind of strange that they came the same day the Pratts died? "

       " Stranger things have happened. " Kenny remarked, but Nehemia brushed him off.

      " No, I'm serious. Does that always happen, and we just don't realize it? Val and Paul, they died, and the next night, Murphy showed up. " She pointed out, gesturing her hands out, but Boyd just rolled his eyes.

       " Just dig, Nehemia. We need to catch them on this next go around, we don't have time for your conspiracies. " He insisted, making her scoff as she planted the shovel back into the dirt.

      " Patterns aren't conspiracies. "

      " Sure. "

      It was quiet for some time after that, but Nehemia decided to bite her tongue any further at the cost of sounding any more insane to the two of them. She turned to look at the truck they had driven to the end of town in, thick brows knitting together.

       " Hey, Boyd..? "

       " What is it, Nehemia? " He called, looking up at her in exasperation, as if she was going to subject him to another 'crazy conspiracy' about the Town.

       " Didn't there used to be a bike in here? "

         The answer would be 'yes'. And where might that bike be, you may ask?

         It was assisting Zara in catching up to the RV. Her curiosity was a curse and eventually, she was sure it would be the death of her. She just couldn't help herself, after watching the RV drive around for its sixth time, Zara had to follow them. She didn't really know why she wanted to, maybe it was just curiosity of the unknown. Maybe she wanted something to relate to, she wanted to revisit the fear and worry she had experienced her first night in Town. Another part of her—the part that just enjoyed doing otherwise irritating yet ultimately harmless things— just wanted to mess with the family inside.

        Was it cruel? Maybe. Did she think it was a little funny? Yes.

        Zara finally managed to catch up with them, though she was thinking in the back of her head how Kristi would probably scold her for hours if she knew she was riding around on a bike while three months pregnant. She tried not to think about that as she made eye contact with the woman in the passenger seat of the RV through the side mirror. She raised a hand to wave at her, a smile plastered on her face, and watched the woman turn to the man behind the wheel. They argued briefly before wife must've convinced her husband to slow down.

       As her bike moved forward, Zara also leaned down to peer past the window as she came up next to the woman, waiting for her to roll down said window before she called, " Hey! Why are you guys still driving? Haven't you figured it out yet? "

       The dark haired woman shared a fleeting look with her husband, both of their attention on Zara as the former questioned frantically, " Figured what out? "

       " Where you are. " She replied nonchalantly, " This place, the never ending loop? It's cursed, you're cursed, shit, you're practically in Hell now— "

       " What are you— "

       " The hell did you say— "

        Zara's mouth opened to respond, unable to keep the amused look off her face at their angered panic. She didn't get anything out though, not before one of the kids in the RV yelled from the back, " Dad, look out! "

        All three adults' heads snapped forward, seeing a car barrelling down at them from the other side of the road, swerving all over and speeding down the straight stretch. There were mere seconds to think or act before they collided with one another, and Zara's only thought was that she wasn't going to survive if she hit an RV and a car. In a sudden panic, the man inside the RV cut the wheel, sending the large vehicle slamming into the trees, flipping it onto its side.

       There wasn't time for a reaction to that before Zara instead hit the car and only the car, or rather, the car hit her before the brakes squealed to a stop, skidding further down the road, leaving a total of six unconscious people in its wake, with one person awake enough to do anything about it.

xxx.

3,964 words.

alright so all I plotted so far are the first two chapters so bare with me, also yes this is more Zara centered than Nehemia and Bailey but I didn't wanna shove too much into one chapter especially with everything that happens in the first few episodes of the show

why tf would a pregnant girl go out of her way to chase down the RV to make fun of them? the world may never know, Zara is a strange entity so don't expect an explanation more than what was written—

anywho I won't yap much, hopefully yall enjoyed this first chapter, it's been a min since I've really written anything and I feel like this was so subpar compared to what I could've done but </3