The rain poured down sideways, making it difficult for the windshield wipers to keep up. Joy held onto the covered basket in her lap tightly as Emma glanced at her. A pothole made the glass inside the basket shake, causing Emma to glance at Joy in fear.

"Did I break them?" She asked.

Joy glanced underneath the blanket and then shook her head, "no, they look okay to me."

The two had decided to sneak out before dawn with the help of two of their other members, Audrey Karp and Sam Martin. Things had started smoothly. Joy got to see cardinals, blue jays, and even an American woodcock. But then some of the other members decided to be cocks.

It started subtly. Drake Peters refused to shake the hands of a partially undead person. Iris Hilton backed away from the children, who moved forward for a hug. Joy just thought maybe they were unsure. She should never have been so trusting.

Maybe the neatly built wooden homes distracted her? Paige said they had scrapped a bunch of materials from a nearby neighborhood.

The food supply disappeared from the village's storage hut on the third day. Joy went out with Paige, and they found what remained on the banks of a creek. 

"They want to see if we will eat them," Paige hissed on the banks. "Those fuckin' idiots."

At that point, Fernie and Emma considered taking the group back. Joy convinced them not to. She had Jim's note in his bag. He, along with the RFUPD, wanted to gather more blood samples. Jim thought that if they could find more results that imitated Tim, Paige, or himself, it could convince more of the council members of their humanity.

"We can't stay much longer," Emma hissed to her three nights before beside a campfire. "They are trying to start a fight out here. If one of them dies, this whole thing will be for nothing."

Joy nodded. "I know, but we need to gather samples."

Emma shook her head. "They will destroy them."

"Not if they don't know about them."

Emma leaned back and then glanced over at Fernie. He had Drake and Iris's undivided attention. After a few moments, Amir Ebeid, Omar's choice, and Matthew Philips, Tanya's choice, joined them.

Amir glanced over and raised his water to them. "Salud," he called across the fire.

They raised their glasses in response and smiled. Joy almost liked him.

Amir worked as a doctor on the north side of Houston. His openness to the research, combined with Fernie's innate ability to entertain people, worked to their advantage.

Joy spent the following morning teaching Audrey and Sam how to take blood samples. They did not bother to ask Farah or Lin for help. Those two seemed more concerned with making sure no one decided to kill anyone else. They stood as two slim, raven-haired bodyguards who pretended to be unaware of what was happening. 

 Instead, they moved from person to person and made sure no one was discovered or interrupted the process. A subtle security detail that Joy thanked Joanna and Phil for. Joy wouldn't have been surprised if the two had hidden somewhere along the tree permitter to make sure no one tried to kill Emma or herself during their midnight getaway.

The getaway probably wouldn't have been needed if the undead hadn't arrived. Not the groaning, walking with arms straight out, moaning for brains undead. These were walking and talking, discussing the trade of scrap for squirrel meat, types of undead.

Iris almost fainted at the sight of them.  Well, once she realized what they were. Initially, she wanted to chat Tim up, thinking he liked living on the edge of society.

"He just looks like that rustic type," she whispered to Joy. "You know, the kind that will take you off to his cabin in the woods and have his way with you?"

Joy stared at her for a second too long.

"What?" Iris asked. "Have you not read 'Her Forbidden Lumberjack'?"

"Nope," Joy clipped out. "I can't say that has been on my reading list."

Tim offered the group a tour of their village. Joy readily consented to go with Emma, Amir, Lin, Sam, Drake, and Audrey. It took them about three hours to walk to the camp. Drake wandered to the tree edges and cut into the trees. Joy turned to meet Lin's gaze, taking out her knife. The Asian woman shrugged and followed Joy's example. They made similar marks randomly on trees on and off their paths.  Tim had to call them back a few times.  Joy wasn't sure, but she thought Lin almost laughed while playing their game.  Drake did not appear as amused.

They arrived at a camp made of makeshift tents and the beginnings of scrap metal houses. An old farmhouse with a shed beside it stood at the end of the row. A scruffy dog that looked like a mix of a pit bull and German shepherd came running up to them.

"This is my boy, Scrap. Don't worry; he doesn't bite," Tim laughed on seeing Audrey shy away. "As you can see, we are trying to create some normalcy out here. We eventually want to get to the same level at the P.U. camp, but we don't have enough hands," Tim shrugged. "At least we have the main house."

Joy looked towards the main house. "Do you mind showing us more?"

"No problem," Tim smiled, leading the group towards the house.

Sam and Audrey stayed behind in a few shack houses to get blood samples under the guise of having further questions for undead persons. Joy waited until the rest of the group broke away to speak with Tim.

"You look good," she said, making Tim smile.

"Yeah," he nodded. "I looked at myself in the mirror today. I was shocked!  I haven't decomposed yet," he laughed. "You know, I still have to check myself for maggots every morning. Never can be too careful. But, that lady Paige connected me with has been amazing."

Joy looked at him with interest. "What lady?"

Tim shrugged. "She says her name doesn't matter anymore. Rumor is that she used to be a big-time researcher before becoming a P3. Now, she works on providing people with some concoction to take. She says it slows down the decomposition and—"

"Can I take some back?" Joy asked. "Give it to Devyn to look at?"

Tim eyed her warily. "I don't want to miss a dose, and it is expensive. The last one almost made me broke. But I don't want maggots.  So, I thought—"

Joy nodded and then dug into her pocket. She brought out some old-world money and stuffed it into his pocket. "Don't look surprised. I can find more in the city. Would that be enough to get another dose?"

Joy thought Tim started to sound a little congested. He coughed, and a small piece of kitty litter shot across the floor.

"Sorry," he sighed. "It's almost cleared out. I will get a dose to you."

"Thanks," Joy smiled, placing a hand on his arm.

She turned to look around them. The old oak trees weaved their way to the sky. Fall had started to set in, but she imagined the springtime put on a beautiful show of bluebonnets mixed with other wildflowers. 

"It's beautiful out here. Ouch!" Joy smacked her leg. "Stupid mosquito. Isn't it cold enough for these things to die?"

"That's probably not the only thing that wants to eat you out here," Drake called over to her with a laugh.

Joy smiled pleasantly. "Yeah, I know. I heard there are some gators down in the creek."

A crack of lightning lit up the night sky as another pothole tightened Joy's hold on the basket.

"Sorry," Emma muttered, leaning forward on the wheel to get a better view.

Joy laughed uneasily. "Don't worry about it. We need to get there. It doesn't have to be comfortable or pretty."

Tim and Paige were the ones who snuck into her room earlier that night. They let her know Drake had planted a few incendiary devices around the undead camp. Luckily, Scrap notified them by whining outside the old house.  The dog led them to the kitchen, where Drake had left his series of presents. Paige currently had a few people looking around the P.U. village.

Paige had helped Joy pack the blood samples, and Tim placed the dose in the basket.  

Just get there safe," he whispered as his arms hugged her.

Joy and Emma were gone within fifteen minutes. They knew there would be questions when daylight broke. Maybe Jim would show his face to answer them.

Joy smirked.  Damn, I wish I could see Drake's face when he saw Jim.

A gust of wind hit the car, making Emma tighten her grip on the wheel. "What the hell kind of storm is this?"

"The last gasp from the gulf probably," Joy muttered.

"I hope we don't flood," Emma sighed. "The last thing we need is to get this engine flooded."

Joy laughed nervously and nodded. She didn't want to speak and jinx them even more. 

The two ventured on with the pelting of rain upon metal keeping them company. Neither of them dared to say anything until the tree line broke on the partially overgrown road to reveal the Beltway 8 wall.

"I'll let Devyn know we're close," Joy whispered in excitement as she brought out her phone to send a quick text.

Emma nodded. "I can get you close to the hospital but don't want to get caught by the cameras. If anyone at Central finds out—"

Joy nodded. "I know. We won't let them know."

Emma rubbed her eyes, making a contact move to reveal a hint of a red iris. "These damn things always dry out when I get emotional," she muttered.

Emma drove up to the gate and pressed the code. The two went through a brief blood test before the gates opened to the city.

Joy almost laughed. No wonder so many Central officers were P.Us.

The roads were a bit better once inside the loop. The rain even started to slow down, making the streets drivable. Emma stopped two blocks from the hospital.

"This is as close as I can get," she said.

Joy nodded, placing the basket down on the floor before unbuckling her seatbelt. "No worries, I think I see Devyn is close. I'll text her. Stay—"

An explosion stopped both of them from speaking. Joy turned in her seat to see a fire on Devyn's floor at the hospital. In the glow of the night sky and flames, she saw all their sacrifices burning.

***

Tim backed away from the camera after steadying it on a chair.

"Okay, guys, ladies, and other beings," Tim announced. "We have a show for you!"

A dog barked off camera.

"No, not yet, Scrap," Tim ordered. "Sit down. I said sit. Scrap!"

A loud bark is heard off-screen, followed by the camera falling sideways onto the ground.

"Dammit, Scrap, no one will believe I trained you unless you act like it!"

There is another dog bark as two boots come into view.   Then the camera is turned off.

***

Chapter WC: 1,818

Total WC: 18,897