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odd.
    Pulling the blanket closer, I sighed. Life was a nonstop run for me, so I never paused to mull over my past, present, or future. But why would I? There was nothing in that dark closet that would change anything about me. Reminiscing was nothing more than dredging up old, insignificant memories.
    Boredom knew exactly how to leash me and lead me, nudging me into cynical thoughts and life-questioning dilemmas. No matter how hard I tried to keep my mind blank, I kept returning to how my life really was going to be, especially now that Gabe was around. No one ever mentioned meeting up with another survivor.
    Drip, drip, drop. Drip, drip, drop.
    Overlaying the beat of the water-metronome were Gabe’s moans, and the moans of zombies outside. They provided the bass clef melody to the song of my meaningless thoughts.
    Pickle rifled through the candy on the dining room table. Soon, a soft thud signaled she had abandoned the cause. Minutes later she was in the middle of the doorway to my room, staring at me. I brought my hand out from the covers and beckoned her, only to have her scamper off out of sight.
    Gabe had been hanging outside for only an hour or so. Already masses of undead clambered beneath her, eyes filled with blank, empty hunger. For the first twenty minutes, she screamed until her throat was raw. The she went quiet, then back to her grousing. I began to reconsider my actions, but never for very long. I couldn’t change the past, so why think about it?
    Drip, drip, drop. Drip, drip—
    “Cyrus!”
    The scream startled me. I turned my neck too fast, sending hot pain up it and into my head. The tips of my fingers flew to my neck, rubbing up and down the hurt nerve, seeking reprieve.
    “Cyrus! Quick!”
    This scream was different. It didn’t possess the pathetic tone of a plea, but the loudness of authority, not to mention a dash of lunacy.
    Kicking the cold comforter from my body, I rolled out of the bed and scrambled to the balcony, tripping multiple times. Pickle went berserk from my fast, clumsy motions, and took to running around the living room in a blind panic.
    Outside was just as cold as inside. Rain beat down from the sky. The drops were even and dense, cool and refreshing. I tilted my head back into it before another shout snapped me from my daze.
    “I’ve learned my lesson, Master. Please, bring me up.”
    Gabe looked up at me, smiling. Her teeth were stained an unpleasant tint of pink, her chin and nose dark with dried blood. Cleansing rainfall hadn’t washed her clean yet. A pitiable laugh escaped her.
    “Why are you smiling? You don’t have anything to be smiling about.”
    “When life sucks the fuck out of you, you just gotta grin and bear it, right? I get it… You’re the head of the pack. I’ll go by your rules. It’s not like I haven’t done that before.”
    I rubbed my face, slick with rain, and screwed my eyes shut. It stung keeping them closed, but I welcomed the searing pain.
    Guess I’d done as much damage as I could, leaving her there. Maybe I broke her psychologically. When I decided to bring her up, it wasn’t an act of compassion, but one of pride.
    Once she was at the top, I hauled her over the railing. We went back inside as though nothing had happened.
    Once settled in, I listened for the water drops that had threatened to take my sanity.
    They were gone.

Chapter 5
     
     
    If fate were paying attention and wanted to make things cinematic, the rain would have stopped when I let Gabe back in, representing the cliché of a new beginning. The sun would have come out, the zombies would have all died, and we would have repopulated the earth with battle-ready mini-Cyruses.
    I might have said this before, but life isn’t a movie.
    Also, Gabe was too young for me, and didn’t have appropriate genetics for breeding.
    I helped her hobble back into the apartment, while the continuous storm grew angrier, blowing with all its might. Rain beat down on the roof so hard we could hear