While it had only been a few hours since I was last in Little Mike's. The place had gone through a major renovation. The front window was smashed into tiny bits, and the door was just gone. Inside was even worse. All the tables and chairs inside the restaurant were broken. The counter had been ripped up from the floor and thrown up against the wall.
I thought my upstairs neighbor's place had been trashed, but now I knew it had just been messed up, a little bit. What was worse, and the part I had been dreading since I started to follow Micheal and Chewy, were the bodies. Not because I was a psychic, but because it had already been proven that wherever the twisted had been, they left bodies behind.
When I had last been to Little Mike's the place hadn't been very busy, not much of a surprise, the college wasn't open right now, and the majority of the students who frequented the restaurant didn't like to get up before noon if they had a choice. It was later now and while I doubted the place had been full, there were a lot more bodies than I had been expecting to see. Or at least there were more pieces of people. Pools of blood covered the floor while more blood was splashed on the walls and ceiling. Arms and legs decorated the broken tables and chair by sticking out from underneath or topping them like a morbid centerpiece. Few of which seemed to be attached to the rest of the bodies.
Then there was the smell. A heavy iron like smell filled the air and seemed to coat my mouth and throat as I breathed.
Jonathan had been bad, nearly sending me over the edge, and he had been in one piece. None of these people seemed to have that same fortune.
I immediately turned away and emptied my stomach, violently. It didn't take me long, and despite my improved physique I hurt all over when I was done.
Looking back up I spotted Micheal, he was very pale as he looked around the room. Chewy on the other hand didn't seem bothered at all. At least that was what I assumed, I had no idea how to read his canine expression.
"Is anyone there?" Micheal yelled out.
There was no response.
I looked around again, resisting the urge to dry heave as I did so. If anyone was alive, they probably needed immediate assistance. Which they wouldn't receive if I was puking again.
Chewy moved through the room ignoring the pools of blood as he sniffed at each of the piles of broken furniture. Seeing that Micheal and Chewy were working in the main room I decided to head to the kitchen and check the bathrooms in case anyone had tried to hide.
Admittedly I was also trying to get away from the gore fest. I had never been into the kitchen before, but it didn't look much different than I imagined it to be. Counters, big ass stoves and ovens, fridges, and everything else I could think of that belonged in a restaurant's kitchen. The kitchen was pretty open so it wasn't hard to see that there was no one around, but I did notice that the walk in freezer door was partly open. While I called it partly open, the door handle was one of those big lever style contraptions and it hadn't latched completely. Sure someone could have been careless in closing the door, but it didn't hurt to look.
Walking over to the freezer I pulled the door open. A cold breeze flowed out of the freezer along with the barrel of a handgun. Mike was standing just inside the walk in freezer with Rosa standing behind him looking out from behind him with a fearful expression. He had a gun in his hands pointed straight at my chest.
"Woah!" I exclaimed loudly putting my hands up fearfully. I wasn't sure if I hoped to block a bullet or show I wasn't a threat. Then again it was also my first time having a gun pointed at me so I was running more on instinct than conscious thought.
"Daryl?" Mike asked hesitantly, looking me over carefully before finally lowering his gun.
I breathed out a sigh of relief when the gun was no longer pointed at me then nodded. While I had leveled up my physique making myself stronger, and more durable, I had no illusion that I could take a bullet any better than I could before.
"Is... is it gone?" Rosa asked from behind Mike.
Again I nodded, not quite trusting myself to speak just yet.
"Where did it go?' Mike asked, then shook his head. "Doesn't matter, we need to get out of here."
"It's gone." I answered anyway. "Along with the other two that showed up."
"There are more?" Rosa asked worriedly.
I shook my head. "They aren't a threat anymore." I tried to reassure her. It didn't seem to be working, but I couldn't really blame her. Not after having seen the other room.
"Is there anyone else?" I asked stepping back away from the freezer so they could come out of the freezer. I tried to peer past the couple, but the freezer wasn't nearly as big as I had assumed it was. Or maybe it was, but the space was taken up by shelving which made sense when I thought about it.
"No." Mike said, stepping out of the freezer. He moved slowly and looked around carefully while he clutched the gun in his hand tightly. I worried for a moment that he might accidentally set it off, but then I noticed he didn't have his finger on the trigger.
Rosa followed him out then screamed a moment later. Mike and I turned to see what had frightened her. She was staring out the window to the main room where Chewy was still sniffing around the main room.
Seeing the oversized lab Mike brought up his gun. I stepped forward and pushed his arm back down. I am not sure which of us was more surprised that I had the strength to do it despite Mike's resistance.
"Calm down, it's fine. Chewy isn't a monster." I told them.
The oversized golden lab turned its big head towards us when he heard his name. "Speak for yourself." he grumbled to me eliciting a laugh from Micheal.
"Who else is here?" Mike asked fearfully.
"Just Micheal." I replied. "The dog is his girlfriend's."
As if to prove my point Micheal came into the kitchen. He seemed relieved at the sight of Mike and Rosa. "Thank god someone survived." he said. He looked bad, paler than before.
"Anyone?" I asked cautiously.
Micheal shook his head.
"We should check the bathrooms." I told him then turned to do just that. I didn't want to think about the number of people that had lost their lives. I didn't think I could handle it. In high school my psychology teacher had invited a retired vet to talk to the class about the battles he had seen while in the service. It had been meant to discuss the effects of war on the psyche, but we just kept asking him about the battles, how many people he had killed and everything else naive children would. He told us everything in great detail.
Like most fearless teens I felt he was trying to scare us and overplayed the horrors of the battlefield. Only now did I realize that he had probably down played the horrors. The room out there was bad, but I didn't know any of them, they were all strangers, people I might have passed in the streets before, but no one memorable. The vet has seen his own friends and comrades shot or blown to bits, that had to be so much worse than what I was dealing with now. Then again could something like that be described with words alone? I wasn't sure, but I wanted to be as far away from it as I could, and if I could find someone else who was alive I hoped it would make this whole thing a little bit easier to deal with.
I knocked on the bathroom doors and called out before I pushed the doors open. I didn't want to experience having a gun pointed at me again. As an open carry state, I knew it was a very real possibility. Unfortunately, or fortunately both rooms were empty, of survivors and corpses.
Unsure if I should feel relieved or disappointed I rejoined the others in the kitchen. They all looked over at me when I returned but I just shook my head. They understood what I meant and didn't ask.
"Are you sure they are gone?" Rosa asked Micheal worriedly.
"Yes, Daryl, Chewy, and I took them out." Micheal told her.
I frowned at Micheal but didn't say anything. I didn't think it was a good idea to spread around the fact that we could fight the twisted. Even if he hadn't been taken in by some government group like I had assumed he was, it didn't mean they weren't out there. Or that they wouldn't seek us out, and there was no guarantee they would want to recruit us. Maybe I was being paranoid, but I was alright with that.
While Rosa seemed to be relieved by what Micheal said, Mike didn't look convinced. Instead he glared at Micheal angrily. I wasn't sure why but no matter what the problem was I thought it was best to change the subject.
"We should try and call this in, at least so someone can come and take care of the bodies, but I don't want to stick around." I spoke up.
"I don't either." Rosa replied shivering and stepping closer to her husband.
"You guys can come with us if you want too." Micheal offered immediately.
"N.." Mike started to say something, but Rosa quickly spoke over him. "Please!" she said, sounding relieved.
"Damn it woman, we can't!" Mike told her, getting even angrier. "We have to go check on Mom and Miguel!" he told her.
Rosa hesitated for a moment clearly torn between staying with us where she thought it was safe and checking on her son and mother.
While she didn't say anything Mike seemed to get even angrier with every passing moment she didn't say anything.
Micheal seemed to notice Mike's anger and stepped a bit closer to the couple holding his hands up placatingly. "Maybe we could follow you back to your place to get your family." he offered, trying to calm Mike down.
"Stay away from my wife!" Mike yelled at Micheal angrily.
"This isn't good." Delilah said from beside me, scaring me. I hadn't even noticed either fairy since I entered the restaurant and neither had spoken to remind me of their presence.
I had to agree with her though. I knew Mike was jealous, but this wasn't the time or place for it.
Micheal backed away from the couple while Rosa stared at Mike in shock, and a bit of fear.
Mike just glared at Micheal, his face turning red from the rage.
"He's changing!" Delilah shouted in warning.