~Alexander Compound, Lima, Ohio, United States, Earth, Ceti Universe~
Raven continued listening to the sound of wood hitting wood. He really hoped no one was trying to tear down his fence. It wasn't like they couldn't just go around it if they really wanted to access the house or yard. The sound was coming from the back corner at that. There was a gate right there. It may have had a lock on it, but six foot past the gate was the end of the fence. Sascha and Lynette awoke at the same time.
He went over and explained the situation to them. They both confirmed they understood. Ascending the stairs, he passed through the bathroom into the kitchen. Raven could quickly see what was making the noise. Next door, Frank was tossing wood from the bed of his truck onto a pile. It looked like the man was serious in his request to expand the fence. He unlocked the door and stepped out, locking it behind him.
As he began walking next door, he heard another sound. Growling. More than one something making the sound too. Raven looked around his yard. Lo and behold, at the northwest corner, on the other side of the fence, was a blue glow quickly making its way down the line.
"Hey Frank," he yelled, "company is coming man!"
Frank stood in the bed of the pickup and looked around as well. His eyes went wide when he spotted the fast-approaching glow.
He yelled to Raven, "shit man, there's three people comin!"
Raven unholstered his pistol. He had already seen what the infected people were capable of on multiple occasions. They didn't seem like they would listen to reason either. He took up position at the back of his minivan and aimed for the end of the fence. Frank fumbled his own weapon free. Frank's hands shook nervously. As the first person passed the fence, Raven squeezed the trigger. A small hole appeared just at the top of a jagged scar on their face. Their head jerked to the side as the bullet exited the other side.
Frank fired three times quickly, his eyes closing with the first shot. The second person dropped to one knee and then fell forward with their momentum. Raven shot it as it tried to crawl forward. The third person successfully reached the pickup and lunged for Frank. The force of the collision caused him to drop his pistol. Frank reached down and picked up a shorter piece of lumber. The third person's head made an echoing crunch noise as he made contact. They slid to ground, a final soft groan coming from their throat. Frank leaned over the side of the truck. Their blue blood pooled the same as normal and faded slowly to a dark blue just like the veins of the infected.
"So, loud noise is a dead giveaway that someone is doing something bubba. Probably shouldn't do things alone anymore if yer gonna cause a racket."
"I wasn't thinkin man. I just wanted to get something to get this fence up. Keep myself busy ya know," he asked. He wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the back of his arm.
"Any scratches or anything?"
"Nah, not that I can tell. Gunked up my truck though."
"Yeah, well I wouldn't worry about cleaning that with anything but bleach."
The heavy-set man rubbed the back of his neck and looked around his truck. He'd had this truck for years. Now it was covered in whatever was running through people now. He didn't think his mom even owned a hose.
"Um, what do you think we should do with the bodies," Frank asked.
"Burn em. We should burn the bodies probably right now. If we leave em, they'll rot, and we don't know what they're infected with. Could ruin yer momma's veggies. And the ground around in general," Raven responded.
Raven looked around for a moment before going to grab a sheet of roof metal from Candy's yard. He dragged it over around his fence and into the rear corner. Together, the two men carried each of the three bodies onto the sheet. They tossed some scrap wood and their gloves onto the pile with them. Raven took his lighter and held it to the nearest shirt. Flames slowly licked across the fabric.
He looked to Frank, "We're gonna need to keep our eyes open bubba. If the screaming and growls didn't draw attention, I'm sure the gun shots did. Now this fire, don't think we could do a bigger smoke signal screamin that someone is alive over here than this."
Frank looked around again. This guy was like a nervous squirrel constantly fidgeting and looking for perceived threats. He looked back to Raven with pleading eyes.
Raven sighed heavily, "get the twos lined up along the line and a four every eight feet or so. We'll get the fence up as quick as we can while we watch for anybody snoopin around. My wife'll keep an eye out, she enjoys bein nosy. I'll be right back up with the post hole diggers."
He headed to the basement and informed Lynette of the plan. She eagerly agreed to go upstairs to keep a watch along the front and sides of the house. It meant leaving her twin to keep the kids entertained by herself. Raven grabbed the diggers and pickaxe and went back up to assist Frank with his section of the back fence. After only a couple hours, the back line was completed. The only part left open was that which butted against the abandoned house between the alley and Margaret's house.
"Make sure yer momma's gun is loaded bubba. We need to check out that last house and we can close it in too. Hell, if the old man on the other side of the alley is still alive and we can get him to ok it... we might be able to just close it all in," ordered Raven.
Frank nodded and went back into his house. A few minutes later he returned with the Magnum in his hand. They both walked to the back door of the abandoned house. It had been abandoned for who knows how long and the back door barely clung to its hinges. Looking at Frank behind him, Raven nudged the door open with his foot. Frank hesitated as Raven entered the dark house. Within, there was no longer an interior kitchen door. They slowly stepped into the kitchen, its floor covered in trash and dust. A few syringes scattered here and there betrayed the addicts that had squatted here when able. Frank went to check the kitchen cabinets. There he discovered rusted food cans and moldy food from the various people who had called this place home, however briefly.
Raven looked into the laundry room, seeing only a rusted washer and dryer. They likely no longer worked. He and Frank moved to either side of the doorway leading into the dining room. Together they stepped into the dining room. Frank attempted to mirror Raven's stance. The room was empty. Raven moved quickly to peek into the living room. The entire first floor seemed to be covered in a thick layer of various trash and old personal effects. After noting the living rooms lack of inhabitants, they moved to the bottom of the stairs. While the layout was similar to Raven's own house, there were fewer rooms added on.
Raven placed his hand on Frank's shoulder once again, "we need to be really careful up here. Once we clear the upstairs though, we can knock out the rest of the fence along the front yards. We can see if the old man is alive and willing to get his house included. If he does... man, we're gonna close in all the empty lots on that side so we can farm it if we need to."
Frank nodded vigorously. He would do whatever he needed to to be sure that they had food. It was one of his biggest concerns when he was driving through the city. So many stores either closed or broken into all over. Hell, someone at the Lowe's he had gone to had left the gate to the lumber area wide open.
They crept slowly up the stairs. More than a couple had holes opening to what they assumed was the basement. Near the top of the stairs, they could see that, like Raven's house, the bedrooms on either side had no doors. Only the bedroom at the end of the short hallway had a door. Raven pointed to Frank and then to the right door. He aimed his body toward the left door while watching to the right until Frank had posted up next to it.
With a nod from Raven, they both entered their respective objective room. A single twin sized bed sat empty against the east wall of the room Raven was clearing. On the west wall, a small desk was covered in coloring pages. The bed itself had torn sheets, blood, and other various fluids and moldy bits of food. Looking in the closet, he could see a few pieces of tattered old little girls clothing hanging up. A few boxes were stacked to either side. He would come back later and go through the house to see what was salvageable.
He met back up with Frank outside of the master bedroom. They lined up behind it and prepared to enter, Raven again taking the lead. A smallish hole at the bottom of the door was the only damage they could see. Raven placed his hand on the door. Frank whispered an okay. Raven pushed the door open hard. A dark figure moved across his vision followed by the sound of an explosion in his ear.