Chapter 3

‘How did we end up here? Why were there three of us? Where’s Milla?’ 

Ciroz had been thinking all of these questions nonstop since he woke up that morning and he still hadn’t managed to find an answer. He knew that his question was valid, that there had been two of them originally, both of whom had ended up transformed into different birds when the monsters attacked. He had no idea how or why. That was the real problem with turning into a bird; even though it helped him evade the enemy while being able to fly and he had been relatively safe until now, there was the possibility that the monster managed to infect everyone in the house. It was almost impossible that they wouldn’t be affected, especially if the others had been bitten by zombies. The thought of it sent chills down his spine and Ciroz tried very hard not to think about it. He still didn’t really understand it at all. His brain refused to accept the information that he had just learnt and his instincts told him to run for his life, which he obviously could no longer do at this point. He knew that he was too weak right now to escape. All he could do was wait for his transformation to finish so he could fly back home, where it would take away the pain.

However, his thoughts never lasted long and within seconds the transformation stopped. Ciroz turned back to the original form and stretched his arms.

“So much for escaping…” he said. “Now I’m stuck as a bird, I guess?” he added with a sigh. As Ciroz sat down in the middle of the road and looked at his surroundings, he wondered if this was the end of the line. There was nothing left for him to return to, he had destroyed the rest of the world. Everything was just… ruins. No matter how much he stared at them he couldn’t comprehend what was going on anymore, why were they here and how could he live here now. He tried desperately to recall what happened before he transformed and failed miserably to remember anything. The last thing he remembers was falling asleep by the side of the road with the others beside him, talking about Halloween. He knew that they got separated sometime after that, but there wasn’t much he could do. He was powerless.

And then, out of nowhere, he saw movement, far to his left. He turned his attention back to it and saw a woman walking towards them. She was young and pretty, her hair short but wavy. Her clothes weren’t particularly clean, her face dirty and her shoes worn out. However, despite everything, she still wore a smile that brightened up her entire face. As she approached, the crow sitting atop Ciroz’s head perked up and tilted it to one side. Its yellow eye lit up and it let out a squawk. Before it even finished speaking, the woman stopped a few meters away from Ciroz and looked straight into his yellow eyes.

“I’ve come to save you, my child,” she announced. “Please allow me to help you.”

For a few seconds, Ciroz remained silent. He was confused and tired and wanted nothing more than to lie down on the ground somewhere and sleep off the fatigue he felt. However, there was a feeling growing inside him that he couldn’t explain. He couldn’t explain it to himself either, so he decided to trust the stranger and asked her how she knew exactly where he was.

“Your friends are waiting for you,” she replied. “Follow me.”

Before Ciroz could respond, she disappeared without a trace. He looked at where she stood a second ago and sighed, deciding that he would just follow her. After all, if anyone knew how to find the kids, it was probably this strange woman in purple robes. Although, she hadn’t mentioned anything about being able to see spirits, or seeing spirits, but Ciroz couldn’t complain because his brain was screaming ‘magic’ at him. Still, he didn’t know whether or not it would actually work, especially since his magic had always been quite unpredictable.

With a shaky sigh, Ciroz walked down the road, looking around nervously, wondering what would happen to the skeletons now that their master was gone. He had already found one once today; he was pretty sure that if things continued this way, he wouldn’t be able to find another for quite some time. At first, he thought that the skeleton belonged to someone, but it wasn’t. It must have been a survivor of the monsters that attacked their home the day before. Either that or this was the remains of some poor family that hadn’t escaped, but he doubted it; if they had managed to survive the attack then surely they would have left a note or something, especially considering the situation. They must’ve ran away instead and left all of their belongings behind as well. And then there was the fact that the skeleton didn’t even try to attack him. It just laid there, breathing heavily with every new inhale and exhale