More than 206 bones

Only a few people left in Drearburh after the outbreak and they have found safe haven behind the church's door.

The Reverend Father celebrated a sermon every night.

They prayed while the dead walked outside and Harrowhark found this beautiful.

Then on the last night, her father ordered to open the door before every stray soul.

"This is not sickness or death but pure salvation, the promised resurrection." said Priamhark on the pulpit.

Everything happened too fast after this statement.

The enormous two-winged door opened with a harsh squealing.

And they came in immediately, a dozen of them. Some of the church members went willingly into the arms of these creatures driven by her father's words.

Blood splashed on Harrow's face and she found herself moving, trying to reach the only way out with incredible will. She was almost there when slimy green-gray hands grabbed her. She cried out when a gunshot destroyed her attacker's rotting head.

She would have died without her but Gideon Nav showed up that night like a miracle.

Trained moves with a knife, and aimed shots with the gun to prevent the dead from cornering them.

They got out alive because most of the devils were devouring the people of the congregation; only a few moved towards them.

***

Gideon tried her best to reach out, but Harrow wasn't there with her in the first few days. She didn't speak a word but she managed her days, she walked, ate the military food that Gideon brought in her backpack, drank, and tried to sleep when they stopped.

She wasn't really there though, she existed and she had always seen the victims of her father lurking in the periphery of her vision. One of these phantoms now lurked behind Gideon.

Then it was Gideon's yell which made her move, made it clear it wasn't a hallucination. Harrow grabbed Gideon's fallen knife and put that into the devil’s rotten skull. It stopped wrestling the other girl immediately.

"Gideon! Gideon"

The words felt strange in her mouth.

Gideon pushed the corpse from herself and got up panting. Blood drained on her face and neck but it wasn't her own.

"Thank you, really I was so stupid." She put one of her hands on Harrow shoulder still panting." There are devils, devils, everywhere. "She waved around with her other hand" and I didn't watch my back."

Harrow looked at somewhere next to Gideon and closed her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Hell, Griddle, you know that I'm not. I'm useless like this, I…."

Gideon held Harrow's hands, like she was afraid the other girl would run away, and said:

"Don't you dare say this shit after you saved my life, Nonagesimus. We need each other, idiot."

***

Gideon believed they were far enough from the main road to make camp in an empty and abandoned car. It had enough room in the back. They were able to close the backdoor and there wasn’t any blood in it which was more than great, a five-star room in these days, honestly.

Gideon found an unopened magazine on the driver's seat.

"Look, whoever owned this car before had some taste. It’s a shame they didn't get the chance to enjoy it." Said she as she ripped the cover foil off.

"Really useful, I bet it's gonna save our lives someday."

Gideon can't hide her happiness at her response, seemed like the fact that Harrow talking to her again could fix the entire world.

She flipped through the pages and casually asked.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine."

"Harrow…"

"I see the corpse of my father. It is sitting in the driver's seat. Thanks to you, Griddle I am still aware of that it isn't real."

"What do you mean?"

Harrow seemed unsure for a moment then she said silently.

"You wouldn't be this calm if it were real."

Harrow took a deep breath. "Gideon, I…"

"I know I know. I'm too funny and attractive to be the creation of your mind. Not a problem."

"Oh shut up."

Gideon smiled at that.

***

The main road was full of cars, a rotting traffic jam, an eternal memory of a newly lost civilization. A graveyard of dead engines and people who died in them. Most of the cars were empty, some had a moveless dried corpse or a sun-weakened devil in it. The smells were the worst, the clothes in front of their mouths weren't helping at all.

They found a military van, half down the road, it hit a tree. From the driver seat a corpse stared at them hungrily. It wasn't able to move at all because the car’s dashboard broken parts restained them.

Gideon put the knife in its temple, she had a strange sad expression on her face. Harrow had to look away.

"The same recorded shit on the radio, at least the officer had some good stuff."

"Maybe there is more in the back."

"Nope." Gideon hit the van’s wall with her palm. Quarantine transport. "this means, don't open, dead inside."

More and more devils appeared with the sunset so they left the road.

***

"The horde is on the road but there gonna be a few among the woods. If we are lucky they won't notice us. If they do, this will keep them up until we kill them."

Gideon was pulling out wire among the trees, in three different heights, a small circle of protection.

Harrow didn't know if it was the work of Aiglamene or the army but she was amazed by how Gideon was fitting in this new world.

The first corpse appeared a few hours later. It wasn't stopped by the wires, those cut into its rotten flesh deep, and kept it in a trap. Harrow thought if they left the creature like this, it would end by cutting itself into pieces in a few days.

Gideon grabbed her knife.

"Let me."

Gideon handed the blade to Harrow.

***

"Gideon, can I ask you something, what happened with the cohort?"

"I think most of the survivors wonder about this. When it began even I believed that at least one of the protocols would work…but we just couldn't handle it at the end. We didn't even know what is it. A virus or some effect of a new chemical weapon? Are these creatures truly dead or they are just infected? Hell, I still don't know any of this. It doesn't matter, it didn't matter when they devoured half of my squad and I had to …"

Gideon combed her hair with her hand which was lightly shaking.

"You don't have to tell me, I'm sorry.

"No, it is okay…so at the end in Trentham, the cohort tried to maintain a refuge camp. We tried to protect people, and it worked for a while, a few weeks in peace. I served there and it sounds good but I'm not proud of it, Harrow. We did things while we tried to keep the order up. There were a lot of people and nearly nothing to give them. Then the virus began to spread inside the camp too and…I… I left.

Gideon let out a little hysterical laugh, it was so unusual from her, Harow heard the self-hate out of it. She was silent for a while, Harrow looked at her. Worn blood stained white gray uniform with red collar. Her black trousers were torn and her boots dirty from blood and mud, and her strong fingers gripped the dog tags around her neck. Then that sadness in her golden eyes.

"I deserted! I did exactly what Crux had always said I'm gonna and it feels…"

Harrow touched her hand, and Gideon silenced immediately.

"I'm glad you did. You saved my life."

"Uhum"

"But why Gridde? Why did you come to Drearburh."

"I had to, you crazy nun, I needed to find you."

Harrow laced their fingers together.

***

"I hope it is empty, despite some food and a nice bed." Said Gideon as she followed Harrow towards a little cottage they chose to spend the night. It was nice, with white fences and wooden stairs leading to the porch.

"We have to be careful. Every house is a morgue, Nav."

"It could be even more than that, sugar. The windows are boarded up, a human could be here too."

Harrowhark took a minute to think, then grabbed her knife and looked at her. Determined.

"The sun almost set, we need to hide, Griddle."

To that Gideon only nodded, with her favorite and ultimate devil killer weapon - a crowbar they found on the road - in her hand, Gideon kicked the door.

There were two of them. Walking remains of a long dead couple.

Gideon smashed one of them's head while Harrow's blade found an easy way into the other's temple.

Then they pulled the - now moveless corpses out. Gideon secured the main door and Harrow took some of the dead's blood and painted a little on the door from it.

For the first few times Gideon was afraid of this was some religious shit but they lived this nightmare for a while. Harrow did this to hide their presence from the dead.

The house was really small. It had a little kitchen with a barricaded back door, a bathroom, and only one room with carefully boarded windows.

Somehow there was still water in the taps. They secured the main door and checked the windows again.

Then they washed themselves in a basin of water. First Harrow and Gideon believed she got used to situations like this in the army and later in this end of the world of life of them but nope. This was hard not to glance.

Later Harrow's blush told her she had the same problems when Gideon was washing herself which felt so good.

"It is so nice." Thought Gideon as she lay down. They had a roof over their head and a couch to sleep.

"he sees the blood on the door and will not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you"

As she awoke these words slowly were finding their meanings in her mind. She recognized the ton, she had heard it a million times. Harrow was praying.

Their eyes met at the last words and none of them looked away during a heavy silence.

Harrow was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room. She seemed so young in the too-big shirt they found in this house. Next to her where a small cafe table with a candle on it. The low yellow light painted the walls with long shadows.

"Sorry."

"It is okay, I'm just surprised. After what happened in Drearburgh I thought you were done with all of this."

"How could I be? The dead walk outside, these are clearly the end times." Her voice sounded dreamy, there were zealous sparks in those black eyes.

Now Gideon was terrified, and felt like an idiot because that was some religious shit after all…

"Please don't look at me like that, Griddle, I'm fine."

"I hope so because you scare the hell out of me right now, Nonagesimus."

"My father believed it is salvation, it cannot be! It's a plague, I refuse to call it anything else."

While she was speaking Harrow went to the chouch; to Gideon and lightly kissed her forehead. Don't worry.

The candlelight painted a halo around her hair.

Gideon's hand unconsciously found her waist.

" I have never been religious, you know, not even as a kid."

"Oh, tell me more…"

"Heh, I know, know…but I had to ask, if it is not your father's way then what do you believe in now, Harrow?"

" I believe in us. We are going to survive together and that's salvation."