Hanish watched as Janice slept, taking in each breath she took. He observed to see if it would stall. He turned onto his back on his air mattress and looked up at the massive ceiling. His eyes followed the giant pipes; he felt as if he could just lift up and float away. He closed his eyes, briefly experiencing what he felt.

  He opened them to see Janice standing before him, holding a plate of chickpeas. She smiled at him and said, “Good morning.” He took the plate from her, noticing a small light gleaming from the sheets she had hung over the glass doors. Big tables were flipped and blocked the opening. He wondered how she had managed to do that alone. She didn’t really speak to him much, but every once in a while, she would glance up at him.

  “Is there anything on your mind?” he asked, taking a spoonful into his mouth.

  She looked at him and placed her plate at her feet. She glanced away from him, and he noticed her eyes were not meeting his. She sighed and bit her lip. “Hanish, how have you been able to survive?

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  “What do you mean?” he chuckled. She took a deep breath and looked him straight in the eyes.

  “You’ve been on your own for two years, and yet you seem to be able to avoid the undead. How?” She was staring at him with a nervous expression; he noticed it on her face. She wasn’t asking to know; she was scared of him.

  “I guess it’s just luck?” he said, shrugging his shoulders. She narrowed her brow and looked down at her plate. It wasn’t a good enough answer; there was something more going on, something unseen. Hanish couldn’t explain it himself. He figured he had been lucky or that maybe something about his scent was blocking him from being affected anymore. Janice once again looked up at him.

  “Are you enjoying your food?” she asked, poking around in her food. He nodded. The moment was awkward; the silence was so loud. Hanish wondered how much longer Janice was going to keep following him around. The sounds of groaning became present outside the sheets; the silhouettes of the undead gleamed through.

  Hanish gestured to Janice to be silent. She looked behind her, jumping up. She ran behind Hanish for protection, holding on to his arms as he kept her behind him. He slowly pulled the curtains back and started shooting. Some were following, but others kept going faster than his bullets.

  They were trying to push past the tables, and then Hanish turned to Janice and told her to run. She swallowed hard and then nodded to him. She ran towards the back of the store as fast as she could. She picked up her feet as she heard Hanish behind her. He was marking each Undead in the head. They fell like leaves. He didn’t have time to look back at Janice. He just wanted her to be safe.