When the dead reconvene, they do not feel like ghosts. There bodies shamble, shuffle, decay. They are animated more like zombies than ghosts. There is no haunting to be done. None of them feel any particular tie to this place, a spot on a playground beside the church that Leo tells them to avoid but doesn't explain why. There is no passion, no lingering. All there is are vacancies. Within their bodies, at the motel where Lydia convinces the man to give them three rooms at a discounted price since they pay in cash. Ajay has procured from the jewelry Eva gave him. There are vacant drawers where clothes would go if they had stolen anything, vacant fridges where they could put food if they required it. Vacant stomachs, always hungry.

In the middle of the night, Eva rolls over in her bed and touches Ambrose's shoulder. He is just as awake as she is. Together, they return to the church and break into the basement they once called home. They steal back their clothing. Some of the food they collect, mostly the non-perishables to stuff in their new rooms. Eva is the one who works, creeping quickly, hopping from one room to the next. She doesn't mind how Ambrose barely helps her. Instead, he strips all of their cots and folds up the sheets. Then, he wanders up the stairs and presses his cheek against the ground. He can feel the draft coming in. He's heard of Holy Water, but never Holy Air. He feels God all around him, but he knows he still is not going to Heaven.

The next day, they all gather in one of the rooms, where Nico and Fallon have teamed up to make breakfast for everyone. Only then do they all agree to share what they know.

"We have four thousand dollars left," Eva says. "I'll get more."

"Some of us are going to start looking for work," Ajay tells them. "They've got enough under the table we can do out here. The snow'll be coming so at the very least we can shovel driveways. Five bucks per."

Unlike the others, Clare is aware they don't need to eat. Perhaps they hunger, but nothing could ever fill them. They are zombies, after all. Likely, they don't even need to sleep. Maybe they will feel cold, but could they even feel hot? Would the winter nights lounging in snowbanks actually kill them?

"And do we want to know where you're getting this money?" Audrey glares at Eva from beside her. "What if you run by before any of us have enough to pay for next week here?"

Eva takes out a cigarette from her pocket. With a click she ignites her lighter. She drags in and exhales the smoke directly into Audrey's face. Though Audrey cannot help but scrunch her nose, she otherwise tries not to give Eva the reaction she so desperately craves.

"We'll have to make it work, since we can't leave town," Barry offers.

Standing beside him, Lydia nods, "I went to the town line too. My body started to stop existing as we crossed it."

Audrey huffs and Eva blows another puff of smoke in their face. The smoke is getting thicker in the room. Lydia turns her head away from Eva. It's a habit, one her throat will appreciate even if she never sings again. She's done it since she died, prompted by Eva, but now she's worried she couldn't hold a tune. Lydia already has forgotten the blocking for the last opera she did. Maybe she wouldn't remember all the words to the songs she has sung. While Lydia may like testing Barry, she does not want to test this new theory.

Besides, she isn't sure what testing Barry has gotten her. When they picked rooms and beds last night, Barry offered to go with Audrey. Not her. In the cold hours of the evening, Lydia was awake, lying with Este in the next room and wondering if Barry chose the bed that mirrored hers, if he chose a spot that would have them lying next to each other if they had been in the same room.

"Why can't we go back to the church, exactly?" Audrey asks.

Kaia lets out a laugh, "you mean besides the murdered Indigenous women?"

Audrey glares at her. Kaia only laughs. Some part of Clare, somewhere far away, wishes Kaia wouldn't smile. That she would frown, or scream, or pull out a cigarette and inhale in Audrey's face. They are in Hell though, so of course Kaia must smile and pretend not to smile. Clare recognizes it as an act now. This is Kaia's Hell.

And Clare hates that they are a part of it.

"We all..." Nico trails off. They can lead just well, but they wish Leo was himself enough to jump in. Instead, Leo stares up at the ceiling.

He woke up Nico last night. Leo was in the same room as him, but in the bed next over. Fallon had curled up holding Nico, cried until she fell asleep. Ajay slept like he stood, straight and stiff. Sleep had approached Nico like death, when they weren't expecting it at all and later with no recollection of the moment it happened. Waking up to the sound of Leo screaming was like that too.

"We aren't sure what to make of it, but the pastor came down because we all screamed during service, but none of us remembered it," Nico says the words rapidly, hoping they come out so quickly that Nico will forget they ever passed their lips. "We... none of us know why it happened."

Fallon's knee starts jittering. Nico leans over and puts their hand over it. They don't hold her in place, but Nico hopes the feeling is at least comforting. Fallon is writhing, squirming, like a worm drowning in the dirt while in rains.

She gets up, forces herself into the bathroom. Fallon locks the door behind her and retches.

Clare wonders if they even could do that anymore. They don't eat. They don't sleep. It's become less of an experiment now, and it feels more of her way to survive. They cannot afford to delude themselves anymore. Clare misses their dog, and their parents, and misses the feeling of eating so much that their stomach would ache. They miss Thanksgiving, and being thankful for this world even in a shitty town like Chelster.

"What happened..." Nico trails off, glancing back after Fallon.

Leo stands up. He grabs the bathroom door handle and tries to jolt it open. There is a tiny pinprick hole that can unlock it, but he doesn't know where the key is. He knocks.

Audrey doesn't speak. She knows very little, but at least she knows that.

For that, at least, Este is grateful. Their hair is no longer dirty, the smell of death and soil no longer lingers on their skin, but Este still feels unclean. Este could scrub until their skin bled. It wouldn't come off. They might as well be the body that Jayce buried somewhere. At least that Este will be mostly bone, and so little flesh will remain sticking to it's skin.

No one else speaks, so Ambrose does, "a woman died in the forest. She threw up dirt, her eyes turned completely brown, and she said that it was burning, and it was going to get us too."

Kaia looks over at Clare, who hasn't moved. She feels eyes on her, the only movement in an otherwise static circle.

"Sorry," Kaia says, turning back to the others with half a smile on her face. "I guess it was just frightening."

She waits for Clare to share the information, or even to react. Kaia expects a lip to quiver, of Clare's brow to furrow, or for any sign that Clare has heard this information. All they do is shrug. Basic first aid training explains that the best way to treat burns is to run them under cool but not cold water. Clare feels the heat of the fire and the icy chill of the snow Kaia put on her stomach. There are no signs of burns.

Leo turns his head slightly, as if he is going to listen. He can hear the heater running in their little room, the air moving through the thin walls. Instead, Leo knocks on the bathroom door again. He doesn't remember what it was like to burn. Maybe he should.

"Then, she died, and she rapidly decayed," Ambrose finishes.

"What happened to her?" Lydia asks. She swallows, aware of the saliva in her mouth, and how it runs down her throat. The bed beneath her feels hard, but she can feel it.

"My ex-husband killed his new wife," Este answers, her jaw set.

She gets up and walks out of the door. The others look at each other. It is Ajay who stands and trails after her.

Lydia softens her facial features. The feeling is genuine but the action planned. Maybe she is more like Barry than she had ever imagined.

"I meant, to the body," Lydia looks at Ambrose. "I'm sorry you had to see that. Did you bury her?"

"She's probably dust but now," Ambrose answers.

An urge comes to him. In this strange room, filled with the haze of Eva's cigarette smoke. The fan in the bathroom turns on but doesn't clear it. It barely covers the sound of Fallon puking again. Ambrose can think of nothing to do except to press the palms of his hands against one another. And then, he prays.

~~~~~

Yes, this is tiny, but I couldn't force it out otherwise. So, enjoy this little thing and I will hopefully update within the week!