A horrible smell came from the darkness in front of me as I blinked rapidly, trying to adjust my eyes enough to see what was coming.

Backpedaling, I banged into the side of the washer, sending a metallic bang echoing down the hall. The growling continued, but the expected attack never came.

"Bri!" Hands yanking me further backwards, I found myself shoved behind Shawn as he waited for the zombie to emerge from the room with bat raised. The others began rushing into the living room, drawn by the commotion, as I peered around his shoulder, not wanting to take my eye from the dark doorway.

Something about the sound of the growl was nagging at the corners of my mind, but the rush of fear wasn't letting me think clearly. When the low sound cut off, I was still trying to figure out just why the growls bothered me.

"What the..." the bat lowered a fraction as we caught sight of the shadowy form that was slinking into the hall.

"It's a dog."

The dog came into the hallway with cautious steps, head low as he eyed us with wary curiosity. His ears and legs seemed too big for his body, making him look almost comical. I realized why that was a second later. The dog was very thin.

His ribs and hip bones jutted out against the black and tan coat. The limited light glinted off of a chain collar that hung loosely around his shrunken neck. Sympathy swelled inside me for the creature that had been apparently left shut in the dark room for weeks. I had been trying not to think about the fate of so many animals that had been left with no one to care for them, the thought of their suffering made me want to cry every time, but standing in front of me now was the cruel reality of the situation. The most helpless of those around us were suffering horribly.

"Bri."

I ignored the warning tone in his voice as I ducked around Shawn and crouched down. Keeping my posture loose, I held a hand out and froze, offering to let the dog come to me at his own pace. "Hi, Boy. It's ok. You can come out now." I kept my voice even as I coaxed the dog to me. He cocked his head slightly to the side at my voice, but remained where he had stopped. After a few seconds, I looked back to the group that was hovering just behind me. "It's ok, you guys can finish checking the house. The dog and I are going to make friends."

"Are you sure," Maya sounded skeptical.

"Yes. This many people all staring at him will just make it worse."

"Alright." They didn't look all that sure that they should be leaving, but the group slowly started to disappear from my view.

All except for Shawn. "I'm not leaving you alone with that dog. What if it decides to attack you?"

"He's not going to attack me." I was confident in my words. I had grown up with dogs, volunteered at a vet clinic as a teen. The only reason I hadn't owned a dog when all of this started, was we weren't allowed pets in the rental. This dog was scared and weak, and he was defensive. But he gave no indication that he was going to get aggressive. He just needed time to adjust to having strangers in his house.

"Well, I'm still not leaving."

"That's ok. But you need to stop being so tense."

He laughed shortly. "How exactly am I supposed to do that?"

"Sit down. Lean back against the wall and try to relax. And stop staring at him. It's best if you don't look at him at all for now. This might take a while."

Looking skeptical, Shawn followed my instructions, sliding down the wall a few feet away from where I crouched. Satisfied, I turned my attention back to the dog.

I talked softly to the dog, not much of it really making a lot of sense, but the content wasn't what really mattered anyway. Before long, the dog had taken the few steps needed to be able to stretch out his neck and sniff my offered hand. His tail banged against the dryer weakly a few times before he moved closer and sank down into an exhausted heap next to me. We stayed like that for a while, me rambling on to the dog, before he finally relaxed and let his head rest on my knee. "Good boy," I crooned to the dog as I let my fingers lightly stroke the fur just behind one ear. "That's a good boy."

"Ok, he's ok now. Just don't make any sudden moves." Climbing to my feet, I waited for the dog to get up too, and started back toward the dark doorway.

"What are you doing?" Shawn cautiously got up from the floor too.

"I still need to check inside there." There was basically no chance that there was a zombie lurking in the darkness, but I was still going to check.

The dog followed behind me as I went back to the doorway. This time, my eyes were fully adjusted to the lack of light, and I could see inside. It was a bathroom. A sink was to the left, a tub to the right. I wrinkled my nose as I stepped inside. The dog had been doing his business in the tub, that accounted for the smell. I noticed that the toilet past the sink was bone dry. That little bit of water had obviously been the dog's saving grace. Without it, he would have never survived so long shut in this room. A rumpled bath mat and a stuffed monkey dog toy were on the floor by the tub. A large metal bowl was overturned in one corner. Picking up the bowl, I left the bathroom. The air in there was horrible and my eyes were already burning.

"Let's get you something to drink." We didn't have much water left, but I was hoping that the others would have found something to remedy that situation by now. The dog sticking close to my side, and Shawn following, I went back through the living room and turned in the direction that I guessed I would find the kitchen. Low voices sounded, letting me know that I was on the right track. Everyone else would probably be searching the kitchen for something to eat.

The conversation died out as I walked into the room with the dog at my heels. "Ignore him, everyone. Act like he isn't here at all." As wary as the dog was, it would be best if everyone left him alone for a while.

They started talking again, and I listened as I looked around the room for something to take care of the dog with. One cabinet door that was hanging open had rows of canned dog food lined up inside, and I pulled one can out and set it on the counter. What he needed most, at this point, was water. After I sorted out the water situation, I'd look for a can opener.

I didn't find what I was looking for in the kitchen, but a glance out the backdoor solved my problem. I could see another dog bowl out there, this one full to overflowing with rainwater. Nothing seemed to be moving in the tiny back yard, so I opened the door. Shooting outside, the dog greedily lapped at the bowl until it was more than half empty. With a final slurp, he raised his head and looked around himself. For a second, I was afraid that he would take off, but he sniffed the air once before turning around and coming back to where I had been waiting in the doorway.

"Good boy," I patted his head and reached for the tags that dangled from his chain. "Rex. Good boy, Rex." His tail wagged when he heard his name and he looked up at me with a bit of life returning to his eyes. "Let's go find a can opener."

Running my fingers through his hair, I snuggled closer to Rex and tried to turn my mind off. We had decided to stay in the house for the night, and I was currently tucked under the covers in one of the bedrooms, the dog happily curled up by my side.

The day had passed more pleasantly than was usual in our new reality. We had eaten until we were all stuffed, pilfered clothes from the closets to replace our own filthy ones, except for Bill. There hadn't been anything in any of the closets that even came close to fitting his frame. And entertained ourselves with books that we found around the house. Rex had eaten his can of food, collapsed and taken a long nap, and woken up ready to be the life of the party. He had warmed up to the entire group quickly, and them to him, and everyone had been more than happy to comply with his pestering attempts to get them to pet him.

It was my turn to get a full night of sleep, and I was more than tired, but I still couldn't seem to relax enough to fall asleep. Too many questions were racing around in my brain. Who had killed all of the zombies outside? And where were they now? We had made sure to keep someone on watch all day, but had yet to see a single live zombie here. What had happened to Rex's owners? I couldn't help but think about them. We were eating their food, wearing their clothes, and sleeping in their beds. I wondered if they were out there, somewhere, trying to get back to their home. And I wondered what was going to happen to us.

The last couple of days had been harsh. A day inside, with dry clothes and plenty to eat, had done a lot to revive everyone. But we all knew that it was only temporary. Eventually, we would be forced to move on. It was a harsh lesson that we were learning the hard way.