Jackson sat on a recliner while dozing off to the dull whistles of a bird. His shotgun hanging limply on his elbow. Occasionally, he grunted and whispered a name, quite incomprehensible to understand. It was a silent night. Or it was silent for so long. Until he jumped up suddenly to the loud barking of a dog.

He quickly and silently reached the window and peeked through the metal shutters. He couldn't see the dog, or anyone else in fact. This was going to invite attention. Not probably the best idea. He'll have to kill the dog. 

He silently reloaded the shotgun. The barking was unbearably loud. Then suddenly he heard a piercing whine. And then silence. Jackson's eyes went wide. He knew what happened. He rushed silently to the backdoor and unbolted the hinges. He leaned and looked over the backyard. No sign of anyone. He picked up a torch that was kept on a barrel down the backyard stair. Clicking the torch to life, he silently walked to the front of his house, where he had heard the dog bark.

There was a wooden fence surrounding his house, however, there was also a long metal fence on top of the wooden fence, so that no one and nothing can jump through. Then, he wondered, how did the dog get to his land?

He stopped every time he accidentally stepped on a branch or when a grass snapped loudly. 

He pressed himself next to the corner of his house and peered to the front. The garden he had planted was stomped on and his wife's rose bushes-, his eyes went wide. They were uprooted. He slowly kneeled to the ground. No it's fine, he thought, I'll replant them, they still have the roots. He vigilantly looked around and pointed his torch to a form next his garden supplies. It was the dog. The lower jaw were torn off from it's owner, the tongue slumped to the ground. Blood pooling his supplies. 

As he was about to pick the dog, he heard a slow grunt. He turned around, shotgun to his chest. A thin broken figure walked, or rather limped towards the flower pots. He directed the torch to its face. 

It had white chalky eyes, it was blind, they all were. It had a  few strands of hair that looked a bleached brown. The bald spaces on its head looked bruised and infected. Probably pulled out the hair, Jackson thought. It's groans were pitiful and it slobbered on the grass through the gaps of missing teeth. 

Its attention suddenly diverted to the chirping of crickets on a nearby grass. Which was extremely close to Jackson's feet. Jackson stood motionless. He can't use his gun, because it will alert the other- zombies…

He slowly pulled out a small utility knife and waited for it to approach him. It walked curiously towards him. The chirping went unnaturally loud. Jackson felt his breath hitch. 

When the zombie was too close for comfort, he immediately stabbed it's neck. The zombie roared but Jackson picked the garden gloves next to his supplies and stuffed it in it's mouth. Then with a good stab to it's throat, it slumped down. Lifeless. Or lifeless for the last time.

Jackson sighed. He was too tired for this. But the smell of blood could attract the other zoms. He quickly picked up a shovel and went to the back yard of his house, next to other mounds. He quickly dug up a small and sufficient hole and went back and carried the dog and zombie in a wheelbarrow. Then threw them both in the hole and replaced the dirt back. And the mound became an addition to the rest of the dead mounds. 

He realised he lost sleep because the sun was rising quite rapidly.

He went back to his house, grunting while walking up each step. He slumped down to the recliner and sighed. The sunlight trickled through the vintage curtains and reflected on the photos. Photos of his wife. He rubbed his eyes and went to the kitchen counter, picked up a box of cereal and looked for milk in the fridge. Jackson bit his lips and murmured 'No fucking milk'. Of course there wasn't any milk, the last time he and his partner went shopping was three weeks ago. He slammed the fridge shut and scratched his stubbled chin.

He walked out his backdoor again. This time he saw a blond haired man inspecting his wooden fence. He stood up and waved at Jackson. 

'A hole in the fence. I suppose a zom came in through here', the blond man said.

'And how do you know that, Levon?' Jackson asked.

Levon pointed to the puddle of blood on the grass. Jackson nodded. 'I suppose I'll have to stock up on the fortification supplies. By the way, lend me a carton of milk'.

'Can't' Levon replied. He continued when he saw Jackson's brows flying up, 'Its because I have finished my rations too'. Can't blame him, it had been three weeks after all.

Jackson sighed and looked at an expectant Levon.

'You'll go into the grocery shop. Take all that we would need. I'll take some fortification supplies' he said.

Levon shrugged and picked up an axe from Jackson's shed. Jackson's too took out an axe and made way to his truck. Levon reloaded his arrow barrel and mounted a bow to the truck's bonnet. Jackson opened the big gate to the outside. Outside the zombie infested land. Levon buckled the gate shut and they together made way to the city.

The rose bushes forgotten in the sun.

¤¤¤

It was a warm morning. But the stink from the men's body and the rotting flesh of the zombies were infuriatingly putrid. But they kept on ignoring the blind zombies. They would turn their white eyes at the sound of the truck's engine but they wouldn't try to get close. 'The ammonia is doing a pretty good job repelling these dead bastards away eh?' Levon sneered. Jackson rolled his eyes. He had once told Levon off for stealing NH3 liquid instead of the fuels, he was even more engraged when he knew Levon had done it on purpose. But of course, he had to eat his own words.

Jackson stopped in front of a supermarket. A few zoms slumped in a distance, growling sadly. Levon climbed down slowly and made his way to the supermarket. His axe raised, in case one zombie got too close for comfort. Jackson whispered 'I'll be back here in fifteen minutes. You better have everything before I arrive'. And he drove off.

Levon shrugged and pulled the glass door to the supermarket open. Must have been the rusted screws because it made a horrible creaking noice. He saw couple of zombies staring at his direction. But he sighed in relief when they started to ignore him. And then suddenly the glass door gave away and fell crashing to the ground. The glass shattered and made so much noice that instead of the zombies watching him, they ran towards him.

Though a skilled man, Levon knew he won't be able to take on the twenty zombies running towards him so he rushed inside the market.

¤¤¤

Jackson had promised Levon he'd be there in fifteen minutes, he would have if his usual mechanical store wasn't swarming with zombies. Now he had to go to another one that was 3 miles away. Either ways, Jackson never cared much about Levon to run back to him but he secretly hoped he'd be safe. It was getting hotter by each second. Jackson huffed and pulled his shirt off. The warm breeze cooled his sweat. He sighed. A zombie that was in a close range of the truck suddenly yelped and ran away from it. This made Jackson chuckle. He was really impressed by Levon's wit. But he was still annoyed by it as the ammonia smelt worse than him.

A few minutes later, the man jumped out of the truck. He surveyed the road and found no zombie kind walking. No one. Not caring much, he entered the shop and carried drills, long tarps and sheets, hammers, axes, ropes, bear traps and shields.

'Couldn't let these babies get rusted here' he spoke to himself.

He heard a small cry somewhere. His ears perked up. North. He slowly made way north to the sound. A few more sounds were audible. Voices of men and a cry of a child. He saw ten men tossing a few dead people with the tip of their shoes, probably making sure they're dead. And amongst the corpses, a young girl, about five was bawling while clutching hold of a woman. The men were pulling the girl and largest of the men said 'Stick a sock up the girl's ass'.

'The boss would surely get angry. Heh spoiled goods, he'd say for sho', another one sniggered.

'Who's the bitch she's holding onto?' the large man asked.

'The mother I reckon. I saw the woman running away with the girl', a long haired man said.

They successfully pried the girl from her mother. The child's got louder and more irritating. They looked around warily, 'Gag her! She might invite unnecessary trouble. Also bring another cage, there isn't space in the truck to unload another kid'. They looked around frantically but one timidly spoke out 'There isn't another cage or cloth left. We need to bring another from the truck'.

'Bah! Useless pieces of bat droppings! You Jo, Trev, what's your name- Dan? Fan? Yeah come one, we'll fetch another pair from the truck'. And saying they quickly left the scene, leaving two of the members behind among the corpses and the crying child now kept silent by one of them covering her mouth.

The large man's word 'unnecessary trouble' echoed in Jackson's mind. 'Unnecessary trouble. Shit. These bastards! They- no fuck! What have I gotten myself into?' he cursed silently. He got up silently and made way to his truck. But something stopped him. The pathetic sobs, the frantic muffled cries. This reminded him of someone. His wife.

"Jackson! No! It's too late. I can't make it. LEAVE!" cried a woman with tear stained red face.

That face loomed in his mind like a nightmare. He got back into reality by a sudden yelp. 'Ah fuck! That twat bit me' the man who was gagging the girl cried out. The other man suddenly struck the child across the face with such a force that caused her to collapse. Her cries now silent.

'Shit. Did you kill her?'

The man knelt down and checked for a pulse. 'Nah she fainted. Could've done that sooner though'.

Something inside Jackson turned. His blood boiled. And in a swift motion he threw a small dagger he got from the store to the throat of the man who had slapped the girl. He spluttered blood and fell down dead. The other one panicked and roared 'Who's fucking there?! By the order of The Pact, come out from your hiding you coward!'.

And so he did. Jackson jumped up from his hiding spot and ran to him. The man was too late to register what was happening, or perhaps he was taken aback by Jackson muscular frame. Jackson slashed his knife through the man's eye. Before he could scream in agony, Jackson stabbed the knife into his open mouth. He gasped and gagged and fell back.

Jackson quickly picked up the girl and rushed back to his truck, also trying to balance the fortification supplies.

'What the hell have I done?' whispered Jackson while driving off to pick up Levon.

Thank you for reading Father Figure and The Masks of Dead.
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