Yesterdays Gone: SEASON TWO (THE POST-APOCALYPTIC SERIAL THRILLER) (Yesterday's Gone)

again at point-blank range, this time blowing Vic’s head open like a grotesque melon, spewing a blackened bloody mess.
    “What the fuck was that?!” Charlie asked, getting to his feet and looking at the thing that had been Vic.
    “I thought you killed him!” Adam said, staring at the corpse.
    “I did!”
    “So, not only do we have to worry about these monsters, but the dead rising from their graves as mutants?” Adam said. “Fuck. Me.”
    Charlie looked up, bug-eyed, and laughed. Adam didn’t curse much, so it was funny to hear the words coming from his mouth. “Maybe he wasn’t dead? Maybe one of those monsters got to him before he died and turned him into one of them?”
    “Like in zombie movies?”  
    “Yeah,” Charlie said. “Unless this is more like that Invasion of the Body Snatchers movie, where Vic was some kind of pod person, and had been this way for a long time, just hiding and waiting to come out of his human shell.”
    “Yeah, but you saw him. He didn’t seem right. I think if he were some kinda pod person all along, we would’a picked up on it a long time ago. Besides, I don’t think pod people would be such assholes.”
    Charlie laughed again, “When did you get so funny? Wait. You’re not one of them pop people, too, are you?”
    “Ha. Ha,” Adam said, and then his eyes locked onto Harry, lying on the ground, disemboweled from Vic’s blade-hand. Charlie’s eyes followed, and instantly, the joy he felt in being alive was severed as they remembered Harry’s grisly death.
    “I didn’t know him that well, but he didn’t deserve this,” Adam said.
    “No, he didn’t,” Charlie agreed, taking a moment of silence, before turning to Adam. “Come on; we need to get the hell out of here and go find Boricio.”
    “We’re not gonna bury Harry?”
    “We don’t have time; we need to find Boricio if we’re gonna save Callie.”
    “How are we gonna find him?” Adam said. “He could be anywhere.”
    “Harry said something about a compound, remember? How many other compounds are around here? That we know of?”
    “You think he went back . . . there?” Adam asked, fear cracking the man from his voice.
    “We’re about to find out,” Charlie said, as he grabbed the sack of guns from the car and loaded them into the cabin of the F150. “Let’s roll.”

    * * * *

DESMOND ARMSTRONG: PART 1

    Kingsland, Alabama
    The Sanctuary
    March 25
    morning

    Desmond walked a step behind Mary and Paola on the return march from the funeral, back behind the The Sanctuary walls. He was burning to talk to Mary, but he had no choice but to wait. They were flanked by the congregation on all sides; Desmond couldn't help but feel that he was a dissenting buoy in a sea of similar thought. And in a world where The Prophet, Rei and John all had the power, the wrong word at the wrong time, overheard and reported, could get them all in trouble, or maybe a box.  
    The congregation scattered at the gate, everyone going to get out of their black clothes and into the day’s chores. Desmond felt a swell of hope, now seconds from finally being able to talk to Mary. He turned to Paola, so he could ask her if she’d mind if he and Mary had a few minutes alone, when Will was suddenly beside them.  
    “So, how did that go?” he asked.
    Desmond felt a flash of irritation, but it wasn’t Will’s fault. Desmond said, “Oh, you know Brother Rei, such an elegant speaker. I haven’t been so moved since I evacuated my bowels this morning. Scott deserved better than that. How is Luca? Everything okay? The kid seems to be taking this especially hard.”  
    Mary pulled Paola closer to her and shot Desmond a look.  
    Will leaned down toward Paola and said, “Hey, would you mind going and checking on Luca for me? I’m sure he’d love that. He’s okay, mostly just nerves. It can’t be easy to be small inside, walking around in that big body. But I’m sure he’ll open up to you. Always has. Besides, he’s worried about you. Even mentioned it to me earlier at breakfast.”  
    Paola looked down, then quickly back at Will. “I feel bad about this morning,” she said. “I wasn’t trying to make anyone upset, especially Luca.”  
    “Sometimes it’s best to simply say what’s on your mind. You did get the table talking about Scott, after all, right?” Will winked at Paola and she smiled. “And I don’t think Luca’s upset, but I know he’d love to talk to you. He’s over at his Quiet Spot