It took Aaron a few minutes to compose himself and rise from the floor, but he washed out the shame with a shower. He hated how this was the second day in a row he had to wash blood off himself.

When he finished, he walked back into his living room and pressed the red button next to his dumbwaiter. The doors opened up to reveal another set of clothing almost exactly like the ones he wore earlier. The only difference was that the shirt was light blue and didn't have a hood while the first one was dark green and hooded.

To end his night on a high note, he remembered how Jonah said he owed him some drinks. He left the apartment, picked up Nika, and the two made their way to Jonah's favorite pub in the Commons, holding hands as the elevator descended to the first floor.

"Aaron," Nika asked. "Where were you? You disappeared after the library visit."

Aaron froze. He'd come up with an excuse in the shower earlier. "You wanna hear a secret?"

"Sure."

"I snuck into the memorial service to offer my condolences. Then after that, I hid in the DZI headquarters and watched them work."

Nika gave Aaron a weird look before bursting into laughter. Aaron threw his arms around her to keep her quiet as the moment transitioned from urgent to playful.

"Shh," he said with an awkward grin. "It's supposed to be a secret, remember?"

Nika continued snickering. "Sorry! It's just...you said it so casually. Like if that's not creepy."

"I kinda miss my glory days in the DZI. Guess I'm going through a midlife crisis."

"But you're only eighteen!" Nika laughed harder.

Aaron hugged her tighter. "I swear if you don't simmer down, I will kiss you."

Nika silenced herself before staring into Aaron's eyes. "Go ahead. I'm not known for keeping secrets anyway."

She pursed her lips and pulled Aaron closer for a kiss, but the sound of the elevator doors opening ruined the moment. She placed her pointer finger on Aaron's lips to pause him and whispered "Later," before the two of them exited together.

They made their way through the Commons, which seemed more lively than ever. Strings of lights decorated the walls and people were mingling in groups all around the Commons like a Christmas party. Aaron and Nika passed through them as they approached a small brick building. On the side of the humble-looking building were the words Moore and Kirkman's in neon green.

They approached the green door of the pub and walked in. They were greeted by tables full of patrons, each customer holding a drink. Almost all of them were shouting and drunk out of their minds and some looked ready to kill each other, but Aaron and Jonah went there so often they were used to the possibilities of a pub fight.

"Over here, you two!" Jonah shouted. He and Kat waved from a booth in the corner.

Aaron and Nika made their way over to them. They all exchanged handshakes and hugs before sitting back down.

"So," Jonah said, grabbing his drink. "How have you two been?"

"I wouldn't exactly say fine," Aaron replied.

"No kidding," Kat said. "You look like a Deadman."

Aaron almost choked. "What do you mean?"

"You're as pale as a sheet, bruv," Jonah said, taking a gulp of his beer. "At least I think so. This is my third drink, so I might just be seeing things."

"Nah, it's real," Nika replied, Aaron's arm wrapping around her shoulder. "You've always had a high tolerance for alcohol."

"True. I've been drinking since—" Jonah stopped himself before continuing the rest of his sentence sheepishly. "I mean, yeah! I'm eighteen, so obviously I've never had a drink before that. Freaky coincidence that I can handle it so easily. I've never—"

"Are you trying to keep that a secret?" Kat said.

"Believe it or not, yes. But Mr. Hecox back at the children's home raised me to be a gentleman."

"Quoting Harry Hart from Kingsman: The Secret Service does not count as being raised to be a gentleman."

"But his quotes were badass, bruv! And don't get me started on that batshit-crazy church scene," Jonah snapped his fingers in realization. "Speaking of badass quotes..."

Jonah took off his DZI uniform jacket and turned it around so the back faced Aaron and Nika, leaving him in a simple shirt. Kat did the same with hers. The words Endangered Species were etched in white chalk on Jonah's jacket while the words We Are The Undertakers were written on Kat's.

"While the two of us were scouting in Longridge, Commander Shaw thought it would be cool for us to graffiti our uniforms," Jonah explained, still letting Aaron and Nika look at his jacket. "I figured he wouldn't like drawings that look like they came out of a child's coloring book. So I went a darker path and reminded my squad mates that humanity is an endangered species."

"I wouldn't exactly consider humans endangered," Nika interjected.

"Nika, you're an amazing friend and I can tell you and Aaron are perfect for each other, but I have to disagree. Ever since we were sixteen, Aaron and I have been training to fight the horrors beyond Matheson's walls and to this..."

Jonah's voice trailed off in Aaron's mind. Once he mentioned how humanity was endangered, hundreds of thoughts raced through Aaron's head, most of which involved Bloodletter.

Everything that happened to this country is my fault, he remembered Bloodletter saying.

What if he meant only this country was plagued by Deadmen? What if only the United Kingdom was being ravaged? What if they were actually cut off from the rest of the world? No one has been able to fly a plane in years, and there's always a chance someone in the plane could be infected.

Aaron pulled out his notebook and pencil and sketched as fast as he could to keep up with his hastening thoughts. On one page he did a quick sketch of Bloodletter without his helmet, realizing he would be the only person to have seen him without his mask and survive. He detailed everything: his colorless eyes, his bushy hair, the beard, and even the scowl he always had on his face.

He moved on to the next page and did another sketch of Bloodletter, this time of him kneeling on the floor crying. He drew a ghostlike entity in front of him to represent the Revenant visions. Even though he'd almost died when it happened, there was something darkly beautiful about witnessing an Abnormal feel emotion. Even though they were known for being sentient, Abnormals were seen as sadistic rather than feral like Commoners. But if these Revenant visions really made the Abnormals feel guilt, then maybe they weren't sadistic. Maybe they're just very angry.

Aaron added a few more notes, each sentence making him realize that today was beneficial for his unofficial research of the Deadmen. It gave him a reason to seize his last few days before he'd become one of them.

Abnormals (not sure if all; so far just Bloodletter) are "haunted" by people from their past. They call them Revenant visions. Kinda like Zombie PTSD.

Bloodletter's Revenant visions make him see a ghost named Sarah. Daughter? Wife? Sister? Maybe just a close mate? Who knows? And whatever happened to her must've seriously fucked him up.

Bloodletter also goes by another nickname. The Man in the Red Mist. Kinda cool if you don't think about the origin of the name. Real name: currently unknown.

Met three Commoner Deadmen today: three wankers in their early twenties (probably when they died) named Harry, Jade, and Kyle. Surprisingly nice. Only flaw: they know and enjoy what people taste like.

Some of the Commoners (including the Abnormal Bloodletter) live around a small abandoned village deep within the Bowland Fells. Appropriately named the Dead Center (because it's a center...and everyone is dead).

Just witnessed Bloodletter slaughter about nine Cutthroats from Lovecraft Babel Tower. Used his blood like barbed wire. It was disgusting—

"Hey," Nika told Aaron, halting his train of thought. "You okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Aaron replied. "Just...blown away by the cool writings on Jonah and Kat's jackets."

"Thanks, bruv," Jonah replied. "But I kind of stopped talking about that like five minutes ago."

"What are you working on?" Nika asked Aaron.

Aaron quickly turned the pages of his notebook. "Just...this."

He nervously handed her his notebook. Instead of the notes he added, the first thing she found in his book were a few crudely drawn comic strips representing moments from his life. The ones that amused her the most were the ones representing their dates. However, unlike his drawing of Bloodletter, they were basic drawings of stick figures in simple backgrounds, usually a tree or a smiling sun. And since they represented their dates, each scene had the stick figures holding hands (or at least connecting the lines that represented their arms) or scrunched together as an awkward illustration of a hug.

Nika liked them anyway, which was emphasized by her giggling. "Your drawings are adorable!"

"They look like I drew them when I was ten," Aaron groaned.

"When did you draw them?"

Aaron sighed. "Two days ago."

Jonah burst out laughing. "What, do you put them on your fridge or something?"

"They're in a notebook, you wanker," Aaron replied, still unamused. "Plus, I don't even have a fridge."

"It doesn't matter if you like them, Jonah," Kat chimed in. "What matters is how they feel about it. Maybe if you found romance, you'd understand."

Aaron and Nika winced at the remark. They were used to Kat's cheeky comebacks, but they felt like this one was a little too personal since Jonah experienced romance once. Once.

Jonah's smile disappeared. "I do understand. I mean, it wasn't as splendid as the cute little thing going on between Aaron and Nika, but I believed it could've been something. And the fact she looked exactly like Nika was an odd motivation. In fact, it was her twin sister."

Kat's eyes widened. "You mean..."

"Yep," Nika nodded. "It's been a while since we've talked to Natalya."

"I probably should've mentioned this earlier," Jonah continued, "but I actually invited Natalya to come join us."

Nika jerked up, switching from cheerful to miffed in the blink of an eye. "What?"

"I wanted to make amends. Almost a year has passed since we've last seen her, and it's kinda hard to avoid someone in a place this cramped. The four of us have known each other since before the Outbreak." Jonah glanced toward Kat. "Sorry to exclude you, Kat."

"It's good," she replied. "I like it when you guys talk about your history together."

"Jonah's right," Aaron added. "Maybe we should try again. We might be some of the only people left alive in this world, so we need to avoid conflict with each other. Who knows? Maybe everything will—"

He stopped. A commotion broke out outside the pub. Two DZI soldiers were trying to restrain a hooded young woman. She kept fighting back and elbowed the closest soldier in the stomach, making him wince and fall back in pain.

"What the bloody hell?" Jonah said, watching the action through the window. He and Kat jumped out of their booth and rushed outside.

"Should we check it out?" Nika asked, staring out the window with Aaron.

"No," Aaron replied. "It's not safe. Civilian interference rarely ends well with the DZI."

"What's the worse that could happen?"

"Banishment to the Dead Zone."

The two continued watching the situation unfold. The two previous soldiers were able to restrain the girl, both of her arms held down by the soldiers. Jonah and Kat approached her and Jonah slowly raised up her hood.

Aaron couldn't hear him, but he could tell Jonah dropped a few f-bombs from his shocked expression and the way he mouthed the words. And he couldn't blame him considering the person underneath the hood was--

"Natalya!" Nika exclaimed. She jumped out of the booth and ran outside. Aaron followed her.

Seconds later all four of them were in front of Moore and Kirkman's with the two DZI officers and Natalya. Neither of the DZI officers were happy to see Aaron, one of them even shoving him away from Natalya. Kat, Jonah, and Nika were multitasking, simultaneously trying to calm down Natalya while also trying to keep themselves calm.

"Get the fuck off me!" Natalya yelled.

It was easy to tell the Koslov twins apart. Not only did Natalya have shorter hair than Nika, their personalities were like night and day. Natalya was flirtatious, extroverted, and sometimes profane. She was basically Jonah if he were slightly more disrespectful. Meanwhile Nika was shy yet gentle and her heart only belonged to Aaron.

"Natalya," Nika said. "What have you done?"