Missing

Carter pulled up to the front of a country home and hurriedly got out of the car.

Ruth, his best friend lived here alone, her parents worked outside the country and she was a private person so she didn't have many friends. In all the years he had known her, she was either at home, school, or with him. With the resources of her parents, she didn't have to go out for anything, not even grocery shopping.

"Shea wait with Kori I'll be back quickly" he hurried out of the car and walked around it to get to the door only to see Kori and Shea standing there.

"I am awakened now, I can help" Kori spoke up after seeing Carter's harsh stare at Shea.

"What she said" She added with a small smile.

Carter shook his head but he didn't continue to persuade them, he knew Shea was simply using Kori's words as an excuse. After all, how much difference does being awakened make?

With this thought in mind, he stepped forward and knocked on the door.

Behind him, Shea and Kori stood at a distance.

"What's wrong?" Shea asked looking down at Kori who seemed a little too tense. However Kori didn't respond, her eyes remained fixed at the door of Ruth's house as Carter knocked again.

"Look out!" Kori suddenly screamed.

Just as Carter turned to her, the door broke apart into pieces. Carter only had the time to crouch down, leaving his back to the flying fragments of wood. But along with it came a pouncing animal, claws reached out to him, fangs opened and ready to sink into his flesh. It was only a few inches away from him when a petite figure pushed him out of the way.

Carter rose immediately, beside him was Kori who reacted first, her gaze fixed on the ferocious creature before them.

"Desmond" Carter called in shock. This was Ruth's dog!

The dog growled at them, displaying its fangs. There was a brief pause when he heard Carter say his name. It stopped and looked up at him, its eyes growing confused, or at least that was how the humans present perceived it. However, a sudden barking in the distance seemed to send him raging again.

The dog growled and pounced at them, its golden-colored fur glowing in the house lighting.

From Carter and Shea's perspective, all they saw was a sudden blur, and then the dog was upon them. They were still thinking that they could resist it but seeing this, it was obvious that this was no longer the dog they knew.

All they heard was a muffled bang!

Kori rushed out to the dog and grabbed it by the throat before throwing it to the side. There was a serious frown on her face as she stared at it.

Awakening may have empowered her, but this dog was still way stronger.

Having the same considerations as Kori, Carter rushed out to help but Shea held him back. She instead broke a branch from the tall unknown flower by Ruth's house and threw it at Kori.

"What are you doing?" Carter asked angrily when he saw Shea wouldn't let him go.

"Use your brain Carter, are you going to die?" Shea replied sharply and proceeded to ignore him. If Carter went up? There would be no suspense, there was no way he would survive that dog for a second when he could barely even see it move. Thus she kept her grip on his arm.

Kori accepted the stick from Shea and immediately used it as a cane wiping the dog on its skull when it came charging again.

~Welp!~

It cried and immediately stepped back but she wasn't done. She chased after it wiping it more and more so that even Carter and Shea began to cringe at the sight and it's anguished cries. At first, the dog was unwilling to leave its house but as blood began to seep out from its fur, it gave up, dashing away into the distance.

Kori made to give chase but Carter immediately said behind her.

"That's enough Kori"

She stopped and glanced angrily at the running dog before walking back to them.

"Will it die?" Carter asked Shea feeling very much disturbed.

"It wasn't even really wounded" Kori replied, her bright eyes looking up at Carter in confusion as if she could not understand why he was being so merciful to it.

"That's Desmond. He's Ruth's friend" Shea explained to the confused kid.

Kori's eyes widened and she understood what had happened.

"I'm sorry" she apologized, "It thought it was going to hurt you"

"Hey hey, it's okay. You saved me silly, it was going to do more than hurt me" Carter smiled at her and shook his head.

He looked up and his expression became solemn.

"Let's go in," he said to the others and walked ahead.

"Ahem," Shea coughed, causing him to turn to her. She glanced at him and then at Kori a few times. It took a while to understand what she meant. He didn't know how to feel about it but he didn't have any stubborn pride. The change was drastic and there was nothing that could prepare them for it but. . . Kori was indeed much much stronger than him. It was a weird situation where the strongest among them was the youngest, a 7-year-old child, but they were living in weird times.

This part of the city was different from where they lived. The middle class lived here thus it was more quiet and peaceful than the chaos of people in the downtown area.

"Ruth? Hello?" Shea called when they entered while Kori looked around curiously.

The house looked very empty like someone moved out and sold all the furniture. The windows were barricaded and the weakest part was the door which was now broken. The trio followed the stairs to the upper floor where they saw all rooms emptied, some holes in the ground newly cemented.

"She was guarding against insects" Shea observed.

There were three bedrooms in the house and all were in the same situation.

"Brother, there's a note on the ground" Kori observed when they returned to the living room.

Carter immediately ran to it and picked it up. Because he was anxious, he failed to open it even after trying for a few seconds.

"Let me," Shea said and took it from him. She opened it easily and passed the letter back to him.

It read:

"Carter? I hope it is you reading this. If not then whoever you are please take care of him if he comes to find me.

You have been too busy to notice the changes in BM these past few weeks. At first, it was subtle but things accelerated four weeks ago. I didn't want to worry you so I prepared the house for us to stay in for a long time. By us, I mean Aunt Shea and little Coco too. There's enough in the basement to last us a year or two, perhaps by then the world would have gained some semblance of normalcy. If this isn't Carter then know that I will come back for you if you take everything and leave nothing for him.

"Carter? I would have stayed here or I would have come to get you but my Mom showed up and took my phone away from me. I'm in my room right now, hiding to write this and we are waiting for my Dad. Please survive Carter. If you gain the ability to travel don't go to any settlements, avoid the sea and come to Mount Gill.

"I was waiting for you to say I so I never did, I hope. . .

"If Desmond attacks you please don't kill him for my sake"

The first thought on Carter's mind after reading the note was, 'Thank God she didn't kill the dog'.

He felt Shea giving him a weird look and guessed she read the note along with him. Although Ruth never finished what she was going to say and stopped for some reason, anyone could easily guess what it was. While he felt a little embarrassed, he wasn't shy because his feelings for Ruth were not a secret in the first place. Thickening his skin, he folded the note and put it in his pocket.

"I'll go put the car in the garage," he said and walked out.

"Let's check the basement" Shea turned to Kori and said.

Carter came out of the house and glanced around. Despite the growling and whining of the crying dog earlier, no one seemed to have heard in this quiet street. But there was a tingling feeling that eyes were watching him. However, now was not the time to think about it. He needed to hide the car in case the police traced it to their location.

After parking the car in the garage which had been left open, he pushed the red button by the wall and watched until the doors closed completely before going through the smaller door which led directly into the house.

Not finding Kori and Shea anywhere, Carter didn't need to think too much to guess where they would be. He quickly found the stairs to the basement and followed it down, fortunately, it was brightly lit. Easily finding Kori and Shea he walked briskly towards them but quickly noticed that something was wrong. They were too still and too quiet.

"Shea? Kori?" he called but there was no reply. His steps slowed down further but he continued onwards. He didn't need to get to them though to see what was wrong because soon, Carter stood frozen just like the other two. His eyes stared wide at the scene in front of him.