Sweepers

And just like that, two hours had passed since Theodore landed on Ava's neck and somehow decapitated her. They made a bonfire out of woods and matches they summoned.

And now that he finally recovered from the shock a bit, he thought his new situation wasn't that bad. If anything, he was just going to miss his grandmother in New Trevor, that's all. Also, he still doesn't know how he died.

"I have an idea." Ava suddenly said. "Why don't we go to the memory hall?"

"The memory hall?"

"Exactly! The memory hall! People go there to see the record of their breathing life. Cool, isn't it?"

"Oookay? But how're we gonna go there?" Theodore asked.

Ava ruminated for a bit before her face lit up in excitement. "Have you ever driven a caaaar?"

"Uh, no. But I was a biker."

"Cool! What are you waiting for? Bring it out!" Ava was basically screaming at this point. For reference, she hasn't spoken to anyone for the last three months. And suddenly having someone to talk to made her a bit talkative than usual.

"Okay, wait a bit." He chuckled. He was starting to get used to her over the top energy. Normally, he never lets anyone ride with him. In the first place, he wasn't that good of a rider. But the situation has changed. They're already dead. They don't even bleed anymore and if they lose a limb or two, they could simply grow it back. Now's the time to let loose. Be the wild animal he always wanted to be.

He thought of the Harley Davidson he had in their garage, as detailed as possible. He could never go wrong with this. After all, he changes the parts by himself. He grew up without a dad to do and teach the stuff for him so he had to learn everything from scratch. From changing the tires to maintenance. All of it. He learned it all by himself.

The Harley Davidson actually belonged to his late grandfather in his rebellious phase. He could never forget how his grandmother would tell him how cool his grandpa was when they were still teens and madly in love with each other. They would cut classes and ride full speed without any care in the world. Of course, she was devastated when her husband passed away due to diabetes when Theodore was still in high school.

It took around three minutes for the sportster to completely appear in front of them. He found out that the bigger and the more complicated the things they're gonna think of, the longer it takes to materialize as well.

"Whoaaaaa! Look at this beauty. Theodore. Aren't you a badass? Your clothes suddenly made a lot of sense now. I wanna ride it!" Ava exclaimed as she circled around the motorcycle. Like a little kid who went to Disneyland for the first time.

Now that she mentioned it, Theodore realized he was wearing his biker outfit. Black boots, black leather jacket over a white tee, and a black rugged jeans with red inserts. Also a silver skull necklace.

There was nothing worth noting about his face. He was average through and through. Average height, average looks with nut brown hair and nut brown eyes and nut brown freckles. The type of face you can see everywhere.

But he was ripped. He used to go to the gym. His fellow biker always told him only a wimp won't build those muscles. And like the people pleaser that he was, he hit the gym and became conscious of what he ate.

A biker and an artist and a gym rat. That became his whole personality for a very long time until he turned twenty-three and realized he wanted more than just being a biker and an artist and a gym rat.

"Wear this," he said to her as he tossed her the matte black helmet.

"Oh, okay. Thanks."

"Let's go full speed, shall we?" Theodore told her with a smirk. He suddenly had the urge to show off. He never had a girlfriend. Well, never mind a girlfriend. He couldn't even start a conversation with a girl without giving off a 'nice guy' impression. He wasn't.

He had goosebumps when she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Let's head north. That's the shortest way to the memory hall though be careful of the sweepers."

"Sweepers?"

"You will see."

"Uh, okay." Then he brought the engine to life. Dust rose as they powered through the sand. He was happy. A grin plastered on his face.

The Harry Davidson's speedometer needle was bouncing off seventy; they're basically flying. They were going so fast that the wind was pushing their helmets backs that if only they were capable of feeling pain, they would have realized the chin strap has begun to strangle them. And Theodore would have regretted why he hadn't thought of the expensive helmet of that one rich biker dude in their biker club.

Then Ava suddenly squeezed him and screamed.

"Theodore, watch out!" Then they were flung backwards. The Harley Davidson crashed on the massive wall that sprang out of the sand.

His leg was crushed under the motorcycle. For a second, he had the urge to scream in pain but remembered he didn't feel pain anymore. He could see his mutilated leg healing in real time.

He looked at where Ava was thrown. Her helmet was cracked but she was okay. 'Being undead is amazing,' he thought.

"Whew! That scared me for a second," Ava mumbled as she walked her way to where Theodore was and helped him stand up.

"What the heck was that?" He was referring to the thing that they crashed into. He thought it was a wall. But actually, it was a massive eight-legged creature. Around ten feet tall, five feet wide. It's like random things smushed together. He could see bicycle parts, legos, cars… and a golf bat and fries.

"Sweepers. They're the sweepers I told you about, Theodore. They aren't dangerous. They don't attack humans."

"Wait! Stop there, Ava. Not dangerous? Who are you kidding here? That thing just broke my leg and you're telling me it ain't dangerous?"

"Well, haha, that was an accident. It rarely happens though. Look! They're doing their job."

"They?" Then he realized there were two more sweepers. There were three of them. The other two were way smaller than the one they crashed into. And he noticed they don't look the same at all. The smallest and the farthest from them consisted of scraps of wood, and planks, and twigs. While the other was made solely of metal. The only thing they had in common was that they were all eight-legged. They're like enormous cyborg spiders.

"What are they doing?" Theodore asked when he realized all three of them were headed to the small shack he hadn't noticed until now from a distance.

"Watch. They're called sweepers for a reason."

Like what Ava told him, he observed silently. And what the sweepers did next surprised him.

The one made of wood took all the wood materials, smushed them together, and devoured it whole with the mouth located on its underside. The cyborg-looking one did the same with the metal parts. While the largest took all the remaining parts. There was nothing left anymore. As if there was no shack to begin with.

And when they were done with their 'meal', they burrowed back under the sand as if nothing happened.

"There are a lot of people here and like us, they can summon stuff as well. I can't imagine how dirty this world or dimension or whatever it is will become if not for the sweepers." Ava explained.

"But… Why do they do that? What are they exactly? Maintenance staff?"

"Hmm… I wanna know as well. That's why I've been staying in this place for the last three months. I wanted to learn everything about this foreign world and I thought studying them might be what I needed to do first. The ones in the populated areas are scary, you know?"

"And what did you find out?"

"Nothing much, really. After they eat, they burrow under the sand or wherever they live. And when they're done digesting, it becomes part of their body. They get bigger and bigger every time they eat."

"Do—Do they stop growing too? Like humans, I mean." Theodore suddenly had a bad feeling about this.

"I hope so. They're just about my size three months ago and I'm afraid they might have grown this huge because of me. I built the shack they just ate this morning, you know."

"Aren't you scared?" He asked.

"Scared?" Ava sneered. "Nothing scares me more than remembering how I died. Besides, we're basically immortal now."

Theodore didn't say no more.

And now that he thought about it, he didn't know anything about the woman aside from her name and peculiar interests. 'Would asking about her life be rude? I wonder.'

"What are you doing?" He can't help but ask when he saw her setting up a tent.

"What else? We're gonna sleep. I forgot sweepers are active during the night. I got carried away. Sorry."

"Uh, there's nothing to be sorry about. But why sleep? We're basically dead now."

And that made Ava stop. "Oh… Do you really think so, Theodore? I mean, sure, our hearts don't beat anymore, we don't feel hunger and pain. But Theodore. We have an even bigger enemy. Insanity. And believe me. I've seen worse."

He would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised by the sudden change of attitude. He thought she was this bubbly woman, brimming with energy and curiosity. But he realized it was so presumptuous of him to assume he had known her for just spending time with her in less than three hours. 'I'm an idiot.'

What she said was a really big slap to him too. 'I really am an idiot. A really big idiot.'