The wilderness had started to feel like home and the further the two young men walked into it the further it walked into them. Silas wiped some sweat from his brow looking at a road sign indicating that Albuquerque was nearby. It wasn't hard to track the caravan that had destroyed their home, but they were definitely a few days behind them.
Milo let out a deep breath, this used to be his home, now he didn't have any home. He remembered this road and he thought of his family and a fight he and his brother had while they were driving to Santa Fe.
"I used to live here. I know a place we can stop and spend the night." Milo instructed as the two continued down the road into the town. The sun beat down on them.
Milo led the two to the cul-de-sac where he used to live. "You know, I thought this would be burnt down." He looked at his childhood home and walked inside, the door still left open from when they fled out of here in the early days of the pandemic. Milo saw a skeleton on the carpet in the living room – his brother Elliott, decomposed into the floor and dust and mold had grown inside reclaiming the inside for the outside.
"That's my brother." Milo told Silas who looked at the skeleton before them. "Can you help me bury him?" The two took the afternoon to dig a small hole in the backyard and bury the bones. Returning to the living room, Milo walked back to his bedroom, which was relatively intact and collapsed on his bed. The ceiling still looked the same.
Silas took a seat next to him. "How does it feel? Being back here."
"Different but the same. You know the world before feel so far off. I thought I would be sadder but I think I've already grieved it. I think I've already dealt with these feelings."
"I don't know if I would cry, if I went home. I guess I don't know what home is anymore." Silas looked around the bedroom. "You were a bit of a geek before." Silas stood up and picked up some of the comic books and looked at the video game consol.
"I think that part of me is still in here somewhere." Milo sat up.
It was getting dark but he knew where the candles were so he moved through the house to find some and set them up through his bedroom. Milo looked at Silas in the candle light and Silas pulled out some Slim Jim's from his bag to share. Milo chuckled.
"What?" Silas asked tossing Milo a Slim Jim.
"This just. There was one night during a rainstorm where all the power went out and my first boyfriend, Dan. We had Slim Jim's and read comics by candle light. This just reminds me of that." Milo chuckled.
"Do you miss him?" Silas asked taking a bite of the processed meat and grabbing a comic from the shelf, something about an astronaut.
"Sometimes, when I think about him. But there are just too many people to miss." Milo let out a shrug. "But I think, it's hard to think about the past and the present at the same time." He looked over at Silas. "Thank you for coming with me to find Graham. The longer we've been on the road I don't know if Graham is alive or not. I don't know what tomorrow brings. But I'm glad you're here."
Silas wasn't sure how to receive the comment. But he was grateful for it. Silas felt a tear roll down his cheek and he swallowed hard feeling a wave of emotion overtake him as he started crying.
Milo wrapped his arms around Silas and the two fell back onto the bedsheets together.
"Sorry, I don't know what came over me. I just." Silas began but Milo kept hugging the young man and they felt each other. They felt the pain of loss but also the hope that they both had as the candles flickered out and they lay in darkness drifting off to sleep.
Milo awoke to something staring at him from the doorway to his room. But it was still dark and he couldn't make out the crawling shape until it was closer to him, breathing on him. A wet tongue licked Milo's face and he jolted up.
"Wilco!" Milo gasped hugging the Australian Shepherd which they had left when they escaped the town. He wasn't sure how this was possible but the dog was alive and found him. His past and present were colliding with each other.
"You know him." Silas sat up yawning, the early rays of daylight shining through the cracks in the blinds.
"This is Wilco. He is, he's my pal." Milo smiled.
Silas dropped his arm around Milo's shoulder and Milo noticed the gesture looking into Silas's eyes. The two hesitated for a minute when Silas leaned forward and kissed Milo. It was a soft kiss that Milo took and returned. He still loved Graham but somewhere on this journey he also found himself in love with Silas. After what felt like hours Milo pulled back and held Silas's hand. He was surrounded by love.
"Let's go find Graham." Silas said, seeing the urge in Milo's eyes. They got each other. This didn't need to be complicated but they did need to keep looking for Graham.
Wilco sat up and barked at the two then darted out of the bedroom.
"I think he wants us to follow him." Milo said and grabbed his bag then followed the dog outside.
They followed Wilco through the suburban streets until they arrived at an abandoned military outpost and Wilco barked running up to a man with a beard. He was a bigger man, with a dad bod, but a kind face.
"Who did you find?" The man looked up and have a small wave to Milo and Silas while bending down to pet Wilco. "Friend or foe?"
"Depends. Did you take our friends?" Milo asked, but his guard was down because if Wilco trusted this man then he felt like he could. Wilco immediately ran back to Milo tail wagging. The dog was happy he introduced his two friends to each other.
"Ah, so you lost some people too." The man nodded. "And it looked like Doggo trusts you."
"Doggo? Oh, his name is Wilco." Milo smiled. "Have you been taking care of him?"
"Yeah, and he has been taking care of me. My name is Aaron. A few of us. Well, a few of us in the area have been getting terrorized by that group and we are planning on getting our friends back."
"Well count us in." Silas said. "We have some friends to get back too."
And just like that, they went from travelers to allies. Aaron introduced them to his group, it was a small band but they had infiltrated the enemies fort. They were all men and they had worked their way into tricking the people in Arizona and infiltrated their base.
At an abandoned gas station a few hours from the base in Arizona, the group stopped. Milo had revealed himself to be a great strategist of Crystal Gate, he had saved the community from a horde of blue eyes. But now he needed to change his thinking – what did it mean to kill other people? Aaron was impressed by this and they had developed a plan.
Grim had destroyed their homes and it was time to destroy Grim.
***
Inside the walls of The Cemetery, a world built by Grim, it was a utilitarian state. It felt like a military forward world with barracks and farms but it was efficient. The men would work out and prepare for war constantly. There was a false spiritualism built in the community with posters and statues of their idol – Grim. The men were instructed to live in lust of him and Grim cycled through them having his way. He crafted himself a god of sex and cruelty and the men fell in line because this is what survival meant and some of their minds were weak. But building fear also built resentment and not all the men were easily brainwashed. A resistance was forming right under Grim's nose. They had secured people in various levels of government but they didn't have a plan. They weren't able to see the full picture until Milo arrived. Grim was smart, but Milo was smarter and he had the upper hand of surprise...
***
The sun filtered into what used to be the former Phoenix Suns Arena. The Area had been changed. It was once the sports enter of Phoenix, Arizona but now it was a citadel. There were guard positioned around the edges and barracks built within. The box seats were now apartments and the main office, with a glass wall that overlooked downtown had become a luxury throne room for Grim and his concubines – captured gorgeous men all in dog collars that served his lustful needs.
Grim awoke in a bed surrounded by naked men. He looked at them after a drug fueled night of lust and sex. He stretched and slid out of the sheets walking naked over to the window to purvey over his kingdom. The morning light bathed his pale skin and a malicious smirk appeared on his face. He would visit the market today and have his pick of men. The lust would never be satiated.
One of the men, Graham, ran and fetched his robe, placing it over Grim's naked body. Grim planted a small kiss on Graham's neck then grabbed Graham's neck forcing the older muscled man to accept his tongue into his mouth.
"Say thank you." Grim smirked, he was still training his newest addition to his harem,
"Thank you." Graham said in a defeated voice.
The world shook and Grim stumbled placing his hand on the window to stabilize himself. He looked out over his kingdom and saw a plume of smoke rising from the edge. Another shake and another, explosion after explosion. Grim was angry, this wasn't an accident it was an attack.
Running into the room a man in military garb presented himself to his leader. Grim firmly ordered, "up the guards around the citadel and figure out what is going on." The military man ran out of the room as Grim walked to a wardrobe and unlocked it pulling out an assault rifle.
Gun shots happened outside the door to the throne room and Grim tilted his head confused as the door burst open and Aaron, Silas, and Milo entered all pointing guns.
"Graham!" Milo shouted and Graham hesitated to run over as Grim looked over at the man.
"Oh, I see..." Grim hurried over to Graham and pointed his assault rifle at the older man. "You came for him. It's funny because he is insignificant to me but to you he seems to mean to much. I don't know what you're doing here but you won't get away with."
Silas shot a single bullet hitting Grim's hand forcing the leader to drop his gun and clasp his hand. Graham ran from Grim's side behind Milo and Milo approached Grim holding his gun to the man's head.
"Hah, you're weak, just like him. You don't have the guts to kill me. You don't understand my power." Grim started laughing maniacally.
Milo looked at the young man about his age. They could have gone to high school together. But Milo did and didn't know the boy. It was an image of corruption. An image of evil, a world that Milo could have made had he fallen in the right place at the wrong time. But just like every world, it would end in death. Milo pulled the trigger.