Darkness had fallen.

  Michael Joke happened to be cruising by a village, so they decided to crash there for the night.

  Billy Jean didn’t give two hoots where they bunked.

  She was a zombie, and any old place was as good as the next.

  If it wasn’t for Michael Joke being human and needing his shut-eye, she wouldn’t waste a second.

  The whole village was as black as pitch, not a single glimmer in sight.

  It was the end of the world.

  Electricity had been MIA for ages.

  In the gloom, you could hear zombies shuffling around.

  Nobody knew if there were any survivors holed up in the village.

  The cars couldn’t squeeze down the narrow village paths, so a human, a zombie, and a mummy piled out and hoofed it.

  Michael Joke whipped out a super-bright flashlight from his space and flicked it on.

  A beam of light cut through the darkness, lighting up the road ahead and also spotlighting a dozen bone-chilling zombies.

  “Crackle...”

  The mummy freaked out and scampered up a nearby big tree like a scaredy-cat.

  Michael Joke: Billy Jean: It was a mummy, for crying out loud, yet it was spooked by zombies.

  Was it some kind of cosmic joke?

  But, truth be told, these zombies were seriously freaky and bloody.

  Michael Joke and Billy Jean scrunched up their noses as they eyeballed the zombies in front.

  Their eyes had been gouged out, leaving two gory sockets.

  Blood was oozing from their ears too.

  Probably something had busted their eardrums.

  The creepiest part?

  All these zombies’ mouths had been slit wide open.

  Their lower jaws were hanging on by a thread, just about to tumble off.

  Blood was dripping down their chests, soaking their clothes.

  It was like a horror show.

  Plus, their hands and feet had been chopped clean off.

  They could only wriggle around, and blood was smeared all over the ground.

  All these zombies were blind, deaf, and couldn’t bite or scratch.

  They were as harmless as a bunch of kittens.

  No wonder when they hopped out of the car a minute ago, they could hear the zombies but didn’t get jumped.

  “There’s gotta be a psychic around here.” Michael Joke said.

  “Then why mess these zombies up like this? Wouldn’t it be easier to just off them with one whack?”

  Billy Jean asked, scratching her head.

  Just then, a man’s voice boomed out.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Who are you folks?”

  Soon, a figure emerged from the shadows.

  It was a guy around forty, square-jawed, not exactly tall, a bit on the chubby side, with a farmer’s tan and dressed like he’d just stepped off a farm.

  “We’re just passing through. It’s dark, and we need a place to kip for the night.” Michael Joke said.

  The man gave Michael Joke and Billy Jean the once-over and then peeked at the car behind them.

  “Just the two of you?”

  “Yeah, just the two of us, hubby and wife.”

  Billy Jean didn’t bat an eyelid at Michael Joke’s fib.

  She knew he was playing it safe.

  “Good. Rare to see such gutsy young’uns, still brave enough to wander around at night. Come with me. I’ll hook you up with a place to stay.”

  Billy Jean made a hand signal behind her back to the mummy in the tree, telling it to sit tight since they didn’t know what was what.

  Didn’t want it causing a ruckus.

  After all, it wasn’t much different from these zombies.

  If it waltzed out, it’d scare the bejesus out of people.

  The mummy watched Billy Jean and Michael Joke stroll away and clung to the tree trunk, whimpering.

  Don’t go. It’s scared.

  Billy Jean and Michael Joke tagged along as the man led them through the village.

  All they bumped into were zombies that were more like wriggling worms than threats.

  “Did you do this to these zombies?” Billy Jean asked.

  “Yeah. My parents kicked the bucket early. I grew up on the kindness of the whole village. This place is my roots. When the apocalypse hit and all the villagers turned into zombies, I was lucky enough to activate my power and survive. Facing my zombie_fied neighbors, I just couldn’t bring myself to kill them. But to keep them from hurting anyone, I had to do what I did.”

  The man’s voice was heavy with helplessness and sorrow.

  “So that’s how it is.” Billy Jean nodded.

  “Here we are. This is my pad. You two lovebirds can stay here. I’m a psychic. If anything goes bump in the night, I’ve got your backs.”

  The house up ahead was a no-frills rural bungalow, with some basic ceramic tiles slapped on.

  Inside, it was all simple furniture.

  The lighting was old-school, using kerosene lamps.

  “Then we’ll be crashing your party.” Michael Joke said.

  “There’s no such thing as crashing. In these tough times, we gotta look out for each other. That’s what the villagers taught me. I didn’t get much schooling and don’t know any fancy theories. Sit down. You hungry? There are a few boiled sweet potatoes in the kitchen. I’ll grab them for you.”

  “No, don’t bother. We’re not hungry.” Billy Jean said.

  “Don’t be shy. I grew them myself. They’re not worth squat.”

  The man said and then moseyed off to the kitchen.

  “Sure enough, country folk are as good as gold.” Billy Jean sighed.

  Michael Joke’s dark eyes darkened a smidge, but he didn’t say boo.

  The man came back in a jiffy.

  He was holding a plate with a few sweet potatoes on it.

  “Maybe the sweet potatoes are a bit cold. Don’t sweat it. Make do for tonight. Tomorrow I’ll wring a chicken’s neck to make it up to you. It’s the end of the world. I bet you haven’t had a hot meal in ages.”

  “Thank you.”

  Billy Jean said to the man.

  Then she nudged the sweet potatoes with worm holes in front of Michael Joke.

  “Michael, you eat them. Look, you’ve lost weight protecting me.”

  Michael Joke: Billy Jean looked at Michael Joke’s mixed-up expression and thought it was kind of comical.

  Probably a city slicker like him had never laid eyes on a sweet potato, let alone one with worms.

  Think about it. It’s the end of the world.

  Others are scraping by on scraps, while he’s still living large.

  He’s one lucky duck.

  “It’s getting late. After you finish eating, I’ll show you to the room.” The man said.

  “Michael, chow down. I’m not hungry. Don’t worry about me.”

  Billy Jean said, all considerate-like.

  Michael Joke looked at Billy Jean and then stood up from the stool and faced the man.

  “Sorry. I’m allergic to sweet potatoes. I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on your kindness. Please, bro, just take us to the room.”

  The man:??

  Allergic to sweet potatoes?

  This must be a pampered city kid.

  Finally, the man didn’t push it and took Billy Jean and Michael Joke to the room.

  “You can shack up in this room. The country ain’t exactly five-star. Hope you don’t mind.”

  “It’s already great. Thank you, bro. You hit the hay.” Billy Jean thanked him.

  “Okay. Holler if you need anything.” The man left the room.

  Michael Joke closed the door and winced a bit as he eyeballed the wooden plank bed and the flowery quilt.

  The room was as basic as it gets.

  There was just this one bed, and not a single table, chair, or wardrobe in sight.

  Billy Jean plopped down on the bed, and it let out a creak.

  Michael Joke: ...

  Billy Jean: ...

  The air got a bit thick all of a sudden.

  “You sleep. I’ll just sit.”

  Billy Jean said. Anyway, zombies don’t need beauty sleep.

  Michael Joke frowned as he stared at the flowery quilt. In the end, he just couldn’t bring himself to cozy up to it.

  He pulled out a solid wood rocking chair with a cotton cushion from his space ring.

  “I’ll sleep here.”

  Billy Jean saw Michael Joke stretched out on the rocking chair, rocking gently.

  He looked as snug as a bug in a rug.

  She was dying to ask,

  “Do you have another one? Hook me up.”

  With a wave of Michael Joke’s hand, a rocking chair magically appeared next to him.

  Billy Jean hopped on it pronto, and her eyes fluttered shut in pure bliss.

  The two rocking chairs were side by side, facing a window.

  Through the window, you could see the full moon hanging in the sky.

  A gentle breeze wafted in through the window, and the two rocking chairs swayed lazily...