Ariel waited for it to happen again. Wondered if the dreams, visions, nightmares, she had been having for months would finally become a reality once more. Sitting in her dark living room, curtains pulled shut, and the front door locked and relocked, she waited. Axe handle clutched tightly between her hands, chin resting on the interlocked fingers, Ariel kept her gaze on the rest of the room. She had been caught unawares last time, stuck in the throes of paranoia and hallucinations brought on by the pneumonia that had gripped her entire body. This time, she had made sure to catch the bug early, and now breathed easily in anticipation. She hoped she was wrong. She knew she wasn’t.

She thought of her nightmares, of the faces that swam across her vision. The connections that felt so alive as she dreamed, before being rudely snapped back to reality with every trill of her alarm each morning. Ignoring the warning bells ringing in her head would have been easy. Symptoms of moving to a new home, and essentially restarting her life. Fell under the belief that the faces she saw were simply the phenomena of the brain remembering those passed on the streets. But, there was a small chance of truth, and Ariel had always been a curious child.

Her chance to learn more came the moment she felt a tickle crawling along the back of her throat. Instead of ignoring it and moving on, waiting another three weeks until she could no longer stand the hacking coughs escaping her lungs, Ariel wrapped a mask around her face and headed to the nearest walk-in clinic. Memories from her visions, chipping paint on a glass door and a smiling receptionist, flooded her brain as she stepped into the clinic she had never been in before. Smiling at the receptionist behind her mask, Ariel explained her issue. Explained the bacteria she knew had taken root in her lungs and threatened her health. She was booked in for the next appointment, and went to sit in the uncomfortable plastic chairs she already knew about without having ever sat in them.

Everything was the same, and yet, different. The same magazines were spread across the table. The same slightly wilted plants were tucked away in the corner, begging for water. The same old fan spun overhead, no doubt sending dust particles everywhere. The people were different however, with different issues bringing them through the same doors. Instead of an elderly man with a shake in his hands, a young mom sat with a sniffling toddler; eyes and nose fire red. Another young girl was staring down at her phone, rapidly typing away while a scowl grew larger and larger on her lips. In no time at all; these people moved on and Ariel was called next. She followed a nurse to the room, the same room in her dreams. The paper crinkled under her as she got comfortable.

When he walked into the room, Ariel had to bite back the tears threatening the corners of her eyes. She knew in that instance it hadn’t been a dream. Tobias Churchwood, her Toby, her closest companion for all their relationship had remained platonic. He stood before her in his doctor’s coat and soft smile on his lips. She wondered if he remembered. She wondered if it’d be better if he didn’t. The nightmares told a specific story, one where she went before him. Forced him to watch as she was killed defending their new family. So many mornings she woke with the taste of copper in her teeth and pain running the length of her throat.

Her appointment was quick. Her descriptions led to a prescription, and she fled his office like the hounds of hell were still nipping at her heels. Her first trip was to the pharmacy; she would make sure nothing would keep her from being healthy for the coming months. The second trip was for preparation, stockpiling the easy goods she knew they’d need until they’d be able to loot for themselves. Ariel prayed what was coming wouldn’t come to pass. The world never enjoyed being kind to her prayers.

Her time flew by quickly, and before she knew it; that day was upon her. Ariel spent her final hours checking her supplies, making sure the gas in her truck was topped up, and that everything would be ready to grab and dash. Giving herself one indulgence, she drove to the clinic and sat outside. She watched the front with her head cradled on her arms as she leaned on the wheel. The front receptionist wandered into work with a skip in her step and no sense of dread on her face. Patients started to loiter around the front door, waiting to be let in for the day. Toby hadn’t shown up yet and Ariel grew nervous. She knew she had changed, but she wasn’t certain what to do if she didn’t have him after the coming days.

Two loud thumps came from the bed of her truck, but before Ariel had a chance to turn and investigate; her passenger door swung open. Toby was climbing in, dressed not for a shift at the clinic, but for a trek through dense woods. She stared at him in awe as he looked back with a sad grimace. He remembered, and she knew that probably meant he had gone shortly after she had the first time. It was the only explanation for why they were both back. Ariel started her truck in silence, taking them away from the clinic and back to her home. Once there, they gathered Toby’s things and brought them inside. It was time to hunker down and wait.

Curling up together, the duo dozed through the afternoon. It wasn’t until the sun set and darkness came that they prepared. The curtains were shut tight and the doors locked, then relocked. Everything was ready, and weapons were grabbed. Ariel sat down on her couch, glancing over at the ticking grandfather clock in the corner of her living room. Its name was accurate, passed down from her grandfather, to her mother, to her. A man she never met, a veteran in the British military, who gathered up his family and took them west. Settled everyone in the warmth of the Okanagan. Ariel grew up on stories of him, following his footsteps into her new country's military. Now, she would use those skills for survival as the clock ticked closer to midnight.

She sat in the dark of her living room, axe handle clutched tightly between interlocked fingers. Her body was not being ravaged by bacteria keeping her weak and docile. Instead, she did not sit alone as Toby came to join her. Hunting knives were clutched in both hands as he glanced at the clock as well. Minutes to midnight, and it was almost time. They watched and waited, as the hand ticked ever closer. Like clockwork, the hand struck twelve, the clock chimed the witching hour, and the sirens began outside. Ariel closed her eyes in grief, knowing all those who would be lost tonight and in the coming days. She couldn’t save them, but she could save her family this time. Nobody would lay a finger on her family as long as she drew breath. She’d be better this time. A promise she had no issue making as the clock chimed its final bell.

Midnight had come to their small town of Carth, and the dead came with it.