Hello! We’re back again, because I’m trying to get everything posted ASAP. I can’t believe I’m still just posting the first few chapters of generation 3 when I’ve got all generation 3 chapters written and ready to go. Generation 4 is now a young adult so I’m going to be working on writing those chapters. Basically, I suck at posting. Anyways.

Who misses this guy? I know I do. His daughter’s been missing for a very long time now, and although the military searched, they did not find her. He still hasn’t given up hope, but is trying to go back to normal life for his son’s sakes. Anyone else got the sads?

Awww, squishy kid hugs always make me feel better. Hey, who’s that little peanut??

It’s Joey, he grew up! Unfortunately he developed a major fear of water, but the local swimming pools haven’t been very well maintained in the apocalypse, so that issue doesn’t come up very often.

So yeah, I just wanted to let everyone know that Oscar’s brood is safe and happy. Noone has been zombified, and life is normal for them.

Noemi’s life isn’t so normal. If she doesn’t end up in a bed at night, she usually ends up on a couch or something. Everyone kind of passes out in a pile.

She starts to think that the reason everyone in the Madhouse is so desensitized to scary shit has to be partly due to the drugs.

She discovers this on the day that she sees her first dead body being dragged out.

She knows who it is, and is absolutely horror struck upon seeing his wasted corpse. But to her relief she finds that it is much easier to distract herself, to look away and not think about it. This has to be because of the drugs.

Eventually it becomes habit to look away and not think about it. Noemi becomes perfectly capable of scrubbing dried blood off a floor and then playing a light hearted game of foosball in the same minute. The fact that everyone else is unbothered by the grittier details of life makes it even easier.

Besides, life in the Madhouse is exciting. There are always new people to meet as Rush is always looking for new recruits.

As it turns out, Dr. Sweet is an incredible guitar player. When he plays, everyone stops to come listen.

Tally happens to be the reigning chess master of the Madhouse. She claims to have only ever lost three games, and Noemi has made it her personal mission to beat her.

Meg: Don’t waste your time, honey. Everyone’s tried.

Noemi: Shhh. I’ve got this.

BLAM.

Everyone jumps as Taco and Nixon burst through the front door. Taco bends over, wheezing.

Nixon: WE’RE UNDER FIRE, GUYS!!

The girls bolt out of their seats as the sound of gunfire approaches.

Tally: Holy Jesus, get to the basement!

Men are hollering at each other and scrambling for their guns. Noemi looks back and sees guys already firing through the open doors, with more running to their aid.

Shaking violently, the girls sprint downstairs. Upstairs they hear the thunder of running feet and pops of gunfire.

The scene in front of Noemi is the picture of panic. Tally is shuffling her entire body under a dusty bed, and the other girls are crying and whimpering.

Noemi looks around wildly for Daisy and Rexie, and breathes a sigh of relief when she sees them huddled under the beds, whispering words of comfort to each other.

Candy is loudly sobbing, and Zana rubs her shoulder while trying in vain to get her to hush.

Rave: Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck.

Layla: They’ll kill us!! I know they will!

Honey: Shhh! If you’re crying they’ll kill you first!

Noemi watches Meg wedge herself between two beds and start to weep and rock rapidly back and forth.

She had been calm, but all the agitation finally gets to her. She collapses on a bed and presses her hands tightly to her face.

I just wanna pause and write a small disclaimer. I feel like Noemi’s story is getting really gender rolesey. As in, the girls clean and giggle and look cute and hide from scary stuff, and the guys go shoot at things. This doesn’t represent my personal views of how the post-apocalyptic world should be. I just think it’s realistic that some places and societies might be like that sometimes.

If you wanna read about chicks shooting at things, go find Velma.

Anyway, the girls hide in the basement for a long time, and have no idea what’s going on upstairs. They just hear screaming and running and shooting. Eventually it goes quiet. After about half an hour of calm, Rave speaks up.

Rave: Guys… I’m going to look.

Honey: Are you sure?

Rave: Yeah, someone has to. I’ll come back and tell you what’s happening.

The girls seem to collectively hold their breath for Rave as she sneaks up the stairs.

After what feels like an eternity she returns.

Rave: It’s all over, we can go up. We just fought off a full military attack but it’s done now.

A few girls choose to stay down a while longer. Noemi is restless to know what’s happening and follows Rave back up.

The main room is quiet. The guys mill around, muttering to each other and cleaning blood off their hands. Noemi takes stock of the bodies on the floor.

Nixon lays battered against the wall. Noemi would have thought he was dead, but his chest is visibly moving from his breath.

Rave: Nixon’s okay guys, I already talked to him. Doc said the bullet that went through him missed everything important.

Noemi then turns to search for signs of life in the body she’d been avoiding. Dr. Sweet is seeming very rushed in treating him, and his hands are working quickly. The pool of blood seems to expand slowly, running down the lines of the floorboards.

Dr. Sweet shakes his head then, barely noticeable.

Noemi gasps for air and tries to say words that won’t come out. She crumples into Daisy’s arms and is pulled in close.

Rush stares broodingly at the body as it is wrapped in cloth and carried out.

Noemi fights to regain control of her breathing. With a heavy sigh she extricates herself from Daisy. The first thing she notices is that the spot where Gerard had died has already been cleaned. The second thing is that the room has stopped and is listening intently.

Rush: Madhouse! We have suffered today! We have been attacked, and blood has been spilled!

Rush: Our blood! Blood of our friends, our brothers! But you know what that tells me? It tells me that the military is afraid of us! And they are trying to destroy what they fear!

He lets his words hang in the air.

Rush: So let’s show them that we like the taste of blood!!

A few cheers rise from the crowd.

Rush: This is what we are made for! This doesn’t knock us down, this builds us up!!

Rush: So in honor of the blood spilled today… I wanna see the Madhouse CELEBRATE!!!

Any sadness or dejection has completely left the room. The Mad Dogs are cheering and whooping. Soon, the liquor is flowing, the music is pounding, and the Dogs are dancing.

It is on this night that Noemi accomplishes her first kegstand.

It’s a party of epic proportions. The girls end up doing some sort of drunken cabaret dance on the pool table, with a room full of spectators cheering and tossing dollar bills. Money has no worth, so the girls stuff their shirts with fifties and hundreds all night long.

Tally starts off the naked phase of the party. Noemi doesn’t join in, but many do.

Noemi: This isn’t like the military. At all.

No sweetie, no it isn’t.

On the night Noemi completes her first kegstand, she helps her friend Layla complete her first ever naked kegstand. So that was classy.

lol gtfo rick grimes.

Yeah this happened when I wasn’t looking.

Rush we need to talk. What kind of place are you running here?

Rush: An AWESOME one.

…everyone does seem to be having a good time.

It’s pretty much hardcore party mode. Noemi loses track of how much of which substances she has consumed. All she knows is, beer tastes good.

She partially comes to her senses midway through a conversation with Honey, when she realizes Honey isn’t actually there anymore. She struggles to lift her heavy eyelids, and sees she is on some sort of hard floor. Trying to get up proves difficult, as she gets tangled in a chair and crashes back to the ground. She briefly takes notice of the new gash in her knee before fading out again.

The next thing she’s aware of is that she’s struggling to find a bed. She knows it’s close, but all she seems to find is rails and the floor.

She reaches her hands out in front of her face and waves them around. She can’t see them.

She tries dragging her body against the bed to find the surface, and ends up with her legs underneath.

She comes to again, this time holding onto a wall. She holds tight with her right hand as her body seems determined to fall left.

Noemi retches, the strain sending pain through her ribcage.

She fades out again.

She’s not sure if everything’s dark or if her eyes just won’t open. She kicks her leg and feels it ache as it meets a metal bar. She fades out, and then in again. Nobody will bother her here.

Her neck drops back, painfully jolting her spine. Then something comes up to support her head. Comfortable again, she drifts back to sleep.

Mmkay?