Snatchers (Book 3): The Dead Don't Cry by Shaun Whittington

taken out a pane of glass to get into the house; so getting in would be pretty easy, even easier if the place had been broken into and ransacked by desperados.
    "You told me about your son and your ex," Johnny began, and was reluctant to finish his sentence, but he did. "Isn't this a little weird coming back to this house? There should be plenty of other houses abandoned."
    "I want to be here. You can go whenever you want."
    Johnny shook his head, as they were both now walking down the garden and around the back of the house. Jack noticed the shaking of Johnny's head and asked him what was wrong.
    "Seriously?"
    "Yeah." Jack nodded. "What's up?"
    "You're an ungrateful fucker, Jack Slade."
    "What?" Jack stopped walking and turned to stare at a clearly-upset Johnny.
    "You were nearly dead when I brought you in, and all you've done is bark orders at me; I just feel you're really ungrateful. You drive me all the way to this town, miles away from my own house, and then tell me that I can go if I want. What's your problem?"
    Jack look baffled and had no answer for Johnny. He could see he was upset, but felt that it wasn't necessary to apologise to the man, as he didn't know what he would be apologising to him for.
    "I appreciate you taking me in." Jack looked around and was stroking his thin beard that had been itching the hell out of him over the last few days. "But what do you want me to do? Give you a wank? The factory was eventually gonna be your own tomb; you would have starved to death in there eventually, while hundreds of those fuckers would be gathering outside the place. I've taken you out of that place," Jack then looked and pointed at Kerry's house, "and I'm giving you a bed for the night. I think we're even, don't you?"
    Jack never received a response from Johnny. He continued to look all around him, as he was paranoid that standing where they were and having a conversation, wasn't the best thing to do in an apocalyptic situation where the dangers were everywhere.
    Jack patted Johnny on the shoulder. "Let's go inside."
    The two men went round the back of the house; Jack could see that the pane of glass he had broken, to get inside two weeks ago, was still sitting on the floor in pieces. He raised a sad smile, knowing that Kerry and Thomas were alive back then.
    He let himself in and Johnny followed.
    Jack looked around. It looked exactly the way it was when he came here the other week, and couldn't believe it hadn't been ransacked yet. It would be eventually; he was certain of it.
    Johnny scanned around and asked Jack, "Can I check upstairs?"
    Jack nodded his head and said, "It's clear upstairs, I'm sure of it."
    Johnny smiled and opened the door that led to the stairs, where there was three bedrooms and a bathroom on the first floor.
    "Don't go into the bedroom on the right," Jack spoke out in a sad voice. "That's my son's room. Even I won't be going anywhere near that."
    Johnny released a sympathetic smile and could only imagine the torment that Jack had, and still was, going through. No wonder he was rude and uptight, Johnny thought.
    Jack had told Johnny in a brief summary what he had been through over the last week or so, and Johnny had come to the conclusion that this world was now either going to strengthen him, mentally, or break him. He had no idea where Jack was, as far as his mentality was concerned. Johnny thought that Jack Slade had been moulded into the figure he was now, and was probably a normal bloke before all this shit happened. He was probably a simple guy, with a simple job, and enjoyed a beer and the company of women.
    The new world had stripped down all the perks of the world. Playstations, Facebook and job promotions were now things of the past. Food, drink and shelter were taken for granted in the old world, but were the only targets that people were aiming for now. The days of walking into a supermarket and getting a week of food had disappeared; from now on they were going to be living from