Corpse Harvest, Chapter 22:

Kevin was weeping as he made the slow trek back to the Ocarina Inn. He felt absolutely miserable and spiteful at himself. When his sister needed him the most, he ran away from her like a coward. When his siblings needed him the most, he stood by and watched as others took up the responsibility of putting them down.

Julius had succeeded. The man may have been dead now, but he was able to go out on his own terms. He had reduced the population of this town to just three people. He had torn most of Kevin's family from him. All he had left were his dear friends and his parents. But the words that the Wizard had spoken still echoed in his head, eating away at him and making him even more of a nervous wreck. He had no idea if any of them were safe. The news on the television in Jin's clinic made no mention of the zombies, but that was two days ago. Who knows what he could have done in that amount of time...

Kevin wiped his eyes, and noticed that his feet had carried him all the way back towards the bridge leading into Harmonica Town. He paused when he was on the bridge and looked down at the river below. He watched the water flow into the ocean as he contemplated throwing himself off of the bridge.

"Kevin!" he heard a voice call out from town. He turned to see Toby emerging from the inn. He must have seen him from outside the window. Kevin took a deep breath and walked over to the hotel. Toby looked very concerned as he drew closer.

"W-Where is everyone else?" Toby asked with worry, his voice telling that he already knew the answer, but didn't want it to be true.

"Gone," Kevin replied weakly, his voice cracking under the exhaustion and trauma he had experienced. Toby opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Bo walked up to them, pain in his eyes and blood on his clothes. Kevin noticed at this point that Toby also had blood stains on his clothes.

"Hanna's dead," Bo said monotonously, as if he were reciting a script. "We tried to save her..."

"She couldn't bear losing Cain and Renee. She slit her throat..." Toby said lowly.

Kevin balled a hand into a tight fist at the news of another death. The echoes in his head tore him away from grief. "We need to get out of this town," Kevin said anxiously. "It's not over!"

"What do you mean?" Toby asked.

"Angela and I met the Wizard while we went after Julius. It's not just here. Other places are going through this!" Kevin exclaimed.

"He was behind this the whole time?" Toby asked.

"Angela and the others... what happened to them?" Bo asked, sounding more scared as he appeared to awake from a dream.

"They're all dead..." Kevin said. "I... I took care of them all..." It felt terrible to lie to them, to consign the fate of Angela and Anissa to remain zombies, but it was taking everything he had to hold himself together, and he could feel his composure cracking.

"Damn it... if what you said about the wizard is true..." Bo said, gritting his teeth. He suddenly took off towards the clinic. Toby and Kevin followed him, and when they arrived Bo had turned on the television and was flipping through the channels.

"See! No zombies!" Bo declared.

"Why would he lie to us? This doesn't prove anything! I bet they're probably in other small towns... there's still a chance..." Kevin said.

"A chance for what?" Toby asked.

"I lost my siblings here. I need to get back to the city... I can't lose anyone else important to me."

"I'll come with you. I can't stand to stay in this town anymore," Bo said with mild frustration. "Nothing but bad memories here," he added.

"I can't agree with either of you. I am staying," Toby said calmly.

"But-" Bo began.

"I know nobody else is here. I don't care. There are bodies to bury and animals to take care of. I cannot leave them here in good conscience. Maybe when I've come to terms with things I can move on, but until then... this is goodbye."

"Good luck, then," Kevin said, offering a hand. Toby shook it. Bo shook Toby's hand next, but it did not say anything. The two left the clinic and the town, leaving Toby behind. Kevin felt a nagging voice inside telling him to inform Toby about Anissa, but Bo had a point. He wanted to be done with this town as well. Toby could take care of himself, especially with the only zombie left being trapped inside a house. The only one left...

Toby was perched on the edge of the Flute Fields bridge, watching the bobber in the river for signs of any bites. Fishing always relaxed him and eased his troubles, and he was surprised that it was being effective even after the nightmare he had gone through. Renee would often fish with him around here...

He shook those thoughts from his head, sighed, and reeled his line back in. The fish just weren't biting.

He walked all the way back to town, returning to his uncle's fishery to put up his fishing rod and tackle box. It had been a few days since Kevin and Bo left. He wasn't sure if he would be able to remain in Harmonica Town for much longer. It was eerie to only hear the rolling waves and the chirping birds in town. He missed the sounds of the villagers going about their lives and interacting. This silence was cold and foreign. Seeing the town empty made him feel as if the dead still walked.

Toby never checked the television since Bo last turned it on. He didn't really want to. As far as he was concerned, things were peaceful in the world. If he turned on the news and saw otherwise, he didn't know if he could handle it. But he also didn't know if he could handle staying in the desolate town.

Toby made his way up to the church. He took Jin's suggestion and made grave makers for everyone. They weren't anything special- just planks of wood taken from the carpenters- but he made sure to equalize their length and carve names into each newly-fashioned stake.

He closed his eyes and prayed to all of the fallen. There were no bodies here... all of these markers were cenotaphs. The true grave site was nearby, but he covered the mass burial hole after placing the final bodies he found inside and letting them burn. He never found Anissa or Angela's bodies, or the body of Julius, not that the traitor would get a burial. That confrontation took place outside of town, and Toby wouldn't have the slightest clue where to look for the bodies.

He finished his concise prayer. He was never much of a religious man, but the souls of the fallen before him definitely needed the Goddess' help. He picked some nearby wildflowers and laid them by each set of graves. A flower for Cain, Hanna, and Renee, a flower for Jin and Irene, a flower for Simon, Barbara, Calvin, and Phoebe, a flower for Maya, Chase, Jake, Colleen, and Yolanda, a flower for Craig, Ruth, Anissa, and Taylor, a flower for Shelly, Candace, and Luna, a flower for Samson, Selena, and Sue, a flower for Hamilton and Gill, a flower for Hayden and Kathy, a flower for Ramsey, Owen, and Chloe, a flower for Dale and Luke, a flower for Mira and Perry, a flower for Angela, Kasey, and Molly, and one final flower for Pascal, Paolo, and Ozzie... so many lives had been lost. So many dreams and so much happiness cut short. A close community all brought to ruin.

Toby stared at the graves for a while before he left to feed the animals at Sunrise Farm and Horn Ranch. He wondered if the animals would be able to fend for themselves if he just let them loose. He knew very little about ranching and caring for animals other than feeding them, and there was no source of help for miles.

Once he fed the animals at Horn Ranch, he opened their stables, giving them the chance to roam free. He thought long and hard over things on his way there, and he decided that staying here was just another way he was trying to escape from everything. He didn't want to, but he would check the news and see the status of the outside world before departing.

He walked over Moon Hill on his way back from the farm, taking one last look over the solemn fields. He would be leaving this place soon. Something caught his eye over at the Marimba Farm. Did he see something move through the window?

His curiosity overwhelming him, Toby walked towards the farm. He saw nothing as he drew closer to the building, but he had a sense of dread as he reached for the doorknob. He opened the door...

A/N: There you have it! I hope you enjoyed the story! Fear not that I left some mysteries hanging, for there are four more towns to cover. That's right; I intend to make four more parts to this story. They will be separate stories. Part 2 of this saga is up now. The Source may have been stopped, but the Scourge remains...