AWKWARD ZOMBIE

Whitney ate quickly and quietly, with a thoughtful frown on her face. Once she had finished she stood up from the table. "I'm going home now," she announced. "I hate thunderstorms--the lightning is such a bother. If anyone finds out anything about Hershel T, let me know. It's going to keep bothering me until I learn more..." She headed out of the area with her tail swishing behind her.

Pierce looked up at the sky as a flash of lightning lit up the evening.

"Yes, I suggest we all get to our homes soon. Wouldn't want to get caught outside for long in this weather."

He followed Whitney out and went back to his house.

Coco dropped her pear in shock as a thunderclap shook the town.
"I think I'm gonna go home now..." she says, scurrying off after Pierce and Whitney.

"I'll head back as well," Cranston replied as he walked to the door, "Goodnight to you all! You too, Franklin."

Joe cursed inwardly as he saw everyone start to head home.
After a while of cooling down, he thought to himself, "It can wait for tomorrow, then, when it's not thundering."
He headed home as well.

Several hours into the night, Pierce takes his umbrella, leaves his house, and makes his way to Whitney's. He knocks on the door and waits for a reply.

Whitney opened the door a crack, leaving the chain latched for the moment. "...hello?" She blinked when she recognized Pierce. "Oh, it's you. Did something happen?"

"Evening, rookie. I hope I didn't wake you, but I could use your help."

It's then that Whitney notices that Pierce is carrying his crowbar.

"My help? Whatever for?" Whitney felt her stomach flutter nervously, wondering what sort of thing Pierce would need her and a crowbar for.

"Relax, hawkeye. I'm not here to kill you. I just need your help doing some investigating."

Pierce looked Whitney straight in the eyes as he said this. He seemed sincere.

"I'm sure you noticed Joe acting rather.....strangely today. It hasn't been sitting well with me, especially since we haven't seen several members of our group today. You seem to be trustworthy, as well as one of the more...level-headed among us. Again, my apologies for coming to you like this, but I couldn't approach you about this with everyone else around. I can't shake the feeling that something big is going to happen soon, if it hasn't already, and I want to get to the bottom of it. And if I'm going to do that, I can't alert too many people. That being said...."

Pierce glanced at the crowbar.

"There's safety in numbers."

"I see..." Whitney shut the door momentarily and unlatched it, then opened it again. She was curious to take a look at the rest of the village herself, as she hadn't been to every part of it. With that said, Nook's warning about nighttime being dangerous was nagging at the back of her mind. She couldn't help being a little nervous. "I don't have a weapon, myself. Maybe I can find something in case I need to defend myself...oh, wait." She retreated into her house and returned with an axe, one of the items Nook had left in everyone's home before they arrived at the town. "I almost forgot about those tools we received," she explained, looking apologetic. "I don't have much use for any of them, to be honest. What sort of investigating were you planning on doing? Did you have someplace specific in mind?"

"You may be better off taking your shovel instead, sport. I seem to recall Joe mentioning he was looking to do some 'digging' earlier today."

Pierce noted Whitney's worried expression.

"What? You don't trust me? Well.... I guess that's understandable. Why don't you hold onto this for now?"

Pierce hands his crowbar over to Whitney.

"The shovel...? Yes, you're right." It hadn't occurred to Whitney that a shovel could be used as a weapon, too. She quickly switched her axe with the shovel and left her house, locking the door behind her and taking Pierce's crowbar. "Let's just be careful. You remember what Nook said--nighttime outside is dangerous." She rubbed her nose and sighed. "Now, where to?"

"Let's check out Joe's house, rookie. It's just across the river from mine."

"Okay. I hope he's asleep--I don't want that bird-brain to catch us outside at a time like this."