- That’s it. Just… Silly Strings.

  - Cheap, bright, dumb fun. Excellent for distracting kids and zombies alike.

  - The opposite? Serious Putty. That’s what I call C4. Trust me, it sticks harder.

  - [Jules’ Edit]: You sprayed me in the face while I was checking a tripwire. You’re lucky I didn’t swing.

  ---

  We found the Silly String in a party store, wedged between crumpled birthday hats and a dusty “Happy Retirement” banner.

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  We also found ammo boxes. Jules was giddy that she can use her gun again.

  Naturally, I grabbed three cans. Because I have priorities.

  Jules raised an eyebrow. “We’re carrying weight now. You sure about those?”

  “I’ll trade you two cans of chili and a multitool.”

  She stared.

  “Okay. One can of chili and a knock-knock joke.”

  “You’re impossible.”

  “You’re just mad because you know you’re gonna laugh.”

  Later that day, I did spray her in the face.

  In my defense, she was inspecting a tripwire made by other survivors, squinting real serious-like. The string hit her square on the cheek, a bright blue spiral of chaos. She froze, crowbar in hand, and I realized I had about three seconds to live.

  But she laughed. Snorted, actually.

  “Jesus, Elliot.”

  “That’s the first time you said my name all day,” I said, smiling.

  That night we used the remaining can to mess with a slow-walker. Painted him like a pi?ata and lured him into an alley. It was dumb. It was fun. It worked.

  Silly String: 1. Apocalypse: 0.

  Still, I noticed Jules slept with gun closer than usual.

  Maybe she always did.

  Or maybe I was just seeing things.