When he awoke, his head was resting on something warm and soft. Surprisingly, his body felt terrific; fully energized and ready to go. He squinted, slowly opening his eyes, and saw a pair of devilish red eyes set in an angelic face staring back down at him. It took him a moment to remember where he was and to recognize the face of Karina, his strange new traveling companion. Her face was mere inches from his and the tips of her long platinum blonde hair rested on his shoulders, tickling his bare skin. Her eyes showed concern, but she smiled nonetheless. As he stared up at those hypnotic eyes, her lips parted.

“Are you feeling any better, lover?” Karina inquired. “You nearly ran yourself to death.”

Reece blushed as he realized that his head was in her lap. For how long he had been sleeping like that, he didn’t know. Her hand traced the edge of his jawline as she tilted her head to better study his face before looking deeply into his eyes. The touch of her fingers felt electric but good. The feeling emanated from where their skin made contact and radiated through his body. Emotions bubbled up from his center and he found himself staring intently back into her eyes. Fearing he would do something awkward, something he wasn’t sure he wanted to do...he sat up quickly and tried to think of something to say. He dared not look at her.

As he replied, Reece just stared at the ground. “Lover? No, I don’t think so...but, yeah...uh...well, I’m feeling great actually.”

Desperately wanting the awkwardness to subside, Reece changed the subject. “Sooooo, umm...thanks for watching over me while I slept. Sorry for collapsing on you. I guess I overdid it. Uh, how long was I out?” he asked.

“Oh, only a few hours...but you needed it,” Karina answered. “And don’t worry. I took us through the river several times to mask our scent. The rest of the hunters are a long way off. Do you remember anything after you collapsed?”

“No, why?” asked Reece, puzzled by the odd question.

“Oh, well...heh...uh, just look around,” she chuckled.

Reece first took a hard look at Karina, still confused. Her eyes were insistent that he listen to her, as she widely circled her pointing finger in the air between them. He didn’t notice the motion as his mind was overwhelmed with the realization that she was completely nude. She was still sitting on her legs and they were closed. That and her long hair gave her a modicum of modesty.

The faint smell of rot broke him out of her enchantment and he finally took in the rest of his surroundings. He immediately understood the girl’s seemingly odd question and state of undress. All along the river were scores of chopped-up dead bodies, the state of decay indicating that they had been dead for quite some time, or rather...undead. As a whole, they looked like they had gone through a meat grinder. He had a pretty good guess as to who played the role of that meat grinder. He also noticed the mangled corpses of a few of the large wolf-like predators they had faced before. Mangled didn’t do what had happened to them any justice. They had clearly been chopped into chunks of furry rotting flesh and viscera.

All her clothes were propped up on sticks near the water’s edge, drip drying. Based on the state of the dead, she must have gotten them drenched in blood and gore and had needed to clean them in the river. Luckily, she had picked a blood-red and black outfit, as it would hide most of the remaining bloodstains. Reece nodded to her in understanding and a heavy dose of appreciation.

“I see you were busy while I slept. It seems I owe you another one,” Reece finally replied, once his mind had processed the gruesome scene laid out before him.

“Forget about it, I’m not keeping score. Remember, you’re my blood-sugar daddy,” Karina smiled cutely.

“Ugh, that’s creepy...” replied Reece.

“Yeah, sorry. It sounded better in my head,” answered Karina nonchalantly. “Point is, I need you alive. You’re my only source of sustenance. My oasis in the desert. You understand that, right?”

“Yeah, I got you. Fair enough,” said Reece, not wanting to offend the girl who had just saved his life. “Now, I need a quick dip in the river to clean up. We can get going after that. Well, I guess maybe I should eat something too. That cool?”

“Of course,” smiled Karina.

Reece waded fully dressed into the river until it was waist-deep. The water was moving slowly but carried the cold of late autumn. Reece knew he must be getting ripe after five or six days of the rigors of fighting the undead and constant travel. He stripped off his uniform and took a few minutes to wash both them and his body in the cold flowing water as best he could. He found the cool water refreshing as he acclimated to it. He used his shirt to scrub the filth away. The clear water turned brown as the dirt and blood of his violent journey were swept downstream by the current. He breathed a sigh of relaxation as the water and his scrubbing purified his body.

While he was using his wet shirt as a makeshift wash towel on his front, he felt hands press against his back. He jumped with a start and released a powerful elbow behind him to fend off the attacker. His elbow went high as the assailant was his under-five-foot companion. He realized there was no attack at all. She giggled and backed off a bit, still smiling.

“I was just trying to help you with the parts you can’t reach. It’s okay. You can relax.”

“Honestly, I’m probably more relaxed around the zombies than I am alone with you.”

She giggled at his confession. She had pulled her hair back into a ponytail as she once again exposed her breasts to him. His face grew hot all the way to his ears and his throat dried up, forcing him to swallow. Reece quickly turned away from her. It just wasn’t the time or place for something to happen. His shoulders slumped as he heard her sigh behind him.

“How long are we going to do this dance before you give into what I know you want. Remember, I can see your thoughts and I know your desire.”

“Look, maybe you can see my thoughts...and maybe you have a glimpse into my feelings...but you can’t really know how I’m feeling because you can’t see it in the context of what I’ve recently gone through. What I’m feeling now, it’s complicated...but it feels like a mixture of anger, anguish, desire, guilt, anxiety, and relief. I’m sorry, but now is not the time for any of this to happen.”

“Well, Odin’s left nut...you’re right about that,” she said, her tone turning dark and ominous.

Reece detected the change in her voice and a chill went up his spine. He looked over at her despite her nakedness. Oddly, she wasn’t looking at him at all, but downstream. Reece furrowed his brow as he followed her sullen gaze. His blood ran cold as he beheld a sight unlike any he had seen up until this point.

A boiling mass of flesh was flowing against the river. It took a moment for Reece to realize that what he was looking at was nothing other than a large mass of infected struggling towards them, fighting against the current to reach their meal. The full-on zombie horde must have numbered in the hundreds or even thousands. They were madly scrambling and clawing their way rapidly up the river. There were so many densely packed together that the river was overflowing its banks around them.

Adrenaline surged through Reece’s body as a sense of urgency snapped him out of the shock. Reece wasted no time pulling his still waterlogged flight suit back on while wading to the river’s edge as fast as his hindered legs would take him. It was slow going as he pushed against the flowing water. The mass of undead was still nearly half a kilometer away, but they were tenaciously trying to close the gap as fast as they could. Reece yanked the legs of his pants up, but just kept his top scrunched in his left hand as he grabbed Aika’s katana from the sandy bank with his right. Karina had dressed lightning-fast and had gathered up everything else. Once she was ready to depart, she gave him a very serious look.

“You need to run as fast as you can and leave the river for the woods. We need to lose this group quickly. I’ll draw them off in another direction. Try not to be seen. They do not tire and they will not stop. Now go! Run!”

Reece didn’t need to be told again. He scrambled up the riverbank and jogged along the river until he found a bike trail leading off into the woods. He didn’t think, he just took it and ran at top speed. Ducking branches and swerving around a pair of shambling zombies, Reece didn’t slow down for anything. His body felt invigorated and he was able to set a fast pace with little difficulty. As he ran, Reece heard the numerous growls and moans of the horde slowly fade into the background. The trail ran deep into the thick forest and the trees drowned out the noises made by the approaching horde. He dared not stop...not until he had to.

He spotted a paved road up ahead where the trail cut through the trees. He made for the pavement which would allow him to run faster and hopefully elude his numerous pursuers. Once he hit what turned out to be a highway, he hung a left to continue east and poured on the speed now that he was in the open. He hoped Karina would swiftly lead the mass of undead away and show up soon. Reece didn’t want to accidentally lose her. She was his best protection against this new world. He also had to admit that he was starting to enjoy her company despite himself. A commotion behind him got his attention. He turned his head to see what it was as he continued to run.

A couple dozen or so zombies had been milling about the highway where Reece had come out from the trail. They were clearly the result of some horrific car accident years ago. Almost as one, the creature’s jerked in his direction as they noticed his movements. Many were still buckled into their vehicles, but a good number of the long-dead corpses took up the chase. They were in the advanced stage of decomposition, but Reece knew they would be relentless in their pursuit.

“By Loki’s two-bit trollop! Why can’t I catch a break?” Reece cursed to himself as he picked up the pace. There were about a dozen rotting corpses chasing him now, assuming he had lost the large horde. If these ones were noisy enough, they’d probably draw those in as well. He had no choice but to keep running, so that’s exactly what he did. He ran and ran, keeping a steady pace that would leave him energy if he suddenly needed to fight. Despite his efforts, about twenty minutes into the run, he started tasting copper in his mouth.

He had overdone it again and his breathing had become fast and ragged. He couldn’t keep it up much longer without risking becoming too weak. Keeping his eyes peeled for anywhere to hide, he spotted a farm coming up on the right of the country highway. It was surrounded by large pine trees and had a massive white house, rusty tool shed, older garage, and a sturdy-looking barn. Several utility buildings sat around the property’s perimeter. Most were in disrepair and appeared to be for growing and processing crops on a small business scale.

Not wanting to get caught in the open while unprotected and fatigued, he made a dash for the farmhouse. He had put some distance between himself and the chasing corpses. Hoping it would be enough, Reece ran towards the house, cutting off his line of sight with the undead behind the thick line of pine trees. Counting on the house being empty, he ran right up the porch steps and tried the door. It swung open and a pair of well-dressed rotting corpses lunged for him from inside the house. Quickly overcoming his shock, he side-stepped the pair and they stumbled down the steps and fell. They had clearly been dead for a long time, perhaps years. They were slow and awkward, not much of a threat.

Reece quickly dispatched them both with Aika’s katana before lunging inside the house. He managed to shut the door just before the first of the chasing zombies cleared the line of pines and started stumbling about for any sign of him. Breathing a relieved sigh, he locked the door and did a quick inspection of the front room. Aside from the unpleasant odor of the dead, it seemed none-the-worse-for wear. The two zombies couldn’t have moved about a whole lot. He checked the windows and saw the zombies relentlessly wandering around the grounds of the property. Luck had been on his side and he’d lost them, at least for the most part. If he didn’t make too much noise, Reece figured he would be safe from them for now.

Taking some time to search the rest of the farmhouse and make sure it was clear of danger, he let himself relax. Still, the situation would greatly improve if Karina would catch up with him soon. He took the time to finish catching his breath and start looking around the place. It hadn’t been five minutes before he heard a commotion coming from the zombies outside. He was on the second floor, so he checked one of the bedroom windows and saw a small and very fast figure cutting through the zombies like they weren’t even fighting back. Karina must have known where he was the whole time and she was clearing out the immediate danger. Reece went downstairs to let her in, but when he opened the door it wasn’t Karina who greeted him.

Instead, what stood there was a short rat-headed man with red-glowing eyes and matted bloody hair covering most of his squat body. He clicked long dirty claws together while a long fleshy pink tail swished behind him. The rat-man also looked to be rotting, but that didn’t stop him from attempting to begin a conversation with Reece.

“Ahh, the masters will be pleased that I found you. Please, you need to come with me. It’s going to be okay. We can protect you from the zombies and bring you to safety. Unfortunately, this world isn’t safe for humans anymore,” the creature spoke somewhat eloquently though his voice had a deep guttural quality.

The creature tentatively approached him, like one would approach a frightened child. Reece took a step back and readied his katana.

“Stay back, I don’t know you...so why should I trust you?” asked Reece suspiciously.

He had seen the rat-man move exceptionally fast. If the thing attacked, Reece doubted if he would be fast enough to survive. He also wondered where Karina had gotten off to. The creature began acting submissive as it inched closer to him. It continued to speak to him all the while, attempting to calm him as if he were a child.

“Please, relax...we’re here to help...yes, to help you...it’s okay now... it's... dinnertime!”

The rat-thing launched itself as Reece’s face. He leaped back reflexively and brought the katana down as fast and hard as he could muster. The creature was so fast that it had made it within the blade’s arc before Reece could finish the move. However, Reece’s elbows came down hard on the rat-thing’s shoulders and drove it to the floor. Despite being stunned by the jarring elbow, it tried snapping at him with its rat-like maw. Reece reflexively brought his right knee up into its jaw and it connected solidly. The knee’s impact broke several teeth in the process of forcing its mouth violently shut. He used the moment to slide back and take a second slice at the rat-man.

It had recovered quickly enough to dodge the killing blow, but Reece managed to take its left arm off in the swing. It screamed in rage and pain, spraying blood everywhere before diving into him again. He dropped the sword and lodged his elbow into the creature’s neck a moment before it took a bite out of his own. Keeping his elbow between his face and the continually snapping teeth of the giant rat-headed thing, he used both his hands to grab the remaining arm of the creature.

As he bent the arm back as hard as he could, snapping it at the elbow, the rat’s tail encircled his leg and pulled him down to the floor. Reece let himself fall as the creature fell on top of him, but it now was effectively ‘disarmed’ except for the toothy jaws he was still managing to hold at bay. He headbutted the creature right in the snout. It made a sickening crunch as he smashed the rat-face’s nose inward. The creature was dazed, so Reece took the opportunity to roll it onto its back. He pinned the rat’s head to the floor by forcing his elbow even harder into its throat. Using his other hand to get ahold of his dropped katana, he utilized its hilt to club the rat-thing into unconsciousness.

Once it had stopped fighting back, Reece was able to stand back up. From the superior position, he swung his katana down. The blade sliced through the rat man’s neck, lopping the beast’s head clean off. The moment it was dead, he heard clapping from behind him. He looked over at the house’s front door. Karina was leaning against the doorjamb, clapping her hands and smiling at him.

“Well done, babe,” she commended him.

“Son of a bitch!” cried Reece, “How long have you been standing there?”

“For just a minute...why?”

“And you didn’t think to...I don’t know...help!?!” he asked incredulously while watching Karina saunter into the room and check out the dead rat creature on the floor.

“Huh, I’ve never seen one of these before...cool,” she said, nudging the corpse with her boot. Its blood was slowly soaking into the rug it had fallen on top of just before Reece had ended its unnatural life.

“If you could dispose of this, we could crash here for the night. I think a regular bed could do you some good,” commented the girl casually.

He shook his head in exasperation and disappointment at the girl’s seemingly reckless disregard for his safety. Despite that, he did as she asked and wrapped the rug around the squat body of the rat-man before dragging it out and off the porch. Karina held the door for him and tossed out the severed arm and head to land atop the rug-wrapped corpse. After returning inside he turned to face Karina.

“You know that thing could have killed me, and where would you be then?” He couldn’t help but rail against her in anger.

“Calm down. You were never in any real danger. I don’t think you really know just how fast I am. That thing never even had a chance. However, if I save you every time you want me to, you’ll grow weak. Eventually, a day will come when I won’t be there to save you. Do you understand?” she said, patronizing him for complaining.

“Fine. Whatever. What happened with the zombie horde, anyhow?” replied Reece, still angry but getting her point.