Once we had packed up the tents - much to the dismay of Carson, who had passed out in one of them - I got into the driver's seat. The others were fast asleep, sprawled over each other in the back seats of the minivan.

Lowell handed me a plastic cup with a straw poking through the solid plastic lid. "Take a sip," he said. "I have to give you credit for the idea of a brain smoothie, though. I saw you have one the other day. They aren't the most delicious, but they are convenient."

I took a sip and closed my eyes, unable to hold back a sigh. "You have no idea how much I needed that. I don't know how I was going to go back to the violent serial killer brain that Blaine gave me."

"This one's an old lady who died peacefully in her sleep. She travelled a lot in her lifetime. She was a pretty cool lady, from what Ravi told me."

"Thank you. Thank you so much." I smiled and took another sip.

"I added some coffee to this one," he said. "It doesn't do much to the taste, but it should keep you awake. Just tell me if I need to take over." He grinned. "I haven't drunk enough to make me completely useless."

"Thanks, but I don't think that will be necessary. There's no way I'll be able to fall alseep anyway."

Luckily there was still a guard at the gate of the camp site and after a substantial tip, he let us sign out. "So. Where to?" I asked as I drove through the gate.

"Away from here," he said. "There's a small town a little further on. I think."

And so we drove into the night. I dictated a text to Lowell, who sent it to Blaine. It was a firm assurance that there was no way I'd deal with him again and that if he threatened me, I'd show the police some photos I'd taken in secret of the bodies in the freezers at Meat Cute.

"I took those photos as leverage, but I didn't know for what yet. I knew it wasn't enough to keep Blaine providing me with brains, but hopefully it will get him to leave me alone now," I explained.

"Clever," Lowell said, impressed.

I drove until I could see the lights of a town glinting up ahead. The whole time I'd been driving, I'd tried to convince Lowell that he needed to get some sleep, but he stayed awake regardless of my pestering and my eventual silent treatment. "I can't just leave you alone," he said. "If you fall asleep, we all die."

"They all die," I reminded him bitterly. "The two of us have a pretty good chance of survival."

By the time we reached the first buildings, there was a soft glow behind the horizon. I pulled up in the parking lot of a diner on the edge of town and Lowell and I got out. He helped me up onto the roof of the minivan and we watched the sunset. I sat between his legs and he rested his head on my shoulder, his arms encircling me from behind.

I leaned back into him and felt his chest rising and falling gently against my back. "You have no idea how great it is to have met another zombie," he said. "Even if she only got to know me so she could harvest my brain."

"That's not fair," I protested, but he shut me up with a kiss.

"I mean it, though. You have no idea how great it is to be around someone that I don't have to hide from," he breathed against my lips.

"Oh, but I do," I said, and raised a hand to rest it against his cheek. This time, I was the one who kissed him. My heart raced as he buried his fingers in my hair. I hadn't slept in just under 24 hours, but I'd never felt so awake. Or so alive.

A rummaging noise from below us brought us back down to earth. I peered over the edge of the minivan's roof to see Holly stumbling out of the car, looking around her like she had woken up on another planet. "Where on earth are we?"