Winter ushered in a frozen, white world in which even the undead had to find shelter in warmer places or become an unmoving statue surrounded by snow.

Summer, on the other hand, brought scorching temperatures that would fry the delicate skin of the living let alone the papery grey of the dead. The unholy scent of a zombie beneath the bright light of the hot sun was beyond description and its prey were not foolish enough to hang around anywhere where such could be smelled. The movement of the undead during the daylight hours tended to be nonexistent, the movement of the living during the hottest hours was almost as small.

With these two seasons hampering the movement of everything with such ability, there was far increased activity during the spring and autumn months. Zombies were migrating, attempting to avoid the heat of the summer by travelling to the mountains in the north, although no one understood how travelling south in the winter would save them from the bone chilling cold; this former nation was one surrounded by oceans and seas after all. The undead were not the only threat to the small communities of surviving humans.

There were also mutant beasts seeking to pad their stomachs full of meat prior to or following winter hibernation and there weren't few previously domesticated, but otherwise ordinary animals seeking the same. Even the beasts that lived off of vegetation were no longer easily trifled with, developing all sorts of physical or occasionally mental ways of dealing with those who wanted to eat them. Scavengers would also lie in wait, seeking to steal fallen prey or pick at anything left behind.

Bai Yan was not a scavenger and he was not intimidated by zombie or beast. In addition, he was a foodie, thus he had samples of many animals tucked in his interdimensional bag. Several were very fresh, having been killed on route as he journeyed rapidly over desert and mountain, through forest and fields to this, his final destination. But seeing as the bag at his hip was one of space and time, unlike Ren Zexian's which had only the ability of space, even the oldest carcasses were still as fresh as the day he'd killed them.

And it was thanks to this collection that the small community gained a freezer full of meat once more.

*****

Harry stretched out his long limbs in the bed only slightly dissatisfied from the previous night's sleep. Sure this bed was a double, but it's mattress was on the soft side and he'd only been able to use a spare, thin, double duvet. While it was spring, the nights could still be a bit cool and occasionally frost would be seen glittering on the grass and plant foliage in the morning before the sun reached a high enough point to melt it away.

He'd slept in his jeans for a portion of the night, only to toss them away as they'd not been comfortable and forced to have his bare legs get cold until he'd doubled over the duvet and finally had fallen asleep stiffly at the centre of it.

Why was he sleeping in a spare bedroom rather than his own comfortable bed? He cursed his roommate inwardly for the inconvenience. Still, it could have been worse. This bed had been occupied by one of the lovey dovey couples before their family had all moved back into the second property at the beginning of spring. This house was large, but it was still good to have a bit more space to oneself.

Harry pulled on his discarded jeans before neatening the cover, but didn't strip the sheets as he suspected he might have to suffer a few nights in this bed in the short term. Hell, if it continued on, he'd damn well move out and find a new room to sleep in!

Returning to his room, he was about to knock on the door when the wooden object swung open on slightly squeaky hinges and a dazed and happy Patrick floated out. That's right, he damn well 'floated' out! There was no limping nor wincing eyes due to unforeseen aches, just a smug smile of pure satisfaction beneath two slightly red, glazed eyes. He didn't even apologise to Harry, who'd been exiled from his own room, before disappearing into the bathroom opposite.

A vein in Harry's temple twitched, but he could only let loose a heavy sigh before entering the room. His eyes couldn't help but glance over towards Patrick's bed and for the first time he was thankful that the mess of a patched curtain was shielding him from the evidence of Patrick's tête-à-tête the previous night. The room suffered from the musty scent of men usually, the ambiguous scent of something else that he didn't want to think about, lingered, so Harry's first reaction was to open a window. The fresh air poured in, lowering the temperature almost immediately.

Movement behind him caught his attention and he looked over his shoulder to see the other party in Patrick's tryst pull back the curtain as he sat on the edge of Patrick's bed. His long river of black hair covered his broad shoulders, spilling down a bare and muscular chest and strong thighs. The glimpse was enough to confirm something that Harry did not want to know; the bastard was still naked!

Before he could looked away, Bai Yan grinned at him, nodding his head in greeting. Harry spat out a word in return with some irritation in his tone; "'Morning."

Following that, Harry opened drawers to gather fresh clothes and undergarments.

"Ooo, it's chilly in here!" Patrick complained as he reentered the room. He rubbed at his arms that were wrapped in the fleece of a dressing gown as if trying to gain warmth.

"Come here," Bai Yan ordered before adding with ambiguity; "allow this one to warm you thoroughly." Patrick giggled before hurrying over. There was the smacking of lips and a soft, sweet groan, which caused Harry to flee towards the bathroom in a hurry, swearing beneath his breath. Bloody bastards! Couldn't they give a guy warning? It was worse than last night when he'd returned to his room hearing Patrick's uncensored cries. At least they'd been blocked a bit by a closed door! Did they then have to continue with an audience?!

Harry scrubbed at his teeth with his brush in frustration before picking a piece of the potted mint plant to chew on. Their toothpaste stocks were practically exhausted, alternatives were being sought, but at least no one was suffering from bad breath yet.

The man was swiftly soothed with a breakfast of bread and meat broth, his stomach warmed and his tastebuds satisfied. As he ate, Dexter approached him with a request.

"Could you man the wall an extra hour this morning?" he asked. Harry was scheduled for guard duty for a couple of hours every morning this week. Next week it might be every afternoon or evening. He'd already worked a night shift this month.

"Sure, why the change?" Although he easily agreed, he was curious to know the reason for it.

"Ah, Monika can't go on the walls for the moment," Dexter didn't go into details, but Harry suspected the reason for it.

No man would dare joke about a woman's 'time of the month' these days. The women were a part of their strength and two of their women manned the walls along side the men, Autumn being the exception, though no one would claim that her role was less vital than anyone else's. However, a woman on her period was not part of a good defence on the wall but bait. Only an idiot would want to attract increased numbers of undead to their fortress.

As Harry was nodding in agreement, he wouldn't know that his assumption was wrong.

"When are you going to tell..." Autumn asked Monika, worriedly.

The other woman sighed. She had hoped in vain that it was just a stomach bug or just something she ate. No longer able to deny the truth, she could only reply; "Tonight..."