Page 15

Days turned into weeks. It was difficult to keep track, but Renee figured she’d been traveling with the horde for roughly a month. The routine was always the same. Brie woke her up every day, then Renee would try to get her to talk and engage in conversation. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn’t. They would walk for hours and if she had angered the king the night before, she and Brie would walk with the shamblers at the rear of the procession. The shamblers didn’t communicate and stunk. Now that she ate every night, it made her nauseous to be with them first thing in the mornings.

Every few days, the horde would find, and decimate a group of people or a pack of wild animals. Renee continued to hide or go as far as she was allowed from the mess. Sometimes the king would be involved, and sometimes not. Brie would never divulge where he was all day, yet Renee knew he was always at the front leading the group of undead. Anytime Renee asked Brie something she didn’t want to answer, she’d stare forward and stop talking for the rest of the day or simply change the subject.

Renee was pretty sure that the chosen were at the front with their king. They were probably like his knights, the ones he sent in first to clear a path. Maybe the nameless king had been right. She was pretty fixated on the whole royal hierarchy concept. As much as she tried, she couldn’t keep her mind from drifting back to what happened with the rabbit. Brie refused to talk about that specific incident or what the king had done.

She wanted to mark off the brutal interaction as another display of strength and brutality from him, but it seemed like more. She’d tried to bring it up a few times with him, but hadn’t mustered up the strength yet. When Renee told Brie about her desire to clear the air with the king about what happened with the rabbit, Brie snapped at her and told her not to bring it up again. Renee assumed Brie was short with her because Renee had tried to run Brie had got in trouble with the king. He’d told her not to run, and Renee had tried, not for the reasons he probably thought, but it didn’t change her actions.

If she tried to ask about his odd expression, the almost kindness in his eyes - what would happen? Was he angry because she tried to escape? If she brought it up, would he punish her? Or would he be decent and talk to her? It was a gamble, and she wasn’t sure if she had what it took to test her luck with him.

Nothing had changed; she was only playing along to gain any information that would help the humans, but the longer she traveled with them, the more things blurred in her mind. As upset as she was to lose her rabbit friend, she also understood that the horde almost couldn’t control themselves. Whether it was animals or humans. Being around them as they ate their way up the east coast had traumatized her, but she had learned that once they were worked up into a frenzy, the only thing that seemed to stop them was their king.

Renee glanced at Brie who strolled beside her. It was weird sometimes, when she was comfortable, Brie talked a lot, but if Renee didn’t engage her, she’d stay silent, staring ahead. Renee could tell she was always thinking. About what, she had no clue, but if Brie was in a mood, it was almost impossible to get her to talk.

“Brie… I was thinking about talking to him about what happened with the rabbit. So, he knows I wasn’t trying to run away.” Renee dared to open the topic again.

Brie slowed her pace and gave her a hard look. “You really don’t know when to let something go, do you? I get that it was probably traumatizing to you but it’s nothing to us.”

Renee swallowed because her words hurt, even if they were true. It seemed like a pattern. Nothing she valued seemed important to anyone else, even before the end of normalcy.

“It doesn’t matter why you ran. I told you the first day you were with us and you did it, anyway.” Her tone was so cold it made Renee shiver.

“I was trying to save my friend-”

Brie stopped and put her hands on her hips. “Your friend ? Are you fucking kidding me?”

Renee stopped and looked at the dirt beneath her feet. “I don’t have any friends. I want to be friends with you, even though you don’t want to talk to me most of the time. If companionship from a rabbit was all I’ll get it, I’ll take it.”

“That’s not - it’s not like that. Okay, it is but not for the reasons you think.” Brie stumbled through her words. Normally, whenever she spoke it was with confidence. Brie’s body language remained proud and didn’t display the stress lines in her face. Her mouth thinned out with a grimace. “It’s complicated but I don’t hate you, Renee.”

“But we can’t be friends,” Renee whispered, dropping her view back to her feet.

“Fuck me. I didn’t say that. You’re so goddamn relentless,” Brie breathed and adjusted her stance.

She flicked her eyes back to Brie’s face, which was still tense but also seemed more… open? Renee blinked because she wondered if she was only seeing what she wanted to see, but it looked like Brie wasn’t staring at her with the usual annoyance.

Brie threw her hands into the air in front of her. “Okay. Okay, we can fucking talk until we reach where we’re going. But trust me, don’t bring up the rabbit. You ran . If you were anyone else, he would’ve… it doesn’t matter. Be smart and don’t draw attention to the fact that he treats you differently. You do, it’s your funeral.”

Renee bounced on her feet. “Can I pick what we talk about?”

Brie rolled her eyes but then gave her a small smile. “Yes, you can pick. However, please don’t pick those damn vampire movies again. Sparkling vampires make no sense.”

“But the second half of the last book was never released in cinema!” Renee protested.

“And you already told me you read all the books so you know what happened. Romance books are ridiculous, anyway. Why would a vampire be interested in a high school student? It’s fucking creepy.” Brie’s face twisted in contemplation.

“Says the zombie,” Renee shot back and then laughed.

Brie pushed her forward so they’d start marching with the others but then laughed too. Renee grinned as she launched into the difference between the books and the movies. Although Brie protested and acted like she hated it, she listened to every word and had many questions.

Renee’s plan was to eventually work her way to her favorite romantasy book series. Brie may not have recognized that she herself was interacting and seemingly interested in what Renee was saying, but she was, so Renee kept on talking. Perhaps it was simply because there hadn’t been any entertainment in a long time, but Renee hoped it was because Brie secretly liked the stories as much as she did.

Renee, lacking in most useful skills, had a stellar memory of the various stories and characters. She could easily recall the important details of plots and the different, made-up worlds, and she’d talk about the stories that she’d coveted and had helped her through the worst times. Renee’s hope was that the stories might help Brie too.

Nights were the hardest. It didn’t matter where they were. He’d always find some enclosed place for shelter and she would be forced inside with only him. Sometimes he was a chatty, condescending prick, and they would bicker, which meant she and Brie would be with the shamblers the next day. She could deal with the arguing, but it was when he was almost kind and spoke to her like a person that confused her.

It had only been a few nights since he gave her the book she was reading. Embarrassed when she squealed at the title. It was one of her favorite romantasy books from before the world ended. He’d just raised his eyebrows at her and walked away. When he wasn’t looking, she hugged the book because it was the closest thing she had to a friend at that moment. The last few nights, she had less trouble going to sleep because she read until she passed out.

Cuddled in her sleeping bag, she yawned as she opened her book. She was using a ripped wrapper from a water bottle as a bookmark. She missed beds but was grateful to have pillows. She briefly wondered, who carried her pillows all day while they traveled?

“You seem to enjoy that book.” His voice caused goosebumps to rise on her skin.

“Yeah, it’s really good.” She smiled and started to read, but then stopped and stared at him. “How did you know I liked to read?”

He shrugged. “I guessed. You seem the type.”

She frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

He smirked before he answered. “I didn’t think you cared about my opinion of you.”

“I don’t,” she insisted.

His smirk turned into a grin.

“I don’t .”

“Those books are pointless, anyway. Filled with unrealistic nonsense.” His tone sounded bored, but the grin remained plastered on his face.

Renee stuck the wrapper in between the pages to mark where she left off and closed the book. “What?”

“People don’t act like that.”

She wiggled her torso out of her sleeping bag and sat up, keeping her lower half cocooned. “Don’t act like what?”

She had a sneaking suspicion the king had at least glanced at her romance book and if that was the case, it was the funniest thing she could imagine. The horrific, terrifying king of the undead reading a romance book about elves and fae. Just the image of him bent over any book almost made her laugh.

His grin disappeared. “Those books existed before. I knew people who read them.”

“Oh.” Damn. There went any fun she might’ve had. She slid back into her sleeping bag, intending to read.

“I meant you seem the type to read because people who like to learn tend to be curious… and read. Regardless of what they read.”

Renee turned her head toward him to see if he was mocking her, but he wasn’t. It was almost a compliment, even though he’d basically just made fun of her book.

“I do like to read. It’s just hard to find books. Most of them were destroyed; having been exposed to the elements… it’s sad.”

“There are probably still libraries that are untouched. It’s not as though many of my kind would be interested in them unless there was food in the libraries.”

She swallowed. He was right. Once again, she felt dumb because she hadn’t thought of things that way. She could’ve been hiding in an old library this entire time while they ate the rest of the country. No. She’d promised herself she would help destroy the zombies, not hide until it was all over.

“Could… could you read, if you wanted to?” she asked tentatively.

He sighed. “Yes. There’s no point, but yes, if I wanted to, I could. Read your book. It relaxes you.”

She pinched her lips, not happy that he’d closed the conversation or that he figured out that reading helped her sleep.