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Jerked back and shoved against the wall, Renee was not surprised when she saw Zane’s shining, amber eyes glaring at her.

“You’re not staying with Brie.”

“Yes, I am.” She raised her chin.

“I’m trying to be patient-” he began.

“Go to hell. You can’t tell me what to do even if you think you have the right to.”

“Don’t test me, Renee,” he warned.

“Or what? What will you do to me that hasn’t already been done on your order? What else can you take?” She shoved against his chest. “It’s not enough? You want my friend now, too? I can’t even have a friend?” Her voice was shrill at the end, but she couldn’t help it.

“I’m not trying to take anything away.” He gritted his teeth. The feral side of him raged to get out. Not a great idea to argue with him so close after a killing spree. “You don’t understand. You think you do because you realize what you are, but-”

“But what? What am I missing, Zane?”

He’d been vague about so many things since she’d been with him. His fingers dug into her arms as he flashed his teeth. She’d gone too far, pushed him too much. Brie tried to warn her. Would he rip off her arms? No, Zane would never hurt her, but the fury in his eyes didn’t look like Zane at all. He looked like the zombie king. The zombie king who’d ripped someone in half with no hesitation.

“I think it’s best if she stayed with me tonight,” Brie’s voice said from beside him.

“You dare defy me?” he snapped at her.

“No, think about it. It’s what you’d want me to do.” Brie crossed her arms and slanted her eyes to Renee.

Zane growled and released Renee before turning to Brie. “Don’t disappoint me. We leave in the morning.”

“I will guard her with my life,” Brie told him, tugging Renee down the hall.

Once in her temporary apartment, Brie released Renee and placed her hands on her hips. “What the fuck is going on with you two? Are you a thing now? Like dating or whatever the fuck we would do if we did shit like that?”

“No, well maybe. I don’t know!” Renee threw her hands up.

“He told you his name,” Brie said somberly.

“Yeah, at the cabin.”

Brie sat on the beaten couch. “At the cabin,” She repeated in a defeated tone.

Renee sat next to her. “Brie, what’s wrong?”

“Renee, I like you. I shouldn’t, but I do.” She shook her head. “You’re going to get us all killed.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know, fuck I know. You’re making him crazy.”

“But I didn’t do anything. I didn’t chase him. He wouldn’t leave me alone.”

“I get that. Believe me, I know more than anyone. I should’ve fucking realized. I thought he fixated on you because-” Brie stopped and turned her head to the side.

“Because why?”

“Because you pissed him off the first day when you ran. It got his attention.”

“Well, you said if I kept pushing him away, he’d never leave me alone.”

“Good job listening,” Brie replied sarcastically.

Shit. She’d done the opposite. Especially tonight. She put her face in her hands. Now he’d be worse. What could she do? Zane didn’t seem to understand the concept of someone needing space to sort things out.

“What should I do?” Renee asked.

“Fuck if I know. This is all screwed up. As your friend, I want you to do whatever’s right for you. He can be a bastard, so I get you don’t want to be around him. But for the horde, I need you to make-up or whatever, so he’ll chill out and fucking focus.”

“You honestly think it will risk everyone if we aren’t getting along?”

“He slaughtered that encampment. That wasn’t the plan. It’s great he had the scouts carry the food back, but it screws things up. We needed to wait, like he said, to keep the horde healthy.”

Brie cared about them more than Zane did. She was their leader… their queen .

“Why did he destroy the encampment?” Renee dared to ask.

“Why the hell do you think? Whatever happened between the two of you before he left really got under his skin and messed with his head.”

Renee didn’t say anything since she had now been responsible for more human deaths. She had been so happy only hours ago, and now all she wanted was for everything to stop. Renee needed a second to breathe so that she could process everything.

“You want to sleep? I don’t most of the time. The chosen don’t need as much. It’s why we guard at night.”

Renee nodded. She was not tired, though. It was the first time since she’d started marching with the horde that she didn’t want to sleep, though she did want to disappear. Since that wasn’t an option, she’d lay there and shut off her mind for a while.

Brie took Renee to a room with a bed that didn’t look nearly as nice as the one she’d left. Renee crawled beneath the covers and cried. As distraught as she was, she missed Zane. She’d driven him away, but it wasn’t because she didn’t care. It was because she did.