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The next day Brie greeted her the same way she always did. “Get up. We need to leave.” She turned away, applying her red lipstick, and walked out of the room.

“Okay. I’m up.” Renee rolled out of bed and grabbed her backpack. She rubbed her eyes unsure if she actually dozed off because her mind had cycled all night with thoughts about Zane, the horde, her brother, and how many mistakes she had made. They trudged downstairs and waded into the mass of the horde.

“I thought we’d be with the chosen,” Renee said.

“You want to be near him?”

“Oh. No. He’s always up near them?”

“Yeah, we’re his… generals, remember?” Brie said, using Renee’s titles.

“Right. Hey, that makes me a general too,” Renee said with a smile.

Brie chuckled and shook her head.

“How far do we have to go today?”

“I don’t know. He’s still in a mood and changed the route we were supposed to take. I think he picked the city we’re headed to because he just wants to kill more humans.” Brie snapped her head toward Renee. “I meant-” She paused and grimaced.

“No, you were telling the truth. He’s punishing others because he’s mad at me.”

Great, he was even worse than yesterday, Renee was learning more about who Zane was. He might have treated her like she was precious, but it didn’t seem like anything or anyone else was. Apparently, he was a bastard like she’d accused him of being and wanted to make others suffer, especially if she was the reason.

“Yeah, maybe.” Brie tried to lie. “Anyway, everyone is full enough since he brought food and there’s less of us, so we can probably make it without too much trouble. Anything we find on the way has to go to the horde to keep them functional and calm. We’ll have to go without till we get to a city.”

We’ll . She meant the chosen, which now included Renee. Part of Renee enjoyed hearing Brie say that because she was included, not only as part of the horde but also as a friend. A real friend. It kinda sucked too, because Renee was already hungry, and that meant it’d be days before she had anything to eat. Zane wouldn’t worry about her anymore, not after how she treated him.

As the day passed, she and Brie talked about nothing in particular, but now that Brie could be more open, she spoke of her life before being one of the undead without being so guarded. She was popular. Her parents had been well off, so she got to do cool things like ride horses for fun. Brie didn’t understand why Renee was so enamored by equestrian skills but indulged her with a few stories of competitions, nonetheless. Renee adored animals and would have loved to have had hobbies that included various kinds.

When she was young, before her implants, when her brother was her only friend, animals were there too. They didn’t judge her for being deaf. They accepted her exactly as she was. She couldn’t hear, but still felt she understood animals better since she had to focus on their body language to understand what they were communicating.

She frowned; she was lazy now. Had been for years because she got used to hearing, she still noticed nuanced movements, but it wasn’t the same. Now, she had to remind herself to pay attention, whereas before it was by default.

Brie changed topics to daily life in the horde. Thankfully, she didn’t focus on stalking humans or eating them. She spoke more about the friendships and families within the horde. From what Renee could tell, there weren’t romances, relationships, or couples per se, but there were husbands, wives, and children. Some units acted like, and called themselves, family.

She recalled when the chosen referred to horde members having families too. They watched out for each other and cared for one another, not because Zane ordered it, but because they cared for each other. Or some kind of emotion that evoked compassion and empathy. Not quite to the level of the chosen but there seemed to be bonds between those in the horde. Renee had a million questions but tried to be patient and let Brie explain the dynamics in her own way.

“Do they… do they use the word family?” Renee asked.

“Sometimes. Sometimes not. It depends on who it is.” Brie’s eyes darted around checking for some unseen threat.

Renee couldn’t imagine anything would be a threat to a zombie horde of this size, but she couldn’t help but notice how often Brie scanned the area. Plus, with thousands of zombies, it would be impossible to go unseen by at least one of them if there was a threat. What was Brie looking for? Renee wanted to ask but kept her mouth closed and let Brie educate her.

“Those that do, though, are usually closer to one another than the others. Occasionally they get upset when they lose members of their specific group within the horde,” Brie explained. “Some of them call themselves a pack, but those are usually the more feral ones, the ones that seem to think more like animals than humans. Regardless if a chosen is feral or not, many of us also show rage if one of us is lost from our specific group.”

How had zombies evolved so quickly? It’s the nature of evolution. Zane’s words echoed in her head. Did that mean he knew they were like this and still didn’t care? They were just the horde to him? He said they didn’t matter. Except, from what Brie implied, he did care. Renee really needed to talk to Zane about the seemingly obvious changes zombies in his horde had experienced. Her eyes flicked to the front, hoping to catch a glimpse of him, but it was only an endless sea of bodies.

No wonder food was such an issue. They wouldn’t need so much food if the army wasn’t so big. Otherwise, as Zane had explained, to keep the horde from transitioning into shamblers, they’d have to eat every couple of days, which didn’t seem bad until you considered the sheer numbers, meaning they had to move all the time, as well as understanding what or who they were eating. Renee’s brow furrowed. At the time, it seemed more like he was talking about himself, but had he really meant the horde?

“Did you hear me?” Brie asked beside her.

“Sorry, I was trying to think about everything you said.”

“Except what I just said,” Brie chuckled. “I said I needed to go up front later to see if we’re staying on course and wanted to know if you’d be okay.”

“Oh, yeah. I’ll be fine.” She was one of them now and Renee was slowly starting to accept her new reality. She had nothing to fear from the horde. Unless it was time for a culling, then everyone was on the table.

“Okay. You staying with me again tonight?”

“Yeah, nothing has changed.”

“Tell me about it.” Brie’s tone was filled with sarcasm. “All right, I’m heading up since the sun’s setting. Stay here and don’t cause trouble.”

“I won’t. I’m definitely not going anywhere now.”

“It’d be great if that was the only trouble you caused.” Brie turned to the approaching chosen with long, black hair, Renee had glimpsed him in the lobby. He appeared cleaner, fresher, and rather intelligent.

“Keep an eye on her,” Brie tilted her head to Renee.

The chosen declined his head respectfully and fell in beside Renee. He’d had to have brushed his long hair because it looked like silk. She peered at her tangled locks and frowned. Brie propelled through the herd like water through rock and disappeared from her sight.

“She’s so good at that, fast too.”

The chosen nodded.

“I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Renee. I’m new, obviously,” she said awkwardly.

He nodded again.

“If I talk too much, you can tell me. I talk when I get nervous. Or mad... or, well, it’s just a lot.”

The chosen gave her a brief grin but didn’t reply. Damn it, she was trying not to be so cringe, she felt her minimal social graces failing her.

“You don’t talk?”

He shook his head.

“But you understand me?”

He nodded. Renee wanted to ask why but understood he couldn’t explain, and she probably couldn’t guess.

“I’m glad you’re here and I’m happy to meet you. It’s nice to know people. I mean, people you live with.”

He nodded and scanned the surrounding area. Renee noticed every minute or so he’d do that. Look at her, then scan their surroundings. She wondered if they were passing through a dangerous area, which could have explained why everyone seemed to be on high alert.

“Are you one of the guards? Like at night?”

He smiled and seemed to be proud of his position within the horde.

“Wow, that’s cool. You’re like a sentinel of the night.”

He tilted his head to the side.

“Okay, you probably don’t have an official title. But now you do. Sentinel of the Night sounds legit, right?”

He nodded.

“Yep, an elite guard who protects all of us and serves the king.” She smiled at him and gave him a quick side hug. “Thanks for ensuring safety so we can rest.”

Her touch made him stiffen, and he stopped walking for a minute before he smiled. He pulled his shoulders back and shifted closer to her as they walked. Renee rambled on about random things he probably didn’t care about until she noticed that some of the surrounding horde seemed to have shuffled closer to listen to her talk.

Her eyes flicked around her. Did they understand her, too? She thought only the chosen could communicate in whatever way they did and not like the chosen. The sun had set, night was falling, so perhaps she was sleepy and misunderstood the situation. They veered toward a wooded area. How many miles had they covered? It seemed like a lot, since she realized her legs were tired.

Brie advanced toward them with a grim expression. She dismissed Renee’s sentinel without words. He gave Renee a brief bow before he blended into the horde.

“What the fuck was that? Did he bow to you?”

“Yeah, it’s kinda a joke between us,” Renee said dismissively. “What’s wrong?”

Brie still stared after the guard.

“Brie?”

She shook her head. “I have bad news, and I need you not to overreact. Think about the others, not yourself.”

“You want me to think about the horde?”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Okay, you’re freaking me out a little. What is it?”

“You’re not staying with me tonight.” She took a breath. “Or any other night.”

“That bastard!”

“I’m sorry, Renee, but you have to do this. Not for him, for the horde.”

“Are you kidding me? What the fuck is his problem? He doesn’t own me!”

Brie glanced around them nervously. Some of the horde watched them. “Yeah, he does. We’re all his, it’s just the way it is.”

“Don’t start that again!”

“Don’t fight him on this. It’s not because he is being weird, not exactly. He doesn’t trust anyone else with you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Renee narrowed her eyes at Brie.

Brie took her by the arm and led her aside from the horde to a clearing. In the distance, Renee saw an old shed that looked like it was about to fall over. Great, probably where she’d be sleeping.

“You’re important to him, and he doesn’t trust the others.”

“He doesn’t trust his own horde? They have to obey him, right?” Inside, part of Renee, was overjoyed that she was still important enough to him that he wouldn’t trust others with her at night.

“Yeah, they do but there’s a lot going on you don’t know about yet, and I can’t.” She glanced at past the clearing. “I can’t get into it right now.”

Renee’s mind raced back to when Brie constantly checked their surroundings and how the Night Sentinel did the same thing. She couldn’t decide if Brie wouldn’t tell her because Zane was being a dick or there was something larger happening and it was too risky to talk about. Oddly hoping it was only Zane being a jerk, since the possibility it was something more, made her nervous.

“Because he said you couldn’t.” Renee spat.

“Yeah, but that’s not the only reason. Look, you just found out what you are, and you need time to adjust. You’re my friend. Let me do this for you, okay? I promise you’ll know everything soon enough, and you’ll wish I hadn’t said anything.”

Damn it. It wasn’t just Zane. Renee stepped forward and touched her arm. “Brie, are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” She averted her eyes.

“Zane trusts you. You know way more than anyone else. I thought you were his queen, but he kept telling me no. Even now, I still think you might be more important than that.”

“What?”

“You’re his Knight Commander,” Renee said in awe as her chest tightened. In the back of her mind, memories churned and threatened to force themselves to the forefront but she shoved them away. Now was not the time.

“What the fuck is that? You keep switching between military terms and old fantasy shit.”

“Well, actually, even in the old days they had armies-” Renee started.

Brie laughed. “You’re so fucking goofy.” Her face grew serious again. “Please, for now, just stay with him. If he tries to get pervy or something, tell me, and I’ll bash his face in. Or die trying. Otherwise, let him stare at you so he knows you’re okay. For us.”

Renee sighed. The problem was that she wasn’t sure she wouldn’t be the one to try to get pervy with him. As mad as she was, she was most afraid that she’d be around him for five minutes and not care about anything but him – being near him, letting him comfort her for ruining her life.

“Okay. Okay, fine for now. For the horde, Night Sentinels, and the Knight Commander, I’ll suffer his company,” Renee teased.

Brie rolled her eyes but smiled as she led her to the shed.