“Get up.” Brie’s annoyed tone was like a sweet greeting compared to that asshole’s voice.

Renee cracked her eyes open. Brie stood over her and glared, irises still glowing. Renee sat up and reached for another bottle of water.

“I said get up. You don’t need that. We need to go. We’re already moving.”

“Okay. Okay,” Renee said and stood. On the table was a beat-up backpack that wasn’t there before next to her water with a few extras’ bottles added. She loaded the remaining water into the backpack and strapped it on. The sun was still low, but the light hurt her eyes as she lifted her hand to shield them.

Brie huffed beside her and pressed a pair of sunglasses into her palm. “Put these on, they’ll help.”

“Thanks.” Renee slid them on and instant relief spread through her. She didn’t want to admit, as they began walking with the horde, that she looked for him. It appeared they were right in the middle of the group, but it was hard to tell, neck-deep in zombies.

Today seemed different. The horde trudged along, like yesterday, but seemed more animated. She stared when a couple of the undead actually traded shirts they’d found. They communicated with a series of gestures, grunts, and guttural noises. Yet the strangest part was she didn’t feel threatened in the slightest. It was like she wasn’t even there - just another day in the horde.

Renee had drunk most of her water by the time they stopped as the sun set. She should have rationed it out better. Brie hadn’t said one word to her all day. Renee sensed her sour mood and knew asking the questions burning in her skull wasn’t a good idea. She had to stay focused. Observe and remember everything, then figure out a way to escape. She’d yet to uncover any valuable information that would change the war with the undead, but she would keep trying.

“Come with me,” Brie said and veered to the left as the rest of the horde continued forward. Her pretty rose dress flowed with her graceful steps.

Renee followed without question as they approached an old work van that only had windows in the front. The rest of the horde wandered around, appearing busy. Curious, she watched them.

“What are you doing? Get in.” Brie motioned to the back door.

“In the van?”

“No, the boat. Yes, the van. This is ridiculous,” Brie complained.

“I agree,” Renee replied, opened the door, and stopped. He was in the van and took up most of it with his size. She stepped back and bumped into Brie.

“This is where you sleep tonight.” Brie shoved her through the opening.

Renee almost fell into the van but stopped just in time. She shot a dirty look at Brie and climbed in. The anger in Brie’s eyes as she closed the doors was unmistakable. Renee pinched her lips. This wasn’t fair. She’d made a point of not asking questions so that she wouldn’t annoy Brie, and she was still upset with her. Perhaps being a zombie made them moody. She sat in a tiny spot against the van doors, not bothering to look at him.

“Why am I here?”

“You need to sleep.”

She jutted her chin out. “I could sleep out there with them.”

“No. You can’t.” His words sounded like another order.

“Why?” she asked, staring at her dirty shoes.

“I already told you.”

She turned her face to him. “I am not doing this every night.”

“You’ll do whatever I tell you to do. Stop acting like a child. I have more water for you.” He motioned to half a case shrouded in shadow next to him.

Screw him and his water. But she was thirsty. She eyed it with interest.

“If you want the water, it’s right there.” He gestured beside him.

That would mean she’d have to move closer to him. Nope. She’d just be thirsty. Stubbornly, she turned aside. They sat like that for a long time before she yawned.

He sighed. “Are you always so stubborn?”

“Are you always a monster?”

“You’re the one who reminded me you need water and food. If you don’t want it, I won’t bother to have it scavenged for you.”

She turned to face him. That interested her, and it might change everything. “You had someone get it for you?”

“No, I had someone get it for you .”

Fighting with herself, she had wanted to continue defying him because it made him angry. If he was mad at her, she had a reason to continually avoid him. However, she had reasons for going along with this insanity that could hopefully help save her fellow humans. Zombies controlled by a king were one thing. The possibility they communicated on their own meant so much more, but if what he told her was true…

Renee scooted toward the middle of the empty van just across from him. She picked up the bottles of water and put all but one of them in her backpack. She downed the one she’d left out, then shifted her attention to what was soft under her. It was the sleeping bag she’d slept in the night before.

“You told them to find water, and they did?”

“According to you, they do anything I tell them because I’m their king.”

“I didn’t know zombies could scavenge for things like people,” she said honestly.

“Not all of them can. Some are more useful than others.”

Useful. Renee had to push back the urge to berate him for his choice of words. Maybe they were mindless murdering machines, but he was their king and shouldn’t talk about them like that. Well, no, she wasn’t entirely positive they were mindless. At least a good portion of them weren’t. But either way, he was being a dick.

“Do you hunger?”

That was a weird way to ask her if she wanted to eat. She shook her head, even though she was starving, she couldn’t do another replay of last night. Not yet, anyway.

“You need to sleep. We have many miles to cover tomorrow.”

“Where are we going?”

“To eat more humans.” His cold, glowing irises fixed on hers.

“No.”

“The horde hungers and must consume. If it doesn’t consume humans, it will consume itself.”

Did he mean they’d eat each other? If so, that could be exactly what she needed. “Eww. They’ll start eating each other?”

“They won’t have a choice. It must consume.” His tone was haunting. A familiar expression of loneliness covered his face. He’d been such a shit since she got into the van, but right now, he seemed to hurt as he spoke those words. It was like he wasn’t talking about the horde anymore, he was talking about himself, and unlike last night, it didn’t make him feel superior. It made him a monster he didn’t seem to want to be.

“But if you keep traveling and eating all the humans, there won’t be any left. You’ll all die.”

He locked those harrowing eyes on hers. “Yes.”

She shook her head. Too much. They wouldn’t stop until everyone was dead. The entire plan was to eat until they died. Her eyes burned, and she turned around wiggling into the sleeping bag, keeping her back to him. Why would he tell her that? She just had to hang on long enough until she could escape.