"Ghr!" He gritted his teeth twisting his face, feeling a painful grip on his stomach. He sat under a tree, trying to catch his breath.

  "Don't move or it will hurt more." commented Aurora while in the process of changing Dawid's bandage. They didn't have any medicine with them, so the man had to settle for just a clean bandage and the pain was unbearable. "Do you think Emil managed to escape? And the others?"

  "They should. Remember that corpses are free after all." Analyzing Aurora's words after a while, he pointed out a certain thing. "Why did you mention just Emil?"

  The girl tied the bandage tighter causing Dawid slight pain. She forced a fake smile, trying to change the subject.

  "What does it change who I mentioned first?" She stood up finishing changing the bandage. "In case you haven't noticed, we're screwed."

  Dawid was silent for a moment looking at the girl. He finally let go and looked at the village, which he had a full view of when Aurora moved away. It was full of the dead. They were moving slowly but the vast majority were already hanging around the properties and that meant they would probably never leave them again.

  "We are the only ones left here." He commented, pawing at the bandage on his stomach. "If it weren't for this wound, maybe we could have caught up with them right away."

  "Now will you blame yourself?" She replied, sensing anger in the man's tone.

  "No. But perhaps you should have left me there and run to them when you had the chance."

  "Listen, you idiot...!"

  Suddenly, the rustling of leaves could be heard from the depths of the woods, quiet footsteps clinging to the source of the sound like insects to light. Dawid decided to stand up propping himself up, while pulling out his knife with his other hand. One zombie emerged from the bushes. When trying to take another step, Dawid felt a strong, piercing pain. Aurora caught it immediately and snatched the knife out of his hand to finish off the corpse. She approached him quickly avoiding the icy paws heading towards her and kicked the stiff in the legs which caused him to fall. Lying on the ground helpless, the girl instantly drove her blade into the corpse's head. As she did so, a pocket watch accidentally fell out of her pocket. This drew the attention of Dawid, who immediately connected the dots.

  "Hey." came closer, bending down and trying to pick up the watch. However, he was prevented from doing so by Aurora, who picked it up and quickly put it back in her pocket. "Doesn't it belong to Emil?"

  The girl became embarrassed and avoided eye contact. It was an awkward subject for her, especially in this situation.

  "Where did you get it from?" He inquired completely without understanding.

  "From the storage room. I took it today."

  "For what?"

  "I don't know." She pulled it out again. It was a ninth-century stylized watch that, when opened, contained the inscription 'DON'T FORGET' engraved with something sharp, along with a blurred date and next to Aurora's now-familiar name. Klara. "I feel it's more than a watch to him. It could be something important to me, too."

  A pity-filled expression appeared on Dawid's face. He stared at the girl without saying a word. This awkward silence lasted for a moment, Aurora felt as if she had said something stupid and growled aggressively at Dawid.

  "What?!"

  "Nothing. Keep it to yourself." He turned around, starting to walk slowly along the carved path into the forest, remembering that there is one place in this direction. He added under his breath at the end. "Just don't stick to it. "

  "What are you talking about again-" appalled she ran up to the man to avoid shouting.

  "I say don't get attached. It doesn't make sense anymore. Not in these times."

  "I don't understand."

  "You will understand. Although I'd rather believe that it won't happen after all."

  They walked for a few minutes to finally emerge into an open area. Aurora saw before her eyes a vast plain surrounded by further forest. Down the path, practically in the center of the plain was a farm along with a stable of horses, which Dawid had a false hope of using. To their misfortune, the farm was overrun by a group of corpses and there was not a trace of the horses.

  "Fuck." He cursed, sighing brokenly. "Well, yes. It was stupid to think that after more than a month someone would still be alive here."

  "Isn't it better to go the other way?" She frowned at the number of corpses.

  "Straight for the corpses?"

  "No." she denied. "We will bypass them. Tarhos ran in that direction"

  She pointed her finger in the direction to the east.

  "Maybe we could go through the cannons, but who knows if the horde will be blind enough not to notice us."

  "That's better than sitting here. They are probably moving away every minute."

  "Do you think your father will leave you?" He rolled his eyes at her.

  "No, but he should worry about himself too."

  He stared at her for another moment and then returned his gaze to the plain. A strangely melancholy feeling was smoldering inside them as they looked at what was happening. Lonely, dead bodies wandering through unseeded fields, meadows. A group of stiffs guarding a farm. Seemingly there were plenty of people around, but none of them were alive. Only death.

  At one point, one silhouette began to move extremely nimbly. Almost that kneeling it moved from one point to another, looking from side to side every now and then. Dawid took a closer look, he was sure it was someone alive but it was hard to see from a distance. Only when the person turned toward them did the man recognize her.

  "Isabella?" He was not mistaken, it was her. In the process of fleeing, she eluded everyone, no one saw which way she went. Isabella was approaching from the side of the forest down the plain straight to the farm. What she didn't realize, however, was that there was a cloud of the dead just behind the stable that obstructed her view. "Oh, god."

  The man started running despite the pain he was in. He was terrified of what could happen. Aurora did not catch what was happening at first, only after a few seconds did she realize. She threw herself after him in pursuit, just what she needed more, to let him bite her in a foolish way. She caught up with him, without a second thought she pulled out her revolver, with which she aimed at the corpse at the nearest zombie. He was quite far away, but the girl trusted her aim. She was already about to squeeze the trigger when Dawid grabbed her hand, stopping her from firing.

  "No, we can't lure the horde!" he made her realize after which he moved further down the plain.

  The girl reflexed. She forgot about the horde for a moment, and that was her mistake. After a few seconds, the man was already under the farm, exactly at the main fence surrounding the plot. Aurora arrived a moment later. The girl saw Isabella, who, unaware of anything, was looking in a completely different direction, headed for the paws of the dead man. Aurora bent down quickly taking the first better stone in her hand and took a swing. The thrown stone flew towards the corpse and hit it on the head bouncing and falling to the ground. The zombie turned in the direction from which the stone came, noticing Aurora and Dawid. Isabella at the same moment changed the target of her gaze and realized the situation she was in. She stood as if she were struck, not knowing whether she should run away or continue on according to her purpose. She and Dawid made eye contact, relieved that at least the two had survived. Aurora, meanwhile, jumped over an undersized fence, taking Dawid's knife once again while he was busy staring. She walked toward the corpse whose attention she had caught and easily managed to execute the same pattern of movements as with the previous dead man in the forest. It was her learned pattern. Dodging. Knocking to the ground. Killing. She repeated to herself the words Tarhos had taught her.

  Dawid snarled, feeling how this situation insults him. After all, I can fight too. I'm not a cripple. - he thought, heading for the fence and jumping over it with slight difficulty. The girl took away his only weapon, but he felt that an ordinary corpse was a cinch for him.

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "We should be able to do it." He shot his fingers, warming up.

  "This is no fun, Dawid." Isabella commented looking around in all directions looking for some kind of weapon. She did not have to look long, she found a pitchfork stuck in a haystack, which she pulled out. Once she had done so, she approached her companions, seeing that they were about to have to defend themselves. She turned her attention to the zombies, overlapping them from behind. Fortunately, they were not walking in a group but a few or a dozen meters apart.

  "All right..."

  The moment Dawid was ready to start fighting, everyone heard a howl and in a split moment the corpses opposite the heroes were attacked by wild dogs. The animals rushed at them tearing their flesh, biting through their limbs. The dogs were emaciated, all in blood with visible bite marks. They did not look normal, that's for sure.

  All three were taken aback. It happened fast enough that they had to process what had just happened. In addition, they had fallen from the rain into the gutter because in light of current events, wild dogs that are more agile, faster and aggressive are the worse threat. Dawid looked at the house, it was on their right. He pushed Aurora gently, pointing at the house, Isabella also noticed.

  "Slowly."

  The man moved ahead. This was not their dream situation. Fleeing into the open was out of the question because the dogs could easily tear them apart, sudden movements were also very risky. So they walked cautiously, not letting the dogs out of their sight. The house was right on their doorstep, but suddenly the dogs started barking and growling. Their noises were so loud that their eardrums began to pulsate. Isabella shouted to start running, at the same moment throwing her pitchfork to the ground and they took off. They ran as fast as they could into the building, the dogs behind them. They were fast and made up the distance in no time. Isabella ran in front, then Dawid and at the gray end Aurora. And it was the girl who caught up with one of the wild dogs. It jumped out, darting toward her. Dawid nervously plunged his shoe to the ground, rapidly slowing down to let the girl pass him and then made a half-turn kick at the unsuspecting dog. A screech was heard, the dog's body fell to the ground, he had trouble getting up. Dawid looked into the dog's eyes, they were completely white, dead. Similar to a human walking corpse. A theory was born in his mind, which he would rather remain just a theory.

  Isabella rushed into the house without completely considering whether there was danger inside, she didn't think about it. Only Aurora thought about safety inside the building as well, but she looked over her shoulder to make sure the man was following her. She was convinced he was behind her, yet he was much farther away, standing motionless exchanging glances with a wild dog. She shouted his name loudly. Dawid snapped out of his amok, the girl's voice reached him. Everything took a while although the whole situation seemed to be very long. More dogs began to charge at him. He took a step back and felt that he had stepped on something. It was a pitchfork abandoned earlier by the man's aunt. He grabbed them quickly bending down. Being on his knees, he saw a predator a meter away. The dog opened its mouth, with its fangs wanting to bite into its throat, but at that moment Dawid pushed forward with the pitchfork. He impaled the tines of the pitchfork on the dog, piercing its larynx. The animal began to wince, but it was not dying. It was even more aggressive than a moment ago. So the man drove the pitchfork deeper, the tip went through and the dog renewed its growls, although this time distorted by the blood collecting inside its throat.

  "Aurora, fuck it! Shoot them!" he shouted, seeing the pack approaching.

  The girl panicked, but understood. She pointed her hand to the holster and grabbed the handle. Seconds later, a loud bang of a gunshot resounded. The dog Dawid was wrestling with had been shot in the skull, killing him. The man had déjà vu, a similar situation occurred when Tarhos killed the zombie on the day of their encounter. The dogs didn't slow down one bit, Aurora shot at more targets. One by one, she was running out of bullets at an alarming rate. One, on the other hand, managed to run up to Dawid and jump on him. The dog wasn't very strong, but it was overly aggressive. It jerked around, the man was unable to hold it. He fell to the ground with him, avoided biting as much as he could.

  "I don't have bullets!" Aurora panickedly grabbed at all his pockets looking for more bullets.

  Dawid's wound baked him. He felt a sharp pain that weakened his grip. He was seconds away from sharing his brother's fate when suddenly Isabella came running, hitting the dog in the head with an empty gas canister. It knocked him back a piece further, but the woman did not stop there. She hit him a second, third, fourth and fifth time until his entire skull was crushed. She was exhausted after that, threw the container on the ground and sat down taking a breath. It was all over. Dawid and Aurora did not hide their surprise at Isabella's attitude, who had been afraid of any kind of fight all this time. However, for the man, it was not the main topic preoccupying his head. He was one step away from death, one moment longer and he would have joined his mother and brother.

  Dawid stood up, shaking his clothes off the ground. It was relatively quiet at this point, although he had in the back of his mind the fact that they didn't have too much time. They didn't have a view of the village, but the guns were loud enough to easily lure corpses from several kilometers away. Isabella rose as did her nephew. She beckoned them to go inside with her and went ahead. Before she crossed the threshold of the building, however, all three shuddered as they heard loud banging on the stable door. The noise came from inside. The blows were single so it was one zombie, but their force was disturbing. After a while, the hinges began to crack and the wooden door was somehow not very sturdy on its own either.

  "What again...?" muttered Isabella when, before her eyes, the stable door collapsed down broken out of its hinges.

  It was dark inside, and all they heard was loud, heavy footsteps and bubbling. Finally, the dead man came out. It was a bald, fat and hideous zombie measuring over two meters. He had a machete stuck in his abdomen and the lower part of his jaw was completely torn off as if by a gunshot from something heavy. His hands were neglected along with unnatural, sharp claws that did not look human. He moved sluggishly, struggling to cover more meters.

  "Seriously? Gigantism?!"

  Everyone immediately assumed a defensive posture. The only weapons they had at the moment were the pitchfork lying next to Dawid. They had fallen from the rain into the gutter, they had to act. He quickly picked up the blood-stained pitchfork, tilting it with his teeth toward the corpse. He stepped forward to focus his attention on him. The zombie, however, was not stupid, out of the corner of his eye he saw Isabella trying to get away from the place. He turned his huge body towards the woman to accelerate a moment later making terrifying sounds of combined moans and laughter. Dawid did not remain idle, he moved with a charge to help his aunt. He easily reached them before the zombie reached Iza, being several times faster than him. From his stride, he stabbed his pitchfork into the corpse's leg, hoping that this would slow it down or eliminate its movement. This did not happen, however, and the dead man swung his arm with lightning speed, the man avoided the blow by bending down. The corpse's eyes stared for a moment before attacking again. The zombie threw himself at Dawid with the intention of devouring him, but the man blocked it by raising his pitchfork upward and kneeling down to impale himself with his maw. He succeeded, however, his cold hands were already pointing at him. He held the pitchfork firmly, feeling the resistance from above.

  "Get out of here!" he shouted with difficulty, letting go of the pitchfork with one hand. He subconsciously overstepped his bounds swollen with adrenaline and stress. With his free hand, he reached for the machete the giant had stuck in his body. The weapon got stuck inside, he was forced to drag it cutting the entire stomach, he let go of the pitchfork at the same time and jumped away falling to the ground while the corpse hit the ground with a bang.

  "You are sick! You can't stay here!" replied Aurora in anger, already wanting to run for help, but she was stopped by another shout from Dawid.

  "You will not help me! Don't waste your time." increased the distance between him and the women to facilitate their safe escape, as the attention of the corpse was still on him.

  "How do you want to kill him yourself! You will die here!" interjected Isabella, tears flowed into her eyes.

  "I saw the death of Dariusz. I saw the corpses devour my mother. I can not bear to see another death of my loved ones. That's why you will run away." He stood confidently in front of the giant zombie. He felt fear, however, it was not the most important thing at that moment. He knew that he had to control himself for the sake of everyone. "I'd win."

  Isabella, along with Aurora, could not accept this decision. Abandoning a member of the group was not an option for them, and they were terrified and frustrated by the turn of events. The most logical actually was to flee, but it was a tough decision. They were forced to make a quick choice by a large group of dead people coming out from among the trees. To their misfortune, it was part of a horde and its core was heading slowly to the plain. Aurora and Isabella began to run in the opposite direction, afraid to look behind them. Their companion was left alone, distracted by the corpses.

  He sighed with relief, knowing the safety of his aunt and Aurora, at least temporarily.

  "There's nothing I can do about it anymore."

  The giant glided toward him, making his characteristic sound of distorted laughter. Suddenly it stopped and immediately launched itself at Dawid running again. At this point it was certain that the giant zombie was a similar case to the runner from under the Kaczmarek house. Dawid anticipated the perfect moment, his heartbeat harder and faster. After a while, they were separated by only half a meter. He swung his machete, parrying the blow with the corpse's hand, a few fingers were cut off but that didn't stop him because a second later he grabbed the man's left arm with his other hand. The pressure was powerful, the cooing of bones could be heard. Dawid slammed the machete into the dead man's hand, the skin and fat unfortunately effectively cushioned the blows. He struck again, he could not break through. The nasty maw was about to bite through Dawid, but the man kicked him straight in the head and instantly tried again to cut his hand. He didn't quite succeed this time either, but was able to break free from the grip. He took several steps backwards. The zombie raised his right hand, which was badly cut, blood pouring from it in streams and looking as if it would fall off at any moment. The man looked out behind the corpse, Aurora and Isabella were nowhere to be seen, and on the other side, meanwhile, larger and larger groups of the dead were approaching the plain. They were still at a safe distance, but the fight with the giant effectively reduced the chances of his safe escape. He decided to get ahead of the charge and attacked first, running up. He dodged the corpse's nimbly slashed arm and, with an almost imperceptible slash, finished the job, cutting it off completely and then quickly went around him from behind, slashing his Achilles tendons. The giant collapsed to the ground, under the impact of the cut feet, Dawid saw this as an opportunity to end the fight. He swiftly tackled him from the left side while he had the chance to do so, launched an attack straight into the corpse's brain, and at that moment felt severe pain in and around his right eye. He managed to kill the giant with a machete blade, but the zombie turned and attacked Dawid with sharp claws before dying. Drops of blood fell to the ground and it was not the blood of the undead. Dawid was in shock, feeling more tired and sleepy than in pain, but he was sure of what had happened when he grabbed the right part of his face, saw a blood stain on his hand and was unable to see anything to that eye. The undead left a large scar on the man's eye and even ripped out his eyeball.

  However, a sad smile appeared on Dawid's face. He let go of the machete that was further stuck in the corpse's head and fell to the ground ready to die. He believed he had done his part in keeping Aurora and Isabella safe. In part, he also didn't want to live; through the deaths of his mother and brother, he had lost much hope that their family's life would ever improve. He wouldn't mind dying in this place, he was ready for it. Some of the corpses scattered from the horde had already reached the farm, they were maybe a dozen meters away from the man.

  "Why did you have to leave?" He said half-dead in a breaking voice. After these words he felt raindrops on his face and a moment later the downpour heated up for good. His emotions took over him and he burst into tears, covering himself with his hand. "I've had enough..."