I wake up slowly, mind dazedly floundering about - trying to remember how exactly my eyes are supposed to open. It takes me a couple of moments, but I am finally able to rip my eyes open. I realize why the action is so hard; too much crying. 

I think when my tears dried they turned into some sort of superglue. 

Rubbing at my eyes, I carefully climb to my feet. My hands lower to my sides and I look around, slowly. A small black mound of black ashes is all that’s left of the fire from last night and Sebastian snoozes softly against a tree. 

My heart leap with fear; what if a zombie attacked last night? We could have been zombie-food! 

But before I can start to plot against him, my stomach growls loudly and I am reminded of our situation. We’re both tired and hungry and dehydrated. It’s not his fault. Crap, even I slept. So I shouldn’t complain.  

I stare at him for a few moments. I should probably go over and make sure he’s not dead. My shoes are so ratty and torn, I fear they’re about to disintegrate soon. I take each step carefully and squat down beside Sebastian. “Hey, wake up.” I say softly, shaking his shoulder. 

He stiffens, one eye popping open. “What?” 

An eyebrow lifting to merge with my hairline, I straighten up and fold my arms across my chest. “It’s time to start walking again.” I say before pressing my lips into a grim line. 

Sebastian blinks, eyes slowly shifting around the area behind me. He lets out an incoherent grumble and stands elegantly, brushing his hands off. Rolling his shoulders to work all the kinks out, he steps around me and starts walking. I roll my eyes and twist around to follow him.  

For a few long, antagonizing moments, I stare silently at his back and mull over my thoughts. And then, with a sudden surge of bravery and a hard swallow of pride, I tap his shoulder shakily, “S-Sebastian?” 

He blinks. 

We stop walking and he turns to face me, expression indifferent. But I can see it, the minute amount of concern swirling around inside his eyes. After taking another deep breath, I duck my head and whisper, “Thank you.” 

Sebastian stares at me silently. Quickly, I chance a small glance up, eyes widening when I see the same inside-melting warmth inside his eyes again from the night before. He scoffs softly, lips twitching up in amusement. “The great Scarlett is saying thanks? I never thought I’d see the day.” 

My head ducks again and I close my eyes, “Yeah, I guess.” 

“Hey,” My head snaps up and Sebastian taps the side of his finger against beneath my chin playfully, “You’re welcome.” 

We continue walking for several more hours, before the effects of malnourishment begin to kick into overdrive. I slide down against a tree, stomach growling painfully, and clutch at it in hopes of soothing the never ending ache. Sebastian shakes his head at my obvious display of weakness and plops down onto the ground, rubbing his head in his hands before drifting back into his thoughts. 

“Can you climb anything?” He asks finally, after several minutes of nothing but pure digestive groans. 

My gaze flickers around, pausing briefly on each and every tree, and then I shake my head. “The trees are too thin here. We must still be close to the dome,” I lean my head back against the tree trunk behind me, “What are we supposed to do for food?” 

Sebastian sighs softly and murmurs, “I don’t know.” 

I squeeze my eyes shut. Jasper’s lifeless face flashes before my eyes and they snap open, wide with horror. I press my lips into a grim line; looks like no more sleep for me today. My eyes focus on Sebastian’s back for a few moments and then finally, I ask, “What’s your favorite color?” 

He tenses, “What?” 

“You heard me,” I huff in exasperation, “What is your favorite color?” 

“Why do you want to know?” His head turns back so he can stare at me from over his shoulder. The look on his face is strange –the look worn by a skeptical bystander who witnesses a strange phenomenon. I glare at him, as if the answer were obvious, “What do you expect me to do? I’m bored!” 

“So then find something to do quietly.” 

“But I don’t want to be quiet.” 

“Blue,” He scowls at me in annoyance and rubs at his temples, “My favorite color is blue, happy now?” 

“Very,” I smile a little smugly and settle back against my tree, lips pressing into a tight line as I think of a new question, “Favorite animal?” 

Sebastian shoots me a look, “Rottweiler. Now go look for firewood.” Grumbling, I climb to my feet and stalk towards him. He sits in front of a small pile of twigs –four at the most- and stares at me pointedly, “We need more.” 

“I can see that.” 

I turn back around, but then freeze mid-step.

“Sebastian!” I hiss, fingers darting towards the hilt of my sword. Said male pauses and glances back, his eyes lock on my tree. His jaw sets –clenched so tight it could break. 

The zombie takes a delicate sniff, pawing at the ground where I’d been only moments ago. Its bony finger digs at the dark earth, creating a small groove. It looks so strange. Dirty shaggy hair the color of washed out yellow, knotted and tangled into a hopeless mess. 

It looks so familiar…

Its head whips around, dark eye sockets locking in on my face. 

A sharp ear splitting shriek bursts past my lips and splinters through the air like a siren. Fear blisters through my veins, bursting each and every cell within my body. And the shock drowns out everything else. 

Flakes of dried blood rip free from the white button up that is pressed into the open wound on its chest with each animalistic bound it takes towards me. 

My knees lock tightly. I can’t move. 

Sebastian thunders forward, mace swinging wildly. The spiked ball slams into the zombie's head and the creature goes flying. It slams into a nearby tree. A loud crack resounds through the air and the tree falls back with a thump. The black bark splinters and the zombie flounders about for a few moments like a fish, trying to regain its footing. 

“Let’s go!” Sebastian roars, grabbing my wrist tightly. 

The cold fear melts into pure adrenaline. Wrenching around, I break into a run so fast, so terrifying, that it can only be classified as flying. I leap over fallen trees and zigzag around standing ones. Sebastian seems to be experiencing the same high as I, because he keeps up easily. 

My heart beats wildly. 

Oh god, that was Jasper. That creature…it was Jasper. 

The adrenaline rush seems to fizzle out as the horror sinks in and takes effect. Shaking violently, my legs cave out from beneath me and I drop to my hands and knees, stomach heaving dryly. I wipe the back of my hand across my mouth –trembling violently. My heartbeat pumps loudly behind my ears, making my head throb almost painfully, and my chest almost caves as I struggle gasp in large gulps of air, trying to find my voice. “Sebastian,” I rasp out eventually, “That…that was…” 

“Jasper,” He confirms in a steely voice. “Yeah, I know.” 

“How?” I whimper, voice barely above a whisper, and my nails dig into the dark earth. 

Sebastian lets out a shaky laugh and runs his fingers through his hair, looking incredulous, “How am I supposed to know? I don’t know! It’s probably because the corpse wasn’t entirely destroyed and the nanobots were able to reanimate it? That’s my best guess.” 

I grit my teeth; stupid nanobots. Craning my head back, I stare at Sebastian, grimacing. “So who’s going to kill…it?” 

He closes his eyes and takes a deep, calming breath, “I hate to admit it, but the kid grew on me. And I know you don’t have the heart to.” 

“So what are we going to do?” I climb to my feet and take several steps back. My head aches painfully and I rub at my temples gingerly, trying to ease the pain and nausea away. 

“Avoid it at all costs.” 

I flinch and glance at him –expression pained. “Unless,” He continues, skewering me with a knowing look, “You want to lop Jasper’s head off.” 

“That thing is not Jasper.” I grind out through my teeth, eyes narrowing. 

“And yet you froze.” A dark brow lifts my way. “You couldn’t even move, Scar, much less fight back against it. That thing may not be Jasper, but it’s the closest thing to him right now.” 

I have to look away, “I could kill him.” 

“You could. But you won’t.” He barks. “Now stop being stubborn and come on. We’ve got to get out of here.” 

My jaw clenches shut and I glare at whatever we pass as we break into a sprint again. That thing was not Jasper. I was only caught off guard. I could totally kill it. It took Jasper from us; it deserves to die. My hands curl into tight fists until Sebastian distracts me from my bitter thoughts, “Can you climb any of these trees?” He gestures to some of the small twig-like remains that still stand around us. 

I snort, “No.” 

He exhales slowly, muttering something under his breath. “What about food? Any ideas?” 

“Chew on bark?” 

Sebastian swivels around, fingers curling around my arm. He yanks us both to a sharp stop and stares at me, dark eyes cold. “Stop it.” 

I glare at him, “I’m being serious! What do you want me to say? Oh, let’s eat some of the magic berries that fall from the sky? Or maybe some of those watermelons that are growing at the base of that tree?” My arms spread out wide and I turn around, “There’s nothing edible out here, Sebastian!” 

“I know that!” He growls, “I meant the sarcasm! Stop being rude, Scar.” 

“I’m not being rude. I’m being blunt and my words are laced with my irritation.” I hiss at him. “It’s not every day I see the zombie of someone I liked!” 

For a few moments, Sebastian is quiet. Everything is quiet. He stares at me, his dark eyes boring into my face, and I watch as several different, unnameable emotions flicker through them. And then, Sebastian smirks, “I knew it.” 

“What?” I shoot him a puzzled look. 

“I knew you liked him!” He jabs a finger in my direction and snickers, “You’d never admit it, but it was obvious you were falling for him.” 

I huff. “I thought that idea was already established.” 

“It only added to my suspicion.” He shrugs. “I wasn’t entirely sure. Half the time you seemed to absolutely hate him.” 

“I do…I did.” I scowl at him, folding my arms across my chest uncomfortably. “Can we stop talking about this? I thought you were supposed to be the antisocial one…” 

“I’m not antisocial.” He grunts, rolling his eyes. 

I snort, but ignore the comment otherwise, and we start walking. My arms tighten around my stomach as we trudge onward through the mass of mangled, dead trees, growling painfully. I still feel sick and lightheaded. I can hear Sebastian’s stomach growling too. 

I think our stomachs are in the midst of plotting something evil.