“Can we sit down?” I pant heavily, gripping a thin tree for support and it snaps in my hand, disintegrating into a black powdery substance that stains my hand. I try to brush it off -only to fail miserably. Now both of my hands are black. 

Sebastian pauses and glances back over his shoulder, a brow lifting. “Tired already?” 

“Uh, duh,” I snort bitterly, “We’ve been walking all day now.” 

His eyes narrow, “No. There’s still a couple more hours of daylight.” 

Gritting my teeth, I glare heavily at his back as he continues to walk. If he feels my glare, he doesn’t acknowledge my misery and simply treks forward into the grim forest. I cross my arms across my chest and try to focus on something else. 

But I’m hungry. 

My stomach snarls angrily at me, churning and twisting with each feeble step I take, and I fear it will either turn inside out or start to eat itself soon. I feel weak and light headed. Each step is like a battle; I have to forcibly make my leg lift up and step down, and my balance is off. 

It is not fun. 

I find myself clutching at my stomach tightly, fingers clawing at the angered organs beneath the thick layer of skin. “We need to find food.” 

Sebastian stops mid-step. His foot lowers to the ground and his head twists around towards me. His dark eyes drink me in with one long gulp. I fashion my best glare onto my features, but I don’t think it came out right because his eyes soften and he lets out a small sigh. He dips his head in a small nod and glances around. 

“What do you suppose we do?” 

I shift around uncomfortably. “I don’t know.” 

A twig snaps. 

All traces of hunger vanish, replaced swiftly with fear. My fingers curl around the hilt of my sword and my back is suddenly pressed flat against Sebastian’s. My eyes scan over the broken tangles of dark trees and, after a few moments of utter silence, a dark shape lugs into view. Dark, inky bristles of fur coat its body -so it looks like a large shadow and is almost impossible to make out within the cover of the trees. Long, razor sharp claws dig into the ground from all four paws and glistening, clear drool dangles from its huge mouth -which hangs open to reveal a long row of yellowing teeth the size of my middle finger.

It huffs and puffs, thick heavy pants filling the silent air. 

I resist the urge to shudder. “What…what is that thing?” 

Sebastian lifts one shoulder in a small shrug, which I can feel move against mine. His eyes are narrowed towards the creature, which in turn raises its large head to get a better look at us with its dark, beady eyes. 

“How much,” He whispers harshly, “do you want to bet that it’s as hungry as we are?” 

I feel my eyes widen and I take in the large creature again. 

A shudder ruffles through its body, rolls of fat fur shifting on its back and around its neck, and its lips curl back into a nasty snarl. Claws clicking against the dead ground, the creature rears back onto its hind legs. A feral growl rips through the air. 

It towers over both of us, so tall that I can’t see the trees behind it. 

“Oh…” I gasp, fingers tightening around the hilt of my sword. 

“Alright,” Sebastian’s voice is harsh, clipped, “I’ll go in and distract it. You need to kill it -aim for the neck or the center of its chest area.” 

I grit my teeth tightly. “Okay.” 

“One,” He takes a deep breath, slowly starting to rock back and forth on the balls of his feet. “Two…three, go!” 

Sebastian darts forward, mace swinging wildly. The creature roars loudly and swipes out with a clawed paw, falling forward onto all four paws with an earth-trembling shudder. It darts forward with enough speed to catch up with Sebastian, who’d jerked back as the creature swiped out. My heart leaps through my throat as I charge forward, trying to locate the neck within the mounds of moving black fur. 

But I can’t tell the difference between its head and its butt. 

Swinging out with my sword, the blade sings down and catches against the creature’s thick skin. It lets out a roar of pain, muzzle tilting back and dropping open with the heart wrenching howl, and then twists around before I can even remove my sword. Claws rake against my bicep, tearing through the skin and I hiss in pain and jerk back, tugging my sword back with me. 

As I step back, I realize I sliced almost a third of the way through its back. 

I scowl darkly. My arm burns, puckered skin blistering and charring into something nasty. I scarcely give it attention though, because now the creature is looming over me with murderous intentions and my back is flattened against a tree. 

My blade is the only thing in between us. 

Something hard smacks against the back of the creature’s head and it stumbles forward, the tip of my outstretched blade grazing the skin of its chest. I gasp and shove forward upon feeling the small snag, driving the blade deep into the creature’s chest. It lets out a loud, torturous wail that slowly dies off into a gurgled breath.  

And then it falls forward onto me and I’m crushed beneath its mounds of fat. 

A startled scream works its way past my lips, followed by something twisted with anguish and pain. Something in my chest snaps, the sickening sound echoing through my ear canals repeatedly. The black fur of the creature fills my mouth. It starts to shift, to move, and then, with a final shove, I’m free. 

Sebastian pulls me up into a sitting position -earning another anguished cry. 

“Your ribs,” He gasps softly, cheeks flushed bright red. He shifts around so I rest against the creature’s lifeless body and he begins to probe around my torso. 

I whimper when pain simmers up my side. 

“As far as I can tell, it’s only three ribs.” Sebastian pokes and prods some more. I hiss and try to swat him away, but he grabs my wrists with ease and holds them to the side. “They’ll set and mend back together, but you’re still going to be in pain.” 

My eyes narrow, but I hold my tongue against the sarcastic remark that bubbles up in my throat. 

Sebastian pulls me forward slightly, ignoring my painful whimpering, and helps me stand. I shift uncomfortably on my feet -trying to distract myself from the simmering pain of my ribs. I knew broken ribs weren’t that bad and they could go without medical treatment. In fact, it shouldn’t be long now before the nanobots already in my system mend the broken bones back together. 

But it still hurts. 

While I sulk, Sebastian examines the black furred creature. He pokes and prods at its head with the blunt end of his mace, trying to see if it’s still alive. 

After he’s sure, he runs a hand through the clean fur of its lower back and pushes the creature over onto its stomach. He grabs my sword and runs the blade down the length of its stomach -slicing the tough skin in half. I gag at the horrid smell that emanates from the creature and take several steps back, hand rising to my nose. 

He pulls the skin back. 

“No nanobots.” Sebastian smiles thinly, glancing back over his shoulder towards me. 

My stomach growls loudly. 

I ignore it. “But how do we know that it’s safe, Sebastian? These woods are supposed to be dead. There’s not supposed to be…creatures out here.” 

“I know.” Sebastian pokes and prods some more. “But it’s food, Scar. And I’m not going to just let it go.” He stands and faces me. “I’m too hungry for that.” 

My lips purse, “Still.” 

“You don’t have to eat it.” 

My stomach growls again. I close my eyes and turn away so I’m not tempted. As hungry as I am, I don’t trust this. A random animal who’s survived several years of living in nothing but dead trees and ashes? 

That doesn’t sound…right to me. 

Sebastian is soon finished. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he stands and turns towards me. I glance back at him and grimace at the small dots of fresh blood that are mixed in with the dirt ingrained in his shirt. He stretches his arms out and shoots me a dry look. 

“Are you sure you don’t want any? It’s not that bad.” 

“You just ate that thing raw.” I bark, disgust churning within me, “I don’t think so. I’ll find something else later.” 

Sebastian snorts. “Like what?” 

I grumble under my breath. I shoot the creature one long, last look. I’m not sure which would be worse, to die of starvation or actually indulge in the food. My head shakes, the thoughts flying out of my mind. Tiny charred pebbles shift under each step I take as I start walking further into the trees, heading right and away from Sebastian’s creature. I can hear him start after me, his footfalls crunching softly in sync with mine, but ignore him. 

My stomach rumbles again, almost painfully. 

But I can’t seem to be able to kick myself for not eating it. Sure, it was a stupid move. A whole abundance of fresh, juicy meat –it was right there for the taking. And I’m so hungry that I can hardly see straight anymore. But something about the meat was off. I could smell it, taste it in the air. It was there. 

If not, I'm just going crazy from lack of food. 

I close my eyes and press my lips into a grim line. I really should have eaten the meat. A strange, gurgled noise bubbles though the air behind me.

Frowning, I pause and turn around, eyes snapping open, "Sebastian, did you hear-"

Razor sharp nails lash out, pointed tips just scarcely missing the tip of my nose. I don't have time to scream, to be afraid, or to think really. My fingers curl around the hilt of my sword, ripping it from its sheath. The blade swings forward and slices through skin, through bone, with a sickening crunch. 

I jerk back, skidding back a few feet. 

Sebastian snarls at me, glaring. 

His eyes are dull, lifeless. Briefly I wonder how; how the nanobots could have taken over so quickly-especially when the host wasn't dead. Or when there didn’t seem to be nanobots in the creature. 

But I don't dwell on it long. 

His attack is swift, limber body racing towards me. His legs bend, muscles tightening, preparing to jump, and I grit my teeth. Using my sword like a baseball bat, I swipe at him, trying to knock him away from me. He growls and his free hand curls around his mace. 

Metal clashes against metal. 

Sparks fly; the loud clings and clanks echoing through the trees, bouncing back and bursting through the air surrounding us like explosions. I duck, dodging the spiked ball that hacks through the air like a machete. 

"Sebastian," I scream at him, at the snarling creature in front of me. 

Drool oozes from his mouth, teeth barred and sharpened. I can just barely see the nanobots, the tiny bug-like creatures that glint in the sunlight working at his bone, stretching it, morphing it. His teeth seem to grow sharper and sharper, like fangs. 

"Please stop," My cry breaks off into a croaked whisper, "I don't want to kill you." 

He charges again and my heart stops. A cold feverish sensation washes over me, followed swiftly by a sudden and unwanted realization as I stare into his dull, lifeless eyes. I tense and crouch down, prepared to swing out. My eyes narrow dangerously. 

The words grind out through painfully gritted teeth, "You are not Sebastian."