I awoke the next morning, to something fluffy slobbering on my face. 

"Agh!" I yelped, trying to push my fuzzy attacker away from my face.

The thing relented, and I wiped the slobber from my face. Now that I could see properly, I spotted my living alarm clock.

It was a fuzzy black terrier, and its thin tail was wagging so fast he could probably start floating with it.

"Did Pip wake you up?" I heard a chuckle behind me.

"Yes, as a matter of fact." I huffed. "Is that thing yours?"

The zombie, Alex, walked out of the trees. He was cleaner now, wearing a blue t-shirt, but the same dirty jeans he'd had on the night before. I noticed a golden necklace hanging from his neck, with a small sigil on it. I squinted at it, but the mark was so small I couldn't really read it.

His golden hair was still messy, and he looked at me, a smile on his face. Those scarlet eyes unnerved me, and I remembered that he was a zombie. A creature not to be trusted.

"Yes, he is. The only dog dumb enough to love a zombie." Alex's voice broke me out of my thoughts, and I looked back at the dog.

Pip was wagging his tail, an indescribable look of joy on his face. He almost seemed to be saying,

'I did a good job waking you up, didn't I?'

I felt a small smile tug on my lips, but I forced them back into a frown. I looked over at my ankle.

It still hurt quite a bit, but to my surprise, there seemed to be some sort of makeshift wrap on it, made of old linen and a stick.

"You made this?" I asked him, looking back up.

"Yeah." He replies.

I thought for a moment, my hand brushing over the bandages.

"Why'd you save me?" I ask. 

It didn't make any sense to me. Why would anyone, let alone a zombie, bother saving someone they didn't even know? Why bother saving anyone, period? It got you nowhere, or got you into even more trouble than you had to begin with.

"Just because. I heard you needed help, and I couldn't just let you die out there. I'm not a monster....well, at least on the inside I'm not." He smiles again, lifting a hand to fidget with his necklace.

I stare at him, an incredulous look on my face.

"What?" Alex says, raising an eyebrow.

I try to get up, my ankle protesting. I noted the large branch Alex must've fetched me during the night, and used it to push myself up.

"I don't believe that shit for one second." I say, anger rising in me. "You must want me for something, right? No one ever does anything out of the goodness of their heart, especially a zombie."

I could see a look of hurt on his face, a frown forming on his lips. 

"You don't know too much about people then." He retorts. "I saved you because I felt I needed too. I don't want anything in return, I don't even need a thank you, Cole."

I was stunned. I'd never met a person that didn't want something in return. Attention, money, murder, someone always wanted something. It just didn't seem possible.

"Now, I already took care of food for the morning, if you're wondering. I caught a couple rabbits while you were sleeping. They're cooked and ready near the stream, just a little bit away from here." He continues, walking towards the place he'd mentioned.

He motions for me to follow. I was still stunned. All this world had taught me was that nothing came for free, whether it be actual cash or favors.

Biting my lip, I follow. Pip walks beside me, his tail still wagging. He looked up at me with a dopey dog grin, tongue lolling out.

I brush some pine branches away from my face, and I hear the little stream bubbling through the woods.

The stream twisted in lazy meanders, sand lined up at its banks. The trees were few and far between around the area, and there was a campfire a few feet away from the edge of the stream. 

The smell of smoked rabbit met my nose, and my stomach growled in anticipation. I suddenly realized how hungry I was, and how little I'd been eating since my escape from prison.

Alex sat down, taking one of the rabbits he'd cooked. He motioned for me to sit next to him, starting to peel apart our breakfast.

I limped over to where he'd pointed, and took a portion of rabbit. I munched on it quietly, not really wanting to say anything. Pip waited patiently at my side, longing for a scrap.

The three of us sat together, the morning quiet except for the bubbling stream, chirping birds, and Pip's eager panting.

I thought for a few moments. The zombie had asked me a few questions, but I had a couple of my own burning in the back of my mind.

"Why are you all the way out here?" I inquired. 

Alex looked at me, seeming surprised that I'd asked anything. 

"It's a really, really long story." He chuckled, running a hand through his hair.

I didn't say anything, waiting for him to continue. He noticed this, and gave Pip a few scraps of rabbit before continuing.

"Where do you want me to start? At the very beginning, when the world turned upside-down, when I got turned, what led me to find those other zombies....?"

"I don't really care." I looked at the sky, it was still relatively early, and my ankle needed a rest. "Wherever you want to start."

Alex shrugged, then said, "I guess I'll start at the beginning."

He started his story, reaching a hand over to scratch Pip on the head.

"When the whole world came crashing down, I was sitting on the couch, exhausted after a hard day at college. I remember seeing the newscast, pictures of rabid people and panic and blood. I remember being told by my roommates that we needed to head north, so I did."

"I packed up my car with one of my roommates, Devon. Together, we started to drive into Canada, but our progress was delayed by traffic."

He drums his fingers on the ground for a second, remembering.

"Turns out, everyone else in the United States had the same idea. There was chaos in the streets. Police and state troopers tried to control the crowds, keep everyone calm, but you know how people get."

"We managed to make it into Canada, after a long time. The drive was supposed to only take a few hours, but because of the panic, we were driving for days."

I nodded, putting my head on my knees.

"Well, eventually, the virus caught up to us."

I continued to listen, having a feeling as to where this story was going.

"Devon and I were stuck on the highway, when we heard screaming behind us. We looked, and saw the infected chasing after people, punching in windows, one even lifted up a car."

"So naturally, we grabbed our stuff and booked it. We started running through the rows of stopped cars, and more people started to follow us. Soon it was just a stampede, frightened people running for their lives, and zombies on our heels."

"It was hard to see through the crowd of people, hard to breathe even. Eventually Devon and I got separated. People shoved me to the ground, not caring, and eventually the zombies caught up."

"I managed to get away, but not without a few bites."

I looked at him for a moment, and I saw an expression of pain on his face. I felt a small twinge of sympathy, but only for a moment before it flitted away.

"The process of turning was...excruciating, to say the least. You start feeling sicker and sicker, until you can barely move. I felt like...well, felt like I was dying."

"After that, the worst part happens. You get terrible, painful seizures that last for a good few hours. Finally, you wake up, a different species entirely."

"Do you have any...bloodlust, or anything like that?" I felt myself asking.

Alex nodded.

"When you first wake up, it hits you like a truck. After that, for me at least, it hasn't been too bad."

I pick at the blades of grass, eventually asking, 

"Have you ever had any human blood?"

Alex's eyes widen in horror, and he replies,

"No, no! Absolutely not! That's the one thing you don't do, if you want to be sane."

"Stay sane?" I question.

"Yes, sane. If a zombie even tastes a drop of human blood, it's over. You go insane, and there's no coming back. Most zombies give into the bloodlust pretty soon after they turn, and that's why there's so many feral ones roaming around."

"Hm...interesting. Continue." I say.

"Oh! Well, after I turned, I went looking for Devon. It didn't take too long, since as a zombie, I could smell and hear better than before."

"But...when I found him....well, let's just say it wasn't a pleasant meeting." Alex shrugs his shoulders, but I could tell he'd been hurt by the event.

"He saw my eyes, and told me to leave. I tried to tell him I was sane, I wouldn't hurt him, but while I was doing that, one of the survivors he'd grouped with pulled out a gun...and shot me."

My eyes widened. 

Alex smiled sadly, and pointed to a scar on his left arm.

"It hurt, of course, and I ran for the hills. I eventually decided I should just try and find my family, if they're still alive and sane. So I've been wandering ever since. I heard a tip from a rather polite group of travelers that they'd seen some people that matched my descriptions near Kingsport. So I've been heading over there to check it out for myself."

"I'm looking for someone over there, too." I piped up.

I almost kicked myself. He didn't need to know what I was searching for. Well, who I was searching for, for that matter.

"Oh! Maybe we could go together." Alex suggests, a hopeful look in his eyes, "It gets lonely, with just Pip to keep me company."

I was about to say no, I didn't need nor want a travel companion. But then I thought about what'd Alex had done for me. I had debt to pay.

"Fine. I guess." I mumbled, picking myself up.

"Great! Let's head out, then!" Alex announced, and Pip got up as well, his tail starting to wag again.

We started off together, me limping, Pip trailing behind me, and Alex leading the way, hoisting our bags onto his shoulders.

Little did I know what was waiting for us in Kingsport.