The walls of the village were manned and lit, Coo having given their last update before the sky had grown completely dark.

Ryulo couldn't even muster the cheer that was rising in his chest. Not when the torches wavered and danced in his blurry vision and his feet seemed to weigh as much as a house.

And he was in a good condition compared to the rest. How his partner had managed to keep going was beyond him. Her fortitude must be amazing, to withstand that much pain and still walk on her injured leg.

Somewhere inside the tired jumble of thoughts that was his brain, he thought he saw her looking at him more than once but Ryulo was far too tired to think about anything other than getting home.

The Fukas on the wall spotted them as they drew close and the Char clan came out to bring them back to safety and a much needed rest.

"And then, that was when I realized that the zombies had all gone back to sleep! So I lead the others in a wide circle around the zombies and hurried back as quickly as I could," Ryulo pointed out his route. It turned out that he was doing better by far than any of the others, and so he was going to be grilled for yesterday's events while everyone else slept in.

Cato nodded at the crude map drawn on the tabletop with that strange device he had. No one had seen any workmanship so finely done before, not even from Inath. And Cato hadn't explained what it was made of either. But there were more pressing concerns to be worrying about.

Ka and Ryulo had refined the map based on their experiences and moved the little markers for the zombie pack and the hunting party as Ryulo narrated the tale. Cato had demanded every little detail from him. Down to how the zombies slept like the dead and didn't speak at all.

After talking for an hour and getting very little breakfast in, the tale was finally winding down. It was one of the most daring hunts ever, even if no one could know how much good they had done.

"One last question, how large a circle around the zombies did you go? I understand you kept some distance. "

"About the length of the village. I didn't want to take chances. "

Cato nodded and frowned to himself. Ryulo took the chance to gulp down his soup and bread in case 'last' meant something else in Cato speak.

"And did the zombies act any differently after you used the hunting call?"

Yup, no such thing as last questions. "No. Not that I recall. They still thrashed around like madmen. "

"Yeah, that's good evidence that they're deaf. But just because they decided to go sleep when you stood exposed isn't good enough to say they're blind either," Cato tapped the device against the map.

Not that it hadn't happened a few times just now, but Cato's questions about the zombies seemed to jump straight towards conclusions that on hindsight were supremely obvious. Ryulo didn't know what to think of that. Impressed maybe, but for all that, he still didn't have a clever plan like with the tremor.

"Ka, you have been tracking the zombies for some time now. How often did you see the zombies move and how often did they stop to 'sleep'?"

"When they were under the trees, I can't be sure if they were stopping or if I had just lost track. When the zombies entered our fields, they stopped only once, for a few hours. I didn't think that was important. "

Cato shook his head, "Perhaps. It appears they need to stop every few hours or even less if they were interrupted. But it doesn't make sense, I don't understand why undead zombies would need to have a rest!"

They stayed quiet for a while, trying to think of something. The zombies had been led off the path leading to the village and seemed to not have moved since yesterday night, so they still had two days.

A knock on the door interrupted their thinking.

"Excuse me," a young boy's voice called out, "she's awake now, Ryulo. You told me to come get you if that happened. "

Ryulo apologized silently and left. The woman had been taken to Tulore, who frowned and said threatening words about their stupidity but still fixed her ankle and gave her a sleeping potion.

He didn't feel too guilty about leaving the Char clan meeting. His job was done and there was a woman he needed to see.

"I can't think of anything from what they found out, I don't know enough about the zombies," Cato said, "So tell me more. Do you know why they mindlessly attack? And how they decide to do that? We need to know our enemy before we can defeat them. Just like the tremor. "

"We know they attack us on sight, but like you said, I'm not too sure whether they can see at all. As for what the zombies think, if they even think? Who knows?"

Hmm, no answers there huh? Well, it was too much to hope that these Fukas might know of an exploitable behaviour of the zombies that they somehow hadn't thought to exploit. "Do the zombies eat? What about drinking?"

Banage shook his head, "unfortunately, the poison trick isn't going to work again. They don't eat or drink. "

Or at least not that you know of, Cato completed his thought. Hm, that was a thought. "Are the zombies like humans?" Cato asked, "their flesh I mean. How much like a human's flesh do they have?"

"You saw them yourself. They're dried and rotting. What do you have in mind?"

Well, there was no harm in ideas alone. "Fire. If they're dry, they might burn easily. "

Banage looked at his siblings sitting at the map table and they shared an incomprehensible look. Cato sighed, "it probably won't work though. Getting the zombies to pack in close enough would be hard to arrange. Perhaps there's something we can use in their mobbing behaviour. "

Easier said than done though. Even if the zombies were blind and couldn't sense heat, they responded to attacks and seemed to cooperate with each other. That was almost halfway to intelligence, even though they still mobbed victims mindlessly. Cato couldn't put good confidence in the zombies throwing themselves into a fire to get at a bunch of Fukas on the other side.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"There is a way," Banage said finally, a grim smile on his face, "thank you Cato, I believe we know how to survive the next wave now. "

Huh. Cato looked at the old slightly plump man skeptically, but he really did seem to believe that.

"How are you doing?" Ryulo asked.

"Fine. My leg hurts less now, but I don't think I should move it too much," the woman said, "I never got the chance to thank you. "

"Heh, once we got back to the tender care of Tharoden, I don't think that you would have been able to shout an apology loud enough for me to hear it. "

She giggled at the memory, "Yeah, they started right up when we got back. But still, thank you. "

"Why though?" Ryulo shook his head, "I only did what was obvious. "

"You could have left me when I fell. And..." she looked down at the sheets covering her still swollen leg, "you supported me when we had to run. You saved my life. "

That was pretty embarrassing, to be honestly thanked for something Ryulo didn't think was all that special. "I thought you were the one with the courage. You were the only one brave enough to do what we went there to do, shoot the zombies. Here was I, practically wetting myself at the thought of the zombies, and you managed to keep running with a twisted ankle. "

It was her turn to look at him incredulously, "What? I thought your firm look was..." she blushed, brushing her tail with one hand, "well... I actually just wanted to stop being a quivering mess and wanted to do something brave to show up the certain unflappable senior next to me. And look what it got me into. And afterwards, well, the thought of getting eaten by zombies makes pain seem rather less. I don't remember it being so much painful as terrifying. "

They looked at each other for a moment. Ryulo decided right then that he liked this girl.

"I think, perhaps, that we might have thought the other was more brave than we really were," Ryulo said slowly, wondering if he was about to kill a potential friendship. But her tail was really too attractive to pass up, and the memory of her grim face bearing the pain of walking made his decision for him. "We could clear it up over a little breakfast," he asked, also wondering if she would understand.

Her eyes seemed to sparkle a little, "that sounds like a nice idea. "

Ryulo nodded and went to go pack a flatbread basket. He stopped at the doorway, "you know, I never did get your name? Perhaps we ought to start with introductions. " And to think he was going to try to romance a girl he didn't even know the name of.

"I'm Aleas. "

He almost fell over in shock. And to think he was going to try to romance the granddaughter of the Char clan leader...

Tharoden stood in front of the gate, blocking the way, looking like a one man dam against the assembled Char clan.

There was much commotion then Banage floated to the top and immediately winced at the sight. The tales of yesterday's shouting matches had gone around and around the village and grew with the telling. Some of the younger kids now thought Tharoden could literally breathe fire and Banage's words could be used to chop trees.

"Your foolishness has gone on long enough, Banage. Put an end to this, now. "

"At least we are acting, unlike you who wants us all to die here. "

They stared daggers at each other for a moment then Tharoden, amazingly, looked away with a sigh. His gaze fell upon Cato, standing off to one side with Danine tagging along curiously.

"Was this your idea, boy?" he asked Cato flatly.

Banage watched the human shake his head. Not one for pretenses, hm? This was looking better and better at every step. Char clan would be remembered as the saviours of this village.

"I have no idea what Banage is trying to do," Cato said.

"Then," Tharoden turned back, "what are you doing, Banage?"

"This concerns Char clan," he snapped back, "remember that Char does not answer to you. Or to Tulore either. Get out of our way, we're saving this village. "

He waved his clan forwards and the three carts laden with wooden spears and axes rumbled towards the gate. That stubborn man was still standing there, glaring at him and blocking the road. Fine, be that way. Banage growled, "out of my way, Tharoden, or we'll run you over. "

His nephews pushing the lead cart glanced at him but Banage just nodded. Surely that man would not let himself get hit.

Tharoden dived to the side almost comically just before the cart hit him. Ha. If only he had stepped aside first, he wouldn't need to get his clothes dirty.

Just you wait, Tharoden, just you wait. We'll come back victorious and then the Fukas will be following me.

"What is he doing, boy," Tharoden dusted himself off, "you must tell me. "

Cato shrugged. He truly didn't know, and to be honest, after that disastrous meeting of the village's Council, Cato wasn't well disposed towards the gruff older Fuka.

If Cato had to guess, it would be something to do with fire. The problem with torches was obvious, having to go face to face with a zombie horde. Fire arrows wouldn't necessarily work well. And besides Cato already knew and said that the zombies running through a forest wouldn't be a good target for burning anyway.

What, was Banage going to make his clan put torches on the ends of spears? That was probably as ridiculous as it sounded.

"Darn him," Tharoden cursed, looking upwards. Ka was rising into the sky, gaining height to follow Banage's progress. "He must have talked to the Elkas. I did not believe that he would talk to them without going through the Elder first. But it seems I have underestimated his lunacy. "

They watched the Char clan move out towards the zombies in the forest and Cato wondered if he would ever see them again.