We ate while we walked.

Dried fruit was the best option. There wasn’t much meat anywhere, mostly because animals took up more space and that space had to be walled off and maintained. All it took was a single Zombie to break into the pen and every animal inside would have to be treated as if they were infected. It just wasn’t worth the effort or risk when fruit trees and root vegetables were certain to yield returns even if the Zombies broke into the pen.

There were places that cultivated grain, but there was the risk with plants like that. Zombies didn’t walk down rows, so they’d mindlessly trample any plant that they could walk on.

There was one meat that we did have. Fish. While I didn’t care for the taste or the texture, it was protein. Fish jerky wasn’t great and I didn’t carry it on principle. The smell lingered in the whole pack and I didn’t want all my stuff to smell like fish.

We would be able to eat a lot of fish while we were at the port though. My stomach growled as I chewed on a slice of dried peach. I might not care for it, but it would be food and something different for a while.

Zig ran up to me, leaving the two women in the back of our group.

“So when are you going to teach me how to fight Zombies?” His eyes were full of excitement as he looked up at me.

“I’m not.” I knew it wasn't the answer he wanted to hear, but he didn’t need to be dragged into this.

“Why not?!” He ran in front of me and walked backwards as we hiked.

I could tell him that he was too young or that this life was too dangerous, but he’d just argue against both of those points.

“Because I’m not.” I tried to sound as much like Master Bran as I could.

“I’m strong!” The brown-haired boy looked around. Once he spied what he was looking for, he ran over and grabbed a stick that was about three feet long.

“See?!” Ziggy came back swinging the stick wildly. “I can use a sword!”

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That wasn’t how to swing a sword. That was how you tired yourself out before you died.

“Don’t swing it around like that.” I sighed. Maybe he would learn something to help defend himself when he grew up. “Aim for what you want to hit, then swing one time.” I pulled my sword out of the sheath on my back and in a single fluid motion, I sliced a line on one of the pine trees about five feet off the ground.

“Zombies don’t have weapons, so aim for the neck. If you can’t hit the neck…” I sliced the tree about two feet off the ground. “Take out a leg. When they fall…” I brought my sword down on the grass. “Then you cut off their head.”

“You mean I get a sword!?” His eyes looked like they were sparkling as a smile spread over his face.

“When you’re old enough to buy one.” I put my weapon away and kept walking.

“Where do I get a sword like yours?” He was so close to me that he bumped into my arm.

“You don’t get a sword like this.” I shook my head as I stopped and gently grabbed his shoulders. I knelt down so that we were on eye level. “Do you know how many apprentices die every year because they mess up and turn into Zombies?”

“But you didn’t.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“So you know what to do to become just like you!” Ziggy beamed.

This child’s faith in me was starting to scare me. I knew exactly how fallible I was and how dangerous the life he was asking to be a part of was. I’d been helpless to save my first partner and I didn’t want another failure on my hands. Max’s screams before he died while he was pleading for my help haunted my dreams. It was one of the reasons I was thankful that I didn’t need to sleep much.

“You don’t want to be like me.” I shook my head. “Do something safer like a clothier or brewer.” I saw the disappointment growing on his face. I continued before he exploded. “People like me don’t live long and we don’t die fast, peaceful deaths. I want you to live a long and safe life. That's why I don’t want you to do this stuff.” I tapped my eyes. “I’ve already Ascended, I don’t have a choice.”

“But we have that Elf keeping us safe!” His smile started coming back. “So we’ll be fine!”

The golden Elf had given us Eveth’s sword, which had really helped our fight, but there was something about those black eyes that felt wrong. It was like looking into a bottomless void. He might have been helpful back then, but I wasn’t sure if he’d be an ally in the future.

“We’ll see.” I let go of him and stood up. “Just, go easy on the Zombie stuff.”

He looked disappointed, but he started running between the trees, swinging that stick of his at neck-high points on each tree, like the forest was a horde and he was cutting through them one at a time.

I shook my head. At least someone was enthusiastic.