Morning came too fast.

If the light could have waited a few more hours, then I would have felt more rested. Or not, the constant growling beneath me was a reminder of the fight that was to come. Since I could only count the shadows, it was impossible for me to know just how many zombies were beneath us. I kept my eyes closed and tried to rest as much as I could.

“Byler?”

I opened one eye and looked over at my companion. The light was dim enough that I didn’t have to shield my eyes but bright enough that I could see him.

“What,” I asked, “are you doing?”

He had already untied his ropes and was looping them over his shoulder. He pointed at the zombies beneath us, “We need to take care of them.”

I sighed and grabbed a nearby orange, “Have you eaten yet?”

He looked at me like I was asking him to dine on the zombies.

“Do you think you’ll want to eat after we clean them?” I tossed part of the orange peel at the zombies beneath me. It caught it in its mouth, then spit it out. I chuckled, “Not what you’re hungry for?”

I leaned against the tree and popped a slice of orange in my mouth. Max nervously picked an orange and started peeling it. I wondered what kind of training Master Junk had taught him. All I had seen so far was that he was good at running. At least I would know how good of a fighter he was soon.

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I tossed another piece of peel at the zombies. It was light enough now that I felt comfortable fighting them, but I didn’t want to rush things. I grabbed another orange. I needed a plan before I jumped down.

There were three zombies that I could see. Two under Max’s tree and one under mine. I doubted there were any closer by. Restraint was not a quality that zombies could display without the guidance of the Touched. A Touched might have been directing these, but it was well known that Bokor would hunt down any Touched that attacked one of theirs. So while it was possible, the odds were fairly low.

I finished my orange and began untying myself. I would’ve liked it if there had been only two zombies. With just two, we each could have focused on one and the fight would’ve been over quickly. With three, that meant we were going to have to get creative. I just had to hope that Max would follow my lead.

“Hey!” I waved at Max to get his attention.

“Ready?” Max looked like he was about to jump out of the tree.

“NO!” I yelled.

Max looked over at me, curiosity etched on his face, “What?”

“We need a plan.” I pulled out my sword.

Max pointed his weapon at the zombies beneath him, “I’ll take these two.”

“Wait!” I fumed, “That isn’t a plan!”

Max looked over at me, “Huh?”

I sighed, “How sure are you that you can kill both of them as you are falling?” I could see him getting lost in thought, “Without getting bit?”

That registered what I meant. He looked over at me, “What do we do?”

I pointed at the zombie beneath me, “I’ll take this one.” I pointed at the other zombies, “When they come after me, you jump down and we’ll finish them off.”

He nodded in agreement.

I clenched the hilt of my sword tightly. It was time to kill some zombies.