A man ran towards the cave.

That was all it took to alert the zombies that we had arrived. The revolting scent of ammonia trailed behind the man. He was probably trying to make up for his fear with a show of courage. All he was going to do was get people killed.

Five zombies burst out of the mouth of the cave. Their bloodshot eyes were fixed on the doomed man. He froze in their path, consumed by the stampede of claws and hunger.

Master Bran shrugged off his cloak. The purple scars on his arms burned bright as he unsheathed his sword. None of the zombies paid any attention to him as he walked over to them. The purple blade of his sword cut through the neck of the closest zombie without making a sound.

“NO!” the wail shrieked out of the mouth of the cave, “NOT MY BABIES!”

The hair on the back of my neck tried to run away. The other people weren’t attached to my skin. They left their weapons on the ground as they ran as fast as their legs could carry them.

My hand shook as I pulled out my sword. The blade wasn’t purple like my master’s sword. Mine was normal steel, with only a heartstone in the hilt.

The Touched mother crawled out of the cave. Black scars crisscrossed her skin, marring it almost beyond recognition.

“GET AWAY FROM THEM!” she screamed

“Finish them.” Master Bran ordered.

I scurried over to the four remaining zombies. They ignored me as they dug into their meal. I held my breath as I decapitated the closest one. I had made the mistake of breathing around a zombie once before. The stench of rot still haunted my nostrils.

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“STOP!” She yelled

That got their attention.

The other three zombies stopped eating and turned toward me. Their red eyes brimmed with excitement, their old meal already forgotten.

I heard the Touched mother move toward me, but I ignored her. My master would deal with her. Right now, I had to worry about three zombies.

The first one impaled itself on my sword. I had been expecting that, the thing about zombies was that they were predictable. They used brute force and attacked in a straight line.

I dropped my sword and stepped to my left. The zombie kept running forward, its claws slashing at empty air.

The other two zombies were on me. Without a weapon, I needed to stay as far away from them as I could. I danced out of their arms and made my way toward the pile of weapons that the cowards had left.

I was halfway to the stash when the impaled zombie righted itself and charged. I ducked under its arms and kicked it into one of its companions as it ran past me a second time. My sword impaled the second zombie, linking the pair in a strange hug.

With only one zombie able to chase me, I ran straight for the weapons.

In a straight line, zombies could build up a lot of speed. Without the marks, I’d never be able to outrun one, but that wasn’t my plan. Unlike humans, zombies had a problem with stopping.

I stopped just before the discarded weapons and dropped to my knees. For added insurance, I covered my head with my arms. It took more than a single scratch to infect someone, but I had gone through detox once before. It wasn’t something I wanted to go through again.

The zombie tried to slow down, but it was going too fast. One of its knees caught my shoulder as it flipped over me.

I ignored the pain in my bruised shoulder as I grabbed the closest weapon. The blade of the shovel bit into the zombie’s neck. It wiggled as it tried to stand up.

I jumped on the head of the shovel, putting an end to the creature’s thrashing. A quick kick knocked the head away. I’d seen lots of zombies, but their eyes still sent chills down my spine.

I bounced the shovel off of my good shoulder as I turned to the pair of stuck zombies. It was time to finish my job.