We made it out of the orchard without running into any more zombies.

I thought about what Max had said. It hadn’t crossed my mind until he said something. The council was very strict about who they let join the Bokor. That was the purpose of the Missions. We had to prove that we could handle ourselves without the Marks before we were allowed to receive them.

I looked over at my companion. He wasn’t having any trouble with the brisk pace I had set. His endurance was definitely Master worthy, which just left his fighting ability as the only thing I didn’t know. I thought about stopping our march to have him spar, but decided it could wait. I already knew I had to work on his aversion to zombies, that would be plenty to work on right now.

I stopped in my tracks. I couldn’t believe what I was thinking. I was actually planning how I was going to deceive the council.

Max went a few steps before he realized I wasn’t moving. He stopped and looked at me with confusion all over his face.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

I didn’t want to tell him, but I couldn’t lie. If he learned that I was struggling with what to tell the council, then he would freak out. That would only lead us to get even further behind schedule.

“I’m just thinking,” It was an evasion, but the best answer I could think of at the moment, “on how to help you work on your zombie problem.”

I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t very interested in the topic.

“You are?” He asked.

“You can’t keep hiding this from the council,” I pointed out. “They will find out eventually.”

“Not if you don’t tell them!” He exclaimed.

“And then what?” I asked, “How are you going to become a Master?” I stared him in the eye, “How are you going to complete the final rite to get your Mark?”

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His face fell and with it any argument he had planned. He took a deep breath and looked away.

The final rite was where the Council gathered to watch the Potentials harvest a heart stone. The Potential had to leave his protective leather armor outside. Infection wouldn’t matter after the rite, either the Potential would receive the marks and infection would no longer be an issue, or they would become something else. I had never been allowed to watch a final rite, but every Apprentice knew about it. It was the day we all feared and longed for. The day that we either became a Master or our struggle ended.

It was well past noon, and the water we had saved from the orchard would only last us until we made it to town, we didn’t have time for him to sulk. I thought about putting my hand on his shoulder but decided the risk of dying was too great. Instead, I started walking.

“We have a month to figure it out,” I said,” there’s no reason to worry about it now.”

I’m not sure if it was something I said or if he didn’t want to get left in the open by himself. Whichever it was, he started jogging after me.

We kept the brisk pace in silence. I was glad he didn’t want to talk, I wasn’t sure that I had any good answers to his endless waves of questions. I knew what I had to do once we got back to the island. I just hoped I had enough time to fix it.

We were able to see the city a long time before we got close. It was one of the perks of traveling in flat lands. It also meant that we could see any zombies a long time before they got close to us. I was glad that my first mission had taken me south instead of north. Up north, the terrain wasn’t as flat, the hills and curves provided many dangerous areas where you wouldn’t know a zombie was close until they were on top of you. Here you just had to avoid the clusters of trees that dotted the landscape. Zombies weren’t smart enough to hide, so as long as you had some distance, then you couldn’t be taken by surprise.

The city got closer and I picked up the pace. The sun was starting to set and there wasn’t much of a moon out. If we didn’t reach the city soon, then it would be much harder to be aware of any approaching zombies.

We were five hundred feet from the city walls when I stopped. Something wasn’t right. There weren’t any guard torches on the wall, despite there being light coming from the city.

Max stopped a few paces ahead of me and turned around, “What?”

“Something’s not right.” I pointed at the stone wall in front of us, “There aren’t any guards.”

“There’s light in the city,” Max insisted, “come on.”

I pulled out my dagger. Something was watching me, I could feel it.

Max stared at me but made no move to reach for his weapons. “What are you doing? There’s nothing out here.”

Four shadows rose out of the ground around us before I could answer.

I braced myself for a fight. I hated being right.