"This headache is not going away." Zaria moaned around the pain, rolling onto her back on the blanket and throwing her arm across her eyes to block the early morning light. The pain reliever did a good job of helping her get to sleep and stay asleep through the night. Nearly 12 hours after falling asleep, it was long out of her system, and she woke to the feeling of a dozen tiny people plowing a field in the depths of her brain. She groaned again and pushed herself up on her elbows to see if the pain was better or worse while no longer laying down. The pain rose, and a dry mouth announced that dehydration might be playing a part in it. She rolled against the couch and used it to lever herself up.

Downstairs, the house was quiet. The gathering group had not yet gotten up, and only Ohno and the man she met guarding the gate the first day were sitting in the dining room. They both smiled at her, and she returned the smile before going to the kitchen to get some more water and something to eat.

While she was deciding between a food bar that was supposed to taste like apples but tasted like cardboard, or a bar that was supposed to taste like lychee but tasted like cardboard, Saito Rika walked in with a loud yawn.

"Oh, I am sorry," she said sheepishly, bowing her head. "I didn't know anyone was in here."

"It is alright," Zaria assured her with a polite smile. "I wanted to find you once you were up and moving anyway."

Glistening brown eyes appraised her after their owner pulled a water bottle out of the fridge and took a drink. "Your headache is not gone?"

The younger woman rubbed the furrow above the bridge of her nose and forced another smile. "No, it feels worse today. I fell asleep very early last night, so maybe I am just dehydrated. But I wanted to check with you. I don't want to use up more of the pain reliever."

"Hmmm," another sip, and then the cap was screwed back on. "Let's go, and I will look you over."

It was the third time that Zaria entered the health room since moving into the house, but the first time, she was asked to sit up on the ubiquitous table that every clinic seemed to have. She opened her mouth, raised her arms, took deep breaths, and followed all the other directions given to her.

"When was your last menstruation?"

Zaria closed her eyes and tried to remember. She knew that she had one while she was at the manor, but she had been counting on using it to keep the Duke away after getting out of the cell, so it must have been due recently...

"I don't remember. But I think I might be a week or two late? Sometimes, I get irregular."

"Could you be pregnant?" Saito-san gently placed her hand on Zaria's knee, her eyes calm and understanding.

"No? I've never had sex before. Even if that bastard did something while I was asleep, I would have felt something when I woke up..."

Saito Rika furrowed her brow, and Zaria smiled sheepishly when she realized she had spoken too fast and the nurse had been lost. "Gu-san?" She asked the name hesitantly.

Zaria shook her head emphatically. "No, he would never do something like that." She paused and looked down at her hands. "I was imprisoned...uhm, locked up, by someone who wanted to do bad things. But I don't think they did, I think I would remember."

"Do you want me to help you take a test, just in case?"

It didn't seem like it would hurt beyond making her think about what could have happened more than she had been letting herself, so she nodded slowly. She was confident that nothing had happened, but slipping something in her food didn't seem beyond what he would have done...

Alone in the room, Zaria did her business on the bit at the end of the plastic stick, put the cap over the wet end, and moved back onto the table. Her head was pounding more after the bending and maneuvering, so she leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. It was easier to pretend that the last world had never happened. If it wasn't for the random thoughts and images that floated into her mind, sometimes she had no reason to even give the time her attention.

After her imagination made her see the Duke in the hall the night before, if she didn't take the test, then she would not be able to sleep, wondering if something else had happened. Those worries would still be there, it had been so long there was no way to know for sure, and she had been so weak and in pain when she first came back to the bedroom that she might not have felt it the morning after. She might not have even woke up during if she was that weak. Zaria rubbed her hands up and down her arms, soothing the little bumps that were rising up.

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The door opened, a familiar voice drifting in. The words were cold, and it was obvious that demands were being made. Nurse Saito closed the door after entering, pausing with her hand still on the knob. "Gu-san wants me to tell him why you are in here and why I would have to leave the room. Do you want me to tell him?"

Zaria shook her head no, wincing as the pain sent stars across her eyes. "It's none of his business." She thought about how that would make the man feel and felt bad for the person that would have to face his ire. "Just tell him I still have a headache, and I needed a moment to rest."

The knob turned and quiet words were exchanged through the crack. The voice outside grew even colder, and Zaria opened her eyes to see Saito-san shivering. "Dammit, CEO Gu, she is just doing her job. I have a headache, and the cold is making it worse."

"I'm not leaving until I see you are okay," he said stubbornly, but the cold air warmed slightly. He was obviously trying to control it better.

The young woman rolled her eyes with another wince and waved to the nurse that it was okay. She wasn't thinking about the little plastic test that was sitting next to her until he was already in the room. Her hand casually moved to cover it, but it was too late.

"Is that...did he...why didn't you tell me?" Anger oozed out between his clenched teeth, and he grabbed Zaria's shoulders. Later, Zaria would say it was because of the pain in her head, but at that moment, she had no control of the tears that slipped out from between her tightly clenched lids. She could feel the burning cold coming from his hands,but her body absorbed the magic, canceling it before it could cause serious damage.

"Get off of me," she yelled at him, pushing him away. "One, it is none of your business. Two, I don't think he did anything. Third, I am just making sure because my period is late. Are you satisfied now, asshole? Or do you want to yell at me and freeze me some more?"

The long, black clad legs moved backward quickly, and there was a thump as his back hit the wall. "I didn't mean to. Did I hurt you?"

"Exactly what gives you the right to be angry with me?" Zaria wiped the tears off of her face with the back of her hand. She looked around the room and saw that the nurse had left to give them some privacy. An angry snort came out. Had she left before seeing the younger woman manhandled, or after? "No, I don't want to know. Leave, please."

Gu Cheng immediately began to argue, but Zaria spoke over him. "I don't want to talk about this with you right now. I have a headache. My eyes feel like they are going to ooze out of my head, and you are being an ass."

"Please, don't make me go." She looked up at the soft words, full of frustration and something that sounded like sadness. "I am not angry at you. I am angry at him and at myself, and I didn't mean to hurt you. What do I do to fix it?"

Zaria sighed. "I don't know, CEO Gu. If you are talking about how you hurt me just now, then don't grab me when you are angry and your ability is not under control. Better yet, just don't grab me anymore. I don't like my arms being suddenly grabbed. I was attacked and hurt and grabbed like that a lot, and it scares me."

The admission lightened some of the load on her chest. She had not acknowledged the fear that had been dogging her whenever she saw a hand coming close to her too quickly, blaming it on being in a zombie world. But she had not seen a zombie grabbing for her the night before. It had not been her intention to talk about it with anyone, and she didn't feel like saying it to this person made it more therapeutic. Saying it aloud did.

"I am scaring you?"

"Not you, CEO Gu. Your actions have."

"I will...go. The group is ready to leave, I was just making sure that you were okay." Gu Cheng did not look at her as he left the room, leaving the door open so that Saito-san could come back in.

"Are you alright?" The older woman asked her, taking the test that was held out for her.

"Besides this headache? I am fine." Zaria leaned back against the wall once more. "I am sorry that you were pulled into that. He is really not a bad man. He is just very intense. He wouldn't hurt you."

"Hurt me?" She seemed distracted as she placed the test down on the counter. "It is negative. That is good?"

"I mean, I know that you two are getting close. He would treat you well." Zaria wanted to be understanding and help the two out,but she couldn't hide the bitterness in her voice.

"Close? Oh no, Joseph-chan! We are not close in that way!" Saito-san nervously waved her hands side to side in front of her chest. "He talks only of you!"

Warm brown eyes snapped open, and Zaria looked over in confusion. "What?"

"I am sorry, I said too much. Forgive me." The test went into a garbage receptacle, and she anxiously rubbed her hands together. "I believe that your headache is due to your upcoming menstruation and that it will likely be starting soon. We have supplies here, if you need them, but you must dispose of them very carefully."

Zaria listened as a list of procedures were explained, all intended to either not gross out the teenage boys or to not attract the dead when the used items were discarded. She nodded absentmindedly, her brain focused on the woman's comment about Gu Cheng's predilection for talking about her. She accepted the two packets of pain medication, promised to wait the full time before taking the second one, and agreed to pick up a package of nuts from the kitchen to raise her magnesium levels.

How she made it back to her room was a mystery, but she spent the most of the morning laying on the couch, eating nuts, and thinking. Over the last couple of weeks, she had convinced herself that Gu Cheng would move on because he would realize there were better women out there. When he stopped speaking to her and began to spend time with the attractive older woman, it made sense. The idea that he might still be interested, and not just interested but invested...

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of yelling from outside. She jerked upright, getting to her knees on the cushions and looked out toward the front gate. The guard was running toward the building, stumbling as he went. A walking corpse leaned against the ornate gate set into the boundary wall. Its arm was waving through the bars, a raggedy flannel shirt sleeve pushed up to expose a desiccated wrist. The gentleman who guarding during the morning and afternoon hours vanished below the tiled awning below her, and Zaria hurried to intercept him. Before her door was open, a scream came from somewhere below.