Deeper in the desert, the faulty bike is loud, yet not a single hair or hide of a zombie has shown itself. Looking back, she notices a pack of wolves up on a cliff, far enough that she can't hear them. But she knows what they are. “Hunters”. They move to the sides, allowing a larger one to make its presence known, dark, bloodied and hungry. This was a Charger, the leader of the pack. It reminded her of the bear from before, yet somehow more intelligent.

A hunter throws itself at the bike, bashing it with its shoulder. It makes the bike wobble but Rider manages to stabilize it. Eliza grabs the crossbow, opens the attached pouch, and pulls out a bolt. She loads it and does her best to aim at the charger who's getting ready to jump at them. However, the charger feints it, instead of into them, it jumps over them, distracting them from the hunter who grabs the crossbow with its teeth and flings it away.

Another hunter gnaws at the back wheel forcing it to a halt, the pair are sent flying forward. The pack circles around the pair, weighing their options. Who to tear apart first. Suddenly one snaps their focus to Eliza, seeing easier to take out smaller prey. It lunges in, and Rider jumps in front to protect her. Only, she doesn't feel the rotten fangs. Instead, she hears heavy breathing muffled through metal.

Eliza’s eyes widen, as she sees a literal Knight in Shining Armor. The man stands before them, sword and shield in hand. The wolves pile on, but he slams one away with the shield, and slashes through another with his sword. The charger looms, its pussing yellow eyes narrow and range, showing off what truly differentiates charger from hunter. Its veins bulge and its muscles expand. Its drool is a dark orange. In its ravenous state, it picks up a hunter with its teeth and throws it at the knight. The knight slices through, but is hit by a quick follow up attack.

The charger picks up the knight by the leg, denting his armor with deep gashes, however the man underneath is unharmed. He strikes the charger on the head with the pommel of his sword, stunning it for but a brief moment. This small window was enough for the knight to quickly turn his word around and stick it in its mouth, prying it open, freeing himself. He jumps out, stabbing its eye with the edge of his shield and runs to the pair. He picks them both up with ease and hightails it out of there while he still has time.

The knight runs, his stamina reserves apparently infinite. Rider looks at Eliza who’s on the Knight's other shoulder. She raises an eyebrow, and Eliza shrugs. Rider taps on his back “i… think we lost it. You can put us down now.” the knight is panting heavily, it echoes in his helmet, that in combination with his heart, he can't hear or feel a thing. “Hey! Bucket head!” she knocks on his helmet, startling the knight. He stops in his tracks.

“Huh? Oh! My apologies, are you ladies alright?” He puts them down, and sits down on a large rock to catch his breath.

“Um, yeah we-” she looks at Eliza, she gives a thumbs up “-we’re alright, more importantly, are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out.” Eliza takes out a bottle of water from the duffel bag, and hands it over to him, he gives a slight bow in appreciation, and takes it. He takes off his helmet, revealing a dark haired man with stubble on his face. Despite his english accent, he looks to be asian. He unhooks a cup attached to his waist, and pours in a bit of water, handing back the bottle.

He takes a sip, and sighs out “ahh that hit the spot!” He wipes away some blood from his lap, and sets the cup down on it. “I appreciate it! And yeah, i'm alright, just, not used to running for so long in this thing… and the extra weight…! Ah- sorry! I don't mean you two i…” he puts his hand over his face. He extends his hand “I’m Kim”.

Rider shakes his hand “I’m Rider.” His metallic grip is gentle, yet firm.

Eliza shakes his hand, and immediately pulls back, his metallic grip was scalding. She waves her hand to cool it off. “Ah!! I'm sorry! Are you alright?” he asks, immediately getting up.

Eliza nods “I'm Eliza, and I'm okay, just very hot!” He looks down at his armor, then to Rider who's staring intently at Frankie.

“It is a pleasure to meet you both. What are you two doing out here in the deadzone’s outskirts if you don’t mind me asking?” He signals at the pair to follow him, and after looking at each other, they do. Rider stares back at her demolished bike. The charger seems to be thrashing it around like a chew toy.

“I just needed to get away from the mainland. This seems like the best spot so far. Quiet, far away from the cultists and villages.” Kim is curious by what she means, but, due to personal experience he knows better than to pry.

“Ah unfortunate news for you then ma’am. If by cultists you mean the zombie worshippers, then there are a lot of them spread across several encampments. They seem to think of the dead zone as their holy ground.” He says with a slight inflection of annoyance. “Even worse, they’ve started to get more bold with their rituals.”

“Bold how?” Eliza asks, “How much bolder can those freaks possibly get?”

“Out here, I used to trade with a small settlement, no more than two hundred. The people were friendly and hardworking folk, until a group of folks came by. No one knew who they were, but the friendly people of the town welcomed them with open arms. Gave them food, water, shelter. But a week or so into their stay, they turned. The settlers, I mean. Turns out the folk would drop fingers into the water supply. Hell, I even found a whole head. But that's not what's bold, what is is what came after. The horde grew in numbers, folks would turn so fast they skipped the herald stage.”

“Then the cultists showed up. They- they desecrated the corpses. Sated their own lusts with the flesh of the undead. Those of us who survived were branded.” The knight shudders, taking a deep breath to steady himself. “I managed to escape. But sometimes I wish- nevermind, sorry.” He regains himself. “After I recovered my gear, I put an end to their disgusting ritual.”

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“I'm sorry you had to go through that. Though I wonder how they keep managing to get so close to the undead without being attacked themselves.” Eliza ponders, thinking of his retelling. “Also, what's with the suit of armor? Are you from the dark ages? How old are you?”

“Ha-hah! Oh no no, I used to be a museum curator, one of our displays was this suit and sword. This set belongs to Sir Night, no one knows his name, only that he would appear in the dead of night to resolve any issues the king or populace had.” The knight shakes his head. “And for your information, I’m only 37.“

The trio arrives at a short cave. Inside is a bed, a dead fire pit, and a collapsible chair. “This is my resting spot. You can stay as long as you’d like!” Rider looks around, there doesn't seem to be any transport options nearby.

“Did… you walk here?” she asks, puzzled by his circumstances.

“Yup! I walk, run, jog everywhere as long as my legs can take me.” a smile fills his face as he takes off his chest piece. A skin tight long sleeved shirt underneath. He grabs his collar and starts to ventilate himself.

Rider gets a summons on her radio shortly after she sits down next to Eliza near the now lit fire. “Hey dog! Where the hell are you? We cleared out your house with the cultists fucks, but you’re not here!” A muffled voice causes him to shut off the radio for a second.

It comes back to life soon after. “Shit! There’s more of those freaks. Look, tell me where you are when you can, me and the boys can’t defend your place forever, so we’re moving on.”

Rider stares at the Radio.

“Bitch. If you make me say ‘over’ I will smash your fucking bike.”

“Im somewhere in the desert, headed towards the city deadzone. And a charger already beat you to it.”

Silence for a few seconds. “Lucky bastard. Look, I know of a stash house we left behind near the deadzone before a few cultists took it over. Head towards the Eastern Motel if you can find it on a map.”

“Where the hell is that?” She asks, yet the radio goes silent.

The knight finally seeing the conversation is over, chimes in.

“Oh that's not too far away, I can take you ladies if you’d like.”

The radio crackles to life, sounds of gunfire in the distance and screaming. “FUCK, get there as soon as possible. I don’t know who that pompous fuck you’re with is, but if he knows, he knows. COME GET SOME MOTHERFUCKER-”

Kim looks at the radio with an incredulous look on his face. “That man, he wouldn’t perhaps happen to be part of the Raider Kingdom by any chance?”

The tone of the question alarms Rider. She knows their reputation, she knows his. “Why do you ask?”

“There’s only three groups that have owned that place. The government, the raiders and those vile cultists. He’s clearly not the latter, and he’s too rowdy to be the first.”

Rider stares at the man sitting across from her. The fire crackles and pops, only adding to her deafening silence. Eliza looks to Rider, then to Kim. “a staring contest” she thinks to herself.

“He’s my student.” Rider breaks her silence, and Kim’s intensity dies down for a moment.

“Student, eh?” Kim slowly slides his hand over to his blade. Rider doesn't pick up on it, but Eliza however, does.

“It's true! He and I lived pretty sheltered in our settlement so she's showing us what the zombies are like and how to deal with them!” Eliza says giddily, her eyes tighten, a pseudo flinch. Kim’s hands move forward as he leans into the pair ahead of him. He interlocks his fingers.

He looks to Eliza then quickly to Rider. “Would you mind teaching me what you know as well?”

A slight smile cracks on Rider’s face. “Sure”

Up to now, almost all lectures have been hands-on and in the field. Eliza is excited to learn, and happy to be out of danger for it. The duo, Eliza and Kim, pass the time learning about the undead, Rider acts out zombie mannerisms, peekaboos, busters, flamers, bloaters, gliders, draugr and many more all while making their way towards the safehouse. She acts out how to properly deal with each of them with Kim’s help.

The sound of roaring motors slowly gets louder, grabbing the trio’s attention. They walk outside of the safe house to see that Jared isn't anywhere nearby. They look around “What the hell?” the wind picks up. Eliza tugs on Rider’s shirt. She looks down towards her. Her eyes are wide in fear as she's fixated on a terrifying sight above.

A massive helicopter hovers above them. It's black, with missiles, gun barrels, and a turret on the open door. The tail of the heli reads “IRF”. It shines a UV light onto the group for a few seconds. After seeing almost no reaction, it speaks. “Survivors. Clear the area.”

After the speaker goes off, a horde can be heard at a distance. It flies off towards it, and fires a missile at the densest part. The horde is gone, the only traces left are the entrails that land near their feet.

The chopper flies into the deadzone.

Jared radios in. “Holy shit! Please tell me you fucking saw that!” He sounds excited “I gotta get me one of those babies!”

“I did, are you close?”

“Yeah, pulling up now.” Jared and 2 others park their bikes. He looks towards Kim from head to toe. “Huh”. then faces Rider. “Got you a new bike. After we cleared your place I grabbed an engine from your shop and had my mech outfit a bike with it." He hands over the key, but before she can grab it he pulls it away. “This is a gift from me, if you break this one, I will break your legs.” She nods “Good, glad we understand each other.” He gives her the key. Two keys each with its own keyring hooked to each other.

The bike is a dark gray, it has a set of yellow stripes on the sides of the gas tank, each ending sharply. It almost looks brand new.

“Thank you.”