Twilight tore through the pines of a cloudless night, and Liam trekked between the trees. He hadn’t been having the best of sleep, and the sound of a nearby waterfall had wet his tongue. How desperately he could use some fresh mountain water right about now.

Liam entered a clearing, and his heart skipped a beat. Pale skin glowed like white gold in the moonlight. Ebony hair fell in waves past shoulders. The water from the fall flowed over a specter in the shape of a woman, buttocks out and breasts free as he faced her back. Liam was mesmerized by the illusion. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen a naked woman, and his body responded at once. There was nothing else to think, nor any ramifications to consider. There was only him and this seductive siren.

Then Leah glanced his way, scarf still wrapped around face, and Liam reflexively averted his gaze. She’s a goddamn corpse, you fucking nutter. Too much time stranded had driven him mad!

Moments later and she wandered over, her body once again hidden beneath the sheepskin jacket and jeans. “You should keep resting, Liam Fenix.”

Why did she always use his last name? It was so goddamned impersonal. “I could use a drink.” He held up Thirsty, whose smile seemed to nod in agreement.

“I told you before, everything needs to be boiled first. We can’t risk you getting sick.”

“That’s fair, but the way I figure it, we’re out here alone, and most dangerous microbes only grow in still water. I’ll be fine.”

“You’re forgetting about the Hollowing.”

“Relax. How long have we been together now? I’m sure if the disease was as contagious as you’re making it out to be, I’d have gotten it by now, yeah?”

Her violet eyes burned deep. “That isn’t how it works. The Hollowing follows its own rules.” She walked over to the waterfall and held out her hand. Water streamed over her bony fingers. “There are two types of ‘strains.’ The Hard strain and the Soft strain. Hard cells are pseudo-cells that have fully formed. They behave like blood cells, or muscles, or neurons, or whatever else is needed. Once the Hollowing becomes Hard, it can’t be anything different, and therefore can’t reproduce. You could hold my hand or wear my clothes, and wouldn’t become infected.”

She flipped over her hand, and water became trapped in the palm. “Then there’s the Soft strain. These are the pseudo-cells that don’t know what they’ll become yet, so they just pull nutrients from the first cell they see and start replicating. That’s what made the Hollowing spread so fast. A single Soft cell in the body, and you’re hollow within hours. No exceptions. Worse yet, an infected but living human became the most dangerous vector because everything from their blood to their sweat could transfer it to someone else, and they wouldn’t even know. The Hard strain might’ve created hollows, but it was the Soft that let them burn your world down.

“In spite of the time, there are some parts of the body that will always be infused with Soft cells. Saliva is the biggest contributor. A single bite from anyone, including me, and it’s over. Tears will also contain it though, along with the digestive and urinary tract.” She took a step closer. “That’s why I can’t risk you drinking water that hasn’t been purified. Even if a hollow pissed in the river miles upstream, you’ll still die.”

Liam gulped against the severity of the claim. At least whatever arousal he’d felt just moments ago was now extinguished. Hearing about zombie urinary tracts turned out to be quite the turn-off.

Twigs snapped nearby, and Liam instinctively withdrew a few steps.

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Leah held up her hand. “Don’t worry, it’s Buttercup.”

“How can you tell?” The forest was pitch black.

“Our adaptation is better than yours. This many hours after the sun’s down, our night vision is almost as good as what we can see during the day.”

He squinted. “Really?”

Leah shrugged. “Just don’t shine a light in our faces. The rapid change in stimulus is like a flashbang to us.”

Then Buttercup strolled into view with a dead bobcat strung over a shoulder, and his rifle over the other. “Look what I found out there. We’re gonna be eating well tonight.” He grinned when he noticed Liam. “Oh, I see our friend decided he’s sick of laying around all the time.”

Liam salivated at the sight. How long had it been since he’d eaten meat not stuck in a can? “Don’t suppose I could have some of that?”

Buttercup grinned. “Well, well. I see we’re starting to rub off on you after all.”

Leah held out her palm. “No. Can’t risk it.”

“Relax,” he said with a yawn. “I cleaned my bullets before I used them, and haven’t touched the corpse without gloves. No contamination here.”

“Come on,” Liam said. “I know how to properly prepare meat. Just give me a little space, yeah?”

Leah sighed. “Fine. But if I can see the fire from more than twenty paces away, I’m putting it out.”

“Thank you.”

They returned to camp, and Liam went to work cleaning the corpse while Leah located the others. He sliced into the abdomen using the practiced efficiency that he’d cultivated over the years, and quickly gutted the bobcat, one organ after another. Then he laid it out on rock and peeled away the hide, being sure to keep dirt away from the meat. He reached the final step of butchering the flesh for cooking when the others returned.

“We’re in luck,” Liam said. “There’s a good ten pounds of meat here.”

“Where’s the intestines?” Kurt asked.

“Over there.” He gestured over his shoulder.

Kurt grunted as he picked the discarded organs off the ground. “Aw, you ruined them.” He brushed off some dirt and started munching. Right. Forgot they eat anything they can.

Buttercup yanked a severed leg out of his hands and took a bite. “Gotta say, Liam, you’re quite the gourmet.”

Liam frowned. “Was hoping to cook that first.”

He spat. “Bleh. Nothing tastes worse than cooked meat. You have no idea what you’re missing out on.”

“Buttercup, you ignominious mongrel!” Mastermind roared. “You mutilated the most crucial delicacy.”

“Yeah, sorry about that. Meant to shoot its chest, but the wind picked up.”

“Now how are we to persevere? The scalp has been ruined!”

“What’s he talking about?” Liam asked. He’d made sure to dress everything important.

Buttercup twitched. “The brain. Can’t be a proper meal if you miss out on the brains.”

“Of course. What are you zombies without your brains?”

“Hey now, don’t say that. ‘Zombie’ is like the N-word to our kind.”

Liam chuckled. “I don’t quite think it is, mate.”

“Eh, maybe not, but it’s close enough.” He cut off a chunk of bloody stomach and popped it in his mouth. “You enjoy eating charred ash. I’ll stick with the good stuff.”

The group ate and laughed from there, enjoying the merriment of this rare lull among themselves. Rezzers apparently had to eat like anything else, lest their bodies fail on them and they go hollow. Liam supposed that it made sense. The laws of physics had to be obeyed, undead or not, though it seemed that they could go longer and eat less than their living counterparts. This was the first meal for them in days, and none seemed too bothered.

Even Leah hung around, and for a moment, Liam was certain she’d remove her scarf to eat, but then the two made eye contact, and she wandered away with her meal, alone. It truly was a shame. She no doubt had some nasty scar she not wish for him see, but Liam was the last to judge. Drinking water from dung lowers the bar on what’s unpleasant, my dear.

This was turning into quite the feast. For all their differences, the undead had much more in commonality with him than he would have suspected. They ate, they laughed, they shit, and if circumstances became grim enough, they died, with no more revelry to experience. Death was the purest link that brought them together, but where Liam would grow wiser and body weaker until its final stroke hit, rezzers remained stagnant in their frames, and only their minds would ever decay. Was this the true nature of the Hollowing? Was it no more than the mirror image of life itself? The more they talked, the more resolved Liam became in his own convictions. His companions were not opposed to humanity, but a reflection. They were no more than the inverse of all that had come before, and not an enemy to it. If their kind was the dominant species of this world, then there was hope yet.

For Liam as well as his family.