They walked the rest of the day. It wasn't too hard as the pace was set by the slow shuffle of the zombies. It would have been a relaxed stroll if they hadn't been conscious of the time until a mounted reprisal would be after them. Their estimate of two days left plenty of time. But strolling along is harder to maintain when you are actively being hunted. By dinner time, Edward and his friends hadn't reached the border yet. It took another hour or so of walking after dark to pass the border. Somewhere around midnight, the living parked their undead and made camp. They set no watch other than the undead who circled the camp.

“Now that we aren't in any rush, it's story time. You four can't talk yet. You don't need sleep. I don't need sleep. We need to just mill around in a circle like the other undead. Dead boring, isn't it?”

“The milling about? Well, your parts are still human based. They don't like to remain in one position any more than they did while living. So, undead typically mill about. They can lie down and roll around but somehow the breathers don't usually think of that for us.” He shrugged. “It's the image I think. They can't comfortably imagine a pack of undead slowly rolling around on the floor. We also pack better standing up.”

“Yes, it's a convenient feature that a lot of necromancers take advantage of. We just mill about the camp, slowly circling. As you can see, there are a wide variety of speeds here and not too many undead. So, plenty of space for someone to slip through. Animals won't.”

“Of course, it works better if there are more of us! And there are enterprising necromancers that have concentric circles going opposite directions.” He laughed a bit. “Of course, them being mindless, all you need to do is change the terrain in one, small section and the two circles become one big mass trying to go through the same choke point in opposite directions. It's really easy to slip in then.” He sighed, remembering something from his past.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“How did I meet my young man? Well, he is actually my descendant. So when he calls me Gramps, it's actually appropriate. He has no idea who I am though. His actual grandfather contacted me. Our family has a bit of a necromantic tradition, exhibit A.” He pointed at himself with both hands. “ But the boy wanted to do something else. Actually, no one in his generation or the previous had gone into necromancy. And the grandfather didn't want to see it die out in the family. Eventually he convinced me to clean up, move to town, and impersonate an eccentric old man. I befriended the kid. And yes, I am quite well preserved.” He smiled.

“Yes Mr. Smith, I really did like him. It wasn't an act at all. He's a nice kid. Hopefully you will get to know him as I did. I spent two years staying in that town pretending to breathe. Necromancy is... Well, it's not exactly mainstream but it's not too far out on the fringe in this whole country. It's still taught in several of the more prestigious secondary schools. A large part of the army is undead too. Keeping that under control is a story for another time though.”

“Well, “developed” a fatal disease. Then I let him know that I wanted to be raised as a ghoul and serve the younger generations that way after I died. I could tell he had at least some talent. So, his grandfather slipped him the incantations that he used on you all. Not long after, I pretended to die.”

“Yes, he was quite broken up about it. I did feel a little guilty. I got over that.” The old ghoul grinned. “So when he said the incantation close enough to correctly, I sat up in my coffin and have pretended to be a good ghoul ever since.”

“Ah, that. Yes, I was interviewing you all at the graveyard. The usual animate dead will just pull up mindless undead. But since you were going to be aware and not compelled like “normal”, I couldn't let him awaken anyone truly evil. Or unable to at least pretend to follow orders and fit in.” He looked at the skeleton in its hat and coat. “I may have misjudged that one. We'll see.”

“No, you aren't the first. This is the fifth outing he's had like this. The students are expected to grow a collection of creatures as they go through school. So yes, there are a dozen others back at school like you. You should meet them tomorrow.”

“If they don't decide to keep them after they graduate? Actually, the students are required to donate their undead to the national defense upon graduation unless they have a good reason not to. And before you ask, we are going to give him a good reason to keep you all around. Once that is official, that's when we'll introduce ourselves.” The ghoul smiled in genuine humor. The other undead found the sight slightly unnerving.