~~~Stanley~~~

The worst part of hunting solo again wasn't having to collect all the cores himself. It was the sensation of Lee he could feel in the distance.

His brother was alive. But something was off. He didn't feel the same as before. Not like he was still injured or anything... just less... there. Less alive... if that even made sense. The sensation gnawed at him all day. Reminding him over and over that he was too weak.

It never changed.

But Caffeine finally regaining his normal energy levels that afternoon helped Stanley's mood immensely. He couldn't tell if Caffeine's excited roaming was him looking for his other friends, or if the pug was simply looking for food. Either way, it was just good to see him up and about.

The monsters almost never rallied outside anymore, which made the killing trivial when he sent his knife inside to wipe them out. For practice and training purposes, Stanley started trying to gather cores while simultaneously sending the knife through skulls.

It was difficult at first. Like trying to think two different things at once–which helped distract him from his own thoughts–but it wasn't impossible. He was getting better at feeling the surroundings, so it was more akin to using each of his hands in a slightly different motion at the same time. Like rubbing his head and patting his stomach... or whatever that exercise was supposed to be.

Feeling out the tiny cores was the hardest part of the process.

Most of the queens surrendered without him even setting foot inside, and he didn't force the issue, just took his rewards and left. Not that he set his feet anywhere. Flying actually felt easier than walking by this point.

Halfway through the day, he got a notification he'd been waiting ages to see.

Skill Level Up: Knife Work

Knife Work has reached the Level 10 Threshold. Evolution Available. Upgrade to Level 10 Available.

Finally. Stanley chose the Evolution option. Obviously.

Knife Work (Rare)

Become the blade.

Increases the user's innate understanding of their weapon when wielding knives or short blades. Easier for the user to find vital points on targets and to strike those points.

Skill Level Effects (Basic)

+2% Effective Dexterity

-2% Stamina Cost when wielding small blades.

Evolution:

Psionic Weapon (Rare)

I am one with the blade.

Infuse a weapon with Psionic Energy to increase control and penetrating power. Increases user's spatial awareness of the weapon while infused.

Skill Level Effects (Basic)

+2% Willpower

It was better. Though he lost a stamina effect... which... he didn't even know what that did. Was that just fatigue? Technically, it was less tiring to throw the knife around instead of crushing skulls with his mind, but that felt more like a difference between shooting something versus punching it to death. An extra twenty percent to willpower had to be better than a stamina... whatever it was.

Non-Class Skill Evolved: Psionic Weapon (Rare) - Level 10 (Basic)

It was still non-class even though it literally had psionic in the name... but the upgrade was good. Very good. It felt different when he picked his knife up again. A slight jolt of weight that he knew was the infusion process, then it became far lighter than it ever had been. Practically an extension of his mind...

He dove into the next lair and immediately noticed the difference. The level of effort needed to wield the knife was almost non-existent. It was close, but not quite at the level of his flying. An instinctual act that left him feeling as if the knife knew where he wanted it to go before he did. Not to mention it would be impossible to lose the weapon now. With his power infusing it, the knife felt like another piece of himself.

The hunt went even faster after that, with far more effort devoted to collecting the cores instead of the killing. He actually ended up waiting for the cores to appear from the dead monsters more than once. That was what led him to try something new while idling in someone's kitchen.

The silverware drawer had been left open, half broken and dangling. Stanley found his eyes drawn to the butter knives, and he picked one up.

It felt strange in his hand... like déjà vu... then he infused it and had two knives connected to his mind. He picked up another... and couldn't infuse it. Maybe the skill needs to level up more?

He considered the actual kitchen knives as well, but something about the butter knife felt... right. Besides, it was sleek, sturdier, and more akin to a throwing knife than the one he already had. It stabbed through heads well enough once he tested it... and then he found a whetstone and started grinding out a sharper point as he flew to the next lair.

So it went. He stormed into the lairs with whirling blades, killing everything before so much as a spell could fly his way. Then sharpened both knives while cores flew into his hands. Caffeine reached what he was mostly sure was seventy points across the board, and Stanley started taking the rest for himself.

He killed the occasional red eye zombie, finally understanding the name when one charged inside a lair and he saw its glowing red eyes before two knives put them out. The next one he held down for a better look, and realized it didn't even have eyes. The red light simply hovering in empty sockets. Fucking magic...

All of them were former humans.

Stanley didn't know what that meant. Did humans jump straight to red eyes when they died? Did monsters need more cores to get there, eventually? Both types showed the same hunger for the things.

His theorizing gained some holes when he passed a graveyard and found a whole host of skeletal... zombies. If they could be called that. They were mostly skeletons. With a few still carrying traces of flesh, and none of them had red eyes.

It was a full on 'night of the living dead' now. A zombie apocalypse. Sort of. With tons of weird monsters thrown in for good measure. The apparent randomness of it all had him doubting his first assumption. What if it wasn't the invaders? The world was magic now. Maybe zombie uprisings were a normal thing that just happened.

It was late afternoon when he finally found more humans, and he heard them before he saw them.

What started as a few distant shouts grew to an indecipherable cacophony before Stanley finished clearing the lair he was in. He didn't know where it was coming from, so he went up.

From there, he saw them spilling out of a train tunnel. Hundreds of people. All running down the tracks.

Flashes of light appeared among the crowd, especially on the fringes where they were encountering the zombies. Yet, they still rolled over everything in their path as Stanley watched from above.

It reminded him of that cult... he'd seen no other group to rival it yet. This crowd looked less cohesive... and there was no one giving a speech. Just lots of shouting and screaming.

One man stood out, fighting at the rear when they finished emerging from the tunnel. His whole body glowed brightly, and he moved like a pinball between the pursuing zombies. There were a lot of them back there, and that explained the running and screaming... sort of. Except zombies weren't that dangerous. Clearly. Because a single person was slaughtering them.

More zombies followed the first wave, and Stanley watched curiously as many of them didn't chase the glowing man. They ran past him toward the fleeing group. Or at least, they tried to. He zipped around even faster and blocked anything from getting past him.

Of course, Stanley could see many more zombies spreading wide to bypass him, while even more were coming in on side streets from elsewhere. All of them were moving fast. That’s a lot of red eyes…

It sure looked like a coordinated attack. Not a mindless swarm looking for cores. Especially with them trying to dodge the fighting man and reach his presumably weaker allies. Did the zombies have a leader?

Like say... a human man walking casually among them.

The human in question walked out of the tunnel well behind the rest, as if he didn't have anywhere to go in a hurry. He was flanked by a dozen people Stanley assumed were human.

A necromancer? Was this all just someone's class? Magic really was bullshit. Or... was this an invader? Did they actually look like humans?

Stanley couldn't resist the opportunity that it might be a lead to escaping this place. If it was an invader... the man looked up, straight at him, and smiled.

He didn't attack, though.

Caffeine started growling as Stanley descended closer, the volume growing louder as he approached. The growling didn't tell Stanley if this was actually an invader or just a necromancer, but it meant the pug smelled something off.

"Have you come to sacrifice yourself in battle?" the man said, voice carrying clearly. "Or have you seen the truth and come to join the march?"

"The... march?" Stanley stopped close enough where he could comfortably control his knives against the alleged man, but no closer. This was dangerous. He didn't have his dirt armor and didn't know how strong this person or monster truly was.

The man continued to stroll forward as he spoke, his guard flanking him at the same easy pace and looking disturbingly unhuman when they all turned as one toward Stanley. "You have not heard? The Eternal March has come, and all are destined to join their ranks!"

It sounded weird and like he was putting extra emphasis on certain words that were supposed to be significant. But maybe he was just a weirdo? Though there were definitely some weird recruiting vibes for sure.

"Are you one of the invaders?" Stanley decided to just ask. Why not?

"Me?" He laughed, and then roared, "I am Eternal!"

That was extremely unhelpful and literally meant nothing to Stanley. Or was this what they'd meant when talking about recruiters...

"You show power beyond most mortals. I can see as much in your bearing. All will join us in the end, but you could stand above the dregs, above the fodder." He waved toward the fleeing humans." Slaughter these pathetic creatures and claim your place in the Eternal March."

He'd mentioned mortals. Was he trying to imply something about himself? Or just crazy? It sounded suspiciously like someone talking about immortality...

"So, you are an invader?" Or he was one of the people recruited by them... "What's the fucking march you keep babbling about? You sound like a lunatic."

The man frowned, and Stanley thought a fight was about to kick off... then his face shifted back to the calm smile. "I am human... but so much more. You can see my power, can you not? You fear death, whereas I command it. Join us and you too could wield such power."

"You mean become undead?" It honestly didn't sound like a good offer at all. The zombies died just like everything else. And he still didn't know if this fucker was an invader or a pawn... plus, Caffeine was really not liking him. Talk about red flags.

"Nothing like these groveling wretches you see around us, but like me; Eternal. Give up on humanity and join the inevitable victors. Us. Not only will you survive, but you will have a place in the coming empire. A place of power and glory."

The man frowned at the growling pug. "Or cling to your foolish dreams and die. You will still join us in the end. Only as just another wretch scrabbling in the dirt instead of a ruler commanding armies."

Stanley considered it. How many humans still lived in here? Would it be easier to kill them instead? The message said he couldn't leave until the invaders were defeated, but it also said the same about the defenders dying... Or was it all a ruse? How did he know they weren't using him to do the dirty work and then they'd just kill him in the end? What if they had no choice but to kill him?

Caffeine stood up in his lap and barked at the man who so far seemed content to wait for an answer. It wasn't the big bark that broke things and killed shit. Just a normal bark. Stanley had to scramble to keep the pug on his lap as Caffeine tried to jump down.

The man and or potential invader didn't like it and glared up at them. "Teach your beast some respect or I will do it for you!"

Stanley froze in a mix of anger and surprise. Could the guy understand Caffeine? And... was Caffeine insulting him? He wanted to laugh at the idea... so he did.

"Hah!" Stanley said, and sent his blades. One for each eye.

This thing had just threatened Caffeine. That meant it had to die.

Meanwhile, he ripped apart the street below, pulling dirt and cement up from the ground even as he shot up and away from it as fast as he could fly.

Because his knives missed.

He hadn't expected an instant kill; something about this... monster... made him nervous. It was all the more reason to kill it now. Though the speed with which the creature dodged was alarming. An almost lazy tilt of his head at the last instant.

Stanley redirected the two knives almost immediately, only delaying the extra instant it took to divert them through two of his minions' heads. Because fuck them too! Then shot both toward the back of the man's head.

It wasn't fast enough.

The monster jumped into the air toward him, and Stanley could barely even track his motion despite his boosted mind. A single nudge with his power against the thing was enough to abandon the idea of trying to restrain or even throw him. He felt like those people in the store that first day... like he was a grade higher...

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Stanley had a terrible sinking feeling, even as his shell of dirt and rocks enclosed him ahead of the jumping man. He felt a moment of regret for his hasty attack, even as he threw chunks of cement at the man in a hail of stone bullets. Lengths of rebar pulled up along with the street followed the concrete. The whole time, his knives flew fast and true toward the back of the leaping man's head.

The man ignored the cement raining down on him and instead spun on the knives. He caught one in each hand and grinned over his shoulder at Stanley while the rebar ripped through his back.

Blood flew, but Stanley felt no elation or victory at seeing it. He could feel the grip still on his knives, immobilizing them and... squeezing... crushing... He screamed as he felt both knives crumple into useless lumps, the sensation echoing right into his head as if it was a piece of his brain getting crushed.

He'd started running the moment he realized this had to be a higher grade, and he was almost ten stories up when his brain exploded with pain from the knives' destruction.

That was when Caffeine joined the fight by kicking Stanley across the sky.

Caffeine was stronger now, and Stanley wasn't too worried... until the human monster they'd left behind shot through the space he'd occupied an instant before. Caffeine flew away with it, his teeth crunching through the arm blocking its throat.

Accelerated Thought was already running at full power, and Stanley barely saw the fist coming around as they flew away, the blow aimed at Caffeine's head. The pug blurred slightly and kicked off the man in midair, sending them both shooting in opposite directions.

Stanley caught Caffeine and kept climbing. Right until he saw the man somehow jump off the air onto an intercept trajectory, still moving faster than he was flying... Shit!

The g-forces from switching upward momentum to straight down were rough but doable. The monster followed without apparent effort. The bastard!

This was bullshit. He shouldn't have started a fight. Who cared if the undead killed all those people? He should have just run away to keep grinding. But he'd threatened Caffeine... the monster should die. Die screaming!

Stanley ripped signposts from the street as he dove, while still throwing all the dirt and concrete he'd already collected at the monster. The feeling of Psionic Weapon triggering on the posts was a surprise, but a very welcome one.

The difference between random crap and a designated weapon was astronomical, and he sent both blasting through the cloud of dirt. He hoped it would work as a smoke screen... and it did. One pipe went right through the man's head and the second through his chest!

Fuck yea... Stanley's premonition flared at the same time Caffeine ballooned in size. The pain in his head vanished, then shifted into a different pain in his chest when Caffeine yelped.

The monster wasn't dead.

It wasn't even wounded when it shot around Caffeine and zeroed in on Stanley, fingers reaching like claws for his throat. There was a bloody hole in its shirt, and fresh blood on its face, but no injuries. As if he'd never even touched it or left fist sized holes through its chest and brain. Holes that should have ended the fight.

Caffeine kicked off the street in an explosion of shattered cement and dirt, moving faster than Stanley's eyes could follow, and bit the man's entire head off.

Blood sprayed... but only for an instant. Stanley watched its head regrow in an eye-blink.

Only… it came back changed.

Red-eyed.

It was a zombie... Could zombies regenerate? Heal? It didn't look like healing. Not with the insane speed of the entire process. Was this what it meant about eternal? Was it actually immortal?

Stanley leveled off just above the ground, zipping right above it in the direction Caffeine had dashed.

It was another futile attempt to escape.

The zombie barely paused in the instant it took for its head to reappear before continuing its attack in a burst of speed that rivaled Stanley's flight.

He threw everything his mind touched at the immortal zombie chasing him. Dirt, concrete, cars, buildings, everything.

It never slowed down. Not even when the pipes returned and punched through its head. Back and forth they went, taking circular chunks of flesh from the monster with each pass. Flesh that instantly repaired.

Caffeine didn't get another shot before the monster caught up. Its hand swung, glittering black claws extending from each finger.

Stanley pushed back, driving his will against the monster's power. It was so heavy... but he stopped it, held it back from reaching his flesh.

Of course, he couldn't actually stop the overpowered blow. All that kinetic energy had to go somewhere, and it did. Stanley rocketed away from the impact, through more than one building, then skipped off the ground and flew up into the air.

It was only luck that he'd managed to fly upward in the mad tumble... but where was Caff... The demon appeared above him, claws descending, mouth set in a wide smile full of sharp fangs.

Stanley felt the premonition of his head getting ripped apart.

He blocked.

The blow drove him into the ground like a meteor and he felt like a normal human must feel when getting hit by a truck. But at least it hurt less than his head splitting open, slightly less.

Stanley felt nothing break in his body on impact, but his brain felt like it'd gotten punched. He could see the edges of the crater he'd left in his peripheral vision when he opened his eyes, but most of his attention was on the monster descending toward him.

Caffeine blurred past at the same time Stanley hit back, this time trying to redirect it instead of blocking. The monster's head vanished, and that plus Stanley's attack sent it aside to crash in an explosion of dirt that rained over Stanley as he launched himself away.

Thanks to his newest skill, Stanley hadn't lost the pipes in the confusion, and he planted them in the monster's back for good measure.

Not that he thought it would be enough. Its head was already back, and it didn't seem to care about the new holes in its flesh as it practically bounced after him.

Stanley could feel Caffeine clearer than ever; probably something about dancing on the edge of death, and his pipes went ever so slightly wide around him as the pug shot for its back again.

The monster didn't press the attack this time, instead spinning to face the threat. It caught Caffeine with those horrifying clawed hands and then tanked two pipes through its head while digging the claws deep.

Caffeine howled in pain, and the sound shifted in tone as he ballooned in size, then violently shook himself, throwing the zombie off. It barely flew a few feet before doing its bullshit air jumping... and Caffeine barked in its face. Not one of his friendly 'come let me smell you' barks, but a sound that cracked the sky and shattered the earth in its wake.

Stanley's boosted perception was just enough to see the zombie's flesh peeling from its splintering bones as it flew away behind the blast. It was also enough to see it growing right back...

They were doomed.

They couldn't win.

He'd always thought his own regeneration was ridiculously overpowered, especially after meeting other people, but this was some serious bullshit.

He grabbed Caffeine when the pug shrank and dragged both of them in the opposite direction from the zombie. Maybe if they could get far enough...

They couldn't. Caffeine jumped straight for the pursuing monster and Stanley pushed the pug sideways rather than trying to block the claws. Then intercepted the zombie with psionic infused metal pipes.

Trying something different this time, Stanley didn't stab the monster. Instead, he swung them like baseball bats. They rang from the impact and blasted pieces from the zombie while forcing it back, but it made no difference when the damage vanished as fast as it appeared. Stanley kept them spinning, ramping it up into a screaming blur of wind and flying metal.

It was effective at carving apart the zombie. Too effective, because the monster stopped ignoring the damage and caught the pipes in its claws.

Stanley abandoned his weapons before the zombie crushed them. There was plenty of shit he could throw, no need to hurt himself unnecessarily.

The zombie threw the pipes. One at Caffeine and the other at Stanley. The projectiles lost most of their unstoppable momentum once they left the zombie's hands, but they still moved so fast...

Caffeine created another crater when he dodged, and Stanley got to feel what he'd been doing to the zombie. Partially. The pipe didn't go all the way through his gut, but it probably wouldn't have felt much worse if it had.

Fortunately, the monster didn't follow up the attack on him.

Unfortunately, it went after Caffeine instead.

Stanley sent back the now deformed and bloody pipe while he infused two pieces of rebar. He set them spinning like before, while a small hope kindled in his heart.

The zombie had ignored every hit he landed, but it stopped ignoring him when the damage piled up at the end there. Not only was he limiting its mobility by chopping limbs off as fast as they grew back, but Stanley thought he saw something else when it turned against the pipes. Fear.

It can't regenerate forever!

He didn't know if his guess was right, but it was all he had. Every other possibility only led to the end of everything. So he clung to hope. He held on to the glimmer of a chance and fed everything else to his rage.

The anger was easy. Watching the monster chase Caffeine gave him plenty of fuel for the fire. Too much fuel. Blind rage wouldn't save them here. He needed to be smart. Needed to outlast a monster that refused to die.

Stanley was well versed in refusing to die. That was kind of his whole thing these days, and that was all he had to do now. Never say die. Never give up. Keep fighting! That was all that mattered.

So he did. Him and Caffeine. They ripped and carved the monster apart over and over while their own injuries recovered far more slowly.

The city shattered around them as they fought their way across it. Stanley blocked a strike and felt bones break as the force blasted him through a lair wall. Caffeine took a leg off the zombie, spoiling its aim, and Stanley dodged the swiping claws that ripped the lair in half around them. Back and forth they went, taking turns on the receiving end of its claws every time it switched targets.

Caffeine was relentless in his pursuit. His size changed constantly as he chased, dodged, and attacked. He was so strong, so fast, but it wasn't enough, and his blood sprinkled across the city as they fought.

Stanley's spinning rebar forced the zombie not to ignore him and lessened the pressure on Caffeine, but he took hits every time it turned on him, and each blow sent him flying.

The impacts helped open space between them, which Stanley appreciated. Except for when he got punted into the ground... or a lair. Those hurt. Still, they were... maybe not winning, but holding out. They had a chance...

Then the zombie didn't swat him away with its next attack. It reached for him almost slowly in comparison, and Stanley's blocking attempt didn't open enough distance...

Cold, clawed hands wrapped around his neck, squeezing, crushing, stabbing. "Annoying worm! Die already."

It pulled him close when Stanley tried to cut off its arms, and he almost hit himself in the head with the spinning rebar.

This was bad. Undead hands crushing down tighter and tighter, claws digging deep into his neck... teeth gnawing into his face. Stanley couldn't run. It was all he could do to hold back the zombie from decapitating him. His regeneration was good, but not good enough to survive that.

He lost touch with his weapons. Lost his premonition. Lost his mental speed boost. Everything went away as he funneled every scrap of power into holding back the crushing grip.

His heartbeat thundered inside his head, and a growing roar filled his ears while his hands tugged uselessly against the monstrous strength of the zombie.

Stanley's vision dimmed as he felt Caffeine zipping around him and the zombie. He felt the impacts of the pug's attacks through the hands around his neck, each hit dragging him in different directions, but the pressure never relented. It only grew worse.

Then Caffeine came in small, and Stanley felt him nosing in, teeth reaching for the hands. The pug latched onto something... and blasted the zombie away by kicking off it. Stanley went along for the ride... but from only a single hand around his throat instead of two.

Stanley tumbled with the zombie, his vision already black and mind fuzzy from the lack of blood in his brain. But the removal of the second hand gave him a fresh burst of air and light. A chance! He forced all of his power against the remaining hand, pushing it back... loosening... The zombie head-butted him.

He wasn't ready... all his focus was on freeing his neck, and the blow resounded through his skull with a disturbing crunch.

Through the haze of pain and confusion, Stanley saw Caffeine dragging the zombie away by its hand. He felt the claws vanish from his neck, and watched those same claws stabbing for Caffeine's head at blinding speed.

No! Stanley hauled back on the striking limb... and it backhanded him in the face.

Something else crunched in his face. A lot of things. Stanley couldn't see anymore as he tumbled across the ground, but he felt Caffeine go flying away.

It took a moment to realize he'd gone up. The zombie had thrown Caffeine into the sky...

Stanley reached out to pull him back...

The zombie appeared above him and swatted Stanley into the ground.

He somehow managed a block ahead of that blow... desperate to keep it from grabbing him again.

Then it struck again... and again... machine gun blows rained down over and over. Every time he tried to fly away, the zombie was there and pounding him back into the growing crater.

No... Stanley's world shrunk down to only the attacks driving him into the earth. His focus narrowed into blocking one attack after another as each one got progressively heavier. The moment his power failed, his head would get splattered across the ground. It would all be over. He just had to hold out until Caffeine got back... but it was getting so hard to block...

Rocks dug into this back when he could no longer shield himself from them. Each blow halted closer and closer to his face. Then claws left stinging lines across his face... through his face... the claws dug into his skull... carving through bone to reach...

The assault stopped abruptly.

Stanley blinked his one remaining eye up at the zombie in confusion. There was something sticking out of its face... and a growling, screeching noise... Caffeine! Except Caffeine was still far away in the sky above them... but he was approaching... fast... I should catch...

The zombie screeched as it reached shaking hands up... and pulled a long red stick from its head. Its rotten flesh was smoking and sizzling...

Stanley took off while reaching up for Caffeine. Fleeing while he had the chance... and he saw who had stabbed the zombie as he rose into the air.

Samantha…

She glared defiantly at the undead, even as it spun around to face her.

Her gaze flicked up to Stanley as he fled... he reached out... and the zombie ripped her head off with an almost lazy swipe of its claws.

No... Stanley's mind couldn't make sense of what he was seeing as blood fountained slowly into the air and the body started falling. What is happening? Why was she here? How was she here? She's dead...

The zombie's red eyes landed on him, its mouth set in a wide smile as it hauled back the spear, preparing to throw...

Stanley saw the sizzling hole still through its head, watched the spear diving for his face in a detached slow motion. He couldn't block it. He wouldn't be able to pull himself out of the way in time, either. It was over. He hadn't even made it past the lip of the crater...

It froze mid-throw when the entire world vibrated.

You have felt the Wrath of the Beast Lord.

The zombie hung motionless, frozen in midair as Caffeine hit the ground beside it; the sound of the pug’s landing was lost in the world-shaking growl coming from between his bared teeth.

Silence fell for a single instant as Caffeine stopped growling.

Then he turned into little more than a black streak as the world exploded with nearly continuous impacts of his feet against the ground. Wind screamed, dirt and rocks flew, and the zombie went to pieces.

The spear blew away along with a hand. Then its legs. Then the zombie's head disappeared, and never quite grew back. Caffeine never stopped or paused his relentless assault, his paws leaving craters on the ground in what sounded like an ongoing explosion. The zombie flailed and struggled, but only lost more limbs for its efforts when Stanley joined in.

His spinning rebar took away its legs and sent it to the ground. Caffeine kept its arms and head from ever fully forming, and together they murdered the shit out of this... fucking... monster!

Until this moment, Stanley had only seen Caffeine get upset and sometimes angry with the monsters that assailed them. But he'd never felt Caffeine like this before.

Caffeine hated the zombie. Pure, absolute hatred.

It was terrifying... and tragic to witness... and it was all this monster's fault.

So Stanley added what little he had left.

His contributions improved markedly when he found the spear and infused it. The wounds it left healed much slower, and it was all he could do to keep it whirling as his head burned.

The zombie managed a few words whenever enough of its head regrew. "Stop... No... Kill... You... Worms... Insects... Die..." It clawed and thrashed as they took it apart. Screaming, cursing, begging.

Stanley wanted it to scream. Wanted it to suffer. But that was a distant emotion. Mostly, he just wanted it to die.

It finally did.

After what felt like an eternity.

There was one last scream he couldn't understand, and the zombie went still and quiet.

Stanley didn't believe it was over, and almost hit Caffeine with the spear when the pug stopped atop the corpse and started clawing it apart.

Caffeine dug through what was left of the zombie, digging a massive hole into the ground with ugly barking and snarling... digging, clawing... and then finally, he just stopped.

The silence was deafening as the pug climbed from the hole he'd dug and stood unmoving, staring at Samantha’s body.

Then he looked at Stanley, whined softly, and collapsed.