Discouraged.

Disappointed.

That is mainly how I felt. I didn’t find him. I searched every store in the shopping mall. The chocolate shop, the candle shop, the drugstore, the linens store, the outdoor store, the cutlery shop, and a whole lot of stores and shops. I looked in every restroom, supply closet, and employee lounge. And I came out without the man I was looking for.

Sitting on the hood of a beat-up jeep - drowning my sorrow in the whiskey I picked up along my journey and washing down my bitterness with jerky - I studied the map on my thighs. Thor and Loki, at my feet, were laying and lazily munching on bones. Thor nuzzled my leg with his big head to comfort me - I petted him, cooing sweetly at his gesture - his tail wagged in response. Loki, the rascal that he was, continued gnawing at his bone, oblivious. I watched him with a half-hearted pout. Coldhearted mutt! Loki lifted his muzzle, and he grumbled, offended by my banter.

“Stupid shit plan! Bullshit rules! We’re going to die because of a fucking stupid plan!” a hushed baritone voice abruptly erupted, maybe a couple yards northeast.

Regardless of the scratchiness and hoarseness of the voice, it is one I would recognize at any time.

I jumped to my feet, making the Jeep shake lightly. My companions followed my example, perked up, and lifted themselves off the ground, furiously sniffing the air and listening closely to the noises surrounding us. I hastily climbed the roof of the vehicle and looked in the direction of the voice. My heartbeat picked up when I saw a small group of humans running away from a Horde of infected. Feeling my anxiousness, both hounds dashed to the rescue of the party. I followed suit right in their tracks, jumping from car to car to get quickly to them. The Horde was closing in on the one at the rear of the group, luckily, Locki leaped on the Dead as it was about to claw at the man. I hurried my pace, quickly reaching the last car. The small band of survivors ran past me before I jumped once last time. Propelling myself forward, my hand reached back to the handle of my blade and unsheathed my sword midair. I wielded my sword sideways and swiftly swung the blade through the skull of Dead, before landing on the parking lot ground.

                                                                                    ︶꒦꒷♡꒷꒦︶

I was about to be mangled when something snarled audibly and breezed my back. Deafening cracking noises followed suit. I curiously glanced back to see two humongous wolves tearing apart our pursuer like they were filet mignon. No more than five seconds later, a lean figure clothed in leather from head to toe jumped out of nowhere. Slaying one of the creatures. I found myself stopping in my tracks to observe the scene that was unfolding behind me. I turned fully to observe. Conscious that doing so could cost me my life, I couldn't help but be fascinated by the small figure that was dancing with a sword. Their feet barely touched the ground. They waltzed with the zombies, always striking their skulls, with black splatters succeeding the path of their blade. Strangely, the big ass wolves relentlessly attacked the other zombies - while avoiding smashing them to pieces like the first one- leaving the killing to the mystery person.

“Don what the fuck you doin’!” one of my peers yelled. I ignored them, too enthralled by the ninja slaying the Deads. Their attire was quite unique; they were clad in a reddish leather jacket covering their torso up to their neck, dark baggy leather pants, sturdy leather boots, and even a leather mask. The mask covered their whole head, only leaving their eyes and nose uncovered. Motifs consisting of bending lines decorated the strange mask. And there were also pointy protrusions on each side of it where ears were, almost like horns.

My shoulder violently jerked backwards. I whirled my head around and came face to face with a confused and heavily frowning Percy.

"Bro, we need to move now!”

The rest of the group had gone ahead already. I reluctantly started running in their direction with my friend by my side.

“There’s no way,” I muttered lowly.