"My name is Amy, twenty-seven years old. I'm Mira's girlfriend, and I was a Private in the army along with Don and Percy."

"Akira, I am twelve. Mira's sister and I like drawing and dancing."

"Mmy n-name is Casp-pian, I am thir-thirteen y-year old. Percy and Milo..." Caspian struggled as he tried to say everything in one breath.

"You have a beautiful name." Rory rescued him from talking further. "Thank you, Caspian, for introducing yourself. You did great." Caspian blushed at the compliment, nodded, and mumbled a small thanks. Rory's eyes drifted to Milo.

"Percival, twenty-three, ex-Private. Older brother of these two." Percy said, pointing at his two brothers. "Have a hobby of fixing cars 'n whatnot." The three brothers had similar traits. They had light brown hair, although Percy's hair, when cleaned, looked more of a dirty blond colour.

Once it was Ashley's turn, she didn't say a word and kept staring at the fire. We called her name a few times. After five times, Percy shook her shoulder gently. Her eyes darted to look around at us. She wore a confused look.

"Ya turn to introduce yaself princess," says Percy.

"Oh," she said, going back to staring at the fire. "I'm nothing special. My name is Ashley. Typical name for a typical blonde. Twenty-three years old. And I'll die accomplishing nothing substantial." Ash's gloomy speech shocked me. She was usually the most enthusiastic and positive out of the seven of us.

"Whoa there, drama queen. Ya all right?" Percy asked.

"Yep," she lethargically responded. No one pushed it further. She had a near-death experience a couple of hours ago. Who could blame the girl for being cynical? She must need time to sort out her feelings and deal with them.

"Right. Yes, those are backpacks. I'm here because I was looking for Don. That back there was Loki, Thor, and I saving your asses. And I have a couple of years of training with the swords under my belt." Rory remembered Percy's earlier questions and, of course, answered them in perfect order. Her and her freaky-good memory. "Any more questions you want to ask me, Percy?"

"Yes! Yes, many, many more questions. Ya say those are wolves, but I've never seen beasts like those before! Those can't be normal!"

"That's because the same virus infected them as the Dead's, but instead of dying, they evolved way faster than nature intended."

"Wow, that's cray-zyyy! Does it only happen to wolves? How does it even work? Ya sure they ain't dangerous?"

I watched them interact with a small smile. For a moment, everything appeared peaceful. I liked it. Unfortunately, I couldn't grow complacent. We are still vulnerable to the creatures that plague the earth.

"No, they are no more dangerous than guard dogs. Many other species have mutated."

"How do ya know so much?"

"I live comfortably enough that it enables me to observe my surroundings and collect data."

Everyone in our group listened to the exchange carefully. Noting information they deemed important.

"Where do ya live?"

"I live in a small camp further south." they all perk up. I already knew that.

"A camp? How many survivors are there? How do ya keep everyone fed? Do ya have access to resources?" Percy gets more and more excited as the conversation proceeds.

"We currently have eight people living in our camp. One is elderly, and five are kids." Rory confidently talked about the estate she had built. "We are self-sufficient. We have fertile lands to grow crops on, and we raise livestock. While we have some reserves, we are located near an industrial area with many neighbouring factories and warehouses." Percy took some time to digest what Rory had just said before bouncing back on his feet.

"How do ya farm and look after the livestock with only two able adults?" he wondered.

"The livestock roams the pastures freely and requires not a lot of care. We produce only the amount for us to make preserved goods for the cold season while also supplying us all summer. The two oldest work almost as well as we can. And the kids participate in any way they can. It is certainly not ideal and very draining. Moving forward, it will be different."

"How will it be different?" Amy engaged in.

"Because Don is coming back home with me." I did not expect this. I was focused on seeing the sister that I thought I would never get to see again. "And hopefully all of you as well." that last part melted my heart. I hugged her tighter and pecked the top of her head. Inciting giggles from my lovely baby sister.

Bewilderment was written over everyone's face, except Ashley, who didn't seem to listen at all. Disappointment pinched my heart.

"Of course, I know that, Don. I have eyes; I can see." that she did, beautiful and vibrant. "I have means of transport outside the city waiting for us. I did not account for extra people, but no matter. It took me half a day to get to the suburbs. It may take us two to three days to get there. By all means, if we take into consideration that we walk when it's clear and stop before dark, occasional breaks, and lunchtime," as awesome as she was, she already had it all figured out. The party and my hopes of not only surviving but living a better life got up instantly. “The only concerns I have are food and water. I do not have enough rations on me right now, and until we are out of the city, I have no means of providing clean water. By the way, what did you do for water?"

"In the beginning, we relied on bottled water, then we collected rainwater. That's before everything started freezing." Amy told her.

"That's a good idea. Do you have some reserves we could pick up along the way?" Amy shook her head.

"Nothing that would be worth going in the opposite direction of our destination."

If Rory was disappointed, she did not show it. Instead, she nodded and contemplated what to do. We all fell silent. She finally abandoned searching for a solution and brushed it aside.

"Well, right now, all we can do is hope for rain or snow to fall so we can collect it. Another option is to look at my map and find a body of water along the way. Either way, we will find a solution."

"I have more questions to ask," Percy swiftly stated, causing Rory to let out a small laugh.

"Of course you have. Ask away."

"Won't the smoke attract zombies? I know they don't see well and rely on their other senses."

"Maybe, but I wouldn't worry too much." it occurred that Rory was the least afraid of zombies.

"With all due respect, why would we not worry about something that could potentially kill us?." Milo challenged. Finding Rory's comment idiotic.

"Because, while they're witless, they operate on very basic instincts. And when they come across something dangerous enough, they steer clear of it. So while my pups and I are present, the only attack you should fear is one of your kind." Rory's patiently explained to us. It made sense, but it seemed farfetched that bloodthirsty creatures would be afraid of her - the wolves were more believable. I frowned at her use of 'our kind'. What did she mean by it?

"What do you mean, our kind?" I inquired, not sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"Yeah, and what's up with your ears?" Milo pointed it out.

And now that he mentioned it, her ears were far more elongated and pointy than normal for humans. I didn't notice it at first because her hair covered them. But now they were painfully obvious.

"Oh, that? I guess it's a side effect of mutating." After dropping a bomb, Rory declared she was sleepy and refused to answer further questions. My angel reached for the sheath and mask stuck on her back and set them aside. She added some wood to the dimmed fire - coals struggling to keep it going - putting small branches first and working up to the big logs.

We both got into a more comfortable sleeping position, leaning on Thor’s side. How lucky am I to fall asleep, warm tonight? Plus, with my sister here! My nose was snug against the juncture of Rory's neck and shoulder. I pressed my chest against her back. A small sigh of relish left my lips.

The others didn't take long to follow, and shortly, everyone dropped asleep.