Erica stuck her hand deep into the loose dirt until she felt the softer consistency of the cool ash that had once been a funeral pyre and a corpse. She rooted her hand around blindly, half-certain her search would be in vain. Finally, her fingers brushed against something that felt like a small stone. She grabbed at it and noticed that it was multifaceted, a crystal.

She pulled her hand out of the soil to inspect it underneath the moonlight. It was about the size of the tip of her pinky, with the appearance of an uncut precious stone, a strange power seemed to emanate from it. Erica stared into it in hopes of gleaning a clue as to its true nature, images and unusual notions floated at the edge of consciousness.

“Erica, what are you doing?” Coco’s soft voice cut through her concentration, making her jump. “What is that?” She asked, appearing like some kind of apparition from shadows of the forest.

The two of them had been at the house for a week and had fallen into a routine, at that time of night, Erica was used to Coco having already vanished into the forest. “I have no idea.” Erica admitted. “It doesn’t look like any crystal I’ve ever seen before.” She said.

“How’d you know to look for it?” Coco asked, eyeing the small hole Erica had made in the makeshift grave while digging around for it. Erica had still not told Coco about the strange power she had developed, even though it had been days.

She was embarrassed to mention being able to see strange things for a few seconds per day to someone who could do everything Coco could, it felt a bit like an ant showing off to an elephant.

“I dunno.” She said noncommittally. “I guess I sensed it.” She told her with a shrug.

Coco looked skeptical but said nothing about it as she eyed the crystal in her hand. “That thing isn’t normal.” She stated flatly.

“You’re not gonna tell me to toss it into the fire, are you?” Erica asked sardonically.

“I’d be more likely to bite your finger off.” Coco quipped back. “I’d definitely be careful about touching it with my bare hands though, if I were you.” She noted.

“Why?” Erica asked her.

“Just a feeling I get.” Coco answered. “It’s giving very tread carefully.”  She said.

“Hmmm.”  Erica said before shrugging. “What do you think it is?” She asked.

Coco took a few steps closed to look closer at the stone as Erica held it out to her. “I’m more curious what you think it is.” She answered.

Erica raised a brow at this and considered the question. She had been practicing her ‘Magick Sense’, as she had every night, since she had first learned how to do it. The stone had appeared to her as a bundle of whispered power but her ability only lasted about five seconds, giving her just enough time to identify its location before her awareness of the world dropped back into normalcy.

“I seriously have no idea.” Erica repeated. “I do get the feeling it might be useful somehow though.” She told her.

“So you don’t have any voices whispering in your ear or something.” Coco asked.

“I don’t know, I feel like, if I concentrate, I might be able to pick up something, but I’m not sure what.” Erica admitted.

Coco tilted her head to the side in apparent consideration. “What sorts of things do you think you can pick up?” She asked.

“I dunno, it’s hard to put into words.” Erica replied. “Here, shut up for a second.” She said, quieting her own mind as she focused back into the crystal. It took her several long moments before she felt herself once again attuning to it.

“It’s like I feel it teaching me something.” Erica said. “Like, something I can’t put into words, but I forget everything it teaches me as soon as I start to learn it.” She finished, finally looking back up to Coco, breaking her concentration.

Coco studied her curiously. “Well, as long as you don’t start calling it your precious.” She said with no small amount of reservation.

They left the following day, the brown horse saddled with packs of practical goods they had ransacked from the house. Erica kept the strange crystal in her jacket pocket.

Their plan was to strike out in a generally Southerly direction and try to get abreast of the situation while keeping a low profile. Erica decided to use her ‘Magick Sense’ to try and glean something more from the crystal before they had even started packing.

They left at around midday and Erica focused on riding her cremello. Her ‘Magick Sense’ had revealed nothing about the crystal she did not already know. It had thrummed with an incomprehensible array of feeling and vague impressions, that felt like whispers of power whose intent she forgot the moment she heard them. It was exactly the same as when she concentrated on the crystal without her ‘Magick Sense’ only infinitely more frustrating.

She puzzled over it as they rode, trusting Coco to lead them and their horses while she focused her mind on the crystal and tried to make sense of anything she felt from it. Without her ‘Magick Sense’ the impressions it left on her were barely a whisper but still she felt the oddness of the meanings she kept feeling on the cusp of gleaning remaining always barely out of reach.

Coco signaled Erica to the presence of company, jarring her from her reverie. She pulled out the small revolver they’d taken from the house and made sure it was ready to go. It was only a few moments later when a large group of teenagers came into view, building what looked like  what looked like was going to be a wall.

Several of the teens looked up from their work and stared out at them, Erica heard calls and communications between them. A shirtless boy walked toward them, quite short, with a lean, muscular, physique, and cat-like ears sticking out of his head. He was flanked by two more boys, a girl holding a shotgun followed behind them.

Coco stilled the horses and they waited for them to approach within easy speaking distance. “You’re from the house up the hill, right?”  The boy asked. “I saw horse tracks leading over to it the other day.” He said.

“Yeah, we are.” Erica said, interjecting as she got the sense Coco was preparing to be difficult. “We’re just passing through though.” She told them.

“You know about the zombies?” One of the other boys asked. The other teenagers had all stopped their work and were staring at the interaction intently.

“Yeah, that’s why we left the house.” Erica explained. “We know how to stop them.” She said.

The kids exchanged looks. “What do you mean?” The girl with the shotgun asked. “All you can do is chop their legs off right?” She asked.

“There’s another way.” Coco said. “It stops them right in their tracks, if you set them on fire.” She told them.

“Wait, seriously?” The last boy said.

“How do you know that?” Asked the boy with cat-ears.

“There used to be three of us.” Erica lied.

The boy with the cat ears zoned in on her, his ears flickering. “I think you’re lying.” He said in a voice of unnerving calm. His eyes darted between the two of them, and then at the horses. “I don’t think you’re from around here. Which means you stole those horses.” He said, his face muscles twitching slightly.

“Which means the zombies you had to deal with were probably from the people you killed in that house you just came from.” He said, his eyes still fixed on them, unblinking.

“Your’re half right.” Coco said, examining her nails nonchalantly. “The woman who lived there was already dead when we found her though. She turned into a zombie soon after.” She said.

The boy studied them for a bit longer before shrugging his shoulders. “I guess that means if we take those horses, it's technically not stealing, since you stole them first.” He said, licking his lips.

Erica cocked the hammer back on the revolver in her hand and leaned her head to the side as she brought it into view. “I wonder if your lie detection power lets you dodge bullets.” She threatened, the adrenaline surging in her blood making her heart race.

The girl with the shotgun positioned it in the pocket of her shoulder, ready to raise it. “Trust me, babe, he won’t need to.” She said, with her brows raised in alertness.

“Woah, hey, you guys, chill out.” The last boy to speak said, placing himself between them all and raising each hand out in a placating gesture.

“No need for violence. We’re in a fuckin’ zombie apocalypse, why make more?” He said, attempting a smile. “Look, let’s put the guns away, you helped us with the fire information, maybe we can help you too.” He said.

The girl with the shotgun looked up at Erica who kept her gun in sight. “You threatened us first.” Erica pointed out.

“You’re right.” The boy who was playing peacemaker said. “So how about this. “Taesha, you and Derrick go back over there.” He said, pointing behind him to the wall they were still building. “Me and John’ll handle this.” He said.

They argued with just their facial expression for a moment before the cat-eared boy and the girl with the shotgun walked back toward the larger group. “Ok, we good? You gonna put your blicky away?” The peacemaker boy said once they had left. Erica looked over at Coco before flicking the rounds loose and letting the hammer fall back into place, before tucking her revolver away.

“Okay!” The peacemaker boy said. “See? That’s trust. We’re good now.” He said, lifting his arms up.

“You mentioned having useful information.” Coco said.

“We just got here from Trenton.” The peacemaker boy said. “I apologize for my friends, alright? They’re a little on edge. My name’s Devon, this is my brother Jamal.” He said.

“Nice to meet you.” Jamal said.

“Coco.” Coco replied simply.

“I’m Erica.” Erica offered. “We’re from New York City.” She said.

“Oh what, part?” Jamal asked.

“The Bronx.” Erica answered.

“Texas, originally.” Coco said, speaking for herself.

They finished their introductions and small talk and Coco asked what they were doing there, once the tension had been reasonably deflated.

“We’re zombie hunters. That’s why your information about the fire was useful, assuming it's true.” Devon said. “We got a deal worked out with some of the local farmers to keep the zombies out of their fields in exchange for food.” He explained.

“Sounds like a return to feudalism.” Coco quipped.

“I don’t know what that means.” Said Jamal.

“That’s like, knights, and lords, and shit.” Devon explained.

“Oh, word.” Said Jamal.

“What have you been doing with the zombies after you catch them?” Erica asked.

“We just tie them up to a stake in the ground, then we cut their legs off with a chainsaw. You gotta be careful not to let the blood get on your eyes and face and shit though cause it’ll turn you the same as a scratch.” Jamal explained.

“Yeah, we figured.” Said Coco.

“If you have any zombies tied up nearby, we can show you how to burn them.“ Erica offered.

“Just set them on fire, right? I mean no offense but it doesn’t sound like rocket science.” Devon said.

“You set them on fire and they’ll stop moving but once the fire goes out they start again, you have to cremate them.” Coco told them.

“As in?” Devon inquired.

“Reduce them to ashes.” Coco explained.

“So what, burn them longer?”  Devon asked.

“You have to maintain a high temperature through the whole process.” Coco told him.

“Ok, will you show us?” Devon asked.

It took them the better part of the afternoon to find the zombie and set the fire pit up. By the time the corpse was burning the sun was starting to set.

“You’re welcome to camp here.” Taesha told them, looking slightly apologetic. “I’m sorry things got a little intense back there.” She said before heading up to their makeshift cabin, still a work in process.

Coco and Erica busied themselves with brushing out and feeding the horses. They set their tent up next to the fire, Coco left for the tree line to get her rest before Erica had to sleep.

A girl who appeared to be about thirteen brought her a bowl of poorly boiled rice and beans, with what looked like canned chicken. “No, thanks. I’m vegan.” Erica told the girl. She seemed confused by the word, forcing her to explain what it meant. The girl shrugged, after attempting to push it on her anyway, and took the bowl away.

Several others came to speak to her, mostly young boys, attempting to flirt with her. She found herself worrying about them. All of their parents were assumed dead or missing, none of them could have been older than twenty. Expecting them to keep each other alive seemed like too much of an ask.

Devon and Jamal returned to the fire and sat with her. Devon was probably the oldest and he seemed to genuinely care about all of them, which Erica felt was lucky, he was smart, and good at keeping the peace, she hoped they managed to stay together.

They told her their story, how chaotic things had become in the city, barely making it out alive, and picking up other lost or abandoned children along the way. The conversation lasted well into the night, until they had all gone to bed.She noticed they had not posted anyone to keep watch through the night.

Alone, finally, Erica fished the crystal out of her pocket and once again tried to convene with it, only for an hour to pass with no progress. Coco returned and Erica told herself not to be frustrated as she got into the tent and drifted off to sleep.