3 Black Raven and Jimmy Cox Hughes

"So Zack, do you like it here?" a woman purred, hugging Zack's arm to her chest and fluttering her eyelashes.

Shawn scowled, wearing a dark look on his face while Tim frowned in disapproval. X continued to carve a piece of wood without any emotions on his face but dispersing a cold aura. Zack sighed and tried to pull his arm away, a look of annoyance on his face.

"I'm sorry, uh, Miss but I think you should let go. I have an appointment with the director so could you please leave me alone," Zack grumbled.

The woman began to pout and hugged even tighter, whispering seductively, " What a pity. I guess you don't have a thing for me, hm?"

"Lindsay. Don't you have something to do? Aren't you supposed to collect something from the storage room? Go now or else you will be locked up for three days," Tim barked loudly, frowning deeply.

Lindsay scowled and unwillingly let go of Zack's arm, she winked at him and threw a look of longing at X before getting up and walking away, her heels clicking loudly on the floor and swaying her hips, showing off her figure and ass. Zack wrinkled his nose as he dusted his sleeves and wiped his arm with a paper towel.

"Disgusting," Shawn muttered, watching Lindsay, who was flirting with another guy by the counter.

X snorted and put away his carving knife just as another woman walked up to them, holding a clipboard in one hand and a pen in the other.

"Mr Robinson, the director has called for you, please go in," she said, bowing slightly.

"Thank you Gaby. Come on you three. I'm sure Mr Raven would want to know how our trip went. He might be interested to have a chat with you as well Zack. I'm sure he knew that you was on your way, after all, cameras were placed outside of the fences as well to monitor conditions. Wouldn't be surprised if he knew your name as well. Ah! Here we are," Tim said, raising his hand and knocked the door with his knuckles.

"Oh joy," X murmured, stuffing the piece of wood into his black jacket, grimacing darkly.

The four entered the office and was welcomed by a beaming face covered with a grey beard and white hair that looked as if he didn't wash it for days. Zack pursed his lips from laughing loudly while Shawn sobered up from his angry appearance and put on a fake smile. X on the other hand turned blank and give off an even colder aura that seemed to say "Stay away from me" while Tim had on a weak smile.

"Robin! Ah and who do we have here? X and Green! How are you? And who is this? Zack! My boy! Welcome to Emerald Fortress!" the director boomed loudly, patting Tim's shoulder while ruffling X and Shawn's hair before turning to shake Zack's hand vigorously.

X turned gloomy while Shawn grit his teeth from biting off the director's hand. Tim winced, rubbing his shoulders while smiling weakly.

"Mr Raven. The trip was successful. Thanks to Zack we got through alive," Tim said.

Mr Raven nodded and clapped his hands with excitement, his twinkling eyes suddenly turned sharp and looked at Zack with interest. Zack bit his tongue while staring at the man's eyes which looked dark and glassy. Zack suddenly felt uncomfortable as a shiver crawled up his spine, leaving his fingers tingling with shock.

"A zombie type, and the odd ones as well. Well, we also have two others in a cage but a lot different from you. How may I help you?" said Mr Raven in a friendly tone.

"How'd you know that he's a zombie?" Shawn blurted out.

Mr Raven smiled and replied eagerly, "Wind Fortress has one zombie that is just like Zackery here, well, except for appearances and personalities of course. Oh! He also has blue eyes as well. Piercing blue eyes that seems cold but sad."

X started as a flash of cold piercing blue eyes that seemed sad appeared in his mind. Tim noticed this but didn't say a word, but it seems like the director must have noticed because he smiled with a hint of hunger in his eyes.

"Does the zombie have blonde hair?" asked Zack, as he frowned in displeasure.

"Of course!" Mr Raven exclaimed, "I don't know."

Shawn muttered something about what kind of response was that but Mr Raven, who may or may not have heard, didn't say a word but rather, beamed brightly. as he turned around and headed towards his desk, sitting down on the chair which made a loud squeaking noise. Shawn scowled with a look of revulsion on his face. Tim jabbed him in the elbow.

" Well, since our little friend here," Mr Raven motioned towards Zack with a stubby chin, "is new here. I'll leave the rest up to Shawn and," raising an eyebrow, " X, to show him around. Robin, I would like a word with you, of course, regarding some serious matters that youngsters -" X scowled while Shawn showed an annoyed expression "-should not be involved with."

Tim nodded wryly and motioned for Shawn and X to leave with Zack. They hesitated at first but relented to his instructions. When X closed the door, Shawn burst out in anger and began to spit out curses at the opposite wall.

" Why, what's wrong?" Zack ask in amusement.

" Can't you see? He treated us as if we're little children! Heck! He even called us youngsters. Youngsters! If I ever hear that word from his mouth one more time, I'm going to bash him in the face," Shawn snarled as he kicked the wall repetitively.

X didn't say anything but Zack noticed the clenched fist before looking up and seeing his expression told him what he needed to know.

"In other words, he's a baby born under a rich man's name. A chubby baby, in fact, " Zack mused," You don't like being treated like dogs heeling to its master."

"Heck no," Shawn snarled, as he stomped off towards the entrance.

Zack and X followed suit, ignoring the clerk's "Have a nice day" and onto the gravel pavement. Looking around in amusement, Zack noticed that most of the people running around and doing errands like carrying logs and gardening were all men, while children ran around, darting between trees and houses, giggling and laughing with joy.

"How nice," Zack murmured, "Does the women do work at all?"

X nodded and replied quietly, "In the kitchen. They also clean the place if necessary."

Shawn continued to stomp ahead, fuming with anger. Zack could see the steam from his ears, he chortled lightly. X smiled a little before it turned into a grim line.

" X!" someone squealed and blur past Zack, throwing herself at X who dodged to the side.

A person with wild, frizzy, brown hair fell face down onto the dirty pavement. Crying out loudly in pain as she sat up and sniffed. X's face turned dark like a sinister cloud while Shawn, who had turned around at the sudden call, shoved a fist into his mouth, trying not to laugh but his tears of laughter were evidently there, causing X to glower and send a piercing glare towards him. Zack pursed his lips from laughing, his shoulders trembled however.

"X, don't you miss me, darling?" the girl wept loudly, "I've been worried for the whole day. I thought that you've been eaten by a zombie. Even if you were to get eaten by a zombie, I will join you. Remember our vows? Till death do us part."

Someone coughed and Zack turned his head to find Amanda standing there with a hand on her hips and the other covering her mouth.

"I tried to stop her," Amanda coughed out, "but I guess she was so eager to see you. Sorry, X."

Zack grinned as he looked at the girl on the floor and X, who stood there as if wishing lightning could struck him right there or he could sink right through the ground. Shawn, who was crying with laughter, let loose, laughing loudly and slapping his knee, attracting a couple of people nearby who looked on in amusement or with a grin on their face.

Shawn pointed a finger at X and stuttered, "Darling! She called you darling! And-and. T-till death d-do us p-part!" and burst into another round of laughter, choking and coughing a little.

Zack grinned as he watch the girl stand on her feet, fidgeting from one foot to another. Amanda coughed, covering up her chuckle. If possible, X's face seems to have turned darker.

"How many times do I have to tell you, that I am not-" X stared at Shawn pointedly "-your darling nor am I ever engaged or married to you. As I have said repetitively before. Dream on," X growled as he folded his arms.

The girl burst into tears, weeping loudly as she bawled out, "You meanie! You're a cold hearted jerk! All I wanted was to hear your love for me. And yet, you rejected me and even push me to the side."

"What's going on here?" a loud grumpy voice growled.

Amanda turned around with an "Ah!" while Shawn stopped laughing and stood at attention. Zack turned his head to see a short, muscular man with a dark skin tone, heading towards the group with a katana in one hand and a clipboard on the other. His bald head covered in sweat and was gleaming under the sun.

"Oh shit. . .oh shit. . .oh shit. . ." Shawn mumbled lowly while Zack raised a questioning eyebrow as he took another glance at the bald headed man.

The man passed Zack and went to stand beside X as he looked down at the girl with a scowl that seemed to darken when the girl teared up again and began to tremble.

"Galey, how many times did I tell you to stop your nonsense and focus on your duties that were given to you?" the man growled, his black menacing eyes glaring at the shivering girl.

The girl opened her mouth and then closed it, gapping like a fish for air. She responded with a squeak and took off in the opposite direction with a whimper. When she had rounded the corner, the man turned to eye Zack from head to toe and then stared straight into his eyes.

"I heard that we had a newbie. And similar to the ones they had in Wind Fortress," the man growled as he eyed Zack cautiously, "if you make one wrong move," -and gestured to his katana-, "you're a slaughtered pig."

"And who will eat this pig?" Zack asked with a hint of amusement causing the man to narrow his eyes with a glint in it.

"That's the attitude, boy," the man replied, grinning from ear to ear, "You're better than that mutt," -gesturing towards Shawn with a thumb-, "who has a questionable mouth with no filter and a coward."

He walked towards Shawn, patted his shoulder with his katana and walked off, hollering "The name's Jimmy Cox Hughes! Call me Jim like everyone else does!" over his shoulder and vanished around the corner.

Shawn tense frame relaxed as he hunch over with a loud groan, muttering "Can this day get any worse?" and walked off towards a path where a sign stood reading "Green Street". X stared after Shawn and looked at Amanda who had step forward and followed Shawn.

"Don't ask. Let's just say Mr Raven told me to come here," Amanda murmured, cutting off X's speech who glared at her and followed after her, with Zack behind him.

"Who is Jimmy Cox Hughes exactly?" Zack asked with a hint of curiosity in his tone.

"The combat trainer of this Fortress," X grunted, "the best of the best. Better than a certain person I know."

Zack tilt his head to one side, as he stare at Shawn up ahead who was yelling greetings to every person he met on the way and receiving one in return. X suddenly stopped walking, causing Zack to come to a halt.

"I'm going to say this once though," X murmured, looking around his surroundings quickly.

Amanda took off ahead of them in a quick pace, catching up to Shawn and waving a hand to greet people nearby. Zack looked on with a blank expression, waiting for whatever X was about to say.

"Amanda isn't the only one who knows," X explained quietly, "Black Raven, he's a strange one," X said before stopping and span on his heel to face Zack in the eyes, black staring into the almost familiar blue ones, "He's dangerous. Be careful when you are meeting him," he murmured quickly, "As for the other one, he's even more dangerous."

Zack tilt his head a little and asked quietly ,"Who's the other one?"

X stared at Zack intensely and whispered, "Jimmy Cox Hughes."