These Are The Zombies?

"You can't see me, can you?" the man in front of me continued. 

Shaking my head, I clutched Teddy even closer to my chest. "Are you going to hurt me?" I asked, my voice taking on an innocent quality to it. "Daddy said that I wasn't supposed to talk to strangers. That strangers will want to take me away and hurt me. Do you want to hurt me?"

I didn't have to fake my surprise at his touch as he ran his fingers through my hair, petting me like I was a dog or something he found on the side of the road. 

Then again, I guess he did find me on the side of the road, so I couldn't blame him for that. 

"No, Kitten," the man assured me. His fingers brushed gently over the staples on my cheek before trailing down my arm until he threaded his fingers through my own. Ever so gently, like I was something precious, he helped me to my feet before picking me up in his arms. 

Shifting so I was literally sitting on his forearm, I clung to him as best as I could without dropping Teddy. He felt like a brick wall. A tall brick wall at that as he strolled forward. Clearly, my weight was nothing to him. 

"It looks like you have been hurt enough," he continued. "But you don't have to worry anymore, okay? I'll protect you."

I wanted to bark back a snort, but even I could hear the truth of his conviction in his voice. He really thought that he would protect me.

If I had a dollar for every time, someone said that to me…. I'd have three dollars.

One for Pride, one for Greed, and one for this new guy. 

"It's not good to make promises you can't keep," I smiled down at him, petting his head. "No one can protect me for long."

The mountain of a man cleared his throat and the second I touched his face, I was able to see through his eyes. 

Huh, no wonder he thought I was helpless. My wish basically turned me into a walking gothic Barbie doll, complete with a big bow on my head that matched the one on Teddy's. 

His eyes didn't go anywhere really intrusive, nor did he focus on my body or anything along those lines. He simply looked at me for a minute before turning his attention back to the dirt road we were walking down. 

The enormous oak trees caused the setting sun to dance between the branches, and the barks of gators off in the distance echoed in the silence between us. 

"The first day is almost done," I murmured, my eyes closed as I saw through the man's.

"The first day?" repeated the man. "What do you mean?"

"This is the first day of the apocalypse," I answered with a shrug. "We need someplace safe for the night before the zombies come again. I like the dumb ones, but I haven't met the smart ones yet."

"Zombies?" he repeated, and his pace started to pick up as he hurried toward a destination that only he knew about. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh," I answered, somewhat stunned. "I thought you knew? The end of the world has come, and there are zombies and everything."

"Ah," nodded the man. "I see."

"You don't believe me, do you?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. Removing my hand, I let my vision return to darkness, no longer wanting to use his eyes. I hated it when people didn't believe me. 

"I believe you," he answered. "I don't think you would lie to me."

"You are a stranger," I reminded him. "Why wouldn't I lie to you?"

"My name is Corporal Dimitri Blou," Dimitri replied. "And now we are no longer strangers. And good little girls don't lie, do they, Sweetie?"

I shook my head before I could think better of it. "No," I pouted. "Good girls don't lie. But I don't always want to be a good girl." Changing the subject, I rested my cheek on the top of his head, Teddy gripped tightly in my arm. "Are you in the military?"

The militia that Pere had hung out with had military rankings, and I remember hearing the word Corporal enough times to know that it was a rank. 

"O City Police Department," he answered, his chest swelling for a moment as he wrapped his other hand around my waist, making sure that I didn't accidentally fall. "I might be one of the lower ranking men on my team, but I still have rank."

"Ah," I grunted, not entirely sure where he was going with that statement. I really didn't need his life story, even though his voice and arms were enough to make me want to take a nap. 

A big part of him felt like how Pride and Greed did, that feeling that I was safe and didn't need to worry. But unlike the two demons, I could touch him… and I never wanted to stop. 

"Where are we going?" I asked, somewhat sleepily. His easy pace and the smell of him were enough to lull me off to sleep. A small part of me was worried about what his intentions were, but a bigger part reminded me that I was a badass bitch that talked to demons. 

So there. 

"I wanted to make it to my place in the city," started Dimitri as he started slowing down. "But I think we are going to have to go with Plan B for right now."

Resting my palm against his face, I realized just why we were slowing down. 

In front of us was a bunch of the idiot zombies, swaying slightly in the middle of the road. They either hadn't seen us or heard us because they all seemed to be frozen. 

This was the first time I had seen something like this. They were clearly human at one point in time; their pale face and lifeless eyes made it easy to see who they might have once been. Some of them had dried blood all over their clothes, with deep chunks of flesh missing from their necks, arms, and chests. 

They also smelled like a dead body left outside in the sun for a long time. 

I don't think I was going to get over that smell any time soon.

"I take it these are the zombies?"