Announcing his arrival with a snarl that was closer to a lion’s roar and put the decayed’s pathetic snarling to shame, a horse-sized golden retriever barreled through the decayed that blocked our escape. Decayed were bsted in every direction like bowling pins. He galloped to the one about to make a meal of me and with a quick bite and shake, ripped the decayed head off its shoulder.

  “Haha! He’s here, Becca!” I said and gave a little excited hop. “The Professor made it!”

  Becca: Still a dumb name.

  Grayson: Becca is a dumb name!

  Becca: That’s it! Say goodbye to your posters!

  “No! Professor, we must hurry!” I watched as my dog indiscriminately sughtered decayed. A giant fuzzy-wuzzy paw crushed a zombie’s head into the street. Another was grabbed by the waist with his adorable jaws, lifted into the air and shaken around like a chew toy.

  The Professor swung his new toy into another decayed that had decided a giant dog might make a good meal and ran at him. The two decayed heads collided and popped like revolting water balloons. I turned away to protect Sadie from the debris and felt my back and neck get pelted by zombie remains. One particurly slimy piece trickled down my neck and when I tried to grab it, accidentally pushed it inside the top of my outfit, where it continued its slide and soaked my back.

  “Ugh, dude. That’s gross as fuck! Why?!” I tried to wiggle away from the zombie remains, but there was nowhere for it to go. Stuck in my bodysuit, it remained. Honestly, this was the worst thing that had happened to anyone ever.

  “Bark! Grrr, bark!” The Professor said, and ferociously wagged his tail with his mouth open and tongue flopped to the side. Any poor decayed caught in the radius of this AOE tail attack were sent spiraling to the ground.

  “Yes, you did good. You always do!” I lifted Sadie onto his back when he trotted over to me, and I pulled myself onto his fluffy, comfy body that was like riding a cloud. I wanted to bury my face into his fur, but that would have to wait.

  “Rrrruff!”

  “Yes, Becca told me about the geese. We’ll get them next time,” I patted his head and his tongue flopped out again. “Let’s ride, my furry tank!”

  With a bark of acknowledgement, he rocketed off down the street. We made it maybe fifty feet before I started to feel odd. The surrounding air vibrated, as it did with Sam during the outbreak.

  “Whoa, slow down, buddy. Something is… not… right.” My vision blurred and my head was buzzing like I had stuck it into a beehive. I felt my mouth tingle as if I were about to vomit. I patted The Professor’s haunches to signal him to stop. He whimpered his protest but obliged my request.

  He id down to help bance Sadie on his back and made it easy for me to climb off. I stumbled when I tried to walk, and it took full concentration not to fall onto the street.

  “Becca… what is happening?”

  Becca: I am not sure. All your vitals seem normal. I don’t see any signs that anything is off. Well… the mana readings are off the chart. Whatever the scans are picking up is spiking like crazy!

  “I think I may lie down for a quick nap.”

  Becca: No! Grayson! Get back on the canine and return to the facility. We can take care of you there.

  I had no choice; I lost control of my body. I saw the street coming closer as I fell, but I felt nothing. Despite lying in the middle of the road, my body felt like it was floating. Then… total darkness.

  No, I didn’t bck out. I was very much awake, but nothingness surrounded me, or so it seemed. The longer I stared, the more I could see the darkness around me moving. Like smoke drifting into the air. Footsteps. I heard footsteps, lightly tapping as they grew louder. Someone was coming to me.

  “Help,” I muttered with a soft voice I barely recognized as my own. It felt as if my body was fighting back against every movement I made. I attempted to push myself up and look around, but couldn’t lift my body. I was paralyzed, and when I tried to call out again, I failed to make a sound. I tried to focus my thoughts and communicate with Becca, but I felt no connection. Fucking hell, she was going to get away with tearing my posters down.

  “Well, well. My, how interesting,” I heard a woman purr, and the footsteps came to a stop right in front of my eyes but still somehow out of sight.

  I put all my effort into talking one more time—I was able to squeeze out, “Help?”

  A sultry ugh replied, and I felt fingers caress the back of my head and slide down to touch Becca’s impnt.

  “How interesting, indeed,” the woman’s voice said. “You invade my world, then request for help? A strong believer in fortune favors the bold, are we?”

  Breathing exercises. I needed to do those stupid breathing exercises that Becca makes me do whenever I’m feeling a bit murdery. I felt my body rex, but I still could not move. Speaking was no longer as difficult, however.

  “I… don’t know… what’s happening to me,” I croaked out.

  “Hmm? No?” The woman lowered her face to within a foot of mine and I could finally make out some of her features. She had bright, almost glowing skin, with long silver hair hanging down in front of her dark, full, pillowy lips. Ruby red eyes shined with bck as night eyeshadow that ran ever so slightly down her cheeks.

  Um, emphasis on the make out, because hubba bubba. Queen of the goth girls.

  What’s a yummy piece like you doing in a shady pce like this? Get it, shady? Because all the bck smoke stuff that looked like moving shadows? Haha, I’m Grayson.

  Yeah, that’s the line. I just need to say that out loud and she’ll totally be into it. I can tell.

  “Yummy… Grayson…”

  Fuck. This was like high school all over again.

  “A pleasure to meet you, Yummy Grayson.”

  She rested her fingertip against her bottom lip and inched forward even more, which brought into view her long bck horns a foot in length protruding from the top of her forehead with small orange and run lines, like veins of magma running the length of the horns.

  Annnnnnnd I'm out. Nevermind. This had just gone from wet dream to sleep paralysis demon. Time to wake up and go back to my nice, safe zombie apocalypse.

  She reached out and rested the back of her chilled hand against my cheek. The world around me stopped buzzing, and I felt at peace, although still unable to move.

  “Please, do expin why you and your world are stealing all of my magic?”

  “I don’t know anything about that. Bme my AI. She’s mana obsessed.” Oh good, talking was much easier now. Sorry for throwing you under the bus, Becca. But you’re not here so it’s probably safe.

  “This device?” She asked and tapped her fingernail against my impnt. A small tap-tap had never sounded so terrifying.

  “Um, no. My other one?”

  “I can feel it now,” she said and pulled her hand away, satisfied with what she learned. “You are quite compatible. There is plenty of room in your head for others.”

  “Alright, now that’s just rude. Are you calling me dumb? I’ll have you know my intelligence has gone up to an 11.”

  “Have you truly never used magic before this moment?” She focused her eyes on mine, and I felt my entire body buzz like my head had before.

  “Never, not even in this moment.”

  “But that is untrue. You called out to me and I have answered.” She started prodding different parts of my face and body.

  “The air started shaking, and I felt sick. I fell down and ended up here. It wasn’t international. I swear. You can take your magic or whatever back. I just want to go pet my dog,” I said and wished she would stop whatever the hell this way. I sure hoped I wasn’t still actually lying on the street. At least The Professor would protect me. Unless he got distracted... I needed to hurry back.

  She stopped her prodding and furrowed her eyebrows. She asked, “Was that an innuendo?”

  “Huh? What? No! How? I was riding my dog when this happened, I promise!” I said. This girl must be one of those perverts Mal’s dad always warned us about.

  “Hmph,” she said and looked away from me but didn’t pull back out of my line of vision. “Well, it sounds as if you’re not using your magic. You should be aware; magic comes out one way or the other. If you refuse to use it, then in your specific case, it seems that it tries to return home. Back to me. If you did not intend to call out to me, then my current assumption is that it brought you with it when it forced its return.”

  “Well, you know what they say about assumptions,” I said and tried to shrug, but my body still didn’t respond. The ck of movement convinced me this was a weird dream. Becca was right; I needed more sleep. I shall commit to more afternoon naps.

  “I don’t. Please enlighten me on what they say about assumptions in your world,” she said and looked genuinely curious, yet I felt as if I had worked myself into a trap.

  I’ll simply change the subject so I don’t get myself in trouble. “Doesn’t matter. Worlds mostly gone. Zombies and all.”

  “What do you mean, zombies?” She asked, but before I could answer, she covered my mouth with a finger. “I will look through your most recent memories; that will be the easiest way.”

  Before I could protest, she jammed her finger into my temple. It didn’t hurt as I expected, but my head was now jelly and I could feel her digging around in there. That was the weirdest feeling of my life so far. I’ll never look at a jar of grape jelly again. She just ruined that for me.

  After thirty seconds she pulled her finger back out and stuck it in her mouth. She closed her eyes as if savoring the fvor.

  Today had taken a really weird turn. I’m never trying to help anyone ever again.

  “You bathe rather frequently,” she said when she popped the finger out of her mouth.

  “I… it’s lonely in the apocalypse.”

  “I see now what has happened. At least partially. Pity. Once the rest of your people die out, my magic will eventually return to me. No need for me to intervene,” she said, and her face rose out of my sight.

  “I mean, any advice would be helpful. On the off chance you’re not a dream or my subconscious getting weird with me.” I tried to wiggle around to move her back into view, but still no response from my body.

  “Avoid dying would be my advice. Use the magic while you have it. I don’t mind letting you borrow some for now. But I will come to collect it eventually, if you live long enough for it to be worth my time,” her voice said, and the footsteps told me she was walking away.

  “Okay, but how?” I yelled into the abyss.

  Her footsteps came to an immediate halt.

  “You steal my magic and you truly don’t even possess an inkling of how to use it?”

  “Girl, that’s what I’ve been saying! And I didn’t steal anything! Well, from you. I can’t necessarily say that as a broad statement,” I admitted. I tried to shrug again, but nothing happened. Damn it, I really liked to shrug and this not being able to move thing was pissing me off!

  I heard her approach, and her face dropped into view again.

  You know what? I was kinda digging the horn vibes. I'm back in. Let's run away together, goth-monster dy.

  “You’re being honest with me?” She asked, but it sounded more like a realization on her part than a question. I nodded. Nope, no, I didn’t. Still can’t move. This was stupid. “Your animal companion seems to have no issue using it.”

  “The Professor uses magic? You know, I believe it. That’s the least surprising thing out of all of this. My furry pal is halfway to being Clifford.”

  “Near your residence, there are also numerous aquatic dwelling fowl that have command over their magic.” As she reveled in my memories, she was scrolling her finger through the air as if casually scrolling through social media.

  “Aquatic dwelling fowl? What’s an aquatic dwelling- THE GEESE?!”

  She closed her eyes and held her hand over my forehead. She never made contact, but I could feel her heavy presence pushing against me. “Electricity.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Your magic is specialized in electricity. A surprising gift, considering its rarity in my world; maybe it’s different in yours. But that’s the magic you should be able to wield,” she expined as if that actually helped me at all. Actually, it did. If this wasn’t a dream, maybe that’s what ruined my zombie armor. “In fact, it feels as if you should be quite proficient.”

  “You mentioned before that magic can leak out if I don’t use it?” I asked, thinking back to what Becca said went wrong with the armor. If this were real, not as shocking as it would be if there weren’t zombies running around, then that would expin a lot.

  “Yes. Magic is constantly generating, especially around powerful users as you have the potential to be. If your internal capacity is full, then it will begin to leak because the magic must go somewhere,” she expined as if I were a toddler asking such basic questions. Her eyes wandered away from mine, and disinterest was clear on her face. I’m trapped in some weird mental prison on another pne of existence, and she was bored with me?!

  “Okay, so allow me to ask again. How?” I asked her, hoping she wouldn’t wander off before answering.

  “One moment while I decide how to expin it to you… Let’s start small so someone of your mental capability can understand it.”

  “Hey!”

  “For some reason I feel as if I like you. Maybe as one would feel about a younger cousin or other semi-distant retive.”

  Well, this was getting weird(er) fast. Roll Tide.

  “So let’s do this. Think of me, for a moment, as your patron. I will give a personal boost to your magic processing to help you harness and understand it. We’ll try this. Think of a call to magic phrase—no more than one or two words. You will only be able to use one call word for now. As you grow in understanding and experience, you will possess the ability to create more. For electricity, I would suggest something reted to discharging at a short range or with physical contact.”

  “So, what? I say ‘sparkly fingers’ and I’ll be able to shoot electricity out of my fingers?” I said and tried to wiggle my fingers to no avail.

  “Interesting choice. It is done. I am sure it will serve you well,” she said and pced her hand against my cheek like before. “As you grow in power I may reach out to assist you further. We shall see how I feel.”

  “Hang on, no. That was an example. I don’t want my first ability to be called sparkly fingers,” I said, but she did not acknowledge my disapproval.

  “It is time to return home. Survive long enough and I may see you again, even if it is to take my magic back. I am curious how your world will transmogrify between my magic and your zombies.” She grabbed my chin and started shaking my head. “You know what? Your world seems so entertaining, I may make it a point to visit soon. Goodbye, for now, Yummy Grayson.”

  “I would really like to use a different name for my magic. Please don’t send me back until you tell me how to change it. This is important!”

  “One st piece of advice, because I find you humorous…” she started.

  Take that, Becca! I am funny!

  “Beware of the necromancer. He has little control over the power he has acquired, and it will lead to more trouble. Killing him quickly would be my suggestion; avoiding him entirely is the next best option.”

  “Sure, no necrophilia or whatever. Can we PLEASE change the name of my magic spell thing? I cannot overstate how important this is,” I said.

  She kept her grip on my chin and continued shaking my head. It was starting to hurt.

  “Gray-son,” she said with her voice turning gruff halfway through my name. She spoke again with her voice now a deep, harsh, and rumbling voice. “Grayson!”

  Why was I kind of into this?

  The bck smoke evaporated, and I awoke back to the nice, cozy, normal zombie-infested world. I was lying on my back with a rge man I had never seen before shaking my face and shouting my own name at me. His light-colored short hair showed signs of graying despite his youthful face. He was overly bulky and reminded me a lot of Ned, but taller and maybe even wider. Like a walking wide double door refrigerator.

  “Grayson!” he yelled and smacked my cheek.

  “Ow! Screw off, dude!” I said and sat up. Oh sweet, sweet movement, how I missed you. Hopefully I never have my movement so restricted again. Unless there’s a ball gag involved.

  Becca: Grayson! What just happened?

  Grayson: I have no idea. We’ll go over it ter. Someone is assaulting me.

  Becca: No surprise. You’re a bit mouthy.

  Grayson: Me?! I don’t need to take that from the likes of you!

  “Idiot kid. Get the hell up before you get eaten!” The man said and pulled me onto my feet against my will.

  “Hey, you’re interrupting my conversation. Never heard of the interrupting chicken?”

  The Professor was standing nearby waiting for me to climb back on. Sadie was still passed out on his back, now with ropes that kept her secured to my dog. That couldn’t be comfortable for her.

  The horde of zombies was still coming our way, but we had put some good distance between us and them before I had my episode.

  “Get on the… dog. Or whatever the hell that thing is,” he said and shoved me toward The Professor.

  “Hey, you’re kinda being a dick right now. And don’t be mean to the dog! He’s just a puppy,” I said and stumbled my way to The Professor.

  “How the hell is that thing supposed to be a puppy? Don’t answer; we need to go. We’ll talk back at yer base,” the man said and followed me onto The Professor. He didn’t growl at the strange man, so he must have felt this guy was okay. Even if the man were rude.

  As we settled onto the dog, I had caught a glimpse of more rooftop movement out of the corner of my eye. A cloaked figure stepped into a green light and was gone before I could fully register what I had seen. Today had been one of the weirder days in the apocalypse. Top three for sure.

  “How do you know my name, or about the facility?” I asked the man. “Are you my dad finally showing up in my life twenty-four years ter? Or am I twenty-five now? What day is today, Becca?”

  Becca: Fuck if I know.

  “Thank you, Becca.”

  “Shut up! I know all about you, Grayson EmCee. I know about you, Dr. Ava, that AI in your brain, the facility. All of it,” he growled into my ear from behind me. “I don’t care if the world has gone to hell with these zombies. I’m here to make sure you face justice for what you’ve done."