The bell of a convenience store rang as the glass doors were pushed open. The rows of shelves were cast in darkness that only grew deeper as the moonlight found it harder and harder to reach further in.
Zarek walked calmly, his light steps shocking in comparison to the heft of the boots on his feet.
He turned to walk down an aisle, only for something to suddenly lunge at him.
The fury in Zarek's chest receded as he caught Priya's wrist.
"Look at you, already attacking me. All I did was leave for a little bit, where's the justice?"
"Zarek!"
Priya seemed visibly relieved, leaping into his arms. But Zarek could clearly see the blood on her body and the steadiness in her wrists when he caught it.
He knew for a fact that she had gotten into more than one battle after he left. The Turned must have been deterred by one or more of Suki's formations, but they were very much alive outside the skyscraper. Avoiding them was impossible.
It was a calculated risk to leave her here. The lingering deterrence from the skyscraper would likely be enough to keep the population of Turned scarce, and that would give her the perfect environment to deal with enemies one by one.
She had done well.
Zarek held onto her tightly, burying his nose into her hair. Even after a long while, he refused to let go.
"Zarek, you… are you alright?"
Zarek pulled back and replied with a kiss. It had been too many days since he had tasted them. An apocalypse wasn't exactly the mood for such things, but right now, even if she had been covered from head to toe in Turned guts, he would have still kissed her this deeply.
"Zarek…"
She fell into his body, wrapping her hands around his neck, but never once letting go of her gun.
Zarek couldn't help but smile. She was a sharp girl. She had always been quick to adapt.
When she pulled back, though, he felt disappointed, until he saw her eyes darting around a bit. She took his wrist and suddenly pulled him away until they reached what must have been the manager's break room.
Zarek's eyes lit up, kicking the door behind them closed.
"You have five minutes," Priya said.
"That's it?"
"What? Do you think it's not good enough to finish you that fast?"
A flame went off in Zarek's belly. Priya rarely got like this, but when she did, he too seemed to lose his mind.
The moment she leaned back onto the desk, he was already in front of her, lifting her thighs to wrap around his hips.
"In that case, you have five minutes, too."
Priya's eyes turned misty. "I don't think I'm going to last that long."
Zarek grinned, suddenly aiming a gun toward the closed door and firing once.
There was a shiver in Priya's eyes, but her thighs tightened around Zarek's hips more. Through the now-gaping, splintered hole in the door, she watched as a Turned slumped to the ground.
Maybe this world was making her a little crazy now, but suddenly she found herself even more aroused than before.
"I feel gross," Priya said with a pout as Zarek helped her push the hair sticking to her forehead away.
"They call that post-nut clarity," Zarek said with the serious face of a dignified scholar.
"There's no clarity, just grossness."
Zarek laughed. Usually, Priya would be in a blissful, post-sex state for a while. But she had forced herself out of it by focusing on something else.
On the one hand, he was impressed by her again. On the other, he felt it was a shame the girl he loved so much had to be put through so much hardship every day.
"Don't worry. After we leave this city, we'll find a real place to settle down. Though it won't be like the world pre-apocalypse, you'll at least be able to shower every day. Twice a day. I promise."
"Really?" Priya's eyes lit up, jumping up and down to pull her pants over her round ass and wide hips.
Zarek took a greedy look and then pulled her out the door.
"Come on. It should be opening soon."
"The Godsfall Tear?" Priya asked, turning serious again.
"Yes."
The sun was almost up now, and that Godsfall Tear would be appearing soon. It would appear in a non-descript part of the city, and very few would be around when it did.
All things considered, the competition should be low, though the difficulty of the Tear itself… well, that was a different matter.
Still, after his breakthroughs, Zarek felt even more confident now than before.
The duo made it to the slums of the city quite quickly. The rotting stench in the air was overwhelming.
"This is worse than I heard…" Zarek thought aloud.
"Don't the corpses Turn?" Priya asked.
"Not necessarily. It would take a very special form of Godsfall to get them to. The Turned aren't zombies because they aren't the living dead. They're more like parasites that feed off the life of a body to grow their own.
"If you die, there's nothing for the Godsfall to feed off of, so you just rot."
"A special form?"
"Mm… there are some necromancy Talents out there. But honestly, they're quite weak. Talents that control Turned are far superior to necromancy Talents. Though…"
"Though?"
"If there's a Godsfall Tear that opens up with Death Godsfall, and there happens to be a large number of dead near it, that could be a problem."
Priya shivered.
Zarek laughed. "You've already seen far worse than zombies. You'll be fine."
"That's not the point! I'd rather Turned than those icky things."
Zarek only laughed harder. "Don't worry, this Tear is as far from a Death Godsfall Tear as there comes. But, this number of corpses probably means that the population of Turned is quite high here.
"Corpses don't become Turned, but they still have nutrients that Turned like. Plus, Godsfall Tears themselves attract them. Be ready."
The glow of dawn's sun was peeking over the horizon as Zarek came to a stop at the edge of a leaning, one-story home. It seemed like it might collapse any moment now.
Around the corner, there was a blinding flash of red, sprinkling out like the swipe of a reaper's scythe.
'It's open.'
Zarek slowly peeked his head over, his eyes narrowing.
Right there, a large black Turned lay. It was a dog with drooping facial skin… well, at least one of its heads did.
There were at least six of those heads on its large body.
'A Variable Mutant? Here?' Zarek's eyes narrowed.