Where Shadows Lurk and Darkness Dwells

5

London,Term of the Pike - Hunter's Moon

Heron's Pace, Sojourn of the Blackthorne, at the Firefly Pass

Run 308 after the First Cataclism

Daejin stole a quick glance of Zachariah, grown into his role as Doyen like he'd been born wearing those shoes. For Henrietta, he'd said, and taken his words seriously enough to turn himself into as good a Doyen as his late wife had been. For Henrietta, he'd also told YiJun, and thus obtained a silent promise he'd return to the Covenant. And return he had, Daejin mused, along with the little spy their mother had sent.

Not that he was little, Zhang WeiLan was at least six feet, and had the build to match it. But he was young, and an Academic, timid and unprepared for Hunting, despite all his training in martial arts. This wasn't his first time out with the Covenant, though, but he still managed to look as sick as when they'd carted him along for a taste of the real world, like Zach had put it. Daejin smirked at the memory, amused by the thought of the man's greyish pallor - not so amused at the reminder of how he'd barfed the contents of his stomach all over Daejin's favourite boots. He looked a little less sick, tonight.

"Torches?" he asked Zach, who trailed a pair of narrowed eyes at the sight before them.A cordon of people was slowly closing in around them - but not just any people. Flesh decaying from faces, arms, legs, whatever bit of skin was on sight, the undead lurched unsteadily, attracted by the heartbeats and the scent of warm, live flesh. Usually considered the least dangerous amongst those who refused to stay in their graves, zombies were in fact one of the worst plagues. One scrape from a fingernail, one bite, and the victim would be dead in less than forty-eight hours, only to rise come the next twilight. There was no remedy, no spell, no secret magic that could save one from the curse of the zombie.

Other than a Vodoun priest, according to Simone, but then again, how many of those had they met? As for Daejin, he put all those crazy theories down to superstition - the moment a zombie infected you, that was it, might as well be sent to the crematorium straight away. Because that was the only way he knew to get rid of their plague - fire. And water, seeing zombies couldn't swim or float, but were far too stupid to avoid diving, if pressed towards a river or the sea.

"Reckon it's best," Zach agreed.

The group retrieved torches from their arsenal and lit them. The creatures flinched instantly, taking a step back. A few groans came out of distended, bloated throats, a few wails too. No, the nauseated wails actually came from WeiLan, who was not only terrified but sickened by the stench. They'd tried to warn him, but the reek from a horde of zombies was impossible to describe, words did not make it justice. Something to be experienced, in order to understand.

"You good, WeiLan?" Zach asked, head snapping briefly in the young man's direction, who nodded.

He stood with YiJun on Zach's right, while Daejin and Simone stood to his left. He'd rather not be weighed down by an incompetent coward who spent more time complaining that training. Checking himself, Daejin wondered why he disliked the young man. He'd proven to be very reliable - outside the hunts - and quite knowledgeable. Like YiJun's father, he was an accomplished Draper, and when he wasn't panicking, even managed to open doorways out of thin air, which had gotten them out of a couple of scrapes. Though he always carried something he could use for the Drape, normally the long outer robe he favoured and that Daejin had a hard time understanding how it didn't hamper every one of the man's gestures. Those long, wide sleeves, those flowing skirts, that shit had to be a hazard waiting to happen.