"We should follow them."

I turned my head slowly toward Zhenlan.

Then blinked.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Because apparently I needed a second to make sure I had heard him correctly and had not, in fact, developed a brain injury somewhere between the zombie rats, the haunted Costco, and the convenience store hotdog that was going to live rent-free in my nightmares.

"Nope."

The word came out flat, final, and, in my opinion, completely reasonably.

Zhenlan didn’t look at me. His eyes stayed locked on the zombies moving down the street, each one dragging or carrying someone who was still alive enough to twitch, breathe, and probably deeply regret every life choice that led them to downtown Rongdu after dark.

"They’re taking survivors somewhere," he replied.

"Yes," I agreed. "Away from me. Which is my favorite direction for creepy zombie bullshit to go."

Lingyun nodded so hard beside me that I thought he might hurt himself. "I am fully aligned with Rouxi on this one. Spiritually, emotionally, physically, and legally."

Yuche stepped closer to my side. "Three against two. We are leaving now."

Thank God.

I was so happy that I almost forgave him for agreeing with the supply run in the first place.

Almost.

What could I say? I’m female. I could hold grudges over centuries and apparently two life times. He should be grateful that I was thinking of forgiving him after only a few hours.

It could have been so much worse.

Turning my attention away from the smart man, I looked at one of the not so smart ones.

Chenghai didn’t speak immediately, which was honestly worse than him arguing. He looked at the zombies, then at the street, then back toward the SUV.

Did he not understand the whole three against two thing? There was nothing to contemplate. There was only one choice. Home. Now. Yesterday if possible, today since we were already here.

His face said that he was considering every option a few times over. Which, to his credit was useful in a fight.

But deeply annoying in a conversation that involved my life and death.

Zhenlan’s jaw tightened. "If something is controlling them, we need to know what it is."

"No, we don’t," I replied immediately. "That is exactly where people keep going wrong. Not every mystery needs to be solved. Sometimes the answer is ’that looks like a whole lot of none of my business,’ and then you go home."

Another group of zombies crossed the intersection farther ahead. Two of them carried a man that was looking a little worse for wear between them, his arms were dangling loosely and his head was lolling forward with every step. One of his boots had fallen off somewhere, and his bare foot dragged against the pavement.

But, surprise, surprise, he was still alive.

My skin crawled as I stood there silently, watching what was going on in front of me. I wasn’t scared of the zombies so much as deeply creeped out.

Zombies were zombies. They were ugly, stank to high heaven, and very much dead. They were also usually very committed to biting anything with a pulse.

But this?

This was not normal zombie behavior.

This was too organized, and that was the problem.

Dead things should not be going on errands.

Even as I was contemplating the life, death, and errands of zombies, the ground beneath my feet trembled again.

Only this time, everybody felt it.

Lingyun looked down immediately. "That better have been a subway."

"There is no subway here," Yuche answered.

"I said better, not likely."

The vibration passed through the pavement in a slow roll, deep enough that I felt it climb my legs and settle somewhere in my stomach. A few of the empty carts outside the sporting goods store rattled softly, their wheels turning half an inch before stopping again.

But the zombies didn’t react. Not one of them.

That made my shoulders tighten.

Whatever was under the city, they were used to it.

Absolutely fucking not.

I pointed toward the SUV. "Car. Now."

Nobody argued.

Not even Chenghai.

Good.

Maybe the apocalypse had finally knocked loose whatever common sense he had buried under all that He-man cosplay.

We moved as fast as we possibly could without attracting attention, and running was definately one of those things that would attract the attention of the zombies.

The SUV sat half a block away, stuffed full of stolen supplies, bad decisions, and at least ten bags of snacks I still had plans for once we got home. It had never looked more beautiful to me in my entire life.

Then one of the zombies stopped.

Just one.

A man in what used to be a security uniform stood in the middle of the intersection with his head tilted slightly to the side. He had been dragging a woman by the back of her coat, but his fingers slowly loosened until she dropped to the road with a soft sound.

His head turned toward us.

Slowly.

Lingyun whispered, "Oh, I hate that."

Same.

The other zombies stopped too.

One after another.

Not all at once.

That would have been theatrical.

This was worse.

This was like watching a message pass through a room where no one had spoken.

Every dead face turned toward us.

I let out a long breath through my nose. "Oh fuck."

Yuche’s hand lifted slightly, and metal groaned from somewhere behind us.

Chenghai shifted his weight, already ready to move.

Zhenlan’s fingers flexed once, and the air around him changed just enough that the ends of his hair stirred.

Lingyun muttered something under his breath that I was pretty sure involved fire, rats, and an unfair amount of personal betrayal.

The zombies started walking toward us.

Not fast.

Not lunging.

Not screaming.

Just walking.

They were so slow that it was almost insulting.

I stared at them for several seconds before my irritation finally overtook the last of my patience.

"They’re not attacking us," I hissed. Okay, so I was calm and patient 90% of the time, but the one thing I hate more than anything else was to be underestimated. That was my reverse scale... the one thing that was guaranteed to cause me to go nuclear.

And whether the zombies understood that or not... they had crossed that line.

Now I was pissed.

Chenghai’s eyes flicked toward me. "What?"

"They’re not attacking us," I repeated, watching the closest zombie step around an abandoned bicycle instead of tripping over it like a normal corpse with no self-respect. "They’re not trying to eat us. They are doing that stupid Mike Myers thing where no matter how fast we run, they’ll keep walking at a normal pace and still get us when our back is turned."

Yuche’s expression sharpened immediately.

Lingyun looked between me and the approaching zombies. "Is that supposed to make me feel better?"

"No," I said. "It’s supposed to make me annoyed."

Because it did.

It really, really did.

If something wanted to kill me, fine. Get in line. Lots of things had tried. Some of them had even been memorable.

But this?

This was different.

This was herding.

I was being herded.

Like livestock.

Like cargo.

Like one of those half-dead Costco victims the rats had kept fresh for later.

My jaw slowly tightened.

Oh.

No.

Absolutely fucking not.