"Why the hell are you covered in so much blood?" Aaron asked.

"I just ate," Harry replied, placing his hand on his belly. "They don't call me Bloody Harry for nothing. I guess you can say I got my nickname the same way Bloodletter got his, except that I don't kill my food."

"So the difference is that he's a murderer and you don't have table manners."

"Exactly, mate! You get it."

"I was being sarcastic!" Aaron hissed. "And what were you eating? A cow?"

Harry gave Aaron a confused look. "What's a cow?"

Aaron wasn't amused. "Are you taking the piss?"

"I swear I have no idea what a cow is."

"Then how the hell do you know what veal tastes like?!"

"Oh!" Harry exclaimed in realization, followed by a few chuckles. "My bad. Ever since Bloodletter said humans taste like veal, that idea stuck with me ever since."

"Do you at least know what an animal is?"

"Of course. Dogs, cats, birds, et cetera. We have tons in the forest if you want to see some."

Aaron thought about it. It would be interesting to see wildlife for once. The last living animals he saw were the cows and pigs in Matheson's indoor ranches, nearly all of which ended up getting butchered. Plus, the frantic sounds of the DZI soldiers beyond the walls looking for Dan's killer helped motivate him to take a brief vacation from Matheson.

"Yeah sure," Aaron replied. "It'll be like a trip to the London Zoo."

"What's a zoo?" Harry asked.

"Shut up, Harry."

With that, they made their way through the plains surrounding Matheson and entered the Forest of Bowland (though the DZI usually referred to it as the Bowland Fells), which was more spacious than Aaron remembered. He didn't realize how flat the world seemed around him and the surprisingly low quantity of trees despite trekking the roads before with his old squad mates. His journey to Longridge made the area seem greener now that he was free from the isolation of the Matheson bus.

Twenty minutes had passed and Matheson was a couple of miles away. Aaron could see a bus exiting the tower driving in the direction toward Longridge. At first he was surprised it took them a while to finally leave, but then he realized they were still probably searching for a suspect in Dan's death. And if they checked by taking a headcount, Aaron would be screwed.

"So what exactly were you eating?" Aaron asked. "Or should I say who?"

"There was still a little bit of Cutthroat remains from last night," Harry replied. "Believe it or not, Bloodletter sometimes likes to store leftovers, as you people call them."

"Where the hell does he do that?"

"Usually he either hides them in the first floor of that abandoned hospital he's always chilling in or he buries them. I hate it when he does the latter though. The remains start tasting like dirt and bugs."

"You're disgusted by the fact you ate a bug, yet you're not concerned about the fact that you eat human beings?"

"I wasn't disgusted. Just creeped out."

All of a sudden, a figure jumped down on top of Harry, both of them crashing to the ground. It turned out to be Jade. Aaron could tell from her laughs and her messy hair, which had enough leaves stuck in it to craft a wreath. She got up from the floor and crouched down on Harry's back, who was still splayed out on the dirt.

"Hey, bruv," she said casually. "You didn't break anything, right?"

"I dunno," Harry replied, his word muffled by the dirt. "I didn't feel anything."

"Then why are you still in the dirt?"

"Because you're pinning me to the ground."

Jade smacked the back of Harry's head. "Bollocks. I'm as light as a feather compared to you."

"I know, but my crippling laziness makes you heavier than usual."

Jade rolled her eyes—at least that's what it looked like; it was hard to tell since her eyes were completely white. She stepped up from the ground and stood above Harry. "Hey, Aaron, could you help me get this wanker up?"

"Wait," Harry said, shooting his hand up. "Don't move me yet."

"Why? Is there food in the ground you're trying to eat?"

Harry rose from the ground and remained on his knees before clawing into the ground, sending handfuls of earth flying around him. He continued digging into the dirt until he unburied a dismembered arm, a knob of bone sticking out of the end that used to connect to a shoulder. "Yes, there was," he replied.

"That's repulsive," Aaron replied, staring at the limb in disgust.

Harry bit into the middle of the arm. It only took him one second to spit out the chunk of flesh he took out of it. Still spitting out pieces of skin, he threw the arm as far as he could, and Aaron and Jade watched as it disappeared into a bush.

"Rotten?" Jade asked.

"Extremely," Harry replied in a raspy voice.

"Makes sense. We're near the City of Stone."

"City of Stone?" Aaron asked.

"Yeah. It's this area we found in the forest full of long rows of stone tablets. Found a couple of corpses buried in the ground around there, but most of them were trapped in boxes."

"You found a graveyard?"

"If that's what you humans call it. But like I said, full of corpses, hardly any of which taste good."

"Where's Bloodletter?" Aaron asked.

"He should be back at the Dead Center," Harry replied. "Unless he's killing Cutthroats again. What did he say he was gonna do, Jade?"

"I dunno," Jade shrugged. "All I remember was that he was talking to that Sarah girl in his Revenant visions again."

"Is he calm enough to talk to?"

Jade and Harry froze. "Never, mate," Harry replied. "You already risked your life talking to Bloodletter while he was calm, but talking to him during his Revenant visions is suicide."

"I still have questions for him. I only ran away yesterday because I thought he was gonna kill me."

"So you think you have a lower mortality rate by asking him today instead?" Jade retorted.

Aaron paused, his mouth gaping open. "Well...I..."

"Well, if you plan on dying today, would you at least like to spend your final moments with us at the City of Stone?"

"I mean, you gotta admit," Harry added. "It's kinda appropriate when you think about it."

Aaron flashed Harry a dirty look before somberly replying, "Sure."

"WAIT!" Harry exclaimed, pointing his finger in a different direction. "What is that?"

Aaron and Jade followed the direction of his finger. About fifty feet away hidden behind a group of shrubs was a deer, standing elegantly in the sunlight. Aaron stared in wonder. The beast was beautiful. It seemed gentle and innocent. It made him happy to know that there were still a few things in the Dead Zone that meant him no harm.

Then Harry ruined the moment. "Is that one of those cow things you told me about?"

Aaron stared back at Harry with a lack of amusement. "No, that's a deer."

"Can I eat it?"

"What?! No!" Aaron calmed down. "I mean you can, but please not right now when I'm watching."

"The kid's got a point," Jade added. "I actually had a hard time watching you eat those corpses earlier." She brushed some dry blood off Harry's shirt and cheek. "They don't call you Bloody Harry for nothing."

As they continued making their way toward the graveyard, Aaron took in the moment as the forest slowly returned to life. Two rabbits ran through the grass several feet away from Aaron before disappearing into a burrow. "Rabbits?" he uttered in astonishment.

"But can I eat them?" Harry asked.

"No! Damn it, man, no!"

Once they reached another grove of trees, Aaron and Harry paused at the sight of a few birds hovering through the air.

"Oh wow!" Aaron said, staring up at the sky. "Hen harriers."

"I know they can fly, but can I still eat—"

"Harry, I swear to God, I'll knock your lights out!"

Aaron punched Harry in the arm, but he stared back at Aaron with confusion, like if he'd never seen a punch thrown before in his life. "Uh, mate," he replied. "I'm pretty sure my lights are still on."

"Would you wankers shut up?" Jade chimed in. "We're supposed to be heading toward the City of Stone, remember?"

"We know," Aaron and Harry replied in unison, finally controlling themselves. They followed Jade without another word.

Several minutes later, deeper into the forest, the shadows of the trees casted down on the trio like nightfall. They were greeted by a gravestone with a large crack down its center, lazily slumped out of the ground. He looked beyond it to find more rows of gravestones traveling around him like streets, each one varying in size and design.

"Welcome to the City of Stone," Harry said ominously.

Aaron walked around the gravestones, getting quick glimpses of the messages inscribed on them. He felt a little jealous since every grave was marked with RIP. He'd hardly seen a peaceful death in the last six years since the Outbreak began. He'd seen so many violent deaths in just six years, he was surprised he wasn't as desensitized as he should've been. There was something deep within his subconscious that would remind him how unnatural it was to see so many glimpses of human innards.

As Harry sniffed around the cemetery like a dog, Aaron continued his tour of terror. He couldn't help but feel uncomfortable at the diverse age group of the graveyard's occupants. The youngest cadaver was that of a four-year-old boy while the oldest person Aaron found so far was a woman around her seventies. Cremation was the preferred fate for corpses in Matheson, so seeing a cemetery again was like reliving a lost memory.

Something stopped him in his tracks. Or rather someone. A couple of feet in front of him was the Deadman child who had tried to convince him that Bloodletter was an ally, the bald one that wore overalls. He stood in front of a gravestone, seemingly mesmerized by the writings on it, as if he was mourning the person buried below him.

Aaron could detect a faint amount of humanity hidden in that Deadman from the way he looked at that gravestone. Did he understand what death was? Did he even understand what it was like to be alive?

He approached the child. Even when Aaron was only three feet away from him, the child didn't take his eyes off the gravestone.

"Hello there," Aaron said, slightly nervous. "What's that you're looking at?"

"The Man in the Red Mist told me this is where Deadmen go when they finally sleep," the child replied, his gaze unchanging.

"What did he mean by sleep?"

"I honesty don't know, sir. He says when a Deadman sleeps, he no longer has to consume flesh. He never moves, speaks, or even open his eyes. But yet he says it's a blessing to finally fall asleep."

"Well..."

"But I know he's lying," the child interrupted, finally shifting his view toward Aaron. "Other Deadmen refer to sleeping as death."

Aaron felt a little uneasy. Even in Matheson kids were rarely this pessimistic. They always displayed that same hopeful innocence all children had. Plus, he didn't know how to explain death to someone who was already dead.

Then that's when the zombie kid finally stumped him. "Do you understand what it's like to be alive?"

"What do you mean?" Aaron asked back.

"I don't feel alive, but I also don't feel dead. It's a peculiar feeling, but I'd say it's like a grey area between the two.

Aaron could only mutter one line. "Holy sh—"

"Edgar!" someone called out.

Aaron and Edgar looked behind them to find Kyle limping toward them. He approached the two of them, giving Aaron a crooked attempt at a smile. That image combined with the memory of seeing Kyle use utensils on a dead body nearly made Aaron snicker.

"Hello, Aaron," he said.

"Kyle," Aaron replied. He looked down at the kid. "Who's this?"

"Edgar. Didn't you hear me earlier?"

Edgar waved at Aaron. "Pleased to meet you, sir."

"This kid," Aaron replied, pointing down at Edgar, "is a bloody philosopher."

Kyle chuckled. "Nah, not really. He just copies the Man in the Red Mist's words and takes them to heart. But he's a brilliant little tyke, nonetheless."

"Where are his parents?"

Kyle's grin disappeared. "There where everyone else's parents are. Asleep."

"Oh," Aaron replied, slightly regretful of asking that question. "I'm sorry, lad."

"It's alright, sir," Edgar replied. He then looked up to Kyle. "I never feel alone when I'm with these guys."

"Believe it," Kyle added, patting Edgar's shoulder.

Despite the casual gesture, the moment warmed Aaron's heart. He didn't realize the surprising amount of humanity within these Commoner Deadmen. He believed their lack of awareness and memory of their past made them more predictable yet integrated, like a reflection of the countless bands of survivors trying to get by in the Dead Zone.

Harry and Jade rejoined the others. "Hey, mate," Harry said, exchanging high-fives with Kyle. He looked down at Edgar and gently patted his head. "What's up, Edgar?"

"Hey, Edgar!" Jade squealed. She sounded like a mother witnessing her child do something adorable, which was emphasized by the wide grin stretching across her face. She ran to Edgar and squeezed him into a bear hug.

"What's going on?" Harry asked Kyle.

"Oh, yeah," Kyle replied, looking back at Aaron with a worried look. "Aaron, I probably should've told you this earlier, but Bloodletter is preparing a meal out of a few wandering humans."

"Please tell me he's killing Cutthroats again," Aaron replied.

"He was. But then some of those DZI wankers showed up nearby." Kyle paused for effect. "And he told me he'd kill every single one of them if I didn't bring you to him."