Guess who found a shovel and dug my zombie au up? Yes after 2 years of sitting and staring blankly as the dust fell upon her, I brushed A off and I am heading back into the land of the undead dorks. I'm so sorry for the delay, life happens. But I have every intention of seeing this story through till the end. I'm glad you are joining me, and I completely understand you having to reread all the previous chapters because I certainly had to! I hope you enjoy this installment, I am rolling on the next chapter and hopefully will be back in with at least partially regular updates. Alright gonna keep this short, less talkie more story. Let's go! -Shoestring Nemesis

The sounds the...the howls. They aren't good and I don't remember why. However something, maybe instinct, is fueling my reaction. Or maybe it's those same words that have been repeating in my head for the last few days...or hours...minutes...seconds..Okay, I have no real concept of time. So sue me...whatever that means.

Protect Elsa.

Elsa is important.

Elsa is valuable.

Elsa is... mine.

Mine.

Mine!

Why is there so much damn noise all the sudden?

It continues its assault on my ears as I begin my hurried descent down the rolling stairs. Okay, so 'hurried descent' is more like me tumbling ass over tea kettle once again to greet the asphalt with my face. There's no time to moan about that now. I have to get to Elsa...I have to save Elsa...again.

Fuck. This is getting old.

K is yelling something from the hatch of the plane but I am already up on my feet dragging my body in a purposeful direction away from him. I need to move towards the sound but it's coming from all around me, almost as if it's inside my head...the buzzing...the voice...it's familiar.

"There she goes again! Disobeying orders! No word, no warning she just fucks right off into the darkness. After all you've done for her, this is the gratitude you get! Doesn't she see what you've sacrificed? You've gone against everything you are hardwired to do and how does she thank you? By throwing herself straight into the jaws of that monster."

Images flash in my mind. The enormous jaws dripping saliva and blood coming down around me with the sound of ripping flesh and crunching bone.

I'm being devoured by a monster.

"M...mmm..onster." The word trips off my tongue as my sneakers scuff to a halt on the tarmac. The noise stops, and the howling resumes and I remember. Memories flicker through my swiss cheese brain of the creature looming above me with tattered flesh pulled over long glistening teeth. Teeth that reduced that human into a bloody pulp that burst and dripped from the sides of its jaws while its hollow eyes burned and swirled with a rage and a hunger that would rival my own.

"Mine."

The hell she is. I have to keep it away from Elsa.

Trying to will your dead legs to move faster when they clearly lack the motivation to do so is rather frustrating. Still, I manage to push them into the dark taking in whatever I can with my death impaired senses. Or maybe they're heightened senses, I'm not sure. I really have no basis of comparison. I can only assume they're falling apart with the rest of me.

Honestly, I can't see much anything out here in the dark with only what little illumination there is from the terminal and those weird green lights in the sky. I can't smell her. She's still wearing the Eau De Corpse smeared on her in the room with the swirling water holes. Hey! I remembered something else! Neat! You know ever since she's come into my un-life my memory has gotten better...things have gotten better.

And anyway who could forget Elsa? She's too important, too valuable. What else can I remember? No, no that's not important. I have to find her. I can't hear anything for my own dragging feet so I stop for a moment to listen. There. Up ahead and to the left I hear something. Low growls and a hurried crunch of asphalt beneath feet. Multiple feet. Quick feet. I don't know if any of them are Elsa's.

"El…," I start to call out. Thankfully, I think better of something for once. Holy shit I can think? There's a loud crash in the same direction, the sound of multiple things falling and scraping over the asphalt. I hurry my shuffle hoping for some sort of visual confirmation that she's still okay. A red light suddenly flickers to life up ahead and I can see it as an extension of a figure standing on something high.. "It's Elsa!" my mind screams.

I really never knew it could be so loud.

She's holding a fire stick in her hand. I can hear the scrambling of the shadowy monster circling the structure in front of me. There's a groan of metal as it climbs higher in the air lifting her out of reach. It's rocking unsteadily as the monster slams into the base. She throws the stick at them, but it's caught in mid air by a set of teeth that easily snaps it in half. The remaining sparks pepper the pavement in a dazzling albeit brief display. I don't know if she was trying to hit something with it, but the field of obstacles between us illuminated by the red glow. Apparently one of the carts that carried those really neat rectangles with the handlebars had exploded its guts all over the tarmac. Can't remember what they're called...but they're like...everywhere around this place.

The growls are louder now mingled with snarls and the distinctive snapping of jaws. Fear. Elsa is terrified. I can finally pick up her scent, bare as it was from under the heavy stench of rot and decay. Even for me it was potent. I hope I don't smell like that. You know, that's probably the real reason she ran away and got herself into this mess of one...two...three monsters. God, I barely survived a fight with one. If you want to call that a fight. It was more like me pathetically clinging to whatever starved dignity I had while that hulking thing flaunted stolen dinner. Actually...it could be my undead-addled brain but these look smaller than the one I remember. Yeah. Definitely smaller, the one before fit a human head quite comfortably in its mouth, but Elsa's head would be too big for these particular jaws.

Alright, enough analyzing the situation let's do it. Let's save Elsa. You can do this A. I throw an opened hand into the dark. My fingers sink easily into fur and flesh as I grab onto one of them and pull it from the swaying platform. For my efforts I got a fist full of rotten hair and the full attention of a snapping maw full of teeth. The force of its body jerking around knocks the feet out from under me. An impressive amount of stale air leaves my lungs as I hit the pavement. I don't have a chance to ponder that however, because now there are three glowing pairs of empty sockets glaring unblinkingly in my direction. It seems all I was able to do was annoy them and ensure my legacy of being strewn from one end of the airport to the other quite assured. Hah...that third one looks totally stupid with no skin on its face. All that bone showing..tch...honestly. At least most of the zombies I know have the decency to cover that up.

My knuckles curl around the tuft of coarse fur before tightening into a fist to haul myself up, all the while making sure to keep all three uglies in my line of sight. I hope I can buy Elsa some time to do...well...whatever it is she's going to do. I'm sure the living have better capabilities when it comes to strategics. From our short time together I can tell she's smart. Hell, she's amazing! Magic even! She's just... rather shit at staying out of trouble. I wish I had the vocabulary to tell her this. Instead I just yell the most important thing as loudly as I'm able.

"El..sa.. ru...ru...RUN!"

I start to shuffle backwards trying to lead them away from her. They're all growling and contorting their ugly faces with snarls, so of course I growl and snarl back. The middle one steps forward and lowers itself on its front legs like it going to take an open mouth leap to my face. Its tongue hangs limp and ragged out of the side of its mouth. Wet oozing saliva drips onto one of those busted rectangles. Holy shit...luggage! That's what they're called! Oh my god brain, you are amazing today! Really sucks we're about to be separated.

A blinding flash of roaring light and a sickening wet crunch later I'm on my back again looking up at the sky. This is becoming a tiresome look for me, no matter how pretty those lights are. I claw my way over the pavement one more time, pulling my torso up to see if the rest of me is missing.

Well I'm covered in gore, not surprising. What is surprising is that I'm still intact.

My gaze travels past my shoelaces. A pile of rotten guts lie in front of me trailing off to the left until I the see the back end of one of those trucks that pull around the carts. K's unmanly blondeness is perched in the driver's seat. He revs the engine and backs up to grind the remaining bits and pieces of the monsters further into the ground.

That fucking showoff. Oh and there is so much smugness in that dead gaze of his. Believe you me, it's in there. When the hell did he learn to be smug?

"Aay...all...r-right?" K asks hoarsely, his hands still gripped on the steering wheel. I think he may have surprised himself as much as he did me.

"Mmmmngh," I grumble getting back to my feet.

He stops the vehicle once he is alongside me again turning to stare blankly while I'm trying to get my knees to work so I can stand. There's another whir of metal and I look over to see Elsa descending from her height, lowering the platform. I'm glad she's safe. I want to shuffle over to meet her, but something tells me she needs some more of that whole 'space' thing I'm still having trouble with.

When she finally climbs down she makes her way very slowly over to the vehicle. In one hand, she's holding yet another of those bright fire sticks. Seriously, where is she keeping all of those? In her other hand, she's holding that knife pointed in our direction. I don't know what else to do to make her trust us. Maybe I would be irritated with her, if I were capable. But she's just so damn cute with that little knife, I'm not sure it would be possible.

Elsa looks at the two of us, and then to the viscera on the ground. She steps in front of the lights of the truck observing the carnage warily. Those things were so rotten they basically exploded on impact. I stumble over to where she's standing, pretending to be interested too. There's a growl and a clacking of teeth in front of us.

One half of skullface is dragging its torso into the light on two contorted legs. It snaps its jaws again biting uselessly at the air. Elsa approaches it with much less caution than I would have expected from a prey item. I take a subtle glance at her face. By subtle I mean I'm gawking slack jawed in my usual way. I'm sure she isn't noticing though, she's staring at that crawling corpse on the ground with a mix of horror and curiosity.

"A…," she begins slowly, her voice trembling between audible gasps of breath. "What is that?"

Honestly, I'm still trying to process that she actually spoke to me of her own free will like...Elsa said my name...without coercion! She's engaging me in conversation. She actually wants my input about something! This is... fantastic! We are building communication channels, forming alliances, defying the natural order. We…

Shit. What was it she asked me?

"Hrnnnggghhh," I respond and shrug my shoulders.

Oh. My. God. You are an idiot.

Wait...now I remember!

"M...m...mmonster," I deadpan, attempting to inflect a helpful tone to my voice.

Elsa takes a step back as the head snaps at her boot weakly. The glow in its eye holes is fading. She holds the fire stick for a closer look holding the dripping light over it. Some of the sparks bounce off its head. "Is that a wolf?" She shakes her head slightly as she continues to observe the thing. "That's not possible. They were hunted to extinction. The last wolf in Norway died nearly a decade before the outbreak."

I grunt in response, even though I'm pretty sure she's having a conversation with herself now. Clearly she had not eaten the morsel of brain I fought for that quite clearly labeled this organism. "M...mmonster." I try again. Elsa looks at me now, her eyes still wide and fearful. "Have you seen these here before?"

I nod as enthusiastically as my stiff neck allows and stretch my arm up trying to relay the size of it. It was way further up than I could reach. Obviously, this is doing nothing for Elsa who is glancing between my face and my hand beneath a furrowed brow. I let the arm drop with a noisy thump against my side. She turns her attention back to the thing still weakly clawing its way across the ground and begins talking to herself again.

"What the hell is going on?" She wonders aloud. I wonder why my sparkling personality is continually overlooked for meaningful conversation by both the dead and the living. Skullface raises his head from the ground in shaking, spastic movements. Its long mouth lifts towards the sky and begins the first note of a long and guttural howl.

Which is quickly silenced when K's big ass foot drops down with a loud crunch and a spray of blood and brain matter. Skullface has been dubbed Pavementface. Long may they be a ridiculous stain on the runway. Elsa gasps and gags because she takes the brunt of the splatter. The legs twitch and convulse on either side of K's boot before there's a weird hissing sound and the remnants dissolve into a thick dark liquid oozing into the ground.

That seemed so satisfying. I look around to see if there is anything I can stomp on. Alas ,there isn't. I console myself by shambling around in the goo.

"God! Could you warn me next time you're going to do something gross in front of me?" Elsa's shriek catches my attention. I look over to see her frantically wiping at the pungent substance she's been doused in. "I was trying to see what the hell that thing was...you…," she trails off and her eyes widen with a mix of fear and confusion. The fire stick in her hand drops to the ground and bounces away. I follow her gaze behind me to find K staring blankly back only his eyes are different. Glowingly different. Like the monster's, except they aren't yellow, they're green. Really green. K's been holding out on his cool abilities with me.

That jerk.

"Kayyy?" I droll. He doesn't respond. That wouldn't be so unusual but those eyes are seriously throwing me off.

"What's wrong with him?" Elsa asks worriedly from behind my back. That sucks. I was kinda hoping she would know.

"Nrrrgghh…. Kaayyy," I repeat and swing an arm to wave in front of his face. I misjudge the distance. Okay so, I don't really judge it at all, and I clock him upside the head.

He continues to stare I might as well have punched the hull of my airplane for all the good it seems to do. The hell is wrong with you K? I give Elsa a look over my shoulder before shrugging my reply. I mean I have seen some very abnormal shit in the past...uh...insert length of time here. But this shouldn't be a very big deal right?

"Famine," K says in low, rasping voice. I only know he said it because I saw his lips move, it certainly didn't sound anything like him. My head tilts slightly and my eyes widen as I stare in the swirling abysses of green. Neat. Shiny things are so hypnotic.

I'm jarred from my current reflection as he grabs a fistful of my hoodie and jerks me closer to his weird face. "Famine," he says again. Yes I heard you the first time big boy. I got to be honest, I'm rather jealous of his newfound diction. Even if his voice sounds like someone's face scraping against the pavement. "Famine...comes mostly at night...mostly."

Okay big guy let's dial this back just a sec. Where did you get the cool eye powers and the improved speech? Because I really think that could help my chances with Elsa…

K roars in my face spraying it with zombie spittal, stumbling backwards as he lets me go. He bends low and touches his head groaning. The bones in his back pops when he straightens with a grunt of exertion. It's not easy working the rigor mortis out of your system, ask any reanimated corpse. When his eyes meet mine again the glow is gone and replaced with that normal death frosted color with the tiny fixed pupils.

"Nrgghh...Aaaayy."

Apparently his voice has returned as well. I guess my smooth zombie moves lesson is not forthcoming. He rubs at his eyes trying to reset whatever happened before. "

K..wh...what...wa...was...that?" I ask. No reason to be coy about it. Not that I know how.

He focuses his gaze back on me and grumbles, "T...Trollssss."

Oh god not this again. K this is an emergency, I need something to help me gain points with Elsa! Your troll fantasy isn't going to do it! Hell, she already thinks we're crazy!

As if trying to refute my non-verbal argument K just repeats insistently, "Trooooolls…"

I moan my displeasure because the words I want to convey are escaping my linguistic ability. It falls silent on K's selective hearing anyway. he turns his head instead and looks off into the dark, past the airport and the city lights towards that large mountain in the distance.

"Co..me.. on...not...ss...safe," he says softly dragging his foot to discard the dead brains bottom as he walks back to the truck.

"El..sa," I turn around and motion for her to follow. She's still frozen in place staring about as blankly as K was. Ah! She's getting it! She's gonna be a fantastic honorary zombie yet! I hobble over ahead of K and try to climb in the driver's seat. His large hand grabs my hoodie and lifts me from the seat and sits me away from the steering wheel.

The corners of my mouth sink impossibly lower. But...I want to drive! How hard can it be if he can do it?

I groan and inflect it a keen whine to voice my protest. His large knuckles wrap over the wheel as he looks over at me. "N..oo," he grumps and points a finger to the illuminated path ahead of us. "G..et...foood." Following its gnarled projectory I see Elsa picking up a couple of those luggages.

"El...saaaa," I pop my head out from the open window. She takes one more look behind her before readjusting her grip on the handles and stepping quickly in our direction. Does she collect rectangles too? Happy day! They are neat aren't they Elsa? I'm going to show you my collection when we get back. You will be so impressed!

A hard edge pops me in the face when she chucks one of them in and climbs in after it. It lands in my lap. My arms automatically flop to secure it hands smacking against the hard surface. These aren't as small as the rectangles I usually collect but, to each their own I say. Elsa does seem like she is a connoisseur of the finer things after all.

The truck starts moving but I'm only vaguely aware because she has slide into the seat beside me. Next to me. Elsa is sitting next to me. Holy shit, A don't blow this! I fumble with the rectangle named luggage and try not to be weird. I am also trying to look at her out of the corner of my eye, hoping she won't notice. When she turns to me with the wind blowing strands of hair around her face, I realize my whole head is turned and I am openly gawking at her again, wide eyes open mouth and all. Nicely done. You need to cover this up with something. Your creepy is already through the roof.

"Uhhhh," I begin. "El..saa...o...kayy?" I hope there was enough upper inflection for that to be recognized as a question.

She rests her back against the seat pulling the other suitcase in her lap. A sigh escapes her lips and her head bobs slightly in a nod. "Yeah...I think so."

Elsa leans forward again so she is looking at both of the zombies she's crowded in with and speaks louder over the roar of the engine. "So what's this famine you were talking about?" I turn to look at K.

Please don't say trolls.

His response is a grunt and a slight shrug of his shoulders as he turns the wheel.

"D...on't….knn..ow."

"But you just said, famine comes at night. Is that where the wolves came from? Are there more out there?" Elsa is a treasure trove of questions. Unfortunately, K is a treasure trove of not knowing much.

"D..don't...kn..ooow."

See what I mean?

"Well, obviously you know something! What was all that back there with the weird…" She wiggles her fingers in front of her eyes to finish the question.

K hits the brake and we come to a sudden stop that whips my neck forward and back. My arms fumble around the luggage trying to keep it from flying through the windshield. He turns to the both of us with that really intimidating grouch look he wears so well and growls, "Troolllllssssss." He bares his impressively terrifying teeth in a grimace. I roll my eyes...at least I think I do. At least I'm trying very hard to. Elsa, am I rolling my eyes?

"Trolls. You mentioned that before. What about trolls?" She asks, obviously ignoring my attempt to delegitimize his conspiracy theory. Oh Elsa don't encourage his nonsense. He's been spouting about trolls and curses for as long as I've known him and I've known him, and it's been….um...as long as I can remember.

K responds with a reverberating moan from way down in his chest and slowly points towards my plane we have arrived back at. "S-stayyy in..side..t..till...sun. N-not ssaffee..out h-here."

"I believe this whole area constitutes as not safe for me!" Elsa responds. She's not quite yelling yet but it's close. "I need to get home! Why won't you let me go?"

K's face contorts to something that looks more calm and dare I say wiser than his usual expression. "Saf...er wi-th..A."

Oh my God K, that was so sweet! So touching! You do care! You really are looking out for me, you're…

"P...pushh A in..to...mon..sterrs...buy..t-time."

You're still an asshole.

I swing the luggage I'm holding into his stupid torso. It was meant for his stupid face but my arms weren't cooperating with the whole lifting motion at that particular moment. I get a groan for my efforts. I know it didn't hurt but maybe he will be forever bruised and then that flesh will fall off and he'll get maggots. Yes, K will rue the day he messed with me in front of Elsa! Who meanwhile, has accepted his proposal and is climbing up the staircase. I limp after her bopping the luggage against the ground.

"S..stayy in..sside...A," he calls after me. Like I didn't hear him the first time. I throw up my free hand to give him a wave of 'yeah, yeah' and begun my ascent up the steps.. One step at a time. You can do it. This luggage is making it more awkward. I should just drop it. Why am I carrying it anyway? I look up to the top of the stairs to see her waiting for me beneath the green glowing skies and I remember. I'm doing this for Elsa.

Important, valuable...uh, something Elsa.

Ugh, my brain is getting foggy again.

I take a last glance at K. His back is turned, but his head is angled in such a way that I know he's staring at that mountain again. I hope he remembers to get inside himself. My teeth roll over my bottom lip before I call out to him.

"H..heyyy Kaayyy!" I don't know if he's gone all green-eyed and distant again. Apparently not, because he whips his head and gives me a look over his shoulder and grunts.

"K al...right?" I ask and motion towards the top of the stairs. "S-stayyy heerre?"

He turns his face back around and shakes his head. "N-noo," is the simple answer before he pulls the stick down and drives into the night back towards the terminal. Well at least he can go hide out in his beloved freezer. The big doofus.

I shift the luggage in my other hand and climb the remaining stairs with a bit more ease. Her hair falls from around her shoulder as she turns and enters the cabin. I let the luggage drop pretty ungracefully to the floor when I enter through doorway. My muscles gave out apparently.

I hear the familiar sound of the seal being shut behind me and the click of the airlock when Elsa pulls it. She sighs deeply and turns to lean her back against the hatch

It must be satisfying to sigh like that. The only thing I can get out of my lungs is the occasional wheeze. The curve of her neck is fascinating. The way she rests her head against the hull, her eyes are closed. There is a flash of blue when they snap open, a small gasp escapes her lips when I reach around her and flip the lightswitch. The lights hum and flicker to life above us and I back up a couple of steps to give her space.

See? I'm learning.

"Um," she says softly as those eyes focus on me again. Eyes so deep and expressive, wide dark pupils that aren't milky at all. Fuck, A...you're staring again. "Th-thank you for saving me before and then out there." Her voice quivers, but she doesn't seem as afraid as before. Not that I can smell it. She actually smells pretty rancid. What with all that monster goo on her.

"I still don't understand why," Elsa says and tilts her head slightly like she's studying me. I hope I'm not making a stupid face. "I don't understand why you would risk your life ..er..afterlife..for me. I mean granted I realize zombies lack pretty much all but the most basic functions of intelligence." She pauses and her eyes grow wide. "But that's...that's not to say I think you're stupid A! Ugh!"

Yep. I must be making the stupid face.

Her fingers pinch the bridge of her nose and she squints her eyes shut. Adorable. "What I am trying to say is, you're different A, in a good way, I think? I don't know what's going on...but something is happening...those wolf creatures...you...and K."

There is some sort of sound of acknowledgment that vibrates my throat and moans past my lips. I am so enthralled by her voice and that she's engaging me in conversation again. I honestly process very little of what she's saying exactly. But she thinks I'm different...a good different.

"I need to get back to the wall. I have to warn the others. Papa...he's gonna come looking for me, and you said there was a bigger one. At least, I think that's what you were saying? They're not prepared A. We don't know what those things are capable of. Plus, you know I don't belong here."

Wait what? Leave? No, that is the opposite of what I want you to do Elsa. I shake my head quickly. "Not...s-safe. Elsaa..staaayyy."

She sighs again and gives me a pleading look. "You can't keep me here A."

"N...not ssaaffee." I moan and shake my head, frustrated at the slow stuttering mess of my tongue. "T-talkk t-t-to K when l-light. K...h-help. A...h-elp k-keep youuu s-safee." Ugh, that was a lengthy speech, I hope it pays off.

Elsa doesn't say anything but narrows her eyes and turns her head in such a way that I'm pretty sure she's gonna bolt right back out the hatch. "Do you promise?" She asks finally.

I nod vigorously. Do zombies keep promises? Pfft. No. At least, not with each other. Do I trust K to hold on to my handful of squeaking wall snacks while I go in to grab more without him shoving them all in his big fat mouth? Well, not anymore I don't! But I have every intention of keeping this promise. I would keep her safe, and maybe, she'd just forget this whole 'leaving' business.

I told you, zombies are selfish.

"A...promisssee."

The luggage makes a pleasing 'clack' sound as Elsa lifts them and carries them further inside. "Okay we'll try this," she says bumping my shoulder as she walks passed me to the back of the plane. I watch her because I can't help myself as she lays them across the seats and pops some kind of levers and...holy shit they open!

Its guts apparently consist of clothes. I can tell because Elsa is flinging them everywhere in either an apparent search or a redecorating of my domicile. I'm not sure I like it, but hell if it makes her more comfortable she can...um...throw shit around I suppose. I drag my feet closer to investigate.

"I don't think I have ever felt more disgusting in my life," she grumbles and lets her vest fall to the floor amid the pile of garment refuse. The shirt she's wearing rides up and over her head pulled by her black covered hands. Why can't I remember what that layer of skin is on them is called? Why do you have to be so selectively functional brain? I watch the small rope around her neck fall from the cloth and rest along the bones of her clavicle. Wow...Elsa has really good skin. No holes...no open rotting wounds. Pretty. She puts her arms through the holes of a sleeveless shirt and tugs it over her chest letting the cloth fall over her abdomen. Her hands are tugging at her pants before she looks over and notices me.

"Uh..," Elsa's face flushes as she speaks. "Can you not do that?"

Do what? What was I doing? I tilt my head like she did before.

"Can you not stare while I change? It's kinda freaking me out!" She says more forcefully. "I understand there's probably not a lot of modesty where you're from, but we still have those things."

What the hell is she talking about? My head gravitates the other way.

"Just...can you give me some space please? I wanna change my clothes and get some sleep. I won't leave, I promise. Like you promised me, okay?" Her eyes are wide and pleading.

Ah...she wants space. That I understand...or well, I'm still understanding. But that I can give her. I nod my head slowly. "El..sa saffeee h-here."

"I know," she says and holds her hands up motioning them in a submissive gesture. "I know that now."

I turn around but not before I give her a stern pointed finger halfway through said turn. "Staayyyyy," I warn her. My voice doesn't raise above my usual grumble but my face must look threatening because she swallows hard and nods. My feet carry me ungracefully up the aisle as I make my way to the cockpit.

My penchant for fixating on the ground when I walk the aisle of the plane developed from a consecutive number of face plants from tripping hazards. This time it rewards me with the sight of something shiny lying in front of one of the seats in first class.

Huh. That looks like Elsa's. I'm pretty sure it's still on her neck though. Besides this one is different...it has a pretty substantial red staining to it. The branches of the trinket glitter beneath the overhead lights. I reach down to pick it up and there's a sudden rush of memories, well, a memory of me tearing the throat out of a man. Of his terrified eyes and his choking breath before I smashed his skull repeatedly into the ground. Of that trinket dripping with his blood when I whispered triumphantly in his ear.

"Mine."

Oh. Hans.

"Like it or not your father linked us together, and I'm not going to disregard that responsibility!"

Oh. Shit.

I let my knees buckle and pretend to fall so I can grab the thing and slip it into my pocket so Elsa won't see. I remember now. I threw it. I threw it because it felt wrong...the memories. But Elsa can't know. She'd leave. She'd never forgive me. Hell, she'd most likely kill me. I think the latter would be preferable to the former.

After a few half-hearted moans and groans as I fake getting up from my fake fall. I turn to see if she noticed anything. Apparently not because it appears she is immersing herself in spraying her body with some sort of sharp smelling substance.

Alright, the cover-up was a success! Speaking of, I need to remember to cover her in dead blood again. That stuff she's spraying will attract hungry corpses for miles. It seems to be having a calming effect on her so I sort of forget myself and watch while she rubs it on her face and arms. Eventually she notices me and my world goes black with a loud 'thunk!'

"Mmmmrrrraaagghh", I groan unintelligibly. Elsa's got quite an aim-and this is the highest I ever heard her voice get.

"A! I told you not to look! God!"

Well, mission accomplished, though I didn't complete it on purpose. It's what naturally happens when your head is lodged securely in a luggage. In my defense, I didn't really mean to prolong my staring, I just wanted to make sure she didn't see me pocket the bloodied remnant of her boyfriend. Which kinda led me into a delightful thought process of what it would be like to talk to her like another human being. I wouldn't be stumbling around trying to balance myself head-deep in the musty smell of a past not mine, and I wouldn't try to manipulate her into staying with me. I would just try to make her laugh like she is now.

I straighten as much as my spine allows and turn my rectangle-covered head towards the little snort that has somehow managed to grow into full-blown laughter. Something tells me it's not quite..as real as I'd like, as if it's more of a reaction to all that's happened rather than a reanimated corpse bonking her blind head into the seats, tripping and groaning haphazardly. But it sure beats all the screaming and stabbing she's done today.

I'm going to take that as a win…

.