Sorry, I lied. now the action will begin. So here ya go!

CPOV

Of course, finding out that a zombie was twenty feet away from you wasn't that much more reassuring.

"Oh my god," I groaned. "I raised him too?"

Derek held me fast as the dead man lurched forward, unsteady on his feet. His clothes were reduced to threadbare rags and his hair (what was left of it, anyway) was stringy and greasy. Despite the warning in my head, I wriggled out of Derek's grip, and began to cautiously walk towards the man. "It's fine. He's harmless, as long as I –"

But I didn't have time to say anymore because the dead man was suddenly there, locking his hand on my throat, choking me. I tried to kick him, but when I did, he didn't even flinch, just tightened his grip and tried to gnaw on my face with his rotten teeth.

Derek appeared behind the zombie, taking its head and twisting so the neck cracked. I was able to back away and catch my breath as the two of them went at it. This zombie was faster than others I'd seen, even with its awkward gait. It jumped onto Derek before I had time to collect my jumbled thoughts and focus.

"Now would be a good time to send him back!" Derek yelled, falling to the ground, the zombie on top of him. He tried to kick it away, but it felt nothing, just kept attacking.

Unlike with the squirrel I just sent back, I was totally unable to relax. I kept on opening my eyes every time I heard a crack to make sure it wasn't Derek who was getting hurt.

"I'm fine," he called. "Just do it!"

I closed my eyes again and pushed him with all of my strength. I felt sweat rolling down my back, despite the early morning chill. I was shaking so hard.

Relax relax relax!

I'm trying!

Not hard enough!

I gasped when I heard a tear and wished I hadn't opened my eyes . . . because the man's head had separated from his body . . . and it was still moving, trying to get to me while his headless body attacked Derek again, punching him so hard his head jerked to the side painfully.

Oh my god.

The head was rolling towards me. I panicked.

Focus, you idiot!

I forced my mind to clear and pushed so hard I felt dizzy. It still wasn't enough, though. I felt his head at my feet and I squeaked, kicking it away like a soccer ball. It went flying, thudding against a tree before starting for me again.

With everything I had left, I imagined the ghost of the man being sucked into a black hole and, finally, it went silent. I dropped to my knees, shaking and on the brink of passing out. I buried my head in my hands, trying not to relive the last few minutes. But it was useless – I would never forget it.

Derek came over to me. I heard him breathing hard and I looked up. His face was scratched up and bruised. He would have a black eye. But he didn't seem to care.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said quickly, waving it off. "But what about you?"

"I've been better."

Getting up, I wrapped my arms around his neck. "I'm so sorry."

"Why? For dreaming about raising them? It's not something you can control, as I recall you telling me."

"Yeah, but you got hurt because of me."

"It's nothing," he said. "Just a scratch."

"The body -"

"I'll take care of that later."

"No. Now. I'll help you bury it."

He didn't argue. So we then buried the dead body (which was hard without shovels), with its severed head, far from the house. I just hoped now that I'd somehow forget about it and never dream about raising the man again. But with my luck, what were the odds of that?

When we finished, we headed back to the house, covered from head-to-toe in dirt. The sun was starting to come up over the mountains as we took our shoes off on the back porch. I then followed him inside and he closed the door behind me, locking it.

"I'm going to rinse off," Derek said quietly, already going up the stairs.

I hurried after him and told him: "Come get me when you're done. I have to also."

He nodded and disappeared into the bathroom. I hung out in my room, sitting on the hardwood so I wouldn't get my bed dirty.

As I sat there, I felt shaky still. I hugged my knees to myself and rested my chin on them. I could feel the dead man's head thud against my foot again and again and again . . .

I squeezed my eyes shut. I had raised him. I'd done something horrible to him.

You didn't mean to.

Yeah, but still. I couldn't help but feel it was all my fault. Well, it was my fault, so my feelings were correct.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when suddenly Derek touched my shoulder. I looked up and saw the concern in his eyes, and his hair dripping wet.

"Are you okay?" he whispered.

I nodded and got up. He followed me out of my room, closing the door silently behind me. He pulled me aside before I could enter the bathroom. "Don't even think about it," he said into my ear. "It's over."

I bit my lip. "I know."

"Then what's -?"

I cut him off by wrapping my arms around his waist, burying my face into his shirt. "I don't want to talk about it right now." My words were muffled, but he understood me just fine.

"Right. Later." He slowly put his arms around me, as if uncertain. I hugged him tighter, staying there for a few seconds, then let go, backing up.

"See you in a bit."

In the shower, I took my time. The warm water began to turn cold by the time I was finished. By the time I was, there was Simon outside of my door, waiting for entrance.

"Sorry. I didn't know you were -" I started to say, but he flew in with a thanks and slammed the door.

I went to my room, towel-drying my hair as I went, and got into some clean clothes. Tori woke up soon after that and we both went downstairs to eat breakfast.

Down there, I saw Aunt Lauren fussing over Derek and hurried over. "— did you even get these?" she was harassing him with while he was trying to eat his cereal.

I circled around so I could see his face. It was covered with scratches and he definitely had a black eye. He noticed that everyone was staring at him, so he ducked his head, letting his hair cover his face. An explanation was in order.

"I had a dream that I'd raised something last night," I began and everyone turned to me. "Derek heard me get up. So we went outside to make sure I didn't raise anything. I did. It was a squirrel. It attacked him."

Simon's laugh came from around the corner as he entered the kitchen. "Seriously? Wish I could've been there."

Derek scowled at the table.

"We have to clean them. They're going to swell and you'll get an infection," Aunt Lauren said, her doctor instincts coming through. She backed away and was at the edge of the stairs when she noticed he wasn't following. "Come on."

He glanced at me, who nodded, then he reluctantly stood up and walked over. They went upstairs.

Mr. Bae looked at me when they left. "A squirrel, huh?"

I nodded. "A zombie squirrel."

Tori made a face before going to the fridge. She opened it and groaned. "I told you, Chloe. We need to go shopping for clothes and for food."

"You're right on that," Simon said, leaning on the sink counter. "Otherwise, my brother will get so hungry he'll be reduced to eating us all."

Tori shuddered. "Don't even kid like that." Her gaze slid towards me. "Not that Chloe would mind it."

I raised my eyebrows. "The thought of being eaten is supposed to turn me on?"

She grinned, along with Simon. Mr. Bae looked uncomfortable through it all.

Not even two seconds later, Aunt Lauren interrupted my cereal time.

"Chloe? Want to help me?" I looked up, confused. "Derek won't let me put alcohol on his cuts."

Now I was even more confused. Of all people, Derek would be the most practical and see that alcohol had to be used if he didn't want an infection, so I knew that there had to be an underlying motive. My aunt, though? She didn't know him that well.

I said I'd see what I could do and followed her upstairs (Mr. Bae, Simon, and Tori's eyes on my back) and into the tiny bathroom. Derek was lounging on the toilet seat, leaning on the sink. His wounds looked irritated and his black eye looked painful. My heart melted at the thought that it'd all been because of me.

I shook off that feeling (for now) and dealt with the matter at hand. "Derek Souza," I began, putting my hands on my hips in a motherly fashion. "Are you misbehaving, young man?"

I heard Aunt Lauren give a laugh, saying she found this adorable - the way Derek looked up at me with that face. The one that always got me.

"No, ma'am."

"You better not." I shook my head, turning to Aunt Lauren. "I'll take it from here. Just the alcohol?"

She nodded. "No bandages. We need to let those cuts breathe." Then with one last look (one that made me think she actually knew what we were trying to do) she left. I closed the door and lifted my eyebrows at him. "What's this really about?"

He gave a crooked smile. "What? I can't have alone time with you?"

I snorted. "Not with you on the toilet."

He grinned.

I then set about putting rubbing alcohol on the cuts. They were all over his face - some deeper than others - but nothing serious, thank god.

"This may sting," I warned, taking his chin and tilting it up to see his face better. As I cleaned them, he didn't even wince, just watched me with those green eyes. It was a bit unnerving. "What?" I asked after a while.

"You look so determined."

"Well, I don't want to get it in your eyes," I muttered, wetting another towel with the alcohol. I was careful when it came to his eyes, yes, but I also took my sweet time because I liked getting to spend time with him. (As if last night with a rabid zombie wasn't enough.)

"Anywhere else? Arms?" I said when I finished with his face.

He rolled up his sleeves and inspected them. "Nope and no. I think I'm good."

"On your legs? Chest? Back?"

"No, no and no. Chloe, really, I'm fine. Except for, you know, my eye and my jaw."

"Jaw?"

"Where he punched me," he explained, massaging his jaw and wincing a bit.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "You should've told me before I grabbed your chin and yanked it up."

"It didn't hurt that bad."

"Still." I took his face into my hands, burying my fingers into his hair. "Does it hurt now?"

"A little," he admitted.

I leaned forward and gently kissed his jaw. "All better now." I was about to pull away but he suddenly leaned into me and kissed me. I was surprised at first, but soon came to my senses and kissed him back. I snaked my arms around his neck and his went around my waist, pulling me forward so that I found myself in his lap.

Of course, someone had to ruin the mood and knock on the door.

"Derek? Chloe?" Simon's voice came from the hall. We jumped, our teeth clanking together.

"Yeah?" I called out, but Derek was trailing kisses down my neck and I was too distracted to hear what he said next.

" - now."

I pushed Derek away. He gave a low growl before resuming. "What?"

"Lauren and my dad want to go to shopping for supplies now."

"We'll be right there." I heard him leave and turned to Derek. "You're impossible."

He grinned. "Let's go."

"Yeah, we should probably not make-out in the bathroom."

"Either here or in front of my dad and your aunt."

I paused. "Yeah, the bathroom's fine."

Sorry about the long wait. I hope it was worth it. Finals were brutal (yes, I am very dramatic) but I passed all my classes! (like you care… I'm a total stranger) But, anyways, until the next chapter, which should be up soon. Till then, my dears!

Peace out!