Memories and morning a swim.

Disclaimer: Same as always.

{Day five, Dawn}

{Valley town; Library}

Dawn began to break over the grassy fields that surrounded Valley town. Meandering mobs that had wandered about the outskirts of the town now retreated to the tree line of the nearby forest. As the light of the sun began to illuminate the Library, Chris nudged Chem who was sitting next to him, having fallen into a doze while he waited for the chance to get back to his cottege. "The sun's starting to rise, you better get home before you're stuck here for the day!"

He nodded and leaned over to pick up his satchel that he had laid next him when he sat down Placing it over his shoulder, he walked over to the door, before turning around. "What should I tell Diane? What are you guys planning to do now?" Chris looked at the sleeping forms of Alice and Alyannie, and scrunched his brow. He turned towards the young zombie.

"Just tell her that we're alright, and that we'll send someone to get her when we have a better plan. We're not going anywhere until we do!" Chem nodded. He opened the door slightly and quickly looked to see if the coast was clear. He took a deep breath and made a dash out the door, holding tightly to his mail carrier's cap with one hand, and was quickly on the way home. Chris walked up towards the library's large window and watched as Chem came into sight. He began to worry when he saw just how far the zombie had left to run, and how little time he had left. His eyes widened when he saw Chem fall to his knees. He still was far from safety, and was know being bathed in the light of the sun. Chris was about to make a run for the door, when suddenly, a tall woman appeared in front of him in flash of purple particles. She placed her hands on his shoulders, and both of them vanished in another purple flash.

"That kid needs to stop pushing his luck like that!" Chris jumped as he realized that the Librarian Matthew was standing beside him. He looked Chris, "Sorry, didn't mean to startle you." Chris exhaled slightly before smiling.

"It's fine, I was just worried about Chem. That was really too close for comfort!" Matthew looked out the window again in the direction of the forest, before bowing his head slightly.

"You are right about that! Chem has always been reckless for as long as I have known him, but this is something else." He turned away from the window and walked over to one of the chests that sat against the wall.

"How long have you known Chem? it does seem odd that a Villager and a Zombie would get along at all." Matthew opened and dug through the chest a bit before pulling out some uncooked beef.

"I first met Chem a few weeks ago. It was a good while before this whole fiasco occurred with this Marionette Master and whatever it is they are planning." He paused while he fished some coal out of another chest. "One night, I was closing up the library and preparing to turn in for the night, when there was a knocking at my door. Naturally, I assumed that it must be a zombie, since no one from the village would knock on my door at night. We villagers have a code of hospitality that if someone needs a place to stay for a night, we give it to them. Had it been a villager, they would have stormed in and slammed the door shut behind them." He walked over to the furnace and placed the beef in the top slot and the coal in the bottom slot. The fire sprang to life in the stone device, and began to happily consume the coal that had been offered to it.

"So what happened next? Was Chem the one knocking on the door?" Chris asked, sitting down at one of the tables guests would use reading. Matthew walked over and joined him sitting on the other side of the table.

" I panicked at that time. We didn't have Captain Phoenix or any Iron Golems for defense at the time, so the only thing I could think of was to grab some books and be prepared to start throwing them. Then I heard a voice, asking if they could come in. I was so shocked I dropped my improvised weapons on the spot. I carefully approached the door, and looked out. I saw no one there. I looked down, and I saw a mass of green hair atop a green skinned boy. 'What do you want?' I asked him. 'I want to learn how to read!' He replied. This was something I had never seen or heard of! A zombie capable of not only speaking coherently, but also wanting to become literate? I don't know why, but I cautiously opened the door for him, and he stepped inside. And what followed was him coming by almost every night for reading lessons. I taught him his letters, and made sure that he could write as well as read them. He should great potential, soaking up knowledge like a sponge in water. He was always exited to see what he was going to learn next. He eventually learned enough to read a book on how to build his own house, how to raise livestock, how to create a garden." Matthew smiled a bit at the memories. "I remember how happy he was when he baked his first cake. He brought it over to show me, and from the taste, I sensed the same potential, the same spark of energetic prowess. He may be smart, but he also tends to show his age at times. He groans when he can't have is way, and he makes stupid decisions! But I still can't help but worry about him sometimes. And with this new crises at our door , I only hope we all come out of it alright!" As Matthew finished speaking, he walked back over to the furnace and removed the now finished Steaks. "Not a perfect breakfast, I know. But I think you and your friends will need the strength. I feel like this is going to get worse before it gets better!"

{The Woods near Valley town}

{Soon after dawn}

Chem had never felt pain like had a few moments ago. Almost immediately after he broke from the shade of the library, he began to feel the heat of the sun on skin, a fire waiting to start from within. He was almost halfway to the tree line when his legs gave out, the pain was so great. He felt the heat that the flames would soon produce, his body becoming hotter then a furnace. He felt sweat appear on his body in a desperate attempt to cool off, his breathing already heavy from his sprinting was becoming harder to control. He began to think that he was going to die, that he was going to burst into flames, without being able to pass on Chris's message to Diane. His thoughts then turned to Matthew, and he remembered how Matthew would berate him whenever he did something stupid like running in sunlight. 'I guess you were right Matthew!' Chem thought, feeling the searing pain fill his entire body. 'I really am just a stupid idiot!' Chem thought he saw something in front of him but he shut his eyes tightly closed as the pain became to much to bear, when he felt cold hands touch his shoulders. He opened one eye slightly, and saw a black colored sleeve that bridged the gap between his shoulder and the owner of the arm holding him.

Then everything changed. Chem felt like he was floating in a lake, but he didn't feel any water around him. He tried to breath, but there was nothing there, his lungs couldn't draw on anything. He tried to move, but his body felt stuck in the position it was in. Just as he began to fear that he would die here from suffocation, he felt the world return to normal, his lungs immediately drawing upon the air that was around him.

Chem swore he had never felt so good to be able breath freely like that. He then noticed that the burning in his body was still quite prevalent, when he felt a pair of hands shove him sideways. His eyes widened as much as they could when they saw Endria standing there, with her arms outstretched , palms forward. Chem only had a moment to process this however, as he soon fell into a large body of water. He felt the heat of the sun disappear, to be replaced with the cool water. Chem would have enjoyed the blissful relief for a while longer, when he remembered that he needed to breath. He quickly swam to the surface of the water and began to quickly catch his breath. He looked around and saw that he was in a lake. In fact, it wasn't far from his cottage.

He swam to a shallower section of the small lake he found himself in, and then stepped onto the shore, his wet clothes creating small waterfalls as he walked further inland. Endria reappeared in front of him, holding his bag, and his cap. "Sorry, I had to find the best way to stop the sun from killing you." She said in her monotone voice.

"And that was dropping me in a lake?!" She nodded.

"It's what I see other zombies do when they are avoiding the sun! Did it work?" She asked, tilting her head slightly.

Chem took off his trench coat and shook it a bit to get rid of some of the water. He scowled slightly when he answered. "Well... yes it did. But a little warning would have been appreciated!" He sighed and put his jacket over his shoulder with one hand. "I guess it's better then dieing though. And... thank you, Endria. I really owe you for this!" The enderwoman tilted her head in the other direction, before pointing in a direction to their right.

"Diane is waiting for us, she is with Second waiting for news from town. We should not keep her waiting!" Endria then turned and began walking, with the soaking wet Chem forced to run after her to catch up. This was not the morning he had imagined when he set out earlier, but he was still alive, so the day had a chance to improve thankfully.

A.N.

I apologize for the long wait everyone, real life continues to hinder my writing. But here you are, a chapter that I decided to give to Chem and Matthew because I wanted to explore their relationship a bit more. I will keep this note short and simply ask that you leave a review with your thoughts, and let me know where you think I need to improve.

Thank you very much for reading and making this my most popular story so far.

Sincerely

The 25th Doctor.

P.S.

If you submitted a character that has yet to appear, My plan is to have them appear in the next chapter. The one pulling the strings is waiting, and time is not on our hero's side.