Disclaimer: A snippet in this chapter was borrowed froma novel written by Elaine Cunningham. (Hope I spelled the name correctly)

Necromancer's Revenge

Chapter 16

Hermione stifled a yawn while she kept an eye on the runes that scrolled down her mirror. When she'd chosen to divide her time between Intel Analyses and the Medical Division, she had hoped that she'd never get stuck pulling monitoring duty. It was an important part of the overall scheme of things, and she was careful not to let her attention slack despite the boredom.

Four Intel Rangers were down with a nasty magical flu, so she'd been called up to share the burden with the remaining Intel personnel. She just wished that she had got a chance to catch up on sleep, but she'd had to report to Command and Control right after her shift in the medical wing.

She was also irked by the fact that Commander Nomvete had scheduled her in so late. She'd been planning to drop by a lingerie shop to pick up a set that she was sure Ron would like. She smirked, imagining the unease Ron had to be feeling right at that moment, standing in a shop filled with women's underwear. Unable to pick up her order herself, she'd sent Ron in her stead. For some reason, he was reluctant even to set foot in shops meant for women. But for her, he'd brave the odd looks cast in his direction.

He'd been trying so hard in their efforts to conceive, and he had seemed a bit put out by the lack of results. But sweet as he was, he'd done his best not to let it show. It wasn't his fault that she was more perceptive than the average person was. Maybe her purchase would help take his mind off the setbacks, and focus on the task at hand.

Hermione heaved a sigh. Conceiving was going to be very difficult, because her menstrual cycle had been extremely erratic ever since she'd been attacked, and it made planning for the optimal conception time all but impossible. All she could do was take her temperature and graph it out to predict her ovulation. Even so, her chances of conceiving were slim, due to the extent of the harm they Death Eaters had done. She only hoped that her efforts wouldn't be in vain, knowing how much Ron wanted children.

She glanced at Sarah Esklove, who had volunteered to help out with the monitoring duty, despite the fact that it was Friday after sundown. Commander Nomvete had completely forgotten about her and her sisters' desire to observe Shabbath whenever possible. But given the nature of the situation, Sarah hadn't made a big deal of it and had been glad to help out.

But it wasn't like Commander Nomvete to make these kinds of mistakes. She was the most organised person Hermione knew. Maybe running the Order by herself for an extended period of time was beginning to take its toll on her. Her anxiety had seemed to soar to new heights that morning and she'd had several meetings with Captain Sharif, Captain Kovalenko and Captain Faust, causing Hermione to wonder if something big was in the works.

Glancing at her wrist, Hermione noticed that she had forgotten her watch. She groaned. "How long has it been?"

Chronos, a brand new golem which served as an auxiliary monitoring aide, and had been roaming C&C for three months, turned to face her. Its head tilted to the side, almost as if it were mimicking a quizzical expression. "Was that a request for information, or a rhetorical question?"

"I wasn't talking to anyone in particular, Chronos."

"Understood," the golem continued. "To avoid future misunderstanding, however, perhaps you should give orders in the second person imperative; for example, 'Scan for localised magical fluctuations over London,' or 'Analyse the signature of that magical surge.'"

"How about, 'Report to maintenance bay for a personality graft?' "

"Was that an order or an insult?" the golem asked.

"Whatever works!" Hermione snapped, hoping the golem would leave her alone.

"Whoa!" Sarah suddenly exclaimed, rousing everyone in C&C out of their light torpor. "Talk about energy surges! I'm reading a huge spike!"

"Where?" Lieutenant Li asked, as she scrambled towards Sarah's mirror console.

"In our back yard, Lieutenant…it's coming from Concordia. "I'm narrowing it down…Sixth Tier…huh?" She frowned. "Hermione, isn't that where you used to live?"

Hermione nodded. It was the townhouse. "Chronos, analyse the signature of that magical surge."

"Send a sentinel globe to check it out," Li ordered, and Sarah deftly worked a few controls. "And alert the emergency response team, just in case."

"I've directed the northern section sentinel globe, Lieutenant," Sarah reported. "We should be able to see what is going on in thirty seconds."

In a meantime, Chronos had pressed his metal finger into a matching slot, and the glowing gemstones that were his eyes oscillated as he worked to analyse the surge. His ability to interface with the magical crystal that, like a giant Muggle computer, contained all the data gathered by the Order over the years, enabled him to sift through the layers of information much more easily than the Rangers could.

Hermione was certainly grateful for this computer-like resource. It sure beat having to look through lots of books, and it could also produce pensieve-memories and other types of audio-visual recordings. Inwardly, she thanked the three Muggle-born Rangers who had conceived of, and lobbied for, the idea.

"Classification…accidental magic, cause…excitement. The signature correlates with that of Harry James Potter, Ranger Fifth Class of the Martial Division. The scenario does not suggest danger."

"We have a visual," Chronos continued, as he patched the image through to the giant mirror screen. Hermione saw an intense beam of golden light shine through the gaps in the curtains. "Applying enhanced monitoring spell to get a view of the interior."

"Chronos, wait!" Hermione gasped, having a good idea what image would lie beyond, but it was too late. The image of the exterior of the townhouse faded and was replaced by a close-up of the inside of her former room. The entwined bodies of Harry and Ginny were easily visible, and the present analysts began whistling and catcalling.

"Way to go, Potter!" Alejandro Viera, merry-faced Portuguese wizard whooped, grinning broadly. "Finally we get some entertainment around here. I thought the boredom was going to kill me. We ought to play voyeur more often! Are you recording this, Wong?"

"You bet!" his Chinese colleague replied.

"Chronos, kill the visual feed, please!" a red-faced Lieutenant Li said.

"I fail to comprehend the semantic meaning of your query, Lieutenant," the golem said, not breaking the transmission. It is impossible to destroy—"

"I meant stop, cease, terminate!" Li barked. "Now!"

"Understood!" Chronos said and the image winked out a moment later.

"Awww!" Wong and Viera chorused, laying their disappointment on thickly.

"This doesn't go beyond this room!" Li declared, letting her gaze linger on Wong and Viera a little longer. "And erase whatever you've recorded."

"Don't worry. I haven't recorded anything." Wong grinned. "You'll have to Obliviate me, though. You know I won't be able to keep a straight face if I see those two any time soon!"

"You'll keep a straight face, or I'll have to discipline you myself!"

Wong looked at her inquisitively. "Hmmm, was that a threat or a proposition?"

Lieutenant Li blushed and rattled a few sentences in Chinese.

Smiling cheekily, Wong rolled his eyes. "Ladies…"

Viera cleared his throat and pretended to look insulted.

"…and gentleman." Wong smirked. Anyone who doesn't know about my history with our lovely Lieutenant, raise your hand!"

Only Sarah Esklove, the most recent addition to the Order, blushed furiously and raised her hand.

Wong shrugged. "So much for discretion."

Hermione grinned. Those two were yet another couple of Rangers who had chemistry, but seemed to lack the necessary compatibility to have an actual relationship. It reminded her of Matt and Gudrun. Although…maybe that relationship had some potential after all, because there were a few binding factors that had been previously absent. They had saved each other's lives, they both felt responsible for Nathan's death, and Matt's uncanny connection with Gudrun's daughter.

According to Gudrun, the girl worshipped Matt like a demigod, and had even taken to imitating his gait and his insolent grin. Hermione doubted it, because she had met Mary shortly after the girl's arrival in Concordia, and had noticed that confident strut before Matt had broken through Mary's façade of hostility and befriended her. Moreover, Matt had still been in a state of depression early November, and consequently his typical strut had been more reserved.

Hermione guessed that Gudrun's paranoia could stem from a tinge of jealousy she might be feeling towards Matt, for the ease with which he had befriended her daughter, while her daughter kept making things difficult for her even today.

"Hey Granger, you can leave!" Noelani Winters said, waving her hand in front of Hermione's face to get her attention and snapping her out of her reverie.

"Is it time already?"

"Don't act so disappointed," the witch from Hawaii said.

Hermione laughed. "I'll see you lot later!"

"Say hello to Potter and Miss Ginny Weasley for us," Wong said.

"Honestly!" Hermione huffed, turning her back to the two Rangers who were sniggering like teenaged boys. She knew they wouldn't say anything, though, because Harry was perfectly capable of kicking them into the next time zone.

When Hermione reached the Entrance Hall, she remembered she had left her watch in one of the labs, so she hurried towards the medical ward to fetch it.

The sound of several voices echoed through the corridor that led to the main laboratory. This meant the medical wing was unusually crowded, which was strange. Only one Ranger and two non-Ranger assistants were supposed to be here on the evening shift, provided that there weren't any patients, of course.

She followed the sound of the voices to a small recovery room…the same one where Ginny had lain after they thought Harry had fallen to his death. She saw Commander Nomvete exchanging urgent words with Captain Sharif, Captain Kovalenko and Captain Faust. Lilia sat next to the bed, and was talking to someone Hermione couldn't make out yet. Lieutenant Cliff, who was bending over that person, was blocking the view.

The commander looked very old and careworn.

"Excuse me. I forgot something earlier. What is going on?"

Nomvete seemed just about ready to burst into tears. "Something terrible has happened."

*

Ginny stirred and pressed herself closer to Harry as his fingers lazily trailed along her spine. She opened her eyes and looked up at his face, immediately meeting his startling green eyes that never failed to move her, be it in a positive or negative sense. "I dozed off?"

Harry smiled warmly. "Yes, you did. We've been in here for about three hours. I reckon the others will give us an earful when we go downstairs."

She lifted her head off his shoulder and felt her cheek peel away from his skin, leaving behind a gooey sensation. She had drooled on him! Typical, that she had to ruin a perfect moment by drooling. She was willing to bet that 'graceful Heidi' had never done that. "Oh—"

"Don't worry about that," Harry said, kissing her wet cheek. "I love every part of you."

Ginny pouted despite herself. "Oh Harry, be honest! I must look like a complete fool. I'm sure that Hei—" She couldn't quite catch herself in time, and she was sure that Harry knew who she'd been about to mention. She looked away, unable to meet Harry's eyes. Now she'd really messed things up.

"There's supposed to be a real difference when two people who don't care about each other have sex, and lovemaking between two people who really love each other. Tonight I experienced that difference, Ginny. Heidi is no substitute for you. I never intended her to be, either."

She was quite surprised at his patient and loving tone of voice. She'd practically invited an argument. "But she never drooled, did she?"

"She never drooled on my shoulder…but…Do you really want to talk about this?"

Ginny nodded, and Harry gave a sigh of resignation.

"I rarely spent the night, and when I did, I never really cuddled with her. I just crawled as far away from her as possible and pretended to fall asleep. I guess I was a little ashamed every time after…err, we, um…"

Harry was obviously having a lot of difficulty discussing this with her, and she immediately regretted having brought up the issue. But he'd decided to talk about it anyway, and she appreciated his effort even more because of it. Ginny was just about to tell him that he didn't have to talk about if he didn't want to, when he continued.

"She didn't seem to notice, and if she did notice, she didn't seem to mind. Or maybe she did mind, but she never let it show…I guess she minded, though. Come to think of it, it wasn't a very good way to treat her. I bet I hurt her…"

Ginny bit her lip. That was Harry, all right…always thinking of others.

"My point is, I don't love Heidi. I love you! I know it bothers you that I'm still closer to Heidi than the other blokes, but—"

"That's not true!" Ginny objected.

"Ginny, I'm not oblivious to everything, you know. How would you explain that look you gave me when I asked you not to borrow Heidi's things? It really bothered you that she came to me. I mean, you practically spelled it out for me."

"I guess I'm just the jealous type, then," Ginny said softly. She couldn't explain away her behaviour. She was terrified of losing Harry to another woman. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. It's part of you, and part of the reason why I love you." He gave her an infectious grin. "I guess it runs in the family. Look at Ron!"

Ginny giggled. "If that trait is so loveable, does that mean I'll have to worry about my own brother giving me competition? Why, Mr Potter, I didn't know you swung both ways!"

"Twice the chance of getting a date," Harry managed to say with a straight face, before he chuckled. "Poor Ron! He was pretty upset when he found out about Captain Sharif. Imagine what would happen if I were to declare my undying love."

Ginny began counting on her fingers. "Hermione would kill you. Then I'd find a way to revive you so I could kill you again. Then—" She was silenced by Harry's mouth covering hers, and she was pressed back into the pillows.

"Oh, Ginny…I love you more than anything," Harry said huskily when he'd broken the kiss. His eyes were glowing with intense longing again. "Why can't we just have a little luck on our side every now and then?"

"I don't know about you, but I feel like the luckiest woman alive."

"I don't," Harry said, and Ginny's heart briefly stopped beating and her eyes widened with worry. "I mean, how could I? I'm not a woman!"

"Damn you!" Ginny laughed, before pulling him down for another long kiss.

"Tell you what. I'll make you a deal," Harry began, after they'd reluctantly resurfaced for air. "Do your best to forget about Heidi, and I'll try not to let deaths get to me this much."

"I couldn't do that…make this deal, I mean! It isn't the same thing. My feelings about Heidi are trivial compared to what you have to endure."

"Nothing about you is trivial, Ginny. You're the most important person in my life. And on a basic level, our feelings are exactly the same…unfounded."

Ginny looked at him, completely nonplussed. After all, he wasn't making any sense. She shook her head. "No, Harry. Your grief is very well founded."

"But my self-blame isn't. You can't prevent the birds of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can prevent them from building a nest in your hair."

Ginny narrowed her eyes. "Where did you hear that?"

"I overheard a very wise and beautiful woman say that, once." Harry smiled, running his hand along the curves of her body.

"You were listening at the door?" Ginny gasped.

He shook his head. "I was in the room. I threw on my invisibility cloak and cast a personal silencing charm around myself. I pretended to go out and I opened and closed the door. But I don't believe I had Aberforth fooled."

"And my words just swung you around?" Ginny asked sceptically. She couldn't believe that it had been that easy.

"Not immediately," he said, confirming her scepticism. "But they certainly haunted my thoughts."

"But I told you the same things before! Why didn't my words mean anything until then?"

"I guess I had the benefit of an observer's point of view. And I couldn't bear to have you worry about me like that. I didn't have my epiphany until today, though."

"Really? When did you see the light?"

"When the rest of the neighbourhood did," Harry said, and it took a few seconds for Ginny to realise what he meant.

She felt her entire body grow warm, as if she were blushing all over. "We really did make a light-show, didn't we?" She gave him a coy smile. "And what exactly made you change your mind, at that moment?"

"I'm already forgetting…but we could recreate the moment to refresh my memory," he said, and lowered himself down next to her where he began kissing her neck.

She shuddered with delight and briefly wondered if he were just a natural, or if this was the product of his past experience. After a few seconds, she decided that she didn't care! Harry was hers now. But fate interfered again by making her stomach growl fiercely, proclaiming its needs.

"Hungry?" Harry mumbled, not stopping with his ministrations.

"Starving!"

He backed away just far enough to be able to look her in the eyes. "Then let's take a shower and go downstairs to raid the kitchen."

"But I don't want this to end…can't we just risk a quick trip to the kitchen?" she asked hopefully.

Harry laughed softly. "Ginny…right now, we have a very distinctive smell. If Gudrun catches us, we'll never live it down. You could try a Summoning Charm, if you know exactly where everything is."

"The House-elves are the ones who arrange the things in the cupboards. It'll be too tricky."

"Then I'll have to go downstairs."

"But it's a cold night, and you're nice and warm…"

"So now that you've had your way with me, I've been demoted to a bed-warmer?"

Ginny giggled. "I just want to be close to you as much as possible."

"We can continue being close in the shower," Harry suggested. "Or…I could take a quick shower and get us some food. You could pour us a warm bath, and we can carry on in the tub."

"Hmmm, you certainly seem to know what you're doing. Are you sure you haven't done this before?"

"No. I'm making this up as I go along. I can't help getting inspired by you." Harry met her gaze with such sincerity that any feelings of insecurity she may have harboured evaporated.

"All right, but my tub is too small for two," Ginny sighed wistfully.

"Honestly Ginny, are you a witch or not?"

Ginny laughed. "I guess Mum's threat was true. Girls who have sex before marriage do suffer a twenty-point I.Q. drop."

"Did your mum really say that?"

"Anything to have me retain my virtue, no matter how ludicrous." Her stomach growled again. "Forget the bathtub plan. I have to eat as soon as possible."

"Your lips are moving, but I hear Ron," Harry joked.

"Well, what did you expect? My whole life, I've been conditioned to have a healthy appetite." She hopped off the bed and skipped over to the bathroom.

"D'you want me to wash your back?" Harry asked from the bedroom.

Ginny smiled. "Not right now, thank you. I'm really hungry and I don't need the distraction."

"So now I'm nothing more than a distraction?"

"That's right, lover," Ginny said, playing the game.

"That's it, is it? Wham, bam, thank you mister? Am I nothing but a piece of meat? I thought you said you loved me!"

Ginny leaned towards the door and poked her heard around the doorjamb. "Isn't that supposed to be the girl's line?" she giggled. "And you don't have to go back to the Citadel tonight, you know!"

*

"Hermione?" Ron called, but received no answer. That was strange, because she should have been home despite her shift in C&C. Glancing at his watch, he saw that she was about three hours late.

A chorus of meowing briefly diverted his attention from Hermione. Crookshanks and a beautiful blue-furred cat were looking at him inquisitively, and Crookshanks pawed his milk bowl.

"Bloody hell, I've got to feed your girlfriend too, now?" he muttered as he rinsed the bowl and poured fresh milk into it. Noticing that his food bowl was empty as well, Ron summoned it over and summoned the cat food out of a cabinet.

Crookshanks actually made a face at the cat food and looked up at him, as if he were demanding to see the manager.

"What's your problem?" Ron asked impatiently.

Crookshanks looked at Heidi's cat before turning back to him with a mournful look.

"Ah, got to impress the girlfriend, do you?" Ron sighed. Deep down he sympathised. He wanted to give Hermione the best he could afford too. "All right, I'll see what I can dig up."

After rummaging through the cabinet and adding a few sardines to Crookshanks' supper, he finally got the chance to look for Hermione. First he muttered the incantation that would activate the security spell of the house. Then he tapped the mirror on the upper frame twice and the lower frame four times as he uttered the appropriate words.

Noelani Winters' face appeared to replace of his own reflection. "Hey, Ron. I guess you want to know what's keeping Hermione."

"Right in one," Ron said, the slight anxiety he had felt over Hermione's absence draining away slowly.

"She's in the medical wing."

Ron's anxiety came charging back, regaining the ground it had so recently lost.

"Hermione's okay," Winters assured him, reading his worried expression. "It's something else…the rest of us just found out. I'm not allowed to tell you through the mirror connection since it might not be safe despite the ward you have in place. I was about to call you anyway. She told me to tell you she wouldn't be home tonight. It's very important, though. She's not blowing your previous engagement off for something trivial," the Hawaiian witch added with a slight smirk.

Ron blushed. Hermione had hinted about his recent performances to Gudrun. Gudrun told Lilia, who told Serafina, who then proceeded to tell pretty much everyone else how good a job he'd been doing. It was nice to know that Hermione appreciated it, but he wondered why she hadn't kept it to herself! Then again, she was probably regretting it already. "Can you let her know I'm coming over?"

"Will do," Winters said, and looked away from the screen. "Hold on…don't take a portal. You're not supposed to go anywhere right now, are you?"

Ron shook his head. "Why?"

"If you take a portal to the Citadel, possible unfriendly eyes may notice, and logically assume that something might be up. Take an emergency Portkey."

"I haven't got one right now."

"We know…which is why you have to go to Gudrun. She does have one, and you can share hers."

"She needs to be there too?"

"More than anyone else," Winters said seriously.

It suddenly struck Ron. Something had to be wrong with Matt! Ginny had told him about the sudden dizzy-spells he had sometimes. "I understand. Thanks!"

Ron summoned his broomstick. It was cold outside, but the skies were clear and he had endured worse temperatures in the past. A short broom ride later he was standing in front of the heavy door that provided access to the townhouse.

He rang the bell, and about thirty seconds later the door swung open. Gudrun's daughter was standing on the doorstep in a nightdress, looking up at him with sleepy chagrin. "Oh, it's you."

"Nice to see you too, Mary," Ron said, ushering her back in so she wouldn't catch a cold. "What are you doing up so late?" he asked as he closed the door behind them.

"It's Friday."

"It's nearly midnight."

"Matt was supposed to come over." Mary gave him a hopeful look. "Do you know where he is?"

"At the Citadel. He's terribly busy, I'm afraid." Ron felt a little guilty about lying to the girl, but it was better than letting her worry. It was obvious that she was very fond of Matt. "Where's your mum?"

"Upstairs in the attic. You can't go there because you're a boy," she added, telling Ron what he already knew.

"Can you call her for me? It's terribly important."

"Why?"

"I can't tell you!"

"Why?"

"Because I'm not supposed to talk about Ranger business."

"Why?"

"It's top secret."

"Why?"

Ron opened and closed his mouth. Susie and Millie had pulled this stunt on him once.

Thankfully, rescue came in the form of his little sister. "Ron?"

"Ginny! Could you get Gudrun for me?"

"Is something the matter?"

Ron glanced at Mary, indicating that he couldn't talk about it in front of her, and Ginny got the cue. "Not really. There are just some things we need to discuss." Ron's stomach growled. "You wouldn't mind if I had a snack, would you?"

"I'll go get Gudrun. Help yourself to whatever you like in the kitchen... but don't overdo it. The rest of us have to eat too!" she teased, and skipped up the stairs.

Ginny seemed to be in an awfully good mood. She'd been positively glowing, and he had a feeling it had something to do with that ring he saw on her finger. Ron grinned and headed towards the kitchen where he found Harry doing simple magic tricks for Ironheart's grandson, Nicolai, and little Charlie. Both boys were dressed in pyjamas. "Having a sleepover?"

Harry paled. "Err n-no, w-what makes you say that? I swear, Ron…I—"

"He's not talking about you and Ginny," Mary said, with a glint of pure mischief in her eyes.

Ron frowned. Why would he have been talking about Harry and Ginny? He looked at Harry, who was glaring at Mary.

The girl wasn't very impressed, and gave him a perfect copy of Matt Kelly's insolent grin. "That was for threatening to give me blue ears!"

He glanced at Harry again, who was now nervously looking his way. A slow smile spread over his face. "So…I take you this means you've given Mum reason to hex you. Ginny wouldn't pass the unicorn test now, would she?"

Harry looked at the tabletop. "You mean, you don't mind?"

Ron shrugged, reached over and slapped him on the back… hard. "I'll live. Of course, if you ever break Ginny's heart, you won't."

"So, you don't mind?"

"Why would I? Anyway, I'm not so sure how Mum will take it. You might want to send her a fancy handbag.

"H-Handbag?"

"Her latest obsession." Ron nodded. "And you also might want to grant her the honour of co-ordinating your wedding. I bet that would get you off the hook."

Harry frowned. "I don't think Ginny would like that very much. I think she'd want to arrange things herself."

"I know that. But if you ask Mum, she'll let you off the hook, and it'll be Ginny's problem from then on. Although…nah, forget I said that. They'll fight, and you'll be right in the middle. Bad idea!"

"My thoughts exactly!" Harry agreed.

"What's the big emergency?" Gudrun asked, as she came into the kitchen, followed closely by Ginny.

Ron briefly thought about how he was going to phrase this. "Oh, we just have to test your emergency Portkey," Ron said.

Gudrun narrowed her eyes. "So that's all. All right…I've got it in my room." She turned to her daughter and her two guests. "Be good. Listen to the grownups."

"We'll look after them." Ginny promised.

"Thank you, Ginny," Gudrun said gratefully, before she led Ron to her room and retrieved her Portkey. She tapped it with her wand, and it grew into a hoop. Ron grabbed on, and Gudrun muttered the activation words.

"What's the emergency?" she asked immediately after they appeared inside the Citadel's maintenance bay.

"I'm not sure," Ron said honestly. "We'll find out when we reach the medical wing. I suspect it has something to do with Matt."

"What makes you say that?" Gudrun asked worriedly, as she quickened her pace.

"Hermione still wasn't home when I came home, so I called the Citadel to see if she were there. I talked to Noelani Winters, who said she couldn't talk about it. When I said I was coming over, she said that it would be a good idea for you to come too. That's why I assumed it was about Matt. And you were expecting Matt tonight, right?"

"He didn't show up," Gudrun whimpered. "Damn, I knew I should have called to see what was keeping him. But then I heard he got held back by Commander Nomvete." 

The continued to hurry along, and soon the reached the medical wing. Not knowing where to go, he headed to Captain Sharif's office and found the bald wizard holding his shiny bald head between his hands.

"Captain?" Gudrun called.

The wizard slowly raised his head. "Matt has been calling for you and your daughter in his sleep. We gave him a mild sedative to help keep him calm. I'm glad you're here. Maybe you can ease his distress."

"What happened?" Ron asked.

"Matt's parents have been murdered by a zombie… Nathan's body."

Author's Note: Sorry, folks. No answers to reviews this time. Not to worry, It'll remain an esception. I'll answer next time.