Disclaimer: I don't own Ice Age.

Louis was terrified. There was an unknown saber who had been following them, probably even before they had gotten lost in the fog. He was sudden grateful that Shira was there.

Shira glared down at the tiger, who stared back with an unreadable, stony expression. "Who are you, and what do you want with us?!" she demanded.

The tiger pushed her off of him. "Who wouldn't want anything to do with you three?" he countered. You guys aren't the typical trio people see around here… I mean, a sloth, a molehog, and a saber?"

"Don't make judgments!" Granny yelled, having sensed an offensive tone. "I'll have Shira tear into your skin!"

The tiger raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so that's your name."

Shira imitated him, raising an eyebrow herself. "Yeah? And?"

"You looked more like a Becky to me," the tiger shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe a Debbie…or a Kitty."

Shira growled and pounced on him again. "Don't call me Kitty."

The tiger gave a slight smirk. "Okay. I won't…" he flipped them over so he was on top and she was at the bottom. "…Kitty." His smirk grew, much to Shira's annoyance.

"If they kiss, I'm gonna puke!" Granny proclaimed loudly, while Louis tried to conceal a smile. Shira's eyes widened. She just met him! And besides, he was a freak.

"W-What?" the tiger stuttered, smugness completely gone, now replaced with extreme bewilderment. "N-No! Uh, no."

Luckily for Shira, he got off of her, and Louis stepped in at that moment.

"So, um…we're not from here… Do you know where we are?"

The tiger squinted at him, causing him to squirm uncomfortably under his gaze, noticing that his eyes were the same color as everyone else they had seen, and they appeared to be trying to burn a hole through him. And believe it or not, he was sure that it would be very successful if it was possible.

"You guys are alive," the tiger spoke at last. "Guess that explains why you look so healthy."


Ellie blinked. A zombie? She normally would've accused and berated the possums for having wild imaginations, but noticing the serious expressions they had, she had a gut feeling that they weren't just trying to throw a scare into her and Peaches.

Her daughter beat her to asking. "How is that possible? Zombies aren't real…"

"Well no one normal would suck someone's brains out, would they?" Crash retorted.

Eddie nodded. "We've done enough zombie research to know what zombies look and act like."

Ellie ignored the temptation to ask them how they managed to find that out. "Are you guys sure?" she asked, not out of skepticism or disbelief, but out of reassurance that none of this was some crazy dream.

"Have we ever lied to you?" Eddie asked rhetorically. If the situation wasn't so serious, both Ellie and Peaches would have laughed at that.

"Let's just keep walking," Ellie decided, changing the subject. "We shouldn't waste time discussing this when we can be searching for the others. We aren't the only ones down here, so we have to be careful. We don't want to risk being attacked again."


It took a moment for the tiger's words to register, and it took another to make sure that they hadn't heard wrong. Even Granny was silent.

"What are you saying?" Shira asked very quietly at last. "What do you mean when you say we're alive?"

"It's exactly what it means. You're stuck in the zombie wastelands. As in this place is full of zombies. The living dead."

Only then Shira seemed to soak in the tiger's physical appearance. His eyes were blood red, his left ear was worn as if something had chewed it, and on top of that, he was missing his right saber tooth. His fur was a very pale peach color, most likely faded, prompting Shira to assume that it used to be a rich, tawny gold. Definitely not the most pleasant thing to look at, but way better compared to all the other zombies lurking around. Apparently, Granny was having similar thoughts.

"Ya know, ya ain't a beauty, but all those other guys are way uglier! There was one that had this misplaced jaw and another that-" Her rants were muffled by Louis, who had put a paw over her mouth.

"What's up with her?" the tiger asked, not sure of what to make of the elderly sloth's boldness.

"Ignore her. She's always like that," Shira said indifferently.

"Reminds me of someone I used to know…" the tiger mused before asking, "So what, you guys need to find a way back home?"

"We're trying to find our friends first," Louis spoke up, uncovering Granny's mouth. "We somehow got separated when we got here. Have you, by any chance, seen them? There are three mammoths: Manny, Ellie, and their daughter Peaches; her grandson" – he pointed to Granny – "named Sid; and two possums, Crash and Eddie."

The tiger, who had been casually listening at first, perked up momentarily once he heard Louis say Manny's name, but resumed an emotionless face almost immediately. Shira was the only one who took notice, causing her to wonder what he was thinking.

"Nope, haven't seen any of them. But I can help you find them," the tiger offered.

Shira narrowed her eyes. "What's the catch?"

"What?" the tiger asked, confused.

"Why are you suddenly lending us a favor? That's pretty fishy, if you ask me. Especially since most of the animals in our herd are typical prey for our species."

"You know, just because I'm a saber doesn't mean I do everything in order to sink my teeth into anything edible," the tiger sighed, annoyed. "You out of everyone else should know that, considering that you're the one traveling with them in the first place."

Shira chose to ignore that. "That doesn't explain why you want to help us."

"I'm just in a helpful mood, alright? You clearly don't know your way down here, and you'll probably need someone actually familiar with these surroundings. Look, I don't really care if you accept or decline, but I suggest you accept, 'cause then you'll actually be making progress in what you're trying to do instead of going back to square one. Now hurry up and decide before I change my mind."

Shira scowled, knowing that he had a point. She turned toward Louis and Granny, who both shrugged. She turned back to the tiger. "Alright, we accept. But don't try and pull anything."

The tiger rolled his eyes. "Got nothing to pull anyway. Been meaning to ask for a while, but how'd you guys end up here?"

The other three told them their story, and he blinked. "That's not natural," he finally said.

"Yeah, we caught onto that a while ago," Shira said sarcastically. "Now are you going to help us or not?"

"Right, you're welcome," the tiger answered, joining in on the sarcasm. He then sniffed the air, with Shira secretly wondering if he still had a sense of smell even when he was counted to be dead. He then gestured toward the northeast, "I smell something alive a few miles away. C'mon, let's go."

He started walking, with the three herd members in tow. Shira was still in doubt if this tiger could be trusted, but suddenly realized something. "Hey, we never got your name," she called to up front.

The tiger stopped to look back at her, causing her and her friends to stop as well. "Diego. It's Diego."

With that said, they continued on their journey, with the mysterious tiger, now known as Diego, in the lead.

Just in case anyone is wondering, Shira will explain in a later chapter (not sure which one yet) why she can't just sniff out her friends' scent herself in the zombie world, and Diego has to be the one to do it. It's not a very complicated reason, so I give bonus points to whoever can guess why correctly in their reviews. :D

More bonus points to whoever can guess who Diego was talking about: "Reminds me of someone I used to know…"

No Manny and Sid in this chapter, but the next chapter will start off with them. ;)

Leave a review! They make my day. :D