Dawn crept over the blackened forest. Smoke curled between the trees, the ground scorched and brittle beneath the pale light.
Luna knelt in the ashes, her gray hands folded tightly over Elias's still ones. She had tried to move him, tried to shake him awake, but he was cold now—too heavy, too quiet.
She didn't cry. She couldn't. But inside her chest was an emptiness greater than hunger, a hollow so sharp it hurt more than broken bones.
With trembling care, she pulled charred branches together and built a small mound over him. It wasn't much, not like the graves in the cemetery where she had woken, but it was all she could give. She sat beside it, humming softly—an old, cracked tune that she didn't remember learning. A lullaby, perhaps. Something a mother might sing.
The wind shifted, carrying the smell of smoke away. For the first time since she had opened her eyes in the graveyard, Luna whispered something not to herself, but to the air:
"I'll keep going… Elias."
She rose, her knees stiff, her dress torn and gray with soot. Behind her, the village bells rang faintly in the distance—alarm bells, warning the people that the monster was still at large.
Luna turned her back to them.
She walked deeper into the forest, each step heavy but determined. The world beyond the village stretched wide, unknown and dangerous. She had no map, no home, no one waiting for her.
But she had a promise in her heart. Elias had believed she wasn't a monster. He had called her a friend.
And if the world was going to hate her, then she would carry his voice with her, louder than their fear.
The forest gave way to rolling hills. Rivers glittered like ribbons in the distance, and far away, mountains rose against the horizon. Somewhere beyond them, perhaps, there were other people—maybe kinder ones, maybe worse.
Her stomach growled. Her body ached. The wind tugged at her tangled hair. Still, she kept walking.
By the time the sun dipped low, she reached a fork in the road. One path curved toward a ruined tower crumbling against the hills. The other wound down into a shadowy valley where faint lights glimmered.
Luna tilted her head, cloudy eyes flicking between the choices. Somewhere inside, she thought she heard Elias's voice again: Don't be afraid.
The little zombie girl took her first step toward the wider world, ashes clinging to her dress, grief burning like a lantern in her hollow chest.
Her journey had only just begun.