The Curtain dropped down, and humming vibrations spread through everything. From my nose to my tail, vibrations woke every nerve and shook each like a feral dog.... My teeth vibrated in my muzzle, adding to the noise. There was a hum.... A hum within a hum.... I floated towards the depths, vibrating more....

But I never lost track of Shadow. Somehow, through overstimulated nerves, I could still feel him there.

And it stopped.

Everything stopped. The tinkle of the jars on the shelves behind me. Everything deadened. But just for a moment. Then there seemed to be only Shadow's breathing at my ear.

I had fallen backwards again, only a few inches. My head had fallen among cans. Probably not very hard, though, since it didn't hurt now.

Shadow groaned deeply and held me close. “I heard your heartbeat through the whole thing,” he said quietly, giving my neckfur a lick.

My paw came up and rubbed his back as we panted and recovered. Our fur was standing on end everywhere. As we recovered, all those little hairs woke up higher levels of sensitivity. Well, at least that was my experience as I recovered. My body prickled with every minute shift of my fur.

It was quiet outside. Completely quiet. “Get up,” I said, “I want to check something.”

His paws held me close, “It's nice here. Quiet, and you're here.”

I patted him, then tried to lift off him. Though as before, I found that trying to stand using only your tippy-toes  was impossible. Shadow only chuckled and held me closer.

“Stay,” he commanded.

“Leave.” When he made no move, I pointed out. “Get up. The zombies are silent.”

That seemed to startle him and he helped me up. We quickly removed the seals. The door opened to show the dim light from the curtained kitchen and dining room area.

Dead quiet.

No.... Even the dead were quiet.

I peeked outside, past the drawn curtains.

Zombies all over. But they were all collapsed.

“Grab your stuff, we're leaving!” I said and headed for the bedroom.

“What? Now?!” he whispered loudly, gesturing me to keep my voice down.

“Now!” I raised my voice, but smiled. “We're nearly out of duct tape. The zombies have collapsed. Let's get out of here.”

He suddenly grinned in understanding.

“Yeah,” I grinned back, “they didn't just collapse for that really strong Curtain the other day. They probably collapse every time it happens. I still can't find my boxers in there!” I said, tossing bedding around.

“So, when we went outside to play yesterday... they took a while to start towards us because they collapsed!” He reached under the bed and pulled out his backpack.

“Yeah, we were messing around in the water for a while before they showed up.... Is that my dad's baseball bat?”

He had pulled the wooden thing out from under the bed. He paused uncertainly, still crouched by the bed. “I got it from your attic when we were up there. I just needed... something to....” He looked up at me worried. The bat had stains of zombie gore on it. Already used.

I smiled at him, watching his worried, golden eyes. I gave up on finding my boxers... the bed had eaten them. I gathered my dirty clothes from the day we left the city and started to put them on. “I understand completely, you don't have to worry.”

He sagged in relief.

Why had I not grabbed something from the house for protection? Oh yeah. My dad had taken all his dangerous playthings out of the house at my mom's insistence when I was ten. Protective moms, I thought with a mental shrug. “Is that some zombie gore on the end?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said hesitantly, watching me for reactions. Then he continued more strongly, “I took out those two zombies who lived here the day we arrived.”

“I had no idea,” I said, finishing dressing. “Uh, you have any more clothes in there?” I gestured at his pack.

His ears laid back, “No, I only had the one set. Now all I have are the boxers.”

“We'll find something for you later.” I  grabbed the last of the junk food and the single bottle of water that was left. I hurried for the door. I stopped and turned back, “Unless you want to run to the creek to get them?”

He looked nervously at me, “No, let's just get out of here. I can go nearly nude for a while.”

I grabbed that jar of jam from the stacks piled in the dim kitchen, and we rushed out to the car. He guarded me worriedly as we wove between zombies. More had gathered and collapsed with our original horde. Attracted by the gathering of the original invaders?

I shuddered and avoided their dead gazes. I met a few eyes despite my desire not to. Snarls still pulled at their lips, but there was no strange light in their staring eyes.

We were silent and cautious, intent on entering the car. Would the zombies rouse more quickly if we made noise? Would they rise at all?

There was no time for questions. The Frankenstein car started right up, the pink zombie kitty still swinging merrily. It was so much cuter than the real zombies!

Kaylee's angel kitty, wrapped in the photo, was still peeking out of the cup. I felt bad having left it there, but it was better than if I had left it in my pocket. The pocket... that was on the pants...  down by the creek... surrounded by zombies.

No movement from the zombies.... How long would they be down for? I had no idea, but counted on Shadow to watch them for movement at I pulled down the dirt road and drove back on the little highway. I still had to dodge cars, but our progress was good and the movement helped me focus. It was overcast and gray; the wind was picking up.

We were silent a long time, Shadow was staring intently out the window. His attention noticeably focused on any prone zombie. He sat with is backpack again at his footpaws, repeatedly running his paws down the bat. It was probably close to an hour later that he spoke.

“I think they're starting to move.... I can't be sure.” He said quietly, his eyes still focused on the bodies.

I was looking for something too. When I pulled off the highway and slowed, Shadow stiffened.

"Why are we stopping?" he asked looking around nervously.

He was right to be nervous. I'd shifted to neutral and stopped a little ways from a gas station... right next to a major highway onramp. The multi-lane highway down the hill from us was littered with cars and bodies. I was sure Shadow saw some of them move, too, as he looked around in alarm.

I turned off the car, setting the brake. Then I turned to him in my seat, my ears lay back in apology. “I need gas. It wasn't full when I went and found you. Since then, Frankenstein's been using more gas on our low speed."

He held the bat closer. He looked somewhere between upset and grumpy as he said, "We can't pump gas without power...."

My ears perked. “My great uncle is a paranoid, twitchy fox. He said that a few gas stations, especially like this big one, have backup generators.” I pointed to a camp gear add in the window. “See? This place looks pretty likely, lots of avid campers are big survival nuts!” I gave him a pleased grin, my tail writhing behind my back, trying to wag. “Even if it's not here, there's another big station across the road.”

He stared at me for a moment, but the fear left his eyes. He did relax then and even managed a tiny smile.

“Okay, but we stay within sight of each other at all times, got it?”

I smiled at him, “Yeah."

I looked around from the safety of the car. Didn't look like any of the bodies scattered around the pumps were zombies. They must have wandered down to the highway where much more... food was. The remaining bodies were all torn and showed no signs of having moved themselves.

I got out of the car and Shadow joined me wielding the gory bat. We stood side-by-side.

“Hear anything?” he breathed. At my shrug, we continued. “Where would it be?”

“I don't know,” I said, looking at the sizable station store. “Maybe around the back or where the office is? It should be where the power lines come in?” I ventured.

He looked nervous, but followed as I cautiously led the way around to the rear of the station. No sign of movement nearby. The only movement came from the quickly darkening clouds above us. The power lines were difficult to see, but we traced them to where they entered the station's shop building.

A power box sat there, accepting wires, but no generator. Nothing that looked like it could store a generator....

My ears sagged, following my shoulders down. I wanted to sink beneath the concrete.

“Wait,” Shadow said a little too loudly, “I see it!”

“Huh?” maybe my pride was saved. My tail and ears perked.

“There!” he said, excitedly, pointing through an industrial-sized vent next to the power box. “Is that it?”

I peered in, but it was hard to tell. Looked pretty likely, though. “Maybe it is.”

Shadow's uncertain posture livened. Suddenly, he gained confidence. Whatever he had told himself, his brighter attitude dragged mine up as well.

We circled around to the front again, checking constantly for new movement at the distant tree line or from the zombies on the highway.

"See anything?" Shadow asked looking down at the highway. He was standing with his back to mine.

"I see things moving inside. Nothing too crazy though. Do we go inside?" I asked, turning my muzzle to look at him.

He turned and grinned, "Better than staying out by road-rage zombies." He led the way to the door. "Time to test some things out."

"Huh?" My ears flicked in confusion.

"We need to see what these things are really like. Find what works against them before they recover and get active. Find what attracts them."

I smiled. "Watch out for feisty zombies," I said, looking inside.

Definitely zombies. Only one was on its footpaws, the rest seemed to be struggling with stiff limbs. Similar to how we were when we recovered, except worse. No sympathy for them, though.

He grinned, "Watch out yourself. You're covering my back in there, okay?"

I nodded. I didn't feel as certain as he did, but the idea had some merit.

Shadow smiled, “As long as we're together, I think we can do it.”

“Hey, you're the only one with a bat here....”

“Do you want to do it?” he asked holding it out to me.

“Nope,” I firmly pushed it back towards him. “I'm sure you can hit them harder. Go get 'em.” I gave him a pat on the back as he opened the door.

I could believe in my survival and safety as long as I was with Shadow.

He stepped inside, looking eager somehow. Maybe it was that he hated zombies and needed to bite them back. Maybe he just needed to do something after days of hiding. Whatever it was he led and I trailed right behind him, into the store.

"Watch my back," he reminded me, gesturing with the bat.

“As much as I can,” I said grabbing an ice-scraper from a display just inside. Well, pathetic, but it was better than my bare paws.

This was good. There was a lot of space in the isles and only three waking zombies- make that four. The fourth one was stuck in a doorway to the back, probably the office or storage area - our goal.

"I see four," I whispered, and Shadow nodded.

The store had a mixed effect of old, antique-style decorations and new displays of products.

The single upright zombie shuffled towards us. Faster. The goat huffed and groaned, drops of gore hung around the muzzle.

“First test: body,” said Shadow, grimly. He swung the bat hard at the single upright zombie. It hit, damaging rotting innards. The thing fell, but kept moving, kicking its legs slowly.

I watched enough to see that he was staying clear of that zombie and kept my eyes on the others. They were all looking eager at our presence. Their snarling muzzles gaped at us, and their glowing eyes followed us. Creepy.

“Next: head,” he said, swinging again at the same zombie as it slowly rose to its footpaws. The zombie's head crumpled inwards, followed by the zombie, crumpling to the floor.

“Is it scary that the 'science' of myths can turn real?” I asked, skirting a body on the floor. Unmoving, but at this point, a potential zombie. “How about a light test? Here's a keychain light.” I tried several. “LEDs... guess they're all fried....”

Shadow grabbed a archaic-looking flashlight from the nearest shelf and handed it to me, eying a zombie fox in front of him. It moaned and drooled. He shuddered slightly as it dragged itself towards him, a ghastly snarl frozen on its face. Maybe he thought it looked like me?

I filled the flashlight with batteries, checking the room every few seconds. It was easy to fill, thankfully, and I had no problems.

“Ready,” I said, wielding the flashlight. “What do you want me to do?”

“Step out of sight from this one,” he said, giving a reaching zombie paw a swipe with the bat. The fingers broke, but the zombie didn't even flinch as it slowly dragged itself across the floor.

We moved out of sight from the struggling fox zombie. I passed the flashlight to Shadow and wielded my scraper, facing in the other direction. One paw on the scraper, one paw fisted in Shadow's backfur. If I couldn't see him, I could still know he was right there. I heard him snicker behind me.

"What is it? I had to ask, whispering. I didn't want to distract the fox zombie from whatever Shadow was doing. A white zombie paw edged around the corner of a distant isle. Was that the zombie from the office? A glance at the office showed one still stuck in the doorway. A fifth zombie, then.

“It's going after where the light shines. Talk about short attention span!” he muttered in my direction.

I glanced back, over Shadow's shoulder and saw the zombie fumbling through jugs of wiper fluid near the windows, trying to reach the flashlight glow with broken fingers. It groaned and growled brokenly, voice harsh and scraping.

Then I couldn't look any more. The zombie far down our isle was reaching towards me, but seemed to still be immobile. It had been a young cougar, spotted fur all smeared with blood and gore.

I heard something clatter at the far end of the store. I jumped, but still didn't spare a glance. Shadow's fur was still in my paw.

“I needed to see if he reacted to sound...” he explained quietly. “He really liked it.”

“One more zombie we missed over this way, but it looks pretty weak.... What other tests?” I asked. I wanted this to be over, but still felt reasonably secure. This was needed, important.

“Movement?” he whispered. “How much movement triggers it?”

I grabbed a few different-sized plastic bottles from the shelves and passed them to Shadow. I could hear the zombie still "playing" with the light.

I heard a bottle roll across the floor, somewhere behind me. There was more rolling, and bumping from bottles and some larger bumps and crashes from the zombie. Frustrated grunts came from that direction.

“Success!” he mumbled. “Chalk one up to movement sensitivity.” Somehow, he was enjoying this. Having fun with zombies. Maybe giving them more depth than just "scary walking things" would help him adjust.

“Now distract it again with the light and stand still in front of it. See if it recognizes us as... bait,” I suggested in a low tone.

This was fascinating somehow. It drew threads of curiosity through me. I wanted to see for myself what was happening, because Shadow kept muffling snickers and giggles. But it was more important that I keep my eyes on the struggling zombies I could see.

Wiper fluid sloshed somewhere behind me as Shadow distracted the fox zombie and pulled slowly away from my paw.  There was a long, silent pause. What was happening? I glanced briefly behind me; Shadow was standing still with a grin on his face. But I needed my own focus for the zombies I could see.

The slowly grabbing white paw moved past the isle corner, revealing a furry arm. The zombie at the far end of the isle, a young cougar boy reached for me, moaning as if in pain. He might have been begging for help if it weren't for the death snarl on his face and the glow in his eyes.

There was a shuffle followed by a wet impact.

"Shadow?" I called, alarmed.

"Sorry," came the reply, "it did notice me eventually. Maybe about twenty seconds? Then he lunged for me and I had to end him."

"Any other tests?" I suddenly felt nervous again, but Shadow was there. He had stepped close to me again and was there. I needed to believe things would be okay with him by me.

"I want to test smell, how would I do that?"

"First take care of these two. They make me a little nervous. Leave the one trapped in the doorway; we can do any further tests on him."

"Okay," he said, giving me a quick hug and a kiss on my cheekfur, tongue wiggling briefly to the skin. His arm ran down mine, mixing our paws for a moment. His gaze was measuring the cougar boy for risks.

With me trailing behind, he unhesitatingly dispatched the two zombies. “Check the isles.... Stay in sight!” he demanded.

I nodded, wielding my scraper, which felt barely adequate right now, even against immobile zombies. There were no more zombies in the store. I kept nervously glancing at him, keeping a desperate watch on the only other living fur in my world.

He seemed relieved when he rejoined me. “No zombies?”

“There are several bodies in the store. No sign of movement. Also, a body's lying near that bathroom door....”

“Damn! We didn't check the bathrooms.”

We approached the bathrooms, Shadow smashed the skull of the fur lying there. Just in case. No sign of any fur in the bathrooms. I accompanied him as he methodically smashed the skulls of all the stilled bodies. Just in case.

“Can we call this place clear? Except for the one that's stuck?” he asked.

“I don't think we can count on him being stuck there. He might realize suddenly how to use his legs again,” I said, not joking.

Shadow grimaced and held my shoulders close with one paw. “We'll be careful, right?”

I wasn't sure any measure would be enough against the unknown, but we approached the office zombie anyway. Slowly. We inched forward as he struggled on his belly in the doorway. It was a ferret, the eyes gleaming with that silvery glow. His grimace was full of recently broken teeth. I shuddered.

“Stay back, what do you want me to do?”

I stared at the slowly scrabbling zombie. “Scent, right? Destroy its eyes. They creep me out anyway.”

He found a souvenir flag nearby and pinned the zombie's arms distastefully under his footpaws. After a nod from me, he carefully gouged the eyes out with the flag's staff. I didn't want to watch, but was more terrified of missing something unexpected which might threaten Shadow. I tried not to think about the goop that came out of the ruined eyes.

Shadow stepped away and off the zombie, which returned to struggling. After several minutes, it stopped. The defaced muzzle moved idly as it huffed and moaned.

We both stood silently watching the blind zombie. Shadow casually pushed a can off a shelf. It landed with a clatter and the zombie struggled forward for several minutes, then stopped.

I looked at Shadow and gestured a “three” with my fingers, meaning minutes.

He shrugged and gave a paw waggle that I interpreted as “about that long”.

I smiled, suddenly not at all scared of this moment. I was with Shadow. Of course we were okay.

He grinned back and said, “Now what?”

The zombie struggled uselessly again. I watched it struggle and slowly writhe, feeling calmer. “Um... scented candle! I saw a few in that isle,” I pointed.

He nodded, “Not out of sight, got it?”

I nodded and carefully made my way over to the candles I'd seen. I could feel my tail happily bob and swish behind me as I dodged bodies. I kept glancing over my shoulder at him. I wanted to say that this was ridiculous, but keeping him in sight did keep me much calmer.

When I was around Shadow, it seemed my path to survival was open and things were assured. Where did that impression come from? Didn't matter, it was there.

Hurrying back with a melon-scented candle, I flicked my ears, “Why do they even have these here?”

“Maybe they had a lot of requests from furs with smelly RVs?”

We paused, quiet until the zombie settled. Shadow took the candle and waved it near the zombie. There was some reaction, but not much. The lips pulled down over the snarl and it appeared to be snuffling and scenting the air.

He handed the candle back to me. Then he slowly waved his tail just out of the zombie's reach, wafting odor particles its way.

The zombie stretched forward. I tensed, but the tail was out of harms way. When it settled down again, he crouched down and gently blew in its direction. It reacted to that also, moaning needily.

“Any other tests?” I asked.

He paused, then grinned evilly. “I have an idea!” he chuckled like a classic villain as he hopped down the isle. Never out of sight.

Now that I felt calmer, I could take a better look around. Most isles were filled with modern gas station goods. A few isles held souvenirs and small camping items for anyone who had forgotten their own. The whole front section was glass, mostly blocked by open shelves of oils and fluids.

Against the walls were antiques. Wagon wheels and machine parts. I saw an old penny game and wondered it it still worked when the power was out.

I watched Shadow hop, presumably over bodies, and hunt for something on item-packed shelves.

I shrugged, I was out of ideas. He trotted back with a tall metal can.

I was floored, “What?! Your big idea is air freshener?”

“Spray it on my tail! Really, just do it!”

I shrugged and took the can from him. “Fine, but don't blame me if you smell like...” I checked the print, “Tropical Orchid for hours!”

He held out his tail. Guess he was serious.... I sprayed a bit on. It reeked. Just like visiting some old fur who was covering up nasty smells.

I grimaced my distaste, but he gestured for more spray. He looked delighted as he wafted his tail again at the zombie.

No reaction.

It might as well have been twiddling its thumbs for as much interest as it showed. He waved it steadily closer, nearly touching the snarling muzzle, before the thing gave a turn of its head. I snagged Shadow out of the way before it could decide if it really was a wolf it smelled, and not some conservatory garden.

Shadow just looked smug, “I vote we fill the car with as many of these as we can.”

“Can you just get rid of that thing first?” I smirked at him, tail swishing, "Unless you want to keep him as a pet."

Shadow grinned, then paused in mock consideration, "No, it'll never survive on its own with those teeth, and it's too aggressive to keep as a pet."

Ears high, he strutted up to the creature and whacked the bat down hard. There was no other movement. No sound inside the station's store. Shadow checked the room behind the zombie.

“Office,” he announced. “Looks like the storage room is through that door.” He pointed at a door next to the office door.

I looked at the “Employees Only” door. Pointless rule, pointless sign now.

Together we entered and checked the room. It was narrow and packed tight with a few unstocked items, the generator, and some cleaning supplies. Some fur had turned a corner into a breakroom area; it fit a tiny table and two chairs. Pretty cramped in there. The large vent in the back wall let in some light from the outside.

“They must have not wanted anyone to run off with it, so it's in the storage room,” he said.

It looked old. Nothing pretty about it. Just lots of painted metal. At least it didn't look rusty.

With a look at me, he flipped the “On” switch on the machine. He grabbed the starter cord and pulled it.

Nothing.

I must have looked disappointed, because he smiled and shrugged. Again he pulled. The big machine coughed and stuttered, then died. Again. Again. Again.

It whirled to life. Just a basic hulk of an engine, producing power from gas... to pump gas.

I sighed, relieved that something worked. “Now what?”

“I filled in a few shifts at this one gas station. They weren't picky about who they hired. Guess they thought a wolf behind the counter would scare off thefts. Except it scared off some customers too,” He shrugged. Sounded like a while ago, but pain lingers.

“So?” I prompted.

“The manager... probably the fur in the doorway, has a key to unlock the register....”

I followed him out as he got it from the body and walked over to the cash register. The register was an antique, but parts had been cleverly jerry-rigged to accommodate modern features. Attached to the register was a newer, metal box with a keyhole. A card reader and a check reader sat separately. The eaten remains of a fur lay there. Just to make sure, he smashed that fur's skull in too.

My dad's old bat was getting smeared with more gore. Red and black smeared the wood and sank into the grain. Well, no one to play baseball with anyway....

Shadow unlocked the register and made a few keystrokes.

“Okay! Customer at pump... three! Grab an extra gas can to put on the roof.”

I pulled out two large, red plastic containers from where I'd seen them in the store. They felt sturdy even empty.

Shadow filled them, insisting that if done wrong, it could be dangerous. Then I pulled the Frankenstein car up to pump three. At least I knew this part, and Shadow watched me carefully, then turned his attention to check the surroundings. I looked too.

Birds were growing silent, and insects were not far behind. The building clouds and wind had them quieting. Thunder rumbled nearby.

There were probably a few dead birds under those distant trees, just as some had not survived in my neighborhood. I shuddered, trying not to think of dead birds on the ground, probably twisted with their little beaks gaping open....

“Done?” asked Shadow. He must have noticed me spacing out.

I looked at the pump. It had finished filling. “Yeah.... Let's get these cans on the car.”

"First, the generator," he said, and we went inside to turn off the generator. No use in leaving it running.

We attached the gas cans on Frankenstein, next to the water, taking down the extra food box. It didn't look like we would be short of food any time soon. Packaged and preserved food was available everywhere we went and there must be very few furs left to eat them all before they expired.

Shadow turned to me. “All set. What now?”

“I don't know. Any ideas of where to go?"

He shrugged, "Most places I've been don't differ from each other. Different furs made the, um, flavor of places different. Different attitudes. Now, we haven't even seen any other furs, so everywhere will be the same to me."

I dug around in the car and pulled out my collection of maps and road atlases. I was joining Shadow at the hood of my Frankenstein car when I felt a few drops. I looked up.

The sky was a deadly dark gray. Clouds moved restlessly and rapid lightning shone through the clouds. More rumbling reached us.

"Looks like we're staying here for the night," I said. Those clouds were ready to throw the wrath of ancient gods at us. I passed my armload off to Shadow and quickly pulled the car right up in front of the station door. "Take those in?" I asked pointing to the maps and atlases.

"Okay," he said cheerfully, his tail wagged behind him. Into the store with smelly zombie bodies.

I dug around in Frankenstein's... gut and pulled out sleeping bags for the night, leaving the angel kitty in the car. I didn't want to chance losing it again. For now, the car's little cup was safer.

I carried bedding from the car with me, following right behind him. My tail getting pummeled by raindrops before I swung it in after me. When I turned and faced the windows again, they were smeared with heavy rain. The station parking lot jumped and danced with heavy raindrops, quickly pooling everywhere.

The wind whistled outside. Thunder grumbled and snapped nearby. The storm had begun.