“My name is Vladimir Petraczynski. Call me Vlad.”

Vlad stepped out of the shadows under the eaves of the wood. He wore a hunting jacket and camo suit. He had a large knife easily accessible and very, very visible. A pair of binoculars hung around his neck. The pockets of his jacket bulged with unknown contents.

“Stay back!” yelled Simon and Jay in stereo. They waved and swung their weapons menacingly. Beth stood behind them, looking scared.

Vlad stood his ground. “You are still being followed by shamblers.” On cue, a zombie or two moaned in the dark upstream. “You are not good at not being tracked. Perhaps we can help each other.”

Beth spoke up, “Jay! He’s clearly not a zombie! Simon, easy! Vlad, I’m Beth. This is Jay, Simon.”

“Pleased to meet you. We need to find more people. We cannot survive without more people. Where were you going?”

Simon shrugged. “Downstream, to the ocean, I guess. I don’t know, we didn’t really plan!”

“No good. The brook drains into a large marsh. Follow me. We need a radio.”