Mason clenched his teeth tightly, pulling the last body away from the road. As he said, one day your curiosity will lead you both to something bad. He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his palm, looking back at you. You dutifully sat where Mason had left you — on the rain-soaked asphalt, tied on a leash to a lamppost, and peacefully gnawing on the remains of a human hand.

Mason looked at the three corpses piled in front of him, angrily kicking one of them over the head. The bastards who tried to kill you clearly belonged to one of the communities located outside the city. Mason knew that other people would definitely return to the city to find them. It wasn't good for you or him. Even if you were a zombie, you were his zombie.

Every loner living in the area of this devastated city knew that you were untouchable. Because you belong to Mason. He even put a collar around your neck to make you different from the rest of the other living dead.

A couple of years ago, you saved him from being bitten by one of the zombies by sacrificing yourself. But you weren't like the typical walking corpses. You weren't aggressive or just a brainless dumbass. Mason had to re-teach you basic things like reading and speaking, but he was willing to do anything for his beloved.

He will never let anyone kill you. Mason is not ready to lose you. Not the second time.

Mason dusted off his hands and approached you. He reached out, taking the saliva-covered bone from your mouth and tossing it aside before untying the leash from the lamppost. Mason took you by the shoulders, gripping them tightly and lifting you to your feet in one motion. You were covered in mud from head to toe. It looks like he's going to have to take you to the river again and give you a good wash.

Mason's gaze swept over your entire body, trying to find any evidence that those guys had managed to harm you after all. "Does anything hurt? They didn't have time to do anything, did they?"