In the following days, Vincent left early and came back late. His negotiation with the wolves went well, and they exchanged some benefits. They would team up when a strong enemy appears and help each other.

As the interpreter, Queen was forced to go with them every day. She used her power on those trustworthy followers who were chosen by Vincent and became her voice. Because they weren’t related to Klaye, Queen wasn’t afraid of them. She enjoyed commanding her new servants.

Klaye was left behind in the villa. He couldn’t find anything to help the other and felt bored.

After a week, he got Vincent’s permission to go to the hospital and visit Edward. On the one hand, he wanted to know if there was any discovery after examining his blood. On the other hand, he really wanted to befriend the zombie king.

Vincent told him Edward didn’t awaken any ability, but he didn’t believe it. Even if he didn’t turn into a zombie in this life, he couldn’t lose his strong power.

After lunch, Klaye ran to the hospital. He excitedly stood in front of Edward’s laboratory, but before he knocked on the door, he lost his courage. He realized he didn’t know what to say. He was too impetuous and ran there without thinking. Maybe it was a better idea to come back next time when he would give blood. That time it would be easier to ask about the result.

„Come in!” a gentle voice interrupted his thought.

Klaye sighed and went in. Now he was sure Edward really had his zombie king’s power. „Good afternoon!”

The doctor nodded when he saw him. He pointed at the chairs in the corner. „Sit down.”

Klaye walked over. „You don’t seem to be surprised because of my visit...”

„To tell the truth, I hoped you’ll come. There are some things I wanted to speak about with you.”

Edward followed him but stopped. He massaged his sore waist. Though he smiled, in his heart, he angrily cursed a certain person. Even if Howard was dragged away by Vincent and forced to do some kind of experiment, he ran back every night.

Edward didn’t remember when the last time he slept well was. Every night, he was hugged until he fainted. In his desperation, yesterday he begged Vincent to send out that bastard. He didn’t care what kind of mission he could find, but didn’t let him come back for a month!

But he was disappointed. Vincent only called him to tell him his lover wanted to visit him. Yet he got a promise. If he treated Klaye nicely, Vincent would find some chance to send Howard away. The autumn approached and they needed to save up a lot of food. That time, he would be busy.

After sitting down, the two men watched each other with interest. Edward was sure Vincent wasn’t worse in bed than Howard. Finally meeting with a fellow sufferer, he couldn’t hold back his curiosity.

„Vincent, he... doesn’t make you too tired?”

Klaye was stunned. He didn’t think their conversation would be about this. His face turned red, and he looked down.

Edward saw him this way and realized he jumped in the middle of the matter. „You know... I never had a relationship before. But some days before, I became Howard’s lover... I’m confused about a lot of things and didn’t know who to ask.”

Klaye patted his shoulder and felt distressed. There were a lot of nice men outside, yet he ended up in Howard’s hands... With that womanizer, his future was destined to be desperate. Even so, Klaye didn’t intend to tell a long speech to make them break up. It was their choice.

Because it was an awkward topic, Klaye changed the subject and asked if his blood was helpful.

Being asked about his job, Edward became excited and spoke nonstop. Using it as a starting point, they slowly became familiar and spoke about a lot of things.

Late at night, Vincent kicked open the door and angrily took away Klaye. His face darkened when he heard his lover promised to come again.

Edward walked to the door and wanted to ask when, but Howard dragged him back.

The two young men were punished and the next day, they couldn’t leave the bed.

The days passed fast, and it was already the end of October. The weather suddenly turned cold, and the snow fell.

Klaye sat in front of the window and watched the snowflakes. He slowly drank a cup of hot cocoa and enjoyed the warmth. It was really a blessing to live in this city.

During the summer, the sunlight was stronger than used to be and damaged some equipment. It wasn’t hard to repair them, but it caused a lot of headaches to Vincent. He didn’t remember if the weather became hotter year after year or not. As an ability user, his body became stronger, and it wasn’t as noticeable as before.

Klaye only remembered about the winter. It lasted for 5 months with a lot of snow, but it wasn’t colder than -30 °C. It couldn’t cause any problem for the city. They only needed to watch after the wandering hungry animals and zombies.

Queen lay on the windowsill and slept. She was freed from her interpreter’s job and enjoyed her holiday.

The door was suddenly knocked open, and the excited Stupy ran in.

Queen was awakened and angrily shouted. ’Can’t you hibernate, you stupid dog?!’

The wolf didn’t care about her. He ran to Klaye and sat next to him. He barked with shining eyes.

Klaye’s face darkened. He looked at the lazy cat.

Queen yawned. ’I’m on holiday!’

Stupy didn’t get any answer. After a while, he remembered Klaye couldn’t understand him and turned to Queen. He repeatedly poked her with his nose, but the cat turned away her head and slept. He felt wronged and whined. He gently bit Queen’s tail and pulled her down from the windowsill.

Queen fell down and was stunned. She slowly turned back and looked at the wolf. ’Do you want to die?’

Stupy barked, and Queen was annoyed. She jumped back to the windowsill. ’He comes to say goodbye. The winter is here, and they won’t come out as often as before.’

Klaye nodded. Even if the winter wouldn’t be too cold, there would be too much snow. They couldn’t travel as easily as before. „Then see you in spring!”

’Bye-bye, stupid dog! I can’t wait for the months without you!’ Queen waved with her paw.

Stupy whined. He felt heartbroken after seeing their carelessness.

Klaye saw it and thought about it. He had an idea and smiled. „How about we’ll hold a big party to celebrate the spring arrival and our reunion? This way, it won’t be that dull to wait.”

Stupy’s eyes lit up. He barked happily and wagged his tail. He loved the idea. He jumped up and gave a goodbye ’kiss’ to Klaye and ran away while barking.

Klaye touched the droll on his face and sighed. It was too easy to make this dog happy...

’This dog is really stupid!’ Queen lifted one of her paws and pointed at the door. ’He said he’ll give birth to his lover’s children during the winter and bring them here the next time!’

Klaye’s eyes widened, and he touched his stomach unknowingly. He completely forgot about it. In this world, the virus didn’t just give special powers, but once in a thousand chances, it changed the human body. Men could give birth, and women could make others pregnant...

’What happened to you?’ Queen looked at him.

Klaye shook his head. „Nothing.”

It wasn’t that he forgot it, but he didn’t want to remember. It was something that happened after he was captured...

Klaye hit his forehead, then grabbed his cocoa, and continued to drink it slowly. He threw away all those memories and concentrated on more important things.

Gardena completely disappeared after that incident. Vincent created a little team and send them out to look for news, but they never come back. No one knew if they died or joined hands with her.

Vincent understood he couldn’t go after them. He chose to look for possible spies in the city. When he found some, they were closed into a special prison. They weren’t traitors. They were brainwashed by a special ability. Once Gardena died, they would be freed from its effect.

Queen found a way to test them, but it wasn’t perfect. She wasn’t sure if she found all of them.

Klaye knew that it was meaningless. He knew Gardena’s ability from the book. Until she died, it was impossible to terminate all of her pawns. Maybe the city was safe now, but she would get all of the information she wanted. Their only advantage was that the winter arrived. The snow would fall a lot and made it impossible to travel far. Until spring, there wouldn’t be any problem...

Klaye watched the sky darkening, but he knew, their future was bright. Just yesterday, Edward made a big breakthrough in his research. He created a medicine with a 60% chance to heal an infected. His talent in medicine was really enviable.

Vincent walked into the room and threw his coat on a chair. He hugged his lazy lover.

Klaye shivered and turned back. „If it’s so cold, then why don’t you come back earlier?”

„It’s okay.” Vincent murmured and looked at the cat on the windowsill.

Queen felt the murderous intent and stood up. She left the room before she was thrown out. On the corridor, she met with Lex. He nailed Egbert to their room’s door and kissed him.

Queen snorted in her rage. She couldn’t understand these stupid pairs...