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Dulled indigo eyes eventually looked up to Topher as he drew close. Even though she knew this was coming, she still couldn't help but look like the victim in the situation as she got gagged. His hand felt like a flame on her skin, but not in the painful sense of burning. Her own skin was so cold in comparison that living flesh brushed upon it was an inferno that felt like heaven. Subconsciously, she leaned further into the warmth of his skin, almost as if she was trying to snuggle into him.

While his hands remained tucked in her hair, her eyelids sunk slightly over her eyes, feeling a bit heavier than before. Even with the tough cloth between her teeth, she began to draw herself closer, nearly pressing her gagged mouth against his chest. She could feel a steady rhythm of beating beneath the ribs and skin. To one who was dead, the sensation was nearly seductive. She pressed her face against it, rubbing her cheek across it, as if trying to claim the beating heart as her own.

It was only when he pulled away to show her where she was supposed to go that she seemed to snap back into her usual self. Since she really couldn't say anything without it coming out muffled, she scolded herself in the back of her mind. What was that all about?!! You cannot afford to do something so foolish, or you might lose him again.

Her stomach retaliated to such a thought by stabbing her promptly in the gut with hunger pains. Much like before, she gripped tightly to her stomach, heaving in a deep breath through her nose. Standing there, she looked as if she was going to wobble over from a lack of balance. However, with a second deep breath through her nostrils, she attempted to balance herself. She knew she was hungry. She watched the direction which Topher was heading, seeming hesitant at first. Maybe she could follow him. Maybe he was right and it would all go away very soon.

With slow and wobbly steps, she followed after her friend, like some stray cat that was looking for a free meal.

One foot in front of the other.

Poor Yvette really was physically incapable of moving very fast. She couldn't really hear what her friend was saying practically to himself. She continued to follow him, one staggering foot in front of the other.

Subconsciously, her teeth began grinding slightly against the rigid cloth in her mouth. She wasn't aware she had been doing it, but she knew she was hungry. There was fresh meat guiding her someplace, and if all did not work out, maybe she'd still manage to catch herself a meal. She would have been drooling if her mouth hadn't been gagged up. As she trailed behind him, her eyes were growing even duller, to the point they were practically an inky black. She was losing control again, but it was not a full control like before.

It felt as if there was something irresistible about Topher that she needed to find. As they approached the garden, the girl literally hobbled right up to him and began to snuggle into his warm body. She didn't say anything, strictly because she couldn't, but even as she wrapped her arms about his waist and pressed her face against his chest, she was still grinding her teeth on the gag. That pulsing in his chest was a siren's song even Yvette could not resist. She wanted him more than ever.

As his heart began to beat faster, the girl seemed to grow slightly more excited in her actions. Her teeth were practically chomping on the gag, but her body continued to hold onto him tightly, fingers trailing up and down his back in a feverish fashion.

It was the stern voice of her friend and the strong push against her body that seemed to cause a reaction in the girl. Her eyes seemed to gain a slight bit of color again, but more notably, her eyes looked scared. Within a moment, she had gone from being the predator to being the prey, eyes now resuming that doe-like quality they always had before. Her arms, which had still be wrapped about the boy's waist plucked themselves away and tucked themselves up close to her own body as if in some form of self defense.

Though she looked at Topher with frightened eyes, it was difficult to get a sense as to why she was scared this time. Had it been his tone with her? Was it the rejection? The less-than-gentle physical touch? Or maybe it was none of these and something inside of Yvette that frightened her so.

Regardless, it was not like the girl could flat out tell him what was wrong. With her mouth bound shut, all she could do was edge back as she almost seemed to fight off the invisible tears from her eyes.

He urged her to keep going. He had told her to cheer up. He reported that she did not hurt him.

Yet, all she could do was shake her head from side to side and back up. Her dark hair was getting a bit tussled as she attempted to get away, partially masking her truly scared expression. Her body seemed to move in an almost frantic fashion, and soon enough she had managed to stumble slightly before pushing herself back further, skidding her skirt through the soil. With the way her legs moved and how short her skirt was now, she was definitely flashing a bit more than she would have normally been okay with.

The strange thing was she did not attempt to say a word. Her mind had plenty to say as it was practically spewing out words within milliseconds. It might have looked as if she was thinking "Oh, I can't believe he yelled at me" or "Oh, why did he push me?!" That was far from the case. If one could interpret the rapid stream of words running through her mind, it loosely came out to "No! I don't want to hurt him! I need to get away so I can't hurt him! This was supposed to be a good day, why is the day falling apart like this?! I don't want to be doing this anymore! I'm so scared!"

All of these thoughts were flooding through her as she continued to just shake her head from side to side and edge away, the vague sounds of whimpering escaping her from under the gag.

Just as he was about to venture out to find the body he'd left behind, a voice stopped him in his tracks. Oh god. Was he surrounded now? That was the absolute last thing he needed.

Topher let out an awkward sort of squeal like he'd been caught walking out of the shower without a towel. His entire body quivering as he lifted the pool stick over his shoulder like a baseball bat, all the insecurities of thinking he was the only survivor coming to the forefront of his mind in a sort of panic. Whenever he saw people, it meant that someone might have to be hit in the face. His pool stick and the fact that he was a pretty fast kid were the only tools that he had for surviving. He certainly wasn't going to let his guard down with someone else running around.

Although...there was something different about the newcomer.

"Wh-what do you wa-want?..." His voice was ragged and shaky, adrenaline mixed with the fright of the sudden intrusion fairly obvious. It took him a good moment to finally realize who he was looking at. Well, they certainly didn't look like a zombie. No green skin or awkwardly colored eyes and they wanted to...talk? The people Topher ran into never just wanted to talk. They just wanted to eat and he certainly wasn't a fan of that.

No. This person was definitely alive. He slowly lowered the pool stick to his side as he shuffled hesitantly towards the other. "You're still alive? How can that be? I thought everyone was...dead...kinda..." He pointed to Yvette with the end of the cue to demonstrate his confusion on the word 'dead'. "I swore I was the only one left alive. I mean, I've been walking around forever and there's been absolutely no one who wasn't trying to tear my face off hence the gag..."

Foramen positioned himself diagonally in front of Serenity. She would still be able to see the zombie and the human boy, but if they made a move for the Queen, Foramen would be there to stop them.

"She seems almost lucid," he noted. The female zombie looked a bit hungry, but also seemed to be trying to resist it. Why the boy had stayed with her, Foramen had no idea. The idiot was risking his life by not killing the green-skinned monster. If he died, Foramen would nominate him for the Darwin Awards. "How do you wish to proceed, Your Majesty?"

This was indeed turning into a zombie recruiting drive, if it was the girl they were here for. Foramen wasn't impressed with the calibre of these "zodiac" senshi if they'd all succumbed to the zombie plague. At least the Queen was kind and generous enough to heal them. And god help the little bastards if they weren't appropriately grateful to her.

Maybe it would be the human. Although that would just make another zombie-loving senshi, like the girl in pale green. Yep, these "zodiacs" were definitely the retarded cousins of normal senshi like himself.

"Can you tell which one it is?" he asked Sue.

Even gagged, Sue knew, those things were dangerous - all claws and hunger and viciousness. And of all the ways he could think of to lose his princess, this would have certainly been one of the most careless, most pathetic. So he watched the exchange with a peculiarly intense gaze (no doubt that glowing thing between his eyes was in large part responsible for the unease his gaze brought), rolling onto his heels, ready for motion. At the slightest sign of aggression - the tiniest hint of threat from the greenie - Sue would have lunged forward, forced some distance between her and the possessed Chronos, and left Yvette to Foramen's particular talents.

But that was underestimating Serenity, or else putting too much weight on the danger of this particular creature. Within seconds, life had been breathed back into the greenie girl; Yvette was living once more, her threat utterly disarmed.

"It is, m'am," Sue confirmed. Without the zombie to worry about, it was easier for him to focus now. Recalling Astraea's directions, he did his best to focus on the boy.

The part of him which was "Sue" spat up the information quickly, spilling it out in a bored tone like reciting from a textbook. He knew the name was Topher; he'd lived two doors down from Sue's own room, next to Trace. He was a little older than Sue, and in a different house, so they'd managed not to have much contact in spite of their living arrangements. Sue was pretty sure he was one of those guys that never knew when or how to shut up, and about the stupidest things too - probably another reason they'd had so little contact.

But once Sue got done yammering now, there was a whisper from the other part. All these thoughts led somewhere, and that place had a name....

Found it.

Like he'd managed once already, Sue found that door within his mind which led elsewhere, gave it a little push. And his hands began to glow, the first sure sign that he'd been doing anything at all other than standing there and looking contemplative (a look that didn't especially suit him well, anyway.)

"Taurus." Sue all but snatched the henshin pen out of that place he imagined it, and it appeared abruptly in his hands. "This one's for you, take it."