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So long as Sue didn't protest, Yahya would just keep his arm secured around his friend's side. Sure, Sue was very strong mentally, but didn't the strong people not know when they were meeting their limit? If Sue reached his limit, then Yahya would be right at his side. Besides, Sue just told him to stick close. There was no way Yahya was moving out of his friend's reach. He wasn't even moving away to go pick up Columbus, who was trailing behind them happily.

The kitten was purring loudly with satisfaction, and at mention of his name he darted back up the front of the duo. He made sure to rub up against Sue's leg, a sure-fire tripping mechanism if he wasn't careful with how he demanded for attention. He wasn't trying to get in the way! He just wanted to be pet (and to be allowed to walk on the ground for a little while longer, Yahya was always carrying him about, and frankly, he was going to lose his ability to WALK if Yahya kept it up).

"Columbus and the baby squirrels are just fine, even if Columbus was playing a little roughly with them earlier..." Yahya was proud that he had managed to protect his precious cargo for so long. That and, he hadn't lost Columbus except for a FEW seconds there, and Sue clearly did not realize he had lost him for a little bit.

Yahya looked horrified at the suggestion that Columbus was going to eat his squirrel siblings. Of course he knew about the natural order of things, and certainly the food chain. But Columbus wouldn't turn the squirrels into a snack, he was sure of it. Sue... sounded sure, though. W-wait, he couldn't trust Sue ALL the time could he? ...Well, he did. With his free arm he reached back to zip his backpack up just a little bit more, so Columbus couldn't sneak in when he wasn't looking. "I'm su-sure he wouldn't," good way to trip up on talking there, Yahya, "because I keep him fed enough as it is. There couldn't be any room in his stomach for squirrels..." Right?

He did calm down from his horror, though, at the warm little sight of Stripers greeting Columbus. The kitten was purring even louder, and as if to attribute to his good health, he batted playfully at Stripers' whiskers. It was almost as if there hadn't been a zombie invasion, and a certain amount of certainty that they were all going to die (Yahya was still behind the times, if not happily so).

It was time for a subject change, AWAY from speculations about Columbus eating the baby squirrels. "Are you sure you're holding up okay? You look really tired. Did you have zombies chasing you or something?" If only, eh?

As Ancient Lady had said, so she was saying now -- they had gone from milling dutifully inside the gym to dutifully milling outside, underneath the obsidian sky. Sue was doing his best to look as though he was standing up all right, his cats weaving around him. The humans were there with renewed cheer and weaponry. And there was Aries and Taurus, carrying what was the body of Sagittarius between them in a black plastic sack. The Ancient Lady's expression was inutterably sad, and she laid a hand gently on the reeking mess.

Hero fired off a crisp salute. "Ma'am," she said. "I'd like to ask if you -- "

Serenity cut her off. "I cannot," she said. "I cannot do this thing. Only Princess Chronos can bring him back from true death -- and he died untimely, this was not meant to happen. Please, Captain, if you would. Bring him with us."

And so the whole cavalcade started marching towards the barrier.

Sue -- Zue, the Guardian cat. Astraea, the other Guardian cat. The Zodiacs, two of them in fuku. The humans -- Yahya, Ignacio -- Lucas had fled. Billy. Yvette. Remi. Others.

And they walked, inexorably, as a mass gang, the last of the Barren Pinesians -- barring a few scattered over the campus, both alive and dead -- to the barrier.