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Melody came up behind him, having finally found where he had gone, a frown on her usually smiling face.

"So.. I guess we both didn't make it.." she murmured to him as she knelt down behind him, her own greenish hands resting on his shoulders.

The minute she had woken up she had felt hungry, ravenous... It had been like her dream only she hadn't found Ignacio anywhere near her. She'd been grateful for that, not sure she could handle the feeling of seeing him and feeling such horrid hunger. She'd fled the moment she realized the feeling to try and talk herself out of it.

So far she'd done pretty good with suppressing the need to feed. Here was to hoping she could keep it up.

Hematite partially kneeled down next to Nealite to peer over the rooftop, still casting the occasional paranoid glance at the Negaverse captain next to him as though to assure himself she would not go through any freaky appearance changes when he wasn't looking. He didn't recognize the students she was pointing out, but then again, they weren't his responsibility to keep track of. To him, they were just a couple of youma who thought they could escape their true nature - why didn't things ever go smoothly to plan? This was supposed to be an efficient clean-up, practically hands-free. He had no personal interest in the plan, given there was no one he had a serious grudge match with down on the campus, but he did have orders. And Nealite was here - he couldn't blow this off and just watch as the zombies tore the Barren Pines students apart, much as he'd rather.

Well, on the plus side, it wasn't like he was in any danger from the zombies. Maybe it would be fun. Or maybe it would just be a pain in the a** if too many youma were going to need special attention just to get them to suck all the blood out of someone like they were meant to. Sigh.

"Oh, of course, ma'am. But I call dibs on the girl for this." Looks like Nea was starting to get the full Charonite treatment as far as sarcastic emphasis was concerned. But unlike with Charonite, he wasn't doing more than mocking the formality of all her titles, smirking at her. 'Your Majesty'. The day he had to use that one... Hematite looked down at the zombie embrace. "So do these things have a 'zombie apocalypse' mode? Because this doesn't look anything like Night of the Living Dead from where I'm sitting."

She was unaware of the ones watching them, unaware that they could be affected by anything but their hunger. She'd soon find out it seemed.

"I know... But the chances of finding them are slim to none at this point. I don't know what we can do." What she wanted to do was find a way to kill herself again, maybe... She didn't know if she could deal with this hunger that gnawed at the back of her brain, made her stomach growl with the idea of fresh flesh and blood. Suddenly she felt rather disgusted with herself and tried to back away from such thoughts.

"I... just wish I knew why this had to happen to us," she whimpered as she moved to sit behind him completely, leaning her head against his back. "We've done nothing to deserve this, none of us in this school! This is wrong and I wish there was a way to stop it!"

Realizing her voice had gone a bit loud, her whole gentle personality seemed out of sorts any more, she fell silent save for a small apology for getting so loud.

"I want to find a way to stop this for good.."

Something hit the ground behind Melody while the spotlight was on Nealite. A six-foot-tall, spindly spider of a boy unfolded from his crash landing and leered down at her. After tossing some loose dreadlocks back, Hematite crossed his arms as though bored. She looked like a better choice from up on the roof. Oh well, too late now.

"Tag, sweetheart. You're taking orders from me." After spending enough time surveying his choice, he took a step forward and gestured for Melody to approach him. Hematite flashed Melody a cold smile, and looked over at Nealite's choice, the zombified boy. The lieutenant placed a hand on her (thankfully covered) shoulder, leaned down, and quietly spoke a few words of encouragement. "Don't feel pressured. Unlike my colleague there, I don't care if you win or lose. Just make it entertaining for me."

She'd turned as the woman's voice responded to her words, eyebrows furrowing as she glared up at her. She'd wanted to say something but when she claimed Azzo as hers for the game. Immediately she stood, hands out as a pathetic attempt to keep Azzo in safety.

"You can't have him!"

And then some one else joined the fray and she found herself turning as something touched her shoulder. Another one?! Really? Oh eff this, really. And he was taller then her by about four inches. It was off having to look up at some one, since she was used to staring eye to eye with Azzo.

"Why should I take orders from any one?" She'd lost her annoyed/rough edge, not liking this whole situation. "What kind of game are you people playing with lives like this?"

"One that doesn't involve any useless back-talk." It looked like Hematite wasn't happy with the zombie Melody not following along. But, then again, youma did have to do as they were told. He jabbed a finger at her. "Don't say another ******** word to me. If you'd like to make a complaint, make it to your flesh-eaten boyfriend over there. And be quick about it, I don't think you have much time for last words."

Hematite watched the show on Nealite's side of the makeshift arena. Quietly again, he instructed the zombie girl. He was a Negaverse Lieutenant, and she was a youma. There wasn't any room for her to refuse direct orders, merely carry them out. And it was clear he was taking a certain enjoyment at seeing Melody squirm. "You know, I take back the thing about last words. The two of you couldn't possible be in love - you're just a couple of monsters. Hey. Why don't you tell your friend here how much you hate him, despise him, wish he was dead. Let's get some dark secrets out in the open tonight, those are fun. What kind of things have you been hiding from him, that you planned to take to your grave? Go on, tell him."

"One catch: love talk? Forbidden. No 'I love you', no 'I like like you', and don't bother with allusions and similes and metaphors. Not everyone is as stupid as the two of you. Go on, hurt him with your words. You'd be surprised how effective they are!"

He gave Melody a rough shove in the back to push her at Azzo. "Fight him. Kill him. You've got teeth, you've got claws, and and I'll bet you have his heart right where you need it. Start talking."

She found it hard to talk when he told her to shut up, her eyebrows furrowed together as she struggled against the orders given to her. Hands balling into fists, her nails bit into her flesh. She wasn't a monster! She wasn't!

Shoved foreword, Melody stumbled as she found her lips wanting to move but no sounds came out at first. And that probably because she was struggling against the tears that were beginning to form. Not only was she being pitted against Azzo but... she had to speak harshly? She who's words were nothing but kind to anyone? And to him of all people?! The boy she was falling so ******** head over heels for? She wanted to puke her guts up.

Forced to stare at Azzo she found words she didn't mean spilling out of her mouth. And she could only hope that he would know she didn't mean them. And each word pierced her heart as if she was stabbing herself instead.

"I blame you for 'Nacio's death," she ground out, voice strained because she didn't want to say or even think such bad things of him. He'd tried to save Ignacio, he'd helped her with his death... Saved her from killing people when the real monsters forced them to play horrid games. "I hate you for it."