Iskall was still inside of the giant skull. He was at the chair at the head of the table, throwing arrows against the wall. He was bored. False was still asleep. He didn't need to look over there. Maybe he shouldn't have sent Mumbo and Stress on such a long journey. They would have at least come back to him to keep him company. He stood up, stretched, and sat back down. He reached into his trousers pocket and pulled out an unopened bag marked "Swedish Fish - New Iskallium Flavour!" The things they made from Iskallium these days, you'd think it was the new concrete. Iskall didn't open the bag, he merely stared at it. The reflection of his diamond eye showed somewhat among the mylar packaging.

"Rough day, huh?" A voice. From False's area, but it didn't sound like False. It was a man's voice, but he didn't know who it was. Iskall looked over his shoulder to see a somewhat oddly dressed man. He wore a gold and grey shirt with the sleeves cut off, depicting the letters "HC," but his most defining feature was a golden crown perched on his head.

"Don't think we've been introduced. KingDaddyDMAC's the name, but my friends just know me as just "D-Mac." Iskall looked confused at DMAC's presence. 

"I - I... I don't know what..."

"Look, I know things are getting a bit out of hand. The whole of Hermitcraft seems to be falling apart. And I know how to help."

"Well, see... My name's Iskall by the way... I'm trying to help as well, so..."

"You're helping by...sitting around eating sweets?"

"Well, you see, DMAC, Most of the other hermits don't know I'm back."

"Right. I want to warn you about a few things. First, a terrible plague has been unleashed on the Hermits, by Cleo. There is no cure, only a delay, and your mayor has it. But it can be prevented. Second, there is a lack of leadership, and people like Sl1p want to be the leader. He can get dangerous toward his opponents, and I think that you'd want to be on his good side when he does assume power. Third, Joe Hills, Mumbo, Hypno and xB have all disappeared and when Sl1p does take over, he'll want to locate these people. Fourth, we're all on permadeath, and our regime can save you. And, most importantly fifth, Sl1p has a chemist on his side. One that has a love of genetic modification. We can make you immune to the disease, immune to Permadeath, and overall a full change of build. This chemist, however, can destroy you physically if you try and stop us. So what do you say, will you join our cause?"

Iskall pondered this for a while. Eventually, on a whim, he said "Alright, I'll join you."

"Excellent."

"The man who conquers death returns."

A forest. It was late. A fire crackled nearby, throwing light onto the surrounding trees. Three people were sitting around the fire. Joe Hills realised that he was the fourth. He sat up and observed who was there. Two men, one woman. The woman was Cleo; he was at least in the company of friends. The other two - there was one man in a dark suit, which contrasted with his maddeningly pale face. The other looked somewhat deranged, and was completely naked save for a pair of underwear and a cape. These were the last two people that he expected Cleo to be camping with, mainly because they were presumed dead, none other than Kiershar, who he remembered as being a technical genius, and IAmSp00n, who was the self-dubbed random naked guy, known  for randomly throwing watermelon slices at people. Cleo got up from her seat by the fire and walked towards Joe. She reached out and felt his forehead, but Joe moved and groped around for his glasses. 

"Joe, we're sorry for sedating you, but, you know... Secret location and all that," she said.

Joe looked around for a while, but remained silent, before beginning a bit of a tangent. "Cleo, I want to know where I am and what I'm doing here, because I don't seem to know. And why are Spoon and Kiershar here, I thought they were gone." Joe put his hand on Cleo's shoulder. "See here, There's.." Joe was unable to finish his thought, as he had brushed his hand past her neck. Cleo's skin was warm, which was unusual, owing to the fact that she was... well...dead, and her skin was usually ice cold and had the texture of burlap. But this skin was warm, soft and very much alive. Joe sputtered for a moment, and then said quite loudly "Wh...who are you?"

"Joe, it's me, Cleo. Your friend."

"You're not Cleo, you're not dead! ZombieCleo is dead and you're not her because you're alive!"

"I... what?"

"You're one of them! That's why Spoon and Kiershar are here, because you're one of them!"

"Joe, I have no idea what you..."

"Cleo or whatever your name is, stay away from me!"

"Joe, it's me. Just listen."

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because I love you"

"Well, I love everyone but that has nothing to do with this"

"Joe, we know each other, but I haven't spoken to you in years."

"Cleo, if that's really your name, when was the last time we spoke?"

"Halloween, 2013. The day I died."

"What?"

"Don't you remember?" We were at your Museum of Eyes, and you were showing me a new exhibit in the basement, when one of King's farms malfunctioned. Don't you remember? Zombies everywhere. You managed to get out fairly unscathed. I...was...infected, per se. You were devastated. I was dying. You...would have done anything to save me."

"So we turned you into a..."

"You did,  Joe. You saved me from death. You thought you did."

"Well... I..."

"I don't know when I first came back. But I know that they were here when I woke up. I think I'm an imprint of what once was."

"And you stayed?"

"I wanted to find you, Joe. To see how you were."

Joe said nothing more to say. He just watched Cleo the rest of the night. After the initial shock had worn off, he'd gotten used to the fact that there were now two versions of Cleo. He did notice, however, that the living version looked a great deal younger than the zombie version.

(Gore warning!)

"You've got a lot of nerve, trying to interrogate a government official!"

Outside the Town Hall, Jevin being yelled at by Red3yz and Topmass. 

"Honestly, I had no idea that Sl1p was working for Scar!"

Red3yz hit Jevin in the stomach. He winced with pain. 

"You idiot, don't you read the Herald? The Mayor's too ill to lead, so he appointed Sl1pg8r! You had no right to use that kind of force!"

Voices. Raised voices. Close. Three of them. Warm. Warm people.

"Topmass, please, you understand, don't you? I couldn't, there's just no way to know this fast!" Jevin was keeled over and looked quite beaten up. It seemed that the only thing keeping him off the ground was Topmass, who was holding his hands together behind his back.

Voices. Warm people. Living people. get up. Step. Warm bodies. Warm blood. Step. No balance. Arms. Use arms. No see. No eyes. Arms. Use arms. Step. Step. Warm bodies. Step. Warm blood. Step. Fresh blood. Step. Food. Step.

Topmass loosened his grip on Jevin, and focused on someone moving behind a tree. Jevin looked up, as did Red3yz. Cleo. Cleo was walking towards them, but not in a normal way. She was lurching, dragging her feet, with her arms stuck out in front of her. 

No voices. They stop. why. Keep stepping. feel warmth. Step. sense warmth. Step. food. Need food. living food. Complete the process. need food. Step. 

Red3yz and Topmass had Jevin in a hold, but were busy watching Cleo, lurching slowly towards them. Something was wrong. Her eyes were devoid of all colour. Just black. Her skin wasn't its usual pale mint colour, instead a deep olive green. she was in disarray.

Step. closer. Step. Food closer. With flesh. Step. Zombie. Step. closer. step. Good feeling. Step. So good. Step. So close. Step. So close to completion. A brief flash of humanity. With the flesh of a human, she would become... a monster. She would become one of the dead. A zombie. No. Don't complete the process. Want to stay. Human. Eat human. food. Step. Complete the process. Step.

Cleo was now close. Topmass let go of Jevin, and bolted. 

"Cleo! Stop!" Jevin yelled. Red3yz, who had decided to stand his ground, began to tremble. Jevin took the opportunity to wriggle free of his grasp, but decided to stay. Cleo was his friend, and whatever had happened to her, he would save her.

Warm body. So close. So good. Good feeling. 

Jevin was yelling, trying to get sense back into Cleo. Red3yz seemed frozen with fear. Jevin yelled "CLEO! PLEASE!" Cleo let out a moan, empty and hollow. Her arms reached Red3yz. He tried to run, but at the same time, remained affixed to the spot.

Food. here. In hands. Take bite.

Jevin, in a last ditch attempt, ran to Cleo and tried to pry her away from Red3yz. Suddenly, a shriek came. Jevin looked down. a bite mark in Red's neck. A large chunk of flesh just missing. Blood began to pour out of the wound. A sick crunching noise, another shriek, a gurgling noise, and Jevin's communicator buzzed. He pulled it out and saw a message Roll across the top. 

Red3yz was slain by ZombieCleo

Red3yz' Body fell limp to the ground, as Cleo's vacant stare turned towards Jevin. He, again, remained frozen to the ground. Cleo advanced on him. He put his hands on her face, and braced himself for the pain of being bitten. But it didn't come. He felt her back away. She looked at her bloody hands. He noticed that her skin had gone back to a pale mint, and colour had come back to her eyes. She was shaking. Jevin looked up. 

"W...will y-you h-h-h-elp me? p...please?" she asked Jevin, before collapsing into him.