General POV

Amanda stares in shock at the walker, his head resting in her lap and the ghost of a smile on his grey features. A burst of sadness falls over her. What did this walker go through? How is it that he could speak and think when none of the others could?

"Mandy, are you ok?" her dad, Martin, asks.

She looks up, tears welling in her green eyes. "Why'd you kill him?"

"Him?"

"He was talking to me!" she exclaims, still not letting the body of Zed leave her lap. "He...he said his name was Zed. He said he had loved someone named Bri, but he lost her. Dad, he could talk. He was thinking."

Martin scratches his head, exhaling heavily. He thought he had been imagining it when he heard his daughter having a conversation. He had heard the low, gravelly tone of a stranger, but had just assumed it was human. When he had checked, he had seen his only daughter reaching out the enemy. He had reacted, and now he regretted it.

"I'm...I'm sorry..." he mutters, still in shock at the thought of this strange occurrence.

Amanda brushes Zed's grimy curls out of his closed eyes, still feeling incredibly sad.

"It's ok...he wanted me to kill him."

"What?"

"He said he was tired of being alone and sad," she whispers. "Now...I suppose he's happy."

"A thinking walker...never thought that'd happen," Martin grumbles.

She stands, leaving the body to rest on the roadside. She looks to her dad, smoothing out her loose jeans.

"Can...can we bury him?" she asks timidly.

He nods. "Ok. We will."

He moves to the body, lifting it with a small look of disgust. The two humans wander off, ready to lay the body of the strange zombie to rest.

The hole is dug, the body is laid inside, and Martin begins shovelling the dirt back onto it.

Amanda only watches the zombie's face, where the content smile never fades away. She smiles a little bit too, looking to the sky.

"Wherever you are, I hope you're happy now, Zed."