Before the Naid could take a step further, Mepe screeched, throwing visible sound distortions through the air toward the zombie. Charlotte winced away from the bug girl, clasping one hand over her right ear.

A sonic boom is right, Charlotte thought, watching as the distortions blasted its head right open. The headless body dropped to the ground, dead.

The Human girl turned to her new companion, grinning. “That was epic!”

Mepe clicked her palps together shyly, her chitin cheeks turning dark blue. “Epic, yes, but loud and draining.” Her antennae twitched as her eyes scanned the surrounding forests. “Boom draws more Naid. Very bad, no? Takes a lot of anima to do.”

“If it drains you, why’d you use it on only one Naid?”

“...Mepe wanted to show off…”

Charlotte didn’t get a chance to retort as the last two Naid came out of hiding, growling ominously. Holding her bat in the proper batting stance, she tensed as she waited for the zombies to charge.

Strangely, they seemed content to wait, only shifting forward a couple of inches every so often.

Frowning, Charlotte took a step back, careful not to let her stance drop as she called over her shoulder. “Mepe, what’s going on?”

“Told you, Naid is unpredictable.” After a minute, Mepe hissed. “Very bad; Mepe senses more Naid.”

“Waiting for reinforcements?” Charlotte cursed.

Zombies were supposed to be stupid. They mindlessly charged humans to eat their brains; they didn’t use strategies like these. Why can’t these ones follow the rules?

“About...five coming,” Mepe informed her, stepping up beside the Human girl. “Three to left, one behind, and one to right. Coming very quickly.”

“Crud. I’ve never taken two at a time before! Don’t you have some sort of weapon?”

Bug girl shook her head sheepishly. “Only pouches,” she answered, patting the bags attached to her hip.

“Okay, uh, fine. We need to deal with these ones before the rest get here. You...throw something at them and I’ll get in up close. Got it?”

Mepe pulled out a large, bloodied rock and held it up confidently. “Got it!”

Gritting her teeth, Charlotte charged the still Naid, holding her bat to the right of her. The rock sailed passed her, nailing the left zombie in the throat.

It gurgled a bit, stumbling backward as it clawed at the stone lodged in its neck. While it struggled, its partner growled and leaped at Charlotte. Expecting the leap, the Human girl jumped to the left while swinging the bat downward. The barrel met the zombie’s skull head-on and a sickening crack ensued as the bat caved the zombie’s head in.

Grimacing, Charlotte held back her bile and tried to focus on the feeling of anima entering her core. The warmth steadied her for a bit, and she turned to the next Naid, only to find Mepe bashing its head in with a tiny skillet. Grey matter, bits of rotted skin, and blood sprayed everywhere each time the bug girl brought her skillet down. She finally let up when the zombie stopped its twitching.

Satisfied, Mepe wiped her skillet on the ground and retrieved her rock. Weapons in hand, she hopped back to Charlotte, informing her that the incoming Naids were almost here.

“Got something,” she said, pulling out a glass jar full of frothy blue liquid. Her palps clicked together as she shook up the jar. “Burns skin and bone really good. Mepe has two to throw at the trips; you take on dubs?”

“Tri-oh, you mean the-yeah, sure,” Charlotte mumbled, not entirely over the sight of Mepe brutally murdering the zombie. It’s not like the undead creature didn’t deserve it but...seeing the formerly shy and easily cowed insectoid use such lethal force was jarring.

I’d best not underestimate her in the future, she thought. I don’t think she’d hurt me, considering how eager she was when I said I’d be her...friend, but it wouldn’t hurt to be cautious. And...here I am again, thinking strangely. Whatever. I can figure this out when we’re not under attack.

The Naid came quickly, as Mepe expected them too. Charlotte took out hers easily enough, used to their predictable moves. She only received a scratch on her arm for her efforts.

Mepe faired a little less well; her acid jar caught only one of the Naids, dissolving it nigh instantly. The other two were mostly unharmed, as they’d been spread out enough so the resulting splash barely touched them. She panicked when both rushed her, flying into the nearby trees. One chased after her while the other came for Charlotte.

It leaped for a tackle, she smashed its head in, and anima settled into her core. Seeing as Mepe refused to come down from her tree, Charlotte had to take on the Naid by herself but she dispatched it as easy as always.

It’s weird how they fight the same when in combat, but they know how to ambush and wait for reinforcements instead of immediately attacking. They’re smart at some things but dumb at others. Much like humans, I guess.

“You saved Mepe,” bug girl cried out, falling from her tree and nearly onto Charlotte, who retreated out of the way just in time. “So grateful, so grateful. Mepe got so scared when they came!”

“Yeah, I saw,” Charlotte grumbled. “You said you had them!”

The bug girl cringed slightly, nervously picking at her dirty shirt. The tiny holes her claws tore went unnoticed as she fidgeted. “W-well, Mepe isn’t very experienced at dealing with more Naids and-”

“So, what, you were just gonna bail on me?”

“No!” she yelled, clicking her palps. “Mepe just...panicked…”

Charlotte really wanted to rip into her when she paused and thought back to her own experiences. She, for one, was in no way experienced with such violent and bloody combat. She didn’t even play those kinds of video games, for that matter! So why was she so focused while she fought the Naid. By all means, she should’ve been running for the trees like Mepe.

Frowning, Charlotte shook her head. This wasn’t the time nor place to figure out weird mind shenanigans. “Come on,” she told Mepe. “We need to find a safer resting spot where we can heal up.”

Bug girl perked up. “Mepe knows place? Human can go if Human can stand the smell of bear pee.”

“Ugh. Any other options?”

Seeing as there were none, she motioned for Mepe to lead the way. The bug girl happily skipped by her side, babbling away about this and that. Charlotte tuned out for most of the one-sided convo, only catching bits and pieces of Mepe’s broken English. The bug girl would occasionally poke her and ask a question.

“Are all Humans like you?” she asked.

Charlotte ducked under a low branch, only to get whacked in the face by a feisty plant. Rubbing her nose, the Human girl looked at her companion. “What do you mean?”

Mepe considered her question before explaining her words. “Light but dark chitin? Or no chitin? Human has very soft skin...And a big stomach? Mepe has never seen such big stomachs before. Karikit very thin; it helps us fly better.”

“Right. Uh, no, not all Humans look like me. We come in various colors. And…” Charlotte looked down at her partially exposed flab. “No, about the big stomach. I’m just...fat.”

“Fat?” Mepe questioned, her palps clicking as she mulled over the word. “Fat, fat, fat...Human is fat. Fat on Human. Ah! Mepe sees. Fat just means there’s more Human!”

Scoffing, Charlotte rolled her eyes. “No, it means I’m overweight.”

Bug girl’s antenna twitched as her eyes searched Charlotte’s face. After a moment of intense face-searching, she stopped and hugged the Human girl, chirping softly.

Charlotte froze, her heart and thoughts speeding up as she tried to process the sudden physical contact. Is she….rubbing my stomach?

Indeed, the Kariki was rubbing her palms against Charlotte’s sides, occasionally squeezing her body. “It is okay,” she whispered softly, pressing her own stomach against Charlotte’s. “Mepe likes Human’s fat.”

“Mepe,” the Human girl said, her voice cold. “Stop touching my stomach.”

The bug girl frowned and stepped back. “Was Mepe’s hug not enough?”

“It was more than enough,” she snapped, hugging her violated fat rolls. “You didn’t have to do that!”

Clicking her palps, Mepe shrugged her shoulders sheepishly. “Thought it might make Human feel better…”

“Yeah, well, it didn’t. And my name is Charlotte; stop calling me Human.”

Mepe flinched back, her legs tensed to jump as her wings half-opened. “S-sorry,” she muttered.

“Ugh, whatever. Let’s just keep moving.”

They trekked toward Mepe’s safe place in silence.