When I woke up there was the welcoming aroma of oatmeal coming from somewhere in my room. That struck me as odd for a moment because my mom hated it when I ate in my bed, and then I realized where I was. I had woken up to the sound of the door opening, and when I opened my eyes Francois was standing there with a tray of food. That’s where the smell was coming from.
    "We have to leave shortly." Francois said and set the tray down by my feet. "Get dressed and I'll meet you outside."
    I grumbled but got out of bed when Francois left. I pulled on some clothes, ran a brush through my hair, and ate breakfast. When I was done with breakfast I threw my dirty clothes back into my bag in case some maid got the great idea to wash my clothes while I was out. I then opened the door and almost walked right into Francois. When he had said that he would meet me outside I thought he had meant by the stables or downstairs. Not outside my door, being a creeper.
    "Good morning." Francois was almost cheery. Oh god, he was a morning person. I muttered something. "Was breakfast good?"
    "Yeah." It was fine, mostly because I didn't like oatmeal, but I didn’t have the heart to complain right now.
    Francois led me down to where the others were all waiting for me, they all had plates in front of them and that's when I realized why François had brought mine to my room. They had been eating people. The thought still grossed me out, but I carefully kept that off of my face. It wouldn't due to question the very fact that kept them alive in front of a whole bunch of Zombies because even if Francois wanted to there was no way he could keep me safe from all of them. And I have a strange aversion to dying, or coming close to dying really. Any sort of pain really is something to be avoided in my book really.
    Today we were going to see the timber industry of the north. I guess it was one of the Zombies biggest exports and Mark thought it would be educational to show it to me, but obviously he forgot that I lived in Minnesota and I knew my way around a god damned tree. I've watched a lumber jack competition for Pete’s sake. But I didn’t complain and went along with the game plan that had been presented to me as we started getting on our horses this morning.
    We were wondering around a heavily wooded area, one that looked like it could have been cut right out of the Minnesota north, and I was taking in the scenery. I've always liked being in forests, they were so calm but something bad could be lurking around the corner. Not that you'd ever know it by the way I avoided camping at home. I didn't like to sleep outside, but I could commune with nature when I wanted to. It was a really nice day to be outside too. Too cold for bugs, but warm enough where I didn't even need a jacket to be comfortable outside.
    Mark told me that we were starting to get into the logging area and soon I was seeing little log cabins among the trees. It was like some kind of Laura Wilder thing. Cute and picturesque. It wasn't long after that, that I started to hear the sound of axes and saws. It wasn't really loud but the din of it all blocked out any of the bird noises that I might have heard. We got to a hitching post and tied our horses there. Mark wanted me to meet some guy named Derik. He was the head lumber jack here. I felt like a third grader on a field trip. Everyone felt the need to point out the obvious and tell me little things that I never needed to know. Joy, the one time they're willing to give me information, it's not information that I want and or need. 
    Francois was the only one being quiet, but I was thinking that this was because that he was looking out for people who were trying to hurt me. It was his job after all, so I was kind of glad that he was doing it. He still wore the sword that I had seen him carrying when we had gone to wheel and deal with the Vampires. I wondered if it was the sword that he had dueled Emile with. That had failed him and let him die. Oh god, don't let him fail when my life was on the line.     
    We walked a few feet more and then I saw this huge bear of a man pulling on a saw cutting through this massive tree that dwarfed even him all by himself. It was like he was a one man tree processing machine. I stood in awe for a moment before Mark walked up and announced us.  Derik turned around and smiled at us. Everyone in Zombie Land was very smile, I had started to notice. It totally didn't fit, but nothing here seemed to fit anymore to me. 
    "Your Majesty." Derik greeted me. 
    "Lucy, please." it was still a little weird for me to think of my self as any form of royalty. I could be considered a drama queen sometimes, but nothing more than that. 
    "I don't think that I should be calling you that. I'm just a lowly lumber jack, and that's okay with me." He almost sounded like he was defending his profession.
    "You sleep all night and work all day." I can't believe that I could I got through that without laughing. It was a major Monty Python reference, but it seemed like I was the only one that got that. My dad would have been proud. He loves Monty Python and could still identify several of the guys even now that they were all old and shit. 
    "Yes." Derik looked happy that I seemed to understand the life of a lumberjack. I had no clue what went on in the life of a lumberjack, but there was no reason to let him know that. Let him think that I was completely understanding of the ways of the lumberjack. Let him think that I had read Zen and the Art of Tree Chopping. 
    "Good. Hard workers are always appreciated." I smiled back at Derik. We talked for a while longer, mostly about the tree trade of Zombie Land and Mark asking him all the questions that he obviously thought that I should be asking.
    It was a few hours after lunch I finally started to hear my stomach growl and Mark suggested that we go and get lunch. I was more than glad to oblige, but Derik declined our offer to join us for lunch. We headed back to the hotel to grab some food.
    Once there we sat down in the little restaurant that we had eaten supper in the night before and once again someone brought us food. It smelt really good. The food was a white bread sandwich with some ham, or at least I was praying it was ham, and some yellow cheese. It was one of the best things that I had eaten in a while, bar none. 
    After lunch, I went to go take a nap for two reasons. One, my ass was still on fire because of all the riding I had done over the last two days. Two, I was tired as all get out because I had been going like the energizer bunny for the last two days. The nap felt amazing and when I woke up, I took a bath. That was a little strange too, because it was still so old school for me. 
    Tomorrow we would be leaving for the mines way up north. I was told it might get a little chilly, but being a Minnesota girl born and bred I could deal with that. It was the whole, let’s walk around in the dark cave for hours on end listening to mark ask stupid questions to try and educate me. This was no longer like one of those elementary school fieldtrip; it was more like a bad family vacation. With the weird uncle that was constantly asking questions that he found absolutely fascinating, but everyone else found irritating. I loved Mark, but he asked a lot of dumb questions that I already knew the answers to. 
    I didn't really think about it too much, instead I hung around in my room reading. This would have been relaxing if not for the constant feeling of someone watching me all of the time. It was starting to get hard being alone when I knew that there was someone watching me all the time. I just didn't thinking I was gong to be able to live with this for much longer. It was so god damn aggravating! It was like having Francois hanging outside of your door all night long making sure that no one kills you in your bed. 
    Eventually I fell asleep without going downstairs for dinner. Lunch had been pretty good, but I had been too lazy to get out of bed to go and eat, that and my book was just getting good. It kind of went that way; I gave up things like eating and sleeping, sometimes even bathing, for reading. It wasn't that I was addicted, because I could stop anytime I wanted to, I just didn't want to stop. Reading helped me get through the monotony of my everyday life, not that it was so monotonous anymore. 
    As I started to slip into unconsciousness, I began to wonder if Erica was wondering what had happened to me. Or if she just assumed that I couldn't wait much longer and got my ass down here without waiting for her. She still wouldn't know where I was now though, no way for her to. We had left without sending her anything and Nemus and Nancy weren't going to be any help. In the morning I would write Erica and Antony a letter and send that to them so that Erica wouldn't be too worried. I was writing more letters than I ever had in my life down here. Letters were just another one of the old fashioned things that Zombie Land seemed to favor.
    Around eleven at night, I heard a soft knock on my door. I got up to open it, tripping over my bag on the way there. 
    "Who is it?' I called through the door, unwilling to open it for anyone not in my traveling party. 
    "Francois. I brought you some food. You didn't come down for dinner." It was Francois; I could have recognized his voice anywhere. 
    "One minutes." I called back, my fingers not quite working right and I fumbled for the thumb lock and the slider. Once that was open I opened the door and invited Francois inside. It was nice not to be alone again. I could feel Steve's eyes on me even as I slept, and it was giving me nightmares.
    "Here." Francois offered me a tray of bread, cheese, and a cup cake. It had pink frosting and it was so unlike something that I could see Francois bringing me to eat. He would bring a glass of water and some buttered bread in my mind. Nothing frou-frou like a cupcake.  I ate down on the edge of the bed while I explained to Francois that I was just too lazy to get out of bed to get something to eat. He looked at me like I was insane, but I just shrugged it off. That wasn't the first time I had ever gotten that look and it surely wouldn't be the last. 
    The cupcake must have been the single most delectable thing that I have ever eaten in my life. The lunch that I had been served earlier today was in total eclipse compared to this. I could have cried to the perfection of it. Pink wasn't really my color, but it didn't matter the moment it touched my tongue. If angels could bake, this is what it would taste like. 
    I'm pretty sure that Francois was still talking to me while I was eating this, but I was too busy enjoying my desert to listen. He would have to repeat it after I was done eating. Francois was giving me another one of those looks that questioned my sanity when I popped the last bite in to my mouth. Popped it like some sort of drug that I would be instantly addicted to. This would be my very reason to get out of bed in the morning. My reason to live, to breath, to carry on.
    "Are we done making strange noises as we eat a cupcake now?" Francois asked me. Had I been making noises? That certainly hadn't been my intention, and it was slightly embarrassing. I usually reserved my noises and faces for only those who had known me for a few years. How awkward to be making them in front of Francois. I say them, referring to noises and faces, because one usually went right along with the other.
    "Yeah. I'm cool." I tried to play it off like it was no big deal, but I was pretty sure that I was blushing. This was even more embarrassing than making the noises in the first place. "What were you saying?"
    "I was just telling you about the plans for tomorrow. We'll be leaving a little earlier than today. I'll wake you up and bring you something to eat. You should also pack your bags in the morning. We won't be coming back this way if you forget anything." Francois was saying this all in the manner of someone that had repeated the same things a few times already and was kind of sick of saying it. It wasn't my fault that he had been saying it while I was busy concentrating on the cupcake instead of him! He should have known better than talk while I was enjoying something more delicious than the sound of his voice. I wondered if he would be hurt at all by me thinking that. I hoped that I wasn't just flattering myself to think that Francois didn't hate me completely. That would suck just a little bit.
    After that Francois left, and I went back to sleep. I wish I didn't have to be alone, but I couldn't bring myself to ask Francois to stay. Steve wasn't going to kill me tonight, so I would just have to put up with his staring. Eventually, I was going to snap, but I could get through tonight, and tomorrow I wouldn't have to be alone very much at all. Perhaps I could even convince Stella that she should stay in my room tomorrow night where ever we stayed. Some subtle hints dropped to Mark and Francois and she wouldn't have a choice if I had to.
    Yes, it might be low, but I was getting desperate. Steve was really freaking me out and I couldn't live like this. Not in the constant fear that he was going to kill me. Not with knowing he was always watching me no matter locked doors and curtained windows. I never thought that anyone would ever want to kill me. In fact, I thought I was in favor with the people of Zombie Land. Having stopped a war and put down a rebellion without any blood shed should really boost my standings in the polls, so who the hell would want to kill me?
    I was just giving myself a headache by thinking about this; I would never figure it out until they tried something. Assuming that the person who was giving Steve orders had to be close by when the go word was given. It's not like Steve was getting mail or anything, and no one but Mark and Francois knew that he was here. Hope against hope, Mark and Francois had a plan for this. I really didn't want to die, not now at least.
    That night was one of the shittiest nights of sleep I have ever gotten. I woke up every fifteen minutes from a nightmare about Steve killing me in some awful way. Francois and Mark tried to help, but they couldn't do anything because I was trapped in a glass box. The next morning I was up before the sun, writing a letter to Erica and Antony.
    It was mostly for Erica, but to be polite I added Antony's name to the letter and used the plural you. Much of the letter wasn't anything he would understand, so it wouldn't hurt to have him read it. In the letter I wrote an overview of our travel plans and a description of what I had done so far. Some vague glitter bomb references were made, but nothing too weird. I rally wished I could just text Erica and tell her what was happening, but that wouldn't work. My phone didn't get reception down here; I had already tried before I started to write my letter.
    Francois was surprised that I was already up when he walked into my room carrying a tray of what looked to be oatmeal. I tried not to wrinkle my nose at it as Francois set it down in front of me on the desk.
    "Sleep well?' He asked.
    "Not really." There was no use in lying about it. Anyone could have seen by the dark circles under my eyes that I had slept horribly last night.
    "Steve?" Francois sounded vaguely pissed off when he said it. Nothing big, but his voice was a little tight as he said Steve's name.
    "Yeah." I nodded and started in on my oatmeal. My head was stating to hurt and I reached into my bag to find some Tylenol. Luckily, I had thought a head and brought some with me. I must have known that it was going to be a bad trip.
    Francois stood in the room while I finished my meal and packed my bags. I searched under the bed to make sure that nothing had escaped under there. When everything seemed to be in order, I handed Francois my bag, and only because he insisted. We left the hotel, Mark handing in the keys, Francois going to get the horses, and Stella and I waiting in the courtyard because we were women. How sexist.