"I know, it doesn't make any sense," Raven said. Then she fished out a flashlight from her backpack.

"What are you doing?" Natalia asked.

"We're going inside."

"Why?"

"Don't you want to know why Strange was here?"

There were more moaning sounds, and Natalia spun around to see the silhouettes of walking corpses approaching. Their heads hung at odd angles as they dragged their legs through the mud.

The first zombie was a woman who reminded Natalia of her mother. She had long, stringy red hair that was matted to her gaunt face. There were dark circles under her eyes, and her jaw hung too low, as though someone had tried to pull it off its hinges.

Natalia stood, transfixed, as Raven pushed open the door to Windham's crypt. She rushed inside, pulling Natalia in, and shut the door.

"What were you doing?" Raven asked. Her breathing was shallow, and her eyes were wild.

"I... I don't know," Natalia said as though she were waking from a dream.

Their only light came from the flashlight in Raven's hand, but the crypt was so choked by darkness that they couldn't see much of anything. Cobwebs hung from the low ceiling, and a fat spider scampered out of the light and back into the comfort of the shadows.

"Were those actually zombies?" Natalia asked.

"I'm not sure, but it looked like it."

Raven had her back braced against the door as though she was expecting the zombies to try to follow them, but they didn't.

"That's strange," Raven said.

"What?"

"It's not like I'm an expert or anything, but aren't zombies supposed to be able to smell blood?"

"I guess so," Natalia said.

"Then why aren't they trying to break down the door to eat our brains?"

"Wait, what are you doing?" Natalia asked as Raven opened the door a crack. She peeked out, then pulled it open wide.

"They're gone," Raven said before slipping back out to the cemetery grounds.

The girls could still see the zombies in the distance, but they lost sight of the walking dead when a swirl of fog crossed the path.

"What should we do?" Natalia asked.

"Run!"

The girls ran through crooked trees and rough thickets, trying to get away, but no matter where they went, they were surrounded by the eerie sound of dead people moaning. It was as though the entire cemetery had come to life.

"Natalia!" Raven shouted.

When Natalia spun around, Raven was gone.

"Raven! Where are you?"

There was no response, and Natalia had lost track of which direction they'd been heading. She spun in circles calling Raven's name, but there was no answer. Then Natalia tripped on something. At first she thought it was an arm, but when she looked closer, she could see it was a shovel.

She took a step back but felt nothing underneath her foot. She screamed as she fell into an open grave, where she hit her head on a stone. The world went black.

When Natalia finally opened her eyes, she didn't know where she was. It was dark and raining. Her fingers dug into the wet earth as she moaned. Natalia tried to sit up, but she slipped before sloshing in a puddle. Her clothes were caked in mud, and her head was pounding.

"It came from over here," Natalia heard someone say through the haze of semiconsciousness. There was a moment when she wasn't sure if she was in a dream.

"You're sure?" a second voice asked.

Natalia realized that the nightmare was real. She'd fallen into an open grave and hit her head. Natalia raised her hand to her forehead, and when she pulled it away there was a spot of blood thinned by rain.

"Yeah, I heard someone scream," the first voice said as Natalia struggled to stand. Her feet sank in the sloshing mud, and she could taste her own blood as it fell on her lips.

"I don't see anyone."

The voices were close. Natalia was worried she might be spotted. She figured that whatever had happened to Raven was probably the speakers' doing, yet the voices were familiar. Natalia couldn't place them, though.

"I'm telling you, someone is in here. Do you think it's the Agents of Justice?" one of the voices said.

"I doubt it. Those nitwits have no idea what we're up to. Besides, they're supposed to be down at the pier in Bludgeon Town tonight. We need to hurry if we're going to catch them."

Natalia's eyes lit up. That was Smoke-she was sure of it. Her heart started pounding. If they were after the Agents of Justice, that meant Ernie was in trouble. Natalia fought to climb out of the grave, but the walls were too slick, and she slipped back down into the mud.

"How long have you been able to do this?" she heard Smoke say.

"What?" the other voice answered.

"Animate dead people."

The other boy laughed. "Why? Are you scared or something?"

"I don't get scared," Smoke said. "Besides, don't forget that you're just a diversion to keep the THOR agents busy."

"What does that make you?"

"Your babysitter," Smoke said. "He sent me to make sure you don't screw up."

The voices trailed off, and so did the moaning from the zombies. Though her head was starting to clear, Natalia still felt groggy. At least, she thought, there weren't any bodies in the grave with her.

"Natalia?" Raven's voice wasn't much louder than a whisper.

"Raven?"

"Where are you?" Raven's voice was closer that time.

"I fell into a grave," Natalia said. It wasn't long before she saw Raven's face looking down at her.

"Nice hiding spot." Raven extended her hand, which Natalia grabbed, and she climbed out of the grave. Then she wrapped her arms around Raven's neck and held her tight. "Thank you," she repeated several times.

Raven gently pushed her away as a bolt of lightning shot through the sky. "What happened to you?" she asked. "If I didn't know better, I would have thought you were one of the zombies. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Natalia said. "I was worried that something happened to you."

"Yeah, well, I tripped on a tree root."

Natalia looked down to see that Raven's pants were ripped at the knees. "I didn't mean to leave you."

"I know," Raven said before looking over her shoulder at a zombie walking toward the horizon. "Everything is going to be okay."

"Did you see Smoke?" Natalia asked.

"Here?"

"I heard two people talking, and I'm positive he was one of them," Natalia said. "They mentioned Von Strife... and that the zombies are just diversions."

"From what?"

"I'm not sure, but they're heading down to the pier to look for Ernie."

TURNABOUT.

Natalia called Max and Harley, who were at Monti's workshop. They tried to reach Ernie, but he wasn't answering his communicator. The boys promised to meet the girls down at the pier in Bludgeon Town.

With lungs burning and legs aching, Natalia and Raven splashed through puddles and skirted around beggars, hoping to avoid trouble as they raced through the underbelly of the city. It wasn't long before they could hear waves crashing against the rocky shoreline.

"We're getting close," Natalia said between pants. They had stopped to catch their breaths beneath the awning of a barbershop. Across the street, a long pier stretched toward the horizon. It was lighted with gas lamps hanging on wire poles, but they couldn't see much of anything else through the haze.

A dog started yapping, and its cries set off a chain reaction until the streets echoed with the sounds of upset canines. Then a horse tried to break free from its tether. It yanked its head and kicked with its hooves, but it didn't have any luck.

"The way those animals are spooked, I bet the zombies are close," Natalia said as she started to cross the street.

As Natalia made her way down the pier, she imagined undead sailors with worms slithering in their eye sockets, but she pushed those thoughts away and kept going. "Ernie?" she said, whispering loudly. "Are you out here?"

"I have a bad feeling about this," Raven said. "If those things show up, we're going to be trapped."

Fishing boats were moored to the pier, all of them empty as they swayed with the current. The wood beams creaked, and on one of the ships, the door to the tiny cabin kept opening and closing in the wind.

A wooden frigate stood twenty feet above the water. Its red sails billowed against the rolling banks of fog as seagulls glided around the masts, but by the time the girls reached the end of the dock, they hadn't seen a single soul.

That's when they heard footfalls on the planks. A moment later, two silhouettes appeared. They were walking through the fog toward them. Next came the agonizing moans that carried over the water. Natalia grabbed Raven's arm.

"Wait," Raven said, her eyes narrowing as she craned her neck. "Those aren't zombies."

"No kidding," Harley said as he walked out of the fog.

Natalia let go of Raven before running over to give Harley a hug.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"I don't know," she said before embracing Max. "I guess I'm glad neither of you are... well, zombies. Did you call Logan?"

"Not yet," Max said. "I think we need to do this one on our own."

"He's trying to show Ernie that we're there for him," Harley said. "All I know is that whatever we do, we need to hurry. The zombies are only a couple of blocks away, and there are more than we could count."

A pelican landed on the dock nearby, startling Natalia. Then it morphed into Sprig, who started licking her front paw.

"Have you seen Ernie?" Max asked.

"We haven't seen anybody," Natalia said.

"Here," Harley said, handing Natalia a small pistol.

"What is it?"

"A freeze ray. It's supposed to stop zombies."

"What about me?" Raven asked.

"It's just a prototype, so we only have one," Harley said before handing her a crowbar. "The rest of us get these."

"Gee, thanks," Raven said, letting it hang at her side.

"You aren't going to use those, are you?" Natalia asked.

Harley looked at her sideways. "How else are you supposed to kill a zombie?"

"I don't think they're zombies," Natalia said. "Someone is controlling them, kind of like puppets."

"Either way, they're still dead, so they won't feel a thing," Harley said.

"I still don't think we should hurt them," Natalia said, unwilling to let it go. "They used to be people's parents or grandparents.... I even saw kids. It's just... I don't know. It's wrong, that's all."

"What about Smoke?" Max asked.

"What about me?" Smoke said as he flashed into view, blocking their path back to the shore.

Harley raised his crowbar as Sprig morphed into a white tiger and stood protectively in front of Max.

"I'd be careful if I were you," Smoke said. He disappeared before popping up in front of Harley. Then he wrapped his hand around the crowbar before vanishing again. He reappeared back where he started and dropped the crowbar into the water.

Sprig roared.