Jenna was rummaging through a warehouse yet again. The adrenaline of hoarding was wearing off, but she still had that nagging urge to fill her space with more random objects. Zombies or not, she just couldn't stop.
Her zombie squad, as usual, shuffled aimlessly around her, occasionally finding something they liked—like a half-eaten sandwich or a forgotten toy. Jenna, though, was focused on finding the real treasures. She was about to stuff another stack of old magazines into her space when a low groan echoed in the distance.
Jenna's undead senses tingled. She froze mid-hoard, her pale eyes scanning the shadows of the warehouse. The groan grew louder, and then he appeared—a towering figure with a heavy, slow gait. He was different from the usual shambling zombies. This one—Carl—looked far more put together, his clothes intact but stained with dirt and blood. His eyes glowed with an eerie, unnatural light. The air around him crackled with an elemental power.
Jenna blinked, her brain still half-turned off from the endless hoarding. "Uh… hi," she greeted awkwardly, her voice coming out in a slow, zombie-like groan. "You, uh, need something?"
Carl stood tall, his voice deep and commanding. "You… collect a lot of things." His gaze flickered over the piles of supplies Jenna had stashed. "What's the use of all this?" He gestured to the towering stack of items around her. "You're zombies. Why do you need all this stuff?"
Jenna blinked rapidly, feeling her dull brain struggle to process the question. She stared at Carl, completely dumbfounded. "Uh... Well, it's... it's for, you know, stuff," she mumbled, her undead brain still in a fog. "You never know when you might need... chips or a nice blanket, right?"
Carl raised an eyebrow, his glowing eyes narrowing. "You're hoarding supplies... for what? You're a zombie. Zombies don't need food. The need to eat brains is just an instinct to become stronger. And inside the brain, there are crystals that hold power. Crystals that humans need too. You collect *this*," he gestured again to the supplies around her, "when you should be focused on what really matters."
Jenna's brain, despite its sluggishness, began to process his words. "Wait… what?" She blinked, the realization dawning on her. She had been collecting everything out of greed! She wasn't even sure why. It never occurred to her that zombies didn't need any of this. She wasn't hoarding for survival or for strength. She had just gotten so caught up in *hoarding*.
Her internal thoughts were a mix of shame and confusion. "Uhhh…" she groaned, her mind scrambling for a reason to cover up her embarrassing mistake. "I—uh—no! I... I was just, uh, gonna use the supplies for bait!" she suddenly blurted out, trying to save face. "Yeah! To lure humans in, so we can catch 'em!" She gave a zombie-like shrug, hoping Carl would buy it.
Carl stared at her for a moment, clearly not convinced. "Bait?" he asked slowly, his voice dripping with skepticism. "You could just ambush humans in the supply areas. You don't need all this for that."
Jenna's undead heart sank. He was right. This didn't make any sense at all. But she wasn't going to back down now.
Carl sighed, crossing his arms. "But… on second thought," he said, his tone softer, "maybe it *does* make sense to hoard. If humans are fighting for these supplies and they don't have the strength to get what they need, they'll be weakened. And the weaker ones… won't survive." His glowing eyes flickered with something akin to understanding.
Jenna stared blankly at him, her brain trying to catch up. Slowly, the words formed in her head. "Yeah! I thought so too!" she said, nodding enthusiastically. "Hoarding supplies will totally make humans struggle more, and then they'll, like, die faster! Yeah, that's the plan!" She grinned widely, completely missing the deeper meaning of Carl's logic. "Good thinking, Carl!"
Carl gave a small, amused smirk, clearly realizing Jenna had no idea what she was agreeing to, but at least she was on board now. "Sure. You keep doing… whatever it is you're doing. But remember," Carl said, his eyes flashing, "you're not just a zombie anymore. You have a lot more potential. And hoarding supplies is a human weakness that you, as a zombie, can exploit."
Jenna nodded, feeling somewhat proud of herself for having "figured it out" on her own. "Yep! Totally!" she agreed, though deep down, she was still unsure. But that was a problem for later Jenna to deal with.
Carl turned to leave, his elemental power crackling as he disappeared into the shadows. "I'll see you around, Jenna."
Jenna watched him go, her zombie brain still processing everything. "See ya, Carl!" she waved, and then mumbled to herself, "Wait… what did he mean by crystals in the brain?"