FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The living corpse took a slow step forward, its half-rotten body bent nearly double under the weight of the burden it carried. On every possible perch clung large feathered bundles. Some tucked their heads beneath nightshaded wings while others kept silent vigil, ever watchful to the surroundings of their unwitting host. The pasty white of dried droppings covered the rest of its broken down body.

Nestled on the shambler's shoulder, one of the crows fluffed up its feathers and gave its wings a quick flap. The zombie stopped and slowly twisted its head in the direction of the fluffer, its eyes milky scratching audibly in their dry sockets as they shifted to look at the bird.

The crow stared back unblinking, head twitching slightly up and down as it studied the creature in turn. A clumsy attempt at a snatch was made, but the crow easily flew out of reach. Giving an unheeded call of warning to its resting brethren, the bird flew up into a branch far out of the unliving's view.

Once out of sight, the prey was swiftly forgotten and the animated undead lowered its head, continuing its tedious journey to no where in particular.

After a few steps, the displaced crow fluttered back to its perch on the shambler's shoulder, settling silently among the others. Its return went unnoticed and none of the others called attention to it or themselves.

Long minutes passed as the grotesque creature plodded slowly along before one of its passengers made another cry of warning. As one, the birds took flight and became a black cloud surrounding their suddenly confused mount. The unliving took several swipes at the teeming mass of feathers but caught nothing.

As the rest of the flock took off in a singular direction, one lone bird cawed and flapped her wings in the rotter's face to get its attention. More squawks and careful flutters began to lead the visitant in a different direction as it tried to catch the lone crow. Once the creature was a significant distance, however, it was abandoned by it's noisy prey and left to wander a small patch of woods alone.

The crow swiftly swooped back to the place her companions had gone, finding them feasting on a still fresh boar corpse. Normally quite boisterous, the murder ate in silence or in hushed croaks, eagerly filling their beaks with the exposed meat left behind by some prior undead.

Once all had eaten their fill, they began to caw and screech, flapping their large wings without leaving the ground. Some of the crows had been so well fed in recent days that they could barely lift themselves into the air and had to hop along the ground in a running start.

Their calls were answered by a rasping wheeze of a groan, and minutes later the stumbling monster appeared like a summoned pet. The fat crows again became a nebulous cloud before retaking their positions on the shambler's body, weighing it down with their bulk. The creature quickly lost interest in the birds and slowly stumbled toward the half-eaten wild pig, but it only managed two steps before a loud crack emitted from the bumbling brutes midsection. Several crows were sent flying startled into the air as the arm they were resting on separated and fell to the ground, followed shortly by the rest of the corpse.

Cautiously the crows began to land near the fallen shambler, ready to hop out of reach. The bravest among them flew into its face, antagonizing the fallen creature with her wings and talons, but received not even a twitch for her trouble.

The undead had finally joined the dead and would no longer serve them. The crows cawed into the sky as if in mourning for their lost automaton. Their cries echoed through the patch of forest and the empty valley beyond, carrying on for minutes and miles, until finally an answering call returned to them.

The low hungry groan of a zombie rumbled across the crowd and brought them to silence. All heads turned in the direction of the groan, all eyes searching for its source. It did not take long for the fresh corpse to make itself visible as it hunted the birds.

Once more the feathered miscreants transformed themselves into a living cloud, swarming the newcomer. Despite its flailing arms and gnashing teeth, they circled it several times, barely pulling away when grasping fingers managed to snatch one of their number out of the air and shove it into a crooked mouth, one wing still flapping futilely against cracked lips as it was eaten alive.

One of the crows landed on the undead's head, giving a single squawk of ownership before laying fresh dropping against the creature's filthy scalp. One by one, the other crows also took their places along their newly claimed mount and falling into silence.

Once the last bird had landed, they waited patiently for the zombie to finish eating their lost companion. The night creature began to bow under the weight of the birds but did not seem to take notice of their presence.

It gave another hungry groan, but when nothing caught its attention, it began to shamble awkwardly along on its aimless path. Several of the birds took up the duty of sentry while the rest tucked their heads down for a well-deserved nap.