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You keep a steady pace, checking every few seconds in all directions for any sight of the creature. The noise from behind grows with each passing moment, motivating you to move faster. You duck low branches and hop over rotted roots popping through the dirt. The forest changes ahead—dark, burnt trees, lacking leaves are spaced out providing little cover from the sun. It is as if a fire raged here some time ago, and the remnants of the destruction is plain to see. Two things catch your eye: the start of a shallow mountain to the east and the body of a fallen animal, possibly a deer, a dozen yards away near the highway.

A powerful roar resounds from behind, and you glance back at a disturbing sight—an absurdly obese, gray-skinned zombie lumbering through the forest. It is devoid of hair, but flames are tattooed over his head, and green lesions dance among the flames. Its cheeks are pitted from missing flesh, and a tattered dress shirt is torn open to reveal its massive chest and rotund stomach. A large gash spreads the flesh of the belly. Its gray suit pants are frayed at the end, and his feet are bare and swollen, stained charcoal gray.

The zombie moves surprisingly fast for its girth, deftly moving around trees to reach you.