Her eyes were blank.

Her head was cocked, turned almost at a 90 degree angle in a manner which was clearly impossible for a human.

She stroked her hair with bloody hands, spreading the red liquid around without concern as she painted herself.

"After all... you're terrified, aren't you?"

With these words, the girl spoke with a smile, as if such a thing did not elicit the slightest emotion within her.

"But brother... if you wish to truly live in this world... then how could you allow something like fear into your heart?"

As the girl spoke, Shane slowly opened his mouth as he was once again reminded of a grim reality.

His sister was gone.

And replacing her.. Was a monster.

----

'What... Do I say?'

'What... what should I do?'

'How... Do I deal with this?'

These thoughts ran themselves through the boy's mind, however only one single answer came into his head.

'Do I... accept it?'

How could he accept such a thing?

How could he go about his life when his only sibling had become something so wretched?

'Even if I destroy them... even if I kill them... even if I were to somehow make those things pay...'

The boy grimaced as he bit down on his lips, unable to accept the truth of the matter.

'That wouldn't bring her back... would it?'

Standing up, the boy looked to his sister with worry.

"I get it. Let's find a vehicle."

"Do you truly understand, brother? You are still filled with fear, after all." The girl mused, twirling a lock of her hair around her bloody finger.

"I get it! Now let's go!"

Hastily stepping around his sister, the boy approached the line of vehicles, quickly trying to check if the doors were unlocked.

He pulled on each door to a minivan, however with each pull he realized that he couldn't get in.

The childlike zombies inside seemed to cling to the windows, drooling as they watched the boy try to approach them.

Yet without even looking at them, the boy quickly moved to the vehicle in the next lane.

This time, it was a pickup truck.

Shoving the door open, it quickly opened without issue.

However, as soon as he opened the door, the zombified man inside seemed to fall out.

“Rargh!!”

The boy backed away, brandishing his weapon as he looked at the monster with a combination of fear and anger.

He gripped the skewer with both hands, like a child backed into a corner.

"Stay... stay back."

Speaking such useless words, they flew right past the brainless zombie, who could never bother to comprehend the meaning of them.

Much less have the mercy to do as the boy said.

"Stay away from me!"

Even as he shouted out, the zombie lunged forward, attempting to grab the boy.

'No… wait… stop…'

'I... I have so much to live for...'

'If I get bitten...'

These thoughts shot through the mind of the boy as his life flashed before his eyes.

'Wait...'

Memories of his sister and him having fun with their loving father.

Going out to eat.

Heading to amusement parks.

School events.

All these things flashed before the boy in that moment.

'I... have so much to live for?'

Memory after memory, all the times he spent with sister and his father played in his mind.

And then - two images.

The first of his wretched father, ruthlessly scrambling to consume him in the form of an undead.

The second, the disturbing glare which his sister had just shown him.

And as he recalled these two things, the boy realized something.

'I... have nothing to live for.'

In that instant, the boy's hands moved on their own.

They thrusted forth as he dodged the man, sticking the blade straight into the side of the zombie's neck as it lunged forth.

The boy dragged the blade through, and the zombie fell to the ground, it's head hanging from it's neck like a string.

Blood splattered onto the boy, and he looked forward with a deadly serious expression as his sister approached him.

"Brother... I guess you listened to my advice, didn't you?" Amy giggled.

The boy looked at his sister with a deadly stare, though she didn't seem to so much as flinch in the face of that expression.

"The zombies can't detect you... unless you show emotion. Ah... but brother, maybe you didn't actually listen. After all... you're angry now. Aren't you?"

"Yes."

With this once word, the boy walked into the truck, grimacing as he tried to turn the keys.

'Shit. Shit... shit shit shit.'

He turned the keys furiously, however the truck began to sputter as the engine refused to start.

"Shit!" He barked.

Slamming his fist onto the dashboard, the boy cried out as tears formed in his eyes.

Jumping out of the vehicle, the boy quickly scanned the back of the truck, at which he noticed something.

A jerry can.

'Ah...'

Turning back, he quickly pulled the gasoline latch, and then walked back over to grab the can.

He unscrewed it and began to fill up the tank, hoping and praying that it would work.

'If these cars were left on at the time of the cataclysm, then they would have continued running until they ran out of gas.'

Filling up the tank, the girl seemed to smile from behind him as she looked at him with interest.

"Oh... so that's what you're doing."

The boy filled the tank up slightly, only using just enough gas to start things.

'If this one doesn't work, then I shouldn't waste all of it here. I'll try each vehicle until one works.'

Jumping back into the driver's seat, the boy turned the keys.

And with a sputter, the truck turned on.

'It... worked.'

The boy sat in the driver's seat, his hands shaking as he was successful in something which he believed to be impossible.

'It really worked...'

Before him was an empty road.

The intersection was clear, and all he had to do was drive forward on the road which was free of vehicles, due to the red light which had been in place at the time of the cataclysm.

"Oh, it looks like you did well, brother! Now we can get away."

The girl rushed over to the other side, quickly taking a seat on the passenger's side.

However it was at that moment that they heard it.

"Arghh!!"

Screams.

Horrible, human screeches.

The screeches of two people who were being eaten alive.

"No- no!” That scream was vaguely female.

"Stop!"

The screams got louder and louder, causing the boy to freeze in his spot.

Turning around, he looked back with terror to witness a horrid scene.

Surrounded by dozens of zombies, once again, were the two who had risked their own bodies for the sake of the children.

'Oh... my goodness...'

'What... do I do?'

Shane looked to the two with horror, filled with indecision.

'Do I... help them?'

'In that situation?'

These two had given their lives for him.

Because they would end up surviving, they were currently being mutilated and tormented as they were consumed by hordes of monsters.

The screaming continued, each one digging into the conscience of the boy as he considered his options.

'Do I leave?'

'Do I try and help them?'

'I can't get bitten....'

'If I get bitten... I'll die.'

'If I try to save them... I'll die.'

'But if I leave them...'

'Will I be able to live with myself?'

As he was plagued with these thoughts however, the boy noticed something out of the corner of his eye.

Turning to see what it was, he noticed that the girl who sat next to him was gone.

And now, walking towards the pack of zombies without a care in the world, the young girl seemed to smile as she approached the group.

"Hey... what are you... doing?"

The boy whispered these words, yet the girl could not hear him.

For she was already too far gone.

----

"Mr. Marcus and Miss Sylvia... you two helped me out. Therefore... it saddens me to see you in pain like this."

Stabbing a knife straight through the head of a zombie on the outer edge of the pile, the young girl who was already drenched in blood became even further covered.

"Ah... but you two are already dead... aren't you?"

Thrusting her knife straight through the brain of a zombie who rushed at her from the side, the girl seemed to be closing her eyes in anger.

"Therefore... you aren't experiencing any more pain, right?"

As she said this, the girl opened her eyes to reveal that they were filled with insanity.

"I'm sorry... that I had to tend to my brother for so long. If he were a bit faster... then perhaps you wouldn't have had to go through this."

Tossing the knife to her other hand and then dodging the bite of one zombie, she kicked it in the gut, causing it to fall forward, at which she stabbed it in the back with a quick motion.

"However... what's done is done. You have already died... therefore... I will make sure that you can come back to life... safely."

However it was at that moment that a number of zombies seemed to get up, no longer focusing on the mostly consumed corpses which they were previously feasting upon.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

"Ah... it would seem that I failed to listen to my own advice."

Looking around, the girl was soon completely surrounded as well, with nowhere to escape.

"Amy!"

The shout of her brother was heard from afar, yet this made no difference.

He was too far to do anything to help her, nor was he powerful enough to do anything about these numbers.

"One single bite... and I will become one of these."

As she whispered these words, the girl smiled.

She smiled with madness, and she laughed.

"Heh."

Closing her eyes, the zombies around her lunged at her from all directions as the girl didn't move.

Slicing horizontally through the heads of two in front of her, the girl slid in between the two to gain another second of time as she pushed the bodies to either side, disrupting the flow of the zombies around her.

"Hey... did you know?"

Slicing two more in front of her, the girl tried to weave her way through the crowd, dodging each and every bite as if her very life depended on it.

Her blade seemed to be attracted to the minds of the creatures as she sliced and diced them like a professional chef.

"When you die... your life is supposed to be over."

Tossing the knife from one hand to another, the girl attacked with both hands, alternating as she took out zombie after zombie.

"You don't have to be very smart to understand that. Even a child could."

The girl now used the corpse of a slaughtered zombie to cover her back as she stabbed right between the eyes of a zombie in front of her, while the creatures tried to dig into her from behind.

"But you guys must be really stupid. Since you can't even understand that. After all… you’re still alive, aren’t you? Heh…"

And then, three zombies rushed forth at the girl, to which she could only attack one.

“Even after dying, that is.”

She made a horizontal slicing motion, however there was not enough power in this swing to make it through the mind of the second one - only reaching halfway before it became stuck.

"Amy!"

The girl's brother shouted out in horror as he realized that the end was near for his sister, however even as the third zombie thrusted it's teeth towards the girl, she smiled playfully.

Looking at the creature with her dead eyes, she said one final thing.

"It wasn't fun at all playing with you. You were boring."

Squish!

The sound of flesh being dug into vibrated throughout the area, and the roaring of zombies seemed to cease for only a second.

Looking up, the girl saw it.

Tentacles.

Weaving in and out of all the zombies around her was a maze of tentacles, creating a rain of blood.

"Ah.... you've come to play too!? Thank goodness!"

With a childish smile, the girl dropped the zombie off her back as she raised her hands into the air with excitement.

"I was about to die of boredom!"

[Hehehe. How could I let a human as interesting as you die?]

----

How many times would such scenarios come about?

How many times in the past hour had Shane felt like everything around him was falling apart?

"Blergh!!"

He couldn't handle it.

He threw up.

He puked and he puked, unable to control his emotions as he spewed out the contents of his stomach - contents which for some reason had been preserved over a six month long sleep.

Throwing up out the window of the vehicle, he found himself barely able to hold himself up as he watched the situation unfold.

There, facing that creature of chaos with a smile, was his sister.

Surrounded by tentacles, which had penetrated every last zombie in the area, was Amy.

The entire place reeked of death and destruction.

And yet, despite this horrid scene, she was smiling.

"Did you get bored, and so you decided to play with me again?"

[Something like that. But I think it's a bit different.]

Placing her hand to her chin in thought, the creature seemed to smile in a wicked manner.

The body of the woman had been regenerated, and upon dying again, the creature had taken over with ease.

Nodding her head, Number 1 walked over to the girl as her hair begun to move on it's own, patting the girl on the head as if it was a limb.

[How strange. I seem to have taken a liking to a human. Hehe...]

[Number 1, it is indeed quite strange that you would allow yourself to become so attached to a human. However if that is the case... then should we not prepare her as a host for another one?]

"Oh... that sounds like a good idea, Number 7."

Approaching the woman from behind was her counterpart.

He spoke with a sly and arrogant tone, yet the words he spoke were enough to make Shane look up from his own sickness with twitching eyes.

'What... did he just say?'

Slowly, Shane opened the car door, trembling enough to the point where he fell out as if he were drunk.

'No... no no no... I... cannot allow that to happen....'

Stumbling forward, Shane looked up to the two with pure spite.

"I.... cannot allow that..."

Raising his skewer, he rushed towards the one known as Number 1.

"I won’t allow that!"

However even while faced with the anger of the child, the monster merely smiled.

She retracted all of her tentacles, to the point where her appearance was undoubtedly human - with the exception of her eyes - of which the whites had become as black as tar.

Yet despite her human form - her expression was one of pure, raw, sadism.

[You want to attack me? Hahaha...]

Shane rushed forth, aiming for the chest of the woman.

'I'll... kill her.'

Even if this creature was in the body of Sylvia, Sylvia was not alive.

She was currently in a transitional state between death and life.

Therefore, she would not feel the pain of this death.

'If I kill the monster during the in-between time... will I be able to kill her for good?'

'There's only one way to find out.'

Shane rushed forward, thrusting his skewer into the chest of the woman.

Yet in that second as he attacked, using her human arms, the woman did something.

It was merely a moment, so quickly that it appeared as if some sort of teleportation had occurred.

Shane felt the squishy sensation of a blade driving through human flesh, and the cracking sounds of a rib cage being broken.

The spitting of blood was accompanied by this sensation, and as his vision cleared, Shane saw it.

He had stabbed his own sister in the chest.

And the woman who stood before him had used the girl… as a human shield.

[Whoops.]

With a horrid smile, the creature who had taken over Sylvia merely said this one word in a sarcastic manner as she looked down on the boy with a smug expression.

"No.... no..."

Letting go of the weapon, Shane fell to the ground as he looked at the cold eyes of his sister.

She looked to him without emotion, however it was then that the horrible smile returned.

"Brother... you seem to be scared of something. What.... blergh!!"

Even as she spit up blood, the girl's eyes didn't seem to lose their madness.

"What ever could be the matter?"

She spoke with the skewer still stuck in her chest, looking down on Shane as if nothing were even wrong.

As if she had lost all ability to even comprehend pain.

"Look at what you've done, boy."

It was then that the neck of the woman lengthened, and on this tentacle-like neck, Number 1 brought her face just an inch from the boy's.

"This is what happens if you try to hurt someone.... without being prepared to get hurt yourself."

Tears formed in his eyes.

Heat welled throughout his body, and his heart felt as if it were about to explode.

The blood rushing through his veins felt like ice, and the pumping of his heartbeat got louder and louder.

And then, retracting her head, the woman placed her hand on the pierced heart of the girl.

Then, removing the skewer, she shot a number of tentacles straight through the girl's heart.

"Now then... I'll give you something to think about, boy."

The tentacles seemed to be pumping something before they retracted, and as soon as they did so, the sclera of Sylvia became whitened once more.

"Eh? Where.... Ah!”

Sylvia too gained a horrified expression as she gained her bearings, looking at the child before her - only to be overwhelmed at the sudden scene.

"No... no.... no... Amy... this… what…"

The woman and the boy alike were filled with horror at the sudden death of the child, yet oddly enough, the girl had not fallen.

Instead, she merely stood in place - her eyes closed.

Backing away, Sylvia too fell to the ground, unable to comprehend the situation.

"This... can't be.... Amy... you.... I...."

Her mind was assaulted as she realized that the monster inside her had caused the death of the child, who still remained standing even in death.

"I killed you.", the woman and boy whispered simultaneously.

Thus, Amy died.

For the first time.