“Did, uh, you need something from me?” [Tom]
Tom asked, his nervous-sounding voice containing a hint of expectation. After being unable to meet any woman with a pulse for over two months, the gears in his mind began to spin furiously and imagine various scenarios for why Rose would call out to him when they’re alone.
“(A confession? Could it be she’s going to confess to me?!)” [Tom]
He thought, secretly hoping it was the case. The blonde-haired woman was standing a few feet from him, her hands behind her back. Her chest was pushed out and Tom couldn’t help but stare at how the two huge bulges were stretching her T-shirt.
“(If she confesses now, does that mean I’ll get to grope those boobs?! I’ve only ever played with one woman that had a pair of that size!)” [Tom]
As his head was filled with delusions, he waited expectantly for Rose to speak.
“Tom…” [Jessica]
However, her next words were not what he wished to hear.
“Tom Riverstep, employee at Dacles Rubicon.” [Jessica]
“… Huh?” [Tom]
Tom tilted his head, confused.
“Wait a minute. Rose, how do you know my last name or where I worked? I never told-.” [Tom]
“You really don’t know me?” [Jessica]
“K-know you…?” [Tom]
“Is it because I changed my hairstyle? That I don’t wear my work clothes? That I don’t have glasses? No, you saw me with them on when we first met before I hurriedly took them off.” [Jessica]
Jessica’s left arm moved. In her hand was her pair of red glasses.
“You just don’t really remember my face. Not surprising considering you only ever stared at my breasts.” [Jessica]
She put them on, let down her hair and continued to talk dispassionately while gazing coldly at Tom.
“I didn’t see you at the office. It made me wonder if you survived or not.” [Jessica]
“… Jessica? Is that you?! You’re alive?!” [Tom]
Tom exclaimed in surprise, finally realizing Rose’s true identity, but quickly covered his mouth. It was night and they were in the hallway, right next to the stairs leading to the first floor. If he wasn’t careful, the undead outside might hear him. It wasn’t the right time or place to be having a conversation.
“So you admit you don’t remember my face?” [Jessica]
However, Jessica didn’t share his worry.
“Huh? N-no, I didn’t say tha-.” [Tom]
“Even though you pulled me to the stairs so many times.” [Jessica]
“U-um, no, that, sorry…” [Tom]
Tom apologized awkwardly. The faint sense of happiness of meeting someone he knew had been drown by Jessica’s biting remarks.
“Sorry? Do you mean it when you say you’re sorry?” [Jessica]
“Yeah, of cours-.” [Tom]
“Like when you said you were sorry every time you finished, but never stopped?” [Jessica]
“No, I-I, look-.” [Tom]
“Are you going to keep acting like a good guy?” [Jessica]
The blonde-haired woman asked. Her expression and tone of voice had remained unchanged since the start of the conversation. They were incredibly cold and filled with a quiet hatred.
“Are you going to apologize and call it a day? Like every time?” [Jessica]
“Look, calm down. Now, now’s not the tim-.” [Tom]
“Without trying to change anything. Without actually wanting to change anything.” [Jessica]
“Jessi-!” [Tom]
“Are you going to apologize while enjoying yourself again?” [Jessica]
“I SAID CALM DOWN!” [Tom]
Unable to endure it anymore, Tom angrily raised his voice and stepped forward menacingly.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“Oi.” [Ryner]
Suddenly, a D-Rubicon employee card came flying at him and hit his left shoulder. Moreover, a bright light came from behind Jessica and shined in his face, which caused him to squint. Standing there was Ryner who was holding a work light in his hand.
“Sto-.” [Ryner]
Before he could get a word in, taking advantage of the moment Tom was blinded by Ryner’s work light, Jessica moved. Her right hand that was hidden behind her back was holding a fruit knife. She vigorously thrust it into Tom’s stomach after closing the distance between them.
“… Huh…?” [Tom]
Feeling a dull pain, Tom uttered, shocked. He stared in disbelief at the blade that was sticking out of his belly. A red stain appeared on his white T-shirt. The flashlight and the canned bacon fell from his hands. Jessica expressionlessly stared at his dumbfounded face with an inorganic gaze, her eyes wide opened. She was searing the sight of his final moments into her memory.
Then, when the disbelief was wearing off and Tom’s face began to contort in pain, she strongly pushed him. He clumsily stepped backward, fell on the desk, rolled over it and tumbled down the stairs. Lying on the ground in the dark, Tom groaned in agony, his body wracked in pain and blood pouring out of his stomach. However, what he felt more strongly than anything was a burning outrage deep in his chest.
“(Ah… It hurts… It hurts… She stabbed me… HER…! Of all people…!)” [Tom]
It gave him a surge of adrenaline that energized his trembling limbs and filled his head with wrath.
“DIE, MOTHERFU-!!” [Jessica]
“You idiot!” [Ryner]
Pressing down on his wound, Tom raised his upper body and pulled out a black, semi-automatic pistol that he had tucked in his pants. Relying on the voices that he heard, he shakily aimed at the top of the stairs, where he could see the shadows of a man and a woman illuminated by a work light.
“You die…” [Tom]
BANG
He shot at them, but sadly missed. Ryner pushed down Jessica’s head and the two of them ducked behind the desk. Though he lost sight of them, Tom kept firing blindly.
BANG
BANG
BANG
“Die…! Die…! Die, you whore…!” [Tom]
Unfortunately, in his rage, he forgot his surroundings.
“BIT-!!” [Tom]
CRACK
The sound of glass cracking resounded behind him. Tom reflexively stopped firing and looked at the source of the sound, at the door of the coffee shop.
The next second, the glass broke.
There was pounding on the windows. He could faintly make out some silhouettes in the darkness, and he realized that he had messed up. From the second floor, a work light lit the area in front of him.
A headless creature had broken through the first glass door.
“… Huh?” [Tom]
The light moved swiftly, scanning his surroundings, letting him see that a dozen zombies had gathered at the front of the coffee shop. They were banging on the large windows using their hands or their heads. At the lead was the headless creature that had easily shattered the second glass door with its fists. With nothing blocking its path, it approached Tom, who silently gazed at it, frozen in fear.
The undead appeared to be male and wore only a pair of tattered black pants. Its upper body wasn’t covered in rotten, discolored skin, but dark red scabs. Large, thick scabs that were like plates of armor. It had no head, so it was hard to tell how it could see, but where its navel should be, a single eyeball was present. It stared unblinkingly at the living, bleeding human that was lying on the floor.
“… Ah…” [Tom]
Tom uttered as he saw it raise its hands. On both of its palms was a mouth that was opening and closing, letting out hoarse wheezing sounds.
“AAAAHHH!!!” [Tom]
BANG
The young man, instinctively understanding what would happen to him, broke free of his stupor. Screaming in fear, he shot at the creature. However, the bullets bounced off the dark red crusts on its chest and only damaged the surface. It flinched from the force of the blow, stopped its advance for a second, but continued on as if nothing happened.
“AHH!!! AAAAHHH!!! AAHHH!!! AAAAAAHHH!!!” [Tom]
BANG
BANG
BANG
Tom howled like a madman at the top of his lungs and kept shooting at the headless monster. However, none of the bullets penetrated the scabs. Furthermore…
CLICK
His gun ran out of ammo.
CLICK
CLICK
CLICK
He fruitlessly pulled the trigger of his firearm that had become useless.
“… Why…?” [Tom]
A look of despair fell on his face.
“Why is this… Happening… To me…?” [Tom]
Then, the headless monster’s hands slapped onto his cheeks. The mouths on the palms bit down on their prey.
“GYAAAAHHH!!!” [Tom]
The undead pulled its hands away as Tom screamed in pain. Chunk of red, bloody flesh covered in fair skin were torn off. It repeated the process, putting its hands on the limbs and torso of the black-haired man that writhed and yelled in agony, slowly ripping him apart. Soon, the zombies that had followed behind it also crowded around the defenseless human. They kneeled down on the floor and devoured his body bite by bite.
“AAAHHH!! HELP!!! HELP MEEEE!!!” [Tom]
Tom begged as he was eaten alive, but nobody came to his rescue. The light that was illuminating him from the second floor was gone.
“Did you really have to do that now?!” [Ryner]
Ryner, who was holding a work light, was running to the bedroom, dragging along Jessica who had been transfixed on Tom’s final moments. While grumbling, he entered the room and closed the door. Inside was a bunk bed placed against the wall on his left, in the corner, and a desk on the right. Next to it was a floor lamp connected to a portable power supply.
First, he quickly went to the desk and put the work light on top of it. Then, he orientated it so as to shine the light on the bunk bed. Afterwards, he turned on the floor lamp to brighten the room. Finally, he and Jessica hid themselves. It took little time because they had already made preparations beforehand.
Once they were done, something violently hit the door.
The banging resounded over and over until the wooden door cracked and broke. Pieces of it gradually splintered off until the perpetrator managed to enter the room. Emerging from the wreckage was the headless zombie. The eyeball on its navel moved about, looking around the room, trying to find the source of the sound it had heard moments ago. However, there was no one.
It went to the desk.
It went to the floor lamp.
Lastly, it went to the bunk bed.
It consisted of two beds, one below and one above, held up by a black, metal frame. The one above could be accessed by a ladder built into the frame. Moreover, white curtains were hanging from it, hiding both beds from prying eyes like a canopy. The undead creature, whether by instincts or intelligence, put his hands through the curtains and fell on top of the bed. However, there was no one there.
After a while, seemingly losing interest, it left the room. Taking its place were several infected that wandered inside, attracted by the noise. They mindlessly walked around the place, groaning in hoarse voices. None of them tried to search the top bunk bed. As such, none of them realized that Ryner and Jessica were hiding there.
----------------------------------------
Item of interest
Work light:
* Comes in different shapes depending on the type.
* Similar to a flashlight, but cooler.
* Uses rechargeable battery packs.