Chapter 54: Home Part II

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Home Part II

The elevator doors opened.

And Vanya frowned.

Something smelled strange.

Rotten.

The foul odor immediately assaulted their enhanced senses.

Harold wrinkled his nose.

"What is that smell?"

Vanya didn’t answer.

Because the lobby was too quiet.

The emergency lights cast long shadows across the marble floor.

Not a single sound.

Not a single person.

Then—

Crunch.

Harold froze.

"...Did you hear that?"

Crunch.

Crunch.

Slow.

Dragging.

Vanya’s expression changed.

"Stay behind me."

Harold immediately obeyed.

And then—

A figure staggered out from behind the reception desk.

Harold’s pupils shrank.

The security guard.

He recognized him.

Mr. Gonzales.

The middle-aged man who greeted them when they moved into their resident with a smile.

Except—

His face was a deep shade of blue and purple.

His eyes were milky white.

His uniform was soaked in blood.

And his mouth...

His mouth continuously chewed.

As though he were eating something.

Harold’s face turned pale.

"W-what..."

The zombie slowly raised its head.

Its cloudy eyes landed on them.

And suddenly—

It growled.

Harold nearly jumped.

The thing staggered forward.

Not fast.

Not running.

Just walking.

Slowly.

Steadily.

Relentlessly.

Vanya relaxed slightly.

One.

Just one.

Compared to the nightmares she’d faced in the future—

This was nothing.

"Stay back."

She grabbed her steel pipe.

And swung.

CRACK!

The zombie’s shoulder shattered.

Its arm twisted unnaturally.

But—

It continued walking.

Harold blinked.

"...Huh?"

The zombie simply dragged its broken arm behind it.

Its dead eyes remained fixed on them.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Harold felt his blood turn cold.

"It..."

"It didn’t stop."

Vanya frowned.

And swung again.

CRACK!

Its knee bent backwards.

The corpse collapsed.

Harold finally exhaled.

"Thank God—"

His voice died.

Because the zombie started crawling.

Its broken leg dragged uselessly behind it.

Its fingers scraped across the floor.

Yet it continued moving.

Toward them.

Toward them.

Toward them.

Harold nearly screamed.

"NO!"

"WHY IS IT STILL MOVING?!"

Even Vanya’s expression changed.

Impossible.

Any creature should have stopped.

Pain.

Fear.

Instinct.

Something.

But this thing...

It simply crawled.

Slowly.

Patiently.

Relentlessly.

As though broken bones meant nothing.

"Move!"

The cousins retreated.

Harold’s heart pounded wildly.

He’d never been so scared in his life.

Not exams.

Not college applications.

Not even the awakening.

Nothing compared to this.

Because this thing...

Used to be human.

"Hit it!"

Vanya shouted.

Harold’s mind went blank.

He looked around frantically.

Then grabbed a broom.

His hands trembled.

His entire body shook.

Still—

He charged.

"Die!"

WHACK!

The broom hit the zombie.

And snapped in half.

Harold stared.

"..."

The zombie kept crawling. ℯℯ𝘭.

Slowly.

Steadily.

Relentlessly.

Harold’s soul almost left his body.

"THAT’S BULLSHIT!"

He immediately retreated.

Vanya swung again.

CRACK!

Broken ribs.

Nothing.

WHACK!

Broken fingers.

Nothing.

CRACK!

Broken jaw.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

The zombie kept coming.

And for the first time—

Unease appeared in Vanya’s eyes.

Because she had fought aliens.

Mutated beasts.

Creatures that could tear buildings apart.

But they all had one thing in common.

They feared death.

This thing didn’t.

It wasn’t angry.

It wasn’t defending itself.

It wasn’t even trying to survive.

It simply...

Kept coming.

Harold’s breathing became ragged.

"Why won’t it die?!"

He grabbed a chair.

And hurled it.

BANG!

The zombie toppled over.

Harold’s eyes widened.

"I got it!"

The smile on his face lasted less than a second.

Because the thing started getting up again.

Harold almost cried.

"No."

"No."

"No no no no no."

"Vanya..."

His voice trembled.

"It’s standing up."

"It’s standing up!"

The zombie resumed its slow approach.

As though nothing had happened.

And suddenly—

For the first time since returning from the future—

Vanya felt fear.

Real fear.

Because she was running out of ideas.

Broken shoulder.

Broken leg.

Broken ribs.

Broken jaw.

And still—

It walked.

Like death itself.

Harold’s mind raced.

Every injury.

Every strike.

Every attack.

Then—

His eyes widened.

"The head!"

Vanya froze.

"What?"

"The head!"

"It’s the only thing you haven’t broken!"

The zombie took another step.

Harold’s voice cracked.

"Please tell me I’m right!"

Vanya’s blue eyes widened. He was right, according to the previous host, the only way to kill them was the head. Why had she not thought of that!

She knew why, because in her previous life... nothing worked like this. She was too busy fighting like the interstellar commander and not the previous reborned Vanya.

The zombie took another step.

Closer.

Closer.

Closer.

CRACK!

The pipe slammed into its skull.

The zombie staggered.

Harold saw it immediately.

"It slowed down!"

Vanya’s heart shook.

Again.

CRACK!

A fracture appeared.

The zombie kept walking.

But slower.

"Again!" Harold shouted.

CRACK!

Again.

CRACK!

Again.

Blood splattered.

Bone cracked.

And finally—

The corpse collapsed.

And stayed down.

Silence.

Neither moved.

Neither breathed.

Harold slowly sat down on the floor.

His shirt was soaked with sweat.

His hands trembled uncontrollably.

His face was deathly pale.

"We..."

His voice cracked.

"We won?"

But Vanya remained silent.

Because she didn’t feel victorious.

She felt horrified.

Because that had been one.

One zombie.

And they had nearly died.

Harold let out a shaky laugh.

Not because it was funny.

Because he was breaking down.

"That..."

He swallowed.

"That was one."

Vanya’s beautiful face became pale.

And for the first time since her return—

Fear entered her eyes.

Because she’d fought enemies far stronger.

Far faster.

Far smarter.

Yet none of them had terrified her like this.

"No."

Harold looked up.

"No?"

Vanya stared at the corpse.

And whispered.

"Those things...those things are worse."

Harold frowned.

"Worse than what?"

Vanya’s voice trembled.

And Harold froze.

Because this was the first time he’d ever seen genuine fear in his cousin’s eyes.

"Worse than everything."

Because aliens still wanted to live.

These things...

Only wanted the living dead.

And suddenly—

Vanya understood.

She had underestimated the apocalypse.

And that realization terrified her far more than the zombie itself.

’Bleh’

Vanya turned to see Harold bent over, vomiting yellow acid all over the floor.

His face had gone white as a sheet.

She understood his discomfort. She felt that during her first kill in her past life.

He would adapt to the new norm.

"Harry." Vanya said. "Are you okay?"

"No." he shook his head. "I am not okay. I am far from okay." he whispered.

Vanya gave him a complicated look. She knew he was having a meltdown. Honestly, she couldn’t blame him.

"Harry" she said as she patted his back. "can I tell you something and you won’t bite my head off." She asked tentatively.

He nodded as he looked at her. Expecting words of comfort.

"You need to train. You’re weaker than a chicken." She said.

"But..." Vanya hesitated. "You did well today. Most people would’ve frozen. You didn’t. You tried. I’m proud of you." she said. "however, you’re still weaker than a chicken."

Harold’s expression turned stiff. Where was his gentle cousin who would have given him words of encouragement?

"We will start training tomorrow. Let’s go get some sleep for now." she said as she pressed the elevator and pushed the 20th floor. Harold was still standing outside the elevator, looking at her.

"Are you taking the stairs up? Won’t that be too tiring?" She asked him with a smile.

He shook his head and entered the elevator. Desperately wanting some sleep.