“Hey, you alive?”

“Hah!” I sit up so fast that I knock into the girl in front of me. My forehead explodes into pain but I’m just relieved that I can move. Just a dream…no…wait, please no! The black-haired girl in my face is too familiar, too real. She still looks cute, not covered in mud and blood. Completely different than a moment ago when her cleaver cut down on my neck, just the way I taught her to kill.

It’s Yin.

“Oww!” The cute girl stumbles as our foreheads clash and her companions stare at me with wide eyes. This time, I am not impassive, for I remember what they did to me…what they will do to me! Jumping up, I reach into my coat and pull out my cleaver. What happened? I came back again! Yin must have succeeded in killing me. But then these bastards…

“Yin, give it up!” Donovan yells, his blonde hair and mistrustful eyes hiding the bastard inside. The pink-haired girl watches him protect Yin with jealousy. I can see that now. “This guy is wasted, look at him, he looks like he’s seen a ghost!” At that moment, I almost consider stepping forward and cutting him down here and now. Rage fills me, the moment Yin’s warmth was torn away from me.

I was at peace in her arms for the first time since…ARGH!

“Y-yea…” Yin grows afraid when she sees my terrifying expression. Backing away, she retreats to the safety of the group and that poisonous hoe, Rui. The pink-haired pixie wraps her traitorous arms around Yin as if she’s just an innocent girl protecting a friend from a homeless person. But I know her true form underneath the pretty face and bubbly pink-hair.

She’s a witch! A goddamn disgusting witch! No one like her should be classified as part of the human species!

My hand stays white-knuckled on my cleaver. I watch them leave, trying to control my rage. Right now, I’m practically a zombie myself. Except I don’t want to eat them. I just want to kill each and every last one of the people who betrayed me. Before she goes, Yin calls over her shoulder, “We’re going to the city! If you need help, you should go too!”

“Shush Yin, he’s not welcome. He could be dangerous. Don’t tell him where we’re going!” Rui whispers insidiously and then they disappear. My blood boils. Acid presses against my throat and the wretched taste of bile fills my mouth.

Maybe I’ll turn with green if this keeps up.

Staggering to the crumbling building next to me, I put a hand on the rough-worn wall and lean against it. The shock of dying, the terror of being taken over the Gray, it’s all still so fresh in my mind. I can remember the taste, every touch, all the blood. Even the pain of having my fingers trampled and my neck severed. A sobbing girl forced to chop off my head. It is these memories which convinces me of what I need to do.

“I won’t save them.” I whisper to the empty sky. As the sun sinks once more, I set my path towards the river once more. My parched lips feel so much drier than they should be when I drink from my canteen, long and slow. I let it fall back into my coat pocket and swish my cleaver, listening to it part the air.

Every time I die…am I going to keep coming back to this moment? Yin doesn’t remember anything that happened. None of them recognized me. This time was different, I hit her accidentally when I woke up and that changed her behavior. That means I was right. This world is the same as last time, but I can do things differently.

A little while later, I hear what I expect to hear. A scream from up ahead between the gap in the two crumbling buildings.

“It’s time.”

I pass through the gap, but this time, I just let my head peek through. I don’t show myself. The scene before me is familiar, almost exactly the same as my memories. Six zombies run down Yin’s party which is backing into the river. Donovan swings his branch while his cowardly friends watch. The wet river and slick stones cause the blonde bastard to miss. He stumbles and hastily retreats as the lead zombie snarls and reaches for him.

“Help! Is anyone out there?” Rui screams in sheer panic. However, her cries fall on deaf ears. I remain hidden in-between two crumbling buildings, watching impassively. Donovan is the only one of these idiots who has any spine whatsoever and he has no skill to back it up. The pudgy zombie loses its footing several times in the river, but soon corners the blonde boy. I remember what happens next. Crassia jumps into the river, and tries to swim for the other side. Instantly, she is swept away, crying for help.

This time, no help is coming.

The zombies press forwards and it’s like watching the tide come in. Donovan is overwhelmed first. When he is pulled under, I can only imagine his screams as the water turns red. Next is the boy with dreadlocks, Jumoke. A woman reaches for him, her undead nails clawing at his throat. The ear-splitting shrieks are like music to my ears. I remember him standing over me, holding him down. I wonder how it feels to be held under and torn apart. The last boy stands with Rui and Yin. Even still I don’t know his name. As the two zombies finish with Donovan and Jumoke, they rejoin the others.

“Do something, Jason!” Rui clutches Jason’s arm in terror. She looks wildly from him to the zombies and the other shore. Stuck in chest deep water, they cannot go anywhere. The last boy hesitates. He suddenly turns around, considering swimming for it. Perhaps he can make it, he’s taller than the girls. However, when Rui sees this, she snarls desperately. Jason’s eyes widen as Rui shoves him in the chest and he falls back into the waiting arms of a zombie lady.

“W-Why!” He splutters as the zombie gnaws through his neck. His arms jerk and in seconds he too goes under the waves. Now it is just Rui and Yin. I leave the shadow of the buildings as the zombies come in close. Yin stares at her false friend in horror.

“You pushed him!” She cries out. Rui attempts to back up. She’s shorter than Yin though, and the river threatens to wash her away.

“Please! It was the only way to save us! He was going to abandon me!” Rui pleads, trying to reach the other girl. However, Yin has already seen the devil inside. She maintains her distance in the deeper water, just barely holding on against the current. The pink haired girl panics as the zombies get close. “Yin, don’t leave me!”

“I…I…” Yin’s good nature makes it hard for her to let go of a friend. I dash into the river as she starts to waver. Just as she reaches forward to take Rui’s hand, I yell with all my might,

“Don’t touch her!”

The shock of my appearance is enough to cause Yin to hesitate for a moment. The pudgy zombie surges up from the water behind and grabs Rui, dragging her back. She shudders, screaming all the while it feeds on her.

“N-No! AHHHH! PLEASE HELP ME! SOMEONE!” Her cries continue on and on as the other zombies catch up and begin to bite her entire body, tearing bits off here and there. Moments later, the undead turn to Yin who is still frozen in place, unable to move as she watches the last of her friends die.

It must be an awful sight. However, it had to be done.

The girl I’m trying to save looks almost like a dead person herself as the zombies advance on her. They are going to claim her next if she doesn’t move. But then I am there. My cleaver is the Reaper’s scythe.

*Thunk*

*Splash*

*Thunk*

I hew down the enemy like wheat from behind. By the end, the river turns a dark shade of brown as rotting zombie blood mixes with the fresh blood from Yin’s dead friends. All the while, she stands there, frozen in despair. When I approach her, she’s shaking like a leaf despite looking like a statue. Even when I grab her hand, she doesn’t resist. Just keeps groaning with chattering teeth.

“W-Why…why!”

However, though I know why her friends must die, I can’t tell the truth.

What am I supposed to say, that they were poisonous vultures who would have turned on you eventually?

This time, I am not her savior. Though I have come to save her this once, it is not for free. Her salvation will come at a price. I drag her to shore, her fingers limply held in my tight grip. The congratulations message for becoming a Hunter is already in my sight. It disappears slowly, the letters fading into the wind as I get my feet on the river bank. Once Yin is safely out of the water, I go around and collect dead wood. The dry branches and twigs crackle as I start a fresh fire beside her. All the while, she watches me with an eerie unseeing stare. I know what it is.

Shock.

She’ll need to warm up to get over it.

Gently, I put my hands on her shoulders and push her down. It doesn’t take much. She soon collapses by the warm fire. The girl shakes and shudders, her body trying to escape the stress her mind cannot. I hold her and stroke her hair, whispering that it will be okay. It hurts me, to see her like this even if I’m the cause. Worse…I know what I will have to make her do next.

But it’s inevitable.

My eyes linger on the river’s edge as the moon shines down.

How many of them will come back?

It doesn’t take long for the answer to rise out of the burbling river. Little splashes drip down on the mud. They are not Drowned Dead, so I can hear their footsteps coming. Yin notices them too, shifting in my arms. She raises her head tiredly, futile hope in her eyes. Perhaps she believes that some of her friends survived. That they are going to come back and be a party again. Unfortunately, only one of those things is true.

Donovan, Jumoke, and Rui rise again from the water. Ragged wounds cover their bodies, and Yin gasps as she realizes these are no longer her friends. The Fresh Undead stalk towards us, hungry for warm flesh.

“No…Donovan? Jumoke? R-Rui?” She whispers through chattering teeth. “P-Please, say something! This can’t be happening! This can’t be real!” Her hot tears dribble down and I get my legs under me and drag her up with me. Yin doesn’t want to rise. The cute girl’s mind is almost broken. If it isn’t yet, it might be after what I make her do next. Grabbing her right arm, I put the handle of my cleaver in her hand. She whirls back to me. “W-Why are you giving me this?”

“Your friends are gone. If you want to help them, if you want to live, you will put them out of their misery.” I point at each of the three coming undead. “Choose, let them suffer eternally, or help them!”

“No…NO NO NO!” She cries as she realizes what I want to do. But I back away. I leave her no choice. From my past life, I already know that she is stronger than she knows. It takes an eon. She doesn’t decide until her friends are almost upon her. “Why, why won’t you help me? Why do I have to do this?” Her sobs tear at me inside, but I don’t look away.

“Because you have to choose to survive in this world. Do you want to live? Or do you want to become one of them?” I whisper back gently. The first of the undead, Donovan roars as it gets close to her. His blonde hair is tattered and brown with blood. Mud drips from his fingers and feet as he rushes for Yin. At first, I’m afraid I’ve misjudged her. Maybe she wasn’t as strong as I thought. But then she raises my cleaver and swings for his neck. Her wild blow misses, but I’m already moving. I pivot on one foot and kick her undead friend in the head, knocking him to his knees. “DO IT!”

“AHHHHH!” Yin screams into the night as she lets my cleaver fall onto the back of Donovan’s head. His hands seize, the nerves forcing his body to dance as they fire one last time.

“AGAIN! HERE!” I point at the weak point, the base of his neck. Yin’s tears fall endlessly as she raises the butcher’s blade and drops it onto the spot. This time, she doesn’t miss.

Thud.

Donovan’s head goes down. I stand and duck under Jumoke’s undead hands. The zombie stumbles, unable to understand where I went. Then I kick it in the butt and it goes sprawling. From the ground, Jumoke’s head turns and he looks up at Yin with a disgusting, bloated grin. River water dribbles from his mouth as he roars. Before he can get to his feet, Yin hits him. Her aim is off, it takes two blows to sever his neck.

*Smack*

*Smack*

*Thud*

But then Jumoke is no more. His body drops to the ground lifelessly for the last time. Finally, all that is left is the one I saved for last. Rui comes at us with a stuttering step, her limbs filled with holes.

“P-Please…I’m so…hungry…so cold…” She moans, though in her dull eyes, a wicked hunger gleams. Even dead, the girl is a devil, luring others into her grasp. I help Yin get up. She stares at her old friend with undisguised fear. Perhaps this one is harder because it’s a girl.

“I-I can’t. Help me!” She shakes, trying to shove the knife back into my hand. “I’ll do anything you want, just don’t make me do this!” At this, I cock my head. Somewhere out the woods, I can hear leaves rustling.

So, the other one does come back to this town eventually. I suspected as much.

Shrugging, I accept my butcher’s blade back this one time.

“For her…I’ll make an exception. But you’ll have to honor your promise anyways in a moment.” I tell her, as I run forwards. Rui shrieks, her high-pitched cries trying to wake all the dead under the starry sky. I might be smiling. It’s hard to tell because the wind on my face is so cold.

“You dumb hoe! Never thought I’d come back for you again, did you?”

I don’t bother getting behind her. I want to see her expression when my blade severs her head from her spine.

*Shing*

A flash of silver metal, the dull rasp of sharp steel running across a torn throat. Then her head tumbles off her short body, the undead virus losing control as the Reaper takes away Rui’s soul. Yin gasps quietly behind me, but I stay silent, savoring the moment. My breath is heavy though I haven’t exerted myself much. A small part of the weight on my shoulders lifts as I realize she’s dead. Now all that’s left is…

“So-cold. Help-me-get warm!” Crassia appears out of the woods and I’m already returning to Yin’s side. She shivers, watching her friend come near. This Yin has already slain two zombies. She knows that something is wrong.

“Crassia? You’re so wet…” Yin whispers, looking at me as if hoping I’m going to tell her that her friend will be okay. Slowly, ever so slowly, I just shake my head, holding out my knife. “No…you can’t make me…look, she might be okay!”

“You promised. That isn’t your friend anymore.” I reply, pushing my cleaver at her. With reluctant eyes, she grasps the blade and turns back to the Drowned Soul. The closer she wanders under the light, the more obvious it becomes. Pale skin under soggy red hair, white dull eyes, river water seeping from her mouth. Yin can ignore the signs no longer. I whisper once more, “Now it’s time.”

“I…I’m so sorry!”

*Thud*