Dum dum de dum. The MC is getting a little stressed out. Maybe a break will help?

“We finally found you! We came to…save you…”

Hehe, they just jumped right out of the bushes, apparently. They were surprised to see me, but didn’t notice all the zombies. Not until now, anyway.

“Come on, you two. Help us carry these supplies back home!”

“Uh…Yes sir!”

“Yes sir!”

Chance, man…you could stand to be a little suspicious, like David. Ask me what I did! Come on! I want to boast! Well…I don’t want to say it more than once…So I’ll just wait until we get back home.

“…and then I jumped down from my hiding spot from above and BLAM! Took them out by surprise! They thought they got the drop on me! Haha!”

“Here, sir, we’re back home.”

“Haha, oops.”

Shit, it’s her. Rebecca…

Why is she dressed funny?

“It’s not winter, why are you so bundled up?”

She’s not saying anything, just walking towards me. Shit, man. She saw the stupid broadcast and saw my reaction. She knows that I’m really pathetic. Fuck! Whatever. I’ll just take what she dishes out.

“mm hm mm.”

Eh?

“I’m sorry, what did you say? The wrapping is covering your mouth.”

What?! Why. Oh…she hugged me. So that’s what the stuff was for. So as to not let her get contaminated. Sheesh, I was freaking out. But, this feels nice. Even if it’s only blankets, towels, and jackets.

It still feels warm.

Alright! Time for a movie! I want to celebrate! I almost died!

I get the new zombies to their positions while I let the Amigos go and set up a projector. We had a wall of one house painted white since it was flat and perfect to watch movies on. We gathered all the chairs and stools for others to sit on.

I personally grabbed my comfy recliner from my house. Well, the Amigos did. But when I sat down, Rebecca sat on my lap! Eh? Isn’t this too fast?! I mean…I…

Whatever. I don’t think she’s doing it because she loves me, or anything. It must be so I don’t freak out again and leave. Makes since. The rest of the community must have made her a sacrifice. That kind of hurts me inside.

Well, I think I am more hurt by the fact that someone grabbed the stupid Dragon Ball Evolution movie! What the fuck?! I thought I broke all those! Hehehe, let’s watch something like Riddick or the Mummy or something. Maybe…oh fine. They want to watch the Avatar.

Fucking no! Not that one! This is not the blue people Avatar! Again! With! This! Shit!

I am putting on Harry Potter. That should shut them up. God dammit. Putting on terrible movies...

I settle back down, and Rebecca snuggles up to me. Must be trying to calm me down so as to not get angry at the others.

“I’m not mad, just frustrated.”

“Mm? MMhm?”

“Shit. Forgot. Here.”

I hand her a pen and paper I had the Leader of the Amigos go get.

(What are you talking about?)

“Isn’t that what you were doing? Calming me down?”

(No, I was getting comfortable.)

“So that’s why you sat here?’

(Yep.)

I don’t know how she did it, but she managed to look cute covered in stuff. I literally can’t tell it’s her, but I somehow can. Is that weird?

Maybe. But would a girl get so close to a guy merely because the seat was comfortable? She would have to be comfortable with the guy sitting in it, after all. Maybe I seem like an herbivore in her eyes. Shame.

Where’s Lucy and Sarah? Oh, off to the front with Scratch. Hah, everyone is sitting here, watching a movie with zombies watching over them from behind. We’re in the middle of an apocalypse, but we’re having a good time.

Hey…she’s rubbing me. Why? Does she need something?

“You hungry? I can get some chips.”

(No, just tired…)

Why add the dots? What do you mean?! I don’t understand! You were just angry at me earlier today!

I give up. At least the stars look amazing. All it takes is a lot of cities to be destroyed so the night can shine, but it’s beautiful.

Shit.

I whisper to Rebecca,

“We’re in public, what are you doing?”

(Nothing…)

Shit, again with the dots. Fine. I pick Rebecca up and carry her away. No one was paying attention, I don’t think, but it was a good thing we were in the back.

We’re back in my house.

“What do you want? Take off the damn outfit.”

After several moments of Rebecca trying to remove her clothes,

“So you want me to strip the rest of the way?”

What is wrong with her? She is definitely forcing herself.

“Tell me honestly, what do you want?”

Good, she dropped the act. Although she seems really down.

“I need to be stronger.”

“Eh? How did that come about? We have Spot, Chance, even David! Heck, Lucy has a Skill also!”

“Exactly! I need a Skill as well! I need to protect my Sarah!”

Oh. That changes things.

“So you are trying to get closer to me so you can unlock a Skill as well?”

“…yes…”

She’s not writing anything, but I can actually sense those damn dots in her speech.

“Look, if you want a strong Skill, you have to be strong. That Reese guy used a Molotov to destroy zombies and gained a fire Skill. Lucy got lucky when I protected her at the last moment. If you continue the way you’re going, you’re only going to get something like “Lover of the BOSS” or something. I doubt the related Skill would be combat worthy.”

“I know. But when I saw you fighting, I realized you were strong. Strong enough to protect us. You can have the zombies be our protectors and we can live in peace.”

“Not necessarily. If someone activates the monitor after becoming a zombie, they end up like me, a Variant.”

“That’s it! I’ll just become a Variant!”

“Then you can never hold Sarah again.”

“Ugh…”

“This is not as good as you think. Thankfully I can curb my hunger with whatever mac and cheese has. Must be the bacteria found in the product or something. I will have to look into it. Anyways, I have trouble as it is feeding these guys under my control.”

“Huh? What do you feed them?”

“Rotten stuff. Bugs will grow and live in the stuff and that provides nourishment to the idiots. It’s really gross.”

“Yeah.”

She seems to be really thinking about it. If I had a choice, I wouldn’t want to be a zombie, but since I already am one, I can see what makes it popular. I can surpass my limits temporarily and regenerate thanks to my Title. But this can be done by normal people, too. This was proven by all the bounty hunters from before. The only reason I did good was because I turned them.

The problem with them was that they never hunted a person before, only zombies. They got used to stupid enemies. Of course, if I had used my zombies, I could have done more damage, but it didn’t even occur to me. I just thought about what to do in order to stay alive.

I must be changing my personality after dying, I can’t seem to figure out how…

“Hey! Stop!”

I thought she wasn’t going to do anything!

“I need that power!”

Eh? Is she trying to kill me?

I could hear the old grandfather clock my grandmother left me chiming midnight. My grandmother was a cheapskate.

But that was beside the point!

“Rebecca, put your clothes back on!”

She was standing before me stark naked as she placed her belongings on the table and left her clothes on the floor. She walked up to me with a seductive sway. Somehow, I doubt she wants to kill me.

Wouldn’t that have guaranteed her getting a Skill? Even a Title. Why is she, oops. There’s no more space to back up!

“Why are you so nervous? You saw this all before when you peeped on me, didn’t you?”

I may have begun to faint, but I could never forget the soft and warm touch of her naked skin on my rough and decaying body. Then I blacked out.

Nope. Andrew's Explosion Meter is at 67%

Hehe, been watching MobPsycho 100.