How Zombies Survive in the Apocalypse

Mom is unconscious.

The warmth of Mom's body in my arms is gradually cooling.

I feel something inside me stirring.

"You, are you really our fellow?"

The vampire in front of me approaches, sneering.

When he reaches me, he extends his hand.

"You look somewhat unusual, I'll have to take you..."

Slash!

The moment I swung my arm to brush off the vampire's hand.

His arm falls off with a thud.

"Huh...?"

The vampire steps back, seemingly bewildered.

Naturally, I use the blood around me. It's as natural an act as breathing.

The blood of the villagers spattered around me moves as if following my will.

I put Mom down for a moment and stood up.

Then I stretched my hand towards him and naturally moved the blood around.

It soon became sharp blades and headed towards the vampire in front of me.

"You... what on earth?"

The vampire tried to say something more, but I can't hear it.

I only want to tear him to shreds.

The moment my outstretched hand clenched into a fist.

The sharp blood blades rush at the vampire's entire body.

Without being able to say another word, the vampire is finely, very finely ground up.

I just blankly watched that scene.

In the emptiness left behind with the sounds of burning surroundings and wind, and the fishy smell of blood.

I gathered all the blood around me.

Absorbing the spherical blood in front of me into my body, I feel a satisfaction I've never felt before.

Then I carefully held Mom in my arms and returned home.

* * *

I made Mom's grave in a corner of the yard.

Then I went around the village that had become ruins, gathered the residents in one place and cremated them.

I returned home again and sat at the living room table, spending time aimlessly.

I had no idea what to do or how to do it.

It all happened in an instant.

The same morning scenery, the day I thought would be no different, why did it turn out like this?

This reality was like a nightmare, too much for my young self to accept.

I'm pondering how to live from now on.

No matter how smart I am or how strong I am, I'm just a young child.

Should I leave the village? Or should I stay in the village and hide alone?

The worries continue one after another, but no answer comes.

Then suddenly, the vampire's words come to mind.

-Being chased by those crazy fanatics, I was short on blood.

He said that, clearly.

There's only one group in this world that could be called fanatics.

That's the church.

This means that the church might find this place while tracing that monster's tracks.

To survive, I had to run away.

I had to leave this place.

Just as I was organizing my thoughts like that.

Creeak-

The gate opened.

For a moment, I almost said 'Damn it'.

The person who appeared opening the door was a man in attire not seen in this village.

He was wearing a black robe with a golden cross engraved on the chest.

It was the church attire Mom had explained to me.

Bad predictions come true too easily.

The existence I should never meet and must avoid. The church that I should not have been involved with in any form appeared before my eyes.

This is a nightmare.

The worst situations that shouldn't have happened are occurring one after another.

"A survivor?!"

The church figure who discovered me stopped in his tracks, seeming very surprised.

Thinking that there might be other church figures behind him even though it's just one person for now, I started acting.

"Who are you?"

I asked in the voice of an innocent child who knows nothing.

"I am Father Smith from the Central Church. You don't need to be afraid."

"Fa-Father?"

"Yes, I'm a priest. Are you alone right now?"

"Yes..."

I showed a dejected appearance as much as possible.

Then Father Smith showed a pitiful expression.

"Oh Lord... to think a young child is left alone in a place like this..."

Father Smith made a small sign of the cross and approached me.

I deliberately flinched.

Then Father Smith stopped and tried to smile with effort.

"Don't be afraid. We'll protect you."

"We...?"

"Yes. I arrived first as I was tracking by good deed, but the remaining priests will arrive soon. You're not in danger anymore. There won't be any more terrible things happening."

To hear he's not alone is bad news.

An alarm rings. I need to run away. If I move with them, I felt like my identity would be discovered.

The best method I can take is just one.

"Um... then can I bring my bag from inside the room?"

When I carefully asked, Father Smith nodded.

He looked like he wanted to ask many things, but maybe he's giving me time to stabilize since I'm still a young child.

I carefully got up and went into my room.

I took out a small bag and packed some necessary items, Mom's diary, and the remaining blood transfusion packs.

Then I opened the window in my room and went over to the backyard of the house.

There was a small dog hole dug there that Mom had prepared.

I carefully went through the dog hole without making a sound, and then entered the forest spread out behind the house.

After that, I just ran at full speed.

Whoosh whoosh-

With the sound of cutting through the wind, I run faster than a wolf running freely through the forest.

As if bidding farewell to all the memories, scent, and warmth of Mom, I ran faster and even faster.

-Arian... run... away.

Mom's last words ring in my ears.

As if being bound by iron chains, the phrase that I must run away tightens my heart.

I run through the forest faster and faster.

As if spewing out my stifling feelings.

And as the forest gradually thinned out, a wide plain appeared before my eyes.

Only then did I stop.

The world is so wide and bright.

I take a deep breath.

From now on, I'm alone.

I will survive. That was Mom's wish, and it's my wish too.

* * *

[Survival Diary

It's been two years since I ran away from the village.

It seems like I've gained a little breathing room now.

All sorts of things happened in between... but anyway, I'm alive.

Now I'm hiding in a shelter for orphans.

Acting like a good child is easier than eating cold rice.

The war and monsters continuously create orphans, and those children who become orphans remain in shelters to live their lives.

So far, there have been no clashes with the church.

I've been running away well, and breaking into hospitals to get blood was easier than I thought.

I always ran short because I only stole small amounts to steal blood without being noticed.

The shortage... I'm filling it somehow.

Many children live in the shelter.

Babies younger and weaker than me.

Taking care of the children felt really good.

Just like the care Mom gave me.

The rest is to just stay quiet without standing out and hide well... damn it.

I guess my appearance is quite extraordinary.

I can roughly tell just by looking at the interested gazes of boys around my age and the gazes of some adults managing the shelter.

I think I need to slip out again after staying for a while.

Where should I hide next... This is driving me crazy.

.

.

.

.

.

While wandering around various shelters for about 3 years, I coincidentally got to enter as a maid for an old retired hunter.

He said he had lived as a hunter alone for many years.

So he says he hired someone to take care of his conveniences for his last days.

If I just don't stand out, I might be able to hold out for a few years without problems.

The salary isn't much, but I entered right away when he said he would provide room and board.

Will it be okay?

.

.

.

.

.

The old hunter doesn't tell me his name.

Instead, after seeing my physical abilities, he teaches me many things.

I guess it showed even though I was hiding it as much as possible.

He doesn't ask anything about my background at all, but just silently teaches me combat skills and hunting.

He taught me how to use several weapons, and using a sword was the most comfortable.

A sword in an age where firearms are developing more and more, but he says a sword is essential for hunters.

Because they often engage in close combat with monsters.

.

.

.

.

.

Time passes well.

It's been two years since I started taking care of the hunter.

The old hunter passed away peacefully.

I cremated him as per his last wishes.

He didn't tell me his name until the end, but I think I grew fond of him.

Especially towards the end, he seemed to have roughly guessed my identity, but he didn't ask anything.

He just told me to survive well, and after giving me a pitiful but warm gaze, he ended his life like that.

... It felt strange.

.

.

.

.

.

After the old hunter died, I left that house.

Since then, I've been wandering here and there, solving small requests from small villages.

Passing one year, then another like that, a lot of time has passed.

I went through various villages while hunting low-level vampires that were troubling villages, or werewolves that had strayed from their pack.

But, there still hasn't been any friction with the church.

This continent was big and vast, so if I just kept my wits about me, it was okay.

I had to be even more careful with my behavior.

I heard that conflicts between the church and vampires have been intensifying lately.

Werewolves also participated in between, creating a tripartite structure where they check and hunt each other.

Since vampires and werewolves are the largest monster forces in scale, it seems they clash often.

Recently, I see church figures more often than monsters.

Every time that happens, I quietly slip out of the village and quickly get out of their sight.

I need to move more carefully.

.

.

.

.

.

My mouth was careless, I've been clearly marked by the church.

Hunters and fanatics everywhere are searching for me with their eyes wide open.

The problem was that I let my guard down when I was short on blood for a moment.

Being caught in the middle of a small conflict area between the church and vampires was also a big factor.

I should have noticed earlier that they were there.

When I was weakened by the hunger right in front of me, I recklessly broke into a small clinic in the village and was running down the street drinking blood transfusion packs like crazy, I ran into the church doing dawn patrol in the village.

A large amount of blood on my face. And the blood transfusion pack in my hand. Without time to say anything, the fight with the church began.]

Now I'm in a big dilemma.

I don't hesitate at all to kill monsters like me.

But humans are different.

Aren't I a monster who was raised by human hands and loved by humans?

Now I can kill them easily.

I have blood, though not enough, and all the battle experience has turned into my strength.

I was a fool for just subduing them lightly because I couldn't bring myself to kill them.

The church is even more vicious and crazier than I thought.

I don't know how or where they're looking for me, but whenever I thought I could rest a bit, they appeared out of nowhere and attacked me with their eyes rolled back.

Those crazy bastards... I'm sick of them.

It's already been two weeks.

The way to cut off this tiresome pursuit was simpler than I thought, but I'm still hesitating.

Can I kill people?

For now, I drew a little blood from the fainted priests.

Well, what can I do, I need strength to run away.

I ran at full speed to shake off the church's pursuit even a little.

I need to find a way to throw off the pursuit.