Chapter 2They Left Me with the Zombie Grandma

It hurts.

It hurts too much.

But I couldn’t make a sound.

The moment my windpipe was torn, air from my lungs, accompanied by bloody foam, gushed out, leaving me only able to make a "hissing" sound of leaking air.

My vision began to blur; everything around me spun and turned red.

I saw the family photo on the wall.

It was taken before the apocalypse.

Dad in a suit, Mom adorned with pearls, my sister and brother in pretty little dresses, smiling brightly.

And I, wearing my sister’s hand-me-down school uniform, stood in the very corner, showing only half my face because the photographer said the composition was too crowded.

That half-face was now facing me, being torn and bitten on the floor.

Grandma was swallowing in large gulps.

That was her granddaughter.

It was Cici, who bathed her, fed her, and trimmed her nails every day.

I wanted to push her away, but my limbs no longer obeyed, only twitching unconsciously on the cold floor like a dying fish.

Before my consciousness completely plunged into darkness, I heard sounds from outside the window.

“Boom—Crack!”

Those were fireworks rising from the direction of the Eden Safe Zone.

Even from dozens of kilometers away, I could see the dazzling light illuminating half the night sky.

How beautiful.

…

I don’t know how much time passed.

I felt my body become very light, very light.

The agonizing pain disappeared, replaced by an utter emptiness and coldness.

I floated up.

Looking down.

The floor was a mess, blood pooled and spread to the entrance.

A small, incomplete, emaciated corpse lay there, a huge bloody hole in its neck, stark white bones exposed.

And Grandma was squatting beside the corpse, her belly already bulging, her face covered in dark red bloodstains, extending her long tongue, still savoring the bits of flesh between her fingers.

A mutated rat poked its head out of the sewer, its beady green eyes greedily staring at my corpse, attempting to come and get a share.

“ROAR!”

Grandma, in the midst of feeding, suddenly turned her head, letting out a fierce growl at the rat.

She was protecting her food.

Even after turning into a zombie, she instinctively guarded her "food."

How ironic.

When I was alive, I was the most inconspicuous, invisible member of this family.

After death, I became the "delicacy" Grandma fiercely protected.

My heart was filled with sorrow.

Just then, a strange pull came from outside the window.

It was as if an invisible rope had tethered my soul.

The other end of the rope was connected to the safe zone, to where my "family" was.

Although my ability had failed, that "curse" which only activated in the presence of relatives seemed to have transformed into some kind of bond, forcefully pulling me towards them.

Fine.

If I couldn’t be a guest at the reunion dinner, then I’d be the ghost that ruined it.

The safe zone truly lived up to its name.

A massive dome shielded against the swirling snow. Four hundred lucky families were gathered, toasting and celebrating.

I drifted, pulled by the invisible force, to a round table in the very center.

Mom, Dad, my sister, my brother, all wearing the base’s newly issued white protective suits, looked like four bloated and happy silkworms.

The hotpot in front of them bubbled warmly.

And the moment I saw them,

The void in my mind was finally filled.

I finally completely understood what my ability truly was.

…