“Oh, wow, she really is pretty,” I muttered out loud without thinking.
I’d gotten a vague impression of a beauty from my vision, but seeing her in person was something else entirely.
She had the delicate features of a handcrafted doll, plus this whole fragile vibe that just screamed “protect me.” The way she was trembling, her huge eyes all dewy and wet… I felt my own resolve start to waver.
But Yoan?
“Why are you ignoring me? Can’t you talk?”
He didn’t care who he was talking to; all that mattered was that she hadn’t answered his question.
“Oh, no! I’m sorry. I’m fine. Thank you. For saving me… hic.” The woman stammered, words tumbling out of her mouth as if she was still terrified.
Then her eyes met mine, and she shrank back, looking like she wanted to crawl out of her own skin.
I could see the fear and disgust in her gaze.
To her, I probably didn’t look much different from the zombie that had just attacked her.
Even though I hadn’t done anything, I felt like I’d scared her, so I quickly pulled up my hood and took a step back.
But I couldn’t shake the bitter feeling that followed.
Just as I was about to explain, Yoan spoke up first. “What’s with the attitude? Is that any way to thank someone who just saved your life?”
“Pardon?”
“Or do you think this one here isn’t a person, so you don’t need to be grateful? Sasha was the one who spotted you first, not me.”
“But… she’s a zombie?”
“So? Sasha was the one who made sure you were safe the second she got here.”
“Ah, well…”
“Hah. What a waste of effort.”
“Where did that come from?” I said, a little flustered, and tugged on his sleeve.
I was genuinely grateful that he always had my back, but as long as I was a zombie, misunderstandings like this were inevitable. So I was only a little bummed, not actually mad at her.
I flashed the woman a small smile. “It’s complicated, but while I am a zombie, I’m a little different. I don’t attack humans.”
“Why are you even explaining? Let’s go.”
“Hey, just hold on a second.” This is the woman we’re looking for, you dummy!
“I’m so sorry!” the woman finally apologized, her face full of remorse. “I shouldn’t have judged someone by their appearance. I was so rude. Thank you so much for helping me.”
“It’s okay. It happens,” I said, waving it off with a laugh.
I stood on my tiptoes and whispered in Yoan’s ear. “I think this is the doctor we’ve been looking for.”
“I know.”
“You know? Then why did you want to just leave?”
“Because she annoyed me.”
Ugh, this guy and his temper. I shot him a glare before turning my attention back to the woman.
“I’m Sasha. This is Yoan Keith.”
“Yoan Keith? You mean… you’re the lord? Oh, my goodness. Ah! I’m Freya McDona. Again, thank you so much for saving me.”
“More importantly, Miss Freya. Are you alone?”
“What? Oh. Yes, I’m not married yet.”
“No, that’s not what I…” Did she really think I was asking about her marital status the first time we met?
“Oh! Oh! So that’s what you meant. Yes, I’ve just sort of been hiding here by myself.” Freya’s face turned beet red.
For a doctor with smarts, she seemed surprisingly dense about some things.
Anyway, it was a relief she was alone.
I casually suggested she join us. “Well, I’d say this is a pretty fateful meeting. Why don’t you come with us? It’ll be a lot better than being on your own.”
“Is that… really alright?” Freya asked cautiously, her eyes darting toward Yoan.
When Yoan said nothing, I jabbed him in the ribs. He gave a grudging nod, a bored expression on his face.
“Thank you for having me!”
“We’re heading out right now, is that okay? Do you have anything you need to pack?”
“Yes. Not much, but…”
“Then let’s hurry.”
We headed to the makeshift shelter Freya had been staying in nearby. It was on the third floor of what used to be a government office.
A pretty smart move, since zombies rarely bothered with stairs unless there was a special reason.
“This was actually the clinic where I worked,” she explained. “I was finishing up some late work when… all of this happened, so it became my home.”
Freya’s hands moved quickly, packing essentials into a bag—clothes, some basic necessities, and what looked like medical supplies.
I peeked over her shoulder and asked casually, “Do you have any magic devices?”
“You mean for treatment?”
“Anything.”
“I have a few, but they’re mostly for research purposes, not treatment.”
“Great. Let’s take those and any lab equipment you have. It’ll be hard to find that stuff anywhere else.”
“That’s true, but… shouldn’t we just take what’s absolutely necessary? Most of it is big and heavy, so…”
“Pack it. Sasha said to.”
“Ah, yes, my lord!”
Freya was hesitant at my asking, yet immediately started packing the extra items at Yoan’s command. In a way, she was a very transparent person.
I slung one bag, bigger than my entire torso, onto my back and held the other one easily in my hand.
“Oh my,” Freya gasped.
I didn’t forget to flash her a little smile.
Heh. I’m a zombie. This is a piece of cake.
Since we couldn’t just keep dragging Freya around with us, we decided to head back to our base.
“Oh, you found a place over there? That’s right in the town center, a crossroads to everywhere.” Freya, it turned out, was a local, born and raised.
She knew the area like the back of her hand. “The situation is changing constantly, so I can’t say for sure, but there probably aren’t many people left in this district. Most of them moved to other areas shortly after this all started. I heard there’s a leader who has his own group of survivors.”
So that was why this area felt a little deserted.
A group of survivors with a leader, huh? That usually went one of two ways: they were either a great asset or a huge pain in the ass.
Unfortunately, according to the laws of narrative cliché, it was usually the latter.
We chatted on the way back and were greeted by Derek, who came running out to meet us. He looked so much like a little brother that I couldn’t help but smile.
“Sasha! No trouble?”
“Nope. You?”
“We found more food. That old man Rob snuck some on the way back, though. We’re all supposed to share, but he’s so cheap… and he’s a grown-up.”
“Hey! It was just two pieces of caramel. I can’t even have that?” Rob grumbled from behind us, but Derek completely ignored him.
“Oh, and this…” Derek fumbled in his pocket and pulled something out. It was a cute little brooch shaped like a daisy.
“Is this for me?”
“Yeah. I found it by chance and thought it would look good on you.”
“Thanks.” I wanted to pin the brooch Derek gave me onto my clothes, but my hand muscles weren’t flexible enough to manage it. “Can you do it?”
Derek nodded and, with his small but capable hands, pinned the brooch to my chest.
“It’s pretty.”
To be honest, the cutesy pin didn’t really match the clothes I was wearing. The sentiment behind it gave it charm, though.
“Don’t even get me started. He saw the lord give you that ribbon yesterday and—Ouch! You little brat!”
“Shut up!”
Derek cut Rob off mid-sentence by running up and kicking him in the shin.
“There they go again.”
I watched them bicker with a zoned-out look before remembering Freya’s presence.
Thankfully, she was already introducing herself to the others.
“By the way, we don’t have any spare rooms. What should we do?” Bliss worried. “She can share my room, but it’s really small. We’d have to sleep right next to each other, and there’s no room for anything else.”
“There’s the storefront,” Yoan replied as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
I timidly raised my hand. “Then I’ll use the storefront.”
“Why you?” Yoan shot back, his tone now completely uncomprehending, a total one-eighty from a moment ago.
“I don’t sleep, anyway.”
“What does that have to do with you using the storefront?”
“Technically, nothing. But it’s better to offer our guest a more comfortable place to sleep…”
“So the newcomer’s supposed to kick out the one who was here first?”
Why was he being so obnoxious all of a sudden? It was making me feel awkward.
“I’ll take the storefront. It’s really okay,” Freya said with an awkward laugh, now the center of attention.
“It might get cold, so take plenty of blankets. And a weapon, just in case. Do you know how to use one?” Yoan asked her.
“No, my lord. But I do have a self-defense magic device that activates automatically!”
“If anything happens, just scream. We’ll come right away.”
“Ah, yes!”
Was he being nice or not? Even I was confused by Yoan’s attitude.
He walked over to where I was standing awkwardly, tilted his head, and whispered in my ear. “Sasha, stop trying to get away from me, and please just stay within arm’s reach.”
“Why?”
“Why do you think? Because I’m your guardian.”
With that, Yoan announced he was going to rest and disappeared into his room.
Uh, why was he taking on the role of guardian when I never even asked him to? It was just making me uncomfortable.
Am I a dog or something?
I stared at the closed door in disbelief before turning to Freya. “Let’s go. I’ll help you get settled.”
“Thank you.”
The storefront was already somewhat tidy, so it was in decent shape. I set up a partition to divide the space while Freya cleaned.
Finally, we spread a blanket over a large sofa, and just like that, we had a makeshift bed.
“This is much nicer than I expected! It’s all thanks to you, Lady Sasha,” Freya said with a bright smile.
“I’m glad.”
I sat down on the sofa, trying to naturally transition to the real reason we’d brought her here. She was probably exhausted, but this was kind of urgent.
But it was Freya who spoke first.
“Um, about the lord…”