Surprise after surprise

“W-w-who are you!?” the girl asked as she drew a sword, ready to interrogate me.

Her stance wasn’t good and she was shaking badly, but it was still a weapon. Besides, someone in panic is much harder to predict and becomes more problematic.

“H-hey, hey, put that away, it’s dangerous!” I replied, also panicking. “Besides, I don’t even know why I’m here either.”

“You’re lying! You must be a bandit!” she shouted, accusing me.

Her grip tightened and she started approaching with small, cautious steps.

Damn… The last thing I want right now is to fight!

“I already told you I’m not!” I answered as I slowly backed away.

If people saw how someone 6'1" tall is scared of a girl about 5'3", they’d probably laugh.

“Grr…”

“Huh?”

However, while thinking about how to get out of this, something caught our attention.

A kind of growl was heard in the distance.

“Urrgh…”

“What is that…?” the girl in front of me asked.

The echo inside the ruins made it sound even scarier and didn’t let us tell exactly where it came from, but as it got closer, the source became clearer and clearer.

Behind me was a hallway plunged into darkness. Not a ray of light reached it, which made it look even more eerie.

“Uuuhhh…”

Along with the growls, now a series of footsteps could be heard coming from that hallway.

“Grr…”

Tap

Tap

Finally, the source of those strange noises appeared.

From the darkness emerged what looked like a humanoid figure. Its skin was pale like a corpse’s; its black eyes reflected only a deep, endless void; it was extremely thin, almost like a single blow could snap it in half; and it wore a black robe with a purple cloak and golden trim along the seams of both.

Without a doubt, anyone who saw it would think it was a zombie; even its slow, unstable walk was convincing enough.

“Urrgh…”

That thing stopped for a moment, watching us. Then, its gaze landed on me and…

“HHHRRRAAAGH!!!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” the girl and I screamed at the same time.

As we shouted, the zombie charged running toward me.

That thing caught me off guard with such a sudden roar, so I couldn’t avoid its attack and it knocked me to the ground.

I said before it looked way too skinny, but its strength is impressive!

“Raaagh!”

“W-wait!”

The zombie tried to bite me while pinning me down and tried to get me off it. I had to struggle to push it away, but the bastard simply wouldn’t let go.

I need to think of something!

“Hya!”

At the girl’s shout, her sword plunged into the zombie’s back. Its grip weakened, but instead it got up and lunged at the girl, who dropped her sword.

Luckily, it didn’t manage to hurt her, but the girl was defenseless on the ground as that monster approached. I could see panic in her expression.

“It’s my turn!” I said.

I grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at the zombie to get its attention.

I managed to hit its head, which confused it a bit until finally we locked eyes. Its dark eyes were truly unsettling; it was like it was looking straight into my soul.

I gathered my courage and continued with my plan.

“I don’t know if you can understand me, but… come here!” I said, motioning for it to come closer.

“Grr… Graaaah!” it growled.

Maybe it wasn’t necessary or it didn’t even understand me, but the monster ran toward me, so I’d call that a success.

This is exactly what I wanted.

While waiting for that thing to reach my position, I took a solid stance. What I wanted to do was very basic, but it’s very different to do it in practice and planned fights than to improvise in a situation like this.

Besides… I was never prepared to fight a zombie!

Finally, the monster entered the range I wanted. It tried to lunge again, but that was its mistake.

As I twisted my body, I grabbed its right arm and the robe on its chest, then, using its own strength and momentum, I threw it.

THOOM!

“…What?” I questioned.

It’s not that the move went wrong. In fact, it went better than I expected for an improvised and really dangerous situation.

Yeah, all good so far, but… how the hell did I throw that thing so far and even crack a wall!?

I know that monster looked light, but this is no longer normal!

Also, I just realized, my body feels much lighter and more agile. And, of course, my strength is clearly greater.

I understand less and less what’s going on!

“So strong… Ah! Watch out!” the girl warned.

The monster had gotten up pretty quickly and tried to lunge at me again.

I dodged its attack again, but instead of repeating the previous throw, I wanted to try something else.

I wanted to see if I’m really stronger now.

I grabbed its arm again as it charged at me, but instead of grabbing its chest this time, I punched its torso with all my might.

THUD!

The echo of the punch resounded through the place, and not only that, I could feel that thing’s ribs breaking as my fist sank deeper into its chest.

At that moment, I noticed something fell from its robe, but I didn’t care much. I was impressed by what I had done with just one punch.

My strength really is terrifying now… But there’s no time to waste!

Quickly, I grabbed the zombie’s head with both hands and slammed it against my knee. The hit wasn’t as strong as before, but I could still feel its skull cracking.

The monster immediately fell to the ground.

I thought I had won, but…

“…Grr…” it growled again as it tried to grab my leg.

This thing really is persistent!

“Take this!”

I turned at the girl’s shout behind me and she threw me the sword she had.

Looking closely, it was a somewhat short sword, but it looked quite sharp and well cared for; I could even see my reflection on it.

“Urrgh…”

Kill it, huh?

I knew that if I didn’t, it would keep attacking us, but its humanoid form made me uneasy.

It’s a zombie, so it could have been human, right? But, following that same logic, I’ve seen enough series to understand that once you’re dead, there’s no turning back.

Maybe it was once human. Maybe it isn’t even a zombie. There could be thousands of possibilities… but my survival is the only valid answer.

With my thoughts in order, I firmly held the sword and, with a single motion, stabbed that thing’s head. Blood spurted everywhere, staining my pants and hoodie a dark red.

It stopped moving. It was finally dead.

Sigh

“…What a pain.” I said, practically whispering.

Having to kill it left a very bad taste in my mouth, but it was him or me.

I just hope I don’t have to do something like this again.

Shortly after, the corpse began releasing strange black particles that vanished into the air.

Looking closer, it wasn’t that the corpse was generating them, but that the corpse itself was falling apart.

I had never heard anything like this before.

First, I appear in strange ruins; then, some kind of zombie attacks us; then, I discover my strength and agility have increased considerably; and now, the zombie starts disintegrating.

Every time I try to make sense of it all, my head starts hurting more and more.