Zombies Need Love Too!

I was tormented all night long.

Whether they felt some tragic kinship with their fellow zombie behind bars or just really enjoyed making noise, the horde wouldn’t leave.

They shrieked and rattled the cage nonstop like a particularly aggressive fan club.

Zombies don’t normally sleep, but after that mess? I felt mentally chewed up and spit out. Exhausted.

Finally, at dawn, they shuffled off like a particularly rude parade, and I let out a long, grateful breath.

My chance had come—freedom was nigh!

“Ha!”

And of course, because the universe enjoys nothing more than mocking me, that’s precisely when Yoan strolled up.

I let out a noise of pure, righteous indignation.

Why, why, why are you only coming now?!
“Krrr, krrr, krrr, kraaaah!”

If he’d been just five minutes later, I’d be gone like a fading memory!

But no. Yoan walked up to the cage, smiling like he’d just won something, and opened the door.

“You did well. You pass.”

Pass what?!

I scowled, properly offended.

His smug expression sparked a very reasonable suspicion: the locked cage had been intentional.

The audacity!

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“…”

“Let’s go. Bliss is a good cook.”

Well, he was actually letting me out.

I decided to follow him… for now. Partly to get a read on my own bizarre condition, partly to snag some emergency rations before attempting another escape.

Though honestly, it was already weird for a zombie to be thinking about food logistics.

Zombies typically didn’t plan meals. They just grabbed the nearest human and called it lunch.

Clearly, I wasn’t your standard-issue undead.

“What’re you doing? I hate waiting.”

Yes, yes, I’m coming.
“Grrrrow.”

With the grumpiness of someone unjustly denied their jailbreak moment, I shuffled after Yoan.

***

“My lord? I hate to nag, but at this rate, our food stores will be gone the day after tomorrow.”

Rob gave me the stink eye across the table.

I did feel a teensy bit bad. But what was I supposed to do?

My body rejected grains and vegetables and only accepted meat. A lot of meat.

Still, silver lining: I wasn’t eating people. Surely that had to count for something, yo!

I chomped my way through a perfectly medium steak and tried not to look too enthusiastic about it.

“I’ve never seen a zombie like this. Even after mutating, she’s retained this much humanity.”

Bliss, seated across from me, examined me with curious eyes.

“Maybe what we know about zombies is just the tip of the iceberg.”

“Yes, that might well be.”

“At least we know it doesn’t eat people. And it didn’t go wild last night, either.”

That’s right. I’m a safe zombie.
“Grrrr. Graaaw.”

“Still,” Rob interjected, voice tight with suspicion, “isn’t it too early to feel safe?”

Rob was one heck of a suspicious fellow, contrary to his easy-going looks.

Put badly, the man had the soul of a conspiracy theorist.

“Anyway,” he continued, “we need more like this one if we want any chance of survival… Hey.”

Yes?
“Grk?”

“Are there more like you out there?”

I dunno. I don’t have any zombie friends myself.
“Grrrrrr. Graaaw.”

“So you don’t know anything.”

How delightfully blunt. And annoyingly accurate. He was weirdly good at translating zombie noises.

I finished my meat and stared longingly at Yoan’s plate.

“Help yourself,” he said.

Say no more.

I gleefully devoured the leftovers, though I could’ve easily eaten more.

Still, I practiced a bit of restraint. No sense in getting booted out for being an overenthusiastic carnivore.

I clearly wasn’t a typical zombie. Rather than roaming the wasteland and getting dismembered by adventurers, I decided it made far more sense to stick close and gather information.

At minimum, I had to figure out where in the universe I’d landed and form a plan of action.

“My lord,” Bliss began. “Are you heading out again today?”

“I have to. Still plenty to do.”

“You’re taking this thing with you, right? I don’t want to be alone with a zombie.”

Bliss gestured directly at me.

Ouch… But fair. I’d have felt the same way in her shoes.

“Don’t worry. Since I picked it up, I’ll keep it for now.”

“At night too?” Rob’s eyes widened.

“Why? You volunteering for babysitting duty?”

“I’ll gladly defer to you, my lord.”

“Do try and cut the nonsense. It’s tedious.”

“…Damn lord.”

Yoan didn’t respond—he was already getting up—but with my unusually sharp hearing, I caught Rob’s muttered complaint.

Honestly? I agreed somewhat. Damn that lord!

Still, he wasn’t seriously planning to keep me around at night, was he?

Just because I was a zombie didn’t mean I wasn’t still a woman deep down.

***

Yoan called it “light reconnaissance.”

He lied.

“Ugh. I’ll never get used to this,” Rob groaned, flicking blackish blood from his sword.

Three twitching, decapitated zombies lay at his feet.

Zombie activity slowed during the day, but it didn’t stop. Which meant every “light” patrol involved a fair amount of stabbing.

I followed Yoan at a slight distance, connected by a rope like some very grim pet. 

And now that I had the mental space to actually observe things, one conclusion was glaringly obvious: this place was a complete disaster.

There was no telling how many people had turned.

We passed survivors here and there, but none of them were ready to band together. 

Too traumatized. Too vulnerable. One wrong move and splat, they were dinner.

So Yoan and his team kept sweeping the area daily—scouting, gathering intel, and checking for potential survivors to escort to the castle.

I’d pegged him as the lazy flirt-type, but apparently, he had a work ethic. Who knew?

“My lord, this is uncharted territory,” Rob said.

Yoan pushed back his sweaty bangs and nodded. “You’re right. Let’s take a break and recover before pushing on.”

“Of course… but it’s too open here. That building looks decent, if a bit broken—shall I scout ahead?”

“Do it.”

“Then I’ll be off. Please take your time coming.”

Rob dashed off while Yoan and I ambled after at a much more relaxed pace.

After a few minutes, Yoan glanced back. “By the way, what should I call you? If we’re traveling together, you should have a name—hey!”

His words cut off because I had collapsed.

Yep. Just flopped over. No warning.

Physical strength aside, I had slow reflexes.

My upper body tilted forward, my neck gave up, and bam!

My head hit the ground like a dropped melon.

Ow!
“Grak!”

It made an alarming crack, but strangely, it didn’t hurt. Just felt like someone had tipped my body sideways.

“Hey, you okay? I nearly tripped over you.”

Anyone else might’ve been joking, but his voice sounded genuinely worried.

Before I could reassure him with a sarcastic grunt, my vision began to blur.

Wait… am I fainting? Can zombies even faint?

Apparently, yes.

But that wasn’t the only revelation.

As my head smacked the earth, a flicker of memory stirred—dim, scattered fragments clicking into place like bits of a jigsaw puzzle.

Where had I been transported to?

Turned out it wasn’t a game or movie after all. I was right—it was a web novel. One I’d read.

A Western fantasy romance with zombies: Love Blooms Even in Disaster.

Details remained hazy, but a few facts stood out.

Yoan Keith was the male lead, as I thought. The female lead was Aria, the lone antibody carrier.

They hadn’t met yet because this was still early days.

That’s all I managed to remember for the time being…

And me?

I was Extra #1.

Nameless. Forgettable. Background fodder.

No wonder I’d landed in this world as a zombie—no one cared if I lived or died!

Suddenly, I was overcome with an absurd, poignant sadness.

Was this really my fate? To stumble through undeath and still end up dead?

“Rob. You’ve never seen a crying zombie, have you?”

“Well of course, my lord. Why would I look closely enough to notice?”

“Hmm. Well, this one looks like it’s crying.”

“Really? Maybe it’s waking up.”

“Its eyes are still closed.”

“Then slap it.”

“I told you it’s crying.”

“So? It’s still a zombie.”

“…Do my eyes look broken to you?”

“They look fine. Why?”

“Because I know it’s a zombie, you idiot.”

“Ohhh!”

Their incredibly helpful exchange floated around me while I kept my eyes closed.

Honestly, I was surprised. From his actions, I’d assumed Yoan was emotionally bankrupt, but he had at least one ounce of decency.

I was still sorting through my spiraling thoughts when the world suddenly went unnaturally quiet.

Wait.

Why is it so—

Eek!
“Grahk!”

I cracked open one eye and nearly blacked out all over again.

Yoan’s face was right there, chin resting on his hand, eyes peering into mine.