"To my super cool dad. I love you even though you're always late at the dining table. Even though mommy left us, I still love you. My classmates told me you do bad stuff. But I don't believe them! I love you, and I know you're always late because you help people! I know you act tough in front of me, especially Uncle Akio! You're just doing that, so I don't worry about your problems! But I always tell you I am a strong girl for you too, daddy! I want to be there for you, like Uncle! Uncle Akio always helps me do the dishes! He can't be bad, since you're friends with him! I miss you, daddy. And I hope you can come and visit me soon!"
"Love, Emiko. P.S. I miss your cooking, daddy! Can you bring me some curry if you visit my dorm soon?"
Those were the words written on the small note attached to the photograph. That handwriting belonged to a child genuinely loving her father. It even had tiny stick figures drawn by a child just below the message.
It was enough to make me silently cry after reading the letter. And that name, Emiko, belonged to a girl…. I think, since there was a girl in the picture.
I viewed the photograph once again and studied the girl and the father. Judging by the letter, the girl had a broken family, with her mother leaving this man. But I was not one to judge, considering that I was a stranger to this family. The letter did not indicate the reason, but I did not want to pry into that mail.
It was never my goal to put my nose in someone's business. The only exception would be if it belonged to a close friend of mine. And from what I remembered, I had no friends in my school since most people used me to their advantage.
The only person I had was my girlfriend….
The girl in the picture had her hair dyed in a golden hue, with blue colours painted on her pupils. She had a petite body type, with a body that belonged to a young child. As I searched the note for more, the daughter also showed the date she wrote this message.
It was around six years ago since that daughter wrote this letter. And if I added those years to our current date, this girl would be the same age as me. I only hoped that my math never failed me.
Beside the little girl was her father with bulky muscles and a fierce look in his eyes. He wore a black haori with an image of a dragon that reached towards the guy's back. I could only deduce that idea since the dragon's ends continued towards the man's behind.
"He must be the father of this girl," I whispered, and gingerly folded the note to fit it inside my pocket.
I kept the letter to myself, unsure when I would need it soon. I had nothing to lose if I brought that note with me throughout my journey. That photograph would also set as my reminder of having a human heart for a family in this zombified body.
After taking the note inside my pocket, I carried on towards the stairs beside the building. The two siblings had the jumpstart on the staircase, but waited for me when they were halfway there.
Those two glanced behind and finally noticed me joining close behind them. As soon as the pair knew, those two siblings resumed down the emergency exit.
Fortunately, those insects climbing on the walls and flying near the department store did not notice us. They could easily snatch us from here whenever those bugs wanted some food.
But those zombies that came from the store continued chasing us towards the staircase. Since they were zombies who had body necrotic, those undead creatures should not handle the stairs.
Well, that was what we thought, not until those zombies jumped from the rooftop and parkoured their way downwards. The three of us had to amp up the pace or else those bastards would catch up on us.
"AFTER A FEW HOURS, A ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE HAPPENED! AND THE NEXT MINUTE, ZOMBIFIED BUGS AND REGULAR ZOMBIES DOING PARKOUR BECAME THE NEW TREND. GOD, I LOVE JAPAN!" I yelled, as I pushed two zombies from the staircase.
Luckily, those zombies who fell from the fourth floor (still the staircase) became immobile when they landed on the ground. Since they cannot chase us around, I considered them dead on the spot.
Zombies who could not run were useless enemies to me. But maybe I could consider if we were up against undead worms that would emerge themselves underground.
"Remember the alley I told you about before! Wait for me in the corner. I'll catch up!" I shouted, and fended off the persistent horde of zombies coming from behind.
If I let this swarm of zombies catch up, they would chew out the two humans at my party and take them away from me. I had nothing against these people, but I needed them alive for the electrical outlet. If only I knew the in-and-out of Tokyo, I would not have saved these two and babysat them throughout my journey.
And within a few seconds of running on the series of steps, those two siblings finally arrived on the lowest floor. They dashed straight to the isolated streets and hid somewhere along those roads. I couldn't just join them yet, considering the number of zombies in front of me.
Those zombies were more powerful than me. They even tried chomping off my arm as if it belonged to a human's flesh. I did not mind since I was also a zombie with the same genes as them.
My system gave me immortality and hastened my regeneration, excluding strength and some hocus pocus power. But thanks to those abilities, my amputated arm reemerged on my body. Within a moment, my arm appeared as if it was brand new.
I was curious enough about what would happen if I lost my head. I tried and let the zombie haul my neck, detaching itself from my body. After some time, vines of some sort emerged inside my body and went towards my head with extreme speed. As soon as it grasped my head, those tentacles zipped themselves over my face and returned to me.
"Nothing happened…. Interesting."
I did that in the name of Science. But I doubted that would do something good for me in the long run.
After dawdling around, I finally tossed the three zombies from behind and beheaded them using the metal rails. Their lower bodies became an obstruction that prevented those undead beings from following any further downstairs. That obstruction would be enough to stop them from chasing us, at least the zombies that came from the building.
However, just as I reached the concrete floor, a monstrous screech echoed from above.
"Oh, fuck. Come on! Give me a fucking break!"
How could I forget the arachnid with eight mother-fucking zombified legs chasing us? Among the bugs I witnessed from the building, this spider was the king of grotesque monsters. It did not have a titanic size compared to the ones I saw. But goddamn, I knew this insect was one of a kind.
"You wanna dance, insect? I killed most of your species inside my bathroom! And my favourite superhero is Spider-man!" I yelled, which I immediately regretted afterwards.
But before I could continue my mockery against the spider, that insect spewed some webs in my direction. Those lattices were no ordinary web fluids that came from a house spider. As I observed the gooey substance, the ground touching it sank. It created a pit that continued burning the surroundings, including the corpses beside it.
The abscess spread like wildfire and destroyed their cells within moments! I instinctively stepped back and chuckled out of fear.
"You won. My favourite superhero is actually Deadpool. Spiders are so overrated these days….," I mumbled, and sprinted onwards where the two siblings kept waiting for me.
Upon arriving at the site, those two humans sighed in relief when they saw my sight. But instead of congratulating them for coming this far, I pulled on their arms and warned them.
"Run! That spider is still chasing us!"
"Spider-man?" the kid asked.
"From what I remembered, kid. Peter Parker ain't like that. Now, go!"
(Author's note: Peter Parker is Spider-man from the Marvel comics)
Just like what we had briefed earlier, we needed to pass by the clash happening at our side. Those gunshots we kept hearing came from the yakuza on the side, battling against a horde of zombies. There were also special infected undead among them, which made that gang even harder to fight.
That yakuza group already lost dozens of its members when they fought against the swarm of undead. If that continued for a few minutes, the zombies would annihilate them and turn those gangsters into zombies.
But like the explanation for these two siblings, I did not have any reason to save them…. However, things might have changed when I recognized the man's face, who I assumed was the leader of the yakuza group.