I suddenly felt a crushing, excruciating pain seize my heart—as if invisible hands had slipped through my ribs, wrapped around it, and were now squeezing with rciless, deliberate force.
My breath caught mid-inhale.
The world tilted.
A violent tremor ran through my body, starting from my chest and rippling outward until even my fingertips quivered uncontrollably.
For a mont, I couldn’t even think.
Only feel.
Only endure.
This pain... it wasn’t new.
That was the most terrifying part.
I had felt it before—twice.
Both tis, I had pushed my ability past its limits. Both tis, it had been to save them.
To save Henry.
To save Matthew.
Back then, the agony had co with purpose. It had been the price of sothing I chose.
But now?
Why now...?
I hadn’t used my power.
Not even a trace of it.
So what the hell was happening to ?
The pain surged again, sharper this ti—like claws dragging across the surface of my heart. My vision blurred at the edges, darkness creeping in like a living thing threatening to swallow whole.
Still, I clenched my teeth.
Hard enough that I tasted blood.
No sound escaped .
No scream. No gasp. Not even a whimper.
I couldn’t afford it.
Not here.
Not in this car.
Not surrounded by these people.
Not when I was so close to escaping.
Ti lost all aning. Seconds stretched into eternity, each heartbeat a fresh wave of agony threatening to break apart from the inside. Cold sweat soaked through my clothes, clinging to my skin like ice.
My fingers dug into my abdon, nails biting through fabric, pressing hard—harder—as if I could anchor myself to reality through sheer pain alone.
I knew I was hurting myself.
I knew it would leave bruises, maybe even blood.
I didn’t care.
Anything was better than losing control.
Anything was better than screaming.
Then, slowly...
Gradually...
The worst of it began to recede.
Not gone—but dulled.
Fading into sothing distant, sothing bearable.
Like an echo instead of a scream.
I dragged in a shaky breath, my lungs burning as if I had been drowning.
And then—
"Hey, girl... are you alright? Why are you shaking?"
Damn it.
My eyes snapped open.
I forced my expression into sothing cold.
Detached.
Untouchable.
Even as my body betrayed , I wrapped my voice in sharp arrogance like armor.
"If you’re so concerned about my health," I said, my tone steady despite the lingering tremor in my chest, "you’d do better to return to Cassel."
A scoff ca from the front seat.
"Boss," one of them sneered, his voice thick with irritation, "let teach this little bitch a lesson."
From the corner of my eye, I saw the boss exhale slowly.
He pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose, as if already tired of the situation, before casting a cold, warning glance at the man who spoke.
And then—
Everything shattered.
There was no warning.
No ti to react.
One mont, the car was moving.
The next—
My world flipped.
Literally.
My head spun violently as gravity seed to lose all aning.
The car lurched, lifted, and then overturned.
tal scread.
Glass shattered.
My body was thrown sideways, then upward, then slamd down again as the vehicle rolled through the air.
Once.
Twice.
Again—
Before crashing down with a deafening, bone-rattling impact.
"Hiss—!"
A sharp breath tore from my throat.
Just monts ago, the pain had been internal, suffocating, invisible.
Now, it was everywhere.
Every inch of my body scread.
My shoulder throbbed where it had struck the door.
My ribs ached with each breath.
Sothing warm trickled down my temple—blood, probably.
For a brief second, all I could do was lie there, dazed, listening to the ringing in my ears.
Damn it...
Is there sothing written on my forehead like "made to suffer"?
So curse that marks for suffering?
Why is it always ?
Why does everything go wrong?
All I want...
All I’ve ever wanted...
...is to go back to my Cassel and live quietly.
Is that really so impossible?
Fury burned through , hot and sharp, cutting through the haze of pain.
"Shit, Boss! Zombies—there’s a zombie! A strong one! I didn’t even see how it flipped the car!"
The driver’s voice broke through the chaos, high with panic, his words tumbling over each other in a desperate rush.
"Shut up!" the boss barked. "Get out of the car! Now! Move before that thing cos back!"
Cos back?
My mind sharpened instantly.
Despite the wreck, despite the pain, I forced myself to focus.
After the crash, they scrambled, scanning the surroundings.
But there was nothing.
No towering figure.
No monstrous presence.
No sign of the thing that had overturned the car like it was nothing more than a toy.
Only silence...
And in the distance—
Movent.
A small group of zombies, drawn by the scent of blood, is staggering toward us.
Slow.
Relentless.
Hungry.
My eyes lit up.
In an instant, everything else disappeared.
Pain.
Fear.
Confusion.
A single, blinding thought swept away all of it.
This is my chance.
If I lose it...
I might never get another.
Before doubt could take root, I moved.
I shoved the door beside with all the strength I had left.
It creaked, resisted—and then gave way.
Luck was finally on my side.
The boss, who had been sitting next to , was pinned awkwardly against the crushed roof.
Blood soaked his clothes, pooling beneath him.
His movents were sluggish, uncoordinated.
He couldn’t stop .
Just as I expected.
Before he could even react, I slipped past him, dragging myself out of the wreckage.
"Catch her! Don’t let her escape! Move—move!"
Their shouts rang out behind .
I didn’t look back.
The mont my feet hit the ground, I forced my trembling legs to move.
Then faster.
Then faster still.
I ran.
I ran like my life depended on it.
Because it did.
Ahead of , the zombies drew closer.
Their decayed bodies lurched forward, their hollow eyes locking onto the source of fresh blood.
Grotesque.
Terrifying.
And yet—
For the first ti since I arrived in this cursed world...
I felt relieved to see them.
Without hesitation, I plunged straight into their midst.
Rotting hands reached for .
Jawbones snapped inches from my skin.
The stench of decay filled my lungs.
And yet—
Standing there, surrounded by the dead...
I felt sothing I hadn’t felt in a long ti.
Safety.
Only then did I turn back.
As expected, the car I had escaped lay overturned in the distance, its fra twisted beyond recognition.
The second vehicle behind it was no better off, as if so invisible force had crushed it with overwhelming strength.
The n were still alive.
Barely.
Wounded, bleeding, stumbling—
But moving.
Toward .
No—
Toward survival.
They hacked and shoved their way through the growing swarm, desperate, frantic.
As if the undead would ever ignore such a feast.
My gaze t the boss’s.
Even drenched in blood, even barely standing, he was still alive.
Impressive.
But his eyes...
They were no longer calm.
No longer calculating.
They were filled with shock.
Disbelief.
And sothing deeper—
Sothing that bordered on fear.
I said nothing.
I watched.
Because in this world...
The most terrifying thing isn’t a single zombie.
Even a child could handle one—if they kept their head.
No.
What’s truly terrifying...
Is the number.
Zombies are drawn to blood.
To sound.
To struggle.
And once it begins—
It never stops.
More ca.
Then more.
What had started as a small group quickly grew into a tide.
A wave of rotting flesh and gnashing teeth.
An army.
That was why I stood still.
Why didn’t I run?
Why I watched them, one by one, struggle... fail... and fall.
"You—you! Stop them!" the young leader shouted, his voice cracking as his eyes locked onto .
Did he think I could control them?
Just because I stood among them?
And even if I could...
Why would I stop?
After everything?
Did they really take for so kind of saint?
A heroine who saves even those who would cage her?
Heh...
Am not Mary.
A slow smile spread across my lips.
Dark.
Crooked.
Unfamiliar, even to .
Perhaps it unsettled him.
Or perhaps the boss simply had no ti to care, too busy fighting for his life.
I didn’t move.
Didn’t run.
Because before I go...
Before I returned to Cassel...
There was sothing I needed to do.
My gaze drifted across the chaos—
Past the dying.
Past the desperate.
Until it settled... on him.
Then, slowly...
I began to search.
For sothing very specific.
Sothing to use.
---
To Be Continued...
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