And so time passed...
In a week, I will be 10 years old.
Well, I don't know exactly when I was born into this world. But I go by the date of my previous life.
During that time, I often see Rei. We have a pretty good friendship.
When I go to her house, even Rei's father is kind to me.
He's a big man with a serious face, but he smiles when he sees me.
I also made a new friend. A girl named Saya. She has pink hair and is very smart.
Oh, she's very tsundere. But it doesn't bother me because I find her adorable.
That said, a few years ago I realized why the name Rei Miyamoto was familiar.
Meeting Saya only strengthened that conclusion.
It turns out I was born in High School of the Dead.
Unlike the anime, however, everyone is real.
Another difference is that this place is not in Tokonosu, where the anime takes place, but in Tokyo.
Hah...
It's supposed to be a world that will one day be invaded by zombies. And there are ghouls in the middle of it all. Do I have to worry about that?
I don't know since I'm a zombie myself.
By the way, I haven't encountered any other ghouls since then.
Although some men with briefcases came last year to inspect the place.
I hid from them because I heard them talking about hunting a ghoul.
"The last attack was around here..."
"Do you think it's still in the area?"
If they found me, I would probably get into trouble because I don't know if they would classify me as a ghoul or something more dangerous, so I decided to hide, as I have always done since I was literally less than a year old.
In any case, since I didn't find any ghouls, I couldn't devour their organs to further increase my natural regeneration.
That's why I've been practicing how to look more alive.
I look at myself in the piece of broken mirror.
My skin is still pale. However, I've discovered that if I expose myself to the sun regularly, the color improves a little, and I no longer look like a walking corpse.
My eyes are still problematic since they shine in a cloudy and dull way instead of shining like humans'.
So I've been wearing blue contact lenses that I stol-, I mean, borrowed from a store!
That helps quite a bit in looking human.
My gray hair is also a little long. It already reaches my shoulders because I don't cut it, and that made Rei always tell me to cut it.
But I don't have the money to go to a barber, and I don't know how to cut it myself either.
Above all, I don't smell like rotten meat despite being a zombie. I don't decompose like a normal corpse.
Honestly, I don't fully understand how my body works.
Even since I was born, I was stronger than others. That's why I was able to survive as an abandoned baby.
I'd say the biggest problem I faced back then was finding food. But hey, there's nothing alive that I can't eat. And although it disgusts me to say it myself, I grew up devouring rats in the alleys while hiding so that no one would find me.
Hah... Let's stop thinking about such disgusting things.
On that night...
"Uh... I'm dirty."
I played with Saya and Rei in the park today.
Thinking about that, I go to the stream not far away. Every night I come here to bathe.
The stream is crystal clear and reflects the stars on its surface. It is located about 100 meters from the main street.
I undress and jump into the river.
—Splash!
It's a shame I don't feel the cold water on my skin that has lost its sensitivity.
After bathing, I put on my clothes and lie down on the grass looking at the sky.
Sometimes I wake up here while looking at the stars since I'm not sleepy anyway and don't need to sleep.
The stars are shining.
Huh? Wait! Why are the stars green?
No...
They're falling!
Small green balls fall gently from the sky.
As they get closer, I realize that there are many of them and that they are falling in different parts of the city.
"What is that...?"
Two fall near me on the grass.
—Plop! Plop!
Those balls dissolve and reveal something that looks like a worm inside.
One worm in each ball.
Those worms are green and glow fluorescently in the night.
They are about the size of a thumb, and after a second or two, they begin to wriggle.
And then...
—Whoosh! Whoosh!
Immediately, the two crawl across the ground incredibly fast toward me.
"Shit!"
I sit up quickly and see them jumping at an alarming speed. All I could do was cross my arms in front of my face as they aimed for my face.
—Ssssch!
A worm enters my arm, piercing my skin and flesh. I see it crawling under my flesh as my skin bulges as it climbs higher and higher.
"Gah!"
The other one enters through my nose.
"No!"
I stop it with two fingers.
The worm writhes violently, but still enters my finger. Crawling under my skin until it pierces my flesh.
I can feel it moving up my arm.
"W-What the hell...!"
This is bad, really bad.
What are those things?
And more importantly...
What are they going to do to me?