Katya Edition: Second Edition

Thirty Fourth Corpse: A Story To Tell

❝I don’t know!❞

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Thirty Fourth Corpse | A Story To Tell

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[Z-day +8 | Apr. 22 | 15:43hrs]

"Please, tell boss we're sorry — we didn't mean to run," the boy said in a distressed voice, hugging the girl close in a protective embrace, like he'd shield her from the world if need be.

"If by boss you're referring to the gaudily dressed ape with a thing for silk, then don't worry — he's been taken care of," Quin murmured, putting up his weapons and gesturing for Saeko and I to do the same. "Were you victims of his?" He asked, crouching down in front of them in a completely non-threatening way while Saeko hesitated to sheathe her katana and if I was honest, I was hesitant too.

Why? Because they weren't wearing the same khakis and t-shirts of all the other ones we put down. Matter of fact, they seemed pretty well-dressed compared to the others, in matching dark blue waistcoats over white button up shirts, folded at the elbows and paired with dark blue dress pants in the boy's case and a dark blue pleated skirt in the girl's case. She wore white stockings and blue ballet flats and he wore black dress shoes. They were trussed up pretty formally, only fueling my suspicions about their identities.

The boy was about five to six inches taller than me with dark skin and purple-dyed hair boasting of a mixed heritage with its soft waves. Either that or he had it treated which wasn't too out of the question if he really was one of the rich and affluent. His eyes were light brown and filled with the distress the rest of his face was, making something inside me soften slightly.

The girl's expression was even more wide open with big brown eyes filled with fear and dread, sitting on a backdrop of olive skin and a round face framed by straight dark brown hair that was tangled but still fell to her waist.

They exchanged glances at Quin's questions, looking uneasy and uncertain. "You...don't work for boss...?" The boy asked cautiously and Quin snorted.

"Do we look like we work for a weasel like that?" He asked them before sighing, "Look, we don't work for your boss. We just happened to have found his little illegal hideout while trying to find our way back to the mainland. As for your boss, he turned into a biter and now he's dead."

"A biter?" The boy asked in confusion while the girl looked super hopeful as she queried, "He's really dead...?"

A funny thought occurred to me then and I finally spoke, "Wait...how long have the two of you been inside this closet?"

"I...don't really know. A few days maybe?" The boy murmured with a small frown.

Realization hit me and I exchanged a heavy look with Saeko. These two were definitely not fans of 'boss' and they also definitely didn't know anything about the current world.

Like the fact that the dead were coming back to life.

"Listen..." I murmured quietly, putting away my weapons finally, "This world...isn't what it used to be." I took a breath and gave them each a serious glance, "What I'm about to tell you may sound impossible but considering we've been living in this hell for the past week, I assure you it's very much possible."

Then I told them. I told them about the world we lived in. The one where death was more common than life and killing seemed to be the norm. I told them of walking corpses and the contagious pandemic that caused them and I told them that this was not the world they knew.