◆Chapter 7: The Zombies Are Serious Now
◆Chapter 7: The Zombies Are Serious Now
AFTER bolting out of the room, we come to the third floor corridor on the front-castle-gate side of the tower keep. We stop in front of a large oblong window with a beautiful design. When I peer through it at the courtyard below, my eyes are met with a swarm of zombies with red, glowing eyes.
Zombies are climbing over the castle walls and running at full speed straight for the inner gates. They don’t have the cleanest running form, but they’re moving at a speed unimaginable for the zombies we saw during the daytime. These zombies run even faster than humans. A small cry escapes me as I watch the terrifying scene unfolding below.
“They were so slow and sluggish during the day… How did this happen?” I ask Lex.
“I don’t know either, m’lady. All I can say is that the change began the moment the moon smirked.”
“The moon smirked?”
“Look over there, Big Sister!” Cia points through the window to a round moon colored a more vivid red than blood. With jagged eyes and a curled mouth, the moon looks like a Halloween jack-o’-lantern.
“…Oh gosh, you’re right. It’s smirking.”
“The zombies’ eyes glowed red, and they instantly became smarter and faster when that face appeared on the moon.”
“Okay, so how are things below?” I ask, keeping my voice calm. Panic washes over Lex’s face.
“The knights on guard became reinfected and overran the outer ward. Now the zombies are rushing for the inner gates.”
“D-Doesn’t that mean we’re in big trouble…?!”
“The inner gates are thick and sturdy. You have my word that human hands, even if transformed into those of zombies, can do nothing to those gates. Besides, it is our very own captain of the knights who is protecting the gate,” Lex declares, full of confidence.
A second later, I hear a number of windows shattering on the lower floors. Not a moment after Cia and I share a worried look, Sir Oden flies around the corner from the direction of the staircase—an army of zombies hot on his trail!
“Zombies have broken into the tower keep!” he shouts while knocking back zombies with his big shield. “Lex! Take Her Highness and Lady Mizuha away from here!”
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“YOUR word is meaningless, you know that?!”
“I-I cannot apologize enough!”
We race down the corridor, retracing our steps back the way we came. An army of zombies is chasing us. I’d love to purify them, but I’ll be trampled under their sheer numbers if I get too close. The zombies are that fast and ferocious right now. All of a sudden, the window ahead to our left shatters. A zombie, covered in glass fragments, launches itself into the corridor in front of us.
“Big Sis!”
The zombie lunges for my shoulder with its big mouth wide open. It’s too fast to dodge. The only part of my body I know for sure won’t be infected if I touch a zombie is my right hand. What will happen if any other part of me makes contact? Well, at the moment, infection is the least of my worries. I won’t be walking out of here intact if I’m chomped on by that giant mouth. I-I’ll die!
Just as I resign myself to my fate, Lex’s gallant profile enters my view. With his shield, he thrusts away the zombie about to take a chunk out of my shoulder. I seem to be safe for the moment. Not quite sure if I’m still alive, I stand there stunned.
“Th-Thanks,” I manage to get out.
“No problem. We must hurry!”
Lex’s grim expression reminds me of the zombies in hot pursuit of us. I jump back into running for my life.
“But where the heck can we even run to that’s safe?!” I shout to Lex.
I hate to think of what state the first and second floors are in if the third is already swarming with zombies. The rooftop doesn’t offer much security when the zombies can climb the walls.
“Do you mind returning to my bedchamber?!” Cia calls out.
“I’m pretty sure we’ll be sitting ducks there!”
“A trapdoor installed in my room leads to a hidden tunnel! We might be able to escape from there!”
It’s as plain as day that Cia is grasping at straws, but we’re in a situation where nowhere is safe. We don’t have any better options.
“Okay, let’s go there! You heard us, Lex!”
“As you command!”
Lex is holding our rear, fending off the zombies coming from behind. I race through the corridor as the vanguard with Cia between us. We had turned only one corridor down from her chambers, so the way back is an easy route I don’t need directions to follow. As soon as I arrive at her room, I throw open the door, let Cia and Lex in, and shut and lock it behind them.
Lex slams his shield against the door, reinforcing it to hold back the incoming swarm. A loud crash shakes the door a fraction of a second later. The zombies are body slamming it. Noisy bangs, slams, and scratches continue without ceasing. Great, the zombies aren’t going to give up until they destroy everything in their path to get us. The walls and floor are stone, but the door is made of thick wood—it’s not going to last long.
“Find the trapdoor while I can still hold them back!” Lex shouts with a face twisting in pain and exertion.
I nod and run over to where Cia is crouched in a corner of the chamber.
“This part of the floor is supposed to move…”
Underneath the filthy carpet is a section of the stone floor where a square has been cut out. The square stone is very heavy, so I kick it a few times to create enough of a gap to fit my fingers under it. Carefully, I shift the square onto the floor in front of me.
“This! Trapdoor! Woulda been…impossible for you to move alone…Cia!” I pant out as I feel the weight of the square cutting into my fingers.
“I never intended to use it! I could never run away alone and leave my people behind! But I must do so now to help you escape, Big Sis!”
Cia decided to escape not for herself, but to lead me to safety. She’s a really good kid, unlike me. Impressed by Cia’s determination, I finish moving the square stone away. Stairs seem to lead deep below the floor, but it’s too dark to see much else.
“I am about the only person in the world who knows of this passage. Though that doesn’t mean much if the zombies can detect us underground.”
“We just have to trust it’s safe for now, because the alternative is not!”
“Yes…!”
I let Cia descend the steps first and shout over my shoulder to Lex. “Lex, hurry over here!”
“The door is broken! If I leave my post, the zombies will storm the chamber! Please go on ahead without me!”
“Stop sacrificing yourself all the time!”
“I swore to protect you, Lady Mizuha.” He is putting everything he has into keeping the door standing, and yet he flashes a confident smile. Is he doing that to reassure me? “Besides, it’s not as if I will die. I will just rot a little.”
“Don’t act so chivalrous when you’re a rust bucket of a knight… Stupid Lex.”
I don’t want to leave him behind. But everything will be done for if I throw a fit here and end up getting killed by zombies. Seeing as the ones earlier were trying to bite me, there’s no guarantee they aren’t out to kill me. I understand all of that. I understand it, but—
“Go on now! Hurry! I won’t last much longer!”
“…I swear I’ll come back to save you!” I tell him, and he answers me with a silent, trusting nod.
Once I make up my mind, I move faster than even I expected. After descending into the hidden passage a few steps, I move the square stone with both palms facing up. It snuggly fits back in place. Without the light from the bedchamber, the secret passage is shrouded in pure darkness.
I’m starting to worry we won’t be able to see where we’re going, until my eyes adjust to the dark and I’m able to make out the faint outline of our surroundings. Huh...I thought it’s impossible for your eyes to adjust if there’s no light at all. I glance around and spot a small slit through the stone wall to the outside. Given that there are small openings in key places, it seems to be an intentional part of the design. The faint light streaming in through the cracks must be moonlight.
“Please watch your step since it’s dark.”
Right after I descend the last step behind Cia, I hear an explosive shattering noise overhead. The unique sound of wood splintering easily leads me to the assumption the chamber door has been breached. Lex!
My chest aches as if someone is squeezing my heart. Cia grabs my hand. Is she afraid? Is she trying to reassure me? Considering how kind Cia is, it’s probably the latter.
We still don’t have an exact idea about how good zombie senses are. Too afraid to talk or let our footsteps echo on the stones, Cia and I stay perfectly still on the floor without making a sound. The zombies might find us… Such fears whirl through me, but strong determination reigns over every other emotion.
I can’t let Lex’s fulfilled promise to protect me go to waste. I’ll absolutely survive through this and purify Lex and everyone else!
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HOW much time has passed since we hid under Cia’s chambers with bated breath? By the time I’ve begun to lose all sense of time, a sliver of sunlight filters in through the slits in the wall. Morning has come.
“Nngh…” Cia yawns from where she had slept in my lap and looks up at me while she rubs her drowsy eyes.
“Are you awake now?” I quietly whisper.
“Big Sis…I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I fell asleep at a time like this.”
“No worries. I took a little nap too.”
That’s a blatant lie—I didn’t sleep a wink. I wasn’t trying to stay up; I was simply too afraid of the zombies to fall asleep. Staying awake has brought me a bit of a headache, but it’s not bad enough to stop me from moving.
“Anyway, do you mind leading the way out of here? The zombies have quieted down, so I think now’s as good a time as ever.”
“Okay. I can do it.”
Cia guides me down another set of stairs. The tunnel started from the third floor of the tall castle, giving it a significant ways down to go. We take careful steps to ensure our footsteps don’t echo through the halls. Several minutes later, we exit into a stark room around fifty square feet large. About the only things of note in the room are a hatch in the floor and a lever affixed to the wall.
“From here we can take an underground aqueduct to the rear garden, but…”
A mind-boggling stench erupts from the opening when Cia opens the hatch.
“Eugh,” I groan, pinching my nose.
Cia’s eyes are watering. “I-I forgot all water is putrid….”
Because this is almost completely an airtight, enclosed space, the foul odor is leaps and bounds more horrendous than the stench exuding from the open-air lakes and rivers. I’m not kidding when I say continuing to inhale this malodorous air is going to eat away at my internal organs. We’re in serious trouble if I don’t do something about it soon.
“Can you move away from the hatch for a minute?” I ask Cia, taking her place beside the hatch to peer below.
The distance to the underground aqueduct is about ten feet farther than I expected. The aqueduct is wide enough for one car to drive through with space on either side. Just like everywhere else, the liquid filling the aqueduct is a poisonous shade of purple.
Frankly, I don’t want to open my mouth here, but I suck it up and spit below. That familiar holy light begins to light up the dark space. The bubbles stop popping, and the thick purple liquid turns clear. Last but not least, the foul-smelling odor wreaking havoc on my nose is cleanly washed away.
After I deeply inhale the fresh air, I apologize to Cia. “Sorry you had to see me spit. It’s disgusting, but it’s our only option at the moment.”
“Don’t be sorry. Your spit that purifies the zombie blight is one and the same as holy water. There is nothing disgusting about it.”
How has the world come to this?! Cia has arrived at the exact same creepy conclusion as Lex! I mean, sure, I’m glad she doesn’t view me as disgusting, but calling spit holy water is going a step too far toward crazy. I’m getting more worried by the minute that the people of Grantz had their brains fried by the zombification process! I’m seriously scared for them.
“W-We should head down for now… Er, we’re pretty high up, aren’t we?”
Depending on the water’s depth in the aqueduct, dropping down hard could hurt. I once jumped into a kiddie pool and scraped my butt on the bottom. I’d love to avoid that humiliation and injury this time around.
“We can use this to safely descend below.” Cia flips up the lever affixed to the wall beside the hatch, and a chain attached to an anchor appears. When I try pulling on it, the chain jangles its way out of the hole. It winds back down on its own when I let go of the slack.
“Oh! We can scale our way straight down with this.”
“It’s a meaningless defense if someone comes prepared,” Cia notes.
“Well, I can’t imagine too many people bringing a ladder to a place like this. Anyway, maybe you should descend first? Oh, but that might not be such a good idea if you fall—”
“B-Big Sis! I am not that big of a klutz!” Cia protests, her face turning red.
“Sorry, sorry,” I apologize as I hand her the chain. “If you feel that strongly about it, you can go first.”
“Thank you!”
Cia drops the anchor over the side and carefully descends using the chain. I’m holding the chain in place just in case, but I’m on edge because it’s swaying erratically.
“Be super careful, Cia!”
“I will! I can do this!”
I wonder if Cia is actually a really stubborn girl. She scales her way down to the anchor and triumphantly smiles up at me.
“What do you think now, Big Sis? Your Cia made it down all by herself!”
“Before you celebrate, look where you’re standing—”
“Ah!” Cia misses a step and falls backward into the water. There’s a loud splash as water sprays around her.
“Oh dear.” I smile sympathetically down at her.
A soaking-wet Cia pushes herself up until she’s kneeling in the water. Fortunately, she didn’t fall from too high and doesn’t seem to be hurt, but…she looks like she could cry at any moment.
“Uggh.”
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“HUP.” I swing the anchor like a pendulum and land perfectly on the walkway beside the aqueduct. When I release the chain, it winds back up to the hatch with a jingle-jangle sound.
“You can really do anything you set your mind to, Big Sis.” Cia is squeezing the water out of her dress over the aqueduct. She’s shooting me a loathsome look with pursed lips, but her appearance ruins the scariness she’s trying to project.
“No, I can’t. Aside from being slightly athletic, I’m normal. Anyway, aren’t you cold? Are you okay?”
“Ah, I’m fine. I actually feel refreshed.”
“Lucky you! We didn’t get to wash off all the sweat from yesterday. Hmm, now I kind of want to go for a swim.”
I feel sweaty all over. It’d be weird if I didn’t after how much I moved around yesterday, but…this is a grave problem that can do a number on a young lady’s mental state.
“But I’ll have to save it for later because I don’t want my heavy, wet clothing to get in the way.”
“When we have the time, you should use the castle’s bathhouse instead of the aqueduct.”
“What?! The castle has a bath?!”
“It does. Although it isn’t very big…”
“I don’t care about the size as long as I can bathe! But that’s awesome! There’s a bath!” I accidentally let out a creepy laugh. How could I not? I love baths! I love them to the point I’d stay in the bath forever if time allowed. On that note, I better keep it a secret that I thought their civilization wasn’t advanced enough to have baths. The foul smells definitely have a big part to do with that.
“Um, um…can I join you during your bath?” Cia bashfully inquires.
“It’s your castle, Cia. Of course you can.”
“Thank you so much, Big Sis!”
Cia must be an incomparable bath lover. She’s rejoicing more than I am.
“O-kay! I’m suddenly motivated to do this! I’ve gotta purify tons of zombies so I can enjoy my bath later!”
I feel like my main motivation has changed, but who cares? I’ll still be purifying zombies—it’ll just be for me.
“Let’s do this!” I pump myself up as I think about my future bath.