“…Naturally.”
I hadn’t expect her to ask that of me, but I had no other choice but to accept. She seemed satisfied with my response.
“Good. Now, ‘shake,’” she said, holding out her left palm.
“……”
Convincing myself that this was just some sort of game to improve her mood, I placed my right hand on her palm.
“Good boy,” she said. “This time, try speaking to me before you give me your paw. Ready, ‘shake.’”
“…Okay.”
“Hmm? You’re a dog. Why are you speaking like a human?”
This was really starting to get on my nerves…
“…Woof.”
“Aw, how cute! I think I’ll take a video.”
“Uh, I don’t think that’s a good idea…”
“Yuuma. What words can a dog use?”
“…Hrrn.”
“I don’t understand what you’re saying, but a dog would never complain about me taking a video,” she said pulling out her phone and aiming the camera at me.
Hyuuga offered her palm again.
“One more time. ‘Shake.’”
“……”
I guess I didn’t really have the right to refuse. Hyuuga had let me see her breasts to make me happy, so something like this was the least I could do…
Since there was no longer any risk of the video being spread all over the internet, I decided to go along with it.
“Woof.”
“Well done! Next, ‘sit.’”
“…Woof.”
“Great job! What a good doggy I have.”
Hyuuga looked down at me with a satisfied smile and put her phone back in her pocket.
“Aren’t you hungry, by the way?”
“Woof.”
“Hey, I asked you that as a human, so you should answer like you normally would. You should’ve been able to figure that out if you’d thought about it a little.”
“This is ridiculous…”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
I’d let down my guard. Hyuuga still hadn’t forgiven me, so I couldn’t talk back to her. I stood up from my spot on the ground and asked her a question.
“Are you hungry?”
“Uh-huh. I haven’t eaten anything since breakfast.”
“Okay. I’ll go get us something.”
“…You’re sure you’ll be okay?”
“Yeah. Those zombies didn’t attack me after I got bitten, so they must not target each other. Tell me whatever you want to eat, and I’ll go get it for us.”
“Then…I want sushi. And pudding, cream puffs, and apple juice.”
“Hang on a second.” I quickly pulled out my phone and started taking notes. I could probably get everything she wanted at a convenience store.
“Okay, I’m off.”
But just as I was setting out to leave, Hyuuga suddenly grabbed me by the sleeve.
“—You’ll really, truly be okay?”
“…Of course I will. Just trust me and wait right here.”
It was dangerous to leave Hyuuga alone, so I quickly headed to a convenience store about five minutes away.
All the zombies I’d encountered so far had moved slowly, but it seemed like the structure of their bodies allowed them to run normally.
After running for a while, I noticed I wasn’t feeling any fatigue. My lungs didn’t hurt, even when I kept sprinting as fast as I could, and I didn’t even seem to need to breathe in the first place. I had to take air into my lungs when I wanted to say something, but other than that, I was fine not breathing.
What was with this body? It was way too accommodating.
As I went from a riverbed up to a four-lane bridge, I saw a few zombies here and there. Since I was also a zombie, I figured I’d have no problem passing them by, but—
“Aaaargh!!”
A male, middle-aged zombie almost bit me on the shoulder as I tried to slip past him, and I reflexively pushed him away with both hands.
I couldn’t believe how much power I had; the zombie flew about three meters away. Apparently becoming a zombie had also strengthened my muscles considerably.
The next thing I knew, five zombies standing nearby turned to look at me as one, all baring their teeth. For some reason, they seemed to recognize me as an alien. Was it because I’d retained my consciousness?
Regardless, I had no time to deal with them right now. I had to get back to Hyuuga as quickly as possible, so instead I decided to ignore the zombies attacking me. I slipped past them and dashed into a nearby convenience store. Seven zombies, made up of both customers and clerks, were already inside, and the moment the automatic doors opened, they stared at me. A shiver ran down my spine.
I didn’t have time to be scared, though. I grabbed a shopping basket in my left hand, shoved the zombies out of the way, and tossed a pack of sushi and pudding into the basket.
“Graaar!!”
The zombies tried to attack me from all directions. They really were a pain in the neck, getting up and coming back no matter how many times I pushed them away.
Still, I didn’t want to hurt them. They might have stopped moving if I’d destroyed their heads like they did in the movies, but I didn’t want to do that to something that had been human just a little while ago—
“Raaargh!”
A young clerk-zombie caught me off guard and bit my left arm. It was so repulsive it made all the hair on my body stand on end.
Her eyes looked insane as her teeth remained sunk into my flesh, showing no signs of letting go. I grabbed her lower jaw with my right hand, pried her mouth open, and pushed her away.
It was only after freeing myself that I realized something: It hadn’t hurt. It seemed you lost all sense of pain when you became a zombie. I guess that made sense considering the biology of zombies, as pain would only be a hindrance.