The white room... nothing but a single bed and a black-haired child.
He sat on the clean bed, wearing a patient uniform, a blue cat doll hugged tightly to his chest.
That doll... why was it so familiar? It was given by his brother.
Huh? Brother? How did he know the child had a brother?
The child smiled, he talked with the doll, calling it Happy. He talked about all sort of things; his father and mother, his smart elder brother, his blooming backyard, his strict but kind Uncle, his Chef Auntie, his nice sisters. The child was so excited to meet them again, his eyes glittered at all the future fun stuff.
The second day... the third day... the tenth day... a month... the third month... the half year...
The child's spirit was rotting, the smile decayed, the eyes dimmed, but he still spoke the same thing to Happy.
Father... Mother... Elder Brother... Blooming Backyard... Uncle... Auntie... Sisters...
Even though his mouth spoke hope, his expressions said otherwise. He was borderline tore his eyes out with tears, but he endured.
He endured, because that was his Elder Brother promised him, when he gave him the doll.
"It only for a short time, Natsu... I promise I'll get you out..." the vague figure patted the child on the head.
His Elder Brother, the smart Elder Brother, he never lied to him, never scolded him, unlike Father and Mother. The child nodded, he saw his dearly Elder Brother walking away, the child's delicate hand reached out, as if unwilling to separate.
Brother... Brother... come back... I'm scared...
"Brother..." Natsu mumbled. He opened his eyes and noticed he's no longer on the floor, but on a bed, tucked properly even with the blanket.
How this was possible? How the hell he's alive? Or was he a zombie now? But, if he were, he should have found himself wandering the hall...
Natsu reached to his neck, the scene of Droy bit them off still haunted him, but alas, he found no wound.
Even the shirt was still intact.
The hell? Maybe everything was a dream? There were no zombies, no murder, no death.
"You wake up."
A woman's voice? In his room? Whose girlfriend? Wait, Macao and Wakaba were well-known perverts, their fame repulsed every gals within 1 mil away. Reedus was an otaku, he loved those 2D girls more than any real women.
So girlfriends were impossible, then families? But they never mentioned any sisters...
Out of curiosity, Natsu rose from his bed, he saw a stranger stood before the window.
A beautiful stranger, if you may, in the dim light of the moon, she's like a sculpture carved by a skilled craftsman.
Her eyes were Hazel, her hair were Purple, long straight which fell to the middle of her back.
She's slim, but had sizable bust, however, the thing attracted him the most, was the white ribbon on the top of her head.
The white ribbon was pointing straight up, like a pair of rabbit's ears.
Then Natsu noticed something other than her; the broken window... the pool of blood...
"Hurgh..." his stomach couldn't endure the smell, Natsu held his mouth from throwing up.
"It's okay, take it easy," the beauty sat beside Natsu and patted his back, in the instant, a fragrant scent invaded his nose.
The scent spun his head, why this woman needed such a thick perfume?
Natsu felt really miserable, he wanted to push her away, but he was concerned about offending her.
Perhaps she noticed his discomfort, the woman immediately moved away with a red face.
It was a bit better, however, Natsu still blocked his nose, otherwise, the mixed scene between her and the blood would overwhelm him.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my room?" Natsu said while pinching his nose.
"I'm Kagura Mikazuchi," the woman gave a brief bow, "I'm sorry, but this is the only place between me and the monsters."
The monsters? The zombies? They were a real deal? Natsu's spirit weakened. He looked at the room's gate and saw a cupboard blocked it, also several bodies nearby were severed in the neck, ugh... the stench...
"Were you doing that? Alone?" Kagura replied with a nod twice. Natsu noticed a clean-bladed katana on Macao's bed, was she telling the truth or did she have the care to wipe the blood?
"I see... but what are you doing in the boy's dormitory?" Natsu wrinkled his eyebrows. It's possible she was early in the dorm before the attack, maybe someone's girlfriend or family, but the former was impossible to enter the dormitory, well, not through the front door.
"I was looking for my brother, but he isn't here..." Kagura sighed.
"Couldn't you use phone?" Natsu crossed his arms.
The phone - made by Lacrima Company - was a tool to communicate with other people from a distance. Only a fraction of people could benefit from it in the past, naturally those fat cats, but it's a public commodity now, though still not for everyone.
"My family is a traditionalist," Kagura declared.
Ah, one of those people... Natsu shrugged in his heart.
A traditionalist was a nostalgic bunch, they rejected modernity for the sake of preserving culture. Some took it extremely by saying technologies doomed Earthland, their famous propaganda was 'Back to the Nature'.
"So, what's your plan now?"
"My brother is part of the student council, he should be at the main campus," Kagura dispirited.
The dorm and the campus weren't far, about a 10-minutes walk, additional a 5-minutes walk to the main campus, precisely the student council's office.
The student council was the miniature officialdom, just and sympathetic on the surface, shameless and cold underneath. For example, the men would take advantage of their status to cheat the freshmen women out of their purity. They'll dated one, then broke her heart, before dated another one, just to break her heart too.
One could say more than 50% of the freshmen women were no longer virgins by the time they were senior, the first culprit were those boys of student council, the second was the athlete, and the third was some heaven-blessed guys.
Did no one report this to the university? What's to report? They were doing it under both parties' consent, there were no victims.
Of course, Natsu wasn't some knight in shining armor, he didn't particularly care, however, he did have grudge with the student council, particularly its president, Jellal Fernandez.
"That many?" Natsu frowned. He knew the distance wasn't the real problem.
"Natsu-dono may want to take a look," Kagura pointed at the window.
Natsu hesitated, but he rose up and walked toward the window.
... Nothing could describe the sight he saw; fear? Horror? Dread? Nightmare? Hell?
It's like watching fishes inside a pond, the dead were littering the park all the way to the campus. Even a seasoned soldier would have their legs weakened by the sight.
"Kagura..."
"Yes, Natsu-dono?"
"You were went through... that?"
"It wasn't that bad during the day..."
The day? How long she had been here? How long he had been passed out? Also, did she slash her way to the boys' dorm? If that were true, this young beauty was totally something else then.
"The zombies didn't attack each other, so I figured to dig some zombies' guts and... smeared myself with them," Kagura said, she glanced to the side while her voice nervous.
"That's brilliant," Natsu blurted. She's really different, most people would have thought twice, it spoke about her relationship with her brother.
"Do Natsu-dono think so?" Kagura's eyes lit up.
"Yes, and brave!"
"..." Kagura's hands hid behind her, said while glancing to the side, "thank you..."
"But why did you stop here? Did the disguise stop working?"
"It only work if I also pretend to be them, meaning, I shouldn't talk, run, attack, etc. Once I did, my cover was blown up."
Ah, so the zombies weren't that stupid. It truly cause difficulty for humanity. Natsu's grip on the window's frame was tighter.
He wondered what happened with Grey and the other? Although old man Igneel could fight, the horde of these zombies would have swallow him.
Old man Igneel... there was no amount of gratitude Natsu could ever possibly pay for his benevolent. He fed him, he sheltered him, he trained him, he taught him... if there were a person willing to sacrifice his life for him, it would be Old man Igneel.
Natsu was so sure, because he had once done it in the past.
... Hmm? What's this nice smell?
"By the way, Kagura..."
"Natsu-dono?"
"Do you happen to bring some food?"
"Food? No, I..." Kagura shook her head, but when Natsu turned his head to sniff, her eyes went wide with shock.
"The smell... it is so good..." Natsu mumbled.
"Natsu-dono... you..." Kagura trembled, she covered her mouth.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Natsu wrinkled his eyebrows.
"Your... Natsu-dono... your eyes..."
"My eyes?" Natsu tilted his head. Then he stood before the mirror and checked.
The mirror still reflected himself; spiky pink hair, white eyes, cute chin, wide mouth... huh?
White eyes? That's not right, Natsu's eyes were black.
"What the fuck..." Natsu retreated. He grabbed the area around his eyes as if trying to bring back his real ones. His eyes... were white pale, just like the zombies.
No... no... it couldn't be... what the fuck was wrong with him?
"Urgh..." Natsu felt terrible hunger, and the delicious scent became intense, he realized the scent was coming from Kagura.
Fuck, fuck, no, how could he? Did he become a zombie? But he talked! he behaved normal like human!
"Ah, Kagura... what's happening to me?" Natsu grasped his tummy, the hunger was so powerful that he felt like going insane.
"Natsu-dono!" Kagura rushed to him, the previous fear turned to a great concern.
When she's closed, it's like a high-quality steak approached him, no matter how hard Natsu resisted it, the hunger had taken over his mind.
He streched his hand and immediately seized Kagura's neck.
"Heck!" Kagura's eyes enlarged. She's trying to escape Natsu' grip, but it was unmoving.
"Haah... haah... Kagura, I... I don't know what's going on... but I'm so hungry... and you... smell so good..."
"Nat... su... dono... please..." Kagura spoke with a great difficulty, the air on her lung was quick to dissipate.
"Just, a quick bite... I want to... taste... how good... your meat..." Natsu grinned, his saliva was all over his mouth.
"..." Kagura bit her lips. Then she lifted her foot and kicked Natsu on his groin.
"Gah!" it's like a hammer to the head, Natsu's instantly sober and released Kagura from his grip.
"Haah..." Kagura gasped for air, then she crawled away.
Natsu clutched his manhood, although he didn't hunker to the floor, the pain was imaginable from the stuffed look on his face.
"Natsu-dono..." Kagura said.
"Kagura... run... while I still..." Natsu tried to resist the hunger, but it nevertheless beat him. Before Kagura could escape, he had lost control and charged at her.
"Natsu-dono, please!" Kagura dodged to the side, but Natsu was relentless. He grabbed her legs and pulled her, she kicked his face.
Kagura grabbed her katana and ran to the window, she pointed the blade straight at Natsu.
Under the moonlight, the young woman looked so graceful, and the tears stained her cheek accentuated her beauty.
"Please... Natsu-dono..." she sobbed, but her plead rang deaf to the crazed Natsu, the latter only grinned uncontrollably.
Then Natsu charged, he rushed at her, straight toward the pointing blade.
"..." the tip stabbed Natsu's chest, it went through his back smoothly, the clean blade was now tainted with dark red blood.