Smile waited for the zombie to get out of the red Mustang.
He stood five feet away. His fingers wrapped tight around the screwdriver handle. His teeth gritted so hard his jaw ached.
The zombie inside the car stared at him through the cracked windshield. Its milky eyes locked onto his. For a moment, it didn't move.
It hesitated.
Like it could sense danger.
Maybe it could. The one-eyed zombie had run when it saw him kill the others. It had fear. Intelligence. This one might too.
"Rargh! Rargh! Rargh!"
The thing roared. The sound rattled the car windows.
"Come out, you bastard!" Smile's voice came out steady. Stronger than he felt. A grin pulled at his lips—sharp, mean. His pulse hammered in his ears, but his hands didn't shake anymore.
"Who's scared now?" He took a step forward. "Are you scared of death?"
His vision sharpened. Everything looked clearer, brighter. The red paint on the car. The cracks in the pavement. The gray skin stretched over the zombie's skull. His eyes burned. No fear left in them. Only hunger. Only the hunt.
Then pain exploded in his skull.
It felt white-hot. It had a blinding side effect.
It tore through his brain like lightning, shot down into his jaw. His teeth felt like they were splitting apart from the inside.
"Ah—!" He staggered backward. His legs buckled. The screwdriver nearly slipped from his grip.
'What's happening to me?'
The pain in his jaw grew worse. It dug deeper and sharper. Like his teeth were trying to rip through his gums. His mouth filled with the taste of copper.
His stomach twisted. Cramped. A growl rumbled up from deep in his gut—low, animal, wrong.
A death killing kind of hunger struck him.
Not normal hunger. Not the kind that made your stomach feel empty. This was different. This clawed at his insides. This made his throat burn and his vision blur red at the edges.
Even when he'd been human—when he'd gone days without food—it had never felt like this.
'I thought zombies would kill me. But this—'
He couldn't finish the thought. His knees hit the pavement. Hard. The impact sent a jolt up his spine, but it was nothing compared to the fire in his jaw.
"Rargh! Rargh! Rargh!"
The zombie's roar sounded distant. Muffled. Like he was underwater. The pain swallowed everything else. His hearing. His sight. His thoughts.
[Ding!]
[You are evolving into a Halfling Zombie Vampire]
[The pain will continue to increase if you don't drink 500ml of blood. Either human or zombie]
The purple panel flickered in front of his eyes. Words scrolled across it. A female voice spoke in his mind. It sounded calm, mechanical.
He didn't care.
He just wanted the pain to stop.
His vision went dark at the edges. His body swayed. His consciousness slipped like sand through fingers.
His eyes started to close.
Then teeth sank into his neck.
"ARGH!"
The pain ripped him back. Sharp. Burning. Electric shocks exploded through every nerve in his body. His muscles seized. His back arched.
He could hear it now. The wet, rattling breath of the zombie pressed against his throat. The sound of its teeth grinding against his flesh.
"Bastard!" The word tore out of him. Raw. Desperate.
His hand still gripped the screwdriver. His knuckles were white.
"You—attacked me?" His voice shook. Blood ran hot down his neck, soaking into his collar.
Death was here. Right here. Breathing on him. Tearing into him.
But he still had breath in his lungs. Still had strength in his fingers.
"Die, you bastard!"
He lifted his arm. Slow. Shaking. Every muscle screamed. He drove the screwdriver into the zombie's stomach.
The metal punched through rotted flesh with a wet sound.
"Rargh!!!"
The zombie screamed. Its teeth released his neck for just a second.
Smile gasped. Air rushed into his lungs. He thought one stab would make it fall. It would send it to dust forever.
Well, it didn't.
The teeth came back. On the same spot. Deeper this time.
"ARGH!" His scream echoed off the buildings. His whole body jerked. The shockwave hit him again—worse than before. His senses went numb. His fingers tingled. His vision whited out.
'No. Not here. Not today.'
He gritted his teeth. Tasted blood—his own. The pain tried to drag him under, but he fought it. Clawed his way back.
His hand found the screwdriver still buried in the zombie's gut. He wrapped his fingers around it. Pulled. Slowly. His whole arm shook with the effort.
"Rargh!"
The zombie released his neck again. Just for a second. Pain ripped through its abdomen. It gave him space.
He knew it would bite again. He couldn't let it. Couldn't survive another one.
He twisted his body. Saw the zombie's face inches from his. Gray skin. Black–green blood around its mouth. Empty eyes.
He pushed the screwdriver up. Aimed for the eye socket.
The tip slid in.
"Rargh!"
The zombie thrashed. Smile kept pushing. Felt the screwdriver scrape against bone. Against the skull.
"Rargh!!!"
The thing went wild. Its hands slammed into his chest. Inhuman strength. Impossible force.
Smile's body lifted off the ground. His upper body flew backward. The world spun.
He hit the pavement.
Hard.
His head cracked against the concrete. The sound was dull. Wet.
Ding!
Pain split his skull. Worse than before. Like his head had cracked open. Like his brain was leaking out onto the street.
He couldn't move. He couldn't think.
The zombie's shadow fell over him.
Then it pounced.
Its full weight crashed down on his chest. Knocked the air from his lungs. Its hands clawed at him. Its mouth opened wide—teeth black with blood, jaw unhinged.
It was going to tear him apart.
His vision blurred. His heartbeat thundered in his ears—fast, frantic, fading.
The screwdriver was still in his hand.
His fingers tightened around it.
'Not yet.'
'Not yet.'