My Undead Princess, Let's Run Away

The Captured Predator

b****y crimson eyes -

Just like the ones her previous inhuman attacker had.

This pair of orbs is one of the physical evidences that the bearer is no longer of this world, a gruesome feature that marks them undead. That's the main reason why the man was caught off guard - immensely perplexed to the extent that he could no longer come up with any further utterance.

It just happened that Cassie is one of these red-eyed entities - the current most terrorizing parasites of this fallen society.

Presently, it's year 2025 - a horrendous pandemic outbreak had flipped the whole world upside down.

A lot of dreadful things had escalated. It's already been six months after this infectious virus broke out, causing the widespread pandemonium called the undead's invasion. Since then, Earth has been housing these man-eating creatures with ravening appetites.

Life outside is no longer being ruled by the living. It's now the reign of the undead.

Cassie couldn't recall much, though, aside from these cemented facts. She doesn't even have any idea when her once dull grey eyes suddenly turned into these vibrant scarlet ones - indeed, she didn't know why and how, but she just came to and already found herself a zombie one day.

Ever since that happened, she'd been lurking around the city with no memories to recollect.

For six months, Cassie is lost and homeless - a stray, amnestic undead.

"Y-You're... You're a..." the gunman stuttered, still thunderstruck.

Within the next seconds to come, he tries to make sense of what he's seeing - whether she's truly a human or not. Cassie herself is frozen at the spot, uncertain of what will be her next course of actions.

But as the spine-chilling, glaring luster of her ruby orbs begins to ignite a palpable portent - or so how he saw it, he finally pulled himself together and fished out his revolver once more.

"M-Monster...!" the gunman bolted out while aiming at her.

A benumbing, bloodcurdling gush of emotions swept through Cassie at the moment - more than the weapon that's being pointed at her, she finds herself more affronted by what he just called her.

Then again, this is exactly why she feared humans as much as she's scared stiff of those zombies - despite the fact that she's both kinds, that is.

No matter how much she acted like human nor begged to differ, everyone who happened to find her would always steer away or come after her head. That's because she's an extremely abnormal case - one that nobody had ever heard of.

A half-human and half-zombie.

Ever since, Cassie had to run away from everyone. She couldn't explain anything more than waking up as an undead one day, after all, and it's not like people would take a seat and listen when they're this affrighted every time they saw her.

"Die!!!"

Even then, she can't.

Cassie hurriedly rises on her feet and pushes the man away - right at the exact second he pulled the trigger. The bullets end up flying through the air instead of her flesh.

With that, she resumes her sprint and flees the scene, leaving the gunman thoroughly disconcerted.

No matter how much life tried to bring her down, Cassie just couldn't find it in her to give up yet -

Not until she sees 'him' again.

Regardless of how impossible that seems to be now, she still steeled her resolve to survive until then. She could wander fruitlessly for decades. She'd let herself drown in grief.

But as long as she's able to move, breathe and speak, she could at least yearn for that day. Longing is all she has now to begin with.

Cassie doesn't want to stay alive just for the sake of living, though. Whether she felt alive or not - that doesn't matter to her. If anything, she just simply didn't want to die or let anybody kill her.

"Hey, get her!!!"

At that, Cassie abruptly halts on her tracks and swivels around. Much to her horror, that gunman isn't alone all along. There's an entire group of people stalling just nearby.

"That girl has red eyes! Don't let her get away!"

Now, it has indeed turned out to be a life-and-death marathon.

Cassie springs into a mad dash once more and runs for her life. She may have the features of a zombie - the ghastly pale complexion and the vivid scarlet eyes, but she's still more or less human.

That said, she still feels exhausted for her body remains like that of any seventeen-year-old adolescent. Passing from one block to another, she pants and runs like there's no tomorrow.

"Stop or I'll shoot."

Then, she paused.

As Cassie was about to turn to a corner, a young man with a well-developed build, attractive frame, tawny brown hair and celeste blue pupils materialized in front of her all of the sudden. With a shotgun aimed at her, he just stands there and glares daggers at her.

"Oh, you stopped. Must be human, then," he blurted out of nowhere, both astounded and a bit amused.

"Oh, Ciel, you found her?!" chimed his companions who are now blocking the opposite direction.

"Good work!"

"As expected of our best gunman!"

"She's all yours now, Ciel!"

Now, in that narrow alleyway, Cassie is cornered. Even then, though, she only remains still and unmoving, her gaze devoid of any emotion.

"Say, are you human?" Ciel questioned with a complacent simper.

Judging by how composed and collected he is, this guy doesn't seem to be fazed nor appalled. Cassie never met someone like him before. He's even talking with her, clearly interested.

In the first place, Cassie finds these people as not ordinary survivors. They've got quite a load of firearms with them, and they're dressed up in a way that made her think they're living a well-sustained life despite this apocalypse - not ragged or shabby at all, but more like, they got the image of a group of hunters.

"You have red eyes, though. That couldn't be possible," he added, lowering his weapon for a bit.

"Shall we test it out?"

Then, he fired.

Cassie screams in terror as soon as she feels the bullet hit her ankle. Blood gushes out just like the rush of dread and consternation within her. Though she's already dead and something like a shot in her lower part wouldn't really finish her off, she still felt the agonizing pain - even to the extent that she fell over and came embracing the cold, hard ground.

"You could've just talked, you know..." Ciel muttered underneath his breath, pacing closer to her before crouching down and trapping her with both of his legs on her sides.

At that moment, Cassie feels numb all over again while Ciel only pins her down like that. All she did was look for food that night. Never did she imagine that she'd be in this position.

"Hey, are you deaf? Or mute?" he scoffed, taking a closer look at her.

Talk as he might, though, she can't find it in her to voice out any word. More than terrified, she feels empty and powerless - perhaps, even more than ever. As she stares back at him, with her crimson eyes as dead as her own body, he only tilts his head and scans her frame thoroughly.

"You're quite a beauty, huh... Maybe even more than those women we have back in the hostelry..." he mused out loud before leaning back and aiming his shotgun at her once more.

"Too bad... We can't afford to compromise. We ain't have no use of freaks like you, anyway."

On second thought, she might not be able to fight this one anymore.

She may have the ounce of will to keep pushing through for the sake of fulfilling her promise with her friend, but at the instant he points his weapon at her, one crucial reminder dawns on her -

That the time they made that vow was nothing but a fleeting dream.

Everything was but a mere trance.

A momentary solace.

A small ray of light that has long lost its glow.

Now, Cassie is conviced that it will never come true anymore. Yearning was all she had done in the end - from start to finish.

"Sweet dreams, then, little red-eyed lady."

After those words were dropped, the blasting sound of blaring gunshots followed right away and echoed all around the alley.