[Kao– 12:34 a.m.]
Lin sleeps beside me.
She's still burning up, but her breathing is steady.
Her lips move now and then, whispering things to no one.
I keep my hand near hers, but not touching.
I'm not sure if I deserve to.
The fire's just embers now.
The group is quiet. Snoring, shifting, breathing.
Only the stars are still awake.
I stare at them and speak low.
"I never told anyone the real story."
----
[Flashback – Kao, Age 10]
It was the second day of the outbreak. Somewhere far away from this school. Zombies, I'm fighting them since then.
People thought it was a sickness then. Something treatable.
They were wrong.
We were hiding in the laundry room.
My sister and I. She was thirteen.
She always protected me.
I remember the glass breaking.
Someone screaming down the hall.
We held our breath.
But then—
A scream too close.
And blood on my shirt.
She was bitten.
She didn't cry.
She just looked at me and said,
"If I change… don't let me hurt anyone."
I was ten.
How do you ask a child to do that?
-----
[Flashback – 2 Hours Later]
She was shaking.
Eyes pale, veins dark.
I had to do it.
I didn't cry.
I used a mop handle.
I broke something inside both of us that day.
And then…
I walked away.
----
[Rooftop – Present]
"I didn't cry then," I whisper.
"I haven't since."
My voice trembles.
"I thought maybe if I stopped feeling… I could survive."
And I did.
I lived through cities burning.
Through people begging for help I didn't give.
I learned to fight.
To kill.
To survive without guilt.
But then—
You.
Lin.
Your stupid bruised hands.
Your bleeding knees and your endless hope.
Your anger. Your fear.
Your stubborn need to save everyone.
I glance down at her sleeping form.
She twitches slightly, murmuring something I can't hear.
"You made me feel something I wasn't supposed to feel anymore."
----
[Flashback Ends]
"I think I stopped being human that day,"
I whisper.
"But now…"
"Now I don't know what I am."
She stirs.
Eyes flutter, half-open.
"Kao…?"
I don't move.
She reaches for my wrist. Eyes heavy.
"You okay?"
she mumbles.
I nod.
"Go back to sleep,"
I say.
She does.
___________________________