Chapter 17: Nyra Awakens

Zerra's heart jolted, and she jumped away quickly to avoid Grandma's attack, her heart beating erratically against her chest. 

She didn't know whether it was luck or not, but at the early stages of the apocalypse, zombies weren't that quick in their movement. Thus, she could avoid Grandma, who was flinging herself to her.

Because she wasn't quick enough to lock the door after Grandma closed it, Grandma managed to break in. The smell of rotting flesh made her stomach churn, but her eyes also somewhat became watery.

She thought that in this life, she could prevent Grandma's death, but she was terribly wrong. Some anomalies occurred, yet the plot still followed her previous reincarnations… nothing changed.

Grandma let out some growls and chased after her again. Foul-smelling blood dripped from her skin and mouth onto the floor, leaving marks as she reached for Zerra.

"Grandma, can you hear me? This is me, Zerra, your granddaughter!" She desperately yelled, in hope that Grandma might get shaken awake by her voice.

Besides, why did Grandma's zombie transformation take such a short time? 

She couldn't help but glance at Nyra, the sleeping princess, who took the chance to let out a groan at this time. Just in time for Grandma, who had been letting out snarls of frustration for narrowly missing her prey, to change her target.

Grandma no longer went after Zerra, but Nyra, who was on the bed.

"Crap!" She cursed. A bit more and she would have been able to lead Grandma outside the room. 

After hesitating for a moment, she still jumped in front of Grandma, blocking her way. Once again, she attempted to lead her away and distract her attention.

Grandma charged toward her. Zerra jumped away. Just as she thought that Grandma would follow her again now that she had provoked her… her heart nearly leaped out of her chest when she turned around to witness the sight before her.

Nyra had her forehead wrinkled as if she was in great pain, and Grandma quickly closed in on her. Less than one meter distance between them now. There wasn't enough time for Zerra to interfere.

She turned silent. Her mind suddenly recalled one undisputed fact.

That was right. Nyra was supposed to be the protagonist of this world. Nothing would happen to her, right?

Still, she watched the scene with trepidation as a few seconds later Grandma's hands flew down…

Then Nyra opened her eyes.

She appeared a little disoriented, but her response was quick upon seeing a zombie. Propelling her body to roll to the side, she effectively avoided Grandma's hands, that were now reaching down to empty air.

Grandma snarled, but then abruptly stopped, clutching her head and letting out pained groans.

Zerra was stunned. At this moment, Grandma looked like she was having inner turmoil with herself. Her empty eyes occasionally flashed with emotion the moment they landed on Nyra's figure.

Grandma's zombie transformation wasn't really complete, but… she scanned her figure that no longer resembled a human; her state was somewhat irreversible. Unless there was some kind of miracle.

"Grandma…" After recovering from her shock, Nyra looked at Grandma's figure with grief in her eyes. Her eyelashes trembled. She was blaming herself.

"... Ira…" Grandma somehow managed to choke out a nearly incoherent word.

Zerra watched the sight in front of her, feeling indescribable emotion as though her heart had been stirred by something. However, just as she blinked again, the sight abruptly changed.

Grandma went back, aiming for Nyra, who didn't see that the figure of the elderly in front of her had lost control of herself again. She was too drowned in her heartache.

Zerra gritted her teeth. Luckily, she had been paying attention to both of them while slowly taking some steps toward them. 

"Snap out of it, Eldest Sister!" She yelled in exasperation.

Just as Grandma's thin hands reached for Jiang Meiling's again, a book came out of nowhere, hitting her hands. Grandma growled in anger, once again shifting her attention to Zerra.

Nyra jolted. Her pupils dilated, and she took a deep breath. Although she still completely could not process the fact that Grandma had now turned into a zombie, she was well aware of their current delicate situation.

Once Grandma bit them, they would end up like her.

Nyra let out a choked sob as she grabbed the lamp table to resist Grandma. Lightning made cracking sounds outside, illuminating their figures, and the rain grew more heavy suddenly.

She stood in front of Zerra and whispered to her vigilantly, "head to the door."

Grabbing her younger sister's hand, she pulled her toward the door. Until they tripped over something due to their hurried footsteps and dimly lit room.

Zerra fell on top of Nyra. Bruises formed on their exposed skin. She snatched the lamp from her eldest sister's hand as she crawled to get up.

Grandma jumped in front of them, her hands flailing around to reach them as Zerra aimed the socket shell of the lamp to her chest. Nyra slowly got up, her chest heaved up and down in tension.

Zerra glanced at her. Nyra most likely had felt that her body changed. She had awakened a fire ability, but she was unwilling to use it on Grandma.

"How did Grandma turn like this?" Nyra asked in a broken tone as her watery eyes once again fixated on Grandma. Taking a deep breath, she shifted her attention to Zerra with a scrutinizing gaze.

"She got bitten by a centipede." She admitted.

"Centipede?" Nyra's tone turned sharp suddenly. "Where is that centipede now?"

Zerra suppressed her emotion. "It's gone… the centipede crawled away."

Nyra looked like she was about to say something again, but the voice of the broken lamp interrupted her. Grandma reached for Zerra, and she pulled her younger sister just in time.

She dragged her out of the torn down room. Sending one last look at the unfamiliar, beast-like expression on Grandma's face, she slammed the door and locked it.

After she was done, her figure collapsed to the floor. She closed her eyes, her hands reached toward her hair, and she let out a quiet sob. 

With her red eyes, she exhaled before pursing her lips and turned to Zerra. "It's impossible for a centipede to just crawl away like that if the cursed thing can turn Grandma like this."

The heavy feeling settled on the room, and behind them, the sounds of beast-like snarls and rough knocking from the door reverberated.