Sunlight hit my diluted eyes like a sack of potatoes. Its shine cooked my skin while I mindlessly roamed the empty streets.

"Jack? Where'd you go?" I questioned, twisting my head to wherever I heard voices. Yet not a soul was in sight. I kicked a rock from under my bare foot with a huff. "He's probably long gone by now... I'll never find that asshole."

My stomach growled, and I wondered if I could eat regular food. Was there any point if I was dead?

Finding no luck and no Jack, I occupied myself with pacing in circles. My legs still limped from the attack, yet were so numb I couldn't feel the pain. I rested my hand on my chin when my stomach grumbled again, making me sigh. "Do I have to eat people? That's what..."

I stopped, my monologue interrupted by the scent of strawberries. I followed it until I came to face a candy shop. Its windows and paint still intact, probably because the door was knocked down. Who needs brains when you can have candy?

With that in mind, I headed inside after checking if the coast was clear. The alluring nectar of artificially flavored junk food beckoned me inside.

Chocolates, cakes, tarts... all kinds of sweets were neatly displayed in shelves. If I hadn't died from zombies I was sure diabetes would've killed me instead. I licked my lips, reaching for a smashed slice of cake.

"Bon apétit," I muttered, licking the icing off its side. A squeal escaped from my lips. Vanilla, my love! The cake was a centimeter away from my mouth when a clatter caught my attention.

My eyes darted to the source.

It came from the slightly ajar freezer door. Laughter erupted from its depths. I stood still like a deer caught in headlights. The slice slipped from my trembling fingers as the door creaked open.

Shit! I dove to the floor, backing into a corner. Who's there? The dead or the living?

"Did you hear that? It sounded like something fell..." a man muttered before stepping out.

Another laugh bounced across the walls and rattled in my head. "Probably some pan. Nevermind that. Just look at all this food!" someone else shouted, slamming the door open. "No one's stupid enough to come on our territory, anyways."

I was.

They walked behind the counter, one grumbling, the other stuffing my precious pastries in his mouth.

Play dead, play dead, play dead! This was it. If those people knew I was here, they wouldn't let me leave. Not without a bullet in my head.

I let my body go limp. Arms bent, legs spread, eyes closed. Playing dead wouldn't cut it. Right now I had to be deader than dead.

The footsteps grew closer. A second door snapped shut. While they talked, a question came to mind. Why am I hiding? I'm... I'm human, dead or undead. Right?

I thought back to Jack, who stared at the undead wide-eyed and frightened, just like I did moments before my death. But I wasn't like them. I couldn't be.

Fear kept me in place. The risk of reaching out to them for help and getting killed in return was too great. I still had to find Jack. More importantly, there were plenty of sweets I had to taste.

With a gulp, I slowly rested my head on the checkered floor. Crumbled cement poked my scalp, feeling more like a comb stabbing my skin than anything else.

I cracked my eyes open to spot heads of blonde and black hair behind the counter. They didn't notice when I tilted my gaze in their direction, as they were too busy arguing over something about food. My food.

The blonde had his arms crossed, attempting to intimidate the other man by smirking and tilting his chin up. A black cat mask concealed the upper half his face. "I told you―I get this shop and you get the one down the street. Are your ears an accessory?"

"We don't need junk food! It'll only slow us down," the less energetic man snarled. He waved his hand to gesture at all of the sweets stored in this heavenly building.

"Wouldn't a sugar rush make us quicker?"

The taller one sighed and wrinkled his brows. Or at least, I imagined him doing so―he wore half of a white rabbit mask baring red polka-dots. "...You didn't pay much attention in biology, did you?"

That made the blonde snap. He grabbed a fistful of the other dude's shirt. "Why, you―"

"Wait a minute, Freddy. Something's not right." At that moment, the black haired one narrowed his eyes at me, clarifying, "That corpse wasn't here before."

That's it, I'm fucked. Yet I continued to stare until dust burned my eyes. By the time I finally blinked, he turned back to 'Freddy'.

Freddy glanced at me with a frown, then chuckled, turning back to his partner. "I think you've spent too much time 'gardening', bud. That chick's as good as dead."

The other man glared at me through his mask. "We can't be sure of that. Actually..." he trailed off, scanning the shop for something. Once he spotted his target, he smirked. "I have an idea!"

He sprinted to the other side of the shop while Freddy remained in place. "Damn psycho, that Guno," he muttered. When he skimmed over my body, he licked his lips. "A fun one, though."

Dread twisted my gut. I couldn't help the shiver going down my spine when the lust in Freddy's eyes became visible. He kept gawking at my bitten chests like a moron. Would they kill me? Should I run? I couldn't die yet! Just bear with it, Lulu. The worst they'd do is poke me, right?

Wrong.

Guno came back carrying four crowbars, cheeks flushed. He brought one to his mouth and licked it. "We're gonna nail the cockroach to the ground before it flies away."

Freddy clapped his hands together before hopping over the counter and heading towards Guno. "That's what I'm talkin' about!"

No, no, no, no. Jack always said the dead can't feel pain. That applied to me, didn't it? Maybe he―

My inner monologue cut short by the sound of Guno dragging a crowbar on the floor. They were getting closer, giggling all the while. It was okay. I was going to live to see Jack's smile one last time.

I looked away when they towered over me. Their shadows cloaked my body in darkness, giving me a chance to fidget without being noticed.

"Here," Guno grumbled while tossing two to Freddy. He then looked at me with a smile stretched across his face. Even without light, I could spot the plaque building on his teeth. As well as the dried blood splattered on his mask's face. "So dirty," he whispered.

Guno stepped around me until he was in front of my legs. He kneeled down while fumbling with the bars. Eventually, the guy placed a trembling hand on my foot, pressing his own on my other one. "Steady, darling. This'll only hurt a bit."

I couldn't think before he slammed the bar into my leg. I heard it rip apart my skin, pierce through my bones and penetrate my meat. The sudden shock woke me from my paralysis. I squirmed to get away, but it was useless―Freddy and Guno held me down without mercy.

"L...Let me go!" I pleaded after biting my lip hard enough to draw blood. "Let me go, let me go, let me go!"

Guno chortled at my words. He laughed as I writhed in pain, yelling, "See that, Freddy? The bug's alive!" Crunch. He pushed it deeper and twisted it like a screwdriver. "We have to make it shut up."

White fireworks exploded in my vision. I panted and groaned whenever I could, making sure to hold back my voice. My vision blurred, yet no tears came out. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. Jack would save me soon. That illusion quickly shattered when a bar was shoved in my other leg.

He leaned his arms on top of the bars. After watching the blood run down my thighs, Guno hummed. "Good, now it can't run! Your turn."

Freddy knelt down on my arm. In a numb daze, I heard him hum I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire. I tugged on his sleeve before he could stab me. "Please, don't―agh!"

The blonde pressed his knee on my neck, then leaned forward until his mask's pink nose was centimeters away from poking my own. He stared into my eyes for a moment, murmuring, "You heard the man; bugs don't speak, sweetheart."

Somehow, my lungs still had enough unf to let me take shallow air after I died. Not anymore. Freddy stole my breath away, literally.

I could only let out raspy coughs and gurgles as he pushed his knee harder. Guno took this as an opportunity to slide his bars through my legs.

When Freddy got back to work, he settled on my arms again.
After twisting his kneecap on my throat, the blonde held his hand up just to slam it back down. The weapon cut past every obstacle my arm had, scraping past bones until it drilled through my skin and buried itself in the floor.

That's it. I couldn't protest anymore; my will left me. Instead, I uttered the only thing my melted brain could muster. I tilted my head to Freddy, wheezing, "I'm h-human."

Even if my heart didn't beat. Surely, they would understand that.

He glared at me for a moment, hair clinging to his mask from sweat and blood. Instead of answering, he waved his last, rusted bar in my face. Then plunged it into my other wrist. Freddy then stood. "No," the blonde concluded, "you're dead."

He then snatched a pipe from the counter and slammed it on my head.