Chapter 20

There was an imposing silence after that exclamation. Alphonse put his arms down and calmly regained his seat; as if he didn’t just suggest something so groundbreaking.

Midori, on the other hand, looked as if he had gone into shock.

Veyn hunched back down into his seat before nonchalantly asking, “So, when are you going to change us?”

Mercy nodded rapidly, “ It’s better for us to transform all at once.”

Riot: “Yes! That way we won’t be a burden for you along the way! Steve is lucky after all! He is already half-way there!”

Mercy sweatdropped, “Yea..But I am sure that he won’t be happy about some random zombie guy biting him instead of Alphonse.”

Veyn: “If he even remembers it after he wakes up.”

Alphonse hadn’t said anything yet. He listened to their chattering for a little while before interrupting, “Are you sure you want to be bitten? To lose your humanity? It is an irreversible process and may end tragically if my plan fails. And you can’t forget about the diet.”

“We don’t care!” All three of them responded simultaneously.

Riot had an uncharacteristically serious expression on his face, “We promised we would be together no matter what. Becoming a zombie is no big deal.”

Veyn: “Two of us are already zombies, it’s only fair for all of us to become so. The diet doesn’t matter. We’ve already done horrible things, what is one more? And we can’t be faulted for eating what nature dictates us to eat. I also have a hunch that the virus was man-made; we can throw the blame on them and claim ourselves as victims.”

Mercy: “Yea, humanity is overrated anyway! We already have reserved seats in hell, so why worry? You are not abandoning us! We are all in this together !”

Alphonse stared at them for a while before nodding with a sigh, “ Very well then. You have already made up your minds. But I would like for Tsuki to bite one of you. I don’t know whether his bite is infectious yet. Mercy would you be amenable to being the test subject?”

Mercy’s answer was a thumbs up with a wink, “Okay with me!”

Alphonse: “Thank you. I’ll infect Veyn and Riot first. Then I’ll wake Tsuki up for him to bite you. I’ll take that time to give Steve, Veyn and Riot the blood as well. I wonder if it is less painful if you drink the blood as soon as you are infected.”

Veyn and Riot stood up with determined expressions on their faces. There wasn’t an ounce of apprehension to be found in their countenance. Alphonse did not delay and stood up too. He approached Veyn first and the latter thrusted his bare arm towards his mouth.

Alphonse tightly grasped the arm presented to him with trust before biting down. The sensation of biting into fresh meat and blood overwhelmed Alphonse briefly before he fiercely reined in his instincts. Fortunately, his will was strong or else he would have bitten a chunk of Veyn’s arm off. He quickly let go and swallowed the blood in his mouth. His face displayed digust and pity as he looked at Veyn.

The latter got irritated at the look directed at him, “What is that expression on your face?! Do I taste bad or something?!”

Alphonse bluntly responded, “Matter of fact yes; you taste bad.”

Veyn: “I am clearly a delicacy, okay?! It must be your taste buds that have gone bad! Can zombies be so picky anyway?!”

Alphonse hummed, “Why not? Must be because of the upgrade. And my taste buds are fine. Tsuki tastes really good and you are yucky.”

“Oh then sorry for making you taste something so bad your majesty!” Veyn said sarcastically as he sat back down.

“You are pardoned.” Alphonse responded with a straight face.

Veyn ‘humphed’ before turning towards Riot and Mercy who were busy rolling on the ground with laughter, “you two stop laughing! I bet you are going to taste bad too! Riot don’t delay! It’s your turn.”

Riot got up while wiping the tears that came out whilst laughing. He walked towards Alphonse and extended his arm. He gulped as Alphonse grasped his arm and clenched his teeth as the latter quickly bit him before letting go.

Midori, on the other hand, had finally came out of his shock at the scent of fresh blood. Saliva pooled in his mouth as he watched Alphonse wipe his mouth, leaving a bloody smear behind. He guiltily swallowed the saliva as Alphonse caught his stare.

Alphonse: “Are you that hungry?”

Midori quickly shook his head, “No no not all. It’s an automatic response from smelling blood.”

Alphonse: “If you are hungry don’t hide it. The last thing we need is for you to go berserk.”

Midori: “No I am being honest! Ever since I drank Tsuki’s blood, I haven’t felt that hungry. Even now it’s only because I smelt blood.”

Alphonse stared at him and hummed, “Another effect must be a decrease in hunger. I don’t feel the urge to feed that often either. But biting people can bring out the instinctive reaction to feed so be careful.”

Midori nodded seriously under Alphonse’s stare.

“So how do I taste!?” Riot interrupted with an expectant look on his face. “Am I tasty? Am I?!” He asked excitedly.

On the side Veyn bitterly muttered, “Why does it matter whether you are tasty or not?”

Alphonse glanced at Riot’s beaming eyes, “….Um, not bad. Even though I never liked eating oranges.”

Riot jumped with his hands in the air, “ yay! I taste like oranges!”

Mercy clapped with a smile on her face, “Good for you Riot!”

Veyn: “Yes very good. Let’s pray that no zombies in the future have a taste for oranges. By the way, can you eat other foods?”

Riot looked at him with a taunting look, “you are just jealous ~”

Veyn glared at him before totally dismissing his remark.

Alphonse ignored the bickering and answered, “Yes but it doesn’t satiate us like meat does. And it tastes bland. I had Midori try out other types of meat and he said it was okay.

Midori muttered under his breath, “being used as a guinea pig. You could have at least tried eating the rat yourself.”

Alphonse looked at him from the corner of his eyes, “you have any complaints?”

Midori shifted his eyes, “nopes, none at all.”

Alphonse smirked at him before continuing, “Tsuki can be satiated with normal food though. Even chocolate.”

Veyn tapped his chin with a finger as he pondered, “hmmm he really is different. Anyway, for normal upgraded zombies, so as long as it is meat it is okay. That’s a good thing to know.”

Mercy: “yes. If the only thing we could eat was human meat, it would have been extremely troublesome. Now we have animal husbandry as another option.”

Their conversation was abruptly disrupted by grunting and struggling sounds. They all directed their gaze towards Steve, who had been silent until now.