Since departing from my original world, my morning routine has changed drastically. For instance, I no longer had access to my phone's alarm to wake me up in the morning. Instead, I had to judge the time based on wall clocks and in this case, the sun's current position in the sky.

However, today was different. Rather than be greeted by the sunlight piercing my hazy vision, I was instead met with a rather wet touch.

Out of impulse, I wiped my closed eye to find it strangely wet. As soon as I opened both of my eyes I shrieked when I found the answer to my own question.

I can't say I was impressed in the slightest. In fact, I think I would've much rather preferred to stay ignorant on the entire matter in the end.

As I came face to Luka who was hovering over me with his mouth wide open, I kneed him in the stomach out of reflex. As I quickly scooted away from him, I went back to profusely rubbing my eye as hard as I could while trying to contain my disgust.

"You..." I muttered through gritted teeth as I felt myself about to implode. "YOU LICKED MY FACE IN MY SLEEP, DIDN'T YOU!" I yelled with immense anger in my voice.

"WERE YOU GOING TO EAT ME WHILE I WAS ASLEEP OR SOMETHING?"

No response. Luka only stared at me with a blank expression. Seeing that only made my anger worsen. As I clenched my fists, I looked at him with narrow eyes. "If you want to kill me just do it. Or else give me a sign to trust you."

As if understanding my words, Luka rose to his feet and quietly left the train. Now's my chance to make a run for it! I thought to myself as I headed straight for the door.

But as I paused to rethink my actions, I quickly shook that idea from my head. If I abandon Luka, then it'll be impossible to complete my mission.

Ugh, this sucks! As I lowered my head in shame, I returned to my seat and huddled myself in the corner. As I gazed at the window, awaiting my impending doom, my boredom only continued to grow.

Eventually, Luka returned. Except this time, he came bearing gifts. As Luka threw the dead bird before me, I jumped in fright. "GAH!"

Luka stared at me as if he was observing how I would react. Is this perhaps... his way of feeding me? In a way, this should reassure me. Without a shadow of a doubt, this means he won't try to kill me.

But still... I can't eat this. For one, it's not even cooked! I don't know about him, but Salmonella is still a real danger to the land of the living!

"I can't eat this..." I softly muttered without looking up. Luka persisted in staring at me blankly. "Maybe I should go looking for berries or something instead."

As I went to open the door, my hand was stopped by him. I half-heartedly expected him to not let me go, but that actually wasn't the case in this instance. Like before, Luka picked me up and slung me over his shoulder like I was some bag of flour.

I would've preferred to go forging by myself, but I suppose Luka doesn't fully trust me yet. "There's nothing wrong with my legs, last time I checked..." I sighed to myself under my breath.

Luka came to an abrupt halt. The only thing that could be heard was a flock of birds ascending into the sky. I craned my head around to see for myself what got Luka acting strangely. And wouldn't you know, it was another zombie.

However, this time the zombie didn't seem normal like the previous ones I encountered. How should I put it? Its movements were far quicker than the average zombie.

As I watched it savagely feast on a deer carcass, I found myself starting to sweat profusely.

Without saying a word, Luka hid me behind a tree. I knew what this meant. He probably intended to fight this zombie.

As I stuck my head out to get a better view of the incoming brawl, I ended up accidentally stepping on a twig.

It made a small noise that was just loud enough to catch the zombie's attention. As the savage zombie swiftly turned around with its bloody face, it released an ear-screeching scream.

At the time I didn't realise what kind of danger flag that would raise for us, but Luka was fully aware of what would come to follow. So, to avoid a bigger mess, he quickly lunged forward to pounce on the zombie.

I can't say it was much of a fight since it was practically one-sided in Luka's favour. No matter how much the zombie struggled, he was no match for Luka's incredible strength.

I wanted to rip my eyes from the scene since I was fearing the worst. But I was completely frozen to the spot as I watched Luka tear his head off. As Luka feasted on the zombie's brain, I tried to cover my mouth to suppress my nausea.

I thought he might've finished when I heard all of the movement come to a stop. But in truth, Luka stopped what he was doing to stare thoughtfully at the blue crystal he held firmly in his hand.

Was that... inside the zombie's brain? Before I could even ask, Luka swallowed it in one big gulp. It's bad enough that he has to eat flesh to survive but now he's eating crystals too??? Talk about an insatiable appetite!

"They're... coming..." Luka declared in a hoarse and gritty voice.

HUH? He can speak now??? Not only that but he was starting to look more human as pigment started to slowly return to his face. If it weren't for his current bloody appearance, I'm sure someone could easily mistake him for a human.

As I looked around to see who Luka was referring to, he quickly picked me in a bridal carry. "Don't... move..."

You don't have to tell me twice! Once I heard the sound of footsteps drawing closer, I knew what was about to happen.

A hoard of zombies was coming for us.