I Am the Zombie Queen, and My Lover Is the One Sent to Kill Me Chapter 05

I Am the Zombie Queen, and My Lover Is the One Sent to Kill Me Chapter 05

My footsteps echoed through the hollow stairwell, a frantic rhythm as I spilled out onto the pavement.

Just when my knees threatened to give out, a hand shot out from the side and yanked me into a narrow back alley.

I looked up in alarm and slammed into a pair of familiar eyes.

Nolan’s eyes were bloodshot and wild.

“Delaney.”

He dragged me into his arms and held me so tight I could barely breathe.

He was shaking.

His whole body was shaking, from his shoulders down to his arms.

“You’re okay…”

His voice was full of raw relief, and the kind of fear that only came after almost losing someone for good.

I stayed frozen in his arms for a long moment before I finally came back to myself.

“Y-you… what are you doing here?”

He didn’t answer. He only held me tighter.

I tried to push him away, and he suddenly let out a muffled grunt.

I looked down and realized the back of his shirt was shredded, dark blooms of blood soaking through the fabric.

I panicked. “Nolan! How did this happen?”

He let go of me and grabbed my wrist.

“First we get out of here.”

Then he pulled me deeper into the alley.

I let him drag me along for a few steps before something hit me.

“What about Sienna and her brother?”

He didn’t stop walking. His voice was flat and cold.

“They knocked me out and dragged me somewhere else. When I woke up, I came looking for you.”

Then, after a brief pause, something heavier slid into his voice.

“If they hadn’t stopped me… you wouldn’t have been left behind.”

My heart jolted.

The live comments floated up again:

[Holy shit, the male lead ditched the heroine to come find the villainess?]

[Well, damn. Didn’t see that coming. He’s actually kind of devoted.]

[But does he know she got bitten? Would he still act like this if he knew?]

[The male lead in the original story was the zombie slayer, remember?]

He even killed the final boss, the Alpha. The villainess is screwed.

[Alright, I’ve got popcorn. Just waiting for the male lead to find out the truth and kill the villainess with his own hands~]

I stared at the words, and my chest tightened all over again.

Nolan pulled me through one alley after another.

His palm was burning hot. My fingers were freezing cold.

After a long time, he finally found a hidden storefront. He led me to a back office, a windowless box of a room that felt like a sanctuary.

Nolan blocked the door, then checked the windows.

Only after he made sure the place was safe did he come back and pull me into his arms again.

His chin rested on top of my head. His heartbeat was a frantic, heavy thud against my ear.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Guiltily, I tugged my scarf higher and hunched my neck down a little.

“…No.”

“Let me see.”

He still sounded uneasy. His hand came up and landed on my scarf.

I tore myself out of his arms so fast it was like I’d been burned, stumbling back two steps.

His hand froze in midair. His fingers curled slightly, and something helpless flickered through his eyes.

I didn’t dare look at him. I hurried into the corner, tense all over.

“D-don’t just touch me whenever you want.”

Silence crashed down behind me.

A long time later, he let out a quiet sigh and said my name.

“Delaney.”

“Are you blaming me? For that day…” He drew in a deep breath. “For not saving you.”

I stared at the floor, my eyes starting to sting.

Only now, after being bitten, did all the hurt come rushing back.

But I knew saying any of it out loud was useless now.

“I’m sorry.”

Slow footsteps approached, and he crouched down in front of me.

I kept my head lowered.

All I could see were the shredded denim and the dark, crusted stains on his legs.

My chest felt tight and sore.

“It won’t happen again.”

His hand settled gently on top of my head. “From now on, I won’t leave your side for even a second.”

“I’m taking you to Ridgefield. There’s a refuge camp there. Once we get there, we’ll be safe.”

He pulled out the same chocolate protein bar as before, unwrapping it with a domestic tenderness that broke my heart.

“Hungry?”

I took a wooden bite and chewed.

I couldn’t taste anything.

The comments drifted past again:

[Yep, here it comes. Isn’t this one of the early signs of turning???]

[Yeah. First she loses her sense of taste, then her speech, then her ability to think… and eventually even her emotions start fading out.]

[Once she loses consciousness completely, she’s just a walking corpse.]

“Is it sweet?” he asked.

I nodded stiffly.

Something felt lodged in my throat, too heavy to swallow and impossible to spit out.

I had to find a chance to leave before I really turned.

At the very least, I didn’t want him to see me become that.

And even less did I want him to be the one who killed me.

But that entire night, he slept with me in his arms.

His hold was tight, like he was afraid I might disappear if he loosened it even a little.

Any time I shifted, his lashes would tremble and, half-awake, he’d pull me closer again.

At dawn, he woke up first.

I pretended to still be asleep and listened to him quietly pack.

By the time I opened my eyes, he’d already stuffed everything useful into his backpack.

Then he found a steel pipe and handed it to me.

“For protection.”

I wrapped my hand around it.

It felt heavy.

For the next two days, I followed him through the ruins of the city.

Whenever we ran into infected, he dealt with them.

He was harsher than before.

When the steel pipe came down, the crack of splintering bone was so sharp it made my teeth ache.

One of them lunged at him, and he smashed its head in with a single swing. Blood sprayed across his face.

He didn’t even blink. He kicked the body away, turned back to me, and said, “Stay close.”

I gripped the pipe in my hand and nodded mechanically.

Watching his back, I couldn’t help wondering, if one day he found out I’d become one of those things too, would he bring that pipe down on me just as decisively?

He would.

He’d always been rational.

Otherwise, he never would’ve broken up with Sienna and chosen me.

The day we met through mutual friends, he’d made it very clear: we were a sensible match, the kind of practical partnership built to last.

…He was never the type to do anything without certainty.

The news had said that after a bite, it took about a week to turn completely.

Counting the days, several had already passed.

I didn’t have much time left.

But Nolan seemed absolutely determined to get me out, and he never gave me the slightest chance to slip away.

When we reached an abandoned parking lot, he stopped and crouched beside an SUV to take a look.

“This one still works.”

He pulled open the door, checked the gas, then glanced over the dashboard.

I stood beside him, watching him work with chilling efficiency, and quietly edged one step backward.

Now.

This was my chance.

“Get in.”

He looked up at me suddenly.

I froze. The foot I’d barely started to move slid right back where it had been.

“Delaney?”

“…Okay.”

I climbed into the passenger seat, slow and reluctant, while the tiny bit of hope I’d been clinging to shattered completely.

Leaning back against the seat, I stared out at the ruins blurring by and felt colder with every mile.

Nolan was a steady driver. He handled the SUV smoothly, carefully steering around the chokepoints of rusted steel and bone.

I didn’t know how long we’d been driving when the sky gradually began to darken.

“We’re almost there.”

I looked up and saw a cluster of low buildings in the distance, ringed by high-tension wire.

“The refuge camp should be over there.”

There was relief in his voice when he said it.

It was the first time since the outbreak that I’d heard that kind of lightness from him.

But I didn’t feel relieved at all.