I Ended Up Inside a Zombie Apocalypse Novel
I ended up inside a zombie apocalypse novel. First things first, I needed to sprint down the stairs and find somewhere to hide. But the tension must have made me misstep, because the floor suddenly rushed up to meet me. Maybe it was the premonition of how fucked I was, but the fall felt strangely slow. “Ack!”
My knees stung. At least nothing seemed broken. I scrambled up in a panic, then forced myself to focus and grabbed the baseball bat. That’s right—this situation had been written in the novel too. Three dots, then fuck.
“...Fuck.”
“Groooooooaaar!!”
The zombie that used to be a returning college student gaped its jaws wide and charged. I didn’t even have time to swing. I just thrust the bat out horizontally to block. That’s when I got a good look at the bastard’s face. Green skin, yellow teeth, and chunks of meat stuck between them. Fuck, that’s human flesh, isn’t it?
“...Ugh.”
“Groar! Groooar! Groooooooooar!”
“Fuck, this is disgusting.”
To think I’d come face-to-face with the exact moans I’d heard until I was sick of them over the past two weeks. The nausea hit me like a wave. Still, it wasn’t the worst situation. Looked like this floor only had the one zombie.
Stay calm. If I stay calm, I can survive this. Okay, so… Ah, screw it, I don’t know.
“Hey!”
“Grrk?!”
I bent my knee and drove a hard kick into the zombie’s stomach. The solid hit sent it stumbling back several steps, buying me enough time to stand. I scrambled up and swung the bat with everything I had. Luck was on my side—the blow connected cleanly, smashing the zombie into the wall before it rolled across the floor.
The moment I saw that, something in me snapped. Slowly. With shaking hands I raised the bat and brought it down. Lifted it again. Brought it down. Lifted it. Brought it down. Lifted it one last time and smashed it down.
“Hoo…… Ha, fuck……”
The returning student zombie’s head was completely caved in. Its blue tracksuit was splattered with red, turned into a gruesome mess. Even my mind—supposedly toughened by years of internet cynicism—couldn’t handle it. In the end I dropped to my knees like a pathetic mess and threw up on the floor.
I stayed there for a while, dry-heaving until only bitter stomach acid came up, then finally pulled myself together.
“……The key.”
This officetel gave priority door-lock systems to the women’s rooms. That meant the guy next door was still using a regular key. The landlord had kicked all the vacation renters out so he could start renovations… which meant plenty of rooms in this building could still be opened with keys.
First floor. There was the manager’s room on the first floor. And inside that room was a master key. I could use it to raid the other apartments for food.
“…………Fuck.”
But right now my body was in no shape for that. After fighting one zombie I was already wiped out. No way I could handle any others that might be lurking. So first I needed to rest. I also had to get some food and water into my stomach. Which meant I had to search the dead student’s body.
“Fuck.”
I held my breath and carefully checked the tracksuit pockets first. The zipped one gave me a phone and a wallet. The shattered screen told me exactly how desperate he’d been at the end. But that was beside the point. I moved on to the pants pockets, hoping for what I actually needed. My fingers brushed something metallic.
“Found it!”
I yanked the key out and shoved it into the lock of the neighboring door. It turned. The door opened easily. I let out a slow breath of relief and started to step inside—when a strange moan came from the side.
“Fuck.”
A zombie was slowly climbing the stairs. It didn’t seem like it had been drawn by the noise. If it had heard me, it would’ve come running while moaning. This one was just mindlessly shuffling up and down the steps. It’d be a pain in the ass if it kept blocking the stairs later, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. Resting came first. I slipped inside and gently closed the door behind me.
“Whew.”
Luckily the studio was empty. That was a huge relief. If anyone else had been here—human, zombie, or anything in between—it would’ve been nothing but trouble.
Anyway, food first. I didn’t even bother opening the fridge at first. Water was already leaking out and pooling on the floor. Whatever was inside was definitely not edible anymore. Still, just to be sure, I cracked it open, immediately cursed, and slammed it shut again. The dead student had apparently been diligent; the fridge was full of what used to be fresh ingredients. No canned tuna, no ham, nothing shelf-stable. I had no choice but to keep looking.
I left the rice cooker alone. The memory of the fridge was enough—I didn’t want to puke again. I thought there might be nothing at all, but I managed to find some chocolate. Looked like he kept it nearby for when his blood sugar dropped during study sessions. Several bags were piled up next to the desk. I wanted to rip them open and shove them in my mouth, but I forced myself to hold back. If I ate all of it now I’d just suffer from thirst later. I needed to find something I could actually drink first.
The bathtub water? I’d already used it to wash without thinking, so it was better to pretend it didn’t exist. I’d rather escape the building than drink that. Fortunately I found some bottled water in the corner. About three bottles’ worth, though one was only half full.
“…………Whew.”
Water someone had drunk from and left for two weeks. Obviously not hygienic. Getting food poisoning in this situation would be game over. Better to use it for washing. It was still cleaner than the bathtub.
“Still, could be worse.”
After that I searched under the bed and found a few more things I could eat. Some stick candies he’d probably bought for low blood sugar, plus three unopened bags of small snacks. One bag was crawling with bugs, so I hurled it across the room. Food and water situation roughly solved.
Next I needed better weapons and clothes. The original owner had clearly cared a lot about fashion, because what I was wearing was ridiculous. The kind of outfit that would’ve gotten attention on campus—a black sports bra, ripped jeans with one entire leg cut off, a white belt, and to top it all off, a pink-and-white hoodie. No way I could survive the zombie apocalypse dressed like this.
I opened the closet hoping to find something usable, but everything was equally impractical. I was about to curse the guy for not owning normal clothes when a note fell from the inside of the closet door. It said something about having a rough family situation so he couldn’t afford expensive clothes, and had decided to live as a “one-outfit gentleman.” The pencil marks were pressed in so hard they practically tore the paper. The determination behind those words hit me harder than the corpse had. A wave of nausea and guilt worse than before surged up.
I flung the note away like it was on fire and tore open a chocolate bar, shoving it into my mouth. It had nuts inside—the kind I normally wouldn’t touch—but right now it tasted like heaven. I devoured ten of them in a frenzy, still wasn’t satisfied, and ripped open one of the snack bags too. After all that sugar my throat was burning, so I opened one of the untouched water bottles and drank exactly half.
“Haa………”
With my stomach full and my thirst quenched, the tension finally drained away and exhaustion crashed over me. I sat there in a daze for a while before snapping back to reality. I stuffed all the leftover food into a bag. I couldn’t afford to sleep here. I’d recovered a little strength, so it was time to try escaping. The other rooms probably wouldn’t have this much supplies anyway. Most people seemed to have lived off takeout.
So I really had to leave now.
“Like the protagonist……”
Just don’t freeze up. If I stay calm and smash zombies like the main character, I can win. Zombies were enemies an adult male with a weapon could handle easily. Sure, two weeks had passed since the outbreak, so they’d probably gotten stronger. But the basic principle still held. Even if my current body was that of an adult woman, the baseball bat should make up for it.
……Believing that was definitely better for my mental health.
I offered a short silent prayer, opened the door, and checked the hallway. No zombies on the stairs. No zombies in the corridor either. Of course, that just meant they were probably still inside the rooms. Still, no zombies in sight was a win. I gripped the bat tightly and crept toward the stairs.
“……Ah.”
There was a zombie. Through the railing I could see one about two floors above. If I made any noise now, it would definitely come straight down. So I held my breath, watched my every step, and started descending. If I got spotted, I’d deal with it then. These things always let out that annoying moan before they attacked anyway.
Let’s see, this was the fourth floor, so……
“………………………………”
Four whole floors to go. The bleak reality of it nearly choked me. But I had to keep moving. I carefully made my way down the stairs. It didn’t take long to reach the third floor.
That’s when I locked eyes with a zombie staring straight at me.
“Grooooooooooaaaaar!!!!!!”
“Mom, fuck!”
Yeah. I was completely, utterly fucked.