They Left Me with the Zombie Grandma

The apocalypse descended, and my ability was [Mascot], allowing zombies around me to act like normal people.

I was also the only tool that could keep Zombie Grandma quiet.

My older sister and younger brother both had offensive abilities, but they always praised me.

Our Cici is the most capable. As long as youre home, Grandma, who turned into a zombie, is like a docile cat, never biting anyone. That way, our family gets the institutes family allowance.

Until the day before New Years Eve, the safe zone opened up four hundred spots for a holiday feast!

Mom and Dad excitedly packed their bags, then slammed the steel security door shut.

There are only four tickets, Cici. Youre our familys guardian angel; stay behind and watch Grandma.

Well bring back some packed meat for you.

But they didnt know.

When the New Years Eve bell chimed, and they raised their glasses in celebration,

I was already being torn apart, flesh and bone, my throat chewed to pieces by a starving Grandma.

It turned out my ability only worked when my family was near me.

...

With a sharp "click" from the heavy steel security door, the last sliver of warm light that had seeped through the crack was completely cut off.

I huddled in the corner of the sofa, my voice trembling, looking at the rocking chair opposite.

Grandma, be good, Cici is here.

A hunched figure sat in the rocking chair.

Normally, as soon as I spoke, Grandmas cloudy eyes would stir, then quietly close as she feigned sleep.

Everyone in the family said I was a lucky one, having awakened the [Mascot] ability.

Although I couldnt conjure fireballs like my sister, nor slice stones thinly like my brother, I could keep my zombified Grandma rational, preventing her from biting or going mad, allowing her to be kept at home like an old cat.

Because of this, the base made an exception, allowing our family to live in the slums with Zombie Grandma, not forcing us to clear her out.

But today, something felt wrong.

Hoo, hoo...

The rocking chair stopped swaying.

A strange sound, like a broken bellows being pulled, emanated from Grandmas throat.

She slowly turned her head.

Her normally grayish-white yet calm pupils now glowed with an eerie blue light in the darkness, and blood vessels in her whites spread wildly like a spiderweb, instantly swallowing the last trace of humanity.

Her shriveled mouth slowly opened, saliva mixed with some black, viscous fluid.

A nauseating stench of decay instantly overpowered the faint musty smell in the room.

Grandma?

My heart lurched, and I instinctively tried to activate my ability.

I desperately tried to conjure that "calming" feeling in my mind, just as I had countless times before, attempting to envelop Grandma's brain with some invisible frequency.

However, nothing happened.

That sense of ability, which usually flowed like warm water, was now like stagnant water. No matter how much I screamed and tugged in my mind, it remained motionless.

What's going on?

Why did it fail?

Grandma's withered fingers clamped onto the armrest, her nails lengthening and blackening at a visible speed, like ten sharp bone-scrapers.

She stood up from the rocking chair.

Her movements were no longer the slowness of an elder, but filled with a beast-like stiffness and explosive power.

Im Cici! Grandma! Im Cici!

I sprang up from the sofa in terror, backing into the corner.

At that moment, my parents parting words flashed through my mind like lightning.

Youre our familys guardian angel

As long as youre home

No.

Thats not right.

Its not just "as long as Im home."

Every time Ive calmed Grandma before, my sister, my brother, or Mom and Dad, at least one of them was present.

They disliked Grandmas smell, always staying far away, but they were all under the same roof.

Today, it was the first time.

Within a five-hundred-meter radius, I was the only one.

A flash of white light suddenly went off in my mind.

There was no [Mascot] ability at all.

The condition for the ability to work was the presence of a blood relative, forming some kind of magnetic resonance.

I was the conductor, and my family was the power source.

Now, the power was cut, escaping to the safe zone with the dream of braised pork and warmth.

Only I, the discarded conductor, was left to face a monster that had been hungry for three years.

ROAR!!!

Grandma let out a shrill roar, lunging at me.

Her speed was like a black lightning bolt.

I instinctively raised my arm to block.

Crunch.

Excruciating pain surged through me.

The bone in my forearm was snapped clean, blood spurting like a fountain onto Grandmas pale face.

The smell of blood completely ignited her ferocity.

Her hands, dry as tree bark, clamped onto my shoulders with astonishing strength, her nails digging deep into my flesh, pinning me to the floor.

Dad Mom

I cried out in despair, tears mixing with blood flowing into my mouth.

Salty, bitter.

Was this the taste of New Years Eve?

Grandma didnt give me any more time to think.

She opened her mouth, almost torn to her ears, and bit down hard on my throat.

Gush.

The world went quiet.

It hurts.

It hurts too much.

But I couldnt make a sound.

The moment my windpipe was torn, air from my lungs, accompanied by bloody foam, gushed out, leaving me only able to make a "hissing" sound of leaking air.

My vision began to blur; everything around me spun and turned red.

I saw the family photo on the wall.

It was taken before the apocalypse.

Dad in a suit, Mom adorned with pearls, my sister and brother in pretty little dresses, smiling brightly.

And I, wearing my sisters hand-me-down school uniform, stood in the very corner, showing only half my face because the photographer said the composition was too crowded.

That half-face was now facing me, being torn and bitten on the floor.

Grandma was swallowing in large gulps.

That was her granddaughter.

It was Cici, who bathed her, fed her, and trimmed her nails every day.

I wanted to push her away, but my limbs no longer obeyed, only twitching unconsciously on the cold floor like a dying fish.

Before my consciousness completely plunged into darkness, I heard sounds from outside the window.

BoomCrack!

Those were fireworks rising from the direction of the Eden Safe Zone.

Even from dozens of kilometers away, I could see the dazzling light illuminating half the night sky.

How beautiful.

I dont know how much time passed.

I felt my body become very light, very light.

The agonizing pain disappeared, replaced by an utter emptiness and coldness.

I floated up.

Looking down.

The floor was a mess, blood pooled and spread to the entrance.

A small, incomplete, emaciated corpse lay there, a huge bloody hole in its neck, stark white bones exposed.

And Grandma was squatting beside the corpse, her belly already bulging, her face covered in dark red bloodstains, extending her long tongue, still savoring the bits of flesh between her fingers.

A mutated rat poked its head out of the sewer, its beady green eyes greedily staring at my corpse, attempting to come and get a share.

ROAR!

Grandma, in the midst of feeding, suddenly turned her head, letting out a fierce growl at the rat.

She was protecting her food.

Even after turning into a zombie, she instinctively guarded her "food."

How ironic.

When I was alive, I was the most inconspicuous, invisible member of this family.

After death, I became the "delicacy" Grandma fiercely protected.

My heart was filled with sorrow.

Just then, a strange pull came from outside the window.

It was as if an invisible rope had tethered my soul.

The other end of the rope was connected to the safe zone, to where my "family" was.

Although my ability had failed, that "curse" which only activated in the presence of relatives seemed to have transformed into some kind of bond, forcefully pulling me towards them.

Fine.

If I couldnt be a guest at the reunion dinner, then Id be the ghost that ruined it.

The safe zone truly lived up to its name.

A massive dome shielded against the swirling snow. Four hundred lucky families were gathered, toasting and celebrating.

I drifted, pulled by the invisible force, to a round table in the very center.

Mom, Dad, my sister, my brother, all wearing the bases newly issued white protective suits, looked like four bloated and happy silkworms.

The hotpot in front of them bubbled warmly.

And the moment I saw them,

The void in my mind was finally filled.

I finally completely understood what my ability truly was.