I don't know how long humans sleep for, but I feel like it's been forever. Weird, since time doesn't really matter to me anymore. I'm not sure why I'm so…anxious for Mari to wake up, but I decide to take a short walk down the hall to take things off my mind.

At the end of the hallway there is a window that overlooks most of the campus. The music building is interestingly built on the only hill within campus grounds. Even though I am on the first floor of the building, I can see nearly everything.

The campus is illuminated beautifully by the moonlight. In the courtyard, several corpses are shuffling along. I think one of them is N, but I can't be sure. He usually finds a female corpse to spend the night with after we hunt in the city.

I begin to wonder what the campus would be like if this whole mess of a world didn't exist.

I imagine myself as a student returning for my second year. I like to think I'm at least permanently stuck in my college years.

The campus would breathe with life. Students would socialize in the courtyard, actively use the library, you name it.

I imagine that I'm sitting on one of the benches reading a text book before class. I wonder what my major was. Or would have been.

N would approach me then. Probably making some smart-ass comment about how I'd be a nerd for reading.

I don't really remember what reading was like, but I know it must have been something I liked to do in my past life. There are times where I go to the library and stare at the multitude of books to pass time. I can't make out what the titles are, the letters blur together, so I make them up in my head and imagine stories to match them.

N would also probably start talking about some girl he just met.

He'd point over at a group of first years, saying something about how good they look. I'd glance to where he's pointing, but only one student would catch my eye. One with black pigtails and big blue eyes and a smile as bright as the sun.

Wait, that's actually the sun rising over campus.

I snap out of my imagination and make my way back toward the music room. Just as I'm about to return to my slumped position against the door, I hear movement from within.

She must be awake. I shrug to myself and do my best to attempt a knock.

The room falls silent, and there is a long pause, but finally the door opens just a crack. She takes a deep breath.

"I guess I should thank you for saving me back in the city." Finally, there it is. She won't look me in the eyes yet, she's probably still a bit frightened. I know why she would be, but I have to try to get her to trust me.

"We-welcome." My voice sounds dry.

There's another long pause. Then, suddenly, her big blue eyes are looking directly into mine. She's got this puppy-dog look and God, she is adorable.

"I-I'm awfully hungry." She says, shyly.

What do humans eat, again?

"Can I go find some food?" She asks.

A panicked feeling washes over my entire dead body. She can't leave, it isn't safe.

"N-no." Before she can protest I continue, "corpses out. Not s-safe."

I wish I could pat myself on the back for actually making some sense.

"Well then, you're going to have to get it." There's a smirk on her face.

I nod and begin to make my way toward the door that leads outside. I remember seeing some vending machines in the lobby of a dormitory not too far from the music building. I head in that direction.

I'll have to break the glass somehow. It would look very odd for a corpse to be breaking into a vending machine since we can't even enjoy the taste of its contents. I hope no other corpses are around to see it. I do my best to think through an excuse anyway just in case.

I'm about 15 feet away from the dormitory when I smell it.

A sweet, delicious scent fills the air. For a moment, I forget what I am even supposed to be doing and begin to feel a slight tingling sensation in my stomach.

I know corpses appear to be bottomless pits, but we actually don't feed unless we're starving. I shouldn't be starving, I just ate yesterday. I mean, sometimes when we smell humans we—

Oh, shit.

Shit, that's her.

I take off, I'm moving much faster than the average corpse and that shocks me. I follow my nose. She's not too far from the courtyard. It doesn't take me long to spot her.

And I'm not the only corpse who has.

She's clinging to a pillar. Several corpses are slowly shuffling towards her. I don't waste any time. I approach her from behind, knocking down some of the elderly corpses that were coming from the same direction. I do my best to gently tap her.

Clearly not my best idea. I must have startled her, she turned around and instantly impacted a kick to my groin.

What was this weird sensation? Was…was this pain I was feeling? Corpses don't feel bodily pain. I'll have to come back to that later. She's got her hand over her mouth, an almost apologetic look in her eyes.

I do my best to give an aggravated glare but I have no idea how that turned out. I dig into my wound from yesterday and wipe as much grime as I can across her face.

It's my little ha-ha to her for trying to run away. She gives me a disgusted look. I shrug. She doesn't smell too much like a human anymore, so it'll do.

"Be…dead." I mutter. "Be…like me." I turn, making my way back toward the music building. After a few steps I look over my shoulder to see if she's following. She is.

She gets the hint, but she over does it. She's got her arms out straight, she's walking like she has a stick up her ass, and she's growling.

That's nearly insulting. Actually, I'm embarrassed. Sure, we grunt meaninglessly most of the time but we don't growl. And we definitely don't walk like that… at least I hope that's not how I actually look. I shoot her a harsh glance.

"Not…like me."

She smiles slightly, then she tones it down. It's not perfect, but what do you expect from a human.

Once we're clear of the courtyard, she speaks up.

"I really am hungry, though."

Most of the corpses have shrugged off the scent, returning to their routines. However, a large group of corpses appears to be gathering near the dormitory I was trying to go to earlier.

I decide to take her to the cafeteria instead.

Once inside, she goes straight to the storage room. She rummages through some shelves before excitedly grabbing a can. I have no idea what she is eating, but she's smiling as she takes a bite.

"I haven't had peaches in forever."

She looks at me then, a questionable look in her eyes.

"Have you ever had peaches?"

I shake my head.

"Well, you're missing out. I mean, these aren't as good as fresh peaches, but they'll do."

I watch her as she eats. She's beginning to scrape the bottom of the can. I decide to grab a few cans off of the shelf to bring back with us. She does the same.

It doesn't take us long to return back to the music room. I think a large group of corpses went hunting today, there does not seem to be many on the campus.

I close the door behind us once we enter the music room. Mari sets the cans on the ground and looks up at me.

"What are you?" she asks.

"C-corpse." I look away from her as I say it. The word is like vinegar on my tongue.

There's a long silence between us before Mari speaks again.

"No, no you're something else. You saved me. You could have torn my limbs apart in a blink of an eye, but you saved me instead."

I shrugged. I didn't know what to say. I still don't really know what I'm doing, why I saved her, why I brought her back here.

"Shrugging doesn't answer any questions." She rolls her eyes. "Do you have a name?"

"Can't…Can't really remember it."

"Well, Mr. Undead." I cringed.

"Okay, not Mr. Undead… Um… How about you pick your name?"

"Y-you pick." I half smile as I say, "Normal one."

"Well, I had a friend once who saved me a bunch of times. You're starting to remind me of him." She took a deep breath and eyed me cautiously. "So, how about Chat?"

I have a name. I could feel myself actually smile. Mari smiled too, but it quickly died.

"Okay, Chat. How long are you keeping me here? I can't live here."

Shit. That's not the direction I wanted this to go. She can't leave, it's only been a day. I have to think of something quick.

"F-few more days." I shrug. "They need t-to…forget scent". I nod my head in the direction of the door, hopefully getting the point across that the other corpses may still be hunting for a human.

Her eyes fall to floor quickly, but suddenly snap up to meet mine. She gives me a genuine smile.

"Well, Chat. What is there to do around here for fun?"