Chapter 20—Boundary Line

by Bocchan13

Song Yu prepped for another long haul. His perimeter rounds took around two weeks, drawing in a wide circle and killing along the way. He had this planned route that almost exactly spanned 5 hours around his villa minus the south side that had glacial mountains.

His off road car had run out of gas some time ago, so when Derpy was old enough, Song Yu learned how to ride and do horse maintenance. Albeit Derpy being only 2 years old, his spiritual advancement had caused both animals to be larger, so despite his age, he was as big as a grown horse.

Derpy delighted in these excursions, since he could run for farther distances without the offensive trees. Song Yu also liked it this way cause zombies didn’t bother with animals, especially those that were spiritually aware.

He prepped foods and clothing in his space, and made sure the animals had clean water and food.

Squinty helped the dumber animals with the feeding and could turn on the sprinkler system that automatically shut off. They were like a well-oiled machine, all combining into a routine that was both easy and satisfying.

Squinty wanted to go on these excursions too, but was misled with the “leader position”. Song Yu couldn’t help but laugh when he gave him the “greatest dad” medal he had stored somewhere. Even if he was smart, he still didn’t know how to read.

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DAY 790

Song Yu swatted the canopy in annoyance. Dumb singing birds woke him up so freakin’ early. He rubbed his eyes and stayed dazed for a bit. Squinty came into the bedroom and barked at him to get ready.

“Did I raise a mom? Why are you telling me to wake up so early?”

Squinty just rolled his eyes and skipped off. If Song Yu didn’t know better, he would have seen Squinty with a kitchen apron on, holding a spatula. Song Yu followed his ‘Majesty’s’ orders and got dressed in his hunting gear. Over the past 2 years, he had changed the suits capabilities, inserting panels on the side that padded his body during the long horse rides.

He also had to wear a hood because of the intense sun, and his mask was more aerated to accommodate the heat. His body suit was still black, but the additional add on made him look like a video game character that had terrible skins. Song Yu flipped his hair and hmmphed.

No one would see it anyways.

He did have gorgeous horse riding outfits; tailored vests that tightly hugged his body, white cotton shirts that didn’t chafe with suspenders and a waistcoat matching the pants and brown riding shoes. When he had made them, he stared at his body, fantasizing racing off into the distance and finding his prince!

He wasn’t ashamed that he twirled in the mirror a few times. He clearly was gorgeous!

However, the riding outfit would only come out on the special occasions. Song Yu really wanted to wear it now! After stocking up in his space, and additional foods for Derpy, Song Yu left his home, skipping to the barn and saddled Derpy.

Derpy cheerily let the beautiful saddle slide onto his back. Song Yu adjusted a few times before he was satisfied, patting Derpy gently on his neck. Song Yu looked at the grumpy Squinty-eyes and petted him.

“Take care of your brothers and sister. You gotta keep them safe and happy, okay?” Squinty ruffed and huffily flipped his tail, before trotting off into the distance. Song Yu sighed.

He shouted, “I’ll bring you next time!” Squinty continued to ignore him as he made his way to the barn. Pressing a button, a slew of food entered the pen, letting the pigs eat their food in relish.

Song Yu put on his riding boots and hiked his body onto Derpy. He wore a large hooded poncho that prevented sun exposure, whilst underneath was his bodysuit. Since it was early in the morning, he didn’t need to wear the hood, and just wore his mask. He leaned forward and patted Derpy to start walking.

The route outwards didn’t pose too much danger, but you had to be wary in the forests. Although there weren’t any zombies, there were zombie animals and plants. Zombie animals had started leveling up, and plants had started to grow 10X bigger than their normal size. Song Yu didn’t want to burn down the entire forest, so he avoided places where zombie plants usually congregated.

Derpy had a keen sense of identifying zombies, and Song Yu trusted him to lead him forward. Keeping vigilant, Song Yu rode for several hours before stopping to take a rest. They had reached the outer forests, where the trees has thinned significantly, letting Song Yu know that they were about to reach the beginning of the circle.

He couldn’t let Derpy graze on this grass, so he took out a large black bucket and added hay. Song Yu checked the surrounding area, and the trees to find sight of zombification before he laid down and opened his lunchbox.

Pork skewers mixed with sweet and sour sauce, fluffy rice, and pickled radish. The smell was enticing, Song Yu relished in the first bite.

“It’s a good thing we haven’t come across any zombies right now. I’m sure that this round will have less than last month. It’s getting colder and colder.”

Derpy had finished his meal and had laid next to Song Yu. He nodded his head, causing Song Yu to laugh. Song Yu finished his lunch and leaned back on Derpy, his mood brighter. In a sense, this was more or less his only job, surveying the boundary line to ensure his paradise wouldn’t come to harm.

After 20 minutes, they set off again.

Song Yu did not take his job lightly. Every time they encountered a zombie, Song Yu killed them quickly, throwing their bodies in a pit and lighting them on fire. This made sure that the environment wouldn’t suffer from the corpses decay, and hopefully recover. Song Yu had dug up pits all around his boundary line, which were both used to burn zombies and trap them.

Level 4 zombies weren’t as dumb, but they certainly weren’t smart either. Song Yu checked several pits and burned the zombies inside, leaving quickly because the smoke attracted the zombies to the barbecue. When night fell, Song Yu had travelled almost 10 hours and had killed over 30 zombies.

Song Yu and Derpy were tired, and decided to head to the cave they found a few months ago to rest. Song Yu could feel the cool air, and knew there was going to be a summer rain. As luck would have it, they made it to the cave just in time for the first drops to fall.

Song Yu checked if there were any zombies in the cave, and let Derpy eat inside as he set up a sleeping bag. The cave was quite big with several holes on top and to the side, curving in like ice cream scoops. The cave spanned 20 feet from the entrance, and 15 feet wide. The perfect hideout for a nightly jaunt. Song Yu gleefully made a fire and watched as rain fell down in streaks.

Eating dinner, at 10 o’clock on the dot, Song Yu went to sleep while Derpy kept vigilant watch.

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Song Yu woke up at 3 for the night shift, letting Derpy get a good night’s rest. As Derpy slept, Song Yu brushed his fur down and checked for any rocks in his shoes. Finishing his inspection, Song Yu looked outside the cave and watched the summer rain trickle into a light drizzle. Song Yu smelled the unique smell of fresh cut grass, letting his ears listen to any sound that wasn’t natural. Over time, the sun rose and the rain had let up, creating a boundless blue sky.

Song Yu rolled his sleeping bag, and covered up any sign that they had been there. Taking care of his physiological needs, they set out once more. Song Yu hummed the song of a Kpop idol group he had heard of before the end, and quickly got into the rhythm and groove of vigilance and fun.

By 10’oclock, Song Yu had made it to another pit stop (literally) and surveyed the surrounding area. This area was all prairie fields and farm land, but the wandering zombies liked the sun, so places where it was sunny most of the day was the perfect spot for sunbathing.

There were a few zombies oncoming. Song Yu got off Derpy and took out his bow and arrow from his space. A large compound bow flitted into view, its limbs and bow strings looking newer than new. The aluminum alloy shined brightly in the sunlight, as Song Yu nocked an arrow and started shooting.

Letting the bow spin, he saw as the silver arrow flew, hitting the zombie in the head with such lethality, it fell back several feet. Song Yu had no time as three other zombies came into his view. Song Yu nocked another arrow, waiting for the right moment. He pulled the bow string taunt, and let go only to see the zombie curve in direction, letting the arrow sail behind.

“Tsk.”

Song Yu wasn’t panicked as he breathed deeper and deeper, his heart beat slowing down, his eyes laser focused. Nocking another arrow, he watched as the level 4 zombies were getting closer and closer. When they were only 15 feet away, Song Yu let go. The arrow flew extremely fast, leaving an afterimage, hitting the zombie square in the face. Song Yu let go of the bow, letting it fall into his space as he took out his dagger on his thigh and prepared for hand to hand combat.

The two zombies looked like they had been cooking in the sun for a while. The gooeyness was gone, their open wounds dried out like prunes. Song Yu wrinkled his mouth in distaste as the smarter of the two let the other one go at him. Song Yu languidly let his body relax and wait.

The zombie roared, his sharp black claws reaching for Song Yu. It hugged the air and looked around in puzzlement, only to see the swift blade of the knife, coming towards its throat. Song Yu beheaded it easily and didn’t spare the other zombie, spinning around and stabbed the dagger vertically into its skull.

Dropping down, he looked at Derpy, waving his arms in happiness.

“Did you see that? Huh? Did you see? I’m a freakin’ badass!”

Derpy:…