EPZ 16

Chapter: 16

“Ah…!”

As a hot hand slipped under her clothes, Jigu flinched and let out a shallow moan.

The hand touching her bare skin was extremely gentle, as if handling something fragile. But the thick veins standing out along his forearm showed how hard the man was restraining himself.

That made it feel even more regretful, more aching. Wetting her dry lips with her tongue, Jigu wrapped her arms around the back of Caliph’s neck and bit deeply into his damp skin.

It could only be called instinctive attraction. Otherwise, there was no way to explain this incomprehensible feeling.

Every place where their skin met felt like it was catching fire, intense pleasure muddling her thoughts.

“Hh… mm….”

Caliph would not allow even a brief separation. He stole away even the shallow breaths that leaked out between them.

The shirt that had been awkwardly clinging to their bodies was already thrown under the bed. The edge of Jigu’s sleeveless top, soaked with sweat, rolled up along Caliph’s hand, and she felt his hot lips settle on her cooled skin.

“Ah—!”

Swallowing a moan, Jigu stiffened. The blanket beneath her curled feet rustled as it was pushed aside.

When his damp mouth pressed deeply against her sensitive skin, goosebumps ran up her back. The unfamiliar sensation rang alarm bells in her head.

“W-Wait, ah, that tickles…!”

Panting, Jigu shook her head and pushed hard against his shoulder. But his body, hard like stone, did not budge even an inch. Instead, his thick fingers slipped between hers as her hands wandered in the air.

Their interlocked hands pressed her gently down onto the mattress, as if binding her there. Trapped under his large body, Jigu gasped and struggled, and Caliph let out a deep sigh before lightly bumping his forehead against hers.

“Ha… damn it, please stay still…”

At his low, simmering voice, as if he were holding something back with all his strength, Jigu froze.

“W-What…?”

“Don’t provoke me. I’m barely holding it together as it is.”

Facing his blazing ash-gray eyes, Jigu stiffened again. Something hot and restless was stirring between her legs.

‘Don’t tell me that’s…’

That? Is it really that?

When Jigu’s gaze dropped downward, it responded as if in answer, twitching and growing again. Pressed against the inside of her thighs, it kept growing, its presence as intense as the heat in his eyes. Just by the vague sense of its size, she could tell it was far beyond normal.

“This…”

How much bigger is it going to get?

Swallowing the question rising to her throat, Jigu pressed her lips tightly together. Even then, the way it kept moving and growing made it feel like a living creature.

No, seriously—how big is it going to get? Huh?

“What did you do to me?”

Letting out a strained groan, Caliph buried his face against the back of Jigu’s neck. The way he rubbed desperately against her sweat-damp skin looked almost like a large dog begging affection from its owner, but the situation below was extremely dangerous. The subtle pressure against her stirred a strange, tempting urge.

“Mmh….”

Even as he let out a pained, shallow groan, Caliph’s body responded faithfully. That was why he couldn’t understand this situation at all.

He had never felt sexual desire before. Not just him—most Sentinels were the same.

There were rare mutations that foolishly chased lust, but most had no sexual desire at all, let alone attraction to the opposite sex.

Yet now, he was at a loss, like a boy who had just hit puberty.

Only toward this small, strange woman.

That hidden truth was the same for Jigu.

The warning alarm that had been ringing loudly was no longer heard. Still, she didn’t want to stop, no matter what the end might be.

Her cheeks flushed red, Jigu licked her dry lips and slowly pressed her weight down against his waist.

At that silent permission, sparks flew in his ash-gray eyes—

Aaaah!

A scream from the first floor tore through the sticky, heated air.

Jigu’s eyes widened in shock, and Caliph’s irritated gray eyes turned toward the tightly closed door.

Thud, thud, thud!

Urgent footsteps echoed through the wooden walls. Then came screams, followed by the crash of breaking glass.

Something had clearly happened on the first floor.

“Caliph!”

Jigu snapped back to her senses. Her face pale, she grabbed Caliph’s sleeve. She had been so focused on saving Caliph that she had forgotten the small child’s face.

Pushing against Caliph’s thick chest in a hurry, she found that the body that had been standing firm like stone stepped back without resistance. Even so, the fierce desire lingering in his gray eyes made her cheeks burn.

“Damn it, Malek!”

The situation on the first floor wasn’t as bad as expected. Following Luke as he ran, Jigu looked toward the kitchen and saw a small side window between the upper and lower cabinets shattered.

A zombie with dull eyes was stuck halfway through the small window—just big enough for a child to crawl through—flailing helplessly.

“These damn bastards!”

Bang! Thud!

Muttering curses, Luke grabbed a rolling pin from the counter and smashed the zombie’s head over and over.

Chunks of flesh tangled with hair, oxidized green slime, and blackened, long-rotted blood splattered, staining the clean tiles.

When the twitching zombie finally went limp, Luke threw the rolling pin aside and ground his teeth.

Food supplies, water, and daily necessities spilled out of the cabinets, rolling across the floor with messy backpacks.

They were things Jigu had stocked in case starving survivors came looking for food.

Jigu’s eyes turned cold as she watched. But the angriest person there was Luke, from Malek’s group.

“You bastard—were you trying to hog all the food for yourself?”

“N-No! I was just so thirsty, I was only looking!”

Of course, no one believed him. Instead, they stared suspiciously at Malek, who was sitting on the floor clutching his shoulder.

“You… did you get bitten?”

“What kind of bullshit is that?! I didn’t get bitten! I-I just ran into something!”

“How are we supposed to believe that, huh?!”

Enraged, Luke grabbed Malek by the collar. The worn neckline of his T-shirt tore open, exposing bare skin.

As Malek said, aside from a reddish bruise starting to rise, as if he had hit something hard, there were no other visible injuries. Only then did Luke calm down a little and ask through clenched teeth,

“So what the hell happened?”

“I made eye contact with it through the kitchen window. Damn it, it suddenly lunged at me, and I just fell in shock.”

“Then why were you sneaking into the kitchen like a rat?”

When Luke kicked the dirty backpack lying on the floor, several chocolate bars spilled out. Recognizing the packaging, Jigu’s eyebrow lifted in displeasure.

‘So thorough about packing it away.’

It was obvious he had tried to steal food and got caught because of the zombie attack. Luke’s face twisted viciously.

“You damn rat bastard…! How dare you try to steal?”

“N-No, that’s not—!”

Grabbed by the collar, Malek flailed helplessly. Luke getting angry over something that wasn’t even his to begin with looked ridiculous in its own way.

Watching the farce, Maya snorted and walked toward the broken side window to check if the zombie was truly dead.

The zombie, its head smashed to pulp, hung limply with its upper body stuck in the window.

Picking up the rolling pin that had been tossed onto the counter, Maya poked the zombie lightly.

Her face instantly stiffened.

“Wait… isn’t this Jason?”

At Maya’s trembling voice, Luke and Malek, who had been arguing, turned their heads sharply.

“What? Jason? What kind of nonsense is that?”

“…No. It’s definitely Jason.”

Maya’s voice shook. The dirty blond hair, the crooked nose bent to the left, the worn leather jacket—everything matched exactly how he looked the last time she saw him.

“That’s impossible. We split up near Fencing Hill. How did he get all the way here…?”

At Maya’s firm statement, Peggy staggered, gripping the sofa with trembling hands.