(Narrator's POV)

Avery is a corpse.

Someone who came back from the dead.

She's not the typical zombie who literally looks like the walking dead; with sagging skin, rotting teeth, and lifeless eyes. In fact, you could hardly distinguish a human from a corpse—well not until they've completed the transformation. Corpse was just an insultive term the humans, specifically the hunters, use to call them.

Them.

Yes, there were more of Avery’s kind. She wasn't the only corpse; several people rise from the dead. Nobody knew how or why, but they just did. It was like an epidemic that spread out through the world; one day there weren't any and the next day there was. Nobody knew who rose or what made them rise, but they just did and that scared the hell out of everybody. Especially since corpses had cannibalistic tendencies. And by cannibalistic, meaning they eat meat… human meat.

Avery was seventeen when she became an undead. She was seventeen when she lost her soul. But her case was different. Unlike the other corpses who died of accidents, sicknesses, crimes, and other unfortunate events that lead to dying, Avery died willingly.

Avery chose to die.

There was a difference between dying and choosing to die.

Dying involved blood, loosing of breath, or the feeling of slowly loosing consciousness. After that, that's the only time the soul leaves the body. As for Avery, it was different. She was alive when her soul was taken away from her; fully awake and feeling every amount of pain as it was ripped off of her very being. 

There were a lot of things that made Avery different. First, she was alive when she shouldn't have been; second, she's a corpse and yet she didn't go crazy like those of her kind; and third, she still felt. She felt emotions, something corpses shouldn't have the ability to do. Because frankly, corpses don’t have hearts or souls… and everyone knew that the soul is the essence of a human being.

Avery was no longer human. 

She wished she wasn't so different. Because being different complicates things; being different makes you curious; and being different means trouble...

And this is exactly what she thought off right at this very moment as she was crouched on the floor, her hands firmly on the ground as she stared at the boy across from her; who was crouched down as well, staring—more like glaring at her—

With a gun lying motionless on the floor between them.


~~~
(Avery's POV)

The world had turned into shambles the moment people started rising from the dead.  People called it the Hereafter; a mocking term to describe the aftermath of the sudden growth in the population's death—undead—rate.

It's been a year since I woke up—ten years since I was fully alive. Yes, I’ve been dead for more than a decade now.

I wasn't supposed to be alive. They told me that, the fates, the people who were in charge of the souls before they crossover. I wasn't supposed to come back and yet here I am, walking, breathing... a little lacking in the heartbeat department, but nonetheless, alive.

I should be happy, right?

Wrong.

Because in this era, the world had gotten more dangerous that it already was. If you think the corpses had taken over, you're wrong. Because in the Hereafter, it's all about hunting...

And we are the ones being hunted down.


~~~

(Narrator's POV)

Although the mortality rate has increased tremendously since the Hereafter began, life remained the same in the cities. People still worked, children still went to school, and they all still lived their lives normally.

The only difference was that corpses lived among them unknowingly and everyone was on high alert 99% of the time.

Humans and corpses were hard to distinguish at first, especially if the corpse hasn't gone through the full transformation yet. Because of this, security measures had to be implemented heavily and dutifully. 

A confederation of fighters was formed to eradicate the undead. They were trained in combat and to know the ways of the undead: how to distinguish them, how to track them down, and how to kill them; at least immobilize them.

The soldiers ranged from young adults, starting from sixteen, to adults, as long as their bodies would permit them to do training.

Jeon Jungkook was one of the youngest members of the confederation, being only sixteen when he started training. With only a year and a half of experience, he has already become one of the confederation's best soldiers, obliterating almost twelve corpses since his first hunt. A number he became known and respected for. 

"Yah! Jungkook!"

Jungkook turned around, his hands gripping the straps of his backpack as he squinted his eyes to see who had called him. He had just finished his classes and as usual, he went straight to camp for his daily training schedule.

A familiar form came bounding towards him, one of his hyungs: Kim Taehyung, whom everyone called V because of his big victory a couple of years ago when he killed five corpses in an abandoned warehouse with a single bullet.

"V hyung." Jungkook smiled as the older one draped his arm across his shoulders, smiling widely. "What did school teach us today?"

"Nothing important." He smirked. "Nobody talked about shooting zombies or how to keep yourself from getting eaten."

Taehyung chuckled, “Such a waste of time.”

“You know it.” Jungkook shook his head amusedly as they went towards the gates. They scanned their I.D.’s on the monitor and a familiar robotic voice sounded, granting them passage.

The camp was a huge square field surrounded by huge cement walls that barricaded the place in a cage. The walls were there to protect them from any of the undead trying to find out of their plans or simply to keep them out. The security was tight and everyone had to go through testing, just to see if everyone’s heart's was still beating.

Jungkook and Taehyung went straight to the main office, situated in the middle of camp where they were to meet the other members of their team. 
 

Entering the building's premises, Jungkook and Taehyung walked towards the main room in the basement. The interior of the office was mostly made of glass and metal, imitating a regular science lab. As they walked, whispers hung in the air from the people they passed, making Jungkook smirk inwardly. Members of the confederation had so much respect for him—for his group—that they even gave them a name: Bangtan; meaning Bulletproof Boy Scouts. They were one of the confederation’s best team of soldiers and were often given the hardest and most dangerous hunting missions, despite their young age.

As they reached the basement, the main room was crowded with a bunch of people Jungkook recognized and a few new faces as well. 

"I thought you guys would never come!" Jimin exaggerated as Taehyung caged him in a headlock, and the boys converged in a playful wrestling match. Jungkook only chuckled, shaking his head at his hyungs.

"Eh! Jungkookie!" Everyone's head's turned at the sound of Yoongi’s holler from across the room. Jungkook raised his eyebrow questioningly, dropping his bag by the corner before going straight to table where everyone was gathered. As he came nearer, almost everyone gave way. The new faces, for that fact, gawked at him like he was some god. "Hyungs." Jungkook nodded in greeting.

"Hey." Jin smiled at the boy from across the table. "You're just on time,” he said as he pointed at the table where there was a map of the city laid out, as well as a few guns and knives. Jungkook took one of the knives and rolled it over his fingers. "What's up?"

"There's a spotting near the outskirts of the city," Namjoon, their leader, pointed as he trailed his fingers along the edge of the map. "They need us to check it out and—“

"Do our thing." Jimin finished, as he came back with Taehyung. 

"How many?" Jungkook asked.

"We're not sure yet." Yoongi shrugged as he took a seat on the couch, making himself comfortable. "Though I expect several, no less than eight."

Jungkook looked at the map, the knife still twirling in his fingers. He was simply itching for this mission because the place they were going to was a somewhere new and uncharted in terms of their hunting locations. "I see."

"So we're going out tonight?" Taehyung asked excitedly. 

"You bet." Yoongi smirked. "Along with these guys." He nudged his head towards the new faces. Just by looking at them, with their nervous and yet determined expressions, Jungkook knew that it was their first hunt. He smirked when one of the boys caught his eye, who immediately looked away. Jungkook wondered why they seemed so afraid of him. He wasn't that scary. 

"It's their first hunt!" Hoseok exclaimed happily as he bounded towards the newbies, draping his arms over their shoulders and squeezing them in a half hug. "Isn't it exciting?!"

The newbies looked at him like he was crazy, making Jungkook grin. Nobody thought hunting and killing corpses was fun on the first try. Well, maybe with the exception of Hoseok.

"So, you coming tonight?" Jin suddenly asked him and everyone's eyes turned to him. 

Jungkook wondered why he should ask when they perfectly knew how he’s always game for hunts. But looking at his hyung's eyes and slight disquieted expression made him ponder: this wasn't a simple hunt. He somehow knew that this was a serious tracking mission disguised as a hunt, and it only made Jungkook more curious.

Instead of answering, he turned swiftly and with a grunt, he pulled his arm back, sending the knife flying across the room where it hit the dummy, situated at the far end, right in the middle of its forehead. A perfect shot that would immobilize a corpse.

The newbies stared at his perfect shot in awe—or was that fear?

"Now that's how you do it, kids!" Hoseok commented with a grin.

~~~

(Avery's POV)

It was a Friday and the streets in this part of the city was usually deserted. I lived in the outskirts of town, far from the main city...far from the hunters. I've lived here for almost a year now and there hasn't been any instance of an ambush or an attack. We lived peacefully here, making it easier to hide myself from the humans—to hide what I really am.

I should've transformed by now. It's been a year and the transformation process usually takes about a couple of months max. I don't know why all this time, nothing has changed. I still had pale skin, still walked straight, and I still thought and talked like how any sane person would.

I was still very much human. The only difference was that I didn't have a heartbeat, insinuating that I was still soulless...an empty shell.

I sighed as I walked back to my house, carrying a bag of food. I didn't eat, but grocery shopping was necessary. I didn't want any of my neighbors growing sus