In another life, I would be a zombie I zombie

"To death!" The old man declared.

"To death!" The crowd echoed.

The old man did not need an encouragement at all. He firmed his grip on the dagger then stabbed his chest without hesitation. The pounding stopped, there were silence.

He pierced around the left side of his chest where the organ called heart is placed. And unlike the thousands of people before him, he succeeded on his first attempt. Some pierced their chest over and over again before succeeding.

Princess Alyssa was proud of herself; she did not flinch. But it was more thanks to the old man, it was the most beautiful she ever saw. She tried to take note of the position of the dagger on his chest. One month from now, she would like hers to be as beautiful as this...

...welcome to the ceremony of the undead.

People would call them the zombies. They hate that word, they are not savages. They prefer to be called the cured, cured from the plague called death..

This is the new era, the new earth, where the dead does not remain dead.

***
Book illustration credits to the owner (proxi-mity, DeviantArt)