《World of the Dead》 Chapter 1 Chapter 1 The lustrous afternoon sun hung far above the distant cityscape; dying the world below with deep golden light. But just as the light was lighter, so too were the shadows darker. Near, but not quite on the outskirts of the port city of Summerisle stood the lofty iron gates that barred the way into West Sky Highschool. Colloquially known as ¡°West High¡± by students, faculty and locals alike. The school was a private establishment catering to the city¡¯s movers and shakers. Situated atop a hill that overlooked the surrounding residential area and the river that snaked through it; the school was often printed on post cards and tourist brochures due to its idyllic appearance. Past the iron gates and teeming stone walls, a sprawling campus would be the first thing to greet visitors. The buildings were clean and minimalist, and the campus grounds were free of litter and debris. As classes were currently in session, the campus was ghost-quiet. Only the occasional bird song or noise pollution from the residential area below disturbed the otherwise-morguelike silence. 400¡¯s Academic building, Rooftop Access. Three students were loitering at the top of a stairwell, adjacent a pair of double doors that led out onto the rooftop. The area was designated as off limits to students, intended solely for maintenance use, but that did not stop the trio from choosing this as their official meeting spot. ¡°Hey.¡± One of them spoke. Spiked red hair, fierce eyes, and bronze, tattooed skin. He looked around 18 years old and wore the standard West High uniform which clung tightly to his toned body. No one answered. ¡°Hey!¡± He spoke again, raising his voice slightly. This time, someone responded. ¡°Mm? what is it Kim?¡± The speaker this time was a lean young man with unruly black hair, foxlike eyes and an easy grin. Despite the weather peaking into the high 90s, he was wearing a full winter uniform. Even stranger, he was not sweating at all despite it. ¡°Th¡¯ F*CK are we doing?! And don¡¯t call me that¡ªIts Hakim, sh*thead.¡± ¡°Ok. Hakim Sh*thead.¡± As if to show that his fierce appearance was not just for show, Hakim rose to his feet and was about to shout back when he was interrupted by the final member of the trio. This one was lying sleepily with his arms folded behind his head at the foot of the few stairs that led up to the exit doors: ¡°You dolts are going to get us caught.¡± He was an angelically handsome young man with golden locks and light-blue eyes that seemed to contain within them a miniature sky. ¡°tch. Whatever, Leo.¡± Hakim sat back down. Leo picked the open book off his face and shut it before speaking: ¡°As for your question Hakim, the answer is simple: We aren¡¯t doing anything.¡± The foxlike young man nodded gleefully at Leo¡¯s words. ¡°Most people our age¡ªno even younger, are out there pursuing a girlfriend or a scholarship or maybe just enjoying the fires of youth¡ª¡± Hakim¡¯s expression darkened. Leo chimed in again: ¡°Precisely, Leth. That is what most people are doing¡ªbut not us. We are doing nothing.¡± Hakim¡¯s lips twisted in frustration causing Leo to smile and Leth¡¯s arched eyes to crack open to reveal a pair of black irises that swirled like the abyss. Hakim ground his teeth. ¡°Agh! Damnit! Leth¡ªCome spar with me! I need to relieve this frustration!¡± ¡°Frustration? Go find some wench for that. I hear the ones in the cheer club won¡¯t even turn down someone with ED.¡± ¡°I don¡¯t give a F*CK!¡± ¡°Yeah? Well I don¡¯t either¡ªcheer club is thataway. Unless¡­ do you bat left-handed? in that case the wrestling club¡ª¡± whoosh A fist swung past the area Leth¡¯s head had been occupying only a fraction of a second ago. The approach and resulting punch were fast enough that even a seasoned martial artist would feel it before they saw it. Leth on the other hand, was unperturbed. His body had only slouched down a few inches to evade the sudden attack. Following this, he suddenly broke out into rhyme: ¡°Jack be nimble, jack be swift¡ª.¡± The lack of a satisfying impact only incensed Hakim further and before he could even think it¡ªhis body was already angled for a roundhouse kick to Leth¡¯s midsection. Leth¡¯s shoes squeaked atop the waxy surface of the stairs as he vaulted into the air, over the approaching kick and caught himself in a single-handed handspring on the stairway¡¯s opposite handrail. As testament to his colossal grip strength and balance, his entire body held perfectly still despite being oriented upside down and bearing only a single point of contact with the handrail. His two legs were bent at the knee, angled down towards Hakim like a scorpion¡¯s tail poised to strike. His characteristic grin shown as always. He waved mockingly at his attacker with his free hand. ¡°Jack jumped over the candle stick! Mm. Try again, Kimberly!¡± ¡°I¡ªTold¡ªYou¡ªAlready¡ª" Leo watched the two perform these exchanges with a faint smile. They joked, but truly, these peaceful days were some of his fondest memories. Here, he did not have to put on a front as the heir apparent of an international conglomerate. Here, nobody fawned over him or harbored ulterior motives in speaking with him. Here, he could just be¡­ him¡ª CRASSSSHHHH The sound of glass shattering and something heavy colliding with something equally heavy echoed from what sounded like several floors below where the trio were currently gathered. Leth and Hakim immediately froze, the mood turned. ¡°¡­ Hey.¡±This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. ¡°Mm?¡± ¡°What the hell was that?¡± ¡°Good question.¡± Leth arched his back and flipped back to his feet, landing steadily despite the uneven nature of the stairs. Leo remained silent. Hakim and Leth followed suite. After a few seconds, Hakim shrugged. ¡°Probably the baseball club again. Sh*t their aim is worse than last year¡ª¡± ¡°AAAAAHHHH¡± A scream. The voice clearly belonged to a female. ¡°Hey¡ªisn¡¯t that voice¡ª¡± Leth spoke curiously, but before he could finish¡ªHakim was already turning, bounding down the stairs to the lower floors. ¡°Looks like it is.¡± Leo answered. His face was grim. ¡°Guess we should go see what¡¯s up?¡± Despite the situation, Leo noted that Leth¡¯s Cheshire grin had not faded. He chose not to remark on this and only nodded in acknowledgment. ¡°Guess so.¡± Leo and Leth descended the stairs a few seconds behind Hakim. They traversed three flights of stairs without incident and arrived at the landing leading down to the main hallway of the 3rd floor. Unlike the unpopulated 4th and 5th floors, the 3rd floor was composed entirely of classrooms. Where there were classrooms, there were bound to be students. Presently, these students were clambering over each other to get out of a nearby classroom. ¡°Hm. They look spooked.¡± Leo took a step forward but was blocked by an arm that had been extended in front of him. ¡°I will go.¡± Unlike his two friends, Leo was not confident in his physical ability not to mention that he had been told repeatedly to avoid getting involved with other people¡¯s problems. ¡®The world will go on without them¡ªbut not without you.¡¯ He had been told that same line time after. He did not believe it, but the memory of his father¡¯s stern gaze gave him pause just the same. He nodded. ¡°Alright. Make sure Hakim doesn¡¯t do anything rash.¡± He masked his emotions well and watched as Leth pushed his way through the crowd of tumbling students before entering the classroom. Leo¡¯s eyes flitted to the clean sign that hung over the classroom¡¯s entry doors. It read in large, highly-legible black print: 3-A --- The interior of 3-A greatly contrasted the normalcy suggested by its outer appearance. Upon walking inside, Leth was first greeted with the metallic smell of blood. What came next was the pungent stench of rotting flesh; like a perfume of rotting eggs and urine. Four bodies, all students lay strewn about a floor of shattered glass and overturned desks. In the far-left corner of the room there was a struggle occurring. Hakim¡¯s spiked hair bristled with the afternoon breeze that drifted in from the gaping hole in the classroom¡¯s floor-to-ceiling windows. Several sweat drops coursed down his face as he held back a middle-aged man garbed in a bloodied maintenance jumper. Below the man Hakim had locked in a textbook-perfect stranglehold lay a young female teacher pinned to the floor by her attackers deceptively strong arms. Leth found this scene highly irregular, even by his standards¡ªbut this did not slow his next actions. In a heartbeat, he closed the gap between himself and the scene of the struggle. At some moment, a slim, one sided blade had emerged from his sleeve and rode along the side of his right palm up until the tip of his pinky. Before anyone could infer what happened, the attacker¡¯s arms both fell limp. They dangled lifelessly below his heaving chest. Leth reached down and with his left hand dragged the sobbing young woman out of danger. ¡°Leth! Help me subdue this little sh*t¡ªHe¡¯s¡ªArgh! He is f*cking strong!¡± Strange. Leth thought to himself. Again, he did not hesitate to assist. The blade had since retracted out of sight as if it had never been there. He reached down and grasped the attacker¡¯s ankles before immediately heaving them upwards. ¡­ Weighs as much as a normal human¡ªAn Ordinary physique to boot¡­so where is this strength coming from? Leth quelled his curiosity and made eye contact with Hakim who grinned ferociously in response and shifted his hold to around the man¡¯s armpits. The man was suspended in the air, totally at their mercy. ¡°Hey, Helen¡ªthe hell¡¯ happened here?¡± The young female teacher, Helen, seemed to have mostly collected herself and clambered to her feat unsteadily. Large, brown doe eyes that hid shyly beneath a pair of reading glasses. Wavy blonde hair that cascaded down to her mid-section and a curvaceous figure that her instructor¡¯s uniform clung perhaps a bit too tightly for. She was, in no uncertain terms, gorgeous. Straightening her reading glasses, Helen took a quick breath before hesitantly walking over to Hakim¡¯s side. ¡°I¡­ am not sure. One moment I was lecturing as usual and the next¡ªThis¡­ person smashes through the window and begins to bite my students¡­ My students¡­¡± She cupped her face, unable to stand the sight of the four student¡¯s corpses. 3 male and 1 female. ¡°Helen¡ªListen. You need to call the police, alright?¡± Unlike his normally abrasive language, his tone became uncharacteristically kind when he was addressing Helen. Leth sneered, but fortunately Hakim was too busy making puppy eyes at his crush to notice. ¡°R-Right! Um¡ªbut we are not allowed to have phones on our person during lecture¡ª¡± She stumbled over her words as she spoke. Hakim grinned in response and motion towards his back pocket with his eyes. ¡°Just use mine. Back pocket, left side.¡± ¡°But the rules say¡ª¡± ¡°Forget the rules¡ªtake it out.¡± Helen blushed faintly despite the situation. Her eyes darted sheepishly to Hakim¡¯s back pocket and then back up to his grinning face several times. Her blush deepened. ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t think¡ª¡± ¡°Oh-No¡ªI think my grip is slipping~.¡± Leth interjected with mock urgency, immediately causing Helen to pale and drive her hand into Hakim¡¯s back pocket. Hakim grunted and turned his face away from Leth who looked like he was about to start howling with laughter. ¡°Err¡­ Okay. How do I¡ª¡± Helen fumbled over the phone for a second before suddenly freezing. She could have sworn she just saw the female student¡¯s fingers twitch. *gasp* ¡°I-I think Lucia is alive! Hold on¡ªI need to tend her wounds!¡± Hakim rolled his eyes. ¡°That¡¯s great but please hurry. This guy must¡¯ve never missed a taco Tuesday in his life.¡± ¡°R-right¡ªOf course!¡± Helen pocketed the phone and took a step in Lucia¡¯s direction when¡ª [Hakim] Hakim felt the whole world slow down around him. Time grinded to an abrupt halt. He could not move, not even his eyes; but he could think. [Hakim!] The voice inside him roared louder. How could he not recognize it? It was how own voice shouting at him; begging, pleading with him. [Choose!] As the word was still echoing within the caves of his soul; his vision warped and faded to black. But then it filled again with color. For a moment, he thought that all had returned to normal. But then... It moved. The corpse of the female student known as Lucia. Hakim could have sworn she was dead. What Helen had seen¡ªHe thought she was just hallucinating. But¡­ It truly did move. Pale skin, a lithe figure and a headful of raven black hair rose up to greet Helen as she approached. Overjoyed at her student¡¯s survival, she reached out to hug the girl. This is wrong¡­ I know it is wrong! Hakim could not act, only watch with dumbstruck horror as Lucia embraced Helen with alien movements. The scene that followed engrained itself into his eyes and soul. The scene of that thing widening its mouth and biting down. Hard. On Helen¡¯s dainty neck. NOO! Hakim screamed madly in his mind. The wound was undoubtedly fatal. Helen¡¯s esophagus was exposed to the air, what little remained of her neck flopped to one side like wet paper. Her head fell to the floor where it gently rocked back and forth from the force of the fall. Her body collapsed lifelessly into her killer¡¯s embrace. Hakim stared into its dead eyes with fury unlike anything he had every experienced. His vision swam, drowned out by hatred or fury or anger or something else¡ªit didn¡¯t matter. Darkness descended once again, only to be pulled aside like a curtain once more. The same scene. Helen was walking over to Lucia, he stood holding his captives¡¯ arms between his own. The drumming emotions inside of him cooled¡ªYes, it had all been a hallucination. After all, corpses don¡¯t get up and¡ª He saw it. He saw the corpse move. Once more, Helen approached to embrace it with teary eyes. No. he couldn¡¯t¡ªwouldn¡¯t see that scene again. He refused. Whatever force was impeding him from action suddenly released its grip. He did not think about why or how¡ªonly that he would save her. He released the captive man¡¯s arms and dashed towards Helen with speed unlike anything he had ever achieved. He shoved her out of the way and landed a heavy kick onto the rising corpse¡¯s stomach. The body that once belonged to a student but was now nothing more than a salivating monster was sent careening into a pile of overturned desks where it was impaled on a snapped chair leg. His eyes turned to face Helen but, in the process, they crossed paths with Leth and the man he had been holding captive only a seconds ago. Huh? He did not understand. The man he had been holding. His body was bent at an impossible, nearly gravity defying angle. And his upper torso was striking up towards Leth¡¯s head like a viper. Hakim knew Leth well. There was no way he would ordinarily be hit by such an attack. However, due to his performance just now, Leth¡¯s eyes were fixed on him¡ªnot on the man he was holding up by the legs. He wanted to intervene. But that same overwhelming force held him in place once again. He could only watch as the man¡¯s wide maw dug into Leth¡¯s shoulder. Credit to his inhuman reflexes, he had shifted his head at the last moment but still suffered a bite to the area around his left clavicle. At this moment; a flood of information coursed into his mind as reality caught up with him. Corpses coming back to life. Sudden aggression. Biting. Infection. Zombies. F*ck¡­ are you kidding me? His vision faded once more. Chapter 2 Chapter 2 [Choose. This time you must choose.] Hakim swore. He swore and swore again. He once again had his arms threaded beneath the male zombie¡¯s armpits; the only thing keeping it from viciously attacking his friend who held the corpse¡¯s feet up opposite him. Time stood still. Helen was halfway to the female zombie who would, in the next second rise to greet¡ªand gruesomely kill the tearful woman approaching her. I¡­ I have to choose. He looked at Leth. The bastard only grinned back. Hakim swore inwardly. That grin was mocking him. Mocking that he had no choice at all. He wouldn¡¯t choose Leth. He would never choose Leth. This self-imposed struggle he felt was nothing but justification for a choice he had already made. ¡°Ah, well. I hesitated over it didn¡¯t I?¡± As if he could say those words after to make everything right. No. There was no choice. He would not deceive himself into thinking he was justified in choosing Helen over Leth. They were both his friends; only one was something¡­ more. It was a simple question of value. ¡­ Sorry. Leth. Perhaps, seeing that he had come to a decision¡ªtime began to flow once more. He turned his gaze from Leth to Helen and released his hold on the zombie. Unlike the impassioned sprint he made during the second vision, this time he only stared at the rising female zombie with frigid eyes as he lunged forwards. He knocked Helen out of the way and kicked the female zombie in the exact manner he had during the vision¡ªonly this time with twice as much malice. The creature was sent flying into the overturned desks where it impaled itself on a broken chair leg. Hakim¡¯s face was gloomy as he turned around to see the rest of his vision unfold. By the time his eyes met Leth¡¯s, the male zombie had already widened its maw to clamp down on his unsuspecting neck. He saw Leth¡¯s normally hidden, ink black irises peak out from below their shroud as they shifted to his attacker, his neck simultaneously pivoted out of the way by pure instinct. Snap. Leth¡¯s expression twisted at the sudden pain. He lost feeling in his left arm immediately. The zombie¡¯s bite was still tightening on his snapped bone and torn flesh, refusing to budge. A slim blade protracted along the side of his right palm which was already at the zombie¡¯s mouth. He wordlessly shoved his hand into the creature¡¯s mouth using his own flesh and broken clavicle to keep the mouth from clamping down on his hand. Accompanied by two spouts of blood from each side of the zombie¡¯s cheeks, the slim blade tore through each of its enflamed masseter muscles like butter. The zombie¡¯s lower jaw fell limp which allowed him to pry the upper part of its head out of his wound. The zombie broke its own spine to throw itself at Leth, so as soon as it was pried from its target, it simply collapsed onto the ground, unable to do anything but groan and twitch its eyes. ¡°Well then...¡± His voice was unusually low. Leth raised his foot and smashed it down on the zombie¡¯s neck. The resulting snap and blood splatter caused Hakim¡¯s hair to stand on end. Leth staggered backwards as his eyes turned to the corpses of the 3 students that had been present since he arrived. His eyes then jumped to the flailing corpse impaled atop a pile of desks. Wordlessly, he walked over to them, past Hakim, and slit each of their throats. Sure enough, they all bore grizzly bite wounds somewhere on their bodies. His left arm dangled powerlessly as he walked. Even as he carried out the executions, he could feel them beginning to stir; the dead flesh becoming reanimated with amplified strength and inhuman endurance. Hakim didn¡¯t say anything. He couldn¡¯t say anything. Finishing up, Leth turned to face Hakim. At that same moment, the door to class 3-A slid open and Leo rushed in. ¡°Guys¡ªwe have a prob¡ªWhoa!" Upon entering, Leo was immediately assaulted by the stench of blood. The hellscape he intruded on caused his lunch to pull an immediate U-turn and head back up his throat. *gulp* He forced it down before turning his gaze to Hakim, Leth, Helen and finally back to Hakim who looked unusually pale. Try as he might, he could not piece together what happened, so he just asked: ¡°Hey¡ªHakim. What¡­ what happened here?¡± Hakim remained silent. Helen was absentmindedly staring at the corpses of her students. Her face was the picture of confusion. Since they were mum, he turned his eyes to Leth. Seeing that he was gripping the area just left of his neck and noticing the blood trickling down his hand; Leo¡¯s eyes widened as he rushed over.This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Leth held out a bloody hand to stop him midway. He grinned. ¡°It¡¯s nothing. More importantly, and as I am sure you can tell from the bodies¡ªThe school has gone to sh*t!¡± ¡°But¡­ you¡¯re injured! No¡ªWe need to get you to the infirmary. Just hold still and¡ª¡± ¡°Leo!¡± Hakim finally broke his apparent vow of silence and strode over; his left hand was clasped tightly around Helen¡¯s right which he pulled alongside him. Leo folded his arms as he scrutinized Hakim¡¯s face. He did not like the way Hakim was speaking¡ªand his expression¡ªlike he had just swallowed bitter medicine¡ªwas irritating him as well. ¡°What? We need to get Leth to the infirmary¡ªHe is bleeding profusely for heaven¡¯s sake!¡± ¡°You lot need to go. Now.¡± Leth gestured towards the shattered window. It was chaos outside. Screams and the sound of tearing flesh drifted in like a perverse melody of fear and suffering. In addition, the chaos that was raging on the lower floors of the academic building, like the tolling of an approaching ship was getting louder and louder as it climbed upwards. ¡°¡­Fine. Hakim¡ª¡± Leo yielded in the face of the more immediate threat and was about to turn back towards Hakim to ask that he support Leth, but he suddenly paused. ¡°Wait. ¡®you lot¡¯? Why do you sound like you aren¡¯t coming with us?¡± Leth only grinned in response before taking a slow step back. ¡°Hakim.¡± Hakim did not immediately speak. He did not even turn around to meet Leth¡¯s gaze. He couldn¡¯t bear it. He inhaled deeply and then exhaled slowly before responding: ¡°¡­You sure?¡± ¡°You know as well as I do that there is no other choice.¡± Choice. That¡¯s right. Hakim had chosen¡ªand these were the consequences of that choice. He would have to bear the weight of his decision. ¡°Leo. We are going. Leth has some things he needs to finish up before joining us.¡± ¡°The F*CK are you saying? We aren¡¯t leaving him be¡ª¡± Leo rarely swore. When he did, it was only ever when he was completely incensed. Usually, whatever argument he was having with Hakim or Leth would be dropped immediately but¡­ ¡°Sorry. Not this time Leo.¡± ¡°Wh-What are y¡ª¡± THWACK Leo¡¯s body fell limp into Hakim¡¯s waiting free hand. With a single motion he pulled the unconscious Leo over his shoulder and took a step towards the door leading out into the hallway. Ordinarily, Helen would vehemently object to leaving someone behind like this, but when she glanced at Leth¡¯s grinning face and though back to when he slit her student¡¯s throats¡­ Her emotions were all over the place, she was mentally and physically exhausted so¡­ she stayed silent¡­ She just wanted to go home, crawl into her bed, and cry. Her hand subconsciously tightened around Hakim¡¯s. Seeing that they were ready to leave, Leth gave a mock salute. ¡°See ya, Kimie.¡± Hakim only grunted in response. He wanted to retort one last time, but he couldn¡¯t dredge up the energy to do so. He just murmured back his response despondently. ¡°Yeah. See you, Leth.¡± --- Hakim was gone. The only company Leth had now were the five dead bodies that littered the classroom floor. He didn¡¯t know how long it would take for him to turn. Could be a few minutes. Could be a few seconds. Maybe he would bleed out before he turned. Who could say? ¡°Well then.¡± Leth sat down at one of the few desks that had not been overturned in all the chaos. Leaning back, he sighed in satisfaction. He kicked his legs up on the corpse of a nearby zombie and slouched down into his chair. The late afternoon sun shone through the shattered glass to dye the classroom in a beautiful mosaic of orange light. Despite not being the reminiscent type, he couldn¡¯t help but think back to certain places, certain people. His relationship with his family was nothing but a business deal; there was no affection, no love¡ªonly terms and expectations. As he thought this however, a certain face emerged into his mind. His foxlike eyes twitched and his smile flatlined in an uncharacteristic outward display of motion as his mind dredged up memories of this face. Oliver¡­ I wonder what he¡¯s up to...? He never writes¡­ Suppose that is my fault. His mind was beginning to lose focus. His thoughts slowly meshed together into a single unintelligible stream. His mind, his ego, all that he was and all that he could become¡ªwas turning to nothingness. He thought of Oliver and the cruel fate that would be placed on his shoulders in the future. He imagined that incorrigible boy suffering beneath the weight of the burden that he himself could not bear. He sneered at himself. You are fine with dying here?! After all the evil you have worked towards your goal¡ªYou are not allowed to fail! No one will help you¡ªonly you can help yourself! Leth¡¯s shaky right hand fumbled on trying to unbutton his outer winter coat. He could feel his heartrate slowing and his hand beginning to feel heavier and heavier. Failing that, a blade protracted along the side of his palm and cut a long gash through his coat. Gritting his teeth, he thrust his right hand into a pocket embroidered on the inside of his coat. His vision was swimming by the time he pulled his hand out. In his grasp was a syringe filled with translucent fluid. His thumb flicked a nob on the side that caused a hypodermic needle to shoot out. He wordlessly stabbed the needle down into his upper thigh. Without hesitating, his thumb capped the injection button situated atop the end of the syringe opposite the needle and pressed down. The effects were immediate. His heartrate increased explosively which caused the fading world around him to suddenly erupt with color, smell, and sound. Had he not been trained to resist the effects, he would likely have fainted from the sudden sensory overload. Despite temporarily regaining control of his mental and sensory faculties, there was a tradeoff. His legs were unsteady, his hands shivered as he clambered to his feet. Rather than a combat stimulant, the injection was a life-saving measure that was created with the sole intent of saving the life of an already out-of-combat user. I have 1 hour to live. Leth knew nothing about the infection¡ªbut, he did know the duration of the stimulant he had just administered to himself. Assuming said stimulant was holding back the infection, he now had a deadline to work with it. However, there was a more immediate problem than the infection. That bite shattered my left clavicle¡ªand part of the bone pierced an artery. This was the most accurate field-diagnosis he could come up with, and if true¡ªhe would die from blood loss in about 10 minutes. The infirmary is too far. labs are closer. While the infirmary would have been ideal, the labs did have first aid kits in case a student was injured. Additionally, there were also surgical tools used for dissection. Leth stumbled over to the door, his left arm dangling uselessly by his side. With his right hand, he slid the door open and pulled himself out into the hallway. His heightened senses rapidly analyzed the situation occurring outside the classroom. Zombies¡­ He groaned. He was currently on the third floor, not far from the stairwell. His destination was on the second floor. Normally, it would only be a 2 to 3-minute walk. But when the entire stairwell was flooded with zombies and what sounded like more, further down¡ªthe equation changed. He glanced back towards the shattered windows of class 3-A; If he were not weakened then maybe he could have climbed down from the outside¡ªthen again, if he were not weakened, he would be able to easily dispatch the zombies and take the direct route down the stairs. Leth¡¯s characteristic grin twisted at his lips. He had only one path available, so there was no meaning in any hesitation. He took a single shaky step towards the stairwell. Chapter 3 Chapter 3 Leth strode forward, his gait was a bit shaky due to his weakened physique. As he had no time to spare, he immediately advanced upon the nearest zombie. The creature stood stock still at the threshold that gave way to stairs leading to the lower floors. It groaned occasionally but was otherwise listlessly staring towards a light fixture installed in the ceiling above it. He was able to get surprisingly close¡ªwithin a half dozen feet, before it showed any reaction to his presence. Perhaps, it recognized something familiar inside of him and was slow to act as a result. As charming as he found the gesture, Leth preferred to find common ground with other¡ªless viral persons. Shnnk A blade protracted quietly along the side of his palm like a small serpent. His footsteps were silent; his breathing quiet like the grave. He stopped a few paces away from the zombie, noticing that it was not immediately attacking. It clearly suspected something but lacked the intelligence to understand this new sensation. It stared at Leth, its breathing grew heavier and its muscles twitched. I wonder¡­ He cautiously glanced down the stairwell while keeping the immediate zombie in the corner of his eye. More were gathered at the lower landing, and even more on the stairs below that. Unfortunately, they were gathered too tightly for him to sneak by. Well then, In that case¡ª The sharp flash of a blade. In one moment, there stood a zombie¡ªin the next, nothing but a corpse on the floor. Leth had already turned heel and lunged down the stairs to the lower landing, his blooded blade dripping on the stairs as he descended. A zombie turned in his direction and lurched towards his descending figure. In response to this clamor, the surrounding zombies followed suite. He could not afford to get bitten. His right hand shot out towards the nearest zombie¡¯s throat. Conveniently, as they prioritized attacking with their teeth¡ªan awkward feat considering they were bipeds¡ªthey were effectively presenting their necks to his blade. A stream of blood spurted out from the zombie¡¯s throat. Despite suffering lethal damage, this did not stop it from continuing along its trajectory towards Leth. Narrowly, with as little energy expenditure as possible, he pivoted his back foot and bent his upper body out of the way. The zombie passed by harmlessly before colliding with the stairs behind him. Of course, just as soon as he felled it did another jump forward to take its place. As things stood, he would be driven back¡ªbut unlike thinking opponents, the zombies would pursue him doggedly no matter where he ran. Pardon me. Sometimes, the safest place was nowhere else but the eye of the storm. Rather than take a step back to create some space, he stepped forward into the maelstrom. Evading a zombie¡¯s lunging strike with nary a glance in its direction, his right hand struck out and slashed another throat before retracting just as suddenly. I need to speed things up. With no regard for the notion of a frontline, Leth wove his way through the crowd of zombies that were scrambling over each other to sink their teeth into his flesh. Every strike struck true, and with every extension of his arm a zombie collapsed to join the ever-growing number that littered the stairs. The tiled floor was slick with blood. This was another reason why he was constantly changing location, one slip for him would be disastrous. The zombies on the other hand, slipped frequently, which lessened his burden. While his weakened body could not strike as hard as usual or move as explosively, his processing ability and senses were boosted dramatically by the injection. Therefore, while his movements were minimal and his strikes relied heavily on his weapon, he was able to react much faster than normal to the chaos going on around him. He kept tabs on every zombie within reach; which ones were preparing to attack, which ones were recoiling from a missed attack, which ones had slipped, which ones were trying to climb over or under other zombies to reach him. So long as he could foresee an attack, he could evade it and counterattack in short order. ¡°Haah¡­ hah¡­¡± Following a minute and a half of tooth and nail fighting, he was beginning to feel the strain. To keep track of so many constantly changing variables and immediately calculate the most effective response was nothing short of exhausting¡ªeven for someone as proficient in combat as Leth. More... Did he have any other choice? Was there another, easier path that he had missed along the way? Perhaps. Not that it mattered. He kept cutting throats, and zombies kept throwing themselves at him. Physically and mentally exhausted, he pushed forward¡ªbut not without cost. His body began to rebel. A leg that froze when it should have pushed off, a shoulder that hung when it should have pivoted. Although he managed to avoid getting bitten, he sustained blunt force trauma to his midsection after failing to evade a zombie that charged into his waist with all its weight following behind it. In addition, had it been not for the effects of the injection, the blood loss he suffered until now would have rendered him unfit for combat.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. This isn¡¯t enough to kill me. More! He had an objective and he intended to see it through. Unlike the movies, having a goal did not protect him from the zombie¡¯s jaws, it didn¡¯t heal his body or grant him superhuman strength when he needed it most¡ªyet it was no less important than anything that could grant such things. A goal granted purpose. To move with purpose and to move without purpose were radically different concepts. A man who moved with purpose held nothing in reserve for there was nothing beyond their purpose to save their energy for. Leth was a man who moved with purpose. Inhaling deeply, he gave the surroundings a cursory glance. Somewhere along the line, color had filtered out of his vision to leave the world in grayscale. He could no longer tell how many remained due to his tunnel vision. He struck again, his strike lashed a zombie¡¯s throat and carried him forwards into his next which dispatched another zombie just as efficiently. THWACK From out of nowhere, A zombie dashed into him and pinned him up against the wall by his right shoulder. His already addled mind reeled from the blow and his shoulder creaked from the impact. ... I¡¯m dead if I lose both shoulders. Gritting his teeth, Leth summoned every ounce of strength he could muster in his left arm and hoisted it up to his face. Simultaneously, the zombie¡¯s gaping maw descended upon his neck. Pinned as he was, he could not reach the zombie¡¯s neck with his right hand until it was too late. CRUNCH Instead of biting into his neck, the zombie¡¯s teeth entered his left forearm which he had raised to intercept at the last second. The adrenaline coursing through his body numbed him to the pain. With the zombie¡¯s head in such close proximity as it busily tightened its jaw on his arm, his right hand was now able to reach its throat. Slit Blood spewed across his face and neck as the zombie¡¯s body slowly collapsed on top of him. Feeling his right shoulder become free from its grasp, he dropped his body and rolled out of the way of the corpse. He groaned as he climbed laboriously to his feet, using the wall he had been pinned to for support. Exhaustion assaulted him in waves, he could barely see from the combination of tunnel vision and blood in his eyes. His body refused to move. He urged, he screamed at it to move. To no avail. So, he waited. Since his eyes were failing him, he listened instead: Silence. Abruptly, the attacks stopped coming and silence descended upon the 2nd hallway. A second, then two. A half minute later, Leth concluded that he had cleared the second floor; or at least, this wing of the second floor. He bent over at his waist, his one good arm braced his knee for support. His labored breathing reluctantly calmed as he brought it to heel. He wanted to rest, but he had no time to do so. His body screamed as he took an unsteady step forward. He waded his way through the stacks of corpses¡ªcareful not to slip¡ªand over to a certain door. Above the door hung a small sign that read: L2A Lab 2A. Leth wordlessly slid the door open and stumbled inside. --- Several minutes earlier¡­ The interior of the lab was dead silent save for the faint scratching noise of pen on paper. Seated atop one of the lab stools was a lithe young woman with long black locks tied up in a pony-tail as per standard lab safety protocol. She was garbed in modest school apparel that identified her as a student of West High. The woman seemed utterly unperturbed by the chaos that had enveloped the school; instead, she seemed far more interested in the words she was writing. Her pen moved expertly across each page. Every time she paused to think, she would habitually raise her free hand to push her glasses back onto the bridge of her nose. She was the picture of focus. She paused a little longer than normal, her brow creasing in annoyance upon hearing the clamor originating from outside, but she soon turned her eyes back to the notebook before her. After another minute or so, the clamor died down once again which caused her brow to relax. She was about to savor the silence when suddenly, the door to the classroom shot open and a figure stumbled inside. Silently, the woman folded the notebook and leaped to her feet. She shot back a few paces and scrutinized the individual who had so rudely intruded on her work. Her eyes also darted to the empty doorway which now gave way to the hallway outside. The sight beyond was¡­ not one she had expected to see. She turned her head back to the intruder and gave him a cautious once over. The man¡¯s body staggered with each step. His left forearm had suffered a large gash that showed the white of bone. The man¡¯s left shoulder also drew her attention, the wound was letting a dangerous amount of blood. Aside from these, the man¡¯s body also showed signs of heavy blunt force trauma. All in all, he was a grizzly sight. He¡¯s dying. Not that it took an expert such as herself to realize this fact. Despite coming to such a conclusion, she did not offer to help¡ªor go near him at all for that matter, instead, she edged towards the doorway. Considering the situation, it was hardly any wonder where he got those wounds from¡ªthe man was no-doubt infected. The man barely registered her presence as he stumbled over to one of several metal shelves that lined the left wall of the classroom. After a quick search, his eyes landed on the bright red emergency kits which were made to be easy to find by design. Grabbing one, he tossed it onto a nearby lab table and snapped the lid open. He had not a second to spare. First, he tore apart the clothing covering his wounds with two quick incisions of his blade. Next, he quickly cleaned out the wounds and bandaged his forearm with gauze¡ªsince the bone was intact, he just needed to staunch the bleeding. He tore the gauze with his teeth and used a pin to fasten the wrap tightly. Given his¡­ choice of hobbies, he had become an expert at administering first aid out of necessity. By some combination of luck and skill, the wrap held, and the bleeding stopped for the time being. The clavicle, however, was a whole other ball game. A piece of the clavicle is piercing into the subclavian artery. Peeking over his shoulder and into the wound, he wordlessly pulled a pair of sterilized tweezers from the first aid kit. Since the bone was visible, he had no trouble locating the issue; the only trouble would be pulling it out without causing any more damage. He was not a doctor, and this was not a hospital. Some things, it seemed, just had to be left up to luck. Leth crossed his fingers mentally and angled the tweezers over his wound¡­ ¡°Wait!¡± But before he could act, a harsh yet undeniably charming voice drifted into his ears. He crooked his head to look towards the speaker who had one foot in the lab, and one foot in the hallway. The young woman was staring intently at his left clavicle, her eyes betrayed her curiosity. Leth doubted his own vision for a moment as the woman¡¯s eyes appeared to be¡­ glowing. Faint, yet clearly unnatural blue light radiated from her gaze which she alternated between his two bite wounds. ¡°You. What are you?¡± Unsurprisingly, Leth did not feel like answering considering he was about to go into shock from blood loss. Disregarding the strange female student, he lowered the tweezers down to the bone¡ª ¡ªBut he stopped midway. The tweezers fell from his feeble grasp and clattered to the cold tile floor beside his feet. Damnit. I was so close¡­ The world around him took a sudden turn for the surreal as color, shape, and sound melded together into a single nonsensical cacophony. The last thing he heard before everything went dark was the sound of muffled footsteps approaching in his direction. Chapter 4 Chapter 4 She scrutinized the body she had laboriously dragged and bound to one of the metallic lab tables. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, she would struggle to believe the scene playing out before her. She set her notebook down on the table and flipped to a certain page. Pen in hand, she began to diagram the phenomena occurring before her. On the surface, the man¡¯s muscles appeared to be rapidly expanding and contracting. Veins flared as they spiderwebbed across his body with each pulse of his muscles. Many of the veins, she concluded, were not native to the human body. Her diagram depicted three equally proportioned male bodies all aligned side-by-side. The left most body was a normal, non-infected body she was able to draw from memory. The middle body was drawn after analyzing a zombie corpse outside the lab with her ¡®sight¡¯. Finally, the right most body was drawn from the phenomena occurring in the body lying before her. Using her ¡®sight¡¯, she could peal away the various body systems layer by layer to analyze the happenings beneath the skin. The middle drawing was identical to the left drawing save the addition of myriad thin black twines that spread out from the original bite wound to the rest of the body. These twines were like the roots of weeds that dug into anything they came across. They wrapped around vital organs and threaded in and out of body tissue; clearly, they were attempting to make themselves as difficult to remove as possible. Strange¡­ On the other hand, despite their seemingly random distribution which differed in each corpse she examined, in all cases there was one commonality: the twines never caused any actual damage. If anything, the twines were careful around vital organs¡ª ¡ªIs it Parasitic? If it were, that would explain why it did not kill the host and instead opted to just entrench itself. The last drawing on the other hand, was radically different from the previous two. There were two nexuses from which the tendrils spiderwebbed out corresponding to two separate bite wounds: one on the left clavicle and another on the left forearm. Curiously, the tendrils from separate bite wounds appeared to combine wherever they met before redistributing throughout the body. This alone, however, was not enough to give her pause. What baffled her was that the many twines in this body were bright red instead of the normal stark black, additionally, each twine was currently in the process of sprouting thousands of derivative tendrils that branched off from the parent twine. Even more alarming however, was something that she did not even need her ¡®sight¡¯ to see: The bite wounds¡ªdeep enough to show bone¡ªwere rapidly scarring over at a rate discernable by the naked eye. The broken clavicle which was now no longer even visible without using her ¡®sight¡¯ was realigned and currently fusing back together. She paused. Eyeing the body while drumming her pen on the surface of her notebook. This virus¡­ was not engineered by humans. She thought this half out of knowing very well the limits of modern biology, and half out of reluctance to admit that if a human did create such a thing; then she had not even the faintest idea as to how they did so. She mused for a few more minutes before turning back to her diagrams. It was unrealistic to capture every one of the thousands of tendrils spreading throughout the body, so she focused mostly on drawing parent twines while shading in areas where the child tendrils were most concentrated¡ªmostly around larger muscles and vital organs. --- Time always flew by when she worked. The 400¡¯s building was silent¡ªLab 2A even more so. Before she knew it, an hour had passed since she had first laid down the body to study it. The muscle expansions and contractions had ceased. On the surface, the man¡¯s body appeared not unlike how it did when it first stumbled into the lab room. The only glaring differences were that the two bite wounds had fully scarred over, and the broken clavicle had fused back together. Suddenly, Leth¡¯s eyes snapped open. His pupils immediately shrank as he averted his gaze from the light fixture that had been oriented only a few inches from his face. ¡°So. You are awake. I wonder, can you hear me?¡± A familiar voice. He recognized it, but from where? Ah, right¡ªher. Not that she mattered. More importantly, he realized, his body had been healed. Clutching his left fist tightly, his gaze crept to his left shoulder. The scarring looked gruesome on the surface, but aside from some stiffness, he felt no other discomfort. ¡°Hey. Are you ignoring me? Or have you turned into one of them?¡± The girl chirped a few paces to his right. Rather than expect a response, her words seemed to have been uttered more to herself as she paced around the table Leth was bound to. His lips twisted into a smile as he turned his head towards the female student. That she was still here at all meant she probably never left; likely, she could fill in some of the blanks for him. Suddenly, he was very interested in what she had to say. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. However. ¡°You. That light from earlier¡ªyour eyes, neat party trick.¡± The girl paused mid stride. A finger raised to her cherry lips in pensive thought. ¡°I know one of your secrets¡ªI suppose it is only fair that I share one of mine. An exchange of equal value. Yes.¡± Leth did not interrupt her mumbling, so she continued: ¡°In truth, it was something I discovered mostly by accident¡ªregrettably. So, I know not how I attained this ability. I had been documenting its effects when an injured man of dubious origins stumbled through my door before promptly collapsing.¡± She folded her arms and gestured towards his restraints. ¡°¡­Being the ever-inquisitive mind that I am, I decided to test this ability on the guinea pig that had so conveniently appeared before me.¡± Leth smiled in response to her choice of vocabulary, clearly unphased. He asked: ¡°Since you mentioned testing¡ªI assume this ¡®ability¡¯ of yours does more than make your eyes light up?¡± She chuckled. Her laughter was an unnerving mixture of cackle and song. ¡°That it does. Mm¡­ Think of it like x-ray vision or something of that nature.¡± He appreciated her ¡®in laymen¡¯s terms¡¯ explanation. Although he suspected that she herself knew less about her own ability then she let on. He turned his gaze away from her and searched the room for a clock. 5:14 Over an hour... The serum has long worn off, so how am I still alive? The zombie infection was mysterious. He had no idea how it worked. From observation, he knew that it turned intelligent humans into voracious creatures of instinct. After experiencing the impending change first hand¡ªhe knew how overwhelming it was. The female student followed his gaze to the clock and nodded as she was thinking about the same thing: ¡°Using my sight, I observed the virus spreading inside you¡ªbut it was¡­ different from the others I have seen so far.¡± She described her observations to him. In conjunction with her diagrams, he was able to understand the general thrust of the situation. ¡°¡ªand so, my running theory is mutation; as for how or why¡ªI honestly have no clue.¡± Interesting. But it hardly changes anything. Skin-tingling snapping noises echoed out within the lab as Leth¡¯s hands and feet contorted at odd angles, the bones comprising them visibly shifting and overlapping to slip their bonds. After sliding out from the ropes that bound them, they rapidly reformed to their original appearance. The female student watched all of this occur without any change in her expression. ¡°That technique¡­ as I thought: you are from the House of War!¡± Leth slid off the table and stretched his left shoulder. Hearing her words, he only smiled back. --- ¡°Wh¡ª?!¡± ¡°Your Identity. Now.¡± The words, cold and mechanized, dug into Zahra¡¯s ears like nails. She felt the cold blade of a knife pressing firmly up against her throat. ¡°I¡­ My name is Zahra¡ªZahra Tenebris.¡± The House of War deployed operatives throughout every stratum of society. Her family contracted a couple of them over the years as well. As a result, she knew that the only reason the blade at her throat had not drawn blood yet was the dull metallic coin hanging about her neck. An item she had been instructed to never remove. The man¡¯s foxlike eyes narrowed slightly as they scrutinized the small coin; the center of the coin was inscribed with faded Greek numerals that read: ¡®VI¡¯. The blade retracted into his sleeve just as quickly as it appeared, like a viper slithering back into its hole. The man took a step back, his easy smile and arched eyes remaining unchanged. ¡°A-ha! So, it¡¯s a young miss of the House of Engineering. Pardon my behavior.¡± Zahra calmed her nerves and straightened her clothes before speaking: ¡°No, the fault is mine; in my¡­ excitement I forgot myself and ignored protocol. Ah, but I am afraid you now have me at a disadvantage.¡± He waved her apology off as he introduced himself: ¡°Leth.¡± Zahra¡¯s face froze at the mention of his name. Her expression immediately turned cloudy. ¡°Hmm. Leth¡ªwhere have I heard that name¡ªOh, I remember! The head of the House of War has two sons, does he not? If memory serves¡ªand mine always does, you must be the eldest of the two! The younger brother¡­ Ah, little Oliver! Tell me, how is he these days? Does he still talk with you after what you did?¡± Her expression had warped into a full-on sneer by the time she finished speaking. Leth only scratched the back of his neck in response. If this ¡®Oliver¡¯ character were important to him then his expression certainly suggested otherwise. ¡°Aha¡­ How awkward¡ªto discuss family issues with a stranger. Suppose¡¯ It has been a while since we last spoke¡ªbut what a strange thing to bring up all of a sudden.¡± His expression remained sunny, but the kindness in his smile evaporated. The husk that remained was only so because no other emotion rose to fill the void. Seeing that Leth failed to react to her provocations, Zahra scoffed with a look of visible disgust marring her otherwise charming visage. Shaking her head, she closed her notebook and stashed it away in her school bag which she proceeded to sling over her shoulder. ¡°I see. Then it is as my father told me; you truly are a callous, selfish creature. Oh, Poor, poor Oliver.¡± Leth continued smiling. ¡°You¡¯re a funny woman. Now, I have business to take care of.¡± His words carried a tone of finality as he pivoted towards the lab door. Mid pivot however¡­ ¡°Quite right. I will be requiring your services after all, o¡¯ mighty operative.¡± She spoke, making sure to exaggerate ¡®o¡¯ mighty operative¡¯ with mock seriousness. Leth was about to shoot her down¡ªbut stopped when he saw the small paper writ pinched between her index finger and thumb. The small slip of paper appeared ancient; blood red ink depicting nine intersecting red circles adorned the center. Each circle boasted a unique, ornate design and a corresponding set of Greek numerals. Inside one circle, the numerals ¡®VI¡¯ were written. In the center of the ring of circles was a red thumb print. That thumb print was made by none other than Zahra. Wordlessly, he snatched the writ from her non-resisting hands. After confirming its authenticity, he pocked it before smirking at Zahra. ¡°¡­The young miss is quite a heavy spender¡ªdid your parents never teach you to save these kinds of things for a rainy day?¡± She ignored him and murmured under her breath as was her habit when faced with a new experience: ¡°A writ of command¡­ It is my first time using one, let¡¯s see if it works as the stories say¡ª¡± ¡°Guard me.¡± ¡°¡­Will-do.¡± She stared at Leth¡¯s face, searching for some visible sign of struggle or hesitation. Nothing. She knew that once this transaction was completed, the operative in question would have no choice but to follow the orders of the one who initiated the exchange. Likely, the man had no idea he was being controlled; that his notions of risk and reward were being rewired¡ªthe brainwashing capabilities of the House of Truth were as terrifying as the rumors suggested.