Chapter 3: An Expected But Ill Timed Surprise

[Time Skip: 8 Years]

I initially thought I was just too old mentally to care about stuff but I guess not. Puberty is a bitch. I had to go through that shit again, I say this because I was never too interested in my looks as a child but as I grew older, I started to take notice of it more and more

It seems that even though my soul might be old, my mind and body were that of a child. I'm grateful that my hormones aren't as overpowering as most transmigration MCs or my time at school would've been way harder than it already was.

I turn 18 in a today and I graduated the week before and was on my way back home. I had grown to a respectable 186cm and weighed just under 92 kg but it was mostly muscle and not the useless kind. I looked older than my age and not being narcissistic but I looked decent.

I looked like a young Leonard Burns from Fire Force but having long hair would be a hassle so I had a taper fade with my medium length hair slicked back. I might steal his style of wearing a coat over his shoulders because he looked badass.

The bus ride back home would take a while and I had called Rick a week ago to ask him to pick me up from the station as soon as I get there. We kept in touch and he would give me regular updates on my parents every 6 months. He became Sheriff 2 years after I left and Sheriff Beasley retired to spend time with his family.

As the bus was getting closer to town, I hear the people on the bus getting restless. I look forward and see a man walking in the middle of the road towards the moving bus with a limp. My stomach turns as I realize that the outbreak has already started and that I needed to get to my house fast!

I stood up and rushed forward to see the bus driver slow down and move to open the door so he can check on the man but I can see straight away that he's a walker because the lower half of his face was hanging on by a thread.

I reach forward and pull the driver back and threw him into a passenger seat before I sat down at the driver's seat and drove the bus at full speed. The 2 other people in the bus gasp as I run over the man who they thought was normal and look at me in fear but I couldn't be bothered. I just had one thought in mind, my parent's safety.

Three miles away from the house, the bus slows down and stops because we ran out of gas. I drove past all the gas station as fast as I could so I couldn't really blame the bus. I open the door, get out and start into a full sprint to get home. My stamina and strength had improved significantly over the years and I had become something of an ace in the school.

It's worse than I thought as I'm dodging walkers as I run toward my house. If it was this bad from the start then I can understand how the world went to shit in a month before Rick woke up. I make it to the house but it's locked. I bang on the door multiple times as I shout for my parents, walking back and forth between the door and the living room window to see inside. I couldn't care less about the noise attracting the walkers, I just need to know they're safe.

My parents didn't know I was coming back today because I wanted to surprise them. I see movement and Ma pops out of the doorway and I sigh in relief. She looks at me and cries but doesn't move. She looks pale and weak. She's always been pale but this time, I could tell something was wrong

"MA! It's me Matty, Open the door and let me in!" I shout through the window

She just looks at me and smiles with tears running down her face. She walks over to the window and puts her hand against it as she tries to touch me. I put my hand where her hands are and continue to tell her to open the door but she doesn't listen.

"Hey Honey...You look well. You trying to give your old ma a heart attack with all the hell you're raising" She says smiling

"I just made it back today and wanted to surprise you. Please just open the door and I'll tell you all about it"

"I can't do that sweetie. Something happened to me and Pops and we can't come out right now" She says shaking her head, her tears flow even more

"Ma, whatever it is, I don't care. Just please open the door, please. I'm begging you!" I scream

"Stop your hollering boy! I taught you better than to raise your voice at your Ma" Pop says as he appears behind Ma

Pop's grown more round as the years pass. I visited once a year so It wasn't too apparent since I was too focused on learning and getting stronger but I could see the grey hairs on their heads. They had a lot more wrinkles now and I couldn't help but think that I had wasted time when I could've been here, looking after them. They had grown old before I even realized. Pop also looked pale. I could tell they both must be sick which made me bang on the door even harder

"Pop, you gotta listen to me you, Please open the door. Ma won't let me in!" I start begging him

"Sorry sonny, can't do that. We got scratched by those dead fellas walking around. I saw what happened to Chris and Kylie down the road when people are scratched. We can't open the door" Pa says stoically but I can tell he's sad

"Come on Pop, just open the door. I'll find a cure and heal you guys. You don't have to do anything, just open the door!" I shouted, crying as I bang on the windows

"You know that your Ma and I love you, right sonny? You were the best thing that ever happened in our lives. I just wished we had more time" Pop says while hugging Ma who's just crying into his shoulder

"Pop, come on! Stop playing and open the door! I need you and Ma. I can't do this without you!" I shout as my legs lose strength and I fall to my knees

"You're stronger than you think sonny. I didn't raise a weak man. Your Ma and I did our best raising you and you turned out to be a fine young man. Don't blame yourself for what happened, alright? No one could have seen this coming"

I couldn't answer him as I was crying my eyes out. He was wrong. I did see it coming. I shouldn't have left. I should've been here and protected them. He was wrong, so very wrong. I knew this was coming but I still couldn't protect them.

This was my fault. I knew that R.O.B couldn't do anything as this world was tampered with and he didn't have any power over it anymore. I also trusted Rick to look after them but I knew he was going to be out when shit hit the fan so I couldn't blame anyone but myself.

"Hey sonny, do me a favour, alright?" Pop says, tears running down his face.

I calm myself down and nod back since I knew if that I said anything, I would just start crying again. This would be the last time I ever had a chance to talk to them and I wanted to treasure it

"Find a nice girl and settle down when all this is over. Be happy and don't forget what we taught you. Become a good man. Now, I need you to go to the car and grab me my 12 gauge"

I realize what he's doing and immediately breakdown again. Why did this have to happen to me? I never did nothing wrong. I was a good kid who went to Sunday every week and helped out around town. My parents were good natured old folk who did everything by the book and had a strong moral compass. They didn't deserve any of this.

Then I remembered the show and everything fell into place. My house was the place Rick came to after he woke up to find gas but found the couple on the couch together, dead with a shotgun in their hands. I remembered watching that thinking that maybe the couple were too shocked and couldn't handle what was happening. Pop's voice broke me out of my thoughts

"It's gonna be okay sonny. You're a strong man. Trust me. Now I need you to grab my gun, alright? I ain't turning into one of them things. I was born a human and I'll die a human so please sonny" He says as Ma starts wailing even louder

I stood up and wiped my tear with the back of my hands as I look at him and nod. I was still heart broken but this would be the last moment I had with them and I didn't want to spend it crying and leave any regrets for them.

I knew the type of people they were. I knew he was doing it for me because he knew I would put him to rest myself and he didn't want me to have that guilt on my mind.

I walked over to the car and slipped my fingers under the hood and grabbed the keys. Old hiding spot. Pop and I always lose the keys inside the house so Ma put it there so we'd remember to fill the radiator as well before we moved the car. I unlock the car and reach under the seat and I can feel the shotgun. I pull it out and examine it. 2 shells loaded like the world was playing some type of sick twisted joke on me

Pop always used to say that all you needed to resolve a situation were two shells. One as a warning and one as insurance. If you loaded more than two then you were looking for a fight.

Knowing what these two shells would be used for now made me even more depressed but I didn't have much time left with them so I soldiered through and was back on the porch handing them the shotgun through the broken window.

"Thank you sonny. Now, I need you to move along now sonny. Your hollering probably brought those things near. Ma and I are gonna be okay, don't worry. I need you to go now, alright? I don't want you to see what comes next" Pop says but his voice isn't as strong as it was earlier.

I looked at him and nodded but I didn't move. I looked him dead in the eye as rivers of tears kept running down my face as I look at them and put on the biggest smile I could muster. I wanted their last memory of me to be happy

"Ma, Pop, I'm proud to call you my parents. I knew I was adopted since the beginning but I'm proud to be called a Hardy. I don't care what anybody says. You will never know how grateful I am to have you as my parents. If there is a life after this, I hope you become my parents again"

Pa just starts crying without holding back and needs to rub his eyes to clear his vision. Ma moves from his embrace and walks towards me. She's still crying but now, she has a huge smile on her face as she kisses the back of her hand and puts it against the glass.

It was a thing she used to do to me as a child whenever I got sick. She would kiss the back of her hand and put it against my forehead and say that she was putting her love into her hand and It would heal me and that I would be alright

I lowered myself and rested my head against the glass where she was putting her hand. I closed my eyes and enjoyed one of our last moments together but an electronic chime pulls me out of the moment

[System Unlocked...Host Found...Binding System...System Bind Complete]

[

1/4

Name: Matt Hardy

Class: The Gamer

Level: 1 (0%)

HP: 200/200 (Healthy)

EP: 140/140

STATS

STR: 20

VIT: 10

DEX: 14

INT: 16

WIS: 17

LUK: 5

Point: 0

Money: 0

]