Crushed goals

Without even waiting for Blake to reply, he walked away and then went on to sit at another corner of the warehouse, resting the axes on his laps and staring off into the distance.

Blake stared on at him, his mouth partly open. "Why is he… holding such a dangerous weapon? Is he trying to threaten us…?" Blake subconsciously voiced his thoughts out.

Shane chuckled when he heard Blake's words, tapping his shoulders lightly before he went on to explain the situation to him.

"Nah. You don't have to worry. Those axes are treasures he got from killing a mana beast, he is one our side." Shane said, lightly tapping his shoulders once more.

Blake's eyes squinted slightly in confusion. "Treasures… mana beasts…" He mumbled.

"Yeah. Sometimes when you kill a mana beast, a treasure is dropped. You can say it's similar to the way gold and weapons drops in video games… except this is real life."

"It also depends on luck though. Anyway, you shouldn't worry. If you kill a strong beast, there is a high chance of you gaining a treasure." Shane continued.

"I have one also…" He mumbled, before turning to face Blake.

As for Blake, hearing those words caused different thoughts to start running through his mind.

"Beasts… mana beasts… zombies…" He began mumbling to himself, the reality of his new life and situation hitting him hard once more.

Back when he was unconscious, a part of him felt that he should just wake up… wake up and realize that everything was a dream.

Wake up and just meet his parents… alive and well… and not dead or getting transformed into a zombie.

But no matter how he tried to escape reality, it was as if reality refused to escape him.

His family was really dead… and he was really all alone… and there were really monsters and dangerous zombies out there on the street.

His hands started trembling, and before he knew it, his eyes began to water again.

Shane, seeing how out-of-focus Blake was, decided to hold back on the introductions.

He exhaled, before sliding down the wall, resting the back of his head on the wall. "I get it… everything happening is just so… unexpected. But we don't really have a choice than to change with it."

Apart from him, Aria and Puck, the rest of the other survivors were nothing short of traumatized and terrified. In fact he felt that Blake had been taking it quite well, given that he was only a kid.

He might not have known exactly what happened, but he more or less understood his thoughts.

He rose to his feet again and tapped Blake lightly on his shoulder, before saying: "I won't bother you anymore. We'll complete the introductions later. When the rain goes down, we plan on going out to get food, you can stay here if you want."

"No… I'll go with you." Blake suddenly muttered, but though he spoke in a low voice, Shane still heard his words clearly.

"I won't run. I'll… rid this world of all those damn zombies." Blake muttered, clenching his fists tightly at the sides.

A strange glint flashed through Shane's eyes when he heard Blake's words.

'Rid the world of zombies… is that even possible?' He thought, however, he didn't say his thoughts out.

He knew Blake probably went through something at the hands of the zombies, most likely the loss of a loved one, and saying something like that would simply be insensitive.

"Okay. Just don't think too much… too much brooding weighs down on the body and soul." Shane said, before leaving Blake alone to his thoughts.

"Too much brooding… bad for the body and soul…" Blake mumbled, before scoffing to himself.

He really didn't understand Shane, despite the current state of the world, he still seemed so jolly… and "normal".

Shane was probably the type that doesn't focus on the negative parts of their situation, and only on the positive.

However, it wasn't his business, what others did or how they coped with their emotions didn't concern him.

If not for the zombies, the world wouldn't be so chaotic, and his parents would be alive… he wouldn't be alone.

No matter how he tried to follow Shane's advice—not brooding too much, the memory of that zombie biting off his father's head and his mother turning into a zombie kept playing in his head… non-stop.

And again, he could feel his heart and chest get heavy, to the point where breathing seemed almost difficult.

He gasped slightly, using one of his hands to clench his chest tightly. He slowly moved away from where he was standing, moving towards a secluded corner of the warehouse.

Each step he took felt like it was getting heavier every passing second, but he still didn't fall and somehow managed to resist the urge.

Blake then rested his back on the wall, before slowly sliding to the ground, he buried his head in the middle of his knees and started sobbing quietly.

As tears streamed down his eyes, he kept thinking about what happened earlier today.

It was only after giving it a lot of thought, that he realized his parents' death was actually his fault… and not just that of the zombies.

Today was supposed to be the day he would travel abroad, in order to enroll in the art school of his dreams.

As a kid, Blake had always found himself fascinated by artworks and later took up a hobby of drawing.

He discovered he had a talent for it and since then he had been drawing at every chance he got. His skill had definitely improved over time, and his drawings could were now so good that they looked extremely realistic, like the characters were in a universe of their own.

Blake's dream was to become an artist, not just any artist, but one that was popular and known around the world. To pursue this dream and improve even further on his drawings, Blake had always wanted to get into Blessed Art academy.

***

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