Power
The crowd gathered around the dead creature, examining it to check if it was fully dead.
Some examined it to see just how much the disease turned a fine young man into a creature like this.
"Everyone move away from the bodies!" Uncle Duncan ordered, analyzing the body of the dead creature and the lady that got bitten.
There was a probability that the lady would rise up from the dead and transform into one of the creatures. If that should happen, it was best to get everyone away from her.
Kadori glanced at Bjorn who stood beside him, fidgeting in fear and sweat dripping down his face.
Bjorn just experienced what the bite could do and how they killed the bitten one without stopping to think that it was once a human.
Bjorn feared that if they should find out, the same thing would happen to him.
Seeing Bjorn's frightful look, Kadori decided not to say anything and just wait a little.
Kadori also found Bjorn's case strange. Kadori wasn't certain of how long Bjorn has been bitten, and since they boarded the ship, he's still yet to turn.
Which got Kadori thinking, 'Did the bite not affect him?'.
Kadori's mother only lasted a few minutes before she turned.
Why then is Bjorn's own taking longer than it should?
Uncle Duncan took a few steps closer to the girl, his sword gripped in his hand, ready to strike.
Moving closer, he saw movement in the girl's body, she was beginning to wake up.
Uncle Duncan still held back his blade, examining the girl as she regained consciousness slowly.
Surprisingly, there was no bone cracking sound or body twisting in strange ways, she simply woke up and sat up slowly like a normal human.
"Are you okay?" Uncle Duncan asked, still keeping a short distance between himself and the lady in case she runs wild and decides to attack him.
The girl didn't respond, instead she glanced around her body, then glanced at the area she currently was.
The crowd stood there witnessing the impossible scene that was playing out in front of them.
Anyone who got bitten was supposed to rise up in a strange way, transform into the ugly creature, then begin to attack everyone, looking for who to turn.
But the girl so far did none of that, even if she was acting a little weird, it was still preferable than the creature's.
"Miss, are you okay?" Uncle Duncan repeated the question, this time around, the girl shifted her gaze to him.
"What happened?" She asked in a shaky voice, she then shifted her gaze to what laid down behind Uncle Duncan.
Seeing the creature's head, memories from earlier began to flood into her head, forcing her to grip it tightly and let out a loud scream.
The crowd all flinched in fear when they heard the scream.
After a few minutes, she finally calmed down and let go of her head. She turned to face Uncle Duncan, saying, "I am okay."
If Kadori wasn't mistaken, he could have sworn he saw the wound on her neck healing up at incredible speed.
Kadori wasn't the only one seeing it, Uncle Duncan was also witnessing the wounds closing up at superhuman speed.
"What is your name?" Uncle Duncan questioned, trying to figure out if she still has her memories.
"Dhalia." She replied instantly.
"Age?" Uncle Duncan questioned.
"16 years old." Dhalia replied.
Getting the information, Uncle Duncan was now sure she was still human and the bite didn't turn her.
But how is it possible?
Uncle Duncan walked closer to her to check her closely if there was anything unusual. But nothing.
"She is okay! No need to panic!" Uncle Duncan announced, bringing a relief to everyone.
Kadori stood there still trying to digest the information of someone being able to resist the infection.
The whole thing now got Kadori thinking that maybe his mother survived the bite also, he just didn't wait longer to find out.
The ship sailed for hours, soldiers patrolling around, analyzing the people to find a strange behavior or if they were infected.
Anytime a soldier got to Bjorn's location, he would try his best to hide his face to avoid eye contact.
"Sergeant Duncan, we just received a message from Danju City. It appears the place is under chaos. The city has been flooded with the disease!" The ship sailor announced, his hands working to keep the ship moving.
"What about Petris City and North City? Do you have information about them?" Uncle Duncan asked.
"Yes, both of the cities are also under tribulation. It appears nowhere in the world is safe. Everyone outside this ship is either infected or about to be infected!" The sailor replied, sending fear to everyone on the ship.
Everyone had high hopes of the ship taking them to a safe city, away from the disaster. But now their hopes have been crushed, and they were likely not to survive.
"Is there any island around, a place we can stop?" Uncle Duncan asked.
"Well.. there's an island the size of a city up ahead, it'll take us a week or two to get there!" The sailor replied, his eyes fixed on a tattered map.
"Very well then. Head to the island.. we'll take refuge there." Uncle Duncan ordered.
****
The day was gradually getting dark and most people were already falling asleep where they sat.
Only a few people were able to carry small foodstuffs, while the rest didn't get the chance to gather supplies before fleeing.
The disease was impromptu for everyone, no one had any idea that such a thing would happen.
So they had no time to prepare themselves for the journey.
Kadori could see Olivia glancing at him from where she sat with a sorry look, but Kadori paid no attention to her.
"Why didn't you talk?" Bjorn spoke, his eyes facing the beautiful night sky and the cool breeze of the night made his blonde hair flow.
"It wasn't mine to tell." Kadori replied, using his small knife to draw meaningless things on the wooden surface.
"That's not the reason you kept quiet." Bjorn said, "You know I'm not infected. I guess my case is just like that girl's case. I guess the bite didn't turn us into those creatures, instead it gave us unimaginable power."
Hearing the word power, Kadori turned to face Bjorn with a look of anticipation, "What do you mean 'Power'?" Kadori asked."