Episode 8

Episode 8

Enear

An hour ago…

"Is someone there?" Hanna's voice echoed through the dark corner of the grocery store. The tube leaked water with rhythmic drops that clinked against the pond created on the floor.

She heard groanings once again.

"Hello?"

Sauntering, she saw a pale man lying on the dark stained tile, a rotten smell lingered through her nostrils. Despite the unbearable scent, she scurried to the man and kneeled before him to check him. 

"There's a wounded survivor here! Let's help him!" She shouted then tapped the man's pale elastic cheek so thin that he looked like a bare skull wrapped in yellowish plastic. "Are you okay, sir? Hang it there. Help will come."

The ragged skinned hand of a man moved, grabbing her shoulder. She thought his groans were whispers that he wanted to tell her something. So she neared her ears to his mouth. 

Hajia heard her so she grabbed some medicine then came to the gloomy kitchen part of the grocery. But as soon as she arrived, the man was crawling over Hanna, his mouth savoring her neck.

Her eyes were wide open behind her glasses, her green shirt stained with red. Looking at Hajia, she tried to lift her trembling hands. 

"H-Help me–"

Hajia clenched his fist to her anger, thinking the man was dirtying her body. But as soon as she neared them, she noticed the blood dripping through her white skin. Cold shivered down through her spine upon realization.

"W-What is going on–" she dropped a bottle of alcohol, creating a thud that made the man flinched through the sound and looked at her. His jaws were opened with his teeth fountained of saliva. The man stood up without taking his eyes off of her.

He was about to move when his head tweaked, his veins bulged thicker and his skin morphed into gray muscular. His hair fell. 

"Meat…"

Fear shivered through her spine, dropping her weakened knees on the ground and giving up all the supplies she was carrying, rolled on the floor.

The monster slowly advanced, looking at her as a delicious prey. 

"W-Why can't I move my body?" she asked herself, trembling and frozen in fear. 

The monster drew near, its mouth gaping wide like a snake, wanting to consume her whole. 

"MEAT!"

"AHH!!!" she shrieked out.

The monster dropped to the floor, a knife was pierced on his head, blood flowed on the tiles like crimson flowers bloomed. 

Hajia gasped and quickly lit behind her. The light reflected on a green cold eyes, buried in brown fibers of the hair on forehead–

"Enear!"

Enear passed through her as if nothing had happened, picked up the knife jammed into the slimy head, shook it off to splat out the blood and poured alcohol on its blade to disinfect. 

"No one should know about this to avoid panic," he said in his monotone voice.

Hajia nodded. Then she looked at Hanna's unconscious body, flesh were teared on her shoulder and neck. 

"H-How about her–"

"She would turn like him any time soon."

"How did you kno–" She immediately turned off the light when she heard footsteps. Two men came. 

"What happened?"

"Are you okay?"

Hajia glanced at Enear and then smiled at the others. "Yeah. I'm sorry if I bothered you. I just thought Enear is a ghost. Hehe."

"Enear is here?–F*ck!" they exclaimed when they attempted to look around with their flashlights from their watches and saw Enear already standing close behind them. "Even I thought of you as a ghost, kid! You're giving us a heart attack!"

"We should get out now before an aftershock comes," Enear suggested.

"Right."

Just as they agreed, they went outside. 

"I think someone is missing," one of the survivors said.

"Right. The girl with a green shirt," Dycron noticed.

Hajia glanced at Enear quickly and answered. "Oh. Hanna left a while ago. She said she needs to go to the comfort room quickly at the camp."

"Help me…" a rough voice of a girl suddenly echoed, scratching at their ear drums.

When they turned around, they saw a girl in a green shirt. Her face was dry and emaciated, resembling yellowish elastic stretching tightly over her skull, with blue veins embedded throughout her skin. 

"H-Hanna? I thought you're…"

"Your nose is bleeding! Let me help you–"

"Don't get near her!" Hajia tried to stop the man in a business suit.

"I'M HUNGRY!" The ill woman screamed as she jumped onto the man who tried to help her.

Enear threw his knife to Hanna's head just before she could touch him. Her body fell on the ground with a thud, and bathed through her fresh red blood. Everyone was shocked, glancing at each other in deafening silence. Arcus' eyes were blocked by his mother's hands. Enear was retrieving his knife swiftly and cleanly.

"H-He just killed her," Tonato fumbled, "The kid killed her! That kid is a killer!"

Hajia went in their middle. "There is a monster inside the building and bit Hanna! And Hanna turned to a monster because of it!"

"Hajia. Are you sure about it?" Reselda asked with a hint of believing and skepticism. "Why didn't you ask for help or tell us?"

"To avoid panic. I'm planning to report it to the police once we go back to the camp."

Tonato protested, "You were just covering him because he threatened you earlier!"

"I need to take a sample–" Ravio said and was about to go to Hanna's corpse when his wife stopped him.

"What are you thinking? Don't do something gross! Your son is watching you!"

"But Hon, if they are telling the truth, then it must be some kind of virus that needs to find a cure."

"You said it to yourself! It's a virus! Then you want to come near to where the virus is? Do you want to infect our child!?"

"I-I'm sorry," Ravio gave up.

"What are they talking about? I can't hear them well," the granny in her powered wheelchair asked her caretaker, who was wearing a nurse dress.

"I-I honestly don't quite understand it, Ma'am."

"I see."

"You don't have to believe her. Just think that I killed her and that's it." Enear spoke out, "Let's go, Dycron." With his hands in his pockets, he began to move. But Dycron didn't bulge. His widened eyes still glued to the corpse, unable to perceive the reality. "Dycron."

Dycron flinched as soon as he came back with his senses. "O-Okay."

"Don't let him go away!" Tonato shouted, "He was admitting it! This spoiled brat is a killer, thinking this was a survival game from the computer he was addicted to play! Imagine how dangerous it is if he walks freely around and kills anyone he likes!"

Just as he said, the four men blocked their way. 

"You must surrender to the police, kid."

Enear stopped, locking his soulless green eyes to them as he reset his grip to his weapon. "No problem. I can clear my way by myself." 

The men stepped back, turning their fear into anger to hide them. "Be obedient! Respect your elders!"

"Do follow while we're asking nicely!"

Enear caught his temple. "This is why I hate being in a group. They were all filled with stupid people."

"What did you say!?"

Suddenly, a rumbling sound occurred, the ground was shaking. Half of them ducked and screamed in panic, and a half of them had their eyes gazed on the pack of six-wheeled trucks hoarding policemen, lining the road, its colossal wheels crushing anything it passed by, even shuttles.

"I have a bad feeling," the granny said.

"Me too, Ma'am. The police seemed to be leaving from the camp but…" they tried to peek at the end tail of their lines. "...there's no single civilian riding with them."

One of the men blocking Enear rushed to them. "Officer! This kid killed a girl! Arrest him!"

No one noticed him, as if they were all deaf or they were just invisible.

"Hey! I know you could hear me!" he insisted.

One of the policemen didn't resist him. "You guys better run to the safe area–" he was struck by his superior's rifle. "Ouch!"

"Just stay where you are!" 

Reselda rushed to them. "Hey! What do you mean!? What the hell is happening!? Tell us!"

The ground suddenly shook; all the policemen looked around alertly. However, it wasn't an earthquake but rather a massive wave of vibrations that swept through the area.

Like a swarm of ants that emerged from their nest, a tide of moving corpses spilled through every window and doors of the buildings, stumbling upon their way out.

"PREPARE OF ENGAGEMENT!"

All the policemen readied their rifles, aiming at the horde of monsters that began sprinting toward them.

"FIRE!"

Lights sparked on the mouth of their rifles as they released the bullets, casting their shadows on the ground. Like a vintage film of their silhouettes, the monsters pulled their bodies out from the trucks and feasted upon them.

Quintessence Nightmare | mvcabusas