It's Now or Never
Chapter 03
At my go signal, he started attacking her from her back and when he was able to knock Candace down for a while, we decided to run away and find somewhere to hide because we all knew that bullets don't work on a mid-level infected. As we kept on running, I could feel my body getting exhausted. That's why my speed started to decrease. Jake seemed to notice it because he dragged my hand with him as he ran, causing me to force myself to maintain my speed and try to run faster.
When we got nearer and nearer to the mansion door, Jake shot it with his shotgun, breaking the entrance. When the door got destroyed, I could instantly feel the coldness of the wind from the outside. This is the very first time that I am going to step outside our mansion. I felt mixed emotions – happiness, sadness and worry. I was happy to be finally out because that’s what I have been dreaming about while I was inside our mansion for ten years. I feel sad because of what happened to my sister, Candace and I felt extremely worried because I have no idea what awaits me outside, especially after encountering my sister who was now “infected” by something.
I have yet to find out from Jake and my father. They have lots of explaining to do. We kept running for our dear life until we reached the empty garage outside our mansion. As soon as Jake opened the garage door, he immediately closed it. I was panting heavily when we got inside the garage. I dropped down to the ground and sat there for a while. I looked at Jake who was still standing and looking outside the window. It seems like he’s trying to see if Candace followed us.
“Is everyone okay?” Jake asked.
“I’m fine, just a little bit tired” I responded. I looked at my father and he didn’t answer Jake’s question.
“Dad, are you alright?” I asked my father who was also sitting next to me. I noticed how tired he was with his messy hair and dark circles under his eyes. I hadn’t noticed how tired he looked until now.
“I’m fine. Just…tired” he said in almost a whisper. I didn’t know that my father was so heavy and suddenly, I felt bad for yelling at him when he didn’t want me to leave our mansion for no apparent reason. Now that I know the reason, I started to understand why my father was strict like that.
I looked at Jake and asked, “So, care to continue explaining about the infected? You mentioned that gunshots don’t work on a middle type, right? If it doesn't work, then how can we defeat a mid-type?”
“Blades can work on a mid-type. We have to stab her throat first then the heart.” he explained.
“Why do that difficult process when we could just slice the head?” I asked.
“If we slice a mid-types’ head, then we’re going to fight two. In case you are wondering, her head can regenerate a new body if we behead her while her main body could still move and attack her so we’re not only going to fight one, but two middle-infected,” he explained and then continued. “We have to stab her throat first to weaken her and then her heart until it stops beating.”
I have been dying to see the outside world just to see humanity's at risk of getting extinct and my hidden sister. “How did the virus start?” I finally asked.
“No one knew aside from the government but they didn’t disclose that information to the public. The government only said that there was a virus and the symptoms.”
“If they are not disclosing all that very important information, then they must be involved with the issue,” I pointed out. “Do you know if there is any cure?”
“They tried to create a cure but they couldn’t find the wrong ingredients, that's why,” he explained. “They failed to make the cure, they started transferring the remaining survivors under the sea and continued living there.”
I was surprised upon hearing that humans colonized the sea. It seemed unreal because colonizing the sea only happens in the books. I guess, humanity was really at risk of getting wiped out for them to migrate under the sea. “Humans were living under the sea? Wow, that sounded unreal. So, what’s the government action now aside from transferring the survivors under the sea?”
Jake shook his head sideways. “Actually, after they reported that the virus broke out, we saw in the live broadcast on TV that they were attacked by a lowly cannibal and all the government members were infected too,” Jake said in almost a whisper. “That’s why an organization called Anti-Monstrous Cannibal or A.M.C.O was formed to rebuild humanity under the sea and to eliminate all the remaining infected.”
“I see. I guess, the only choice we have now is to eliminate the remaining ones before they start infecting others, huh?” I said. I noticed that my father was silent the whole time so I looked at him, worried. “Dad, are you okay?”
For a while, he didn’t speak but when he answered, he said the words, “I guess we should end your sister.”
“I don’t like the idea but we have to because she might wreck havoc. She’s no longer normal,” I pointed out.
“If only there was a cure, then we could save her but there wasn’t,” he said and broke down into tears. “I should have ended her while she was still low-infected. Because I kept her until she evolved into a mid one, I put your life in danger. You almost got infected too. I felt responsible so I am going to end her life myself.”
My eyes widened in shock. I know he won’t be able to do it after all, she was his daughter and he failed to end her once. “Dad, are you sure you could do it?”
“Yes and I have to before things turn worse” he said. “Cali, stay here with Jake and I’m going back there to finish your sister.”
I stood up and looked at my dad. “What? No! We can’t just leave you behind! We’ll fight alongside until we defeat my sister.”
My dad stood up and faced me. “No, Cali. You have to leave. I don’t want to put your life in danger. Not anymore” he said. I was about to protest when suddenly, I felt a hand chop the back of my neck that caused me to fall unconscious and fell but before I landed on the ground, a pair of strong arms caught me.
“I’ll take care of her, I promise” that was the last word I heard before I fell unconscious.