Price of Survival

In an old wooden house that was no different than a hut, three people, two adult men with harsh exterior while the last one was just a black-haired kid, standing with wooden rods in their hands, they passed through a broken door.

A brown-haired and-eyed boy that looked around 13 years old, was standing in front of them without any sign of fear or worry. It was like the child wasn't even threatened by their presence as intruders.

"Kid, call the old Baytur!" one of the thugs yelled at the brown-haired boy.

"Old Baytur?" The boy tilted his head. "Are you looking for the owner of this house?"

"Are you deaf? Go call him!" The same thug yelled before asking in suspicion. "Don't tell me he fled?"

The boy simply shook his head. "Not at all, but I don't think he can come here, let alone move. He isn't in good condition."

"What the hell are you talking about, kid?"

Cursing, the thug shoved the boy to the side and walked straight to the only closed door inside. The house being small, only had three separate spaces. So, the man quickly deduced where the 'Old Baytur' would stay in this tiny house.

After the thug, the other man and the black-haired kid followed. The kid didn't even spare a glance at the other boy who was shoved aside. It was as if the kid was being trained for this kind of thing at a young age.

*Bam!*

Kicking the door, the thug broke this door apart too. However, what awaited him was just an empty room with a wooden bed that didn't even have a blanket and a lantern.

There was no 'Old Baytur' or any sign of him at all. Though, dried blood was on the stone floor and the scent of blood was in the air.

"Hey, brat! I will kill you—" deciding to threaten the brown-haired boy, the thug opened his mouth—

"You will kill me?"

—but before the thug completed his sentence, a mocking tone, too dark for a child, reached his ears.

"What the heck are—"

Before the thug finished, the boy stabbed his pure white claws right from the thug's chin, piercing through his skull and brain.

"Wha—!?"

At the same time, the boy's other claws destroyed the other thug's heart in one go.

With pure shock and surprise etched onto their faces, the thugs lifelessly collapsed to the ground. Blood drained from their freshly made holes. Their life forfeited before they noticed.

"Thug A and Thug B…" the brown-haired boy muttered as he wiped his bloodied claws to the clothes of the thugs before turning to the black-haired kid, who had fallen on his butt with a puddle of yellowish liquid beneath him.

"Hello there, kiddo. If you tell me everything I need, I will… let you go… After all, you didn't see anything bad, right? I mean no harm… really." The brown-haired boy whispered with a soft voice, a subtle smile of a liar on his face, the black-haired kid had seen this kind of smile many times. There was no way he was going to fall for an easy lie.

But knowing and acting accordingly wasn't exactly easy.

Just because he knew didn't mean he could refuse to give information or give false information to his soon-to-be murderer.

The black-haired kid wasn't fearless or loyal enough to do either of them.

Instead, he was a little bit bold.

…

The black-haired kid told everything he could, about the city, classes, Eclipsed Walkers, a little bit of history and legends, and lastly, the gang he belonged to. He poured all of his effort and information into this moment, literally info dumping the brown-haired boy.

And when there was nothing left to say, the black-haired kid opened his mouth last time, pleading with everything he had.

"I won't tell anyone about you! Please let me go!"

Then, without waiting for the brown-haired boy to speak, the black-haired kid bit his own tongue off.

When the blood trickled down from his lips and a soft piece of flesh fell on the floor, the brown-haired boy subconsciously stepped back.

"...!"

It was bloody, gruesome, and painful. It wasn't a lethal wound but a wound that would take the kid's ability to talk. A self-inflicted wound to survive for another day.

Witnessing this sight, the brown-haired boy's burrows furrowed, teeth clenched, and his eyes widened with surprise. A light of sympathy and pity shined on the boy's eyes as he understood that the kid in front of him also wanted to survive.

The boldness and the desire to survive for one more day.

"So, be it…" the brown-haired boy's voice wasn't so steady at that moment.

He released a sigh of relief. The relief that came because he didn't need to kill a child.

At that moment, he felt like he understood more about the people of this world. How did they survive and why?

Humans were adaptable creatures, even a child adapted to this world to such a degree that…

However, maybe it was for the better.

He too didn't want to kill a child, but he was ready to do so if it was to secure his secret. It was for survival.

'I am acting stupid again but… I think I will continue to be stupid until it harms me… I hope the harm won't be lethal though.'

But, he couldn't ignore this child's boldness for survival. The child lost his ability to speak. As a commoner he probably didn't know how to read and write either, so, was there a reason to kill while the child lost his only way to communicate and sell his secret?

Was there a reason to kill just to feel more safe?

'Humans are stupid, I am also stupid. I am still human…'

***

"Once, there were no undead nor monsters on the surface of the earth. People lived without fear of their loved ones turning undead, burying them peacefully… Or they say. These are just tales, mere fairytales recited to us from birth as empty motivation for the impossible mission to reclaim the lost cities overrun by undead, monsters, demons, and devils."