2.52

We passed through the employee locker room finding it messy with clothes, rubbish, and dark brown blood stains, but empty of occupants, both dead or alive.

At the canteen we found three zombies hunched over eating something on the floor. It took great effort not to vomit from the sound alone.

Lex nudged me, then pointed at the one closest to the door. He then moved back to comfortably aim his crossbow.

I crept up, holding my breath as System slowed my heart rate. As soon as I heard the sound of the arrow being released I stabbed my dagger directly into the once overweight adult woman's neck, severing the spine from the head. She slumped sideways, her eyes bulging, her mouth snarling, but her body remained motionless.

As I exhaled I heard another arrow release and felt complete confidence that Lex had put down the two at my back. So I took out another dagger to help crack open her skull and find the nuclei inside.

When I was done I noticed Lex was holding a pan of boiling water, "pop it in." I dropped the nuclei down and got out a bowl of water to wash the brain matter off my hands.

"A fox?" Ty held a stick and was probing the fresh corpse the zombies had been eating.

"They eat animals too?" I peeked over at the bright red fur feeling sorry for the poor thing, being trapped inside with the zombies.

"What's more interesting, is that the fox had a nucleus too," Ty picked it up and placed it in the pot of boiling water with the others.

It looked just the same as the ones found in humans. If that were the case, would that mean one day the animals could use abilities like the humans too?

I picked up the fox one, ignoring the pain in my hand, and tossed it into my mouth.

The euphoric buzz filled my veins, and as usual, my fatigue lessened. However, I felt a strange afterglow after the initial buzz died down. The ones I'd swallowed before hadn't done that.

"Want another?" Lex pressed another one through my pursed lips. Just as it began to melt, he kissed me, pushing me back against the wall, his tongue invading and lapping up some of the core.

My trapped fists beat at his chest in embarrassment, making him only chuckle and playfully squeeze my butt.

This fucking hooligan.

When the buzz lessened he pulled away, leaving me to lean against the wall breathlessly cursing him out.

There was a strange feeling in my heart that the longer I spent with this soul, the further and further he'd lead me astray. Like that one kid who always brought drugs to the party...

We went through the factory's ground floor, finding only three more and a lot of corpses varying in age and species. It seemed as if at one point a bunch of survivors had been using this as a hideout and had brought animals with them for food maybe.

At the stairs, we split up. Ty went up to check the top floor, whilst Lex and I went down to the basement. The lights would not turn on, so we were left with using our Systems to see in the dark.

There were supplies stored in the main part, Lex casually took them away with the wave of a hand. Using the radar I noticed that the virus very brightly shined from a closed door.

"You open the door quietly, then I'll shoot and draw its attention, okay?" Lex gripped my shoulders firmly, showing signs of nerves. Did I seem that useless to him?

I shrugged him off, nodding and walking over to the door.

Instead of the snarling monster, we'd anticipated when the door opened, only the pathetic sound of a whine came out from the darkness.

"An animal?" I asked out loud, walking into the room with both sword and dagger to hand.

Hidden amongst some boxes a small figure shrunk, trying to hide from sight. That was not the sign of a predator, yet I saw the flash of sharp teeth.

"Are you injured, baby?" I called out, not expecting it to understand me, but hopefully, it could detect the helpful intention of my call. For some reason, my maternal instincts tugged at my heartstrings making me unable to even think about laying a hand on it.

It whined back at me, sounding like maybe a puppy. When I reached the corner I found in an upturned cardboard box a small fox kit nudging at an injured mother.

"Aww so you're a momma too," I let my blades go into my dimensional space, showing my empty palms to the two pairs of fear-filled and watchful eyes, then rested one hand on my stomach where my baby was.

"Hard work being a momma in a world like this," both foxes were barely skin and bones.

In my empty palm, I pulled a tin of dog food that I'd gotten from the warehouse. Slowly I pulled off the lid and lowered it onto the ground. My foot nudged it closer, then I stepped back.

The kit staggered forward, cautiously, then no longer able to take the hunger its small snout dived straight into the tinned food.

I hoped dog food was alright for foxes, where was google when you needed it?

With the kit distracted I moved closer to look at momma fox, seeing except for her paws being wrecked from scratching at the door, she was uninjured. Inside the room, they were locked in there was no water, no food, only momma lactating for the kit.

"You poor baby," I brought out a bowl of water and scooped some in my hand bringing it to the mom's snarling mouth. She nipped my hand at first, piercing the skin with her teeth, but still, I didn't budge. System had blocked out the majority of the pain anyway.

Giving in, she lapped at the water eagerly for a few seconds, then her head fell back to rest on the floor.

"You can't save her," Lex sighed, bending to scoop up the now placid fox kit, "but this lil fella," he brought it to his face, letting it lick all over, "will be just fine."

"Do you hear that momma? We're going to take care of your baby, let them grow big and strong," her dry tongue reached out to lick at my skin, then she let out a hiss, her dying breath hitting against my clenched fist tearing my heart to shreds.

"Get her nuclei to give to her baby please," at least this way their mother could protect them, even after death. I picked up the kit from Lex's hand and walked away, crying into its soft fur.