Chapter 66: The shadow world

Sombra approached Menil, but noticed other nearby presences much like the strange human zombie. However, he decided to ignore them, for he could not take them all with him. Only one, if he didn't want to take any chances.

Menil and Arnold were soon alone in the room. Adam handed the former a walkie talkie and wished him luck. Menil looked at Arnold with some suspicion. He didn't quite understand why he had volunteered for the task. After all, he knew Arnold before it all got worse. A clever man, but a coward during this whole mess, exactly like himself, Menil thought a little contemptuously.

But that had changed, Menil understood all too well. Dealing with combat and death in general had become much easier. He could still feel fear and all sorts of emotions, but they were not as intense. Still, he couldn't help but wonder what Arnold's intention was in offering to join him.

"Why did you volunteer, Arnold?" Menil asked.

"Why not? I think it might be quite... informative."

"I suppose so," replied Menil, who couldn't stop thinking about Arnold's motives. But he soon realized that he was being very paranoid, a habit he had unfortunately retained from his former self, so he tried to relax. He had no time to do so, however, for Shadow suddenly appeared.

Adam spotted it immediately and signaled for everyone to approach the zombie. Arnold, meanwhile, watched the little zombie curiously. Part of him felt terrified at the presence of the little monster. Menil felt the same, but he couldn't identify the sensation.

".... ready?"

Menil heard Sombra's voice and realized that Arnold didn't seem to have heard it.

"Yes. Can I take one more?"

The little zombie thought for a few seconds.

"Difficult... possible."

Menil nodded and it was then that Arnold looked at him.

"Is he talking?"

"Yes, it's like a mental connection," explained Menil. He hadn't explained himself well when he mentioned to the others that the zombie had tried to talk to him.

"Interesting," said Arnold before continuing to observe the zombie.

"Let's go to .... enemies... nearby."

Before Menil could understand what was happening, Shadow grabbed him and Arnold by the arm and transported them into a dark, cold world where he immediately lost direction. The zombie, on the other hand, seemed like a fish in water.

It guided them through the world quickly. Menil noticed that the surroundings were completely distorted. He made out some details of the room they were in, but everything looked much bigger, grey and some things were bent at angles that made no sense.

The zombie pushed them through what Menil distinguished as the door. To their surprise, as they got closer, the door got bigger and bigger until they were able to pass through the narrow space between the wall and the door. There, the world was reduced to a gigantic passageway, like a tunnel with a ceiling that disappeared into the heavens.

This situation only lasted for a few minutes; when the three of them moved into the superblock corridor, the dimensions of everything around them made sense again. However, Menil shivered as he saw the outside from there. The entire sky was in negative, with a black color for the clouds and a blue, almost white sky. The black moon in the sky attracted his gaze strongly.

As Menil watched outside, Sombra guided him and Arnold to the railing, from which they jumped to the ground. The fall was also a strange experience for both infected, for the world seemed to operate under different laws. They fell at great speed, but stopped a few inches above the ground, from where they continued to run until they reached the superblock. There, Shadow seemed to go slower and slower until at last the three of them appeared in the real world.

"Exhausted... walk... fast."

The three continued on their way, back to the real world. Menil cursed himself for not having counted how long the zombie could stay in this state, although he soon realized that he had probably reached his limit thanks to the fact that he was leading them.

Adam watched the zombie from the building. Again he wished Menil and Arnold luck and then turned to look at Miguel and Leonard.

"I hope you'll let me set things up in case those two betray us."

Adam thought for a moment and then nodded to Leonard. He figured it wasn't such a bad thing to take precautions.

"That's fine, though I doubt those two can make much of a difference in the fight. We don't even know if the Breeder could take full advantage of the information they have."

"I hope not, but I'll still start getting everyone ready. Let's go Leonard." said Miguel before leaving. Leonard looked at Adam for a moment, until he finally decided to speak.

"I know you have many considerations as a leader, but I truly believe that expecting everyone to always cooperate and not betray us is foolish, especially with a species classified by the System itself as a competitor for the resources we need."

Adam just nodded and didn't say anything back. Leonard scowled at him.

"There's that attitude of yours again. I seem to remember you did something similar to Carlos, didn't you? As if your opinion was the right one and everyone else should go fuck themselves."

"Leonard, stop it, we've got work to do. Besides, he's already given you permission to prepare us in case we're betrayed. So it's not as if Adam won't listen to you."

Leonard looked at Miguel and then sighed.

"All right, I'll cooperate for now, but I don't like your attitude, Adam."

Adam watched Leonard and Miguel disappear downstairs and wondered for a moment what it was that Leonard was criticizing. He didn't think there was anything wrong with the way he was proceeding, but perhaps he trusted Menil too much. What was driving him to simply trust that the infected was sincere in his words? He didn't know, but he knew what he wanted, for there were many benefits to this.

It didn't take him long to realize that Leonard might be right. He was relying too much on the others to cooperate with him. However, he put those thoughts out of his mind, for there was no time to lose. He had to finish all preparations before the attack began.

Meanwhile, Menil and Arnold were already halfway to the superblock in block 2. With Sombra's protection, no Stalkers approached them. Menil found it curious that a zombie with some intelligence could detect the difference between them and humans, but the Stalkers didn't seem to notice that, attacking them on sight.

It didn't take them long to reach the superblock, but when Menil spotted the army outside, he had to stifle a scream. Hundreds of zombies were watching them as they approached. The Breeder towered above most of the other zombies and was the one watching them most intently.

Shadow disappeared from his position next to Menil and Arnold and appeared next to the Breeder. The conversation between them was private.

Menil couldn't help but feel more and more nervous as time passed. Finally, the Breeder turned to look at them and then approached. Menil soon felt the mental connection with the zombie.

"What can you do?"

Menil took a few steps back when he realized that the monster was almost upon him. This time the voice sounded clearer and more intelligent, which gave Menil a shiver that left him speechless.

"We can give information about the strength of the humans."

It took Menil a while to realize that he had heard Arnold's voice in his mind. Apparently the Breeder had created a connection between the three of them.

The Breeder nodded, but his response was not very positive.

"I know how strong they are. I don't need more."

The sentence left Menil speechless, and he didn't know how to explain to the Breeder that this was not enough information. He didn't even stop to think about what Arnold had offered.

"Well, I suppose more minions are better, though if they're still Stalkers they won't be much help. They'd better evolve. You'll have time for that tomorrow, for now help round up all the Stalkers nearby."

The Breeder's words caused Menil to feel uncomfortable, as he hoped the Breeder wouldn't give him human flesh or anything like that.

The rest of the night and the next day was spent in the surrounding blocks and even outside the suburb, attracting the attention of groups of Stalkers and other zombies to approach the shelter. Both Arnold and Menil came close to death on several occasions, but Sombra had saved them each time. The pesky zombie had followed him all day, which is why Menil was unable to contact the shelter.

To Menil's dismay, the hunt for the Stalkers continued until almost 10:00 p.m., at which time the Stalkers should become more powerful and initiate an attack. The infected were led by Shadow to the superblock in Block 2. The building was now almost empty, but Stalkers were still coming out of the flats.

"Food"

Menil didn't understand Sombra at first, but finally realized that he was referring to the Stalkers.