Chapter 67: Humanity

Menil and Arnold entered the superblock together and proceeded to kill and consume other Stalkers. The job turned out to be much easier than they expected, as the zombies were distracted trying to get to the car park, under the Breeder's orders.

Neither of them quite understood what the Breeder wanted from them now, but they both figured they must have evolved into something better than a Stalker.

"Do you think that zombie is still following us?" Menil asked.

"No, I saw it come back with the Breeder. It's like dealing with children, they don't suspect us a bit."

"Well, it's not like they should be afraid of us. We should find a place to talk to Adam and the others from."

Arnold paused and looked at Menil with some curiosity.

"I thought... no, forget it."

Menil stopped while he was killing a stalker and turned to look at Arnold.

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, let's find a place where we can devour these zombies in peace."

Menil had a bad feeling, but decided to say no more. The two of them dragged a large number of dead Stalkers into an apartment and slowly devoured them.

Menil would have liked to say that the process was disgusting, but he would be lying. Once he started eating he couldn't stop. Moreover, he felt that his body was able to process the corpses at a chilling speed, which is why he could eat several times his own weight without any problems.

However, devouring Stalkers was not completely satisfying. Menil knew, thanks to the System, that he had to devour more corpses than a normal zombie to evolve and that devouring humans was much more effective, especially those with a high level.

"Finally we can eat to our heart's content."

Arnold's voice interrupted Menil's thoughts and he turned to look at him. Arnold had just devoured a chunk of a Stalker and was covered in blood all over his face. The scene looked like something out of a nightmare, but it didn't affect Menil much, but what he did fear, however, was Arnold's insinuation.

"I suppose so," was all he replied.

"All the zombies we could have devoured, but they only gave us a handful of stalkers we killed in the car park, and that was so we wouldn't starve to death."

Menil looked at Arnold, his eyes had turned redder than usual and he was giving off a slightly different vibe.

"Do you still plan to communicate with them?"

"Yes."

Arnold stopped abruptly and looked Menil in the face.

"Why? All they do is keep us locked up while they distrust us."

Menil stood up and eyed Arnold warily.

"Simple, I still believe I'm human."

"I see, it's because of your brother, isn't it? I envy that about you, at least you can continue to care for others."

Menil had to admit that Arnold was right. His connection with his brother allowed him to feel closer to the other humans. That was why he had ended up as the leader of the infected, because the others found it hard to relate to others.

"If you don't feel good about us, why didn't you leave?"

Arnold began to laugh incessantly.

"Unfortunately, you're pretty stupid, Menil, at first I thought you weren't, but now it's all clear. I'm not going to answer your stupid question, so answer this, why do you still think you're human? I don't care how you feel about your brother. Just look at where we are and what we are doing and tell me if it is something a normal human would be able to do."

Menil looked at the corpses on the ground and the blood. He felt a shudder, but not because of the scene, but because of his own indifference. Still, he answered Arnold quickly.

"Because I am able to make the decision to go against my instincts and choose to live the way I want to live. I think zombies are like... animals. They have no morals and no boundaries."

"Well, at least it's a halfway intelligent thing to do. You're certainly right, but for me it's not enough. We keep our humanoid form for now, but there's nothing to prevent us from transforming into monstrous beings. Do you think the shelter will accept us by that time?"

Menil wanted to answer yes, but he wasn't sure, he had felt the stares of some of the survivors and he knew that if those people could expel him they would do it without thinking. Then he thought about people like Leonard, who completely disagreed with his existence.

"You can't answer, can you?" What's the point of continuing to believe in your own humanity if most of the other humans hate you? How long can you live there? How long can you stay weak and docile so that no one will panic?

Menil felt a lump in his throat. Everything Arnold said was one blow after another.

"Look at the world we live in now, Menil. This is not the time to remain weak. If we want to live, we will have to start evolving and destroy everything that prevents it."

"What's your plan then, are you going to join the zombies instead of us? Wouldn't you be in a similar position?"

"It might happen, I don't know. But for now I have found that they don't care what I am and only care about my power. Besides, we can take advantage of their idiocy to manipulate them and live well."

"That's quite an ambition you've got there, Arnold, but remember my brother is still in the shelter, I won't betray him for anything."

"I feared as much, my friend."

Arnold leapt at Menil without warning, but the latter was already prepared for it. He dodged a blow to the chest and, before he could think clearly, his [Warrior] instincts got the better of him and he struck back with his long, sharp nails.

The attack penetrated Arnold's side and left a horrible hole in the back, from which a gush of blood began to spurt out. It was a mortal wound. The infected screamed in pain and reached for the door.

"You don't even fight like a human and you still think you are one."

Menil thought for a moment to finish him off, but hesitated for a moment, which was a mistake, for he had completely forgotten that Arnold's Class was [Mage].

Arnold fired, without warning, a chunk of rock that Menil tried to dodge unsuccessfully. The spell hit his arm and exploded moments later.

Menil was propelled into the corpses of the Stalkers, which prevented him from hitting the wall hard. His arm was finished, for it was now just a shredded piece of flesh. The pain was excruciating, as he had wounds all over his body.

Meanwhile, Arnold, who was beginning to feel weaker and weaker as he lost blood, left the room. He could have used this moment to kill Menil, but he was more concerned about his wound.

As he made his way down the corridor, he cursed himself for what an idiot he was. What kind of [Mage] starts an attack with a punch? Especially against a [Warrior]. Arnold had been carried away by the anger he felt towards Menil, so much so that he had attacked as if he were a human.

He fell to the floor in the corridor and watched as everything filled with blood. He was not prepared to die like that, so he set about thinking of a solution. Luckily for him, a group of Stalkers spotted him and the smell of blood momentarily broke the Breeder's grip on their demeanor. These zombies approached him slowly, as they struggled against the Breeder's will.

Arnold was relieved to see this and then cast a spell in the direction of the zombies. The explosive rock detonated with force and killed four Stalkers, but there were still 10 more to go. The spell was quite powerful, but it cost too much energy, so he only had enough to cast it a couple more times.

He waited for the right moment and then attacked with all his might. The result was that the corridor was filled with blood and pieces of corpses. Without much time left, Arnold crawled over to the nearest pieces and began to devour them quickly. It wasn't long before he received the system message.

[You have devoured enough corpses to start your evolution. It will be affected by the genes of those you have devoured. Evolution will start automatically in 10 minutes, but can be activated right now].

Without much thought, Arnold told the System to start the evolution immediately. He hoped it would cure him. He felt horrible pain all over his body and lost consciousness, not knowing whether he had succeeded or not.

Menil, on the other hand, finished devouring the stalkers in the room and lost consciousness only a little while before. While he was unconscious, his body deformed into an amorphous mass before taking on his new form. All the clothes he was wearing, along with the Walkie Talkie, which had coincidentally survived Arnold's spell, fell to the floor.

The mass slowly molded itself into a slender, slim figure with wings on its back. Without knowing how much time had passed, Menil awoke from the deepest sleep he had ever had in his life.