Chapter 28: Family of Three

After checking her phone, she noticed that the weather forecast wasn't wrong about rain. However, something continues to nag at her chest. She thought about it for a while as she changed her mind to go hide in some alleyways.

"What is it?" Akira echoed.

Willow didn't try to respond. Not yet, anyway.

After going through some corners and alleys for another two hours, it was only then did she continue doing her new path to her destination.

Akira, having witnessed her long silence, decided to give up and wait to see. He was very interested in whatever goes on in this child's mind now that she had gained control over the security of her private thoughts and emotions from being read by him. Yet, wasn't it a little fast for her to have full control over this after having her first familiar for a few days?

He's hardly made much of a proper contract before with others and never one lasted for more than a day or two because of their bloodlines or the trouble they bring. The majority of the time was that he could read their thoughts and know whether to continue placing his bets on them. So, he was always the one to break the contract.

However, this child was so troublesome that she'd limit the freedom in this field and stole his strength for who knows what! Even now, he doesn't know where all that strength he's accumulated for years went off to. Rather than gaining something, wasn't he losing it?

However, this thought was quickly pushed aside when they heard a scream possibly around the block.

"That sounds like its not too far from here." Akira responded mentally, "I wonder, hey!"

Before he could finish, Willow had already began tracking her way back till she saw at the bend of the street was the family of three she had seen kicked out of the rundown hotel just last night. Thinking of the events that had occurred the night prior reminded Willow of all the eye sores and irritation she had felt this morning caused by the lack of sleep.

The family of three looked to have consisted of a young mother and two children whom were chased by numbers of those zombies they had encountered the day before. However, they were more active than yesterday and had proceeded to literally run after the family of three. Akira, who saw this, smirked and began to prepare himself for a cat fight, but Willow didn't take a step forward. Instead, she watched the attack from the side silently.

"Willow?" the cat hissed to get her attention.

But there was no response as Willow just continued to watch against the corner of a building. The children looked to be a boy nearing his teens and a young girl probably only a few years younger than her brother with a ragged yellow laced dress.

The mother tried to desperately push the children away from her to the alleys as they desperately clung to the mother's floral pants. Akira saw this and curiously followed her stance without a word knowing that nobody would know that she only watched as the attack occurred before her. Seconds ticked by as the zombies rushed after the three with the mother slapping her children across the face harshly and forcing them to let go of her.

In tears, the children cried as they were shoved into the pitch black alley way while the mother started to run. However, it was only at this time that Willow picked up a brick scattered from the roots of the dead tree and threw it at one of the zombies. The creatures paused in their steps while Willow quickly hid behind the broken barber signpost that had collapsed with part of the building. She waited quietly before realizing the screams echoing and Willow took a peak.

It was then that she saw something that would partly support her hypothesis. The zombie creatures that had chased after the woman had lost their target and was now attacking one another biting and tearing on the neck and face or wrestling amongst each other. After watching this go on for five minutes, they abruptly fell to the ground without further movements like a puppet with their strings cut off.

With this, Willow had a pretty good idea that what she guessed was true, but another question formed in her mind amongst all the existing ones. How did the worms know which part of the brain to damage to cause this zombie-like behavior? Willow knew that something was up, but she stepped out from her hiding spot and walked over to the dead bodies. With her gloves and mask on, she prodded at the bodies and opening the jaws to confirm her suspicions. There was pieces of flesh still in their mouth left that has yet to be swallowed and their eyes had rolled back masking a sheet of white.

"Uh, excuse me?"

Hearing the foreign words, Willow raised a brow and turned her head to find herself face to face with the children. She frowned under her mask and responded, "Where's your mother? You should go back to her now. The danger is over for the time being."

"Li! Little Li!"

Willow shivered when she heard that voice and turned to see the mother rush over to them. The girl cried as she rushed over and jumped into the woman's arm. Well, at least that looked to be the plan when the child stopped hesitantly. However, the mother brushed that aside and scooped up the child in her arms without hesitation in tears. Willow stopped from her work and watched them curiously.

In the end, all she saw was the children bawling their eyes out and the mother trying to console and apologize over and over and over again. However, amongst the conversation, she picked out the words the mother said.

Xiao Li and Xiao Yang.

Willow thought for a bit before keeping her distance from the mother who was still sweating and looked to be rather dehydrated after all that running. Willow frowned but spoke, "Pardon me. How long have you been here?"

The mother looked to her in confusion but held a tone that sounded as though she was offended, "Who are you?"

Great...

Just what she needed...

"Willow." She replied without hesitation, "I used to go by a different name but changed it into English after I cut off from the family. I'm here to check on the situation."

"The situation?" The mother raised a brow, "How can I trust you with that mask on?"

"This mask?" Willow raised a brow, "You haven't heard of a virus going around?"

"Virus?" The mother narrowed her eyes on her in confusion and disbelief when she heard this, "The city is quarantined. How could the virus spread?"

"Because the virus is passed airborne." Willow responded, "And there are survivors that escaped before the quarantine occurred."

"That's..."

Finally, the mother was speechless when she heard this. Willow knew rather to mention the airborne to cause more suspicion, it would be even better to talk of survivors simply because this mother doesn't look to be the type that would take a strangers' words especially what had happened last night when they were kicked out. Willow thought for a bit before continuing, "I just need to know what happened recently. I'm gathering information for a doctor South East of China. He has his doubts, but we're suspecting the virus originated from here so the whole country is quarantined by the government."

"What?!" The woman stared at her in bewilderment.

"I'm more surprised that the residents in Beijing doesn't know yet." Willow added as she hid her expression under her mask, "Everyone is required to wear a mask and gloves when the leave and those with fevers aren't allowed to leave their residence. The same goes with those traveling. They're stuck in other cities away from home and tourists are stuck in this country too. Since the government won't say anything, I left to come here and find things out myself. I was originally a student here and left to see my uncle just before the events took a turn for the worst. I just need to know what happened."

"That's..."

Despite her hesitation, she finally spilled the beans on what happened after that day with the volcano eruption. The government that was suppose to help support them turned their backs on the and began taking away people that had been affected by the virus but survived the eruption and ashes. Each day, more people would continue to be affected till zombies started appearing amongst the living and began killing. Her husband who went to find the officials for help was accused to have been affected by the virus amongst many others they've accused and shot on the spot. This led to an outbreak in social orders and anarchy ensued.

Now, zombies roam the streets as the people continue to disappear at a more terrifying rate. Just the night before, she had gotten a fever, so she and her children were kicked out of the shelter to become trash for the government to collect.

After being in hiding the entire night, they thought that this attack would be the last of them if Willow hadn't made tricked them into harming themselves. They don't know much about the government's action, but they believe that those that had been with them made up false reports of military activities to trick them after having seen the outside for the first time in weeks.

Yet, with her words, Willow didn't choose to take it all into consideration, especially not the part about the government silencing the people holding complaints.

The government could be sly at times, but they're not dumb after many years in office. Information will leak one way or another unless they'd wipe out the entire city in one sweep and, even then, it would be too big of a step to take. The problem is how did they do it?

After talking with the mother, Willow questioned about the city more than the situation which was doing better at gaining her trust now. However...

"Keep it a secret?" The mother frowned in bewilderment, "But, the people will continue to suffer."

"It's because they're suffering that this needs to be kept a secret." Willow responded quietly with a frown, "Do you want the government to take drastic measures once they learn that the people here realized that their quarantine efforts ended for naught? We're not talking about anarchy anymore. We're talking about chaos and more people will die under a gun or taken from their homes and shelters."

"That's..." The mother held a stunned expression of overwhelming disbelief when she thought of this, "So that's why the armed men never received any progress."

Willow nodded, "I doubt everyone here didn't know about the virus spreading. But, the government is powerful. It's always been a known fact. Not everyone knows that everything isn't always done for the best interests of the people. It's just the side benefit sometimes. The last arrest of the leader or prime minister was because he was caught using his powers to win the election and there was evidence given to the media. It won't always happen. There are good people, but not all of them will have power. Do you think they can overpower the others? Or their thoughts on this matter?"

Though the scenario that she talked about could be said true, she wasn't a government person and can't even figure out the government system of this country that has become her new homeland. Willow was only saying this to convince the mother. She can't tell what the mother's background was, but she needs to make herself sound more convincing on a vague scale. Make herself sound more believable.