Chapter 34: Zero

Andrea has been staring back and forth at the photo for a full minute, and yet she was still having a hard time trying to find a resemblance between Robert and Zero.

Zero has long grey hair, and extremely pale almost grey skin– the only thing they have in common is probably their height. The young man in the photo also seemed cheerful, unlike Zero who doesn't seem to even know how to smile.

[Reader of Fate: Kieran Liner(Previously Honorable Bui), asks why Andrea is dissing their boy.]

[Reader of Fate: The Hidden Dragon, says now is Zero's chance to kill them both.]

"S… sir, is… Charlotte your mother?"

And finally, after a few more moments, Andrea could no longer help herself. As a saleslady, she learned how to ask questions to shorten the time the client needs to choose a cloak– and she shall now apply those skills to the real world.

"He is! His name is Robert!"

"My… name is Zero," Zero just shook his head as he continued to caress the fabrics scattered around the small apartment,

"I… don't have a mother."

"No!" Charlotte then quickly rushed towards the side of the apartment, rummaging through a crate for a few seconds, before returning back to Andrea and Zero with another photo, "Look! Look at the clothes he's wearing! That photo was taken before he went out!"

"This…"

"It's the same clothes! They're wearing the same clothes!"

"..." Zero also curiously looked at the photo, only to see 5 people on it– with one of them wearing the same clothes that Zero has always been wearing.

"S… see!?" Charlotte pointed at the blonde young man, "T… that's you. The woman beside you is Alice… then the three men standing behind are slayers."

"They… they returned a day after you guys went out for an expedition. But you… you didn't return. You–"

[Some of the Readers of Fate are getting suspicions of foul play.]

"Ah!"

And before Charlotte could finish her words, Andrea suddenly let out a small yelp,

"I… I couldn't see it in the other photo, but I could see it now!" Andrea then said as she once again placed the photo near Zero's face, "You… you do look somewhat alike except you're a bit… Tim Burtonized."

"Of course, they look alike!" Charlotte once again uttered from her lungs; her voice once again almost cracking,

"He's my son!" Charlotte then approached Zero; her hand, wanting to touch his face but still could not. Her face twisted whenever she saw the scars and wounds on Zero's face– he had been out there for 3 months– and she knew, she knew that this man in front of him was her son.

But even if he was, he wouldn't be the same as before. Her son was still a child when the Bubbles first appeared, and they were lucky enough to be in the center of the city where the military was able to set up a defense against the beasts that crippled the entire world. Of course, it wasn't only that.

They were lucky that slayers were also born in their area. In their case, they maxed out their luck because one of the slayers that were born in their area was Natalia Woods, the leader of the Slayer Association Concretespire Branch– an S-rank Slayer.

That was the case for almost all Safe Zones– the presence of an S-Rank Slayer ultimately decided their survival.

But it was hard– extremely hard. She had to adapt to a world that was forced to change, they all had to; suddenly, the food they ate was completely different– most from beasts. They had to be careful not to actually eat the human flesh that was already being digested in the monsters' stomachs.

They became sick from the new environment, but they survived. She survived because she had to make sure to survive for her son. Year 0 was when all of their humanity was tested. All of them were fighting for their lives– but of course, even their tragedy was nothing compared to those that were left outside the Safe Zones.

If you were a normal human, then your survival was basically…

…Zero.

It wasn't until a year later when more and more people accepted their new lives that they started to recover their humanity.

"I… I don't know what happened to you out there. I don't know what led you to become like this, but… but since you're back, we could– Where are you going!?"

And while Charlotte seemed to be pouring her heart out, Zero suddenly turned around and walked to the door; not even heeding Charlotte any mind as she screamed for him to come back. As for Andrea, the only thing she could really do was stop and embrace Charlotte.

There have been many cases like this– with mothers losing their sons, and then all of a sudden, just because someone slightly resembled their deceased loved ones, they start thinking it was them. It was tragic, it is tragic. But at least Zero was patient enough to at least listen to what Charlotte had to say. In the end, he might seem apathetic, but…

…he was a decent human being after all.

[Some of the Readers of Fate are saying, 'Hm… About that…']

"..." Andrea embraced Charlotte tighter, preventing her from rushing to Zero. It was better this way– although she had only really seen Charlotte once or twice whenever she delivered cloaks, the sadness in her eyes was hard not to see. She… would be heartbroken once she finds out Zero and her son were two completely different people.

"Wait! Please wait!" Charlotte still continued to struggle; her hand stretched towards Zero, "I… I called Alice, she… she should be here any–"

And before she could finish her words, Zero opened the door… but was not able to step out because someone was there.

It was a woman, with hair almost as red as the setting sun. Even Andrea, whose vision was slightly blocked by Zero's back, was able to recognize who the woman was– Alice, the woman standing beside Robert in the photo.

"...Robb!?"

And even she wrapped her arms around Zero without any hesitation after just looking at his face for a few seconds, "You…

…You're alive!?"

And so, with that– a thought finally occurred to Zero. Was it, perhaps possible…

…that he really did know these people before he became a zombie?

[Some of the Readers of Fate are saying no. Just leave, you're our child.]

"..." Zero then slightly lowered his head to look at the woman that suddenly hugged him. And for some reason, he could smell…

…the scent of a slayer from her.