4.3

Warning: GORE

A rustle of wind swift vacantly in the corner of the buildings. On a deserted street, an old newspaper was blown up by the wind, and it snapped to a person with his hands hanging in both sides, swaying aimlessly on the street at slow pace. Perhaps, he can no longer be called a person. Hall of his face was rotten, exposing the white bones under the cortex, a pair of eyeballs hanging on the eye sockets that was only connected by the veins, under those eyes was yellow mucus, the corner of his mouth was covered with dark blood, flowing down to the road in such an abhorrence way. His mouth was opened, and it revealed his yellow teeth with few rotten meat on it, and the injured throat was making strange noises, like a beast hungry for prey and like an individual desperate to find food. The clothes on his body was also tattered and enveloped with blood.

There are few similar humans with the same state he was, walking in the street without directions and their movements couldn't be identified as human at all.

Suddenly, a burst of explosion pulled their senses into one direction. One gunshot followed by another penetrated in the silent street, one by one, the creature fell down on the road while the others tried to run to the sources of those sounds, screaming and yelling like a beast. Perhaps, those people knew their weaknesses and with just a single shot, they already stopped moving. The strange thing was after the gunshot sounded, it follows another strange noise which came from the other side, making all the creatures confused and lost their tracks. At the end, none of them survived and fell for their deaths.

The gunshot stopped, and the silence filled again.

"Wow, I didn't think I could walk again here." The teenager wearing a black combat suit with ballistic vest put down his gun and said cheerfully.

The other man nodded and didn't bother to give a response.

Daniel pouted at his silence. But still, he didn't get irritated and was already accustomed to the other party's behavior. He picked the materials in the building and put them in a large military bag.

"Where should we go, Captain?" He asked.

Michael stopped his movements and connect the communicator on his side. He opened it and call the other party.

"Yes, Captain?" It was answered by a female's voice.

"Go west and let's meet at the Stein's hospital."

"Copy."

Daniel nodded happily on his side and started walking ahead. He paused when he saw his poster five years ago. But compared from the past, the 'he' on the picture looks like a pampered young master. He still looks handsome and neat, but his skin was rougher and darker. Muscles appeared all over his body, resulting for the harsh environment.

Five years ago, an outbreak occurred in different cities. The Government and Military issued a red noticed all over the city and closed the main gate in the capital. An unknown creature killed and devoured ten military personnel in the B city, which also turned into a monster. The higher ups wanted to catch one of those creature to conduct experiment and find the root of those viruses, afterwards the Government forbid everyone to go out during this time and was all put into a strict quarantine unless all those creatures would be found and identify. The Government sent out Militaries in the B city and the remaining was issued the safety of the citizens.

During this time, some families couldn't afford to wait and broke the rules. They went out, and followed by another. This made the authorities angry and all of them were put together in one place. But they were unaware that one of them had already encountered the creature and was bitten.

Once bitten, the virus will soon spread in an hour and will soon turn like them. The guards didn't notice him, and it was too late when all of those people was found infected by just a single person.

The situation was getting out of hand and the outbreak spread like a wildfire. Many turned like those creature and many dies. Only 25% of the population survived.

The authorities and military established bases in different region and city. The remaining survivor, old or young, woman or man was trained to become a soldier and some were put into a laboratory to help develop the antidote of this virus.

The survivor couldn't argue, and the authorities buried their sympathy, to enter the bases, at least one of three members of family should contribute in the army. The remaining will work as a labors or cooks in the base.

Money lost its value together with the popularities of many idols. Some celebrities already look far from what they look in the last, the girls were now strong enough to hold several guns. In this new era, only the strong were respected.

"Captain, do you think this is the shortcut?" Daniel asked hesitantly.

They were about to enter the dark path, and they never knew what was inside that path. Michael looked at him annoyingly. He lifted his sleeves and revealed his watch into the teenager's eyes.

"We've been here three months already, and I already familiarize myself in this place. In this path, we are going to meet the other team from the other side."

Daniel chuckled nervously.

Since the apocalypse began, the electricity and signal has lost its functions. The Government could only repair the electricity on the base and not all the places. They'd been here for already three months and finally, they cleared all the zombies.

Dr. Peter Steins was rumored to be the culprit of this apocalypse. He was arrested by the authorities and was put in an observation room for two months. He was believed to be the one that summon those man-eating creature and was printed as the human's disaster. Strangely, Dr. Steins seems possessed by someone and insisted on going back to his family's hospital. He declared that there is something inside his laboratory, and that thing can end all of this. Authorities and military won't trust him anymore and believes that this is the trick he was using, but after losing half of the population, the higher ups tried to believe his assumptions.

He was escorted by almost a hundred of soldiers and his expedition was prioritized by many. However, they find it odds when they arrived that no zombies were present in these places. They let their guards lowered which were their biggest regret because a night after, half of the team disappeared mysteriously, including Dr. Steins himself. The next day, almost their throats tightened by the sight which greeted them. There were mountains of corpses in the backyard and all bodies were in chaos. Their organs scattered and the pool of blood covered the ground. Dr. Steins was also included in those.

They were scared and were about to retreat when countless zombies appeared out of nowhere.

Confusion merged in their mind, and it was too late before they knew that they had lost the battle that has not even begun. Luckily, someone survived and reported the situation to the higher ups.

Majority couldn't believe it because according to the doctors, those creatures had no intelligence and can only follow their instinct to attack. How come they were ambushed? Many had speculated that maybe Dr. Steins were right, that this strange thing in the laboratory were the one needed to end this catastrophe. If not, why would the zombies protect the hospital? But they couldn't instantly jump out into conclusion. Some assumed that there is also a creature that has an intelligence to command those things and possibly that thing were the leader of these zombies. That's why they couldn't act without a plan.

First, many teams went to that place just to observe and investigate. After three years, they sent the most outstanding team to eliminate the zombies guarding in the hospital slowly. It took nearly three months before the place was finally clear.

Daniel stopped his pace and narrowed his eyes, "C-Captain... I seem to see something."

Alarmingly, Michael also look at his sight. The path is very dark, and the quietness was already unusual. Far from them, they could hear a vague footstep heading to them. They pulled out their gun and position themselves defensively.

The footsteps weren't clear whether it was a human or not, but certainly this isn't a man-eating creature. The pacing were calm and unhurriedly, as if the sound of the tickling clock and the breeze of the flowing water. Strangely, they could hear the loud beat of their hearts. After the footstep was close enough, Daniel dared to open his flashlight.

What greeted them was not a monster. But a gorgeous young man in ancient red dress.

"Hello... I'm lost... can you help me?"