Walking Corpses Without Bodies, In Other Words Rotting Souls

'Thinking back, I was really lucky that the quake knocked the boy off balance. Looking back, he was unreasonably fast.'

So she thought as she walked through the void, searching for the source of the large quake.

Some figures of animals did attack her while she was wandering but they were all dealt with almost immediately by way of broken neck.

'Did I kill all the strong things around here? After the 'evil' 'kid' who gave me some questionable info I haven't really seen any challenging figure.'

She huffed and puffed in her mind while skipping through the void, happy that no unreasonably strong monster was attacking her.

'Nice and semi-peaceful.'

And as she told herself this, she heard screaming, moaning, growling and a bit of howling.

'... Well, that's ominous. Is that the source of the quake?'

She asked herself, before answering a moment later.

'No, couldn't be. The quake that ran through the ground came from that away while that gross amalgamation of sound came from That way.'

Thinking for a moment, she reached toward the ground and drew an arrow into the ground with her nail that pointed toward the source of the quake.

'So it isn't indestructible. Cool. Anyway, now I know which way to go after checking out that cloddish anthem.'

Taking a mental note of the location of the arrow, she walked towards the voices.

After a light walk, she saw something in the distant horizon.

A group of figures.

They seemed very much different compared to the ones she has seen before.

They seemed to be rotting.

'They have parts of their body slowly rotting away. It looks strangely 'alive' the way they rot.'

She stopped a good distance away while she observed.

'They are humanoid, two are rather tall, posh and with pointy ears while the rest look like normal humans.'

The group was muddling around, throwing weak punches and trying to claw and bite at each other.

'They're like zombies.'

She slowly came in closer.

'I don't know if they could infect me but having this 'thing' spread to normal beasts and animals around here would be bad.'

As she came within a certain distance, she saw a small group of them surrounding a pure white figure. The figure was that of a child.

'The speedy kid didn't mention anything like zombies. Though the kid there should be rather pure if the colour of isn't lying.'

Making her decision, she came at the group from the side.

Running past them, she tripped as many as she could before jumping and crushing each of their heads with all the leg strength she could muster.

'I need a red cap for this.'

This strategy did not work for all of them so she took up a different strategy.

The ones remaining were the tall ones and the group surrounding the kid.

The tall ones were a good few meters away from her so she started with the group of zombies that should be in prison.

'Old reliable.'

Going up behind them, she snapped their neck. Although she did not intend to, the heads ended up being removed as well.

The kid had scars, quite a few. Some seemed like bite marks.

She didn't have time to examine them closely though as the tall figures had finally reached her.

'Lanky vermin.'

She made slight distance and observed them.

'They seem... different than the rest.'

They still looked like the same brainless rotting souls as the others yet they seemed off. Not due to their height and pointy ears but something else.

Their figure was a lot paler but that also couldn't be it.

'Dangerous? Maybe.'

Seeing as how their hands were very deeply rotten, she thought that hand to hand combat wouldn't be too disadvantageous.

'Boxing with someone who only has bones and skin for hands shouldn't be too tough.'

Wiping her nose with her thumb, she got into a boxing stance as she hopped from side to side.

'For some reason, this feels familiar. Yet I don't remember doing anything like this.'

Jumping forward, as she landed she took another large step and spun her body into a roundhouse kick.

One of the lanky zombies was kicked to the ground while the other gurgled.

'I don't think they can communicate. Or think even.'

Nearing the second zombie, she landed a right and then a left jab onto their side which made them lean their head down.

Taking that advantage, she charged up a punch and threw an uppercut which in turn threw the lanky fellow onto the ground.

'Double K.O.'

As she saw the second one fall to the ground, she turned her attention toward the first.

Gone.

'Where-?'

She jumped to the side she was looking at and analyzed the surroundings.

The first one was behind her, a moment away from grappling and chowing down on her unprepared self.

Kicking their leg and hearing a light snap, she saw as they fell to the floor face first.

Taking the opportunity, she slammed her leg on their neck and the figure soon dissipated.

'Great. One down.'

Hearing a low growl from behind her, she looked towards the second lanky figure and made a half step of distance.

Pure rot streamed from their eyes as they stood up seemingly full of rage yet their face was strangely unmoving.

'It could be an ability like the kids.'

She thought as she readied herself.

The lanky figure moved more fluently.

They got into a boxing stance and hopped from side to side.

'Huh.'

They suddenly leapt forward and after landing, took another step and spun their body into a roundhouse kick.

Dodging down, she barely managed to avoid the kick.

The lanky fellow, the only one left of the rotting group of humanoids seemed to have an ability that stole fighting techniques.

This didn't phase her as she just thought they could box as well as her.

'I wonder if they'll try the same thing as me? I am pretty great at this fighting thing.'

Taking a single step back, she sidestepped two jabs.

'I have an idea!'

She thought as she saw them charging the uppercut.

Instead of backing off, just as the attack was thrown, she took a step forward.

Catching the fist with her hands, she let the force of the attack lift her up high enough to bring a knee straight at the lanky fellow's chin.

The lanky figure took the hit and fell to the ground where the last thing it saw through its rot leaking eyes were two feet travelling towards her head.

The head was smashed into mush much like many others before it.

'You know. Maybe I should have minded my own business. They would have died either way.'

She thought as she approached the child who lay on the ground.

'You know. Never mind, the kid told me that killing things here makes you stronger. If that lanky fellow would have killed everyone here they would have gotten a lot stronger than me.'

As she reached the kid, she kneeled down.

"Are you awake, child?"

"Ughh. Where is mom? Dad?"

The child had ears similar to the two lanky fellows that had just died. The conclusion that came to was that this was the child of those two lanky zombies.

'This isn't a place for a kid...'

She thought as she looked at her hand and clutched it.

'The bites on their arm seem to be slowly rotting their flesh as well.'

The best option she could come up with to save the kid from their suffering would be death. She had no way to save her.

'Damn. Just because I killed someone that looked like a kid once doesn't mean I can kill an actual kid just like that...'

She could, of course, try to save her but what could cure a rotting soul?

She did not have the answers and neither did she think that the kid would survive long enough to find those answers either.

'...Guess there is no choice. It's better than rotting and becoming a mindless zombie.'

"... Go to sleep child."

"Where is mom? I'm scared. I-it hurts..."

"It is okay."

She placed the kid's head on her thighs, providing a sort of pillow.

"Rest easy. The pain will stop soon enough."

"C-can I see mom?"

"You may see her soon enough. For now, rest."

"O-okay. You promised."

'What a trusting kid... Now I feel even worse.'

Patting the head of the kid, she could feel no temperature. It was neither warm nor cold.

As the child slept for a while, she realized she didn't have any way to end it painlessly.

'Shit. Is dying in your sleep worse than dying awake? The kid might just think I betrayed them if I kill them now. Not that I really want to.'

She let out a soft sigh.

'I shouldn't care. They'll be dead and forget either way. But... I don't think of myself as a bad person. Killing them now would seem like assassination.'

She was having an internal conflict.

'Screw it. I'll just wait for them to wake up. If I don't find a good way then I'll just make them sleep again.'

After a while, the kid woke up.

"Morning."

"Good morning."

"Did you sleep too?"

"No. I was providing you with a pillow.'

"Oh. Thank you."

"No problem."

"C-can I see mom now?"

"...Yes. But first."

She hugged the kid.

'What would kids even want to hear in this situation? I'm not a psychiatrist. Uhhh... Oh, what about.'

"Uhmm. are you ok-"

"It's not your fault."

"Eh?"

After a second of confusion, bright clear tears rolled down the kid's face.

She let the kid use her shoulder as a towel while she thought to herself.

'I think snapping the neck would be pretty painful for a second. If I just break that one part of the spine near the neck instantly it should be fine though. *Sigh* damn aren't I rather ruthless in this void.'

As the crying died down, the kid wiped their tears and spoke.

"Thank you, lady."

"... It's okay. Goodbye."

She shoved her fingers through the back of the kid's neck.

*SNAP

The kid turned to motes of light a moment later.

She did not know if the kid had felt any pain, she could not see their face and neither was she an expert.

And even if she had the chance, she did not want to find out if it was painless or not.