After taking a closer look at the two figures moving through the street that was dimly lit by the surrounding street lights, Xavier felt utterly confused.

Wasn’t Mr. Livera sick in bed? Mrs. Livera cannot walk properly either. What on earth happened to them?

The two figures were swaying left and right while walking through the middle of the street, but their movements were awfully slow. There was no sign of either of them being handicapped, or sick. Well, they looked sick, almost like they had resurrected from the dead.

The Liveras were an old couple, even older than Xavier’s grandmother. They were peace loving people and usually kept to themselves. Except for Mrs. Livera blaming their cat for her upturned flower bed that would make him scowl, he did not think of them as evil people.

But now as he watched them pursue their son while making odd, guttural noises, he was not sure what to think about it.

Their son, Henry, had recently returned to the small village along with his pregnant wife. His wife had been feeling under the weather so their doctor had suggested him to take her to a place with some fresh air. And Mr. Livera had been sick too. Thus, the expecting couple had come to live with their parents for a while.

Once or twice, Xavier had offered to help Henry in the yard, and Henry had returned the favor in kind, smiling brightly at him whenever they saw each other. The same Henry was now running away from his parents, unable to understand what had suddenly happened to them. In his haste to run away, he did not see the edge of the sidewalk and tripped upon it, falling to the road.

Xavier watched in horror as Mr Livera bent down and bit into his son’s neck, tearing a huge chunk of flesh from his body. The heart rending scream that tore through Henry’s mouth would haunt him for days.

Xavier felt as if his insides had frozen upon seeing how effortlessly Mr. Livera ripped a piece of flesh out of his son’s neck. Meanwhile, his mother stared at the horrifying scene in the middle of the street with utter shock. She was too stunned to even scream.

But the young Livera could scream, and that he did. His scream reverberated through the street, pained and full of desperation. He had no idea what was going on. How did his father get up from the bed, and why did his father attack him all of a sudden? While bleeding profusely, all the young man could do was cry and hold his father tightly in an attempt to stop him. But the strength in his body was failing him. He knew that he was going to die.

But he didn’t want to die. He had so much to lose. What would happen to his wife? What…what about his unborn baby?

Henry raised his hand, trying to call for help but the rapid loss of blood and flesh was too much for his body to bear. Silent tears streamed from his eyes as he waited death to greet him, for the pain to ebb away.

Filled with regret, the young man’s breathing grew heavier and heavier. At some point, his mother reached him as well. A faint flicker of hope emerged in his eyes. A strangled cry tried to leave his mouth when he saw his mother. Surely, she would help him. That was the reason she had come to him.

However, instead of pulling her husband away to help her dear son, Mrs. Livera joined the feast. Her teeth dug deep into her son’s flesh, tearing out his skin, muscles and flesh altogether.

Fuck this shit. What is wrong with this world?

Somehow, despite the horror and disgust making his skin prickle and his heart beat faster than a racing car, Xavier’s eyes stayed fixated on the grizzly act of cannibalism. Whether it was because of utter disbelief or some other reason, he couldn’t be sure.

But the visceral scene had him frozen in a sort of limbo, not allowing him to move or think. He watched as Henry went completely still while his parents kept feasting on his flesh, blood pooling around his now dead and lifeless body.

They killed their own son!! They’re eating him alive!! Xavier’s chest tightened and he felt unease clawing at him again. He barely suppressed the urge to throw up right in front of his mother. He paled and continued to stare at the bloody scenery that captivated him and his mother. They were safe in the kitchen for the time being, but the real question was…For how long would they be safe and sound from the danger?

His mother closed her eyes, her hands on her ears to drown out the gut wrenching screams of the poor young man.

By the time Xavier calmed down a little, he noticed that the corpse of the Livera’s son began to twitch again. He had stopped bleeding and his parents stepped away as he got up from the ground groggily. This time, however, his parents didn’t lunge at him to dig their teeth in his flesh. They did not pay any more attention to their son. Instead, they moved back to the center of the small street and began roaming around aimlessly once again.

Did the Liveras turn into Zombies? But how did they become Zombies then? When? How? Xavier tried to make sense of the situation but that was easier said than done. The first zombies he saw were old people. Was that of any importance?

What if Mr. Livera died, which turned him into a zombie? Maybe, it’s like the TV shows? Mr. Livera died, turned into a Zombie and bit his wife…but there are no bite or scratch marks on Mrs Livera. The blood on her belongs to her son…What about the heat I felt before linking with the Classless Deck? Mom felt the heat as well. What if the heat killed the Livera couple because they were too slow to create a link with the Classless Deck? Did the heat turn them into Zombies?

Multiple theories flashed through Xavier’s mind, but the heat in his chest seemed like the most plausible theory even if it sounded ominous. He didn’t like the theory but it didn’t sound impossible. Old people were less likely to react fast enough to pick up the Classless Deck and establish a link with it, especially if the old people were already sick.

“Grandma!” Xavier blurted out in shock. His grandmother was not in her prime anymore, but she had her good moments. Nonetheless, Xavier couldn’t tell if his grandma was fast enough to create a link with the Classless Deck. Images of her roaming around aimlessly just like the Livera couple flashed through his mind and dread filled his heart.

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Xavier feared he would see her in such a state but hoped that she was fine. She was a bit stern and would always try to scold him but he loved him and could not bear to see her in such a state.

Please let her be fine.

He offered a silent prayer to whichever God was listening to him and for a moment his mind turned blank, wondering if stepping out was a good idea.

Xavier’s mind turned blank and he hushed away, leaving his mother alone. Silvia was still shocked to the core, the gory scene imprinted on her mind permanently of watching the Livera’s son get killed by his own parents – his flesh being ripped out of his body white he was still alive – and seeing him get up a few seconds later like nothing happened.

It was terrifying.

“Honey…” Mark’s voice startled Silvia, who turned around to see him climb up the stairs. He was carrying Xavier’s hiking backpack which was filled to the brim with preserved food, some bottles of water and other miscellaneous items. When the three blazing boars arrived Xavier forgot about the backpack in the cellar. His father picked up the backpack and some other goods that may come in handy soon enough, “...where is Xavier?”

“What are you talking about? He is right next to m–...Where the hell did he go?!” Silvia didn’t even realize when Xavier left her side. She panicked for a moment, and looked around worriedly, only to hear something from outside. There she saw Xavier, in the driveway of their house…on his way to Livera’s son.

Xavier was tired of staying in the house and doing nothing but stare at the dangers outside the house. If the Liveras had turned into zombies the same could have happened with his grandmother’s neighbors. Or worse, his grandmother could have turned into a zombie.

Xavier couldn’t stay in the house not knowing what was going on. It was already getting dark as well.

They couldn’t stay in their exposed house. There were too many gaping holes that could be used as an entrance by monsters, or zombies. No matter what they wanted to do now, they had to hurry. Otherwise, it would be too dark to move around and find a safe hiding spot for the night.

I can do it. Stay calm and keep enough distance from their teeth and arms. You don’t have to embrace them. Just cut their heads like in the TV shows!

Xavier couldn’t believe that he was relying on the logic of TV shows right now, but he did not have many options to choose from either. He genuinely hoped that the brain was the zombies’ engine. If his guess was wrong, his restless move would quickly turn into a foolish death – his death.

Unsheathing the ruby katana as he left the house through one of the gaping holes in the living room, Xavier slowly made his way to the front of the house. He reached the driveway within a few seconds, while maintaining a tight grasp on the ruby katana. Holding a razor-sharp weapon allowed him to retain his calm composure. It didn’t suppress his wildly beating heart, but holding the katana gave him some reassurance.

Xavier didn’t tremble.

His eyes moved through the front yard as he surveyed the perimeter and pinpointed the location of the Livera family. At the same time, he also scanned the area for more unknown threats. Fortunately, there was nothing more dangerous than the Livera zombies.

The old Livera couple was still in the middle of the street while their son remained in the drive-in. He walked around groggily, and growling.

Then Xavier stepped onto the driveway, trying to not make any sound. However, the noises he made naturally were enough to attract the attention of the zombie in the driveway. The zombie turned to Xavier, his glassy eyes staring deep into Xavier’s soul.

Xavier swallowed hard as the zombie slowly began to walk towards Xavier.

I can do it!

Tightly gripping the katana, he stared back at the zombie. The familiarity of the zombie made Xavier hesitate for a quarter of a second. However, he reacted in the next instance. Breathing out loudly, he dashed forward. His heart was beating frantically, the sound loud enough to suppress the other noises all around him. The adrenaline rush coursing through his body forced Xavier to move, to keep going and to consider the zombie for what it was- a blood-sucking parasite.

The thing in front of him was not the son of the Liveras anymore. Their son was dead, and that thing was nothing but a monster with the shell of a dead human.

He is not human. He is dead. Kill him! Behead him! End his suffering!!

His breathing labored, Xavier moved closer, his eyes still fixated on the zombie. He raised the ruby katana and lashed out.

The ruby katana arced through the air, leaving a reddish afterimage right before it cut through the head of the incoming zombie. The sound of the blade slicing through flesh and bone made him feel horrible but he did not let his hold on the katana loosen.

Xavier grit his teeth so much that his jaw hurt, the pain a distraction from the fear trying to overwhelm him. He tried to use every bit of strength inside his body to cut through the zombie’s head and sever it in one go. However, the smiling face of Henry flashed before his eyes, of old times when they had shared a laugh. He saw it right in front of him as he struck the zombie…and hesitated.

The zombie inched closer, ignoring the blade stuck in its head. It made no effort to remove the blade nor did it give any indication of pain. Not that Xavier expected it to. Though he also did not expect it to keep moving with a blade lodge in its head. It just kept moving forward like a mechanical doll, hands outstretched in an attempt to scratch Xavier and gorge on his flesh.

At that point, Xavier figured that he shouldn’t have hesitated. The ounce of hesitation he showed in the face of this monstrosity could lead to his death. It was a grave mistake, a mistake he regretted.

All of a sudden, Xavier heard his mother’s scream. She screamed at the top of her lungs as she witnessed Xavier’s struggle against the monster. After seeing what happened to the son of the Liveras, Silvia didn’t want the same to happen to her son. She couldn’t watch him die.

So she shouted, her voice laced with desperation and worry.

“Kill that thing!!!”

Xavier felt a burst of strength awaken from the depths of his mind. He was not sure if it was his mother’s scream that infused him with confidence, or the events of the last few minutes but he prepared himself to deliver another blow, a killing one this time.

Gritting his teeth even harder than before, he closed his fingers upon the hilt of the katana, maintaining an iron grip on it.

I cannot afford to hesitate. Not now.

Clenching his fists until white was all one could see on his knuckles, Xavier used the last bits of momentum and strength within him to keep going, to move forward and finish his attack.

The zombie was just about to reach Xavier with its arms when Xavier groaned out loudly.

Suddenly, the ruby blade came down with a breakneck speed and cut through the zombie’s skull.

Inferior Infected has been slain. +2 Soul Essences