Volume 1 - Chapter 27

The Hybrid

I stood over the zombie woman I had just shot, her body barely twitching on the floor.

She was far from any type of a second death, but the creature didn't even try to crawl back up to her feet. It was like she was stuck in some kind of trance, unable to move the way she wanted.

Ryotaro stumbled up beside me, leaning heavily against the hallway wall. The old man wasn't looking too good.

His face was pale and sweaty, and his eyes had a glassy, unfocused look to them.

I didn't feel so good either. My head was pounding and my stomach churning. Something was definitely wrong here.

The air in the hallway felt thick and heavy, like it was pressing in on me. There was no air conditioning, and I had broken out in a sweat.

I looked around, trying to figure out what was causing all this.

The walls were covered in peeling wallpaper and the carpet stained and worn. There was a faint smell of mold and decay in the air, but that wasn't it.

I had no idea.

"You okay?"

He clearly wasn't but nodded anyway, "yes."

I turned to the apartment door, ready to kick it in if the stranger didn't open up. I was ready to get the hell out.

It finally opened and a tall, skinny man in his thirties stood in the doorway. He was wearing a long sleeve plaid shirt with gloves, and had a backpack slung over one shoulder.

I didn't ask any questions. They looked thankful to see us.

A nine-year-old boy stood next to him, half-hidden behind the man. The boy's eyes were wide with terror. He was just as tired and sick looking as I felt, and it made me sad the boy was in that condition.

Genta's eyes darted nervously between me and Ryotaro. He looked like he hadn't slept in days and he was trying to process whether we were safe or not.

I judged this to be the appropriate reaction to our arrival. I no longer thought they were dangerous, and I believed we did the right thing by saving them.

"You're Genta, right?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady as I felt increasingly sick to my stomach.

The man nodded, "yes, and this is Haru."

He gestured to the boy, who didn't move or speak.

"Good," I struggled to say. "What's going on with this place? We feel like garbage."

The man's eyes narrowed. "I don't know. We both feel fine."

I didn't understand how Genta wasn't feeling ill, but it didn't matter. I looked at Haru. It was hard to imagine what must have been going through his little mind right then.

"Anything else you need to grab?" I asked.

Genta shook his head.

"Good. Let's get out of here."

The man was hesitant, then nodded. I turned and followed Ryotaro as he lead us back through the hallways.

I was having trouble thinking clearly, and I was trusting that this man wouldn't attack or betray us.

"Follow me," I said.

The air was still thick and heavy, and I wasn't doing so well. I could barely keep my rifle held up in front of me.

The walls around me started blurring out of focus, twisting and turning like I was on some type of mind-altering trip. I had a massive headache that pounded behind my eyeballs.

As we moved, I could hear the man and the boy behind me. They were not very quiet, but I didn't care about teaching them how to survive around zombies right then. I just wanted to get away from the place.

We made it back to the lobby on the first floor without any incident.

Ryotaro missed a step at the bottom of the stairs. He tumbled to the floor, unable to catch himself, and landed with a thud. His helmet popped off and rolled away, and he dropped the baseball bat.

"Old man!" I yelled.

Rushing to his side I squatted down. He struggled to roll over on his own. Blood dripped from Ryotaro's nose. His arms were half-limp, and he could barely keep his eyes open as he looked up at me.

"I am dying," he said.

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"NO! You're not dying you old bastard!"

But even as I said that to him I felt wobbly like I was about to pass out. I dropped the rifle and squatted next to him.

"Maybe I'm the one dying?" I said, confused and feeling weak.

Ryotaro kept his eyes on me. "What is happening?"

"I don't know. It's this place…"

I saw motion in my dark periphery and remembered that Genta and the boy were there with us. I had forgotten all about them when my friend Ryotaro stumbled and fell on the last few steps.

The man walked towards us very slowly, but my vision was blurred. He was dragging the boy Haru behind him, who was kicking and screaming in terror.

I could hardly process what was happening. I was wondering why the boy was trying to get away from the man but I couldn't connect the dots yet. It was like my mind had slowed to a crawl.

Haru was screaming. The sounds of a terrified kid finally pierced through my logic and I realized he was trying to get away from Genta.

This would have been an instant realization just a few minutes earlier. After some time in the apartment I was experiencing difficulties with basic thought.

"What…?" I barely managed to ask, "…is happening?"

Blood dripped from my own nose. It splattered on the floor where I was half-leaned over Ryotaro. I had to pick up the rifle and point it towards the man, but I couldn't convince my hands to do what I needed them to do.

I heard Genta from a thousand kilometers away. "Stay still. You're bleeding."

It didn't make any sense. I was still wondering why the boy wanted to get away from the man. I was still wondering why the man was dragging the boy.

I was wondering why the man's face looked like it was focused on my gun instead of me. The man knew something was wrong…or he was the wrong.

He was near, and I could finally confirm he was eyeballing the rifle beside me. I had little time before I passed out.

It took what felt like ten years to process my surroundings, and he was moving at me faster than I could do anything about.

"No," I said, "get back!"

It took all my focus and energy to reach for the gun. It was my only thought. Nothing else mattered. I fought against all the powers of the universe just to move my hand to the rifle and pick it up.

The man stopped as I got the weapon up and aimed at him. He was less than two meters away. I saw fresh blood coating my shirt and arms, and I realized it was from my nose.

I had never felt this way before, like I was about to pass out and my head was going to explode from pressure.

The man above me was just a big out of focus blur. I knew it was Genta because Ryotaro was on the floor beside me.

I saw a smaller blur break free from the big blur's grasp and run away. That was the boy. That was Haru. The man stood on his own, facing me, and I was about to pass out.

Something was seriously wrong with the man Genta, I finally concluded.

It wasn't the building. It was Genta.

My brain finally pieced together the simple truth.

Genta moved towards me and I did what I thought was the impossible. I pulled the trigger and shot a fellow human being.

My ears rang with the pop. The blur fell to the floor in front of me. As he writhed on the ground it took a while to process what I had done.

"You shot me?" Genta grunted. "Why would you shoot me?"

But even as he asked me this I could already think more clearly. The bleeding and the pressure and the sickness I experienced began to ease.

I backed away from the blurry man, scooching on my rear to put some distance between us.

My vision started to refocus, and I saw Genta laying on the floor with his right hand against his stomach. The man was losing a lot of blood. It was soaked into his clothing.

I watched the man as he watched me.

"Genta, what is going on here?"

The man struggled to sit upright but didn't say anything. In the half-darkness of my periphery I saw the boy watching from down the hallway.

He was a good distance away, but I knew he was terrified.

Genta said, "I don't know what you're talking about. You shot me. I'm going to die!"

Ryotaro stirred back to life near me. We were coming back to some sort of reality after I didn't know what the hell kind of mind attack just happened.

"Who are you?"

The man acted puzzled. "My name is Genta…I told you."

I shook my head and yelled, "shut it up with the lies! What's going on here? Why do we feel better all of a sudden after I shot you?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Lies! You better start answering or I'll blow a hole in your fucking face."

I managed to control my balance enough so I was back on my knees.

I figured the bleeding from my nose had stopped, but I was soaked in crimson red. My headache still lingered. At the very least I could somewhat think and see.

"I don't know," Genta exhaled.

I was back on my feet and feeling much better, looking down at the man.

He was experiencing severe pain from the gunshot. In my opinion that was the kind of acting that was impossible. He was bleeding out and needed help but I suddenly had no interest in helping him.

I was studying the man looking for answers, and I was still waiting for him to talk. It occurred to me that he was wearing long sleeves and gloves.

The apartment complex was hot and humid. There was no air conditioning. There was absolutely no reason for clothing like that.

I was stupid for not questioning it earlier but I was feeling sick and in a hurry, and I hadn't thought about what he was wearing.

Ryotaro sat up. He looked absolutely dazed and confused, and he had no idea why I now had the rifle pointed at Genta.

"You better start knowing things real fast!" I said. "What's with this place? What's with your long sleeves?"

Genta looked between me and the old man. His eyes returned to me and the rifle in my hands. He looked absolutely defeated.

"I don't know, man. I'm just trying to survive like you guys."

"Bullshit!" I yelled back.

"It's not bullshit! I got bit, okay! Is that what you want to hear?"

The man took off one of his gloves and pulled the sleeve up one arm.

Even in the darkness I could see teeth marks on Genta's wrist. They were pale white in the center of a nasty purple mess. His entire arm was infected, having bright red and purple veins running up his forearm and bicep.

"What in the world, man?"

Ryotaro crawled towards me when he noticed the man's infection. He didn't want to be anywhere near the stranger either.

"But I'm not infected!" Genta said.

"The heck you are!" I answered. "Can you not see your own arm!?"

The man struggled to nod. His face contorted with the pain of his gunshot wound. I could tell he was losing strength and energy but I didn't care.

He defended himself, "but I'm not one of them!"

Ryotaro looked at me, still confused, and then back at the wounded man.

We were both confused because what he said made at least some sort of sense. Either he was just recently bitten before we entered the apartment or the infection hadn't turned him brain dead.

"When did you get bit?" Ryotaro asked.

"On the first day. After rescuing the boy."

"Bullshit again!" I yelled. "There's no way you have lived two days! This just happened, didn't it?"

Genta shook his head. He lost more strength and slouched back to the floor, but the man kept his eyes focused on us. He was breathing heavier than normal.

I had no idea if the man would die from the gunshot wound or if the infection would turn him into a zombie.

"You have to believe me… I'm going to die. You killed me. You shot me. Ask the boy. He will tell you. I was bit two days ago…"

I turned to look down the hallway. The boy was still there watching, but he didn't move or say anything.

Looking back at the man, I was at a loss for words.

He was not a zombie, but there was clearly something wrong with him. I didn't know if I needed to save him or let him die.