Volume 1 - Chapter 28

The Choice

I kept my rifle aimed at Genta, heart pounding in my chest.

The man was on the floor, writhing in pain from the gunshot wound I inflicted.

Ryotaro had come to his senses just like I did after I shot Genta, and the old man sat next to me, looking just as confused as I was.

Whatever weirdness the strange man emitted no longer did. Shooting him had stopped our sickness. It was like an off-switch that caused the man to focus all his energy on not dying instead of slowly killing us.

Genta's words echoed in my mind. "I was bit two days ago."

It didn't make any sense.

According to Aiko, the airborne infection turned people within half an hour. I had no idea how long it took for a bite or scratch to take over a body, but I couldn't believe this man had been infected for two days and was still coherent.

"How is this possible?" I asked, my voice shaky. “You said you were bitten two days ago. How are you still... you?"

Genta's face contorted in pain as he tried to speak. "I don't know… I just am. I honestly don't know. I'm dying now though, man. You shot me… you shot me."

His answer didn't please me. I had never considered myself an angry person but he had pissed me off with his deceit. I was glad I had shot him. He deserved it for being creepy.

"You made us bleed from the nose. We felt sick. What's up with that?"

"I don't know…"

"And the weird zombies in this building. That has something to do with you doesn't it?"

"I…I don't know, man…"

I squeezed the trigger and fired a shot into the floor near the man. He cried out in fear.

"Start knowing things!"

Genta started crying and coughing instead of talking. It wasn't the exact effect I wanted but it did elicit fear.

I glanced over at Ryotaro, who looked just as bewildered as I was. The old man shrugged. My eyes shifted focus to the boy at the end of the hallway and Ryotaro turned to look as I did.

Upstairs in the apartment, the kid had been showing some of the same symptoms we did. He was looking healthy again after I shot Genta, but still terrified.

"You okay, kid?" I asked.

The boy was full of hesitation but managed to nod at us.

"Good," Ryotaro said, "maybe you can answer some questions…"

"No!" Genta interjected. "Talk to me only!"

Our attention turned back to the man on the floor. He was looking pale and sickly for a change. It was a welcome sight to me.

There was fear on his face. I wondered why he didn't want the boy to talk. Maybe he feared Haru would reveal something he didn't want us to know.

"Why? You don't seem to know anything."

“Okay,” he said, “I will talk.”

“Then do it. Before we leave you to die here on this floor.”

Genta shook his head. “You have to promise to help me first. Don’t leave me… here to die, man. I’m not… one of those things! I’m still human!”

I considered his words but said, “I don’t have to promise anything. You hid a dangerous secret and you were going to kill us!”

“I wasn’t…”

I shot another bullet into the floor, closer to the man this time.

Genta cried, “come on, man!”

“No answers get no help."

I stood my ground as resolute as I could. Inside I was still trying to process what I had learned and what our options might be.

This man was obviously dangerous. We couldn't allow him anywhere near the women or the house, assuming they were still alive.

I was debating whether or not he needed to die, but he was a human. That much appeared to be true.

I wasn't a murderer. I wouldn't kill another man just because I could.

“Okay,” Genta exhaled, “damn. I got bit okay… When I was rescuing… the boy. It’s not his fault. He’s innocent. He even took care of me when… when I had fever chills and turned delirious for a while. He’s a good kid.”

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Ryotaro turned to look at the boy again. I kept my eyes on the injured man.

“Say more."

“Okay, man,” he said, struggling.

I could see he was having a hard time speaking. I didn't really care. He deserved far worse than this.

He said, “I’m getting there, man. I got a bullet hole in me… in case you didn’t notice!”

I had to fight back a smirk. He was right. I was getting ahead of myself with the anger. I shot the man in self defense, and clearly he deserved it.

"Okay, take your time saying more, but not too long. You'll die."

Genta shook his head. "Look, man. I don't know what it is or why but after my fever broke… I can feel them, okay. It's like I am connected or something, but I'm not one of them, I swear! I don't even think any of this is real… do you? Like it's all just some type of alternate reality…"

I felt my jaw drop open and I had to force myself to shut it, clenching my teeth. The floodgate had opened and he was spewing too much all of a sudden.

Ryotaro turned to me, "zombie wi-fi, man. I knew it."

I rolled my eyes and looked back at Genta. I had a hard time believing in zombie mind talk. The fact Genta was also going on about our strange reality also had me curious.

It seemed too uncanny to be real, and I was glad for the confirmation. Then I almost laughed at my line of thinking because I knew I was trying to be practical and make sense of a zombie apocalypse.

None of it made any sense, and especially telepathy with zombies.

I asked, "So you can hear them and communicate with them?"

The man shook his head, "no. I'm pretty sure they… don’t use their brains anymore. I don't fuckin… know, man. Look, it's kinda hard to think… right now. I can feel them. I know when they’re nearby. That's all I know… I tried telling them what to do but I just couldn't."

“I think you know more,” I said. “Like why all the ones near you don’t act normal and why we all felt sick. So you’re going to tell us or I’m going to let you die.”

Genta gave me a heavy sigh. “You’re an asshole, you know it right?”

That made me laugh. “I’m the asshole? You were going to kill us weren’t you?”

“No,” he said, “I swear. I’m just trying to survive and figure things out… like you, man. I don’t know what this connection thing is… that I have with the zombies, man.”

“Then why hide the bite?”

“Would you rescue me if you knew?”

I shook my head and looked at Ryotaro. The stranger had a valid point.

“No, I wouldn’t.”

Ryotaro agreed with me and gave a shrug.

“See, man,” Genta said. “I had to make a… a choice. It was obviously the wrong one.”

“Well,” I exhaled, still thinking about the situation. “I can’t bring you with us, and you know that.”

Genta started crying again. He was a man but he was also half-zombie. He had a bullet hole in his side, and I figured he was thinking about his death.

He also should have known at that point that if he lived, no one in their right mind would believe he was safe to be around.

I felt bad for him, but I was placing my survival and any others in my group above him.

“So kill me,” he said, “if you think… I’m gonna turn into one of those things. I don’t want to be one of… of them.”

I listened to his request and thought about it. A mercy killing? I knew I wasn't a murderer, and I didn't have enough confidence he wasn't going to turn full undead.

I wasn't a zombie expert or a doctor. We had no idea if he was going to live or exactly how much humanity he had remaining.

Looking to Ryotaro for guidance, I asked, “what do you think?”

“Well,” Ryotaro said, “he’s not zombie, but also not human. Has some type of ability he either doesn’t know how to use or he’s lying about. He’s a danger to us alive, but we’re the monsters if we kill him.”

“How do we think so much alike?”

The old man smirked. “Dunno, boy'oh, but I’m glad we do.”

“Not helping me make a choice are you? Do we kill the guy or let him live?”

Ryotaro didn’t answer for a moment. He looked down the hallway at the boy. My eyes followed and I saw the kid still watching.

“Haru?” I asked, “that’s your name, right?”

The boy nodded and said quietly, “yes.”

Ryotaro said, “you remind me of one of my grandsons. Good boy that one. I think you are a good boy, too. We need to know if this man told us the truth. Did he lie to us?”

The boy hesitated in his answer but then shook his head. “I don’t think so. I think he is a decent man. He saved me.”

I nodded my understanding and then looked back at Genta. The man on the floor swallowed hard. I could see everything was getting to him. He was weak. He didn't even respond when the boy vouched for his words.

“Do you think we should bring him with us?” I asked.

Ryotaro and Genta both looked at me. They were probably wondering why I asked a boy what he thought.

In my head it made sense. The boy had spent time with him. Just a few minutes earlier, Genta didn't want the boy talking. Now because of that, he was going to be the decision maker.

Ryotaro and I didn't know this man from anyone else, but the boy did.

We watched as Haru stepped a little closer. I could see he was looking at the man on the floor near us, deciding.

“No,” Haru said, “I don’t trust him. The zombies act weird around him, and I feel sick with him. He is weird.”

“No…” Genta strained. “He’s just a boy, you can’t… believe a boy!”

I stared down at Genta, my rifle aimed at his chest. He was pale and sweating, but he wasn't dead yet.

I wasn't sure if I wanted to kill him. I knew I wasn't a murderer, but I also knew he couldn't come with us.

The boy said he'd spoken the truth but also didn't trust him. It was a realistic, mixed emotion regarding a complicated situation. I felt like Haru had a good head on his little shoulders. Smart boy.

"Listen," I said, my voice low and steady. "I'm going to make you a deal. I'll give you some basic medical supplies we have. You can use them to patch yourself up and maybe get out of here. But if you don’t die you have to leave. You can't come back to this city. If I ever see you again, I'll kill you."

Genta's eyes widened in surprise, and he nodded slowly. "Okay," he strained. "So you are a cruel asshole?"

I ignored his words. They hurt, but it was the best I was willing to offer him.

"And if you try to attack us or follow or do anything to retaliate, I won't hesitate to kill you. You're lucky I don't do it now, but I'm not a monster. I won't kill someone who's defenseless and still seems to be human.”

Genta nodded, wincing in pain. “I will remember you, asshole.”

I lowered my rifle and signaled for Ryotaro to go get the medical supplies. He nodded and disappeared outside to the van. I kept my eyes on Genta, making sure he didn't try anything.

When Ryotaro returned, he handed me a small bag filled with stuff. I had no idea what the old man put in there and I honestly didn't care. I wanted to get out of the apartment building and as far away from the man as possible.

I tossed the items to Genta. They landed near enough to him that he could reach.

"That should do something,” I said.

Genta nodded, and I could see the fear in his eyes. We both knew I was leaving him there to die.

That was, if he was telling us the truth. If he had some type of connection with the zombies, maybe he would live. Maybe not.

I turned to Ryotaro and the boy, who were both watching.

"We need to go. We can't stay here any longer."

Ryotaro nodded, and the two of us backed away from Genta.

I was about to ask Haru if he was coming with us, but the boy reached for Ryotaro’s hand before either of us could say anything. He didn't appear to be afraid of the old man.

It was hard for me to imagine what was going on in his head. He was just a boy, but kids usually had good instincts. That was what I had always been told anyway.

I didn't know. Some of them might be stupid, just like adults.

This one chose the two of us over the weird half-zombie man that rescued him on day one. To the kid, we were the strangers.