Chapter 15: At Least She was Nice…

(Marinkia’s POV)

The woman looked like she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. But I was a cheeky girl, and I needed to get information out of her. That is, in exchange for the crystals.

Marinkia: “Why do you want them?” I ask.

Sarin: “Truthfully? Because I have never seen them before. I was tracking that zombie you killed. Most of the zombies in this area are feral, and that one had glowing blue eyes.” She answered.

Marinkia: “Oh, yeah, the rest of the crystals I got were from zombies with those glowing blue eyes.” I inform, handing her the rest of the crystals out of my backpack.

Sarin: “Giving them to me so easily? What a good girl you are… I sure do hope that you survive the change. Anyway, yeah, I have no idea what these crystals are.” She replied.

Marinkia: “Have you read a lot of novels before?” I ask.

Sarin: “I have. In some, there were stories about zombies and how some drop crystals which can give you powers. But this isn’t a novel or a game, so I would heavily advise to not eat any of them.” She said with a serious expression.

Marinkia: “I won’t. Also, the blue glowing eye ones tend to be faster and more difficult to deal with.” I reply.

Sarin: “They aren’t the same as normal zombies? That’s strange…” She said with a thinking pose.

Marinkia: “In my opinion, you should bring those crystals to Anna and have her examine them for information.” I suggest.

Sarin: “Oh? You know Anna? Where is she, by the way? Before you ask, most of us act independently. As such, I truly have no idea where the others of my kind are, and even who is in this district at the moment.” She asked.

Marinkia: “She is back that way. You’ll find her pretty easily, as she is currently the leader of a human farm.” I explain, pointing in the correct direction.

Sarin: “Really? That’s really helpful information! Thanks a lot, I will get these crystals to her. If someone can figure out the mystery behind them, it is her. Here, take this.” She said, handing me a weird coin.

Marinkia: “What’s this?”

Sarin: “The one who marked you will explain. That is, if you survive.” She replied, walking away in the direction that I pointed out.

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Marinkia: “…”

So these Numens will treat me with some respect, but won’t do so fully until I change? How annoying… As for the coin, I had no idea what it was. Biting it, I think that it was a metal coin of some kind, possibly gold.

If that fuck, Grant, didn’t turn off my PC, then I could just check the coin with it to get information. Speaking of which, if I do evolve, I will find that fucker and kill him. Though, can you really kill an AI?…

Much Exploring Later.

Eventually, my exploration came to an end. How so? I ended up near the wall. Now that I think about it, these walls… Why did we find them normal? Of course, we could fly to any district that we wanted to.

But why did we never question these walls? Was this invisible threat that Grant mentioned… actually Numens and the undead? If so, that means that Grant hid the news of them and the zombies all this time.

Holy shit… the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. Why was it that districts would just vanish, and you couldn’t go to them anymore? Like, it wasn’t like you could control your shuttle.

Instead, you could just pick a district and a specific spot in that district. Seemingly at random, some district you could never travel to anymore. Does… does that mean that the world has been in the process of ending this entire time?

Should I rethink my position on Grant? If my words are correct, then he was fighting the literal, practically endless army of the undead, and evolved humans.

Marinkia: “Fuck that!” I yell.

That fucker disabled all of our tech. Now, it really makes sense why he did it, but it doesn’t mean that I accept it. In fact, I am still pissed off. Did Grant think that he could kill off the undead and the Numens by starving off all humans?

If so, they he cast away his human flesh, and doomed the rest of humanity. In that sense, I have no reason at all to forgive his stupid and last ditch effort to win the war.

Marinkia: “Then it’s settled…” I say after punching a dent into the wall.

Once, or if I survive, one of my goals will be killing that Grant AI. That being said, it would seem that I might have to beg and plead for Mai and Mercedes to both help me with this lofty goal of mine…

Actually, do I? From what Sarin said, mates are supposed to be weak, right? If that was true for me, why was I so skilled, strong and fast? Was it due to having two Numens mark me at the same time?

Shit… I understand that an apocalypse is supposed to be slow and boring, but these questions… I just truly want answers to them already. But the Numens keep giving me the runaround, and those two won’t answer me either.

Marinkia: “Should I be stupid?” I say with a thinking pose.

I wasn’t being weird… I swear! Just like how I am talking to myself in my head, I talk to myself outwardly all the time as well. As for being stupid, I was considering whether or not that I should climb up this wall…

From my memory, there should be nothing besides empty wilderness past here. I mean to say, that there weren‘t any other districts in this direction. What will I find? Maybe nothing…

What if Mai and Mercedes won’t be able to find me? If that happens, I might end up dead. Look, it’s not that I hate them… I just want to fucking explore! Fuck it… I will just turn around and explore parts of this district.

I haven’t been to it all yet, after all. Surely, there will be something of interest for me to find here. I mean, I did find those special zombies. What if I find more, or something else? If I don’t, then I will leave this district for good.

Turning around, I was faced with… an entire horde of zombies!? What the fuck!? They didn’t seem to be controlled, as they were running directly toward me with seemingly full intent to kill. Did… did I somehow piss off a Numen?…