The sunlight attacked William’s face. He squinted his eyes, looking around amidst the chaos. People were running to the settlement wall, carrying containers of oil.
“Hurry! The trenches are filling up!” one of them shouted, throwing a molotov cocktail down.
No time to be distracted. William scanned the area, looking for his target. The thief was running towards an untouched part of the wall. He lobbed William’s bag over with his only good arm and jumped up with his hand outstretched, grabbing the arm of another person. He flipped his body despite having a broken arm, and cleared the wall. William gave chase through the chaos, nimbly dodging the people in his way. He jumped over the wall in a single leap and landed squarely on the ground on the opposite side of the wall.
A big group of zombies was piling up against a part of the wall that surrounded the settlement. They were not attacking other parts of the wall for some reason, almost as if they were thinking for themselves.
Lines of people poured oil onto those that had fallen into a deep trench that surrounded the wall. Others were throwing down lit torches and molotov cocktails, creating a squirming, burning mass of flesh. Lightly armoured people were standing on top of the wall and firing arrows using crossbows and longbows at the further incoming zombies.
William turned his head back at the loud revving of an engine. A small jeep sped off into the open ground, carrying the thief and William’s bag with it. “Give me back my wife!” he yelled, sprinting as fast as he could after the vehicle.
He barely had time to be amazed at his running speed as the shape of the vehicle got bigger by the second. The jeep did not accelerate, which meant its driver had not noticed him yet. The enhanced man took advantage of that fact and made a huge leap forward. He landed onto the exposed back of the vehicle and began reaching for his bag.
The four men sitting in the back tussled with him while the vehicle swerved left and right, finally noticing the intruder on it. William growled and elbowed one of the men, knocking him out instantly. He followed up with a straight punch, flinging an unfortunate guy out of the jeep. William wasted no time and continued stretching for his bag, ignoring punches to his face. He almost had it. Until a familiar click froze him in his tracks.
William ducked to the side just in time as a loud gunshot rang out. He looked back and found himself staring into a gun barrel inches from his face, his ears ringing yet again. Big mistake. The angry man grabbed the shooter’s hand and twisted his wrist hard. It snapped like a twig, and the gun fell out of the disabled hand. William picked up the gun and aimed at the remaining two men-
And suddenly found himself flying through the air.
William curled up protectively and tumbled onto the ground. He lay on the ground, momentarily dazed by the sudden vehicle accident. William got up slowly, checking his body for any injuries. Other than a few minor bruises, he was mostly fine. He silently thanked the heavens for his increased physical durability.
William walked carefully towards the overturned jeep and inspected the motionless bodies on the ground. There were no survivors. He was the only lucky one to have been flung out of the vehicle when it crashed into a huge rock on the dust road. It was hardly the driver’s fault, since he was already dead from the accidental gun misfire to his head.
Spotting his bag in the distance, William walked over to open it. He heaved a sigh of relief as he held the photograph of his wife and him together. Despite all the chaos, it was unharmed.
----------------------------------------
“Slippery bastard,” Masako muttered, standing beside Marianne who was checking the contents of her bag.
“Why’d he leave the bag behind though? And how did he get out so easily? Wh- Oh!” Masako let out a small squeal as Marianne suddenly hugged her.
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“Where WERE you? I was so worried!” Marianne cried out.
“I… erm, I woke up when the boat crashed, and then I heard unfamiliar footsteps,” Masako said uncomfortably, pushing Marianne away as gently as she could. “So I went to hide. But I could sense there was another one of us nearby, so I sneaked out after they left. I saw the man with blonde hair bring you underground so I pretended to be one of the guards and followed.”
“And they didn’t recognise you?” Marianne asked incredulously.
“Why would they? They don’t even recognise themselves. I could tell from the way they interacted with each other, so I thought it would be a safe bet to blend in.”
“The jail doors, was that your doing?”
Masako nodded her head. “Yup. I saw a control panel that was connected to the doors while exploring the area. It runs on electricity so all I had to do was manipulate the signal to open the doors.”
“Wow, I’m impressed.” Victor’s voice sounded behind them as the two girls turned around quickly. “I could use someone like you.”
“Are you in charge of this place? You’re one of us, aren’t you?” Masako asked him warily.
“Victor Dietrich, at your service. Although truth be told, it seems you’re more at mine.” He smirked. “And to answer your questions, yes I am. I built this place, literally. All things solid and non-organic are under my control, except for the smaller ones. I’m made for big things, like the deal I’m going to offer-”
“Hold up. Who said anything about working with you?” Marianne interrupted him.
“My, my. Don’t you at least want to hear what I have to offer first?” Victor said, waving a dismissing hand. “It is true that my settlement requires an offering before you can stay, but that offering does not need to be a tangible item. You see, we have all sorts of people here. We have doctors, soldiers, cooks, fishermen, blah blah blah. And although my people are well trained enough to handle normal zombies,” he gestured to a group of men dragging motionless zombies into a huge bonfire. “We do not have enough ‘trump cards’ to handle… other kinds of threats.”
Victor stretched out an open hand. “And so I offer you a permanent place in my… not so humble abode and in return, you will lend me your skills and abilities. What do you say?”
Marianne folded her arms. “I think we’re good here. We can take care of ourselves and we don’t need your-”
“Deal.”
“W- What?!” Marianne gasped.
Masako shook Victor’s hand and turned to Marianne. “This is what I’ve always wanted, don’t you see? This world is already messed up as it is. It’s better to settle down and live the rest of our lives in peace.”
“B- but…”
“Welcome! As appreciation for your quick answer, I would extend this offer to your friends as well; William and…” Victor turned to Marianne. “You. Though I don’t think you’re too keen on it.”
He grinned, turning back to Masako again. “Nevertheless, my offer will stand indefinitely. Unless of course… you give me a reason to take it back.”
“I’d take up that offer if I were you, Marianne,” a tired voice said. William trudged towards them with his bag slung over one shoulder. “Man… the jeep really travelled quite the distance.” He stretched, cracking his back, and sat on the ground.
“If there’s one thing Victor is known for, it’s his resourcefulness,” William continued. “He can help us find out more about how this whole thing started, and how to end it. He’s just like us too, so we should be sticking together like you said, right?”
“What? You guys think you’re the main characters of a story or something?” Victor laughed. “Give it up, this world is dead. Better to stay safe behind a solid wall and live out the rest of your days peacefully.”
“Whatever you say, but that’s my counter offer to you.” William stood up and walked towards Victor with an outstretched hand. “We’re not going to rely on your hospitality. Let’s work together like old times. Deal?”
Victor eyed his hand for a few seconds before taking it.
“Deal.”