While Marrow got busy, following his instructions, Blaze climbed on top of an ant.
The final awakening affected all creatures; however, zombies weren’t affected by it.
It was a shame as Blaze was looking forward to expanding his ant army. Regardless, the zombie ants were big and strong enough to hold his weight.
Besides, riding them was faster than walking, and they quickly became his go-to way to move around.
Though it always makes Fester sad.
As much as Blaze wanted to use Fester instead of the ant, it wasn’t possible. The rat had so many spikes on its back that anyone daring to climb on top would get impaled in an instant.
Thanks to the ant-riding, the journey that would’ve taken three hours from the tunnel took thirty minutes.
Once at the research institute, Blaze sent the ant away. There, he was greeted by Raven and some ants. They were there to protect the two humans living inside.
Raven noticed Blaze and was about to mimic Marrow when Blaze grabbed Raven by the shoulder.
I’ll snap your neck if you bow so much as five degrees before me.
Raven readily agreed. The four-armed zombie had no intention of doing that either, but Marrow had insisted on it, so it obeyed.
Third floor? What are they doing there?
Raven shrugged. It lacked the intelligence to understand what those humans were doing. Raven just knew they were fiddling around with evolved zombie corpses that the ants brought them.
Not wasting any more time on Raven, Blaze climbed the stairs and was greeted by a man whose face was wrapped in bandages.
"Son, we’ve been waiting for you!"
The man happily embraced Blaze. An action that went unreciprocated. Blaze tilted his head, examining the red patch on the bandages.
Your blood is leaking.
He shook his head before leading Alaric into the makeshift medical room. There, he used his claws to remove the bandage.
Despite his uncaring demeanor, Blaze was being very careful not to cause any discomfort to Alaric. The bloodied bandages fell to the ground, revealing a grotesque face that would put even the zombies to shame.
Alaric’s entire face was a patchwork of different skin. Some belonged to humans, some to the zombies. Then there were the stitch marks that covered his entire face at odd angles.
Still, Alaric had a big smile on his face.
He was happy to see his son care for him. Conveniently forgetting who had put him in such a state.
Stop smiling, or you’ll tear another skin patch.
"I’m just happy to see you."
Blaze stopped for a moment before shaking his head. He moved like a robot, putting iodine tincture on some fresh cotton and cleaning his father’s grotesque face.
Next time you bleed, inform Raven about it. I’ll send Marrow to heal you.
"Marrow? Oh, that lovely girl. I always meant to ask you, do you two live together yet?"
"How delightful!" Alaric exclaimed, clapping excitedly. "When we’ll hear the wedding bells?"
Blaze retorted, shoving three antibiotic tablets in Alaric’s hand along with a bottle of water.
"Of course, of course..."
Alaric’s excited demeanor disappeared the moment Blaze lost his cool. While they engaged in meager conversation now and then, at the end of the day, Alaric was just another horde member.
He often crossed lines that no other undead did, but being a human, that much was expected. Not to mention, he got a pass because... Blaze still cared for him. In his twisted way.
It was something to say, considering no son would rip away his father’s face just to fool someone.
However, that’s exactly what Blaze did.
After interrogating Alaric following his conversion, Blaze learned a few things about Neha. Within those discussions, something piqued his interest.
It was the research she had Alaric carry out for her. Particularly, to solve the mystery of evolution among the zombies.
She did not know what she was looking for. It was like shooting a hundred arrows in the dark and hoping something struck true.
However, Blaze saw potential in the research.
It was partially the reason he attacked the naval base. He wanted to retrieve Alaric’s research while ending what little resources Neha had. It would’ve been even better if they had caught her.
Unfortunately, he acted too late. Blaze thought he would get another chance to catch her, but in all the chaos with the Headless, she slipped away yet again.
Fester and its squad of ants had been searching for her since. But it seemed she knew what awaited her and ran away while she could.
If I had known she’d escape, I wouldn’t have bothered tearing your face off.
Instead of being angry, Alaric seemed happy, thinking his son regretted hurting him. In reality, Blaze’s regret wasn’t for hurting his father, but for the effort and time he wasted.
Alaric’s scar was easily re-creatable. After all, it was just a burn mark.
However, Blaze didn’t want to take any chances. He wanted to make Neha think Alaric had died for certain, and for that, he did what no son could ever do.
He knocked Alaric out before using his claws to tear off his face. He then grafted it onto a similar-looking human head and used it to fool Neha.
However, all of it turned useless since Neha escaped.
Alaric went into shock despite Marrow’s healing. In short, his mind broke. While it didn’t affect his intelligence, it seemed his brain didn’t see Blaze or the horde as zombies.
Marrow became the lovely lady Blaze was apparently dating. Fester became Blaze’s pet, and everyone else became his friends.
That’s why Alaric was excited about Blaze’s wedding, a new scenario that his mind cooked up.
"Come, I’ll take you to him."
As they walked the halls, the stench of death filled the place. Some ants were busy moving undead corpses from one room to the other. These were all the failed experiments of Voss and Alaric.
All of them had strange outgrowths that resembled mushrooms. It was a product of the cordyceps they were experimenting with, hoping to replace the need for necroseed to infect humans.
As they reached the far end of the hall, Alaric slipped into a hazmat suit, offering one to Blaze as well.
"Son, it’s dangerous from here onwards—"
Blaze rolled his eyes, but slipped into the suit before heading inside the lab, where countless zombie corpses were torn open. In the middle of it all was Voss, working on their latest catch: an unevolved Headless’s corpse.