For some reason, a smile appeared on my face when I heard her words. Liora noticed it and immediately frowned. She must have thought I was mocking her. She then sighed and continued speaking.
"Jason and I will direct the zombies to the west ward and try to trap them there. As long as you stay to the east, you’ll be out of the way."
I nodded along to what she said, not uttering a word.
"Since you’ve made it clear you don’t want to get involved, I think it’s best you leave now."
I nodded again, agreeing with her words.
"Okay then, you’re right. I’ll go to the east ward so I don’t get in the way."
With that, I bid them farewell and left.
...
Liora watched her brother leave and then sighed deeply. Jason, seeing her reaction, merely thought she must have been worried about her brother. Soon, the two of them arrived in front of the horde of zombies that were slowly creeping along.
Seeing the two of them mere inches away, the zombies instantly picked up speed and began chasing them. They allowed themselves to be chased, and soon Jason ducked inside a classroom. The zombies poured in after him while some continued after Liora.
When the room was packed, Jason escaped through the window and used the ledge to climb over to the classroom next door. He moved quickly so he wasn’t attacked by a blood moth while on the ledge.
After he made it over to the other classroom, he quickly exited and made his way to the classroom where the zombies were trapped, locking the door so they couldn’t escape. Liora used the same trick, and soon their numbers had significantly diminished.
She used the school as her battlefield to launch surprise attacks on the zombies, and this time she didn’t hesitate to kill them. Her brother’s words were engraved in her mind, and now she saw killing the zombies as mercy for the dead students.
Even though they had trapped a significant number of zombies, their numbers were still too much to handle. If it continued like this, she was certain that she and Jason would not survive. That made what she was about to do even more crucial.
She was about to lead the zombies from the west ward over to the east side of the building.
...
"Liora has really grown a lot," I mumbled as I waited on the east side of the building, away from the combat.
I waited patiently until the first visitor showed up. It was a zombie, snarling loudly as it limped its way over to me. Soon, more appeared behind it until there was a whole pack creeping toward me.
"She really has changed."
To think she would lead me into a trap. She was forcing my hand just like I did hers. It was well played, so I decided to go along with it as a sort of gift for her growth. Just as the zombies got close, pointed black claws morphed from my fingertips.
With just a single swing of my hand, I relieved the first one of its head.
[You have gained one core point.]
Come to think of it, that was the first zombie I killed. Thankfully, I didn’t have the same urge to eat its heart that I did to eat the moth’s. After I dealt with the first, I set my eyes on the other zombies approaching me.
Though they were weak, their number was significant. I stood my ground and readied myself for battle. I slashed and clawed my way through the lot of them. Their bodies were like paper to me. Just the slightest touch and their limbs would be sent flying. It was as if they were moving in slow motion.
Soon they were piled up on the ground, tripping over each other. I used my agility and speed to dance through the herd, killing them before they could even react. I wanted to dispose of them as fast as possible. Within just a few minutes, they were all dead.
After that, I took the liberty of throwing the corpses and pieces of flesh out the window. The smell was too much to bear. After I was done, I waited again. It wasn’t long after that Liora finally showed up.
She looked around the hall and saw nothing but blood.
"What happened to the zombies?"
"I tossed them out the window."
She sighed and shook her head.
"It’s time to go. I came here to get you."
"What happened to Jason?" I asked.
"I don’t know," she answered in a slightly irritated tone. "The zombies he was fighting are dead, but he just disappeared. I think he must’ve gone back without us."
Honestly, it wasn’t too surprising. Given his nature, I thought he would have abandoned us a while ago, but at least he stayed and helped before he left. I wouldn’t even be surprised if he was on his way out of the building right now.
Walking up to Liora, I patted her on the head.
"You did good."
She frowned at me, and I could tell she was feeling a bit embarrassed.
"Whatever. We should get out of here."
Without a second hesitation, she turned on her heel and started walking away. I followed behind her until we reached the stairs. We found a few stragglers as we walked, but we quickly disposed of them.
Liora took the lead down the staircase. She was still wary that there might be more zombies. Her assumption was soon proven correct when, midway down the stairs, we encountered a zombie. Except this one shocked us to the core.
This zombie was freshly turned. It had long black hair and a cold, scrutinizing gaze. In its hand was a katana, its blade covered in blood. Liora’s eyes widened with disbelief as she stared at the zombie before her.
"Jason?"
I too was shocked, and a single question popped into my mind the moment I saw him:
Who could’ve done this?