Chapter 13 - An Easy Escape

So far, we haven’t encountered any mutated zombies. It was a quiet ride, Demi was driving, Lia was in the passenger seat and Rina and I were in the back. No one said much to Rina, they were pretty much ignoring her presence, even while we were packing the car. She didn’t make a move to apologize either. It was a quiet but awkward drive, for me at least.

Minutes turned into hours and no one made the first move. I nudged Rina and she gave me a confused look. I motioned her with my eyes and she glared at me. This went on for a while until she finally gave in.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled quietly.

Upon hearing her Lia responded, “I don’t need your apology. Your actions will prove if you mean it.”

No one said anything after that, however, the ride wasn’t as awkward.

------

We’ve been driving for a long time and night had fallen. I divided up our rations and handed them out to everyone.

“Let me take the wheel, you should get some rest,” Rina suggested.

He agreed and switched seats. I was a bit worried that she and Lia were now next to each other, but she refused when I asked her to switch with me.

------

It was strange how quickly I had gotten used to this, being an observer in my dreams. As usual, The End stood alongside me watching the scene. I wasn’t sure how I knew this; it was as though it just came to me, the scene playing out before me was a memory that didn’t belong to me.

The young boy was standing in front of a door, he was hesitating to go in. He stood there for a longtime before scanning his palm and walking into the room.

“Father, there’s something I want to speak with you about,” he spoke formally.

“Speak,” the elderly man said curtly, not even sparing a glance at his son.

The boy hesitated, “Those serums, why did you create it?”

The man paused for a second before he continued signing documents, “I don’t know what you’re speaking about boy. If that’s all then leave.”

“Father!” he exclaimed angrily, “I saw it with my own eyes! That wasn’t humane! How could you allow your people to be used as experiments?!”

“You’ll understand when you’re older. Everything I do is for the greater good and the preservation of Nevada,” the man exclaimed calmly.

The boy clenched his fists as her shouted angrily, “Understand?! Your people tied that five-year-old girl down, cut into her and injected her with God knows what as they watched her turn into a monster! So please tell me, how I’m supposed to understand something like that?! How is that for the greater good?!”

The man slammed his palms on the desk as he abruptly stood, finally looking at his son, “You do not question my actions! If it weren’t for me this place wouldn’t even exist still!”

“Fath-” the man interrupted him, “That is enough Demi Vermillion! Guards, lock him in his room!”

The young Demi screamed at his father and struggled as guards dragged him away, “I will never forgive you for this! Those are our people! How dare you use their lives as you please!”

“Why am I seeing this?” I asked The End.

‘Because you wanted to know what lead him to hate his father. Why? Do you feel sorry for him?’

“I don’t have the right to. He was brave enough to confront his father while I let mother and Rina walk all over me for years,” I said solemnly.

Not everyone has good parents. There are people like Demi and I, and there are people like Rina. I was surprised to learn I was seeing his past but at the same time I felt pathetic and bitter. He was able to turn his back on his father because of his morals while I desperately clung to someone who was trying to push me away.

“Is this why you showed me his past?” I asked her.

Her silence was enough of an answer. The End knew what I thought and how I felt.

------

I opened my eyes to the bright rays of the run shining on my face, shielding my eyes I looked around. We were at a charging station.

“You’re finally awake, did you have another dream?” Rina asked.

I should’ve been happy that Rina finally believed me, but something felt off every time she asked about them.

I nodded, “Where are we?”

“We’re nearby the super-center so we decided to charge the car and get some supplies. There aren’t that many zombies around and we spotted a few people hiding here too,” she explained.

“Let’s go then, I’ll help carry some stuff,” I offered.

She nodded and I got out of the car.

The super-center was the busiest part of D3. It was well-known for all the high-tech arcades, cinemas, food stalls, malls and many more.

As we were walking a loud shriek, caught our attention. At first, I thought someone was being attacked but when I looked in the direction it came from, it was a middle-aged woman standing there, pointing at me.

“It’s her! Someone! Anyone! Call the District Officers! The girl who spread the virus is here!” she kept on screaming.

It didn’t take long for people to arrive. They were all armed too. Slowly, they approached me, hurling insults and curses. Threatening me to turn myself in and pay for my crimes. Some of them said they’d make me pay for their loved ones who died. Rina reasoned with them but it wasn’t much help, she wasn’t even trying that hard.

A commotion started in the crowd and I thought it was a zombie, but it was the others. They swiftly broke through the crowd and ran to me.

“Are you an idiot? Why aren’t you running?!” Demi yelled as he ran and grabbed my arm, pulling me with him.

The mob picked up their pace and chased us, zombies joining as they heard the commotion.

Suddenly, I recalled something from my dream. We weren’t supposed to stop here. I had seen this exact situation, and something worse was on its way.

“Turn back!” I desperately yelled at them in fear.

“What the hell do you mean turn back?! Do you want those people to capture you?!” Rina yelled back.

“If we don’t, it’ll catch us! We weren’t supposed to stop here!” I screamed.

“What do you mean?” Lia asked, panting for breath.

I didn’t have time to answer her because the answer appeared in front of us, crushing the ground as it jumped from the building. A giant, twenty-foot-tall zombie blocked our path, stopping us in our tracks. In its hand, it dragged a chunk of a broken wall.

“Turn back! We’ll take a different route!” Demi ordered.

But we were too late, another one was already standing on our left as it eyed everyone. It’s head the size of a truck wheel with sharp blood-stained teeth and drool dripping from the corners of his mouth. This one wasn’t as tall as the other, but its size made up for it.

The others noticed this and we quickly bolted to our right, barely escaping the wall it threw in our direction. People screamed as they saw others get crushed. The other zombie wasted no time as it joined the fray, it’s gigantic mouth biting people in half.

Neither of the zombies noticed us, they were too enamored with the frightened prey before them, making our escape far too easy.