Arc 1 - Chapter 16: First Zompire Kill

(Prominis 21, 58 / 1:02AM)

Near the house they left, was a park, with a barbeque pit lit and shining.

“I know I said this a million times but thank you for saving me!”

Bowing clandestinely, Luke arched his back 60 degrees, his hands placed together firm. As for Loraine, she put her hands onto her waist, her head cocking to the right out of confidence.

“I was only really saving you for the chicken. If you died and I stole your chicken then it would leave a nasty taste in my mouth.”

Turning her back on Luke, she continued to cook the chicken roasting on top of the barbecue. Her mouth slightly drooling, she let the smell of savoring meet soder on the metal, all the while Luke straightened his back.

Sitting down on the wooden bench, he cupped his hands and took a big breath out.

“H-How did you find me?”

“I heard your shouts. When I ran over to catch a glimpse you were … running away from a group of chickens… pfft”

She then bursted out laughing.

Ignoring the cooking chicken, she gripped her stomach and slammed her knees to the ground. Seeing she was laughing at his predicaments, Luke blushed a deep red, as he covered his eyes with his hands.

—Why do I always need to be saved?

Her laughing turned to giggling, she got up from her ground. Instead of paying attention to the cooking chicken, she heard Luke take out a micro uzi from the purse. Curious, she walked toward him, raising her left finger to the bottom of her chin.

“Why a gun?”

“It’s for protection.”

“To kill a zompire, you have to slice or damage the heart of it. Anywhere else would be a no-go.”

“Unless I have a good aim, which I do. Come to think of it, the person with the worst accuracy with guns is I think you.”

She pinched the bottom of his ears, her nostrils fuming out angered air as she puffed out her cheeks. Placing the micro uzi on the table, he placed his hands onto her wrists. Even though Loraine was four years younger than him, she felt her nails and grip trying to mask off his skin.

“Ok, ok! Please stop pulling, you’ll rip them off!”

Letting go, she pulled her hands back to her body, her pouting face remaining as she folded her arms. He placed his right hand again on the gun, and placed his left pointer finger to himself. Looking at Loraine, a hint of sweat trailed down his right temple.

“Just let me use this weapon for safety okay? It’s not going to kill me.”

“Then what about the zompire that wore that uniform suit.”

Luke pushed off chunks of dust from its mechanisms, leaving it to litter the dead grass. The more he dusted, the more his cheeks pushed down, remembering the uniform that blanketed his body.

“Why do you feel so emotional for someone else’s gun? That commander wasn’t human anymore.”

“He had a family.”

“If it weren’t for me, then you wouldn’t be alive to speak to me. So be lucky.”

Her voice stern, Luke trembled in silence as he pinned his eyes on the gun. Letting his fingers trace the blurred blackness of the metal, he also hovered the fingerprints along the grip and trigger. Pushing down his eyes, his cheeks softened, as he trailed his eyes to the ground.

—Loraine is just a kid, she wouldn’t get it…

“You’re probably right … I wouldn’t get it …”

Stunned, Luke widened his eyes and looked at Loraine. For her, she pulled out a picture from her pants pocket, holding nothing but a black and white photo. A photo, which she traced her fingertips with, only startled Luke’s pupils.

“I don’t have parents …or what they were … all I remember was that I was taken into care by Boris… he’s mean but …”

The picture showcased little Loraine on top of Boris’s back, her arms wrapped childly around Boris’s chubby neck. Loraine’s eyes started to water, as she looked towards Luke with her nose beginning to sniffle.

“He’s the only person that took care of me…”

“Loraine…”

He stood up from the bench, as he nestled his palm on the top of her head. Giving her much needed reassurance, she widened her mouth, along with her hands loosening her grip with the photo.

“We all care for each other. You may not be that good to work with, but please …”

Bending down, he looked directly into her watery eyes, which began to be damned by her eyelids. Her face wrinkled, it was a contrast to his warm face.

“Don’t do this on your own.”

She couldn’t look at him, her eyes averted away from the warm faced teen. Beginning to walk back, she hunched her body, and sprinted at him like a battering ram … a weak battery ram.

Her head hitting his chest, he was pushed, but unharmed.

“Uh, what are you doing?”

She lifted her head, replacing her frown with a gleeful smile. Thrusting her right hand forward, she stuck out her thumb, and winked with her left eye.

“It’s my test to see if you’re worthy of becoming a friend! I don’t like weak people so I tested your strength!”

“Uhm, ok.”

Luke let his fingers scratch the bulk of his cheeks, his mouth shut as he raised both his eyebrows. Loraine, who turned around to check up on the barbeque pit, had already raised both her hands in the air.

“The chicken! It’s burning!”

________________________________________________________________________

(Prominis 21, 58 / 1:35PM)

Both Luke and Loraine walked through the abandoned neighborhoods, the two reaching the outskirts of the office district. The double new moon, which scoured the world in darkness, only enhanced their hearing tenfold.

“I still can’t believe Boris managed to spoil you all the ways and functions of The Array…”

“hehe … He always has a soft spot for me!”

“But still, you could’ve told us sooner…”

Luke breathed like normal, his fists tightened for a bit until he let go. Meanwhile, Loraine casually walked with her arms moving back and forth in large gaps, similar to how a robot would walk.

Feeling the crunch on their step, their boots prickled and crushed parts of glass and plastic on the pavement.

“You said The Array has three stages right?”

“Yup! We are in the first stage, or the suburbs! You won’t be seeing zompires any time soon unless you’re unlucky!”

His cheeks brightened a bit, leading to a faint trace of pinkish red suckering on his skin. Clearing his throat twice, he chunked down whatever dry saliva parching his throat.

“... And what about the second?”

“That’s in the downtown district! You better have enough ammo, because many zompires travel in packs!”

“And the third?”

She ceased her walking, as the only noise both heard was the faint trace of debris ticking along the buildings. Placing her hand onto Luke’s arm, he felt her palm clench firm, feeling her bones tremble with uneasiness.

“It’s … the third stage is in the military complex … at the center of the city …”

“How many zompires would we run into there?”

“… Boris didn’t say anything about how many zompires would appear, so he just—”

She then remembered. Remembering his chubby fingers, his sweaty palms squeezing her shoulders, he remembered his… paled face.

[Promise me that you’ll shoot the crates! Promise you’ll stick together with someone! Anyone!]

His face started to turn a brittle pale, along with his body shaking softly. Once she began looking down to the ground, he breathed in a chunk of air, and pushed it out. Turning toward her, he placed both of his hands onto her shoulders, his eyes staring directly at hers.

“I think I know what Boris meant … he wanted us to stick together huh.”

“Y-Yeah…”

Turning around, he grabbed Loraine’s hand, and pushed both soles of his feet. Dragging her, he had one destination to reach; the city center.

“We just have to find the right company to stick with—no, we need everyone.”

Running through the suburban landscape, they started to scan every inch of the abandoned offices and stores that came to view. In the hopes they could find someone, anyone, that thought alone drove Luke even further.

Luke’s stamina was beyond perfect, since prior, he had to walk three weeks straight after that hellish day. But for Loraine, she wasn’t as sturdy and driven compared to him.

“Do you need a break?”

“Yes! I’m starting to feel tired—”

Something jumped out of a garbage can, reeling its ugly head to—

“Save us!”

A zompire, appearing to the side of them, made Luke jump back with Loraine in tow. His face pale, his body quivering like a chattering mouse; he was scared. But Loraine … smiled.

“Fighting time!”

Letting go of Luke’s hand, she lunged forth to the hunched zompire, it's no eyes and collapsed nose unable to drive her with fear. Pulling out her Swiss army knife, she stretched out her arms, her smile pushing up to the bottom of her ears.

Lunging to her right, to avoid the slash from its claws, and bent down. Getting a clearer angle to its heart, she put her left hand underneath its chin, its fangs unable to take a snip of her flesh. With her right hand, she sunk the knife deep into its chest, so that the tip of it stuck out from its back.

Twisting the small blade, black tar pushed out from the creature. Pulling back her knife, the zompire collapsed hard on the ground, and began…

To glitch out. Like pouring water on a computer, it shrieked and cried out in digital yells. And upon death, it’s skin shed the black ash—

She was tackled.

“Save us!”

“Aah!”

It pressed its body on Loraine, licking its lips like some sick weirdo as it had her on the ground. Twisting its head, it bared its fangs as it got closer and closer to her neck—

A bullet was shot…

Soon, tar fluttered from the right side of its temple. Flunking down to the pavement, the bullet couldn’t pierce through bone, as it was smaller than the average revolver or pistol bullet.

Looking toward the direction where the bullet was shot from, it was none other than…

—Just need a clean shot.

He honed his aim with his right hand, but his right arm shook intensely. His face drenched in chivalrous sweat, his palms and fingers couldn’t dig deep into the grip; but he placed his left hand underneath his elbow.

Having the gun be held accurately, the zompire made a mad dash to the steady teen. Feeling like his heart was pounding against its chest, which it probably was, he kept his head still.

—Focus. Just focus.

The zompire, being a meter away, gave Luke the green light with his bullet. Shooting it straight toward its heart, Luke didn’t flinch or move as the recoil shuddered his entire body. Waiting for the creature to die, it froze like it was on thin ice, as black tar continued to ooze from its—

It glitched out, like the first one. Shrieking and screaming digitally, it began to fade into black ash as it did.

—My first zompire kill.

Both creatures being killed, Luke and Loraine looked at each other with exhausted eyes, their bodies drenched with cold sweat. But the night was already cold enough to begin with.

After placing his uzi into his jacket, he extended his hand out to Loraine, who sat on the ground. Accepting his hand, her smooth palm collided with his sweaty one.

“Why are you so sweaty?”

“I just killed my first zompire here…”

Both of them heard the faint trace of footsteps. Turning toward one of the buildings, two teens came sprinting out.

“Oh crap, you guys alright?”

“Come on Cam, let’s check them out!”

Two beast people who happened to hear the gunshot, ran towards where Luke and Loraine were. Like seeing the light at the end of a tunnel, Luke’s smile brightened under the heavily blackened night.

“Cam! Ryan!”

“Ew, beast humans!”

Luke smacked Loraine’s head hard.