The Perfect Path To Insanity-Chapter 31: Zombie Land II

The infected man growled. His jaw unhinged wider than humanly possible.

Gnashing his teeth, he slowly rose from the pile of rubble.

Suddenly, his left arm cracked, shaking rapidly till it went still.

"GRRR... F..food."

And the human-turned zombie lunged at them.

Helena flinched back on instinct.

A flash of blue steel materialized in her grip.

The infected crashed into it teeth-first. The impact jarred her arms. His jaw scraped along the glowing edge, saliva and blood stringing between his lips as he pushed.

She twisted her wrist, shoving the blade deeper into the mouth before yanking it free in a spray of black saliva.

The infected staggered.

Planting a boot against its chest, Helena kicked the zombie hard.

The zombie flew backward, crashing through a rusted car door.

Around them, the players scattered, running to hide as some screamed. No one stayed to help.

Still, Helena stood her ground and swung her sword.

The blade bit into his shoulder. "GRRRR!!!"

A wet howl tore out of him as he twisted away.

His eyes flushed into a deeper shade of red.

When hjs fingers dug into the dirt, he hauled up a chunk of rock bigger than his torso and hurled it at them.

Helena almost choked. She knew she couldn’t block that.

But Fei Ming was fast enough to react on time.

His hybrid blade sliced the air, splitting the rock in two.

The halves smashed into the ground on either side, the dust exploding upward.

Breathing hard, Helena turned to him. Sweat clung to her temple.

"Oh," she heaved. "You’re much stronger now."

Fèi Míng looked at the debris, then at her.

He blankly gave a small shrug.

However, the threat was yet to be nullified.

The monster zombie roared. Stomping the ground and charging right back at them.

It was stupid to fight with something they know nothing of.

So they both fled, leaving the scene and entering the hiding spot where other had players hid.

The hiding spot was already packed when they slipped in.

For no one to recognize him, Fei Ming draped the hood of his cloak over his head.

Outside, the infected man’s rampage carried through the structure. He was tearing all the buildings apart, roaring and stomping on the ground.

When no one knew what to do in this dire situation, Helena stepped forward. Her voice was strained, but she managed to compose herself

"That infected man is stronger than we thought," she said. "We still need to find the other two. We can’t fight blind. If we don’t—"

"Hey Reddie! No one wants to FUCKING die! Why did you think we ran?!" someone snapped from the crowd.

Other players actually agreed.

A hand rose. "May I speak?"

The girl who raised her hand separated herself from the crowd.

She had long dark hair, green eyes, wearing a highschool uniform, still neat despite everything. Her face held nothing.

Ae-rin— a girl Fateless noted to be one of Helena’s friends— stood just behind her shoulder.

"My name’s Hel," the girl spoke to the crowd.

"You all have skills. Use them. Standing here won’t save you." Her gaze flicked toward the entrance, then back to the group.

"And the zombie? Kill him. He isn’t human anymore. All the human parts worth preserving are gone, so why hesitate?"

Helena disapproved of that suggestion. "He was human, Hel. We can’t just—

Hel grabbed Ae-rin’s wrist and pulled her along, another girl stumbling after them as she walked straight up to Helena.

Up close, her eyes moved over Helena’s face like she was assessing a sculpture.

"I don’t understand why you were chosen for our faction," Hel uttered. "You’re emotionally weak. That thing is a monster. If we don’t eliminate it and retrieve the others before infection spreads, we die."

She leaned slightly closer, studying Helena’s look.

"It’s also unwise to trap yourselves in a confined space with two more infected people. I’d rather kill that thing than work with you."

Then she turned and walked out.

Ae-rin apologetically waved at Helena before she too left.

That didn’t solve anything. The atmosphere was even more tense than before.

No one spoke for a while.

Helena inhaled slowly, forcing her voice steady. "Listen. We can handle this. Panicking won’t—"

’She can’t control them,’ Fei Ming thought, watching the shifting crowd. ’A room filled with nothing but survivors. No one will fucking listen to her.’

More angry murmurs rose from the crowd.

But then, a new voice cut in.

"Looks like this girl can’t do shit!"

The place quieted down.

The speaker stepped forward, grinning. He was tall. Broad shoulders, blonde hair, green eyes, wearing a basketball jersey hanging loose on him. A black haired lady clung to his arm, ogling him all for herself.

He nodded toward Fei Ming. "And what’s with the shitty mascot? You got a pretty girl and can’t say shit?"

When the new guy didn’t get a reaction, he scoffed and looked away.

Looking back at the crowd, he announced:

"Look, I’m with the pretty one who just left. We kill the thing. No one voted you leader anyway. Every one of us has a skill, don’t we guys?"

He spread his arms like he was already giving a speech.

"Hey, everyone! Relax. We’re fine. This Game’s easy as hell. We check everyone for symptoms, find the last two infected, and we win. Simple. We can do this!"

Some players actually nodded.

"Form a neat line. I’ll check for the infected players."

Yeah, it should be that simple.

... "AAGHHHH!!!" screamed a man from the far end.

The crowd scurried away, all now looking at the man who screamed.

Near the back, a man collapsed to his knees, clutching his arm.

Another player was latched onto him, her teeth sank deep in his nape as she bit harder

Crunch!

"AaaHHH! HELP! I can’t get her off!"

Blood ran down both of them, dripping onto the concrete.

But everyone steered clear of him.

"Kill it. Kill IT!" shouted another player.

However, the new blondie guy only smiled. "Looks like we found ’em."

Helena froze. Shaking her head and pushing forward with her sword raised, she moved closer to the infected man.

"Move!" she shouted. "Give him space—! Don’t let him bite you!"

The infected player tore free with a violent jerk.

Its skin stretching before ripping loose. He staggered upright, mouth smeared in red blood.

Chest heaving, his weak human eyes flickered for half a second, then changed to that same burning crimson.

The bitten man screamed again.

Fei Ming watched the distance between them. ’That’s an ugly bite.’

Helena stepped in front of the bitten player.

Her shoulders were tight, breath uneven, but she held her ground.

"Everyone! Please LEAVE immediately. Do not try to fight the zombies, they’re much stronger than you th—!"

Suddenly, a hand pushed her back.

Hel’s hand.

"Step aside, Helena. You have no fucking idea what to do."

Hel stood right in front of the newly infected man.

The veins along his neck had darkened, bulging under the skin, and his eyes were already losing whatever clarity they had left.

She placed a single finger against his forehead. "Such ugly creature. Die."

At first, nothing happened.

Then the man jerked. A sharp, animal scream tore out of him.

His body arched, every muscle locking so tight his joints trembled. The skin along his face split into dry and brittle lines.

A wet crackling noise crawled out of him.

CREAKK.

Screaming, his mouth stretched inhumanely open.

His cheeks caved in, and the color drained from him in seconds, turning everything dull and gray.

Then all his flesh began to melt and drop onto the floor.

Seconds later, what was left of the infected man was nothing but ash.

Her dull eyes flicked over to Helena’s shocked expression.

Looking back at her ash-stained fingers, she lightly blew them off as she continued talking. "You see, Neon. You are emotionally weak. And I am stronger, and better than you."