The Perfect Path To Insanity-Chapter 33: What Morals?

Fei Ming planted his feet wider on the uneven pavement, his right arm thrusting out in front of his body.

The polearm blade attached to his forearm vibrated as it split into two identical edges, both extending to full length.

Helena still stood there in shock.

The female zombie lunged toward him from five paces away, her fingers curled into hooks and her mouth open.

He twisted his torso to avoid her reaching arms, then stabbed her straight into her chest cavity.

The impact pushed her back a step, blood welling up around the wound as he yanked the blade free.

Without pausing, he advanced and plunged the second blade into the same spot, twisting his wrist for deeper penetration.

Screeching, the zombie clawed at his shoulder, but he leaned away just enough to miss the full force.

He retracted and stabbed again, alternating the blades in quick succession, stabbing her over and over again.

She collapsed to her knees, arms dropping limp, and he stepped back as her body hit the pavement face-first, blood spreading in a dark patch beneath her.

Ding!

[Number of Infected Kills: 3]

[Number of Infected Remaining: 1]

[Time Remaining: 40 hours 5 minutes.]

Helena forced herself out of her trance, and closed the distance between them in three quick strides.

Her hands balled into fists at hip level and her shoulders rising with each breath. "FATELESS! We could have handled it without killing! I don’t care if you’re on my team or not, but killing people now?!"

Her words echoed as more players gathered from the surrounding ruins, stepping out from where they were to form a ragged semicircle ten feet around the corpses.

Some shifted their weight from one foot to the other, while others locked eyes on the bloodied ground, their postures rigid.

Fei Ming faced Helena directly, and locked his gaze on hers without a word at first. Then he spoke.

"You are a hypocrite."

She jerked her head back slightly, her fingers tightening further. "What?"

He continued. "You aimed your hilt at the skull. Your strength would shatter it anyway, knowing the head was the weak point. It dies no matter what. Why pretend you’re doing it a favor otherwise? Why can’t you also stand up to Hel the same way you just did?"

Helena’s jaw slackened for a moment, her eyes darting side to side as she processed his words.

Taking a half-step backward, her posture loosened at the shoulders. ’How did he know that?’

She straightened up and pushed back. "I-I’m not a hypocrite. Fateless, I w-was only trying to—"

A wet slip of movement behind her drew a sharp yelp. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Ae-rin, positioned a few steps behind the cluster of players near Hel, had stepped on zombie blood, sliding on the slick patch. She caught herself on a broken wall, laughing nervously. "Sorry! I—haha—oh geez."

A piece of her candy rolled across the ground. She bent, grabbed it, and popped it into her mouth. "Carry on with your talk."

Helena compressed her lips, then swung her focus back to Fei Ming, her stance widening as she raised her voice. "Fine! I accept they’re dangerous." Her hands gestured outward briefly.

"But killing them like that isn’t right. I can’t just let my morals—"

Fei Ming interrupted, tilting his head. "What morals?"

Her arms fell to her sides.

Gazing down to the ground with her shoulders slumped, she stood there without giving a response. The crippling doubt visible in the way she avoided eye contact and shifted her weight uneasily.

She turned on her heel and walked the short distance back to her group.

Helena stopped in front of them, her eyes scanning their forms. "You two okay?"

Heidi gave a single nod, rolling his arm once. Kira lifted her thumb in affirmation.

Nyx lingered a pace away, her palm flat against her midsection, a forced smile stretching her mouth even as her features tightened in discomfort.

Helena noted the gesture and adjusted her position to face the group fully. "Let’s search for loot. Food caches. Maybe small beasts we can catch and eat. The third infected player is still out there. We need our strength to fight."

They started forward as a unit, their boots grinding over the fragments of glass scattered across the roadway.

Helena took point down the narrow street, with Heidi and Kira matching her pace side by side a step behind.

Nyx trailed after them, her strides shortening until she fell several paces back, her hand still on her stomach. Eris noticed this and asked Nyx:

"You okay, Nyxie? Were you shocked that Fateless was the hooded guy?"

"Y-yeah. I was. It’s been a long time we’ve seen him since the Carnival. It’s probably that," Nyx replied with a small smile.

She suddenly held her grumbling belly. "So hungry..." she muttered.

"Did you say something, Nyxie?"

"No. No. Let’s move on."

Eris stopped abruptly, her head tilting down to stare at the flickering display hovering in front of her chest. "Why is my system glitching?"

A piercing ’PIIIING!’ echoed from the interface, cutting through the air.

Eris pressed both hands over her ears, her face twisting as the noise lingered. She lowered her hands gradually and pivoted her upper body toward Nyx.

"...Nyx." Eris called out.

"I’m so hungry," Nyx cried out. "I’ve been holding it together, so why now?"

Her eyes flashed red.

"I’m so hungry. I’m so hungry. H..hungry... hungry..."

Ding!

[The third infected player has been found!]

***

Ae-rin’s vision whited out at the edges.

The headache hit like a nail driven behind her left eye, and when she pressed her palm to her temple, the skin there felt fever-hot, slick with sweat.

She gasped out a sharp "Ah!" and staggered forward toward her group clustered near the ruined building wall.

The taste of copper filled her mouth.

Her other hand shot out to grip the rough concrete edge for support, fingers digging in as her knees buckled slightly.

The third girl in their trio, who had trailed both her and Hel since the hideout, hurried over from two paces away, her brows drawing together, clearly worried.

"Hey, Ae-rin. Are you okay? You’re sweating." The girl reached out a tentative hand toward Ae-rin’s shoulder.

Ae-rin swatted the hand away. "Piss off, bitch-face." She straightened up partially, releasing the wall, and pushed past the girl to continue down the debris-littered alley. "I can hold my own shit together. Don’t belittle me in front of Hel."

’Ah... I shouldn’t have eaten that candy," she thought. ’Who knew Helena was associated with a wanted criminal. Wasn’t his face posted in our district? Ah... I feel so— hungry....’

A high-pitched ringing built in Ae-rin’s ears, growing louder with each step.

Up ahead, three men stood in a tight huddle around a pile of scavenged food on the ground.

Their voices overlapped in chatters as they pointed at canned goods and wrapped packets pulled from a nearby structure.

"Food..." Ae-rin veered toward them, but then tripped over a loose stone.

She pitched forward onto the food stash, her body landing sprawled across the items, coughing loudly as dust kicked up around her.

The men jumped back in surprise. One kicked at a scattered can rolling away. "What the hell?! Ae-rin. Are you drunk or what?"

Another crossed his arms tight over his chest, glaring down at her. "The hell is she doing here? Didn’t Hel tell her to stand outside?"

’Stupid fuckers.’ Ae-rin pushed up onto her elbows, ignoring them, and snatched a chunk of dried meat from the pile.

She crammed it into her mouth, chewing fast as pieces crumbled down her chin. ’Food... food... not enough... more. More More More More!’

Quickly, Hel strode in from the side, closing the gap between them.

She grabbed Ae-rin’s collar and hauled her up halfway, then slapped her across her cheek. "Ae-rin. What got into you?"

Laughing, Ae-rin dropped the food remnant, her head snapping to the side from the impact, but she muttered low under her breath, "Food..."

Sweat beaded thicker on her forehead, rolling down her temples as she clutched at her stomach. "Don’t look down on me. I’m just hungry," Ae-rin muttered.

But her voice got higher. "Fucking hell! Don’t stare at me like that!"

Hel released her grip, stepping back a foot, her eyes widening as she scanned Ae-rin’s trembling form and pallid skin. "You... You got yourself infected, didn’t you?"