Becoming a Monster

Chapter 8 From Allies To Enemies, So Fast?

It wasnʼt until the smell started to get to them more and Charlie saw the brain matter slip out of a dead zombie causing him to gag that made Noah finally notice that he was being watched.

”Coughs! Sooo…can I help you with something?”

Noah tried to ask as nonchalantly as possible, they had just caught him in the middle of his excitement after he found out that he doesnʼt have to hold the money on his person but for some odd reason the gold disappears and shows up on his status panel. He was worried that he would go around wasting gold since his plan was to go out to grind levels and who knows what he could buy with the amount of gold he can save now? Just that thought alone made him chuckle uncontrollably while he tried to hold in a full blown laugh.

The sudden change in Noah caused the group of four to become confused, even more so since the casualness Noah was exhibiting didnʼt fit with the setting he was currently in, surrounded by dead bodies while covered in blood.

”I think he may have a couple of screws loose…I remember this guy...Itʼs that guy that Regina hates, you know? The one whoʼs always getting into fights and gets beat up? Heʼs a total weirdo, we shouldnʼt deal with him.”

It was already quiet during this time, only the sound of blood occasionally dripping and muffled screams outside could be heard, so everyone, including Noah could hear what was said.

Everyone turned to the voice and noticed that it was Charlie who spoke out.

But he only returned their stares with a questionable stare of his own. He believed that he was right in what he said. He wasnʼt exactly sure what Noah may have gone through or how much he changed but his opinion of him was already set in stone after years of looking down on him.

Mark was about to speak up to reconcile with Noah who he felt nervous just being around. Granted, he did believe that the man before him was a little empty upstairs but at the same time he would be of more help than his group combined if he really was the one who did everything here.

”Hmmm? Well it seems you know about me but I donʼt really care about who you are, but I do agree with you on something, you shouldnʼt deal with me. As you can see Iʼm kind of busy here so shoo shoo.”

No one knew how to respond, at least not immediately. His lack of fear and initiative to not join their group given the situation everyone is in so nonchalantly caused their minds to not be able to process it.

Noah left no room for discussion and left little time for Mark to respond to the situation. Just from the last words of Charlie, he was able to get an idea about their situation, in this situation thereʼs safety in numbers so he can assume they are looking for more people to group with.

ʼHeh, you think Iʼll share my experience with you? No chance! Not only my experience but they would also want part of my loot too and then Iʼd have to handle the more difficult monsters that ar-!ʼ

Noah caught himself amidst his thoughts. He wanted to go solo from the very beginning but he had to sleep at some point and just like a few moments ago where he was exhausted, he would surely die if he had to handle anything more dangerous before recovering. Before he gets a reliable monster, he would need a group.

Not long has passed during this brief pause but that was all Mark needed before his mind returned to the matter at hand. Just the fact that Noah refused to join them proved that he either is mentally insane or he really did accomplish everything here by himself. Personally he assumed that both situations were correct. He had to at least try to persuade him to join but he also wasnʼt one to beg. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Mark was prepared to try to reason with him.

”Wait, before you say anything please list-”

”Fine, I accept!” Noah propped himself up after receiving all of the gold in the chest. Amidst the open jaw expressions of the group standing at the door, he walked over to his side of the room to grab his bookbag which he then emptied out of all its contents. He then proceeded to grab a few snacks and two water bottles he kept in a drawer that he used as his emergency rations for when he would be too beaten up to go to the cafeteria. The last items he grabbed was his cellphone that he barely used but maybe there would be a use for it in this situation and the dagger from earlier which he now placed in a side pocket of his bookbag for easy retrieval. Before leaving he remembered to put on his run down sneakers he used during his entire stay in college.

With his bag now slung over one shoulder, he strides over to the group with a satisfied smirk on his face.

”Pst….Mark are you really letting him follow us? Can you still not see how mental he is?” Charlie whispered to Mark, but loud enough for everyone else in the group to hear. But Mark was still flabbergasted, it took some mental effort to think of reasons to convince Noah who turned them down recently and then all of a sudden he instantly agreed? With no attachments?

ʼI hope Iʼm not making the wrong decision…ʼ He could only think to himself while he shook his head to rid his negative thoughts.

”Why the long faces? Letʼs go, letʼs go! Weʼre wasting time here people.”

”Wait, where are we going anyway?” Noah didnʼt help to relieve Markʼs turmoil as his words only caused him to doubt his decision even more. It seems like itʼll happen often but he left the group speechless once again. Thankfully the soft hearted one of the group, Jackson filled the silence.

”W-We are heading to the girls dormitory, to sa- to find marks(he gestured with his eyes towards mark) sister. Bu-but are you not gonna change?

Everyone took notice of his attire, baggy sweats and a plain black t-shirt that was torn at the shoulder and the rib area. The only thing clean on him was his old sneakers, everything else was splattered with blood and a few brain matter here and there that fell off occasionally.

Now that Noah was no longer in the room full of dead bodies, the group was able to get a better look at him without anything to distract them, which led one paranoid person in the group to find a disturbing point.

Raising a pointed figure towards Noah that shook vehemently, the pale skinny figure Tom almost screamed.

”H-he! He was bitten! Look, look at his shoulder! We canʼt let him come with us! K-kill, kill him now before he turns and kills us!”

His screams put his group on edge and when they saw the torn spot in his shoulder and the blood that has yet to dry, it caused all of them to become defensive. One by one they each held up their weapons.

Mark, on one hand, was disappointed. He wasted time that could have been better spent and he felt that he lost a valuable person who wouldʼve helped him in his cause. Yet at the same time he felt satisfaction that Noah wasnʼt as great as he pegged him to be, at least he wasnʼt better than himself who was granted a special skill a cut above the rest.

”Look, Iʼm sorry to say this but you should go quietly…Itʼs best to die as a human instead as one of those things, trust me.” He said to Noah while he took a step towards him. He was becoming more anxious by the second, especially when he didnʼt see Noah move a muscle besides the twitching of his eye. He assumed he had given up which made his heart race since this would be the first time he would kill someone, the zombies werenʼt actually someone he considered human, at least not anymore.

”Hold up!” Noah finally responded while holding up a palm to signify everyone to stop. This is real life, not one of the novels he usually reads and yet, why did everything turn out like this?

Everyone in Markʼs group paused. Mark believed that Noah was starting to get cold feet and was gonna try to convince them that he wasnʼt bitten or something of that nature.

”Thereʼs no point in making excuses now, quit being selfish befor-”

”Will you shut up already? God! I feel like you just like to listen to yourself talk.” Everyone could clearly hear the agitation in Noahʼs voice and he had every right to be agitated. They are talking about killing him when they were the ones who came to him, not the other way around.

”Let me get this straight...You guys want to kill me because I was bitten? First, do any of you know how long it would take before you turn? Would you also let someone kill you if you were told you were infected?” He observed them waiting for an answer, only to see them all look towards one another for a lifeline, so he continued on his rant.

”Second, who the hell made you all god to decide when someone can and will die? Iʼm not gonna just sit here and lay down for you.

And finally, why do you think Iʼm not worried about being bitten? Itʼs because Iʼm confident that Iʼm not going to turn doofus.”

There was a pause in the air, Noah made sure to stay alert as he observed the groups reactions hoping that his observation skill will help him determine if they were still going to attack him or not. What he was not aware of before, was there were small cracks in some of the doorways further down the hall. There were still people alive on his floor and were just bunkered in! Noah guessed that they were too scared to fight and decided to wait it out for help. He decided to use this piece of information for if they still decided to attack him.

Meanwhile, Markʼs group all wore faces that looked constipated as they went over what Noah said. No one wanted to speak up, either they felt guilty or besides Mark, they didnʼt feel that they could beat Noah if he were to fight back when they thought back to the pile of zombies in his room. All but one person that is, who was driven by fear.

”Bull Shit! Who would believe that, Weʼve seen people turn right in front of our eyes and you say youʼre immune? Bull Shit!” Yelled Tom who stepped in front of the group without noticing due to his intense emotions. He had lost someone he considered a brother right before his eyes, all to have that same person try to eat him moments later, just to hear someone say they are unable to turn? He couldnʼt accept that! Why did his brother have to be killed by a zombie? Why couldnʼt that person who killed him be immune to turning as well? His ʼbrotherʼ could still be alive.

Tears ran down Tomʼs face as he huffed and puffed from overexerting himself, the display of emotions seemed to win over the other people in his group. Emotions always triumph over logic it seems and Mark clung onto that point.

”Heʼs right, how can we believe you wonʼt turn? We canʼt trust our backs to you and you end up trying to kill us. Besides, if we left, you could also turn later and kill someone else. It doesnʼt matter what you consider right or wrong, all that matters is that by letting yourself die now youʼll be possibly preventing yourself from taking another life and you wont end up like those things. You donʼt get a choice when it concerns not only your life but others as well!” The longer he talked, the more courage he gained almost as if he was slowly convincing himself that he was right in his thoughts. His words sounded reasonable to him and his group but it was utter gibberish to the person it was directed to.

”What the fuucck….” Noah couldnʼt believe what he just heard, he knew that he was a little crazy, but this Mark guy wins hands down, he was like an imitation of a hero on crack.