Becoming a Monster

Chapter 22 Mutated Zombie?

ʼShit, more people to deal with….ʼ

When he heard the footsteps hurriedly approaching, he took off his bag to pull out his mallet. It wasnʼt the best weapon but it was still something to protect himself. He would call on his spider but not only could he sense that it wasnʼt close to full recovery, the room they were in wasnʼt big enough to allow it to maneuver around. If anything he would make a break for it outside if he has to.

He prepared himself mentally while he faced the door opposite him. It appeared that Isabelle finally caught up to what was going on when the door slowly creaked open. She immediately got off the ground and cowered behind Noah, her first thought was zombies, even though technically zombies shouldnʼt be able to open doors.

The door stopped when there was enough space for someone to stick their head in, but they became startled and slammed the door on their own face when they heard a voice.

”You can open the door already.” Noah voiced out annoyingly, they didnʼt bother to hide their footsteps but now they want to sneak their way in?

Boom!

”Fu-fuck!”

”Henry, what are you doing? Whateverʼs in there definitely heard you now…”

”Crap, donʼt you think I know that? But thereʼs a person in there, donʼt tell me you didnʼt hear him?”

”...D-do you think itʼs a gho-ghost? Letʼs get out of here, we already checked anyway!”

The more Noah had to listen to the two bickering, the more annoyed he was getting. The end of his lip twitched, he was on the verge of yelling towards the two but he held it in. But he also didnʼt want to continue on like this.

Cough!*

”Thereʼs no ghost in here, itʼs just two of us now so can you open the door or should I come to you?”

Soon after, there was an immediate silence before the door creaked open slowly again causing Noah to sigh out loud. But at least this time they didnʼt pause opening the door and fully opened it to reveal the two speakers from earlier.

Both of them had the aura of a lackey and even their appearance quite resembled one. The one who hit his head with the door was your everyday average joe. Wielding a hammer similar to Noahʼs hammer in the beginning. There was nothing noteworthy about him besides the fact he appeared to be easily startled. The one behind him was even more questionable, he had a geekish look and was constantly fidgeting about while holding a wooden crossbow, yet he didnʼt have a quiver. Noah wasnʼt quite sure why they would be the first responders to the noise unless they were being treated as dispensable, the thought slightly surprised him.

ʼItʼs a little too early to treat people this way, no? Heck, what am I saying? Society has always been this way.ʼ

He continued to wait for the two to speak, but he had to stand by for them to stare in disbelief towards the mutated dog he just killed. Noah was sure that even though itʼs only been a few hours since the start of this mess that these two didnʼt have to partake in any of the confrontations. He couldnʼt wrap his head around how these two skittish people could have the courage to come here even if ordered too unless they couldnʼt comprehend how dangerous it was.

”So? How long are you two gonna stand there? Iʼd rather not stay here with a broken window and attract anything else in here.”

The two finally focused on Noah, an audible gulp could be heard from one and a gasp from the other. Noahʼs appearance hasnʼt been treated since the start of his first bloodbath. If anything, itʼs gotten worse, his clothes and most of his visible skin was covered in dried blood. Including the fact that after the altercation with Derrick, his clothing, including his armor, showed extremely visible wear and tear.

The sun was still rising so there wasnʼt much sunlight in the room. No one thought about turning on the lights since it would be an obvious attraction to things outside so the two newcomers couldnʼt observe Noah properly. Their eyes tried to adjust more to the dim room to gauge the speaker but the more they saw, the more a deep fear set in their hearts. It was when they made contact with his eyes they drove them over the edge.

”Ahhhhh!”

”I-itʼs a zom-zombie! Henry! Itʼs a talking zombie! We gotta get out of here!” The friend with Henry, who was fidgety the entire time, took off leaving his friend behind. ”We werenʼt told they could talk!” His voice trailed behind as he ran.

That left the three in the room, Isabelle wasnʼt noticed by Henry yet who was slowly backing up towards the doorway. He noted before that the zombies his group encountered were all slow moving and the only audible noise they made were mumbles and growls. Just like how many animals started to mutate, growing in size or gaining a boost in certain attributes. He began to wonder if a zombie who could talk would be any different.

He was preparing to leave before he saw Isabelle cowering behind Noah. She was a beautiful girl, but now her beauty was covered with dirt and her messy attire. The fact that she was shrinking behind Noah alone, was enough to halt Henry in his steps.

ʼWait…this could be my chance…even if itʼs mutated, a zombie should still be a zombie. And because itʼs a special one…that should be special rewards! I can get the prize and…..the girl.” Henry didnʼt care how Isabelle looked currently. He was already considered somewhat of a loser hence why he became a lackey to do others bidding. But, if he could look cool in saving a damsel then he should have better luck with earning a womanʼs affection, Or so he thought.

His expression soon turned grave before he maneuvered to the side to get a better view of the girl before he called out to her.

”Donʼt you worry, Iʼll save you from that zombie!” He yelled towards her, but….he didnʼt exactly get the reaction he was expecting. Instead of the relief he was expecting for Isabelle to exhibit, she became startled and shrieked in an annoyingly distressed voice before having a coughing fit soon after. What confused Henry even more was when she cowered into the so-called zombie and hugged its waist.

Henry thought heʼd seen everything, but then he thought that maybe she was startled so much that she imagined the zombie to be a person. It could talk, so in his mind confusing it for a human was extremely plausible. He didnʼt stay shocked for too long before he made a sprint towards the zombie.

He was even more determined to save her than he was before because now it would be his fault if she died. But he was yet again made to be surprised when the ʼzombieʼ held its palm out signaling him to stop and the words that followed after.

”If youʼre really this stupid then you need to atleast wear a sign so you can warn everyone else so we can decide to avoid you. I had yet to move nor did I attack her and Iʼm clearly talking to you. Are you choosing to ignore what I say just for you to fight me? Maybe youʼre the zombie with how stupid you appear right now.”

Blow after blow, Henry felt invisible blows impacting his gut. Maybe he believed in a talking zombie, but at this point he wouldnʼt believe in an insulting one. He felt that he would give up if zombies really did mutate in that direction. With his low self esteem, he would lose the fight before it even began.

Bang*

His arms slumped to his side before he released the grip on his weapon. The impact against the floor wasnʼt necessarily loud but the silence in the room created an echo that permeated loudly.

Isabelle was soon drawn to the noise. At first she thought that she was the target of Noahʼs insults. There was no way for her to know that Henry mistaken him for a zombie after sheʼs been with him and never compared the two. She was already becoming embarrassed that Noah could be referring to her as stupid after her shameful display. She didnʼt realize till she heard the hammer fall to the ground that Henry was the target of his abuse all along.

She looked towards Henry with a spiteful demeanor, she didnʼt like the fact that she became so startled because of his misunderstanding. She even had a slight doubt that he did it on purpose. But when she got a better look at his expression, her attitude quickly changed to one pity. Itʼs a shame that only she was affected.

”Are you really about to cry right now? You know, donʼt even answer that…” Noah looked on helplessly, he didnʼt know how to deal with the boy before him. He couldnʼt believe that he was actually crying. It wasnʼt a full blown cry but the man was heaving out loud. Noah could even hear the silent sniffles people would normally get when they were distressed.

He wasnʼt adapted to handle a situation like this. Emotional problems were just as difficult as riddles, you could say the right thing and it could still make the situation worse. He so badly wanted to dismiss him and move, but then he remembered his ʼfriendʼ who ran off screaming. He was sure that he would just walk into another misunderstanding that he didnʼt want to deal with.

”Hey, you.” Noah beckoned to the guy to get his attention. It seemed as though being oblivious to Henryʼs feelings did the trick. Henry looked up and noticed that not only was he not being ridiculed, but Noah also was speaking to him in an indifferent tone. Noahʼs appearance didnʼt exactly do him any favors when he behaved this way but Noah would rather deal with a fearful person instead of a crying one.

”Wh-what…? Youʼre not gonna hurt me are you?” He took a step back as he inquired towards Noah. Even before this apocalypse started, he knew that people tend to become aggressive in these kinds of situations. Naturally his body reacted in the same manner in this situation.

Again, Noah was helpless coming up with a retort. He wanted to tell the guy ʼI will if you keep being weirdʼ. He didnʼt respond aggressively nor did he express himself in any way that he was gonna attack him. Did he have the appearance of some common thug?

He wasnʼt planning on asking a question like that out loud. He started to walk forward a little while he answered.

”I donʼt plan on it as long as you donʼt get the wrong ideas again. But speaking of that, I think we may have a small problem.”

Henry became more alert towards what he said and took a few more steps back in a hurry.

”Wha-what problem? Thereʼs no problem him man, if I had known earlier than I wo-”

”Hold on hold on! Sheesh…what I mean is, your little friend who ran off earlier. I donʼt know how many people are in your group but Iʼll need you to at least clear up the misunderstanding when the time comes. I mean, they do have that saying ʼyou are the company that you keepʼ. So you can at least do that much, no?”

After speaking up to here, Henry didnʼt continue to retract his steps. He only looked warily towards Noah while he considered what he asked. His thoughts recalled back to his ʼfriendʼ from earlier. He could only imagine the vivid story heʼs telling the group right now. Henry was sure that he would cut out the part about deserting him too and also exaggerate the ʼzombieʼ so he wouldnʼt look bad for running away.

Imagining the comical scene almost made his face break out into a smile, but that indifferent gaze from Noah was similar to cold water being poured over him. He shook his head on impulse to get his head back into the game before he looked back to Noahʼs confused expression.

”I…I can do that much…I-if thatʼs the only thing I have to do…” Noticing that his response could be taken the wrong way, his voice instinctively lowered to almost a mumble. Noah didnʼt bother with his tone or lack thereof, he was at least satisfied that he met someone sensible, at least more sensible than what he had to deal with so far.

He didnʼt want to continue the talk in the room with a dead body that he was sure would start to smell later.

”Well letʼs go and get this out the way then, as you can see, my day has been hectic and I need to rest for a bit.

Noah proceeded to walk to the door. Henry subconsciously moved out of his way and was about to follow him. But something was missing and he didnʼt know what it was. Not long after, he heard someone crying softly, but the sound was muffled, like the sound was being covered up by something.