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Chapter 4: Bitter Sweet

  Zeon could not sleep that night; every time he closed his eyes, he saw the bloody face of Liam staring at him. His heart ached, and his emotional state was in shambles. It did not help that the sounds of Serra weeping in the background constantly reminded him of what he had done. She wept for hours before falling asleep, and Zeon embraced the sweet sound of silence. For hours, Zeon just sat there until he was overcome by a dull numbness that spread through the entirety of his being, and he welcomed the sweet release of sleep. His dreams were pgued by Liam, it seemed that not even sleep would save him from the guilt of what he had done. When he awoke, he was still tired, not the average tiredness that came from a ck of sleep but the tiredness that seeped into your very soul. The apocalypse had only sted three days, but it had already taken its toll and left its mark on Zeon’s psyche. But the human body was remarkable in its ability to adapt to circumstances; in this case, it was the numbness that consumed him.

  Standing up, Zeon stretched to relieve some of his aching muscles and looked around the room they had used for shelter. It was the office of the dorm mother. It was not rge by any means, but it was enclosed and capable of being locked from the inside, giving them at least some form of security. The only thing inside was a desk and two chairs but it was spacious enough for the three of them. Serra was already awake, observing Zeon’s actions with a hatefuled gre. Well at least it was better than the sobbing, if not by much.

  Serra had woken up early that morning; her eyes were sore from all the crying she had done the previous night, but the pain was still there. But instead of feeling depressed, she was angry, furious even. For now, she knew the truth; it was all Zeon’s fault. He was strong; she had seen this first hand, but he did nothing to protect Liam when he was attacked. No, it was worse than this. He watched it happen. But he did something unforgivable: he took Liam from her. No matter how much she pleaded, he would not listen. But now she knew he was not a human, he was a demon. She had been raised catholic, so she should have known it when he showed them his true colors, the day when he showed them what he truly was, the 7ft monster they had seen the other day, that was what he was. A demon parading as a man. If she had not been blinded by everything that was happening, she would have seen it sooner, but now that she was aware, she knew she had to get out and escape from him- no escape from it.

  Zeon was oblivious to Serra’s thoughts as he went to check up on Malcolm. He had been acting strange tely, but he felt now was not the time to ask. Malcolm was busy studying his new undead, the level 2 they had killed, he seemed absorbed in his observations as he did not notice Zeon’s approach.

  “Are you ready?” Zeon asked. Malcolm only gave him a sideways gnce and nodded in response.

  Zeon looked over at Serra, and she was studying his every move with that hateful gre of hers. Zeon could only shake his head and sigh. It would be pretty hard for him to keep his promise if things continued like this. Zeon picked up his jacket from the ground that he had used as an improvised pillow and put it back on. With this, he was prepared to go. For the first time since the apocalypse, he tried to use his phone as he finally had some free time, but to his surprise, the phone that had been one hundred percent charged did not turn on. Working on a hunch, he moved to the room's light switch and tried turning it on, but nothing happened. It seemed that the apocalypse had interfered with technology, just like that, humanity had gone from the apex of the age of technology back to the age of iron, Zeon could not even begin to think of the implications of what this meant.

  Serra and Malolm were ready at this point, so he put the thought at the back of his mind as he unlocked the door, and they made their exit. Malcolm was walking next to Zeon with his undead taking the lead, with Serra trailing behind them. Malcolm came closer to Zeon and for the first time in a while, he spoke.

  “Be careful of her; there is something in her eyes that I don’t trust,” Malcolm said softly so that only Zeon could hear. His expression made it clear he was serious.

  “Give her some sck. She saw me kill her boyfriend; it is understandable that she is angry at me,” Zeon said, waving off his concerns.

  “That statement makes it clear that you do not see the manic look in her eyes,” Malcolm said matter of factly.

  That made Zeon think back to Serra’s actions this morning, the constant gre, the fact that she had not uttered a single word. It was a bit concerning, but he would not call it manic in the slightest. They exited the hallway and made their way back into the lobby. A pang of guilt hit Zeon as he saw Liam's corpse still lying there, but he quickly averted his gaze as he was not ready to see it again. Zeon gave a quick gnce toward Serra, and he saw her eyes turn a bit watery as she saw his corpse. he tried to say something reassuring, but he could not. He opened and closed his mouth, but the words would not come, so he chose to remain silent instead, as nothing he could say would have made a difference.

  They quickly exited the lobby, and in doing so, they exited the dorm. It had taken longer than expected and at a far greater cost, but they had made it. Zeon stood there for a while, enjoying the fresh air before he started thinking of their next move. Ultimately, they needed to leave the city, but they would need some supplies first. Luckily, there was a store that sold outdoor gear close to the old catholic church on the way out of the city, so that would be their next stop. The university was located in the central district of the city of New Hagensmire, one of the smaller cities within the country of Gregoria. New Hagensmire was a city built around different universities, so the majority of the residents were either current students or former ones.

  They started to move through the campus, and it seemed luck was with them today as there was only very minimal undead walking the campus grounds. One of the few good things about the apocalypse happening at night was that everyone was inside when it happened. They only had to kill about seven undead before they finally exited the university. Malcolm had grown to level three and could now control up to five undead instead of his previous two, while Zeon also gained a level. “You have gained a level.”

  Name: Zeon Whither

  Level: 4 (exp to next lvl 35/400)

  Race: Human Rank Initiate

  Css: N/A

  Profession: N/A

  Health: 50/50

  Mana: 80/110

  Stats: Strength: 5

  Agility: 7

  Toughness: 6

  Intelligence: 11

  Wisdom: 12

  Perception: 7

  Stat points to invest: 4

  Active Skills: Avatar lvl 2 (Transform your soul into a weapon; you and your avatar fight as one. Your soul has grown in power, allowing you to take on a semi-material form.)

  Passive Skills: Sorrowful Sight lvl 1 (Your Sorrowful eyes can see the damned.)

  Analyze lvl 2 (By focusing on something, you can gain more information.)

  Soul Slots (1/5): Apparition lvl 1 (Born from a person who died in great anguish.)

  Empty

  Empty

  Empty

  Empty

  Mark: ???? - (????)

  Looking at his status screen, Zeon was quite proud; his Analyze had even gained a level. He decided to double down on his magic stats, investing two points in intelligence and wisdom.

  They quickly exited the lobby, and in doing so, they exited the dorm. It had taken longer than expected and at a far greater cost, but they had made it. Zeon stood there for a while, enjoying the fresh air before he started thinking of their next move. Ultimately, they needed to leave the city, but they would need some supplies first. Luckily, there was a store that sold outdoor gear close to the old catholic church on the way out of the city, so that would be their next stop. The university was located in the central district of the city of New Hagensmire, one of the smaller cities within the country of Gregoria. New Hagensmire was a city built around different universities, so the majority of the residents were either current students or former ones.

  They started to move through the campus, and it seemed luck was with them today as there was only very minimal undead walking the campus grounds. One of the few good things about the apocalypse happening at night was that everyone was inside when it happened. They only had to kill about seven undead before they finally exited the university. Malcolm had grown to level three and could now control up to five undead instead of his previous two, while Zeon also gained a level. “You have gained a level.”

  Name: Zeon Whither

  Level: 4 (exp to next lvl 35/400)

  Race: Human Rank Initiate

  Css: N/A

  Profession: N/A

  Health: 50/50

  Mana: 80/110

  Stats: Strength: 5

  Agility: 7

  Toughness: 6

  Intelligence: 13

  Wisdom: 14

  Perception: 7

  Stat points to invest: 0

  Active Skills: Avatar lvl 2 (Transform your soul into a weapon; you and your avatar fight as one. Your soul has grown in power, allowing you to take on a semi-material form.)

  Passive Skills: Sorrowful Sight lvl 1 (Your Sorrowful eyes can see the damned.)

  Analyze lvl 2 (By focusing on something, you can gain more information.)

  Soul Slots (1/5): Apparition lvl 1 (Born from a person who died in great anguish.)

  Empty

  Empty

  Empty

  Empty

  Mark: ???? - (????)

  Zeon was happy with his progress. Looking at how far he had come since he began, his pride swelled, but it was still somewhat overshadowed by his guilt. He shook his head to remove those thoughts from his head. They moved at a reserved pace through the city, and they traveled through back alleys to avoid the majority of the hordes, killing small groups of the undead as they traveled. Malcolm had filled his avaible slots, now having a full team of five undead under his command. A strange thing happened to his highest level one when the st undead was raised, it seemed to become slightly more intelligent as well as being slightly stronger. As they moved through the city, they drew near to the church, but Zeon lifted his fist, motioning them to stop. As he observed the church, he heard activity before he ever saw anything, but instead of finding the undead, he found people, an entire group of them.

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