After swallowing the crystal Johnathan immediately felt the pain. However this time he didn't scream nor did he really squirm around. The reason for this was because of the first crystal. Not only did it make him stronger by basically rebuilding his body, but it increased his pain tolerance. There was also the fact that the second crystal only made him stronger by improving his rebuilt body. It did not rebuild it further. So all in all, the pain from the crystal was greatly decreased. However, it was still painful enough to make a normal grown man cry.
After the pain settled down, Johnathan got up and stretched his empowered body. He had immediately felt the change. His fatigue disappeared, and he felt as if he could take on an army of zombies. Though it was an exaggeration that he could take on that many, he was now able to deal with at least four on his own.
To his right, Danny had also eaten the crystal. With the same excited glint in his eyes as Johnathan's, he looked at his hands and felt them brimming with power. It was a feeling he would have never felt if this apocalypse didn't happen. He felt like he was some superhero from those comics he used to read. The first crystal rebuilt his body and made it stronger but it didn't boost his strength by too much. But right now, he felt invincible.
The reason for that was because the first crystal wasn't meant as a strength multiplier. The first crystal had only changed their bodies to make sure that if they do get more crystals and eat them, they wont die. In simpler words, it made their body a container for power.
As Johnathan was inspecting his body he noticed that though he didn't slim down, he had less fat on him. His biceps were bigger, his stomach was flatter, his eye sight was way better than before.
After both Johnathan and Danny were done inspecting the changes to their bodies, they finally decided to leave. It was finally time to help his brother and Johnathan couldn't be happier. With his new found strength, he believed that he could deal with anything that was going to be thrown at him.
"Ash, we'll be gone for a while. We'll come back one hundred percent"
Looking over at Ash, Ivan told him that they were going to leave once again. This time instead of complaining and telling them not to go, he simply nodded his head. He knew that they were going to go save Johnathan's brother and he couldn't tell them not to go. He was a stranger to them and he knew it. He looked up to them as brothers, but that was because they saved him. They had only known each other for a couple of hours, so telling them not to save his brother would be like telling someone not too breath. It was impossible.
The three teens looked at Ash and smiled. They walked up to him and patted his head before pulling him into a group huddle.
"We'll come back in one piece, and once we do, we'll have a new addition to the group"
Johnathan said as he put his hand in the middle. The other did the same and stacked their hands on top of each other.
"Survive and fight on three"
"One"
"two"
"Three"
"""SURVIVE AND FIGHT""""
After the group cheer, the three felt a rush of excitement. They believed they could pull this rescue mission off with every fiber of their bodies.
Johnathan emptied his bag and put in six water bottles. The bag would've hindered him before but now it was light as a feather.
After everything was ready, the three walked to the exit of the apartment and said goodbye once more to Ash. Saying their goodbyes, they left the apartment and once they were in the small hall, they saw Mark waiting with his bat in hand.
Extending his hand which held the bat, he said "Take it. You boys better be careful with this bat though. If its broken by the time you guys come back, I will be pissed"
Laughing aloud, Johnathan took the bat and insured him that nothing would happen to the bat.
"Don't worry. Your bat will be fine"
Mark smiled as he responded "Better be".
The three then left, feeling stronger than ever. Once they were outside the store they stealthily walked their way towards the convenience store. After reaching the convenience store they took a right. It was a short cut his brother and him used during the weekends and whenever they would meet people there.
As they were about to walk through the neighborhood, they noticed ten zombies walking around aimlessly. Why wasn't there more zombies? Johnathan was sure that there should've been more zombies walking around. But after looking closer, he found the reason.
Dead bodies were on the ground. Tens of zombies were dead. How was that possible? Johnathan and the other hadn't heard any fighting going on when they were at the convenience store. The answer was, it happened before they reached the bike store.
Since you couldn't see the neighborhood without taking a sharp turn, seeing the zombies and their bodies were impossible.
"Someone killed this many zombies? You think they were in a group or by themselves"
"I don't know Ivan, but Killing this many zombies probably gave them a good amount of crystals. So we definitely wont be able to handle them if they wanted to steal from us or harm us"
Johnathan was right. They would be able to handle someone who has eaten a crystal or two more than them but if it was a group whos eaten one or two more than them, they would most definitely not be able to win the skirmish.
"There's still zombies left. Plus, If they're humans, I doubt they would want to fight us. Especially for supplies. There's a corner store back there. They would've easily been able to get shit from there".
"You're right Danny. I'm just paranoid. Zombie shows, films or comics always have humans who are psychos in them. So I want to make sure we don't come across anything like that. Especially if they're stronger than us"
"No worries Johnathan. We got this"
Smiling, Johnathan nodded. Danny was right. The three of them have always been able to conquer anything together. Whether it being tests or fights against other people. So pushing his pointless worries away, he made his way forwards.
_____________
AN: Next Chapter is a fight! Look forwards to their new strength and what's to come.