Will enter his house and realize that there's a familiar energy wave somewhere inside. In fact, there are several of them. Will directly head in their direction and arrive in his room.
"Jess…"
"Will?... Will! You're back. I'm so sorry for barging in without permission…" Jess, one of Will's few friends is currently sitting on his bed while using his laptop.
"Your safe… so as the others…" Will look at some more familiar faces. They are his classmates.
"Hi Will" They greet him belatedly one after another.
"How did you end up here?..." He looks at Jess.
Jess slowly closes the Laptop and clears her throat. "When we saw the news about the trending live broadcast, we immediately gathered in school since it's large and has a lot of supplies. We then continue watching the situation through the live broadcast and saw familiar people. You, your father and brother, and also Rick… we saw you do some amazing stuff and gathered here before the zombies could come... Our classmates and parents are living in this and others' houses while waiting for you to rescue us. We're too scared to go out on our own and might encounter the zombies"
Hearing this, Will looks at the other people and sees some adults and other people who he doesn't recognize doing whatever stuff they want in his house.
"I understand. I have to take you to the hospital then… how many survivors are there?"
"I don't know… probably more than a hundred? I kind of figured out that you would one day come back here so we're staying without permission while waiting for you… the military has isolated us and probably won't come any time soon. We're just anxiously watching out for the situation"
Will feels a headache due to the heavy responsibility suddenly being handed to him.
"By the way… my laptop…"
"I'm so sorry for checking your stuff…" Jess turns embarrassed getting caught red-handed.
"Well, I don't really mind…" Will don't care about his stuff since they don't have any enchantment on them.
"There's a lot of you… and I plan to bring back supplies… do you have cars?"
The adults nod and reassure him that they would follow him.
"I was planning on getting my laptop since there's something in there that I need people to know…"
"Oh, I know… I found your documentation. I was reading it just now" Jess hands the laptop to Will.
Inside are the details regarding the process, properties, and effects of the abilities he and Tom acquired in files.
"I don't know if it's your family secret or something…. So I'm sorry for prying on it" Jess feels quite guilty and anticipate will's negative reaction.
"Actually, I want to get it so I could release this information online… and it's not a family secret" Will replies nonchalantly.
Everyone who hears this exclaim in surprise.
"What, really? W-why?" Someone wonders out loud. He doesn't understand Will's logic.
Will sigh and then slowly tells them the reason.
"First of all, not only me, my family, and a friend have abilities but I believe all of you too have it hidden within you. I think that sooner or later, you might awaken it yourself. Most importantly, there's no reason for me to hoard this knowledge since you have the right to have them, especially at this crucial time. Lastly, I think it's time for everyone to know this. The sooner that ability users multiply, the government might find confidence in it and train the military to produce more of them. Then, the sooner they would send men to rescue us…"
"You're so broad-minded… what a clever child" one of the parents said.
"I couldn't believe it when my daughter suddenly wants to head out on the streets where there might be zombies lurking to head to a certain boy's home! I thought she have feelings for you and what's to spend her last moments together with you… unfortunately, it seems like I was wrong. You're such a handsome boy though" A mother said jokingly.
"Mom!?"
"You're saying the information in that document is credible? It says that a person might awaken it through meditation… I couldn't believe it. Why haven't therapist and yoga instructors around the world shown their 'abilities' then? Are they just keeping it for themselves? Right, it could be dangerous for them when others find out…" One boy assumes.
"I'm not sure but the mutation must have started at the same time tragedies have been happening around the world. Also, there's a precise way of meditation that would awaken it…" Will explains.
Everyone thinks that this makes sense.
After talking to them for a bit more about the situation at the hospital, Will proceeds to gather his and his parent's important stuff.
The survivors call those that they know at the other houses and inform them to get ready to head to the hospital.
Will think up a plan carefully. With their numbers, zombies might easily get attracted to them and get her in hordes.
"Will… I kept practicing ever since I've read the instructions from that document and I can somehow feel it inside me. There's just something that doesn't feel right. I feel like I can't touch it but I can't seem to grab it... Can you help me for I bit?" Says Jess and crouch on the floor with Will.
"That's good… if you keep this up, you might just really awaken it by yourself" Will observes Jess with his perception ability. Intrigue by her progress since all this while, he never encountered anyone who's trying to awaken their ability by themselves.
Will carefully scans Jess's body while the young girl seeing his intense gaze couldn't help feeling embarrassed.
"Show it to me while you do it… I might be able to help you"
"Ok…" Jess peers at Will's expression and then start the routine from that document.
Jess shut her eyes and phase her breath in a long and calm manner. Awakening the ability requires one to first locate it. Jess puts all her consciousness to shut it off from external influence and focus inside her body. Feeling her beating chest, then the sensation of the skin of her arms, legs, face, and then her organs.
With this, her cognition regarding her body heightens and she would focus on any peculiar sensation within. Then, she could feel it within. She can't exactly pinpoint it but she can feel the energy and then somehow influence it to move according to her will.
"This is a very significant achievement… keep going. Don't stop this feeling. It might be frustrating but soon you might grasp the feeling" Will instruct while keeping his eyes open to Jess's energy that he can perceive slightly being influenced by her.
Jess could feel something resembling ticklish and frustrating since she could feel it, but she could barely utilize it. Her brows knit in a frown and her lips pout while slightly trembling.
"I can tell that you're almost there. Just don't give up and focus on the feeling. You might not know where it is but I know you could feel its presence. Just feel it and slowly grasp the sensation. You're on the threshold of its breaking point…" Will's magnetic voice tickles Jess's ears and she slightly becomes distracted.
"No, you're getting sidetracked…" Will worries while watching the energy return back to normal. Will move closer to observe it more precisely.
Jess could feel his breaths and her heart beats louder and louder. Thinking that Will is probably too close to her right now. As if a string is cut, she opens her eyes and then releases the breath she's unconsciously holding. She holds her chest and looks at Will to peer at his reaction if he could hear them.
"W-what's wrong? You were almost there?" Will feels secondhand frustration when Jess suddenly stops her medication.
"Y-your getting too close!" Exclaims Jess as she scoots further away from Will.
"Oh… I'm sorry"
"I-it's okay… It's just I lose my focus quite easily. Can you please leave me alone for now?" she could feel her face is as red as cherries right now.
"Okay then…" Will feels quite the unsatisfactory and uncomfortable frustration about not seeing it awaken even at that close breaking point. He stands up and continues what he was doing.
Jess heaves a sigh and then restarts the meditation. She knows what to do now and focuses on grasping that feeling for a bit longer. Just like that, she can feel something opening, and a new sensation enters her body. This new energy seems to reside all over her skin. She looks at will excitedly and sees him observing her all this while.
"I-I somehow did it! Now, all I need to do is discover its property and effects right?"
Will looks as if he just become a part of a huge historical discovery. He looks genuinely happy and even his eyes seem to be sparkling. This is the last experimentation that he needed to piece a complete puzzle. He opens his laptop and starts writing the new details to the parts that he always thought were lacking. Then, with a few clicks and dragging, Will completed it and finally releases it as blogs on multiple sites and also on his social media account. He didn't forget to tag as many people as he could.
Soon, this article could save countless lives.
"You did very well Jess. Thank you…" Will shows her a genuine satisfied and grateful face.
Seeing Will's originally handsome face gleaming with a pleasant expression that could be rarely seen, she realized once again how much she's heads over heels over him.
Seeing this, few adults could feel puppy love in the air. Even their classmates could empathize with Jess seeing Will this way. Will is usually overbearing, strict, and rather unsociable, but it doesn't mean he isn't charming.
There are more likable qualities in him and barely contemptuous. Smart, caring, rather old-fashioned, but also adorable once he focuses on something. He barely smiles so once it happens, the people around him would be struck with an indescribable and overwhelming feeling.
"Wow…" a few thoughts unconsciously flies out loud.
"You can feel it all over your body right?" Will asks.
"Yeah…" Suddenly, Jess's figure starts turning transparent. She looks at everyone only to see their dumbfounded expression. In a blink of an eye, she disappears.
Will could still see her with perception but this ability seems useful. Her presence, scent, and even the faintest sound when her clothes brush against each other seem to be in isolation from the other's five senses.
"You can see me, Will? Even I can't see my own body…" A voice resounds out of thin air.
Jess, seeing Will's eyes are still on her wherever she moves she could tell that her invisibility is not working on him.
"Well… it's my ability so…" Will couldn't reply properly as he continue scrutinizing Jess's ability.
Will grab his enchanted knife and then hands it to her. Jess accepts it unquestionably and it also disappears with her.
"Extraordinary… you should continue experiment with this ability to slowly discover its extent"
Jess nods and then her body slowly returns its color.
"You're very intuitive… how did you figure out the effects of your ability that fast?"
Being showered in praises by the boy she likes, Jess feels so overwhelmed and then realizes that this is the first time he sees her this much for all the time she's been following him.
"I don't know… I just… feels like how it is right from the start I felt it. I can't really explain it" says Jess shyly.
Will compares Jess's case to the others he personally helped awaken. They usually take some time to realize it after awakening and grasping the energy in their bodies. What triggers them to realize its effects comes from various mental virtualization.
"You think that invisibility would be your ability once you felt them covering all over your skin?... I would also think so when they house on my skin… maybe it depends from person to person" Will mutters to himself.
The others who personally witnessed Jess, that was just a regular girl they've been with awaken her ability in front of them and start flocking at her asking various questions.
How does it feel? What it's like? How does one do it? How did she do it? Jess almost drowns from all these questions.
Will then tells them that all the process and tips could be found in texts he posted on the internet and ask them to share and tag as many people as possible. After this, Will tell them to practice it and try to awaken their abilities as soon as possible so he could take them to the hospital safely, or that they could find some other place now where they could fend for themselves.
He also explains to them how important it is to slowly clear the town from the zombies so that they could return to their lives without fearing the undead.
Will observes them while they try their best to do what the guide says and sees various phases and achievements in grasping the energies inside their bodies.
Some couldn't even feel the right sensations in their meditation while others could immediately touch the energies only after a few minutes.
Will immersed himself in testifying to the theories he once asked himself to quench his curiosities, but eventually remembers something important.
Will ask Jess to help them while he's away and call him whenever something bad happens.
Will goes to Rick's house and then informs him that they should remake the plan. There are a lot of survivors here, not just Rick's mother that they plan to rescue.
The neighborhood is mostly made out of large houses and courtyards for each family so they weren't affected much by the zombies in comparison to the central district where the people live so close in buildings practically attached to each other. In short, compared to the populated area, this place could much safer. It is too risky to head to the hospital in doves since the zombies will definitely gather and follow after them and build up into a large horde.
"We should inform them that this place will be a safe zone for them. We'll have to clear the area from the zombies and somehow real it off… we'll have to do it with only you and me"
"I understand… mom is too reluctant to leave the house anyway…" Rick understands as he also saw that the zombies here are much less compared to what they had to deal with to get here. Remembering the hordes of zombies coming at them like endless armies of ants, Rick shivers.
With this, the two of them start cleaning the neighborhood from the stray zombies that appear here and there on foot.
Rick could easily deal with the zombies one by one since he suffered far worse before and his stomach can now hold on to its contents better.
Will creates an array enclosing the whole area from enchantments that could negate the perception of anything from it. The zombies probably won't make their way here except when accidents happen.
Making all this almost depletes Will's energy reserves but thankfully, Rick is here to fend for him from the zombies.
"There are some parts that need to be filled in but this is all I could do for now. We'll have to do this again by sunrise. We should probably contact the hospital and inform them of this plan…" Will wipe the sweat on his forehead and heaves an exhausted sigh.
"Ah… the air here is much better compared to the hospital…"
"You're right. I should bring my mom, dad, and Tommy here instead. A lot of people have been using our house as their too…"
"Really? Thank goodness I don't have to get back to that damned place again…"
Will glance at Rick's relieved expression.
"You'll help clear up the zombies with me right?..."
"Alright! Of course, I will… I mean we will be much safer after we are finally done with that right?"
Will chuckles softly. Seeing this, Rick couldn't help but notice that there are some changes in Will somehow.
It's like he's finally more open to showing his emotions. This tickles Rick's heartstrings a little, making him confused.
"It's going to get dark soon… " Will then starts informing Rick of their next course of action.
They went back to their houses and informs the survivors hiding within that the neighborhood is now free from any zombies. The zombies wouldn't enter the area anymore and it is now a safe zone. So, those that are living here should get back to their houses.
They also inform them about the dangers of going along with them to the hospital and should cross that out from their plan.
The survivors readily agree surprising Rick and Will a bit. Then they realize that seven more ability users sprung after leaving them. Making them confident that if they're not careless, they could fend off the zombies they might encounter.
Their plan is going smoothly.
Will finally gets in contact with his parents and asks for their forgiveness. He informs them of what happened on the way and what is the situation now.
His parents are more than relieved to hear about their son's safety but they couldn't easily forgive him for going without telling them. However, they also think that Will's move produced the best outcome and even secured more lives, making them feel proud and couldn't make things hard for him.
Will's parents urge him not to traverse the town and head to the hospital now after using so much energy and it is also getting dark. Will agrees and decided to rest for the day.
"A dragon! A little dragon!" Tom points in Sean's direction and excitedly tells his parents what he's seeing.
"Tommy…" Claire heaves a sigh.
Sean is eating porridge on the bed slowly while the nurses are also recuperating their sites bodies on other beds.
Sean looks at the little kid and immediately notices something hovering around him. He observes it silently as the small dragon sleeps on the sheet between his legs.
Since the door is open once Tom and Claire entered the door, Sean witnesses a large wolf passing by. This almost causes him to choke on the porridge.
"Please eat slowly Sean… You've been starving for more than a day. You should eat a little at a time so you wouldn't hurt your tummy…" Claire gets closer to him and pats him softly on the back.
"I just saw a big wolf pass by…"
"Oh, I'm sorry, that must have been surprising. You don't remember him? We went to get you together. That's David. He's very kind. He's one of the survivors…"
Sean couldn't process Claire's words immediately. Then he asks if they tamed the wolf.
"Oh, no… he's an ability user. He's a man that could turn into a wolf"
"Ability user?..."
"Yes… just like you. You tamed the dragon?" Claire already saw various impossible things so she's pretty open to any possible things now.
"This is Black… he was a friend. I thought he was my hallucination but it seems like he's real. I'm an ability user? Is that why he became real?..."
"I believe so… my son Will could probably tell the specification of your abilities and I myself awakened my ability not too long ago"
Sean looks at Tom and then at the thing hovering around him. Tom gets closer to him and seems very interested in the dragon.
"Not him. This is my youngest son Tom. Will is his older brother. He went out to do something…"
"Oh…"
The nurses nearby listen to their conversation and finally get to know a thing or two about Sean's dragon and the people they saw from the broadcast. Of course, they already know Claire by name and face since they work together with her, but they are still surprised that she turns out to be an ability user too.
"If only we stayed a bit longer… Arnold…" Jessi starts weeping. May and Ari also couldn't help it and their eyes moistened feeling their chest being gripped by large hands. Sean also feels affected.
"I'm so sorry…" Claire could only say. If only they went a bit sooner, they could have saved everyone without letting them witness that traumatic scene of their companion dying in front of them.
After crying too much, fatigue strikes them, and they fall asleep while tears fall from their eyes. They couldn't forget the regret of losing Arnold even in their dreams.
Overnight, the guide on how to awaken their ability spread to anyone who has access to a device and the internet. The people behind that live stream are also behind the blog and they believe it is credible.
Ability users sprung to various places all over the world, in the middle of the calamities they are facing.
This blog is slowly changing people's hopelessness into a ray of sunshine in the middle of a storm.
Day two after the zombies appeared. The villages filled with zombies surrounding the mountain shrouded by thick miasma stilled. With no longer living beings near them, the zombies and undead animals could only won't aimlessly and continue rotting.
The hope of humanity coming from the blog makes them think that they could fight off and cancel the apocalypse. The government prioritizes experimenting with the blog guide to confirm its authenticity and release their seal of approval to it. With this, more and more people are trying their luck to awaken their abilities.
The military itself is prioritizing mass-producing ability users and training them in various facilities. They are currently improvising their plan and hasten the troops to the rescue mission around the affected area by the zombies.
"Will, did see that helicopter hovering above town too?" Rick suddenly appears in front of Will.
"Yes… our plan is finally bearing fruit. Although I thought that they'd send a rescue team sooner…"
"Is that so!" Rick runs around excitedly. "Wait, what are you doing?..."
Will is squatting on his bed. The laptop in front of him is open. A shiny rock resembling a crystal ball hovers above it.
This crystal is concentrated and solidified pure mana. Will got his hands on it after defeating that evolving monster. It was among the splatters after its head got destroyed.
This particular zombie doesn't have any bite or claw marks on its body even after examining it. The only thing that Will found left on its body is that its muscles and bones are several tougher than normal humans or zombies. Its clothes are that of someone who just went hiking and there's a hospital band with his name on it. The man's name was Marcus.
Will suspects that he was the one that brought the zombie outbreak as it seems that he turned into a zombie by some other means.
He initially thought that the zombie outbreak started from the hospital but it appears that he was wrong. They still couldn't relax after all. Will already informed his parent and David last night and are taking more precautions aside from their plans.
"It's a crystallization of the energy similar to the source of our abilities… Can't you feel it?" Will ask.
"No… is that the one you got from the evolved zombie yesterday? What does it do?..." Rick feels anxious about Will casually playing with something that fell off a powerful zombie.
"It doesn't do anything actually… it just holds a lot of pure energy. I think I can utilize it with my ability. You really can't feel it at all? How about you try touching it?..."
"I-I'd rather not…"
Will sighs "I told you it won't do anything, come on…" He grabs it and put it on Rick's palm.
"You're right it's not doing anything…"
"So? Can you feel something? Is something going on in your ability?" Will eagerly asks and uses his ability to scan Rick's body.
Rick's energy has a different wavelength from the ones in the crystal. They seem somehow attracted to each other but they're not influencing the other aside from that.
"I can't feel anything at all… except anxious. Why are you looking at me like that? Is it doing something to my body?!"
"Unfortunately not…" Will takes the crystal back.
"Unfortunately?!"
Will then return to experimenting on it. It seems compatible with Will's ability since he could manipulate external energy.
It really must be a mana crystal. These things are used as the power source that are abundant in Will's previous life. It can be excavated from mana-rich locations or can be found inside magical beast's bodies.
They're somehow the same but they're not giving the same feeling as before. Just like mana and the energy powering 'abilities'.
Will is more than knowledgeable about this thing since it is used as the catalyst for enchantments, alchemy, and necromancy. They were everywhere resembling batteries to power artifacts and magical utilities back then. People who practice augmenting objects with it are everywhere. Will is not an exception.
He is naturally happy that he can have more resources and weapons at his disposal with this in hand.
Will is more than experienced in enchantments back then and even in this life, so Will wants to try something even more complicated. Simple items like his combustion bullets, enhanced knives, barrier bags, and even the perception negating array could be done simply by his ability without the need of any catalyst like before.
Will restarts what he's doing again.
Will uses his ability to defuse the crystal's pure energy into the laptop. The laptop's molecular integrity is slowly being broken apart and evolves with the influence of the energy. Its physical parts slowly turn into pure energy that Will could control.
"This is remarkable…" Will's heart beats faster as he could see the progress with his own eyes. Magic and technology defuse and merge into one.
The laptop's physical features disappeared. However, its function, computing ability, AI, and all its software could still function.
Will slowly absorbs the laptop energy into his own energy.
"Will? What is happening?..."
Will close his eyes and try his best to get used to the feeling of the computer working in his own mind. The energy inside his body has now a new property. All the laptop's software features are now accessible inside him.
"I can't believe this worked!..."
The computer's one and zeroes convert into an algorithm of fluctuating energies that Will could somehow understand.
Will open his eyes and then his irises flicker. Rick sees them and is left dumbstruck as they turn into various colors. They gleam slightly and somehow feel eerie.
"Will! What is happening?"
Will seems to be in a daze. His eyes can't be seen if they're focused or not.
"Wait. I'm browsing the internet. I'm trying to hack into the monitoring system of the hospital…" Says Will nonchalantly.
"Are you kidding me? When did you learn to hack?..."
"Well, since a long time ago?"
Rick just couldn't handle Will's ability to surprise him every time.
"Everyone is saying thanks to the blog I posted. We're going to be saved soon… I want to go to my parents"
Will stands up and looks at Rick. He smiles and shows his satisfaction with himself.
After this, they then work on the plan they discussed with the other ability users yesterday. They scavenge the stores and clean the zombies along the way.
Having the nearby CCTVs on the premise, Will has a map in his mind and can tell where are the locations with relatively lesser zombies and help the ability users train by cleaning up the zombies without getting overwhelmed by a horde of them.
Everyone then feels like they're slowly reclaiming land from the zombies.
They save the survivors along the way and find them shelter for themselves and continue slowly, but surely. At this rate, they could get back to their usual lives.
End of chapter