Chereads / Apocalypse: Virus Symbiosis / Chapter 12 - The Disbelieving

Chapter 12 - The Disbelieving

Jacob withdrew a long sword from behind him and immediately swung it at the neck of the first zombie, slicing its neck clean. Its head rolled and its headless body dropped with a thud sound.

This immediately attracted the attention of the seven other zombies. They directly rushed toward him with the intention to feast and kill.

But it seems Jacob was fairly familiar with the sword. He sliced through the zombies with his sharp sword-like grass and in the blink of an eye, he had decapitated three zombies.

One of the five other zombies pounced at him. Jacob hurriedly rolled to the side, kicking off another zombie backwards, he sliced the fourth zombie's head off.

But the fifth zombie used the opportunity to leap at him. Jacob's reaction speed and movement weren't bad at all, but when surrounded by mindless zombies, his mind couldn't possibly be everywhere at once. There was no way he could possibly dodge this, not unless he has inhuman agility, which by the looks of it, he doesn't have.

Ryver was slightly disappointed that Jacob would go down so easily. He didn't make a move because he wanted to see the true strength of the handsome man. Although he could use his smart lens to read his status, but where's the pleasure in that?

Bang!

In the blink of an eye, with inhuman speed Jacob's leg turned into a blur  as he kicked the zombie leaping at him in mid-air, slamming it against the wall. Now that he had revealed his strength, Jacob didn't feel like holding back any longer. In a flash, he killed off the remaining Zombies, his sword moving like a raging storm as he cut down the zombies and punctured through their brains. Ryver's eyes glinted slightly upon witnessing this. From what he had seen, Jacobs's reaction speed had exceeded the normal amount and was most likely at 3 points.

Panting heavily, Jacob gazed at Ryver with confusion, anger and a bit of wariness in his eyes as he walked closer, breathing through the improvised gas mask on his face which made a weird noise.

"Hey! I told you to take care of the three zombies, while I handle the other five, why didn't you do anything!?" he eyed Ryver and angrily and was incredibly suspicious of him  since Ryver's  action wasn't too trustworthy.

"Oh, I didn't know that was what you meant. Sorry." Although he seem to have apologized, there wasn't a single bit of sincerity in his voice.

Jacob's frowned as he noticed it but didn't pay it much mind as he nodded. Then he noticed the wet cloth on Ryver's face  and suggested. "We are planning to head to the 40th floor, to the luxurious office suites where we can all stay hidden and safe till the communication gets fixed or wait until help from the military arrives, why don't you join us? I can make an improvised gas mask for you. I assume this is barely enough to keep the toxic radiation you are inhaling at a minimal level."

Jacob asked and while he didn't fully trust Ryver yet, he couldn't possibly leave him alone to die.

"No." Ryver noticed the closed door and could hear the murmurs of several individuals within. During times like this, it was extremely wise to stay together as there's safety in numbers, but he still refused.

"Why?" Jacob was surprised hearing Ryver refusing him. There's only a slim chance of surviving out there with the zombies rampant and the contamination from radiation being even more dense out there.

Ryver was about to leave, but he felt as though he owed him so he replied. "My daughter; I'm planning to head out of here to meet my daughter."

"Oh," Jacob's eyes softened, he knew the probability of a little girl surviving the outbreak was zero to nil, added with the toxic radiation that could kill in almost an hour, she is most likely dead or worse, a zombie. Not knowing what to say, Jacob revealed a sympathetic look on his face.

How could Ryver not know what he was thinking? But Ryver chose to remain silent. He wasn't about to waste his breath correcting the young man's thoughts.

After which, Jacob stretched out his hands. "I'm Jacob by the way."

Ryver blinked expressionlessly at the hand but ignored it. "I know who you are."

Jacob nodded, awkwardly withdrawing his hands. "I've also seen you a couple of times. You must be Ryver, the Janitor right?"

"I don't think it's a good idea to head outside at this moment, Ryver. While you might desperately want to see your daughter, it's just too dangerous outside, " Jacob suddenly interjected.

Ryver was about to interject, but then he frowned sensing the young man was heading somewhere with his thoughts he gazed at the handsome man. "Go on."

"We spotted a 1st Degree Infected and a zombie variant not too far from here." Jacob's expression was grave as he explained.

Ryver's expression changed slightly at the word 1st Degree Infected.  "That's impossible. There shouldn't be a 2nd degree infected yet." He knew how hard it was to evolve. Ryver could guess that it was the same for those zombies too. While it was possible there might be variants amongst them this fast, they were still roughly within the scope of normal infected corpses.

Just how many humans had the zombie consumed for it to have evolved so quickly, probably up to a thousand. With its strength reaching 10 points in this short period of time, it was definitely at the top of the food chain.

That was five times stronger than himself on a regular day. Facing such a monster isn't much different from courting death. Unless one's strength surpassed ten points, it would be extremely difficult to face on such a monster.

But then, Ryver thought of something. If a 1st Degree Infected was truly prowling around Mega-Tech, why wasn't he attacked when he was outside the company? Then he thought of a possibility, the young man was lying.

Ryver turned with a scowl and glared at Jacob. "Why should I believe you?"

Jacob was momentarily startled by Ryvers words, but then, he understood.

"I have a video the person who saw it sent to me, check this out." Jacob closed his eyes and then opened them, lights flickered in his eyes as he searched through files in his Bionic  Smart Lens, he then stretched out his palm. A projection shot out from his eyes and landed on his palm then a video could be seen playing on his palm.

Ryver craned his neck and watched the figure within the video. His expression turned grave by the second. What he saw was an absolute monster that didn't seem human at all!

The monster's appearance is truly horrific: multiple layers of skin have receded and torn, exposing the majority of the creature's muscle tissue. Its hands and feet have altered to sport a series of long, razor-sharp claws that allow the creature to crawl on floors, walls and ceilings as well as rip its prey to shreds.

Perhaps its most disturbing feature is its head: it has no eyes, no visible nose or ears, its brain is exposed and its mouth is filled with sharp rows of teeth.

Everywhere it went, it leapt over the  vehicles blocking its way as it jumped at its prey, gulping down the head of a terror-stricken lady in a single bite.