Ethan's heart pounded within his chest, each thunderous beat resonating in the silence that enveloped the city. In the desolate world, dawn broke with a hushed stillness, as if the very universe held its breath in anticipation. The small studio apartment offered a brief respite from the relentless chaos outside, its cracked windows allowing only feeble, pale morning light to filter through.
The tattered curtains hung motionless, a stark contrast to the restless city that had long surrendered to a profound and haunting silence. There were no guttural rumblings or cacophonous echoes of a waking metropolis, only the oppressive quiet that clung to the room.
His newly filled stomach churned with the remnants of a stolen meal. A whirlwind of emotions swept through him: from the initial shock of discovering Liam's true nature to the gnawing sensations of confusion, fear, and curiosity tearing at his insides. The very word "zombie" had always been associated with grotesque images of mindless, flesh-eating creatures, but Liam defied that stereotype.
The tension in the room lingered like an uninvited guest at an awkward family dinner, and Ethan couldn't help but maintain his guarded stance. His wariness had not dissipated; if anything, it deepened as he considered the implications of this encounter.
Liam's expression remained a mix of friendliness and unease, caught in a precarious balance as he tried to navigate the fragile terrain between them.
"I'm not going to hurt you," Liam began, raising his arms in a gesture of placation, like a man trapped in an encounter with a cornered animal. Ethan couldn't help but narrow his eyes, the skepticism never far from the surface.
"Really?" Ethan raised his fists, his gaze fixed on the wound in Liam's shoulder. "This is going to be easy then. Thank you for your hospitality."
"Wait," Liam hurriedly interjected, stumbling over his words in his eagerness to clarify. "Hear me out. Please."
The room descended into a profound silence, only the faint echoes of the outside world managing to infiltrate through the cracked windows. Within Ethan, a fierce internal battle raged as he grappled with conflicting emotions. Fight or flee?
His gaze swept across the overturned bowl of food and the threadbare blanket that had provided him with the first semblance of safety he'd felt in days. He couldn't deny that without Liam's intervention, he might have met a far grimmer fate in the jaws of the dead.
He sighed heavily and lowered his arms, the tension in his body relenting slightly. Even if he decided to fight, Ethan doubted he would be able to harm Liam. It was one thing to destroy a mindless zombie, another entirely to inflict harm on a defenseless human. Furthermore, he felt a strange sense of gratitude toward Liam for rescuing him from the brink of becoming a meal for the undead.
"Go on," Ethan relented, taking a cautious step back, keeping his guard up. Even if he chose to stay, caution would remain his steadfast companion.
Liam took a deep breath, his resolve unwavering as he voiced his innermost desire. "I want to become a Siphon," he uttered, determination blazing in his eyes as they locked onto Ethan's.
The room was suddenly charged with awkward energy. The words hung there, suspended in the air like an uninvited guest. It was as if Liam had been expecting a standing ovation for his proclamation, but all he received was a puzzled squint from Ethan.
"Siphon?" Ethan furrowed his brow, thoroughly perplexed. "Siphon what?"
Liam stammered, "Uhh... you? Why else would I ask you?"
They locked eyes, their bewilderment mirroring each other's. Ethan wondered if 'Siphoning' was some sort of service in the post-apocalyptic world, and the reason Liam had saved him was to offer his unique skills. An awkward realization washed over Ethan, and he chuckled nervously, "I'm sorry, but I don't need any Siphoning services right now."
Liam's face twisted in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Then, a lightbulb moment struck him, and his eyes widened like they'd encountered a cosmic revelation. "You don't know what a Siphon is?"
"Nope."
"But how can you not?" Liam exclaimed, flabbergasted. "You're a Prime."
"Newsflash, kid," Ethan quipped, "I don't know what a Prime is either."
Liam's eyes bulged to such an extent, Ethan half-expected them to stage a mutiny and jump out of their sockets for a quick vacation.
"Did you spend the apocalypse hiding under a rock?" Liam blurted out, his disbelief palpable. "How do you think humans survived against the mutants?"
Ethan cleared his throat, a sheepish grin spreading across his face. "I can see this thing is going to get old real fast. But hey, what's a mutant?"
Liam's jaw plummeted with such force, Ethan imagined it might have left a crater on the floor.
"Do you plan to keep staring at me all day, or are you going to provide some answers for a change?" Ethan asked, mildly irritated.
Liam's incredulousness had yet to subside. "Seriously, how could you not know about mutants? It's common knowledge. How on earth did you survive all these years?"
Ethan's spine stiffened like a soldier bracing for an incoming ambush. "All these years? When exactly did the apocalypse happen?"
"Are you serious?"
"Does it look like I'm joking?"
"It's been seven years." Liam sat back on the chair he had previously occupied, confusion written all over his face.
"Seven years?" Liam whispered under his breath. The first time he encountered a zombie, he had felt afraid and horrified but there was not even an inkling of familiarity. Arius knew for sure he never encountered a zombie, at least not when he was coherent.
Lila's cryptic words resurfaced in his thoughts, their implications sinking like an anchor in his gut. "We found you as a zombie." Was that the reason for his fractured memory? And if so, how had he transitioned back to being human? Or was he still a zombie, unaware of his condition? His eyes bore into Liam, his unease growing like an insidious weed. Was he like Liam?
Liam nudged him from his thoughts with a puzzled question. "What are you thinking about?"
Ethan exhaled a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. "Nothing."
Liam squirmed in his seat, his gaze flitting between Ethan and the room's decaying decor.
"I don't have any memories," Ethan said, answering his unasked question. It wasn't like he could hide it for long. He could use it to push for answers. "Can you explain what happened?"
"Of course." Liam cleared his throat, gathering his thoughts. "No one knows how the apocalypse started. It all seemed normal until one day when the government announced a pandemic. Panic didn't grip the nation immediately, but there were whispers. Weird stuff began cropping up on the internet — bizarre sightings and stories that sounded like the stuff of nightmares. People, of course, dismissed them as nonsense."
Ethan latched onto his words trying to recollect, well anything.
"But then," Liam continued, his voice soft but haunted, "the world began to change. Animals, people — humans — they transformed into these nightmarish creatures. The very first mutants. They lost their minds and attacked everything in sight. They had strange, otherworldly powers. At first, we thought it was some terrible joke, but when you're running for your life from people you used to know, the truth becomes undeniable."
Ethan couldn't begin to fathom the horror of witnessing friends and family transform into such grotesque beings. His expression darkened, his skepticism waning in the face of Liam's somber account.
"The army took control, and the streets turned into a battlefield," Liam continued. "It looked hopeless, but then... then came the Primes."
"Primes?" Ethan interjected, the term piquing his interest.
Liam nodded. "Primes. People with superhuman abilities. They could resist the mutants, fought them off when the rest of us could barely survive. The Primes offered a glimmer of hope, a shield against the impending darkness."
A jumble of questions buzzed in Ethan's mind, but he held back, allowing Liam to continue.
"But just when things were starting to look up, when we dared to believe in a future again, the King appeared," Liam whispered.
"King?" Ethan whispered, affected by Liam's mood.
"King, undead lord, people call him by many names," Liam said, his fingers tracing the wound on his shoulder as if it held a connection to the malevolent figure's power. "And with his arrival, zombies started rising, people turning into his obedient thralls. Their numbers were so overwhelming, they surged through the living like an unstoppable tide. The world, as we knew it, fell."
An uneasy silence hung in the room, suffocating the air like a shroud. Ethan, his curiosity stirred by the grim narrative, finally voiced the question that had been gnawing at him. "This king, who is he?"
Liam met Ethan's gaze, hesitation flickering in his eyes. After a pregnant pause, he responded, "No one knows. But his name is whispered and worshipped in equal measure."
"Worshipped?" Ethan couldn't hide his disbelief. How could anyone venerate something responsible for the world's destruction?
Liam simply nodded, offering no further explanation.
Ethan mulled over the unsettling information, but one question relentlessly haunted his thoughts. His throat felt parched as he finally voiced it, "Am I also one of the king's minions... a zombie?"