Chapter 52 - An old man walking

Time was limited, and so were my options with my condition being at its worst. I had only one choice, and I was not willing to waste time, thinking of something else and possibly waste a good opportunity as a result. I was determined to go with this plan, whether I'd end up failing or not!

Biting through the pain that stung whenever I made big movements, I endured. There seemed to be adrenaline rushing within me, but it was not enough to give me the strength to walk without struggle.

'It's just back pain. It's just back pain… I always have lower back pain because of the gym. This is something I'm supposed to be used to… back pain… back pain…' I tried to convince my brain that I wasn't under the immense pain caused by broken bones.

Soon, It did its work. The adrenaline combined with self-mind-manipulation, it helped me move towards my goal without ever stopping once and giving up. Eventually, while the giant was still fighting the robed zombie, I made it to my destination, the side of the building where the giant couldn't just see me after turning around.

'Unless he had his eyes on me while fighting that guy and remembers where I walked off to even after becoming a zombie, sigh… I shouldn't be discovered too easily.' I thought to myself as I entered the proximity of my follower, Sutow.

"Phew…" I let out a soft sigh. 

'I'm glad Sutow decided to stay still in preparation for an ambush, like I did and like I had told him to.' I thought, relieved, as I made my way closer to Sutow.

"Leade-!" The moment he saw me, Sutow called out with a smile, presumably glad that I was still alive. 

When I heard the first sign of loud noise, I immediately rushed my hand to his mouth, as I held his mouth closed to stop him from getting any louder and then said in a hurry, "Shh…" I whispered softly before telling him, "There are two dangerous enemies near us! They can catch us anytime! Be quiet and listen…" I quickly told him everything that I was met with, so the both of us could be on the same line, understanding the enemy and ourselves.

"This'll be troublesome… The others will come too. Like I told you, not only is our nearsightedness worsened severely, but we are also deaf. Should we go ba-… No, that'll only make it more difficult for us. Now that big guy will also become a zombie, and won't be leaving anytime soon. So, it'd be the same or worse if we go back. We have to confront it. That, or… Hmm… by the way, how did that big guy get here?" 

This, I hadn't thought of before. It became visible in my mind, generating both hypotheses and clues that could aid me with the trouble that I and my followers were in. 

While Sutow was looking at me, confused because he didn't understand why I asked him a question he would have no clue about, my mind went on a thinking spree, all because of a single thought, a questioning thought.

'I should wait and have them find the other teleportation circle if there is one… Hazel, is she alive? I hope so… I will definitely help her recover.' 

'But if I want to ask her if she knows where that big dude came from I'd have to find a way to fix her first… Then, we can escape these two zombies, but won't we head out to the place where there are even more enemies, possibly smarter and stronger…?' 

Is it a good idea to avoid the zombies and find a way out of here then? Now that I think about it, isn't it best to have this place as a fortress, to defend instead of rushing head-on into the enemy that I have no single knowledge of? 

Does this mean that I should just deal with the zombies? Winning against zombies might be easier against humans since they're just the weaker versions of humans because of their inability to infect us with our ability to heal…'

My head was full of thoughts. Questions, answers, speculations, all of these roamed my mind wildly as I tried to figure out the next step to take. 'Life in this world is like a hardcore game. Choices… Lots of difficult choices, every time you enter a new cut-scene! Every time I progress! Just why do I have to live like this?!' I thought, frustrated after I stopped wrecking my mind because of exhaustion and stress.

I let out a breath. My mind soon became empty, as I remembered that I had something more important to do than ponder. 

My hunger had gotten more apparent due to how my injury had worsened when I had forced myself to walk.

"I didn't mention it before, but you should know after having heard my story. I don't have my food with me. Give me what is in your hands." I whispered to Sutow, not even making a sound as I knew that Sutow would understand me by looking at the movements of my eyes alone. 

That's how the "Heart-language" worked, I speculated. One just had to read what the heart wanted to express, meaning that no matter if it was sign language or whatever, as long as Sutow looked at me and had the desire to know what I was trying to express, he'd understand everything. 

That's how magical and overpowered this ability of my kind is.

After hearing me, Sutow gave me all the food that he had in his hand, without any hesitation which I put all inside my mouth, swallowing it all at once, as it was only a handful of insects. 

Obviously, even though my injury wasn't as bad as that time when I fell from a good height, it was still a severe injury that I had to consume a lot of calories in order to heal. The food that Sutow had wasn't enough to bring me back to my peak state, but it was enough for me to aid me to stand straight.

Straightening my back was not at all a pleasant experience for me to go through. I almost let out a piercing scream, even after using all my willpower to keep my mouth shut. In fact, Sutow had to help me straighten my back and had to hold my mouth closed, as the pain was making it very difficult for me to move beyond a certain point!

The unrealized pain kicked me in the core… Ahahaha