[A/N: I just noticed when I checked this chapter, that I hadn't said Anna's name in the previous chapters. And I wrote her name in a Reader's comment, accidentally spoiling it. hahaha
In this chapter we will see zombies, the name of the protagonist and a blow of reality.
But what I don't see is people commenting and asking me questions. Sometimes I think that nobody asks anything because I write very well, or maybe I write so badly that nobody understood anything hahaha.
Thank you very much to those who comment and donate powerstones]
In the store.
I watched as the zombie slowly stood up, if it had been me in the real world I would have immediately retreated, but clearly in this situation that wasn't an option. I slowly approached the zombie, checked that there was nothing blocking the path between us or something that could make me fall, and moved forward again.
When I was about 2 meters away, I lowered my stance a little and stabbed the spear into his head with great force. I thought I would aim directly for the face, but to my surprise I stabbed it from the chin area pushing upwards to the brain. I didn't understand why I didn't hit directly in the face, but I assumed that it must be that unlike in series and movies, this would be more realistic and obviously the bones of a human being would put up quite a bit of resistance. I'm not saying it's not possible to do it, with enough force it should be possible, but it's much more convenient to go through weak points.
After being impaled in such a grotesque way, I thought I would throw him straight to the ground, but instead I slowly lowered him so he wouldn't make any noise.
As I watched him being placed on the ground, I could see his features more closely. His eyes, which was the first thing I noticed, looked lifeless, they seemed to be able to perceive only large changes in lighting, but the small details they could pick up when they were alive were out of their reach, making them almost totally blind. On the other hand, his teeth looked dirty and battered, he had surely attacked someone, and gnawing on a body to the end may have damaged his teeth.
Another important detail was his skin, it seemed to have lost all the natural color of a living person, it was pale with signs of forced coagulation, with dark colored superficial veins showing in different parts of the body. In addition, due to being exposed to heat, the skin looked even drier than it should. The other thing I noticed before he died in my hands was that his heart seemed to be still working, which I thought was odd. However, I read in the Discord group that it's possible that part of his functions was active to support his movements. I think he was referring to the heart stopping working at full capacity and everything inside a zombie's body works differently than a living body.
One of the users, who seemed knowledgeable about biology, tried to explain that the functions they kept were necessary to protect the nervous system and the joints used to move, which seemed to partly explain what I had in front of my eyes.
"I didn't make much noise, I don't think those outside will hear me", I thought as I watched him carefully place the body on the ground.
I approached a safe distance from the entrance without making any noise. I waited patiently for them to pass outside the store. Based on what I had seen along the way, it is not possible that they were following me, something must have sounded before I arrived and caught the attention of this group.
A couple of minutes passed when I saw them pass in front of the store. I did not leave immediately but waited a couple more minutes and approached the entrance. Once there was nothing near the entrance, I checked the street and nothing was nearby. In the distance I saw that group of zombies moving away, it did not seem that I had caught their attention, which was a relief.
I returned to the store for the bags with supplies and began to walk towards the village. On the way I was very careful as I moved forward, so as not to encounter a group like the one before, but luckily for me no zombies appeared.
When I returned to the village, I did not notice any change, except my footprints and the marks I had left when leaving. I carried the bags very carefully to avoid them breaking on the way, especially with the traps I had outside the base. When I got to the back door, I left the bags outside for the moment to check if everything was in order inside the house.
I slowly entered the house, looking at the sofa, which is where I had left my guest.
"You learned", I said with a slightly more cheerful tone.
There she was, pointing at me with a firm stance, her arms extended, and above all she had her finger close to, but not on, the trigger. This would allow her to decide whether or not to shoot her target, and thus also avoid accidental shots.
"Ugh… It was you. I was very scared," she said, loosening her grip on the gun. She seemed to have been very tense, pointing at me, surely, she had never shot before in her life. While she relaxed, I went out to get the bags that were outside.
"Check what you need", I said, placing the bags in front of the couch.
"Are you hurt?! Did they bite you?!", she asked me alarmed. It seemed like she noticed some clotted blood stains that had gotten on my clothes when I killed the zombie.
"Calm down, it's nothing, and stop screaming all the time", I said a little exasperated. As I lifted my clothes and showed her that they were in perfect condition.
"I'm sorry", she replied hastily while avoiding staring at me.
Without continuing the conversation, I walked to the kitchen to prepare dinner. It was getting late, the walk hadn't been long, but the time it took me to fill the bags and come back with all that weight, made me spend most of the afternoon. The good thing is that since it seems to be summer, daylight lasts much longer than in winter.
After finishing everything, I set the table and went to look for my guest. When I got to the couch, I could see that she was a little more flushed than when I arrived.
"What are you doing?", she said, a little scared. I touched her forehead without her permission.
"Do you feel sick?", I asked without taking my hand off her forehead.
"No, why?", she asked me back.
"You were red, you could have a fever", I said, taking my hand off her forehead.
"It's not that… It's because of what you brought", she answered, pointing at some bags of sanitary napkins and some condoms that she had on the couch.
"They are necessary things", I told her without hesitation, with a somewhat annoyed tone. I guess it bothered me that she didn't appreciate the effort I made to get those things.
[A/N: Once again, a sitcom-type situation. And our protagonist remains indifferent to them.]
"But we are not that close yet. And I am not that kind of woman. Besides, I don't even know your name", she said without stopping between sentences.
"I guess I have bad days in dreams too", I thought.
I stared at her for more than a minute without answering. I had already realized what she was referring to. A few bags of condoms had been the culprits of this awkward situation.
"Dinner is ready", I told her, lifting her off the couch. She didn't seem to be going to give any explanation.
We walked to the kitchen slowly, I could notice some improvement in her foot, she could now stand on it much more than in the morning.
I helped her sit in her seat and I sat in mine. I ate without looking at her, but I could feel her looking at me every now and then.
"What's your name?", she asked suddenly.
"Alex", I answered, staring at her.
"It seems that I am the one in the dreams then", I thought once I heard my name. It could be a coincidence, or it could be that my brain is playing tricks on me. Anyway, it seems that I should take dreams a little seriously, since it can be important to survive if it ever happens. Even if from the outside I look like a crazy person.
She looked at me expectantly for a while, as if she expected me to ask her name, but apparently, I wasn't planning on continuing the conversation.
"My name is Anna. I know I told you before, but I'll say it again… Thank you so much for helping me", she said, introducing herself and thanking me at the same time.
"You're welcome", I said without continuing the conversation.
"How old are you?", she asked after smiling.
"50", I replied sarcastically.
"You can't tell… Was this your house before everything happened?", she said, trying to lighten the mood.
"No", I replied.
"You don't seem to like talking much… Are you from the city or are you from out of town?", she continued her interrogation.
"From the city", I replied, concentrating on the food, since the interrogation didn't seem to end.
"Me too… Have you seen more people around here?", she asked with great interest.
"Not close, but there are many groups spread throughout the city", I answered with a little more emphasis. It seemed like it was a topic that interested me.
"Really?", she seemed surprised by my answer. "I thought it was the military that I heard about all these days. I didn't think people formed groups on their own", she told me, a little expectant to continue talking about it.
"They are small groups, families or communities, criminal groups, groups formed by firefighters or police, and obviously the military group", I told her, elaborating a little more on the subject.
"Incredible, I thought everything was over for everyone, but it seems that humans are very resilient", she said with a little hope.
"That is until the supplies run out", I said with a slightly gloomy tone. Anna looked at me a little angrily for ruining her moment of hope.
"Why aren't you in one of these groups?", she asked, changing the subject.
"I was", I answered.
"What happened?", she asked me, a little curious and sad at the same time.
"People didn't join together. People who were afraid, selfish, hypocritical, and others who took advantage of others. In every group there are these kinds of people who make any hope only ephemeral" I told her in a deep tone. Perhaps remembering some events that happened before, which unfortunately I couldn't know about.
"I'm sorry", she said, a little sad.
"I'm sorry for the people who thought they would be okay in those groups. I tried to warn some of them, but they didn't listen", I told her in a sad tone as well.
"Did you lose someone dear to me?", she asked, holding back her tears. It seemed that she had been through a lot too.
"No. My parents lived in a small town, far from here. I hope they were able to save themselves, but the chances of them still being alive are slim", I answered, completely discouraged.
"How can you say that?!", she said in horror. "You should go find your parents if you can, you shouldn't abandon them… My parents already… My mother called me before the network went down saying that my father was acting strange and that he had bitten her", she continued, crying.
I stood up from my chair and walked towards her without hesitation. I hugged her suddenly and she hugged me back.
"Surely we should both win a prize for our bad luck", I thought with a hint of irony.
[A/N: Our protagonist apparently does have feelings, there was a moment when I thought something very tragic had happened to him and that he had lost his way of being because of that, but that is not the case, or at least we do not know yet (True, I am the author, I know that hahaha).
Collecting supplies, an important part of surviving. One of the elements that we will miss the most in an apocalypse are hygiene or personal care items, because of how comfortable they make our lives.
What would you miss in an apocalypse?
Comment.]