Level up Zombie

The atmosphere in the club had taken a worse turn after Zain left the group. It had only been about thirty minutes since he walked out of the door, but everyone was sitting apart and hadn’t said a word to each other since.

It was the same with Shark, who was just picking up the weapons laid out and trying them one by one. In the end, though, Shark was the one who had broken the silence.

“I can see that no one will be up for training, but I must continue training to protect all of us. If you need time to think, or have any concerns, feel free to talk to me in the training room.”

After picking up a pair of curved swords and a couple of daggers, Shark walked to the other room and began his night training on his own like he usually would have done.

After waiting 10 to 15 minutes, they knew Shark wouldn’t come out, so Pink decided to go to someone else who was on his own, sitting at a table and staring at the stage.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” Pink asked. There was some hesitation in her voice.

“Please.” Kun gestured towards one of the seats. He didn’t have much reaction to Pink’s arrival. Rather, it was as if he was trying to distract himself from everything. There was a large bottle of whisky in front of him, and Kun was slowly taking sips.

However, he barely felt the taste of strong alcohol, but neither its taste nor the effect he wanted it to have was the same as it used to be in the past. Still, it was hard to get rid of old habits in a situation like this.

“I know you might be in an uncomfortable position Kun, but honestly, right now, we trust you more than Shark.” Pink started.

Kun wondered why that was because he and Shark were both lying to them and were part of the same organisation. Maybe it was his face, his mannerisms, or the fact that this whole situation seemed to be affecting Kun quite a bit, while on the other hand, Shark was more like an emotionless robot and was quite indifferent about everything.

“Just remember,” Kun replied. “I’m not a good guy either. I lied to you all as well.”

“You’re right, but Zain trusted you for some reason, and so do we. Even though we haven’t known each other long, there are some things that you just can’t hide.

“Anyway, Fingers and I have decided on something. Although we initially were scared of Zain, now we think we need him. So I believe we should chase after Zain and ask him to come back and stay with us.”

Zain was a crazy guy. Everyone knew that, and Kun was most surprised that Fingers also wanted this, especially after Zain almost killed him in the previous scuffle.

It just went to show how skilful they saw Zain asor how afraid they were of Shark. Sometimes, having two different dynamics and opinions in a group was good. And in this case, it would be Zain and Shark — making the former a really important figure for them.

Otherwise, if there’s only one leader, they would have to follow whatever they were told to say or told without a choice. At first, they were fine with that because they trusted in Shark, but that trust was crushed when they came to know Shark was hiding something from them, and now they couldn’t blindly follow him anymore, but without him, how would the group even survive?

After taking a long sip, Kun slammed the glass on the table and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. Some of the drink had poured out from the wound on his cheek.

“Honestly, I was thinking the same thing. “

“Don’t be a fool.” A voice suddenly called out, and when turning to the side, they saw Shark stepping out of the room. They didn’t know when he came and couldn’t help but wonder how much he had heard them.

“Shark, I know you can be stubborn sometimes, but do you truly believe we don’t need him? He was the one that managed to get us the brains after all. Maybe this group needs that bit of craziness.” Kun replied.

It looked like Shark was a bit upset that even Kun was now against him.

“I’m not talking about that, you idiot.” Shark’s words, however, scrubbed that assumption.

“I’m saying you can’t go out now. Zain left about half an hour ago, and the longer you wait, the harder it will be to find him in this city. I am sure we both are fully aware of this fact.

“The best thing to do would be to leave right now, but you shouldn’t do that. It’s very risky and almost nighttime.”

Shark didn’t have to say anything else because it had been drilled in their heads to avoid the demons by not going out at night.

“Do you still believe them?” Kun replied. “I mean, how do we even know anything they informed us before is the truth? What if there is another reason why they don’t want us out at night?”

Shark didn’t reply immediately because, for a brief second, there was some hesitation in his mind. The story of him having seen a demon before had been made up. It was a way to get the others to go along with the request without asking too many questions.

“I mean, they didn’t tell us about the Crystals either. So Zain did have a point.” Kun continued.

Before Shark could reply, Kun walked to the office room and brought back the remaining crystals. He then placed one in his hand and closed his eyes.

Following what he had done before, as the crystal’s energy disappeared and went into him, he could feel a new energy and his body became stronger.

“Look, Zain was right. We can absorb these crystals, and they seem to make us stronger. So why would those people not tell us something like this? Of course, I am talking about the people who we work for. I believe the reason behind it is quite clear. They want to use us. Also, with how they have so much information, they might likely be why we are in this mess in the first place, and that’s why they are trying so hard to fix it!”

This was something Shark certainly couldn’t argue because he was having similar thoughts as well.

In the end, seeing Shark remain silent, Kun went ahead and started to absorb the crystals one by one. And with each crystal that he absorbed, he felt himself get stronger each time, and eventually, all of the Crystals disappeared by the time he was done.

‘If there really is something out there, then I need the best chance I can get.’

Kun went over to the weapons and picked up a chain and ball first, then he placed the shield around his back, among a few other things.

The first thing he felt was that the items were slightly lighter than before. Soon, he was ready and was already heading toward the exit.

“The rest of you stay here. There is no need for all of us to go out if we’re looking for just one person. If I don’t find Zain, I will be back during the day, and we can look again then.” Kun replied.

“Wait.” Shark suddenly called out. “Just be careful out there.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Kun smiled. “You know I’m the best at this sneaking stuff. I’ll be okay. Just take it easy on the rest of these guys. They’re a bit scared of you at the moment.”

Shark sighed upon hearing those words. Unfortunately, he didn’t really have a solution to that problem, and only time could mend their distrust and fear.

Kun had reached the door by now, and when he opened it and looked up, the pitch black sky stared back at him. Once he was out, Jelly shut the door and went to stand by its side like he always had done.

“Good luck, Kun,” Pink muttered. She was worried if anything went wrong tonight and wished nothing but luck for Kun.

The group began to wait for their friend to return and began to get nervous as time passed. At night time, it was most likely even harder for Kun to find someone, and they worried that something might have happened to him.

In a situation as such, one most likely thinks of the worst outcome and their reaction and thought process was quite natural.

Soon, more than three hours had passed, and Kun had yet to return. With no contact on the radio, since Shark had no way of reporting this.

All of them were in the main room waiting, none of them talking to each other, until —

*KNOCK *KNOCK *KNOCK*

There was a clear distinctive knock on the door.

“That must be Kun! Does that mean he came back?” Pink said, jumping up from her seat, overwhelmed.

*Knock *Knock *Knock.

There were three knocks again, this time faster, which sounded quite urgent.

“Is there anyone inside!” A voice shouted. “Please let me in…please!”

It wasn’t a voice any of them recognised.

****

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