[A/N: Hello everyone.
It's getting closer and closer, and there's no turning back.
Comment and donate power stones, last week we almost reached the 1,000,000th position hahaha]
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In the center of the city.
"No need", I said casually. "Wait… I need to get out of here, but I can't get past the military. Do you know of an alternate route?", I asked after some thought.
"If you want to get out, we can help you", one of them said. "You can run to the spot when you see the sign", he said, flashing a sinister smile.
"Okay", I said as I took a few more steps. "By the way, if any of you were bitten, spend your last few hours saying goodbye to your loved ones and then stay as far away from them as possible. Besides, to finish off these lunatics, you have to destroy their brains", I said as I looked at their wounds. None of them looked bitten, but it didn't hurt to warn them.
"So, you know them too… Just like our leader, Alex", commented the one who seemed to be the leader of this group.
"I don't know what you're talking about, but I appreciate the help", I said as I walked away.
"I'm back", I said to Alicia and Nick, who looked nervous.
"It's a good thing you came back. I was so scared", Alicia said as she hugged me, but then quickly walked away in embarrassment.
"I wasn't going to abandon you", I said, flashing a warm smile.
"What happened there?", Nick asked, looking strange.
"Nothing, I just helped you a little, and now you're going to help us in return", I replied casually.
"I see", he said in a shifty tone, holding his phone tightly.
"What's wrong with Nick?", I wondered, watching him look at me differently than he had before.
Without time to think much about Nick's mood, I noticed the Drugos men damaging some cars and shops on the opposite side of the street. They were jumping around wildly and cursing the soldiers. The enraged soldiers, seeing that they were just a pair of lunatics who were just destroying things, set off to arrest them. Noticing this was the signal, I led Nick and Alicia in the opposite direction from the soldiers, hiding between cars and some trees. After moving away from the military checkpoint, we headed to my truck.
"Get in, we're leaving right away", I told them both as soon as I opened the truck doors.
An hour later.
"We're here", I told Alicia and Nick when we arrived at the address they gave me.
"Thank you so much, Alex", Alicia said, much calmer.
"You're welcome", I said as I stood on the sidewalk in front of her house. "You should see if anyone's home", I suggested, seeing how relaxed they both were.
"That's true", Nick said, noticing.
He ran inside while Alicia stayed with me, waiting for her brother to bring good news. After a moment, Nick returned with a woman who appeared to be their mother.
"Thank you so much for helping my children", the woman said. "I'm Madison", she introduced herself.
"No need to say thank you", I said politely. "It's something I had to do", I commented.
"By the way, where's Travis?", Nick said, interrupting our conversation.
"He's not here yet, but he called earlier to say he was with Christopher", Madison replied.
"Again…" Nick said when I had to interrupt him.
"Sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I have to go", I told them with a subtle smile. "Alicia, you have my number. If you need help, don't hesitate to call me, and remember what I told you in the truck", I told Alicia.
"I remember", she said. "We should stay away from crazy people, and if we find someone who isn't in pain, we should lock them up without them catching us", Alicia recited.
"That's all", I said, relieved. "See you around. Take care of yourselves during these chaotic times", I said goodbye to everyone.
"Goodbye, Alex", they all said, each looking at me differently. Madison looked embarrassed to show me her family problems, Alicia looked a little embarrassed to be leaving me, and Nick was still looking at me strangely.
"What happened to him?", I wondered as I started the truck and started driving toward my house. "I'll think about it another time... Right now, all I want is to go and rest", I thought.
Friday, November 20, 2026, Chuta's house.
Ring, ring... Ring, ring, ring.
"Yeah?", I asked as I answered the phone.
"Alex, did you see what happened yesterday at the protests?", David asked anxiously.
"Yeah", I said in a tired tone. "I was actually there", I said casually.
"What?!", David exclaimed, surprised.
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[A/N: David probably thinks Alex is looking for trouble.]
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After fully waking up, I began to tell David what had happened the previous afternoon. I told him about the people who seemed to be coordinating the chaos, Nick and Alicia, the clashes between the police, the military, and the protesters, and about the Drugos and the zombies.
"They're already roaming the streets", David commented, sounding worried.
"Yeah, it's only a matter of hours before people notice that the people they think are just crazy are showing them the terror of zombies", I said pessimistically.
"Will you still be working today?", David asked.
"Yeah", I replied.
"Even with the zombies running around?", he asked again.
"Yeah", I said neutrally. "Besides, I promised the boss I'd help him deliver something to the military today", I added.
"So that's why he lent us the trucks", he commented, noticing.
"That's right", I confirmed. "I hope you spent every penny we had left on supplies", I told him jokingly.
"We did it. The trucks are near the place I told you about", David told me. "Remember, if things get chaotic, you can go to the industrial zone for safety", he said worriedly.
"I will", I told him.
A few hours later, third-person POV.
Brumm, brumm.
A truck approached the military camp on the outskirts of the city.
This camp was established two weeks ago and has expanded its reach to the nearby neighborhoods. Located in a local sports stadium, it had monitoring facilities and staff camps. All the stadium's rooms functioned as temporary storage or dormitories for the people who had taken shelter in the camp.
One of the most heavily guarded areas of the stadium was the prison, which held people exposed to the infected or those who had participated in boycotts against the military. Additionally, some stadium rooms had been converted into infirmaries and laboratories for medical and scientific personnel, respectively.
The purpose of the camp was to prepare for the possible spread of a virus that scientists had discovered a couple of months earlier. The virus had been dormant in its carriers, who at first were very few, but as time passed, it was determined that practically all of humanity carried it.
The military, following orders from their generals and the government, established these temporary military outposts to prevent the chaos that the virus's spread would cause. Initially, they were ordered to set them up in the coming weeks because they expected the virus's dormancy to end in about a month, but last Sunday, they received countless calls from people attacking others. Their worst fears caught up with them faster than they expected, and these past few days they had done everything possible to contain it, but the number of infected people was increasing day by day.
Alex was driving the truck approaching the camp. At his boss's request, he had agreed to deliver this order to the military. His truck was loaded with bulk food, and noticing that it wasn't the only truck approaching the camp area, he could deduce that the military was preparing the last resources they could muster.
"I hope I don't get into trouble", Alex thought.
He, as he had done the past few days, left his house fully armed, and even today, being the day his dreams told him the disaster would begin, he had prepared even more. Hidden in the back of the seat was his backpack with weapons, ammunition, and supplies. In addition, he had a spear hidden behind the seat, a knife, and the pistol in their holsters, concealed under his clothes.
"I could hide them before we get there, but someone would surely notice a backpack lying around and take it without thinking", Alex considered several options to avoid finding his weapons.
After a while, he approached the sports stadium and noticed a large group of soldiers guarding all the entrances. The surrounding area was surrounded by high, crowd-resistant netting, with guardhouses every now and then, and he also noticed a few flashes from the top of the stadium.
"Are those snipers?", Alex thought, frightened.
He wanted to turn around and leave, but one of the soldiers manning the nearby entrance approached him and asked about his cargo.
"It's food. My boss sent me with the order and told me I just had to show this paper", Alex said as he handed him the delivery order.
"I see. You can go through that area and a group of helpers will assist you with unloading the material", the soldier said, pointing to a location.
"Thank you", Alex said to the man, appearing calm.
Alex drove his truck slowly, waiting for his turn to enter. After a few minutes, he was shown the area where the food was to be unloaded. Alex noticed a group of soldiers guarding the area, even checking the drivers who got out. Fearing they would notice the weapons he was carrying; he hid them along with the rest of his belongings behind the seat.
Upon getting out of the truck, he immediately locked the doors and put away the keys. They searched for him quickly, without an exhaustive search, and he only had to guide the helpers through unloading the things.
"It looks like nothing will happen", Alex said, looking calmer.
After 15 minutes, Alex got back into the truck and drove away from the camp, trying not to attract unnecessary attention.
On his way home, completely mentally exhausted, he decided it would be a good time to relax and listen to some music on the radio and tuned in to the frequency he usually listened to electronic music. However, the station wasn't playing any music; instead, a news segment was playing.
"We'll give you the latest protest updates", the radio host said.
"Clashes continue between a hooded group and the military, while the police are repressing a group of people who attacked a hospital on the outskirts of the city. According to our sources, a group of people became uncontrollable due to the tear gas used by the police", the host continued.
"To analyze the current situation, we have a doctor on the line who will inform us about the effects of these gases on people. Go ahead, doctor", the host introduced a doctor who was connected to them.
"Thank you very much for the presentation. As you said, we have received complaints nationwide from people who have behaved strangely after clashes with the police or the military during the national marches yesterday and today. However, these are not the only cases; in fact, the cases that meet these conditions for admission are the fewest. We have received so many of these cases that the military has come to provide support to most of the state's medical centers", the doctor explained on the radio. "Does that mean these people's problems weren't caused by tear gas?", the announcer asked.
"I'm afraid that's not the case. This situation is global. I've spoken with colleagues from other countries, and in the last three days, similar cases have appeared all over the world. Contact has even been lost with cities in a state of war", the doctor said with a concerned tone.
"I see. So we ask all our listeners to stay home and only go out if it's absolutely necessary. We hope you have supplies to last a while, and if not, we suggest you go shopping immediately, but with great caution and in a civilized manner… Thank you, doctor, for your information", the announcer suggested to his listeners, then thanked the doctor who was the guest on the program.
"It seems like today is definitely the day", Alex said, turning off the radio.
Now he was quite scared, and even though he knew he had prepared enough, he felt he was still at the mercy of fate.
Ring, ring… Ring, ring, ring.
"Who is it?", Alex asked when she answered the call from an unknown number.
"Alex, it's me, Alicia", she said in a panicked voice.
"What happened? Why do you sound so alarmed? Are you okay?", Alex asked worriedly.
"It's my neighbor. She's gone crazy, just like you said. She's not in any pain, and she's been trying to get into the house to attack us", she explained quickly.
"Don't worry, I'll be there soon. Stay inside the house and don't let her in", Alex told Alicia in a calm tone.
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[A/N: CHAPTER COMPLETED
Thanks everyone for reading.
The characters who appeared before have returned. Will they stay forever? Did you find out who they were? Will there be more characters like these?
We'll find out in the next chapters.
Read my other novel called Vinland Kingdom: Race Against Time.
You can find it on my profile.]