The Saiyan Gamer
Chapter 35: Infection
A few moments after returning to the village, the unusually thick walls that surrounded it lifted out of the ground and began to close. I watched in shock until it finally closed and everything went dark before red lights on top of every building lit up.
"Oh Raditz, I'm glad you're okay!" Gine cried as she hugged Raditz. He'd woken up some time while we were away. I stood at the door, watching the family cuddle as they spoke. Turles stood beside them with my scouter in hand, his face scrunched into a ball as he tried to contact Bardock.
I dipped out of the room and headed for Root's room, entering to see Omato and Brussel standing over him. Their clothes were cut up and damaged, but overall, they were relatively fine. From what I'd gathered, they'd both gone into the crater multiple times to save people, so it was surprising to see that they were barely damaged.
Omato lifted Root's head off of the bed and pressed a golden leaf into his mouth. It took a few seconds, but Root's body began to glow with light, and in a flash, all of his injuries vanished. Slowly, his eyes flickered open and he inhaled deeply, before sitting up and coughing.
I'd be lying to myself if I said that I didn't feel relieved. After watching for a few seconds longer, I walked over to the other side of the bed and placed a hand on his shoulder. "You had us worried there. How are you feeling?"
He wiggled his arms, before flexing them and looking up at us. "Better than ever. So that's what the Hissuan plant feels like."
"Don't rely on it…" Omato spoke aloud as he looked over me and Root. "The stall was destroyed by their initial attack. That was the last one."
Apart from the one in my inventory. I thought to myself. "What the fuck are we going to do? Why are they invading now, after all these years?"
Omato frowned, his eyes shifting to me. "I don't know why they're attacking now, but it was always inevitable. Which is why I have made preparations."
"Hm, and you didn't tell anyone about those preparations," Brussel said from his side, glaring at him from the side of his eye. "Do tell, what is a wall going to do to keep them out?"
"The wall isn't the only preparation," He explained, as he stood to his full height. "The tunnel leading to Avross mountain is just one. There are dozens leading to other cities."
"So your only idea is to run?" Brussel scoffed. "And I th-"
"Brussel…" He turned, and for a second, it was as if his eyes were made of fire. "Shut the fuck up."
She growled in response, before turning away and folding her arms against her chest.
"You've never faced the Tuffles before. In fact, you were just a toddler when the war finished, so I don't expect you to understand. They may seem frail, but these creatures are the same ones who had the Saiyan race in a stalemate for 10 years," He continued. "Caught off guard like this, we don't stand much of a chance. The smart option, our only option besides death, is to escape and live to fight another day."
Brussel didn't seem confident in that statement but stayed silent. I frowned deeply, not sure what to add to the discussion. This was my first time-fighting Tuffle's and from my experience so far, it didn't look good. I wasn't sure how many had died already, but just looking at my map showed me that the village had shrunk by almost a half.
"What are your other preparations?" I asked.
"All of you," He said, looking directly at me, and then Root and Brussel. "All of the children that were sent on Purges. It was an idea crafted by my friend Vegeta near the end of the war to increase the power of the next generation. It was a risk that we had to take. At the time, just having a power level above 5000 was exceptional, and we knew that if the Tuffles came at us again, that wouldn't be enough."
He continued to explain. "The ones who die are an unfortunate loss, but the ones who come back typically are much stronger for it."
I stood in silence for a few seconds, before saying, "So it wasn't about being worthy?"
"No," Omato replied. The look on his face revealed to me that he understood what was going through my mind.
"Then… Then why didn't you let me back in the village when I returned?" I asked, confusion mixing with my anger. "You said that you wouldn't welcome anyone weak into your family."
"I thought that it was the best thing to do at the time, for you, and for myself," He said, his face expressionless. "If you survived the forest outside of Mossgrove, you would come out stronger for it. And that way, when the war no doubt came, there would be less chance of you being killed."
I see, so it's the same principle as the Purges then… My understanding of the situation didn't make my anger less hot, though. "If that's the case, why didn't you tell me?"
"Because you needed something to drive you forward. I guarantee that drive to return and prove your strength to us is what did the trick, isn't it?" He raised an eyebrow at me, and I was ashamed knowing that my face gave the answer away.
I looked up at Brussel, who just scoffed at me and turned away. "Don't expect an apology from me, punk. I acted the way I did because I wanted to, there were no ulterior motives."
Welp, I didn't know I could hate her even more. I turned back to Omato, more questions on my mind, but the moment that I did, the sound of a crowd outside of the hospital caused us all to turn our heads. They were chanting, calling for their leader.
"Grab Bardock's family and head to the estate. There will be a tunnel underneath the main house that'll bring you to safety. We'll talk later," He said, looking directly at me. I nodded my head, accepting the fact that our conversation was probably at the very bottom of his concerns right now. "Word of advice. Put on some armor, just in case. Their metal is made especially to negate Ki, but acts pretty normally in reaction to anything else."
"Alright…" I said once he had walked out the door. "Let's go then."
"Nah," Brussel said from next to me. "I don't care what the old man says, I'm a Saiyan. I'm not running like a dog with it's tail behind it's legs."
"Fine by me," I sighed, now looking at Root.
"I want to get my revenge on the Tuffles too, but I'm not stupid. If Dad says the best option is to run, that's what I'm going to do," He said as he began to stand up and stretch.
"Well, it's settled then," Brussel sighed loudly. "My entire family is cowards. I'm sure if Mom were here she'd be disappointed in all of you."
I ignored her and once Root was ready, we made our way out of the room, heading straight for Turles' room. When I opened it, they all looked up at me in anticipation.
"Alright, Omato has a plan," I said, before letting them know about the tunnels beneath the village.
Immediately, Jitsuki stood up, saying, "I need to find my mom and Leeku. We'll meet you there, alright?"
Upon nodding my head in agreement, he was off. "Are the rest of you ready?"
POV Change
"Holy shit, you'd think the chief would have put lights in this fucking cave system."
Moving like a collective entity, a group of Saiyans walked through a dirty tunnel. Each had a ball of Ki in their hand, lightening up their escape, which was barely enough to fit them going two at a time.
"To think he was using our taxes to build this shit. A fucking escape route," One of the two leading Saiyans scowled. "You'd think someone with a nickname like The Butcher would have thought of something better than that."
"I heard he gave himself that name after the war ended," Another said, shrugging his shoulders. "I mean, I haven't seen him butcher anything."
"Will you two stop disrespecting the Chief?" Someone shouted from somewhere further back. "Most of us were born after the war ended, so we wouldn't have seen shit. Besides, didn't I see him carrying your sorry ass out of that crater."
An argument broke out from there. A woman holding her young daughter could only watch in uncomfortable silence as the bickering continued. She was lucky to have survived that far, having decided to sleep in that day. With a power level like hers, she wouldn't have survived the explosion, that was for sure.
"Mama, what's that sound?" Her daughter asked, reaching forward toward the front of the group.
"What sound, honey?" She asked curiously.
"The screaming…" She said calmly. "Can't you hear it?"
Suddenly, the entire group went silent, as the sound of something in the deep darkness made them pause. After a few moments of nothing, slowly came the screaming. A shriek, unlike anything they'd ever heard ripped through the tunnel, forcing some of them to cover their ears. It was then followed by the sound of rapid footsteps approaching. It was completely unorganized but quick as lightning
"What the fuck is th-"
"HOLY SHIT!"
The entire group erupted into screaming and yelling, as everyone tried to push back down the narrow tunnel towards the village.
"Mama, what's going o-'' Both the woman and the child's eyes widened as their grip was broken by the intense shuffling. The moment that the child fell, she was gone, consumed by the surging crowd. They crawled over each other to escape whatever had met them in their path. The woman, though, dropped to the ground and searched for her daughter.
Eventually, she did find her, but it wasn't a sight that she wanted to ever see. Despite her body being crushed by the stampede, a mother didn't forget her child's eyes.
An unnatural growling right above her was what made her finally look up. What she saw defied all logic. Her mate had been there at the explosion, hadn't he? Others had confirmed seeing his dead and mangled body as they escaped. If that was so… Why was he standing in front of her now?
That was her final thought, before it opened its mouth, released an unnatural roar, and bit down into her skull. Slowly, out of her skin, Ki flowed like juice into its waiting mouth, causing her skin to become dry and wrinkly in seconds. Finished with his meal, it threw her to the ground and continued forward.
Behind the monstrosity, covered by darkness, hundreds more footsteps followed. Some were old, some were new, but they all had one thing in common.
They were all starving.
Sprout POV
The escape route was exactly where Omato said that it would be. It wasn't anything special, just a 10 by 10 dirt tunnel that hopefully lead us to safety.
"This tunnel is pretty cramped," Root complained as he walked alongside me at the front of the group.
"I'd prefer a cramped tunnel over no tunnel," I replied casually. In front of me floated a Ki ball to give us light. Looking back over my shoulder, I did a headcount of the group, before sighing in disappointment.
"I told her not to do anything stupid, and then she decides to do just that," I said over my shoulder to Jitsuki, who trailed at the back with Turles.
"That's my sister for you. Bitter and stubborn until the very end," He sighed, although I could sense the sadness in his voice. He really did care about Leeku, even despite how she felt about him. "Hopefully she comes to her senses and follows."
"What about your mom?" I asked. "She wanted to fight too?"
There was silence for a second, before he said, "No… I eventually found her but…"
I understood, simply from the tone of his voice. "Sorry… I'm sure she was n-"
I stopped and threw my arm to the side, stopping the group. Even at a distance, I could hear something approaching from deep within the tunnel. Looking down at my mini-map, I saw what looked like hundreds of enemies speeding down the tunnel towards us.
"Turn back!" I yelled loudly for those in the back. "Turn back now!"
"What's wrong?" Turles asked, but I was already backing up rapidly.
"They know about the tunnels! They're coming!"
The group immediately began running back, to my relief. They were getting closer by the second.
It took a few minutes, but eventually, we burst back out of the tunnel and into the main estate. I immediately turned to the hole and prepared to close it up with something from my safe place, but before I could, something jumped out of the darkness at me. I was lucky enough to bend backward, causing it to sail right over me.
"AH!" I heard Raditz yell behind me, and my heart dropped. "WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?"
I didn't risk letting anything more out, immediately crafting multiple heavy things to lay right on top of the entrance. Immediately after, heavy thuds shook the house, as whatever the hell had been chasing us tried to get in.
When I turned to Raditz, he'd managed to get the thing off of him. Its skin was pale and part of its body was burned to a char. Its only good eye barely had an iris, and it took me a few seconds to realize that it looked like a walking corpse. Specifically, like the corpses from the explosion earlier.
Level 14
Gave
Species - Saiyan (Infected)
Gender - Male
Age - 45
HP - 5,000/17,937
Ki - 11,200 (Limited)
Reputation - Neutral
Power Level - 2,646
Gave was a Saiyan who lived on the outskirts of Omato Village, and only by chance was he at the tournament. He died in the initial explosion, only for his body to be taken over by a parasite manufactured by Dr. Lychee. Now, all that is left of him is a shell, piloted by the parasite.
The parasite has two simple desires. To eat, and to multiply. Both of these actions are accomplished by sucking the Ki out of a Saiyan body.
He has no thoughts. No desire. Just hunger.
He is currently looking for his next meal.
What the fuck?
"It bit me!" Raditz yelped as he clutched his bleeding arm. Immediately, several people threw Ki balls at the infected Saiyan, but it wasn't startled. Instead of exploding into bits, the monstrosity only took a step back, the energy flowing into its body. Its power level increased ever so slightly along with its health as the energy caused its body to light up for a few seconds. Once it vanished, the walking corpse charged.
It didn't get far. An improvised sword that I quickly threw together slid into its chest and impaled it to the wall. Even despite its heart being destroyed by my attack, it struggled and moaned, trying to escape by clawing at my face.
"These things can't be killed by Ki attacks!" I realized, turning back to the group. "Let's get out of here!"
"What are they?!" Turles asked me as we all flew out of the estate, destroying the walls as we exited.
"The Tuffles brought back the Saiyans killed in the blast as… Whatever those things are," I explained, looking back at the house where they were temporarily being restrained. "They're dead... But they're not."
All across the map, I could see the groups that had tried to escape all returning to the village as swarms of the infected Saiyans chased them. If this keeps up…
"Shit! They're trying to force us to open the walls," I cursed in realization. Once all of the infected Saiyans made it into the village through the tunels, we would have no choice but to open the village or be consumed. "It's like they predicted every move we'd make!"
"What do we do?" Turles asked, but before I could reply, a low growl snapped all of our attention to one person.
Raditz's skin was considerably lighter, bordering on pale, and out of his mouth, foam flowed. His right arm clutched his left, where he'd been bitten. His face had an expression that was somehow both terrified and starved.
"R-Raditz?" Gine's voice was soft as the group stopped. "Baby?"
"M-Mom…" He looked down at his arm as it bulged. His grip intensified until blood was being drawn. "I don't know what's happening."
I used Observe, and the results left me stunned.
Level 11
Raditz
Race - Saiyan (Partially Infected)
Gender - Male
Age - 12
Reputation - Liked
HP - 17,658
Ki - 7,095 (Limited)
Power Level - 946
Raditz is the middle son of Bardock and Gine. He is a quiet boy, who is often lost in his thoughts or in a book.
He has no desire to fight, finding no enjoyment in it. Instead, he finds the most enjoyment in life from researching all of the different animals on Mount Corrina and the surrounding land. His biggest desire is to explore other planets and the wildlife on them.
He has been bitten by an Infected Saiyan. Due to the feast being interrupted, his body is fighting against the parasites that wish to take over his body.
He is scared of the strange feelings arising in him. He is starving.
I placed myself in front of Root and threw my arms out, blocking everyone from getting closer to Raditz. I stared at him, before finally saying, "Raditz… I think that bite mark infected you with whatever they have."
"They?" He asked, his eyes widening in horror. My heart was beating like a drum in my chest, as someone who I considered family stared at me waiting for an answer. "Sprout, please don't tell me you mean those fucking monsters!"
"Wait!" Turles pushed past my arm and glared at me. "He doesn't know that! You're okay!"
Despite the confident approach, Turles' voice and eyes betrayed that confidence. He was just as scared as Raditz. He turned away from me and put both of his hands on his brother's shoulders, before saying, "What do you feel?"
Raditz shook for a few seconds as his eyes roamed across the group, before landing back on Turles. More foam dripped down from his mouth, and his eyes seemed to gloss over. "You all look… So… Delicious…"
The silence was thick.
"What... What did you say?" Turles spoke slowly, wide-eyed. Raditz stared forward with a blank expression, and I desperately tried to look for any sort of life, with no success.
"What…" Kakarot spoke up, his voice cracking in disbelief. "Raditz? You just got bitten, come on…"
Suddenly, something sparked in those blank eyes, and I knew that he was back. Tears streamed down his face as he looked down at his hands.
"Help me…" He cried, before suddenly opening his mouth and lunging forward at Turles. Thankfully, Turles was fast enough to let go of his brother and dodge to the side.
"Raditz stop! That's your brother!" Gine yelled, her voice cracking with every word. Raditz turned to face her, a feral look on his face before he also charged at her.
Before he could reach her, Zaria appeared behind Gine, and in a second they were behind me. As Raditz turned to face his next target, me, I knew what I needed to do. A sword appeared in my hand and I stared him in the eye.
"I'm sorry Ra-"
"NO!" Turles yelled, glaring at me with such anger that I hesitated. "We can help him! Dad can help him!"
"I don't think anything can help him now," I replied, although I wished that it could be true. The idea of killing someone was never so hard. I moved but was stopped once again.
"Fuck Sprout! Your first thought is always just to kill! Just stop for one fucking second!" Turles yelled. His face was beet red and tears pricked the corner of his eyes. "We can knock him out or something! Or you can put him in that place where you put stuff!"
"Turles, I sliced that other one through the heart and it was still moving! Besides, I can't put living things there!" I tried to reason with him, but he did not move out of my way. "Please, get out of my way or we'll all get turned!"
"Sprout, I swear to Yamoshi…" Turles growled at me, as a look of pure rage etched itself onto his face. "You're my best friend, but if you touch him, I'm going to fucking kill you."
We stared at each other in pure silence. As I stared into his eyes, I had no doubt that he would stick to his word. Eventually, I lowered my sword and vanquished it to my safe place. Turles nodded his head, before turning back to Raditz and putting his hands up.
"Listen Raditz, I know you're in there," He spoke as Raditz glared at him while growling. "Listen, this is going to hurt, but it's the only way."
Before Raditz could think to attack again, Turles had hit him hard enough to knock him out. Turles then picked him up and held him tight, but at enough of a distance that if he woke up, he wouldn't be able to bite him.
Turles turned back to face me, and I immediately knew that something had changed. Our eyes met again, and neither of us said a word. I looked away and found myself staring at Gine, who had the same expression on her face. I wasn't sure what it was, but it was different. I didn't like it.
Eventually, I turned away from her and to the rest of the group.
"Let's go."
