Chapter Summary
- FIRST JOB
First day at the Junction and things aren't that terrific. Siv's a concern. Not because of how much she might have heard...but how much she's been through already. I need to keep an eye on her. - Jack
TWO: THE WILD DOG
The descent down the radio building was slow for Jack. But for the young runner, Siv simply bounced down each floor without any sudden interruption. She had brushed her previous ordeal off like nothing had happened, and her pace was quicker than before. Either because they were close to the airdrop or because she wanted to keep up the act. She was fine! Nothing wrong with her.
But Jack didn't buy it, quietly locking her eyes on the young girl for any sign. Any tall tale. That little scare took a year out of her.
"Right this way!" Siv barked below, her arms drastically gesturing to the direction they were heading.
The airdrop was almost within reach for them. Red flare smoke streamed upwards around the next block, their destination being a parking lot near the highway. It was empty, with no stir of life within the busted wire fence. In the middle of the concrete park was the very red container they had been looking for, with the parachute having tangled over a nearby car's hood.
They were close to the finishing line. The faster they got the airdrop, the faster Jack could bring her back to the Junction. But not the same route back, that was for sure. On foot was all too dangerous.
"And there we go."
"Slow down there," Jack warned but the youngster was already off, without any wiser that there could be trouble. The ex-kickboxer scanned her eyes about for anything—a surprise Bomber around the corner; a pack of raiders who spotted the red smoke first; any sort of enemy.
One could never be too cautious.
"Told ya it's a simple collection," Siv proudly proclaimed with a boastful inhale. "One airdrop of rations, first-aid and most importantly, Antizin."
It prompted a small chuckle from the adult. Guessed Siv had never been taken seriously before.
"And Mahir thought it was all too risky to go three streets away on my own. 'The newcomer can help you with it,' he said. Ha!"
The laugh was an invitation indeed. Siv flinched when she spotted the grown-up's frown and the folding of her arms.
"I said I was fine!" she whined loudly.
"Hm-hm."
"Look. It's a job well done," the younger lady grumbled as Jack attended to the box. "Now Mahir can get off my back-"
"Say, Siv?"
Jack already went to work: clicking the buckles off and opening the lid. She had the same expectation Siv said about the contents but one peek into it said that Siv was half-right. On one side of the box, rations to last a week for a large group. However, the other side of the box was something new to Jack. She had opened boxes like these before, back in the Outskirts. Carefully, she pulled the first item out into the light and pushed down her shades.
Jack's eyes didn't need checking. It felt solid in her hand.
It was a grenade.
A real, live grenade.
"Do drops normally contain military-grade weapons and explosives?"
"Have you never opened an airdrop before-?" The young girl joined her and immediately her eyes widened. That was a grenade the newcomer held in her hand. Jack literally brought it up for the youngster to see. Not a flash of shock out of the ex-kickboxer too! As if this was something Jack had seen so often. More importantly, the rest of the content shouldn't even be in that box! She could see ammo boxes, pistols—rockets too?! Wait, were those landmines she spotted?!
"Holy - this is enough to take out an army."
"Or a horde of zombies," Jack pointed. "Maybe even more."
"W-Whoa. Hang on." Siv took a step back. "Why are they dropping stuff like this? We need Antizin. We don't need these - well... Ok, maybe we could use them but...this is overkill."
"Who said they were dropping these for us?"
Siv looked at the brunette, eyes wider. That was a thought that never crossed her mind but it definitely did to Jack's.
Something about this wasn't right.
"Siv. When did these airdrops start?"
"Start...? About three weeks ago."
"Were the other boxes like this?"
"I dunno. We've never been able to get one. Most of our supplies come from Dua. Mahir's friend."
Jack's eyes narrowed tightly as she ran together the details given. Kneeling down, she examined the box's design further.
"This isn't from the Ministry."
"And that's important...why?"
"They've stopped sending supplies to Harran some time ago," Jack explained, noticing the furrowed eyebrows on Siv's face lighten up. That detail was news to her, to any Scanderoon citizen. "Would they send aid to another infected city?"
Siv found herself unable to answer. Uncomfortable food for thought.
Would they send relief aid though? When the whole world was slowly falling? They'd be focusing on containing the outbreak, and Scanderoon wasn't at the top of their list from the looks of things. But Jack could understand the growing disappointment. Betrayal. Siv was hoping for something to finally change everything in the Junction. Now the Ministry was sticking it up their arses at them again.
"Then...if it's not for us, who are these for?!" Siv couldn't help but ask hysterically.
Jack already had the answer. It was on the side of the container—the big logo sticker. A nametag to tell anyone that the contents belonged to that group and nobody else. No one should be opening up someone else's present. So it was a real punch to Jack when she read the name.
GRE.
Then Jack heard it.
Click!
-the tiny sound of an assault rifle echoed behind them, dangerously terrifying enough to make chills run down both their backs.
Immediately, a voice hollered out, "Freeze!"
Jack didn't see any raiders that could have taken the jump on them or Specials at the corner of her eye a moment ago. But she didn't think their new guests would just come to them like that.
"Turn around!"
Jack stayed calm and peeked over to her companion. Unlike her, the young girl was scared with trembling arms. In the seconds, Siv held her breath as she shot a panicked glance at the most reliable adult of the group, looking for any notion on what they should do. Jack quietly gestured a nod—she's got this—and they slowly turned around.
Behind them stood two men. Soldiers in heavy gear, enough protection from bites but with enough lightness for mobility. The more striking, scary thing about this scenario was the guns drawn out, pointed dead at two civilians. Not a care that they were in a place where risen corpses would rush to the sound of gunfire. It was something out of an action-packed movie Jack had watched once but they didn't look like the military kind. In fact, the logo on their attire told her a whole different story. GRE.
Shit. Oh, shit, oh, shit, oh, shit. This is bad, Siv thought with chattering teeth.
"Put your hands up!" one of them barked. American voice.
Siv quickly did as she was told. Jack silently refused.
Breathe in. Nobody noticed the brunette counting to four with her free hand. 1, 2, 3, 4. Breathe out.
She examined her opponents like a quiet she-wolf against two outsiders, too naïve to know they have stepped into her territory. But she waited for their first step—their posture, attire and the way they held their guns showed their confidence in their skills. The grunts were hired hands, the kind anyone—the crooks, the rich or the corporates—would employ for a decent pay. The two men clearly had experience in close combat but totally relied too much on ammo. Basically, jarheads that had tunnel vision and didn't question their own authority.
She could take them. Just needed to do three things: disarm one, disarm the other before he could shoot, and make sure Siv stay out of the way.
Easier said than done.
But she had handled far worse situations before... The two men didn't know that.
For now, the best choice of action was to keep watch on their movements while distancing them from Siv.
The man on her left holstered up his walkie-talkie. "Perimeter One. We've got two thieves here."
"We're not criminals, you assholes," Siv hissed.
"Shhh," Jack hushed cooly. The chances they had at keeping things calm, the better they had of leaving out without injury.
She remained still—stern and observant.
Breathe in. Her fingers counting. 1, 2, 3, 4. Breathe out.
"Roger that." The soldier lifted his rifle back, tightly on the girls. "C'mon. We're taking you to the Checkpoint."
Siv jerked her head back, confused. "The Checkpoint?"
"Shhh."
She zipped her lips tight at Jack's hushing. What would a humanitarian organization want survivors to the Checkpoint? They might as well shoot them now!
"Hang on. She's just a kid," the grunt's partner uttered. A moment of hesitation behind his protective eye gear as he trailed his gaze back and forth to Siv.
"Orders are orders. If she's clean, she can go."
Go? Go where?!
"And if she's not?!" the partner pushed. There was something here Siv would like to know too! But then again, she was too afraid to ask.
"Same story. Every survivor here is no different than the infected." No sense of mercy in the tough guy. He could be trouble, Jack thought. While she stayed watchful, Siv couldn't believe what she had heard—GRE branding them as Virals immediately!
"W-We're not infected! Both of us aren't bitten!" the girl tried to defend. Dumb thing to say, they were infected. But Jack shouldn't be the one to take the fall, all because she decided to go after the airdrop with just the two of them.
"Move to the wall. Now!"
Siv jumped with gritted teeth, almost ready to do as she was told.
"Let's not be hasty," Jack finally stepped in, purposefully walking a foot forward. Stepping between the men and Siv. "We didn't know these were yours. Honest mistake."
Guns snapped in the now smiling brunette's direction. "Don't move! I'm warning you."
"Thanks for the warning. But pulling that trigger is going call the horde on all four of us," Jack brought out a point that everyone in Scanderoon knew all too well. She watched the soldier's eyes dart back and forth, on her and then on his firearm.
One loud sound and the parking lot would be swarmed with the infected.
Their guns were nothing but taunts. And the woman saw through their bluff.
"We can be reasonable people, can't we? Pretend we were never here."
Another step forward. What was Jack thinking, Siv thought with growing fear.
Trying to reason with men like them was impossible.
"Stop talking!"
"Are you deaf or something?!" The aggressive soldier trotted towards her, jamming the nuzzle into her chest. Pointed right at her heart. Enough of her stalling. "Put your hands up and move it!"
She wasn't budging.
"Do it. Or I'll shoot you!" The tone was getting as itchingly heated as the finger on the trigger.
Jack shrugged her shoulders. Oh, well, he asked for it.
"Alright."
She raised up her hands and behind the gas masks, the two grunts' eyes widened at the sight in Jack's righty. The one soldier in front of her quickly backed a good five-foot jump away.
After all, she still had the lovely grenade in her hand.
"Look at that. Got my finger stuck on the pin."
Jack's little pinky had 'slipped' through the little ring, giving a provocative twitch at the men. For anyone, that was the most horrifying thing she could have done. Even Siv stared at her with sweating palms—she had a grenade in her hand! But what made the terror spiked much more was the woman holding a bomb was absolutely calm. Cool-headed.
It was terrifying.
"Now ten hut. If you don't want all of us blowing to kingdom come, you're gonna drop your weapons and stand about...fifteen feet away from us."
"What are you doing?!" Siv whispered.
Jack gave a short, gentle wave with her free hand—visually telling Siv it was going to be all right. "My friend and I are gonna go through the back. And you're going to stay and give us a ten-minute running start."
The hot-headed brute then tilted his gun up-
"Nah-ah!" Jack shook one index finger, like a disappointed teacher scolding a student for trying, the ruler ready for the slap. "You sure you wanna do that? My finger could slip if you shoot me. And even if you survive the explosion, the noise will attract a lot of attention."
"You're bluffing," he scoffed. "You got a kid with you."
"Don't use me as a shield, you bastard!" Siv snapped loudly.
Jack merely smirked. With a casual shrug, she reached out for the pin. "Alright. If you want to play that game with me-"
"NO! NO! Wait!"
"STOP! STOP!"
She obeyed the men's pleads, slowly putting away her free hand from the pin. But the grenade stayed up.
Oh my god, Siv thought. No way was she going to take her with them, right? She swallowed, still holding her breath from the near attempt but Siv stayed put on the spot. She had to trust Jack now. Whatever plan she cooked up had to save both of them. She had to rely on the crazy woman if she wanted to live.
Her friend was crazy herself to believe it would work!
Because Jack had that confident, cold look, telling the young girl this wasn't her first time.
"Now. Would you gentlemen be so kind and grant a lady's wish? We don't have all day."
"...Fine. Fine." Slowly, the two men dropped their guns to the floor.
"Backups too."
They clearly grimaced. This wasn't an amateur they were dealing with. Without hesitation, more out of spite, the handguns were grudgingly taken out of their holsters and kicked aside.
"Now back away slowly. Eyes front."
Siv wasn't too sure if the ex-kickboxer meant it for the ladies themselves or the grunts. But once the men obeyed with three steps back, Jack took two big ones back. So carefully, Siv did the same. She couldn't believe this was happening, how the tables had turned in their favor and that for an insane plan like that, it was working. Ha! They might get out of this alive!
The teenager didn't notice the tough man slowly slip his gloved hand behind his back, fingers touching the hilt of a hidden survival knife. His eyes were now on the clueless girl. Just one toss-
Not giving you the chance! Jack thought.
"Move!"
Wait, why? Siv wondered.
Shiink!
Out went the pin. Jack pitched the live hot potato in one hard throw. The little deadly thing bounced towards a nearby pillar of a highway as she sprinted away, grabbing the stunned Siv by the shoulders.
"Get down!" the right man hollered.
BOOM!
Rubble flew everywhere, separating the two groups apart. A sharp ringing shot through Siv's ears.
Oh my god. Oh my god, oh my god.
Jack really threw a live grenade!
Siv barely registered everything after that. She didn't notice a portion of the upper road collapsing outside the carpark or her body moving on its own. No, it was Jack taking her away to safety. Eventually, the ringing stopped and her vision cleared. The two men didn't follow after them.
Then the loud screams came from everywhere.
"Shit! They're coming!"
"What are you waiting for?! Shoot! Shoot!"
"Run!" she heard Jack order, forcing her onto her feet.
"You don't have to tell me twice!"
The runners bolted, Siv taking the front with Jack right behind. The ex-kickboxer ignored the panicked wails of the two GRE soldiers and the firing going off—better them being ravaged than her and the kid. Now the focus: getting themselves out alive. With more Biters swimming around the parking lot, splashing through the tilted fences and over past panic-stricken vehicles, it was a race to get to high ground before the two women could be pulled in by the sea of the undead.
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Uh, uh - this way!"
The brunette spotted Siv ushering her towards a warehouse two streets ahead, much smaller than the Junction. Doors closed on the ground floor but not the second-floor window. She immediately leapt onto a car, over a crashed truck and up a drainpipe. Jack followed the same path, both of them hopping onto the balcony.
"Whoa!" A hiss to Siv's right made her sidestep. A Viral out the door and blood-red eyes locked onto her-
"Get away from her!" Jack went into thug mode. With a charge, she shoved her shoulder into the zombie and its body tumbled down a set of metal stairs. "Go! Lead!"
Siv took towards the roof again, headstrong on leading! She was the only guide right now for Jack, knowing the streets far better than her. But they reached the end of the rooftop—there was nowhere else to go but to drop down into the gathering horde.
The young runner fished out her rope ascender and quickly snapped it on their only saving grace of escape—a zipline. "Jump!"
They were off the roof, one by one in leaps of fate. The brunette quickly lassoed her arms around the girl's body as Siv started the ride, up, up the line—violently shaking from the double weight. The shrieking of metal biting metal got louder and louder.
"Hang on!"
"What do you think I'm doing?!"
"HANG ON!" again, Siv hollered. This time, for the impact.
"SHIT!"
KA-CRASH!
Color-stained glass shattered and rained over their rolling bodies across the red-carpeted floor. They have made an undesirable entrance into a small Armenian chapel—one of the few oldest buildings still standing in the big city. Vandalism on the already poorly ruined building's window, but surely, just this one time, they could be pardoned for seeking sanctuary on such short notice. Just this one time. And it seemed like someone up there answered them—the place of worship had been void of walkers. The girls were safe and they were also in a great deal of pain from their tumble, fatigue from their escape and elation for being alive.
"I so need one of those zipline thingies…" Jack groaned on the floor.
Siv was halfway up, hand on a knee. "Are you insane?!" she panted heavily. "You could have gotten us killed!"
Jack drew circles in the air with a finger. "Never a dull day when you're with me. Hahah... I was right."
"About what?! That they wouldn't shoot?!"
"That you'd make a good Raven with that bullshit stunt you did back there."
"Really?" Siv uttered with a ting of surprise and excitement. Then with a shake of the head and a swallowed-up breath, she climbed up on her feet. "Hey. I'm not gonna forgive you for that stunt of yours!"
The brunette pushed herself up with a groan. "That's...my job. Can't let them go after good people like you, Siv."
The way she said that was oddly genuine, after what looked like Jack was going to take Siv with her in the blast. Strange enough, the young runner couldn't get mad at her.
So Siv couldn't help but chuckle loudly. She still needed to progress everything: she had been put at gunpoint, nearly eaten by freaks and was next to a mad self-defense instructor holding a grenade as her negotiation point. She should have been yelling at this cuckoo for putting her life on the line. But out of this wacky, panic-stricken, fruitless trip, it looked like Jack's personality had finally won her over.
"You have one sick sense of humor, you know that!" She reached for Jack's hand and hosted the brunette up on her feet. "Hahaha...heh…" There was an odd ending to the teenager's laughter for some strange reason.
"Well, that's what everyone keeps telling-" Jack turned around and her wide grin faded in an instant, her heart jumping straight up to her throat. The color in her face washed away just like Siv's did. "-me."
Again, they weren't alone. A survivor could never be alone in the middle of an outbreak.
Men were predictable in their fights. Jack could read the moves on the go and before they could even touch her, she would be delivering a serving of pain three folds. With years of experience, reading the subtle reactions in a human body became almost second nature to her. Picking on the lies between the lines was never difficult. Jack was a fighter in both physical and verbal combat. She was always prepared on a whim. As long as she could take notes of their patterns, movements, and habits, she could turn the situation around and do a simple takedown. Whether with fists or not.
An infected was a different story.
You can never reason with a zombie. The mind had corroded away, after all, reverting humanity into an animal. They spontaneously attack, pull a 180 sometimes and if they were lucky, manage to give a turnaround on Jackie herself. She had several close calls before.
Her entire body froze into defense mode at the sight of the Special infected.
She recognized the head covering, the torn jacket and those animalistic golden eyes. Inside their sanctuary, a Hunter growled a low clicking sound. Somehow, during their moment of respite, the large predator had slipped in and made its stance on top of a pedestal before two nicely prepared meals.
Jack had only one thought in her mind. And she absentmindedly mumbled it out.
"Hello again, mate."
Siv was frozen with fear.
There were many times she had felt terror. The first was when she was six. Father left. Mother overworked herself till she was gone. Then she was alone. Siv was too young to understand the reasons behind it all, to hold much sentimental value for the losses. Thankfully, someone became her foster mother and told her it was going to be alright from then on.
A six-year-old balled out her eyes.
The second time was gazing down from the edge of the highway in the Slums, seeing the people below her as tiny as ants. But she would be fine, her senior told her. A guy with that kind of schmuck attitude; first laughing at her being scared before giving words of encouragement and showing her the ropes. That was the first thrill she felt in her short life.
The third came rushing, all too quick and too sudden. Over the first week of the Scanderoon outbreak, the whole world around her crashed. Her relatives wound up sick and dead. Her second mother was still in Harran. Since the fall of Scanderoon, a lot of things had terrified her. She had seen men kill men, infected kill men and the other way around. Even she had to do the finishing blow to the monsters. Just to survive. It took every ounce of mental strength to sleep the terrors away but she had learned one thing this entire time: she couldn't survive on her own and she couldn't trust anyone with her life. She had been between places for a while but never stayed long enough.
Then one fateful day, Mahir and his men came across her and her friends fleeing from prison hooligans. That was within the first two weeks into the outbreak. They brought them to the Junction. She was safe, at least.
But that safety wasn't for free—everyone in the Junction had to pull their weight around for the group and Mahir gave that condescending talk to her: she was deadweight if she wasn't going to help the Junction. It wasn't meant to mock her—he said it to her in a calm fashion. But she still hated that whole "you're a kid and you don't know what you're dealing with" attitude.
So she showed them, all the adults. By rallying up the quickest on their feet and making A and B Teams for the Junction. Any time they needed supplies, she and the other runners jumped in for the hardest task. Within three months, the fear she felt turned into a routine—she couldn't falter a second or else she would lose her own life just like any other in the city.
Then the world punished her back for it. Because she got bitten during a run last week.
That should have been the end of her short life. It took a lot longer for the grim reality to sit on her—once bitten, a person was on their way to being turned or being killed before they could turn. She was given Antizin. She was told she'd be fine. And a whole week, she was stuck inside the Junction because Doc wanted her health to recover fully. No more pushing herself out on the runs. She nearly went mad indoors.
Then the newcomer came. Dropped into the Junction out of nowhere. She never admitted it to Jack but Mahir didn't pick Siv for the airdrop retrieval. She was the one who volunteered quickly and gave those excuses.
She couldn't sit still, even if she was infected. She had to do something. Anything. A simple assignment to get supplies down the streets should have been an easy job! And the granny was her answer.
Siv never imagined that it would take a turn for the worst. The container was a lost cause; GRE soldiers nearly tried to gun them down; and now, she and Jack were against a zombie she had never seen before.
Was it a Hunter? Runners were never allowed to go out during the night but she had heard the stories. Scary stories of Special Infected more dangerous than the Volatiles...
But Siv just didn't expect to meet one in broad daylight, hawking at them like a tiger deciding which one would make a good meal.
Why was there one running around in daylight?
"Siv," she heard Jack whisper softly. "I want you to stay...absolutely still. Ok?"
The runner was shaking but nodded with her eyes peering as much as possible without turning her head. The woman in red slowly ambled step by step, towards Siv and then in front of her. Jack was dead-set on using her own body as her shield—something Siv wished she didn't but she was far too afraid to protest. Her mind was blank to figure out a way they could both escape without this Hunter tailing after them.
No, they wouldn't have a chance. That thing looked like it could catch either of them before they could turn and bolt.
In Jack's hand was a piece of wood she had cautiously picked up from the floor. As she stepped forward, she waved the weapon in a slow, drifting manner—the enticing movement when a dog was being shown a bone.
"Hey, there, big...ugly fella," she mumbled to the infected—as if it would have any level of intelligence to understand her. But sounds of all sorts and motions were enough to draw its attention. "You're hungry, right? You want something with more meat, don't you? How about me instead."
The distraction worked. The Hunter clicked his tongue aggressively at the ex-kickboxer with haunting golden eyes. A claw forth, then the next one towards her. All on her and not on Siv.
"Back away. Slowly," Jack ordered. "Run back to the Junction."
"What?!" Siv muttered, nearly breaking into a shout. The grenade was one thing but a Hunter?! "I can't leave you!"
"This isn't up for debate."
"B-But…" Siv had so many things to say. Jack was insane. Jack was risking her life over a stupid person like her and she wasn't against normal rotting monsters or gun-crazed men.
Maybe, maybe, she could find a, a UV light, firecrackers, something-!
"It's ok."
At that moment, Siv's terror mellowed down. Just a faction. The sentence Jack spoke out was an ocean of confidence. She had complete concentration on the one dangerous thing in the room—something people couldn't beat. This serene certainty was exactly the same one Jack pledged against the GRE thugs. She made her plans on the go, calculating and methodical.
"I'll be fine."
She didn't say she'd be right behind Siv. Or that she would follow her once she would knock the monster's lights out. But Siv could tell this wasn't the first time she took care of problems.
The granny had better come back alive or Siv would never forgive her. Slowly, she took a step and another back.
"Snarrk!"
"Ah, ah, ah!"
Jack gave a quick shake of the 2x4 plank just as the Hunter switched back targets. That sudden jolt of the golden eyes nearly made Siv yelp with fright but she tried to creep away as quietly as a mouse. Less movement and noise out of her as possible while Jack kept all the attention on herself.
"Don't you go changing your mind. We haven't even started yet."
Siv gave a quick glimpse to see how far she was from an open window. She had to get back to the Junction quickly, gather help and-
Clink!
Siv froze at the sound of something beneath her feet. Broken glass.
"Ragrh! "
The Hunter immediately snapped its glare onto Siv.
Oh no.
She couldn't move. Couldn't scream. She was all too petrified to do anything. She couldn't even meekly plead for help.
The Hunter launched at her.
"SIV!"
It was all a blur to Siv but suddenly, just as the Hunter pounced with teeth and claws drawn out, Jack leapt forth and lassoed her arms around the beast's neck. With Jack's sudden momentum added, both went flying off more to the left and through the weak part of a railing.
CRASH!
"Jack!"
Human and monster hit the ground floor hard, right in the middle of the nave. The wind had completely knocked out of Jack but her mind was screaming for her to get up. Quickly! She couldn't afford to stay down.
"Get up!"
Oh, wait. Was that Siv doing the shouting?
"I'm up! I'm up!" Finally, Jack's body did as it was told. But the Hunter was also climbing back up. With a loud holler that deafened her ears, it made its stance against her.
Oh, how she wished she had a UV light right about now!
"Jack!"
"Get out of here!" Jack hollered, eyes on the deadly prize.
"But-"
"NOW!" The ex-kickboxer battered up her weapon for a readied pitching.
"I-I'll get help!" The stomping of Siv's footsteps gradually faded off into the distance.
"That's all right. I'll be done with this freak before then," Jack chided maddeningly.
"Rraaagh!" With a starting stalk, the Hunter jumped at her but Jack was quick on her feet, dodging aside. She took one good swing down.
Thrack!
Splinters flew as the wood piece broke in two. That whack did absolutely nothing to the bloody freakazoid - like its back was made of steel.
She looked back at her broken weapon with disappointment. "Ah, shit."
She turned. And saw a claw grabbing for her collar.
"Whoa! Ommph!" Jack felt the floor fast and hard. A good five feet of a spin and she was already disoriented. She took too many seconds to stand back up but she definitely knew one thing.
Judo. That was a blooming throwdown technique. By a mindless man-eating freak.
"O-Ok. So you're not an average Joe."
Another roar and the Hunter lunged. Jack braced for the impact with both arms up as her shield. But instead of how she expected it to go, thin tendrils suddenly grew around her.
"Gah!" She went down again, on her back and the freak on top.
For a split second, she was stunned at this new whatever-this-biology-thing was—couldn't register how and where they came from. Hurriedly, she stuck out her foot up and prompted the beast back. A minor setback with her fists, her one last-resort weapon, held the snapping teeth back. The monster took the advantage, pinning her down while it looked for her neck.
"I'm not into this kind of shit-GAARH!" Teeth sunk deep into her left forearm. OH GOD! THIS THING WAS EATING HER ALIVE!
But this was nothing new to her. And thankfully, her right arm was free.
One punch! Two punch! The Hunter's jaws were latched onto her arm tight! "Get...off...ME!" Three punch! And he stumbled off—not without bits of flesh stripped off.
Jack staggered away, examining the bite wound on her forearm. The pain was blinding but she couldn't flounder, forcing every muscle in her to fight it. She snapped her eyes on the Hunter as she wrapped the wound up mid-fight. If this thing managed to get her throat on the next pounce, she was down for.
This was in fact, no regular infected Joe. Not even a regular Special! The tricks it had... And Bones wanted this one as a live specimen!
More importantly, she had noticed this out of a feral creature. Instead of a frantic, mindless attack like any other infected, this one Special was calculating. It paced to its own rhythm, read her moves just as she did right back at it. It didn't waste its energy on pointless attempts like Biters and Virals did. It knew how to fight.
This Hunter was clever, Jack would give it that. The ideal candidate the Ravs needed.
Then there came a cough. A choking sound erupted from the Hunter's throat. Gagging. Before Jack's eyes, the beast gripped its chest, having a hard time breathing. Frantically, it spat out something nasty.
Jack grinned.
HA!
Her secret weapon had started to take effect.
"Good. Drop dead, you bleeding mongrel-"
"SRRAAAARHHH!"
Another holler out of the thing. The Hunter fought against the sickness in one powerful go. Something else drove the infected to keep on fighting and its golden eyes locked back on her again. Now twice as ferocious as ever!
"What?!"
"Raaaargh!"
There was no warning for her, despite her desperate yells of "No! No! No!". The infected vaulted with the tendrils out again. Hands together like a prayer, Jack shielded herself with no choice but to be tackled down. They particularly rolled across the floor, fighting for an advantage.
Jack's only main concern was protecting her vitals. She put all her strength into pushing back the snapping chompers. But even as a professional kickboxer, the Hunter was easily overpowering her with sheer inhuman strength and its creepy ropes tightening on her. It wasn't giving her any room to fight back.
"Fine!" She then did the unthinkable. It was out of habit, after all. "FINE!"
She grabbed a tendril and bit it.
Chomp!
Yup.
That was right.
"GARRH!"
She sank her teeth right on the weird, slimy tentacle. Hard. Something vile and iron-tasting seeped onto her tastebuds but she held on like a Pitbull. If anything, Beastly deserved it for biting her! The most insane thing she had always done in the ring, to a monster and it actually worked. The Hunter wailed in agony. It tried to shake her off, the sprigs loosening around her and in one swoop, it tossed her over the shoulder.
CRA-KAK!
Her back hit a painting of a mother and child with incredible impact and half her body dropped over the altar. Decorations and candle holders tumbled to the floor.
Quivering, the Hunter growled in pain as the wounded tendril slipped back into its open-slitted claw. The woman in red nearly bit it right off. Moreover was the burning sensitivity through the arm—as if the bone had been replaced with a hot iron bar. Angrily, primitively, it glimpsed back at its target, waiting for her to rise up. Making sure she would stay put for good.
Seconds ticked by and there was a moment of triumph. Good. Good! she wasn't getting back up. That had to do the witch in-
"Heh...heh-heh..."
It was a slow chuckle. One arm languidly pushed the supposedly-dead human's body up. The Hunter spotted a wide, toothy grin from under the grey-checkered scarf.
"Ahahaha..." Jack's vision was swimming, gradually clearing up. An old feeling was rising up from inside as she climbed onto her feet. Jack spat out the disgusting taste from her mouth with a loud "Ptooey!"
Then out came the explosion.
"AHAHAHA!"
It had been a very long time since she felt this. The chains came loose, regardless of whether she tried to gain control. There was no need to keep the mania in because of 'proper manners'. This Hunter didn't want to step down?! Well, now it was going to witness the spirit in her lunge out. The stray hound inside was hungry for payback.
She mounted off the altar. Shades were shaken off from the impact, revealing maddening hazel eyes as they hung around her neck by the strap. She wore the widest grin like the Big Bad Wolf, flexing her fingers in and out. A crazed woman was on the loose, out of her mind.
She didn't care. Let her wolf this feeling all up! Jack had to live up to her legendary name one more time. Let her throw caution to the wind. This outbreak had given to her one thing—it gave her the freedom she had been secretly yearning for since her retirement.
All rules went out the window.
"Alright, mate! You want to fight me?!" her voice raised loudly, her fists up and railing to go. "You'll get Mad Jack!"
The berserk fighting spirit was ready to sink its teeth in.
There was no fear from the woman, not even a shred of panic like normal humans would have. The sudden transformation actually made the beast flinch. Of course, a prey backed into a corner would turn around with fangs ready. But that little hesitation only fueled its rage. It recoiled back with another boast of a roar. It knew. It wanted just as much as she did.
Good. That was what Jack liked!
"Don't hold back!"
The Hunter loomed left and then right. Trying to trick her at the last second, but Jack spotted it a mile away. It lashed out at her. She ducked to the right. Another slash of the claw but she ducked under the attack. An opening to the ribs! She hooked hard, sending the thing into a short floundering. She fired again! And again! Each building up with more ferocity until the fifth one forced the Hunter to steady itself on the side of a pew.
The taste of life and death was strong and intoxicating! It gave her thrills! She was back in the ring—3rd stage Mad Jack's rabid style! Only the worst kind of scum gets it, with silver culinary and the good china. Inside the chapel, the Hunter was the main guest at the table, getting all of the glory with each punch!
And the Hunter felt every blow. For some powerful Special, it couldn't keep up with her frenzy, enough to make it fall on its knees. With an angry hiss, it readied for a pounce-
Jack wouldn't let it have that chance. She spun out a kick. One good roundhouse right to its chin sent it into a confession booth. Breaking the rotten wood.
"Ahahahaha!" Jack laughed. "HAHAHAHA! Oooh! It's been so long!"
The Hunter tried again. But Jack was in her game-mode. Three fast jabs, then another swing and a kick, the infected was thrown back to the other end of her imaginative boxing ring.
That meticulous patience it had finally burned out. Now she was seeing more of the ferocious side spewing out but she didn't care. Even with the unpredictability, this thing would make the mistakes she was betting on. All the frustration it had was making Freakazoid lose its stamina down the line.
It launched again, talons and tendrils drawn out.
That was the moment she hoped for! She purposely dropped backwards, and as it tried to fish her down, she latched her hands on the back of its head as leverage and immediately roped her legs around its bulky waist. The unusual change in momentum brought the Hunter to the floorboards—another opening that Jack quickly rolled herself over to its back, feeling the spiny bumps nudge painfully into her stomach. A guillotine choke on an infected.
She knew it wasn't going to work. Could zombies even breathe?
"Right! Tracker!" The short-term attention span was a bit of a plague for Jack. But she might as well take the chance. Jack was about to pull out a tag device when suddenly, her momentum was thrown off. "Whoa!"
Unexpectedly, the Hunter zoomed back up and tried to shake her off. Jack had no choice but to hold on. She was in it for the ride with a bull!
"C'mon! C'mon!" Sodding hell, this infected wasn't going to make it easy on her! "Stop moving!"
Again, she bit down on its neck.
"GARRRGH!" Another opening for her and she quickly latched the tracker onto the back hook of its torn jacket. There! It was on-
A tendril abruptly snaked around her arm.
"Whoa!"
Skrrrrik!
She found herself sliding across the floor and her back made contact with a few old, damp benches. It was a damn good toss. Jack quickly wobbled back up, shaking her head and her hands to brush off the tension. No shred of dread could penetrate her fury.
"That was nothing!" she yelled maniacally.
The Hunter tried to bark irritably, but it staggered back with a claw on its neck.
Another chance. Jack jumped back into the ring with a hard right jab! Left! Right! Left! The infected held its arms up like a riot shield and took the strikes in.
POW!
The Hunter's head yo-yoed from the impact of her third punch, knocking the ragged cloth off. As it reeled back up, it showed its gorgeously ugly face at her with a flash of its canines.
Its mutation was in its early stages, but it was still grotesque as ever. Darkened skin split along its shoulders, back and head, like a second monster was trying to burst out of its host. Small nodes of bone stuck out like a measly crown of a little prince, but it boasted its power with its menacing glare and deadly snarls. It verbally declared to her and everyone else that it was the king—the king wouldn't be trifled with!
There were the notable features of the previous owner, a man in the midst of his 'Mr. Hyde' transformation. But that human was gone. Nobody at this stage of infection could come back.
So this was what a Hunter looks like.
"You're one ugly bugger, all right!" she sang, dancing on her toes.
"Raaaargh!" The monster wailed back at her insult. Enough to make men fall down on their knees.
But Jack wasn't afraid. In fact, the Wild Dog was out and riling to bite—a ravenous stray playing with its food.
She fired a punch.
And suddenly, that fist was slapped away.
Another marvelous thing out of the freak, surprising Jack! It was on the defensive! A block on her punch and the other claw on her head. But instead of sinking talons into Jack's side, the monster directed her forward. Throwing her a good few feet away.
"Ugh!" She forced herself up, steadying her feet as Jack circled around to see Freakazoid ready an attack from behind.
Clever beast!
"Two can play that game!"
It slashed forward. Jack quickly held a palm up and deflected the strike over her shoulder. She could sneak a straight hit to the gut but with how big-sized her opponent was, she sneaked her foot at its heel. Tripped the Hunter forward, seeing it tumble down on a knee.
It may have some fragile knowledge of Japanese martial arts but Jack knew her own basics in shadowboxing.
She distanced herself back, arms up front. Too long this fight had been going and she needed to end it. Before her own stamina would run out.
Then she spotted a tendril at the corner of her eye.
Wait, no.
It's roped around a pillar.
It went all too fast. All of a sudden, she could see the golden eyes right in front of her, a wail so loud her eyes went ringing. With the tendrils, it gained momentum in a quick burst and sent itself flying towards Mad Jack, arms crossed like a battering ram.
"Argh!" A full-blown takedown from a freak of nature! She was thrown far down the aisle, despite a last-minute dodge at the leaping infected.
Now the Hunter was mad, landing on its feet for another dive. Jack didn't get a chance to catch her breath, already watching in horror at the tendrils now swarming onto her.
Again, Jack shielded her neck with an arm at its neck. Snap, snap! Its teeth clicked loudly to reach for the jugular.
"Enough!" Her free hand quickly worked its way on what she felt was the belt. With all her power, she lifted the infected off its feet and bridged it over her shoulder. "Of eating me!"
One Jackie suplex coming right out!
THUD!
She slammed its body right into the floor, sidestepping back as she watched the bugger wincing from the pain in its neck. It was only a few seconds before it struggled to stand up.
Why would it just stay down already?!
"Garh!"
The Hunter coughed and gagged out something from its mouth.
"What? I'm not tasty enough for you?!" she mocked, ready for its next move. But the suplex was the final straw. The terrifying special infected recoiled away from her, looking weaker by the minute. Like a scared little toy dog with its tail between its legs for trying to bark and bite back at a dangerous, big, wild dog.
OH! Now you're afraid!
"C'mon, Freakazoid! I'm not done with you yet!" she taunted. "I got all the time in the world to keep this up!"
Give it to her! She's never faced an opponent quite like this before! Just give it! GIVE IT-!
"...J…"
The scratch came to her, at the back of her head for a second time. Barely audible that she couldn't make out the word. The weirdest part was...it came from nowhere. Jack jumped, desperately looking around for the source.
Where? Where did that voice come from?
"...Jade…"
The Freakazoid said that word. With a small glint of something in its inhuman, fatigued eyes.
Jack read that glint in those golden eyes. The color warped with a distinctive haze—the first thought being that perhaps, the beast was close to death. But something wasn't right. Her fighting spirit was doused down by confusion, shock, and awe.
She shouldn't be reading an emotion like so from an infected monster. But it was present. Readable.
It was sadness.
She stumbled back. The Wild Dog was now aghast, stunned out of her mind and unsure what to make of everything. What? Wait, hold on now. Come back three—no, five, ten steps back! There were so many questions she had, or if it was all just her imagination from the intensity of the near-death fight.
But the name, hearing that name, was the biggest shock of all in that short flash.
"What did you just say?"
Why? Why did that thing say Champ's name-
"Gaargh!"
Suddenly, the Hunter cowered down on its knees. It was right there and then that Jack noticed the chapel had gotten dimmer, illuminating the infected's glowing orange veins. The Hunter contorted its body like it was in more pain than before, dealing with a massive headache. It was an odd gesture for Jack to see this late after getting his arse whooped.
But her fear overwhelmed her as she locked her eyes on the bright rectangular shapes of sunlight moving on their own. Streaming shorter and shorter around her. She realized it too late: the sense of danger twisted her insides. On an inkling, Jack warily wheeled back to the broken windows.
The sun was setting.
"Oh, fuck," she cursed tiredly.
The snarls were getting louder, forcing her to turn back to her opponent. By now, all of Jack's fire was completely extinguished into ashes and she wasn't in the mood to swing back into another fight. In her seeping fear, she recalled one thing Mahir told her about Hunters.
"They only come out during the night. Deadlier than the Volatiles."
So Freakazoid here was going to be far worse than what she had faced?!
"R-Ruun!"
Now came out a distorted voice—a man's voice blending together with a monster's. There was a visible internal struggle she was seeing. No, everything about this zombie was all too new and horrifying to her.
What in the world was she dealing with?
She had to get away.
"Run!" It was a desperate cry. Like some small piece of humanity screaming with everything it had. It wanted her to run from it.
Then it wanted her dead.
"RUAAGH!"
That small piece of humanity went out like a light. Just as the sun went out.
"AaaaaAAAHHHHHHH!" Jack sprinted right out of the church's doors.
The Hunter was on her tail.
The night was at its scariest. It was alive, stirring and full of rapacious Biters and Virals seeking prey. This was the time no one should be out—any survivor knew it was suicidal. The sun was gone for twelve hours and during that time, every human had to bunker down, wait out the night and block out the noises, the screams and the terrors. Anyone dumb or unfortunate enough to still be outside should make their final amends and prepare themselves on a silver plate.
Jack was one such unfortunate survivor...but not like she had a choice!
Moreover, she didn't recognize this part of town. She didn't keep track of the lower surroundings when she and Siv were crossing the tops. For all she knew, she could be running blindly and further away from the Junction. So for now, it was a run to any safe place she could find. The large streets were avoided—she needed a less crowded, narrow lane to slip away from the Hunter. Quick thinking helped her only a bit: pulling over any obstacle she could grab to block the path behind her.
But how much time could she keep buying for herself? She was almost tempted to look back, hoping that maybe the Hunter changed his mind and stopped chasing.
She glanced over her shoulder.
The Hunter wasn't behind her anymore.
Did she lose it?
"GAARGH!"
The new screams told her she had jumped out of the frying pan and into the fire. Three new friends bounded out from the sides to join the party—friends she never asked for. Broad-shouldered freaks with exposed bone and muscle and the most noticeable mandible jaw ready to sink their teeth into her.
"Volatiles! Friggin' Volatiles!"
There was no way she could survive the night-
Beep!
"Jack! Jack! Do you read?! "
Swell time to be getting a call! But she couldn't have been happier to hear Siv's voice via her earpiece—if she wasn't being chased.
"Hello! Not now! Running for my life!" she responded.
"Jack," then came Mahir's voice on the other end. "Do you see an overpass?"
An overpass? She could barely make anything in the dead of night. The roads had barely any street lamps on and a couple of barrels with fire about.
She then spotted the highway to her west. "Yes! YES! I see it!"
"There's a safehouse under it!"
"Hurry! "
Oh, that was the magic word she was so glad to hear. Except for the three vicious infected behind her and the active swarm packed in the streets. They all saw her, fraying their arms at her with aggravated groans. Jack forced her way up on a car, feeling the fingers behind her try and rack at her. She madly jumped on a couple of heads to cross over the sea of Biters and up over a tin roof. For a glimpse of safety up in the air, she spotted a lone, small construction site barred with wire and spikes all over the boundary.
Safehouse!
But her eyes bugged wide at one small problem: it was dark inside and out in its safe perimeter. The lights weren't on. Not even the UVs.
"Why are the lights off?!"
"What?!" Mahir hollered with the same tone of shock as hers. "Shit! Did it run out of gas?"
"You have your safehouse tied to a bloody fuel generator?!" Jack screamed.
"J-Just...look for the panel!"
She gave out one outburst of annoyance: nothing was ever easy! Quickly, Jack vaulted onward and jumped into the safehouse area, the deadly traps buying her some time with the nearby walkers. But the wires and spikes weren't going to stop the Volatiles once they'd caught up. To top it off, there were a few stragglers inside the unprotected safehouse.
Jack dodged around the small fry before ducking through the door. Slapped it shut behind her and she pulled a metal locker down for reinforcement. Another three seconds bought while she quickly searched for the power distribution panel.
Please let it be simple, she pleaded that she didn't need to find the fuel generator! Or worse, like Mahir said, it could be out of gas!
Thud! THUD! THUD!
"GAARGH!" "Kssssk!"
And now the Volatiles were at her door. Wonderful!
She quickened her pace, eventually patting her way to the power box in the dark. Fingers gripped the edges of the panel, and with leftover tenacity and added jitters, she pulled.
Krrrr-KACK!
The metal lid was stripped off.
BAM!
The bought seconds ticked down; she didn't have to look back to know the door was cracking down. One more bash by a Volatile and they would be in. But she stayed the course and flipped the switches. 1, 2, and 3!
The safehouse came alive. The interior's lights flickered on and the familiar blue rays shone over the front.
"Gaaaugh!"
"Gaargh-hisssss!" Outside the door, she listened to two Volatiles shriek in pain with the awful smell of skin flambéing up under the UV light. It turned her stomach inside-out, garh.
There were two sounds: something dropping down like a fly smacked to a zapper and something running away. The third wasn't lucky enough, flapping painfully inside the perimeter along with the other unwanted guests. The rest probably escaped or backed away from the lights.
It became quiet. Jack waited, listened. And finally, she knew she was safe.
"Holy hell," she uttered with relief as she slipped down to the floor with exhaustion. "That was way too close for comfort..." She may be stubborn enough to fight against one Special Infected but she was no fool to take out a horde.
"Jack?"
"Y-Yeah," she replied over the comms. "Yeah. I'm good... Talk about a run for my money. Ahaha."
"You are one lucky person, you know that?" Mahir complimented.
"Luck has nothing to do with that. It's all about skill," she tried to breathe in hopes that would shake off her shaking.
"Heh. Well, you did say you were a specialist."
"Give me that, Mahir! Jack?!" the young runner took over the call, her voice nearly peaking up the volume. "I'm sorry! I-I shouldn't have left you behind!"
"Siv." Jack climbed back onto her wobbly legs.
"You-You were right! We should have turned back! There wasn't even anything good in that airdrop-!"
"Siv!" That finally stopped the teenager's ramblings. "I'm fine. Just a little grazed, but I'm fine."
Total understatement of the year. If she were to see her right now, the very obvious bite marks and bruises would make Siv yell, "You're lying, Jack!"
"…We came out with nothing and you nearly got yourself killed."
"Well, I wouldn't say it was for nothing…" Jack chided. Got herself one hell of a fight. "Don't put yourself in a bind over this."
The runner said nothing in response, the silence telling Jack she was beating herself over what happened. The brunette was about to tell her she didn't hold it against her, but she knew enough that wasn't going to be enough to soften the girl's nibbling guilt.
So she said instead, "You all should get some sleep. I'll see you guys tomorrow."
"Yeah. Tomorrow. You better come back alive," Siv demanded, a swing back to the usual hot-blooded attitude.
"We girls gotta stick together." She heard a weak chuckle over the line, easily visualizing the girl's expression as 'Really? Already, this old bat was being friends with her after one day?'. But Siv didn't reject the idea vocally. "And Siv?"
"Yeah?"
"We'll find more supplies tomorrow. This granny still has some years left to keep up with you."
"Hah," she laughed, the weight on her shoulders feeling a little lighter. "I'll hold you to your word... Goodnight, Jack."
"...Yeah. Goodnight. And good luck," she said to nobody. Or maybe to the noisy infected outside. Maybe to herself.
She had enough excitement for one day. Too much on her mind, and she wanted to think about it tomorrow morning instead. Her body needed sleep. Taking off her shades, she laid back on the prepared sleeping bag in the corner. However, she was all too wide awake to drift off to slumberland immediately. She thought back on her 'luck'.
Luck was something she never relied on; her skills and confidence kept her alive. But sometimes, luck did have some play on her before and during the epidemic. She had nearly gotten close to running out twice. And Jack knew it was going to run out dry soon.
How long would that be—the next days, weeks, months? Lady Luck would eventually stop buckling in for her. And when that would happen, there wouldn't be any more stopping.
Don't think about it, Jackie.
She closed her eyes, blocking out all the noises outside. They would shut up soon.
Twenty minutes later, it became a peaceful night.
Something's wrong!
It hurts!
Everything's burning!
What did that woman do?! What did she do to us?!
Something inside the Hunter made it excruciating. It started off at the arm, then from the second bite on the neck. And now it could feel the fieriness attacking its insides. Changing it. Eating into its brain like a sickness. A poison!
It couldn't stand it—the colors and shapes swimming around in its vision. Vertigo hit it just as hard as the woman's punches, but the monster couldn't recover quickly enough, like before. The sudden ailment came in the middle of chasing the fleeing woman, and it soon lost sight of her.
This has happened before. She had given him something that twisted his insides! It was happening all over again!
NO!
The Hunter hated this feeling. It was like something trying to dull its rage down—pulling the animal back into its cage.
Get out!
It racked its talons at its throat and at its stomach. Trying to tear it out. When that didn't work, the freak of nature tried to gag out the horrible taste again. Just spit it out!
Nothing helped.
Stop it!
The voice was scared. It snapped loudly, lashed its claws at air for a way out. No matter how hard it tried to fight it, the burning sensation still dawdled and welcomed fear in. There was no escape for them.
Them?
Wait. Why did he use the word, them?
Kill her! We need to kill her!
What?
Why?
He didn't understand.
She did something! She's hurting us!
It did hurt. Everything in him was like hot needles through the muscles. But for some odd reason, it didn't bother him. No. It was more like he had been drowning this entire time that pain felt numbing to him.
"Alright, mate! You want to fight me?! You'll get Mad Jack!"
Fight?
Yeah. He wanted to fight.
He wanted control again.
Killherkillherkillherkillherkillher!
Kill that woman!
...No, that wasn't her. That brunette was human, a person.
He recalled the whole scene from earlier. Watching the runner suddenly take a dive off the fallen radio tower; watching the lady shout her name in horror, bolt as fast as she could go and pull her friend back up.
It all felt so familiar—like he had been in a similar situation before, but the other way around. It brought back a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time.
Empathy.
Worry for someone else's life. Immediate hope that they could make it. A growing yield to jump in and save them.
But something always held him down.
That proverbial grip loosened more during the fight; the Hunter underestimated that it was an 'easy' hunt. The lady went bat-shit ballistic. She became an animal all-out sinking her teeth into an infected. She was thirsty for the fight and thrilled to stay alive. And she showed them.
The punches, the dodges, the stances. Even that parry—the confidence she had in deflecting an incoming Hunter off her with a move he recognized.
The wide grin she shone brightly, cocky that she would survive.
And the more he remembered the fight, the more he wanted that long-forgotten sensation.
To live again.
He wanted that badly, more so than ever. But the reason why he waited this long...was because he was so afraid to come back.
He couldn't remember why.
She'll kill us!
N-No. No. He wasn't back in the Countryside. That Volatile freak was dead.
It's her! The witch is back!
"Don't hold back!" the brunette wailed, with such powerful valor, it shook him to the core.
Hold back?
Had he been holding back this entire time?
Don't listen! Kill her before she kills us!
Shut up.
Be quiet and let him think for once!
It was nothing but noise grinding against the bone—memories flashing violently again. Some old he had forgotten, some new he had never seen before. Whatever was happening to the infected was not just tearing it from the inside but also making a mess of its brain, no, his brain. There was no order. There had never been any order from the start. The dominant voice was getting more aggravated at its loss in the mental fight, at the itching thought that the woman in red had lived, at everything!
She was going to get it, the voice wailed at him, for hurting them. Again! They would make her regret ever facing them.
Shut up!
What 'them'? He wasn't them. He was himself! He was the one who tore off her head in that dam!
There was never a 'them'!
So what?! The voice hollered ferociously at him. They have been together for far longer than he had wanted. The Hunter had come out thanks to this gift. And since then, the beast had been keeping themselves alive, showing everyone who stood at the top. The king of the night! He was free thanks to their strength!
No more pain, no more guilt, no more fighting for a pointless cause, no more deceiving others and himself! No more suffering! All his complications were gone thanks to him letting the other side take control, to accept this raw power, this freedom! Their life became so much better.
Wha...what fucking life?
What freedom? He didn't feel free. He was still trapped!
This is a prison.
He didn't want this. He had to get out. The longer he stayed inside his mind, the more he'd forget everything he went through.
This was wrong.
It isn't wrong! It's right! So stop resisting and go kill her! She's more brainsick than before! She's the last obstacle left!
Stop it. She wasn't his concern. Stop this headache!
The flashes were getting more vibrant in his head, more solid. Like a film going faster and faster. All the faces, all the people he had been fighting for.
They were still waiting for him.
No! Stop! It's not worth it! Now the voice was pleading. Pathetically. It was losing its grip on his consciousness. The damage's done! There's nothing to go back to!
Nothing? No. There was something.
The Tower... He had to go back.
"C'mon, Freakazoid! I'm not done with you yet!" the brunette taunted. "I got all the time in the world!"
Oh, you shut up, he grimaced. Who are you calling Freakazoid? What's with that stupid name? It sounded like a bad wrestler's name.
Stop! The voice was frantic, wailing, gripping at his feet to stop him from leaving. From taking away its control. Stop listening to her! There is no point in returning!
He didn't care. He had to give it a try.
Everyone at the Tower had to be worried about him-
No one is! All those unturned weaklings? They wouldn't accept him back. Had he forgotten? One look at him and they'd gun him down! The same went for those who had tried! Sentimentality was useless in their hunting grounds.
Stop talking! He was still the same man-
Stop denying it, weakling! It had been us together! You need me! You need to survive! Why else did he let the other side of himself take over?
Because he was too chicken to face them, that was why!
Everyone was out to get them! Same went for that cultic witch! She was back for him again-
Shut up. Enough! He was losing his patience.
No! It's not enough! We won't rest until she is dead! Kill her! KILL HER NOW!
KILL THE MOTHER!
A flash of that golden-sun-masked cult leader overlapped over the face of the woman in red.
Looking back at him with hauntingly silver-blue eyes.
Something snapped inside his skull. The chains finally broke off.
"Just SHUT UP!"
One right claw grabbed the back of its head, and as if someone was right behind him, in the presence of its weakness, the human self shoved the Hunter's head down on something hard with one swift blow.
Thud!
Then it stopped.
Everything.
The voice. The visions. The burning feeling.
It all stopped.
He could think for himself. That voice was gone just as easily as it had taken over the surface of his psyche the first time around.
Then came the pain.
Horrible, excruciating pain from his temple.
"Gah. Ah." He reeled down, hands clutching his head while he endured the agony. He did just smash his head hard on the rock beneath his feet and that was enough to put the monster down. He asked for it, beating the internal fight. But god...did it hurt. So much.
No, no. It wasn't over yet. He didn't know why; it was as if he was still in danger. Not from instinct but more like it was routine. That he couldn't afford to waver. However, for some odd reason, the danger didn't seem to come after him, so he took his time to register everything.
How long had he been out? He didn't even remember himself! Who he was.
But eventually, the faint memories flowed in like a river building up, eroding his blackout. He was someone, right? Yeah. Not it, a person.
He had a name.
Once the grogginess and the headache subsided, he heavily caught his breath. His brain was completely frazzled from the whole experience, but he understood one thing.
He had finally come back.
Kyle Crane was partially back in the head.
A/N: Whoo! Another good chapter revamped. This was originally part of the old Chp 3 and Chp 4. I did have a rule where I was keeping to a word count limit of 6k+ but decided to drop it. I do hope that the combination or adding more flesh into the chapters won't be too long-winded for you readers' taste - and if its an issue, do inform me and I'll change the length. This also does mean for the first arc, the original ten chapters may become eight or less. Or not.
Tried my best to keep the conversation nice and a bit warmhearted, as well as the action be intense. I actually had a lot of fun with this one. Action scenes are my favorite, with a bit of struggle to think from A to B for each move. It also shows a different kind of fighting preference Jack has compared to gameplay Crane. Saying in a game design perspective, Jack's more of the go for it kind of gal and a bit less agile than Crane. Even the power side of her skill tree in my head is different from his: a brawler's skills. Jack also has different kinds of skils specific to distraction in the Survival side. I can picture her as kind of the beserker class in a way like Sam D was from Dead Island.
Now that being said, it's a DUMB IDEA to just rely on bare fists in a zombie apocalypse, even without fist weapons. She isn't immortal against a horde. Anyone trying to do a run with just fists towards the end is like going Deprived in Dark Souls.
Anyhow, enough game design rambling from me. I hope you'll like this chapter. And yes. Crane's back. ;P
Old Chapter Three A/N: A big happy birthday shoutout to Akira Namikaze, from FFN. :)
19/10/19 - Update refined! Combined chp 3 into chp 2.
25/10/19 - Reedited for mistakes and errors.
13/8/20 - Reedited for mistakes and errors.
6/2/21 - Added new lines, fixed mistakes and edited parts according to new timestamp from pilot.
26/2/21 - Reedited for mistakes and added a small aesthetic change to Crane's design.
16/2/22 - Went over a full chapter edit with some fixes, retwists, deletes and adjustments. Changed the church's details.
15/3/23 - Edited several lines and made fixes, streamlined some dialogues for better structure.
18/3/22 - Rechanged fight scene with a few more moves from Freakazoid and edited some lines for mistakes and dialogue changes.
29/3/22 - Added a few new lines in the parking lot
1/1/24 - Final fixes and changes, I hope