My Undead System

Ch. 20 - Surrounded

When they heard the name coming out of Rena’s mouth, Kroll and Jin looked at her, surprised. Jin voiced his concern. “Are you sure?”

Rena nodded silently.

Jin dreaded their encounter. Not because of fear, but the timing couldn’t be worse. His mother’s whereabouts were unknown, and Barton was at his home. Merely the thought of him hurting her boiled his blood.

Not even a few seconds passed, and Barton’s voice sounded heavy and scornful. “Rena, you little bitch...”

He fired a few more shots in their direction. His loud voice muffled the noise of the gun. “Betraying me wasn’t enough...?”

“I didn’t betray you... Your actions came with consequences as I had told you before...”

“Bullshit!” Barton shouted at the top of his lungs. His bitterness made him bite his lips until they bled. As the crimson liquid dripped, he spat with every word out of his mouth, creating a red spray that painted the ground. When he noticed, he clicked his tongue and fired his gun in their direction. “Either of you could have come with me... Instead, you let me go out there alone. I kept you safe, and that’s how you repay me...?!”

After Barton fired a few more shots, Kroll heard the empty click of a gun out of bullets. He stood, and just as he was about to step towards him, Barton saw him and grinned.

Bang!

“Dad!”

“Argh...! I’m ok, son. It’s just a graze...”

Kroll fell in the dirt as a pool of blood sprung underneath his back. The bullet pierced him and went through his shoulder. Krish crawled to his dad, disregarding the cuts and torn flesh the rough soil gave him. He lifted Kroll’s head from the ground and placed it on his lap.

The location of Jin and the others helped them stay out of sight, but not out of danger. If they went over a bush’s length, Barton could see and shoot them. Even under the cover of darkness, he could still make out their silhouettes.

Rena despaired and shouted back at him, “Stop shooting at us, will you...?!”

Barton chuckled, almost to a screeching point. He completely ignored Rena’s pleas. His voice had a high pitch to it when he shouted back. “How about it, baseball brat? Told you I’ll remember you...!”

Jin looked at Rena and whispered, “We somehow have to close the distance between us...”

Meanwhile, Barton continued his banter. “By the way, thank you for that jeep. It was helpful. I had trouble guiding those corpses, but that thing really helped...”

Kroll gritted his teeth. “Bastard! That was you?!”

Jin focused on the other part of the sentence. “What do you mean, you guided the corpses?”

Barton’s laughter brought chills down their spines. His voice came out cold and with resentment. “After you made me leave, I went back to the Detention Facility...”

Jin interrupted him when a thought crossed his mind. “Wait, was that you who I saw? Did you cause the explosion that almost killed us, too?”

Barton’s voice came out trembling. “T-That wasn’t me. That thing that ignores living humans isn’t normal. Apparently, it got bored and ran off somewhere.”

A few minutes later, Barton collected himself, coughed once, and continued. “Don’t interrupt me again. It’s rude! Where was I?… Right. After I went back, I saw the corpses wandering aimlessly around and when I realized those things were moving on sight, I had the idea to bring them here.”

Jin looked at Kroll, who bled profusely. After giving it some thought, he raised his bat-wielding hand. “I’ll throw it away... It’s me you want, right? I’ll come over, but the man you shot is bleeding... He needs help!”

Barton scoffed at Jin for interrupting him yet again. When he completely changed the subject, veins popped on his forehead. He clicked his tongue. “Just get here and we’ll see...”

Just as he was about to stand, Rena’s hand pulled him down. Worriedly, she whispered, “What are you doing?”

Calmly and gently, Jin removed her hand and patted her head. “I’ll be ok. Tend to Kroll!”

Jin stood up and glared in Barton’s direction. “Why are you doing this? The corpses aren’t enough? We must fight amongst ourselves, too?”

“Shut up, brat!” Barton’s voice crackled with rage. “Because of you, I had to go out there by myself...”

Jin’s eyebrow twitched. “How’s that my fault? You pulled a gun on Jorge!”

Barton clicked his tongue. He completely disregarded Jin's remark and uttered while waving his gun. “Throw that dreadful thing away and walk towards me.”

Right after he threw his baseball bat away, Barton pointed his gun at him. One step after the other, as cautiously as he could, Jin approached him with his hands raised the entire time. Barton stood in front of Jin's house. The door was closed and there were no lights.

The man who threatened them wore a tattered shirt with dried blood on it. Jin figured what he must have gone through just by looking at him. His scrawny body and limbs had bulging veins. For the first time in a while, Jin felt intimidated as bloodlust poured out of Barton's eyes.

“Where are the others? Have you hurt them?”

Barton grinned as soon as the light hit Jin’s face. He stared at his worrisome face and chuckled. Then, without a warning, Barton shot his hand. Jin flinched when he felt the pressure, as if his hand got torn off. Blood dripped like an endless stream that drenched the ground beneath it.

Barton chuckled for several seconds. “What’s that saying? Eye for an Eye? A broken hand for a shot one? I can’t remember.”

His laughter carried on for a while. He enjoyed hurting Jin, but it soon turned sour when, after the echoing gunshot, growls reverberated in their ears from different directions. Barton’s face twitched. “Damn corpses!”

Barton turned his gun away from Jin to shoot the undead that had gotten near him.

The moment Jin saw an opening, he charged at Barton and grabbed his hands.

[Speed Level 2 Activated!]

He launched his knee into his stomach and took the weapon out of his hand. Barton crawled into a fetal position, trying to catch his breath.

Jin threw the gun away. Rena pulled out the one she found at the grocery store to defend the others from the approaching undead that had almost surrounded them. Krish picked Jin’s bat and stood in front of his father, ready to protect him.

When Barton regained his composure, he found himself on the ground. His erratic breathing returned to normal. Even though the undead surrounded them in mere seconds, the only thing in his mind was Jin.

While he was busy keeping the undead away from his group, Barton saw the opportunity to grab his weapon. He walked up to Jin from behind and grabbed him. He put his gun on Jin’s temple and shouted. “The corpses might eat me, but I’m taking you with me!”

Jin swiftly banged his head on Barton’s nose. Once his grip became loose, he sunk his teeth into Barton's forearm and tear out a piece of flesh. Blood gushed out. Jin turned the other way, ready to spit out the piece he bit off, and moments before he did so, Barton fired his weapon. The gunshot echoed in the area, leaving the onlookers surprised as Jin fell on the dirt ground.

A cloud of dust rose that obscured visibility. When it subsided, they saw Jin with a hole in his head and blood pouring out across his face, painting the ground beneath him.