Return Before the Apocalypse: The Countdown Only I Remember

Chapter 11 - The Cost of a Rescue

“Let's go.”

Kil started to leave, but Axel caught his shoulder and stopped him.

“Where are you going, Kil? Why are you walking the other way?”

“We're avoiding an unnecessary fight. Besides, we're heading somewhere else. We—”

“Stop making excuses, Kil. We're strong enough now. What's wrong with trying to help people? That way, more humans can be saved, right?”

Kil stared at him. Every minute here was a minute lost from the hunt; every stranger they approached might become another person Axel expected him to protect.

Axel held his ground and kept his hand on Kil's shoulder. He was not going to walk away while someone was still fighting.

“Tsk. Do whatever you want.”

Kil knocked Axel's hand off his shoulder.

Axel caught his sleeve and led him toward the fighting.

“I can walk on my own.”

Kil shook free and followed the eager Axel.

They reached a supermarket. Six survivors, four men and two women, stood outside with nearly thirty zombies closing around them.

Axel's footsteps carried across the street. Zombies turned toward them, and the survivors looked up.

The survivors stared at the pair's weapons and clean clothes. Here, even that made them conspicuous.

“Go ahead. This has nothing to do with me.”

Kil walked over to a sturdy-looking car, hopped lightly onto it, and sat on the roof. He paid no attention to the six people watching him.

“You don't have to tell me. I get it, Kil!”

Axel drew a sword and advanced toward the horde with his shield in his left hand.

Kil stayed on the car. His hand closed around the spear as Axel passed beyond easy reach.

WHOOSH!

Axel surged forward and slammed his shield into a zombie, sending it flying into the others clustered nearby.

He turned on a zombie separated from the pack and cut through its neck before it could react. Then he charged the next cluster.

The six survivors watched him cut down the creatures like grass before a scythe. Kil followed his progress with a frown.

“Strong as he is, he's still reckless.”

Axel pressed forward without keeping a path back. Zombies folded in behind his shield.

He turned and found more than a dozen around him.

“Looks like I'm in trouble… Kil?”

Kil remained on the wrecked car, his spear across his lap. He watched the gaps between the zombies narrow, waiting as Axel tried to force one open.

“Are you just going to sit there, partner?”

Kil's fingers shifted along the spear shaft.

“Relax. If you turn into a zombie, I'll kill you and bury you myself.

“So give it your best.”

Axel's smile strained. He turned away from Kil and raised his shield. The six strangers still needed a way out.

“Come on!” Axel shouted resolutely at the zombies.

Twenty-five minutes later, the last zombie fell.

“Huff… Huff…”

Sweating heavily, Axel looked at Kil with a satisfied smile.

“Did you see that, Kil?”

Kil looked at the bodies, then at the hand trembling around Axel's sword.

He had known Axel was stronger. He had still let the horde close around him to prove a point.

“They're alive, Kil. That counts for something.”

Axel gestured toward the survivors before lowering his tired arm.

Just then, the six survivors approached Axel and spoke.

“Hello. Sorry to interrupt. Thank you so much for saving us.”

The speaker was a solidly built blond man with a square face and an unassuming appearance. Behind him stood a tall, large Black man with cropped hair. There was also a skinny man in glasses, with messy hair and a plaid shirt. The last man was tall and thin, with neatly cut blond hair.

The two women looked college-aged. One had straight blond hair; the other, wavy brown hair. Both had athletic builds.

“Oh! No problem at all. We happened to be passing, so we helped.”

Axel answered warmly, while Kil remained silent.

“I'm Conrad. This is Briggs, behind me; Felix, in the glasses; Tristan, the other blond; Scarlett, and Daphne, with the wavy brown hair.

“Again, thank you for saving us. If you don't mind our asking, are you from a shelter? If so, could you help us get there?”

Conrad kept his voice polite and his eyes on their weapons.

The six looked at them hopefully. Between them, the group carried only three iron pipes and a baseball bat, while the two girls held just two worn kitchen knives. Their equipment was a far cry from Kil and Axel's.

“Hi, I'm Axel, and this is my best friend, Kil. Sorry, but we're not from any shelter.”

Axel scratched the back of his head, his expression honest.

“Then your weapons and clothes?”

“We found them along the way.”

Kil answered before Axel could begin explaining.

“Then could you help us get to a shelter?”

“No.”

Before Axel could answer, Kil refused outright.

“Why? You're a little strong, so you won't help people in need?”

This time, the man named Tristan spoke harshly.

“Unlike Axel, who helped us without making a big deal of it, you just watched while other people were nearly killed by zombies!”

Kil turned fully toward him.

“While Axel was fighting to help you, you all just stood there watching. And you, you ungrateful blond.

“You were hiding behind these two big men, Conrad and Briggs, weren't you?”

Tristan gritted his teeth.

“Then give us weapons! At least that would help us survive the journey. We're fellow survivors. We should help each other, shouldn't we?”

Kil climbed down with the spear in his right hand and stopped in front of Tristan. His left fist drove into the man's face, knocking him onto the street.

“First, don't order me around. Second, we worked to find these weapons. If you want some, search the houses and buildings nearby. Do you think we got them for free, without fighting?

“Third, stop trying to win sympathy with talk about humanity. You're just someone hiding behind others to stay alive. Hearing those words from your mouth is disgusting. Fourth…”

Kil leveled his spear at Tristan's chest.

“Don't make me repeat myself, or I'll kill you myself.”