CHAPTER 11

CHAPTER 11

Back by a few minutes . . ..

In the mist of the rumble that remained of the museum, Marvellous saw a group of people standing not too far and watching

them. With his enhanced vision, he could clearly see that they were the same people that almost had an all out conflict with his

friends. Rising to his feet, he let out a grunt before calling out to them.

“We meet again!”.

His statements caught the attentions of his friends and although they were unable to clearly see the faces of the figures in the

distance, they started walking towards them.

Roosevelt was puzzled. ‘How far can he actually see?, his senses are perhaps a hundred times stronger than that of a

normal human. Is this really as a result of his mutation?. . ., what has he mutated into actually?.’ she thought.

Since the event of the light enveloping her, she could feel her senses alert than they had ever been. What ever happened to

them when they bonded with their new weapons, she knew it changed them in ways they couldn’t imagine. She already felt like one with her weapon, and she could sense the same feelings from her friends. But Marvellous was also bathed in the light and he also bonded with a weapon. In addition to his earlier mutation. ‘Just what had happened to him?’, she thought.

With the distance between them reduced, Roosevelt could finally make out the faces of the strangers, truthfully they were

people she recognised . . . at least if not all, the male and female in front were just too familiar for her to miss.

Standing before them, Marvellous repeated . . ..

“We meet again!”.

Present time . . ..

Maxwell’s face lit up in surprise at the recognition the teenagers showed. He thought they were some bunch of arrogant fellows who had no form of basic courtesy, because of theif previous encounter and how they had responded. But at that

moment they were actually taking the initiative to call out to him at the moment, even wearing smiles that he seemed unable to see through, it did nothing to ease his suspicion.

“It’s good to see you again”, Maxwell said.

“Same here”. Marvellous said.

“My name is Maxwell Synopes and this is my vice leader Anthonia Darkwood”. Maxwell introduced himself. “These guys

behind me are part of my raiders, I used to run a sanctuary for survivors until some weeks ago when it was overrun by

zombies . . . Right now, I’m trying to find a place to rebuild my sanctuary”. Seeing himself talking on a friendly note with the

teenagers was something Maxwell had only dared to imagine, seeing the chance presenting itself, he decided to give the terms of friendship a go.

“Well it seems you are one passionate person, going through all this trouble just to rebuild a fallen sanctuary. Seems nice, but . . . We will see about that”. Marvellous replied. “By the way, I’m Marvellous, this young lady holding the axe is Roosevelt, the other one with a whip is Rose, the lady with the dagger is Ebbie, this guy with the spiked recking ball is Basit, those ladies standing together are Mercy and Kardi J, the guys beside them are Timothy and Mod, buddy with the bow and arrows is Kiki, guy with spear is Josh . . .”.

“You guys are travelling alone . . . Were you part of a sanctuary once?”. Maxwell asked. Finally seeing the opportunity to realise his dreaming of having the teens join his sanctuary - as they seemed to loosen up to him - present itself, how could Maxwell loose the golden opportunity?.

“Nope . . .”. Rose replied. “We’ve never joined any sanctuary, why ask?”. An astonished look flashed across Maxwell’s

face, to think that his mere drifting words of the past actually turned out to be true, such young fellows yet they had been able

to survive on their own in an apocalypse filled with horrifying looking creatures, without the help of an elderly person or a

refuge. Such teenagers like this, tempered from the life experience of the apocalypse. How many teenagers like them actually

existed?, with such people seemly in a good relationship with him, how could he loose the opportunity to form and alliance

with them?.“I’m currently on need of people to join and help with my sanctuary, I was hoping you guys could join me”, he said catching the group by surprise from the abrupt request.

Emmanuel was the happiest of the teenagers at the invitation from Maxwell, the thought of having people other than his friends to live with really excited him. Tightening his grip on his mallet, he traded excited glances with his friends. But his

excitement was not meant to last for long, most of his friends had frowns and suspicions on their faces.

“If I remember clearly, we just told you that we never joined a sanctuary. Yet the next instant you are inviting us to join your sanctuary, what do you want?”. Ebbie asked.

“Well . . .”.

Maxwell did not expect such a question to be directed at him, just because of a simple invitation he extended to them. Short of

words, he could only let out a nervous laugh feeling the suspicious glare from the teenagers drilling holes through his skin.

“We are in need of strong individuals that can protect the sanctuary”. Anthonia his vice replied on his behalf. Seeing

Maxwell actually speechless and even looking like he was trying to boot lick them and at the same time not, could only choose to help him reply. “You look like strong people, the kind of people we need right now to ensure the safety of the sanctuary

members. You won’t be joining for free too, you will be granted authority on par with the leader, as long as you keep the

sanctuary safe and you can decide if you want to mingle with public affairs. You can leave the sanctuary anytime as long as you will return and there will be no restriction whatsoever on you guys in the sanctuary”.

Listening to the proposal that Anthonia was making, Maxwell was stunned for a second, especially when he heard that they would enjoy authority equal to his. Noticing his eyes fixed on her, Anthonia looked at him with a questioning gaze and mouthed.

“What? . . . Can you stop them if they decide to take over the sanctuary from what you have seen?”.

Having such a question directed to him, Maxwell averted his gaze, avoiding eye contact. In the post apocalypse, a lot of

anomalies happened everyday. For the teenagers to have survived on their own, even if he was to be beaten to death, he

would never believe they were just some simple individuals. Such people who could still stand independent in the apocalypse

could be very dangerous.

Turning her attention back to the teenagers, Anthonia asked. “So what do you think? . . . Are you decided yet?”.

Hearing her question, Marvellous cast a quick glance at Maxwell to verify what he felt before he turned back to Anthonia.

“Give us a minute”.

Stepping aside, Marvellous looked at his friends with questioning glances. Receiving equally questioning glances, he could

only sigh as he contemplated.

“I know . . . Sigh. . . They can’t be trusted yet but . . . What other choices do we have?”, he said. “Besides the us right now are not people they are capable of dealing with. If things go south, we’ll just have to deal with it then”.

“That’s right”, the rest of the group nodded.

“Yeah . . . But what about you?”, Rose asked. “Silence . . .”.

“Him? . . . What about him?”. Roosevelt asked.

“If they find out that he is half zombie, do you think they will just sit back and watch while he lives with and even practically rules over them?”.

Slowly, Marvellous nodded his head. Thinking about everything that happened since the apocalypse, most of the people

living as members of the sanctuary obviously lost their families, friends and relatives to zombie attacks. For them to learn of a zombie living among them, they would obviously fly into rage. Sighing, he finally spoke . . ..

“Don’t worry . . . I know what to do”.