Hive Mind

“It would seem like the situation is more serious than I thought, imagine if one worm got into the other zones, just one worm would be enough to turn the whole zone upside down” Hai remarked with a serious expression, he pictured what he just said in his mind, imagining the worm causing havoc in the zones.

“But there has to be someone behind this right, I mean the worm couldn’t have just appeared out of nowhere, it has to have been genetically created” Yoshi said with a thoughtful expression.

“Yeah you’re right, so it means that there is another person behind the scenes controlling everything from a comfortable position, he must have been the same person that erased the footage” Henry also said slowly adding the pieces together to form the picture.

“So do you think that’s possible for the one who created the hive mind to control the whole zombie population?” Micheal suddenly asked which made everyone pause and think, was it really possible for that to happen, if it was then it would be catastrophic.

“It is highly possible and I’m pretty sure that is exactly what the person behind everything intends to do” Yoshi stared at the zombie while thinking, his head was inclined at an angle as he seemed to be observing something about the zombie.

“It has no heartbeat at all, that’s why it doesn’t show up on the map” Yoshi said after studying the zombie for some time.

“So at night when they hibernate, their heart stops beating, that’s why we didn’t spot any of them the night we arrived” Racheal muttered in understanding.

“What happens when we attack them in this state?” Hai asked curiously, pushing the question to Yoshi who paused after hearing it, after thinking about it for some time, he shrugged and stepped backward.

“I guess we’re about to find out” Yoshi replied aiming the gun at the zombie’s neck, he wrapped his hands around the trigger and was about to pull it when a hand grabbed his shoulder stopping him in his tracks.

“Wait, look closely” Micheal said stopping him as he pointed his finger at the body of the zombie.

“What am I supposed to be seeing?” Yoshi asked in confusion.

“Look closely at the skin of the zombie, can’t you see the light?” Micheal replied pointing closely at the skin of the zombie, his words made the others also pay attention trying to see what he was talking about.

“I can see it, that purple-ish light on its skin” Yoshi’s eyes brightened as he spotted the faint light on the surface of the zombie’s skin, the light was so faint that it was unnoticeable if one didn’t pay close attention, Yoshi turned to Micheal with shock in his eyes, he didn’t understand how Micheal was able to notice it while he wasn’t, even after scanning the entire body of the zombie, he didn’t notice it.

‘Hmm’ Yoshi’s thoughts swam around his mind as he studied Micheal whose eyes stayed glued to the zombie also in his thoughts.

“I see it too but what is that light?” Hai asked stepping closer to touch it but was also held back by Micheal who frowned and turned to him.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, we are facing a creature with high intellect, there is no way it would leave itself vulnerable at this time, it must have a self-defense mechanism to protect itself in this state” Micheal explained, his words were totally right and the others instantly understood.

“But we can’t just leave it like that?” Bai remarked with a frown, turning to the zombie, he was unwilling to leave the zombie which looked vulnerable at the moment.

“I never said we should leave it, I only said it has a self-defense mechanism” Micheal smiled and said to Bai.

“What is your plan?” Yoshi asked curiously, he could see from Micheal’s words that he had a plan.

“Nothing, we do nothing for now, and well since we know that we won’t have any problems, I believe we should move at night and stay put by day, this should enable us to cover more distance while avoiding the least damage” Micheal replied resulting in a chuckle from Hai.

“You’re kidding right” Hai grinned while staring at Micheal to see if he was joking.

“Are you serious right now? We literally have 2 more days and we haven’t even reached half the distance, and yet you want us to move only at night” Bai retorted after realizing that Micheal wasn’t joking, he turned to his brother in disbelief.

“Have you guys still not grasped how perilous the situation is, we have no idea how powerful the Motherworm is, moving at night guarantees that our movements won’t be monitored, this gives us an advantage against whatever we’re up against” Micheal tried to make his point but the others weren’t ready to listen.

“I’m not going to be torched here together with you so if you wanna stay put, you can do that but if you think I’mma sacrifice my life because of a dying cause, think again Captain” Hai replied making sure to make the ‘Captain’ sound as sarcastic as he could.

“Hey now you’re gonna watch your mouth boy, we came here for a mission so I advise you to do as you were assigned to do, I would never put the lives of my teammates in danger so next time you better think well before you talk, or I’ll personally torch you” Micheal pissed off at Hai’s words which seemed to strike a cord, angrily shoved Hai against the wall before grabbing him by the shoulders and speaking the words into his face directly.

“Oh I’m sorry Captain, did I hit a nerve, forgive me if I did” Hai replied sarcastically which resulted in Micheal raising his hand to throw a punch but he was quickly held back by Yoshi.

“Micheal, it’s happening again, you need to calm down” Yoshi said to soothe Micheal’s heart which was blazing, he did this after spotting the lightning that slowly sparkled across Micheal’s hair, this was the second time this was happening.

“Hmm, you’re not worth it” Micheal glared at Hai before bringing his hand down, the lightening on his hair also disappeared as he pushed Hai to the said causing something to fall to the ground from Hai’s pocket.

“What’s this? A ring?” Yoshi said picking up the ring from the ground.

“Huh, I never knew you were married” Bai said with a frown, staring at his brother suspiciously.

“It’s not an engagement ring, I found it on the first floor of the Control Tower” Hai replied with a shrug, he had even forgotten about the existence of the ring.

“And you failed to say anything till now” Henry glanced at Hai who shrugged.

“Tsk, unbelievable” Micheal remarked with a snarl toward Hai before leaving the room.

“I’ll go after him, Henry make sure they don’t do anything stupid” Yoshi said to Henry with a glance toward the brothers before also leaving the room.

“Yeah you better get, Robocop” Bai smirked spitting the words at Yoshi who disregarded them and left.

“Now how about…” Hai smiled at his brother who smiled back as they stepped toward the zombies but were immediately obstructed by the towering figure of Henry who stared at them with an expression that said ‘Try me and get crushed’.

“Maybe we’re just gonna wait behind over here” The brothers said to themselves with a smile after spotting Henry before they moved to a corner of the room, stealing glances at Henry who chuckled while staring at Racheal who also smiled.

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Micheal stood outside the house staring at the moon deep in thought, his thoughts were jumbled up in his mind and he was now trying to ask himself if he was making the right call, as he was busy in his thoughts, a voice sounded from behind him which made him turn to see Yoshi walking up to him.

“You shouldn’t let them get under your skin like that, they enjoy causing trouble so seeing your reaction means that they accomplished what they wanted” Yoshi said walking up to Micheal’s side.

“I know I just…I just couldn’t bear to hear that I was putting my teammates in danger, it brings back so many memories, and not good ones” Micheal replied releasing a deep breath.

“I’m sure there’s a story there, wanna talk about it?” Yoshi offered with a smile.

“I don’t even know, I’m just….confused, and whenever I get this kind of feeling, it makes me remember my days back in the military, that was when the apocalypse first struck, believe it or not, I used to be quite the stubborn lad before all this, having a dad with that kind of influence in the army was quite a lot of pressure back then, my dad was already a legend before all this, and the fame that came with it was something that I abhorred, I hated the fact that my dad’s influence washed over me so much, everyone looked up to me to become like my dad but all I wanted to do was rap, I loved rapping as a kid, I would sit back and just listen to rap all day long as my dad worked, listening to folks during the 90’s talk about their life in the hood intrigued me” Micheal replied before making a pause, he sighed and then continued.

“I used to love rap so much that I started practicing, I even started a career as a rapper, my dad obviously wasn’t pleased, he was always going on about how I needed to live up to expectations, that was after my mom died in an accident as a kid, it scarred me and I think it was one of the things which pushed me to rap, seeing how most of the rappers during that time shared similarities, living with one parent” Micheal continued and when he got to the part about his mom, he paused again closing his eyes, when he opened them, the pain in his eyes were evident.

“I’m sorry to hear that” Yoshi replied trying his best to sound sympathetic but it seemed like he still had a lot to learn before he could clone human emotions.

“It’s okay, I’m sorry for bringing up such a boring and sad story” Micheal smiled and turned to Yoshi.

“Oh no, just let it out, studies show that spitting out what makes you sad could actually make you feel better” Yoshi replied which made Micheal burst into laughter.

“I already feel better just listening to your words, you remind me of one of my pals, we used to call him The Human Dictionary, he was always giving facts and advice and a whole lot of bullshit, he was funny as hell, he always knew what to do to make me laugh” Micheal remarked with a grin.

“So where is he now?” Yoshi laughed before asking, after seeing Micheal’s reaction to the question, he instantly regretted asking the question.

“Well he got killed due to a wrong call during a mission, I made that wrong call and got him and 5 others killed, the funny part is I survived and they died” Micheal replied with a sad laugh turning to Yoshi who showed a sorry expression.

“Yeah yeah I know what you’re going to say, you’re going to say that it wasn’t my fault blah blah blah, don’t bother I’ve heard that more times than I can count” Micheal said before Yoshi could say anything.

“Actually I was going to say that everyone who embarks on a mission knows that there is a chance that their lives may be lost, so I’m pretty sure that they don’t blame you, besides we’re still alive right?” Yoshi smirked and said to Micheal who chuckled at his words.

“Thanks, Yoshi, I guess all I needed was someone to just talk to” Micheal let out a deep breath and then said to Yoshi who smiled while nodding toward him.

“Hey Mike, um, I just um…” The door opened as Hai stepped out with the rest behind him, he walked up to Micheal and said awkwardly like he was reluctant to.

“You just what?” Rachael asked stepping closer to Hai before staring at him threateningly.

“I just wanted to say I’m sorry, I provoked you unnecessarily, it won’t repeat itself..” Hai coughed slightly before spitting the words and pausing before adding silently, “..unless it’s necessary”

“What was that?” Racheal who was closer to him said glaring at him.

“Nothing” Hai replied quickly stepping away from her causing everyone to burst into laughter.

“Hahahaha, it’s okay Hai, I also apologize for lashing out at you, all grievances aside” Micheal laughed before also apologizing to Hai and then stretching his hands out.

“Come on man, real men hug” Hai replied hugging Micheal instead of shaking his hand.

“Really, my dogtag, you really are a lost hope” Micheal suddenly felt a hand stealthily trying to steal his dogtage so he quickly grabbed the hand and twisted causing Hai to squeal in pain before grabbing his wrist.

“The fuck kind of strength is that, how are you so strong, I thought speed was your specialty” Hai remarked staring at Micheal in astonishment, he was shocked by how strong Micheal’s grip was.

“Hey here’s your ring” Yoshi shook his head throwing the ring he had picked on the floor to Hai who caught it while still grabbing his wrist.

“Wait, let me take a look at the ring” Micheal suddenly said to Hai who tossed it over to him not wanting any more trouble, as Micheal caught the ring, he stared at it for some time before a look of shock crossed his face.

“Wait where did you say you got this from?” Micheal suddenly asked Hai seriously.

“I told you the first floor of the control room, it was just lying on the ground when I saw it” Hai replied not understanding the reason for Micheal’s fuss.

“I’m sure about this, I’ve seen this ring before” Micheal said with a look of realization, his expression that of someone who had recognized an old forgotten item of the past.