The Origin Warden

chapter 23 : Mercy

“We’re still far from them. It’s better not to waste bullets, and besides, the sound will only attract more of them.”

Jack fell silent for a moment before sighing with a conflicted expression and saying in agreement,

“Hmm... yeah, you’re right.”

Sylvie nodded gratefully before gesturing toward her children.

“Let’s go.”

They walked through the chaotic street ahead of him while he stayed behind them to maintain a wider field of vision and also protect them in case something appeared from behind.

He stared at the deformed zombies following them like dogs and frowned.

‘You damn system, stop messing with my head. Look at me, I’ve become obsessed with wanting to kill these zombies just to level up. Only seven days... umm, no, it’s already been eight days. I still remember how I couldn’t sleep because of the guilt and regret after killing that zombie that was trying to kill me...’

‘And now, my God, I don’t even hesitate to pull the trigger, and I barely feel any regret for killing them!!’

‘But... well, I guess that’s a good thing. At least I’ll survive!’

Suddenly, he stopped thinking about the decline of his conscience when he noticed something strange a few steps away that made the hair on his body stand on end.

He stared at a puddle of dried blood on the ground.

He was not looking at the puddle itself, but at the marks forming on its surface from thin air.

He could not help but think of the chameleon that possessed invisibility.

Without hesitation, he raised the pistol, aimed toward the spot, and pulled the trigger.

The sound of gunfire exploded through the zombie filled street, accompanied by a metallic ringing noise.

Then, under Jack’s shocked and bewildered gaze...

“Wait, stop, we’re human!”

A hurried voice came from empty space, and immediately afterward three people appeared standing in alert.

Or at least two of them were.

The woman had one palm raised toward him while the other hand held a pistol aimed directly at him.

Then there was the old man, who was also gripping a pistol with both hands and aiming it at him.

The last one was a fat man with both hands raised in surrender, his expression practically screaming please don’t shoot!.

“Lower the damn gun, or I swear I’ll shoot you,”

the woman said sharply.

From the look on her face, Jack doubted she would hesitate to do it.

Still, he did not lower his weapon.

Instead, he cautiously asked while analyzing the group with his eyes,

“Look, judging by the fat guy there, I’m pretty sure you’re humans even if you popped out of thin air, but I’m guessing one of you has some kind of stealth ability. Anyway, there’s only one thing I need to know... How the fuck did you guys block a fucking bullet?”

The eyes of the only woman among them narrowed.

To Jack, she seemed to be the leader of this small group.

And for some reason, the fat man looked strangely familiar, though Jack did not think much about it.

He glanced at the approaching zombie horde, shrugged, then lowered the pistol.

“Look, I honestly don’t care about the answer, or whether you’re humans or some damn monsters. Just go your own way.”

Without turning around, Jack slowly backed away while keeping his eyes locked on the group, searching for any sign of hostility.

But he soon lowered his guard slightly when he saw they had lowered their weapons too.

Then the woman opened her mouth and said,

“I’m Mandy...”

She pointed toward the other two and continued,

“These are Zeil and Smith. Who are you?”

“I’m Jacob...” Jack pointed toward the police station and added,

“Guys, if you’re looking for weapons, today’s your lucky day. There are plenty inside.”

He turned and was about to leave to catch up with Sylvie and her children, who were hiding behind a car a short distance away, but suddenly stopped when he heard someone call him by his full name.

A name he clearly had not told them.

“Wait!. Jacob Lightharp, is that you?!”

He turned around and stared at the speaker.

It was the fat young man among them, whose face was now filled with excitement and happiness.

Although the man looked somewhat familiar, Jack simply could not remember him at all.

“How the fuck do you know my name?. Do we know each other?”

The fat man opened his mouth and protested,

“Jacob, no, Jack, it’s me. Smith!”

“Who?”

“It’s me, man... Smith... Smith Zott. We trained at the same place!”

“Alnual Hospital!. Remember?”

Jack raised his eyebrows in surprise as he finally remembered who the person before him was.

Still, he could not help staring at Smith strangely.

“Oh!. It’s you. I’m glad you’re alive. It’s nice seeing familiar faces... even if those faces changed a little. But I gotta ask...”

“How the fuck did you become like this... umm, fat like this?. You used to be tinier than me...”

Before Smith could respond, Mandy sharply interrupted him.

“Seriously?. Is this really the right time for this conversation?”

Jack nodded while looking at the zombies surrounding them.

“Yeah, the lady’s right. Like I said before, if you’re here for weapons, there are plenty inside...”

Smith shook his head and said while glancing hesitantly at Mandy,

“No, actually we’re here looking for the power generator. Is there one inside?”

Jack shrugged with a confused expression.

“No idea. But yeah, maybe there is one inside. Why do you want a generator?. Don’t you know technology stopped working?”

Smith opened his mouth to answer his friend’s question, but the words stopped in his throat as he turned to look at Mandy, then at old man Zeil, who had remained silent the entire time.

Smith looked as if he were waiting for their approval, especially Mandy’s, whom he clearly considered the leader of their small team at this point.

Jack ignored the group and turned toward a zombie approaching him from the side, producing that irritating raspy sound.

He stared at the zombie’s pale face, sunlight passing through it almost like jelly.

It was the first time he had truly taken the time to observe these creatures that had once been human too.

He ran his fingers through his black hair, sticky with dirt and sweat, and muttered,

“You’re not humans... not anymore. Killing you is nothing but mercy to end this suffering.”