System Of The Undead

Chapter 96: The Conclusion PT.1

The apocalypse had surged forth, enveloping humanity in its relentless grip, an unyielding force affecting every corner of the globe. It had infiltrated the United States, spreading its malevolence to neighboring nations. Even as chaos reigned, the President had been hastily evacuated, leaving behind an eerie silence that persisted to this day.

Media outlets had fallen into disarray, their broadcasts silenced, and the once-issued gag order was rendered meaningless amidst the escalating turmoil. Amidst this pandemonium, the established order crumbled, save for the steadfast military, their battle-hardened expertise adapted for a different kind of invasion, not from the living dead but from an unknown incursion.

Yet, the pressing question remained: why did humanity persist in their struggle for a future that seemed increasingly uncertain? It was a dilemma that had plagued mankind throughout history, their relentless pursuit of divinity. In their quest, they had inadvertently triggered the very mechanism of their own extinction. But amidst this chaos, a single enigma lingered: the whereabouts of the man who had set this catastrophic chain of events into motion.

-

"Come Delta, we have found the target’s location..." A man whispered into the walkie-talkie in his hand, he was clothed in camouflage and the military unit behind him were dressed the same but they had gas masks on top of their head as they took precaution from getting infected even though they weren’t even sure it was airborne yet.

The area they were in was big and spacious, a stand-alone building stood at the center of this space.

It looked old and fragile like it was about to collapse at any moment.

But what were these soldiers doing at such a place/

"This Delta, eliminate the target," This was the single command given and the men sprung to action.

The man in charge of the operation lowered his clenched fist and these men spread around the building in a flash.

They had no intention of taking their target alive, they wanted to eliminate him before he could cause further harm.

The military were the rulers of this new world or at least, that was how they saw themselves.

The President was presumed dead and no orders for a nuclear strike had been given either.

The President wasn’t the most loved man as one could say his support of this experiment was what brought them here.

The building was breached and multiple gunshots escaped the nozzle of their guns but the problem was that the gunshots never stopped.

"What the fuck are these!?" A soldier exclaimed and the longer they stayed in that building, the louder their screams became.

"This is Delta! Come in Viper!," The man on the walkie-talkie spoke but there was no response on the other end.

"D-Delta... These... These aren’t humans! They aren’t even-!" Whatever it was he wanted to say, he couldn’t as his throat was yanked right out eliminating his ability to speak.

The unit had been wiped out but by what?

-

Rachel and Clementine were content with this, they had a common goal that they both agreed with and were ready to do anything to make sure they completed it as they were tired of this place already.

Clementine couldn’t imagine anyone using these degenerates and if they were, they couldn’t be any good to begin with.

Ren was a target, they knew he was dangerous but they also knew that they didn’t want to give Bella the privilege of a quick death.

"I just hope Jason and Sam are safe..." Clementine muttered under her breath because while she cared for Sam, she was beginning to care for Jason as well.

Rachel shared these same feelings except it was exclusively for Jason.

She didn’t care what happened to Sam and was beginning to see him as a liability.

They rushed into the room where Bella was kept after searching for what seemed like an eternity.

It was a dark room that barely let in light, the only source of light was through the opened door that they had just entered from.

Bella was bound this time but there was nobody in the room with her.

"Bella!" Rachel called out in a whisper, Bella’s eyes narrowly opened.

"It is happening again, isn’t it?" Bella whispered with a defeated smile.

"What is?" Rachel muttered in confusion.

"I didn’t think I would conjure you two up... I guess I must really be dying," Bella said with a defeated sigh.

"Is she delirious?" Rachel asked but Clementine shook her head.

"It looks like she has been hallucinating," Clementine correctly guessed.

"And there is only one way to snap her out of it," Clementine said as she walked towards Bella.

Bella felt Clementine’s warm hand on her cheek and realized that this was no hallucination.

"Clementine?" Bella muttered weakly, her eyes teared up immediately as she couldn’t believe that they had come back for her.

Bella didn’t mind if it was to kill her, this gesture alone was something that she had never experienced.

"You came back?" Bella had to ask and Rachel nodded.

"We did, we heard what you did for us by a strange man..." Rachel said as she hurriedly loosened the binds on the lady strapped to the chair.

However, Bella’s relief soon turned to worry the moment she heard that they were informed of her sacrifice, a sacrifice that shouldn’t have been uttered.

And there was only one man that knew of it, it was their leader and Bella knew how twisted he was.

"Y-You need to leave," Bella whimpered but she was barely audible.

Rachel managed to free one of her hands and she shoved Rachel back.

"Hey! What’s your deal?" Rachel barked at Bella.

"It’s a trap," Bella muttered, this was why there was no one watching over her.

Clapping could be heard behind them.

"You have exceeded my expectations..." The man appeared once again, he looked genuinely intrigued and who could blame him?

This was Bella, Bella was a terrible person that only thought of herself so this was a shocker.

This trap was to confirm that Bella had truly turned a new leaf.

Rachel and Clementine immediately pointed their guns towards him but the man didn’t look like he was in any mood to fight.

"I’m not your enemy, never forget that. You came into my home, and killed my people just because I wished to avenge my people? Just as you’re doing yours? One could argue we’re the same," The man said and Clementine cringed because she knew this was the strongest man here.

"I have always been drawn to the nature of humanity, what would one choose when driven to a corner? This is what I have been interested in," The man said as he walked towards the ladies.

"By killing Lorenzo, you have done me far more good than harm and I can’t thank you enough... We weren’t always monsters, we just did what we needed to do to survive," The man was calm and the ladies blocked his path as he was clearly walking towards Bella.

But the look in his eyes made the ladies step out of his way because they didn’t want to provoke him.

The man proceeded to remove the bind on Bella and the ladies behind him were confused.

"You’re free to go Bella but you will be hunted down. If you accept the burden that comes with that, then you may take her with you," The man said.

Clementine and Rachel’s jaw dropped, they didn’t know that someone this reasonable could exist in a group of savages.

"That’s it? You’re just letting us go?" Clementine asked.

"Letting you go? You don’t understand. Have you ever stopped to ask yourself why we left Lorenzo alive?" The man said.

"A certain man told us to never touch him because if we did, he would find us and kill us all..." The man said and Clementine raised her brows because there was no way a single man should be capable of that. That and they had pretty strong fighters to boot.

"Who is this man? Aren’t you the strongest around here?" Clementine asked.

"What do you have to fear?" She reiterated.

"Strongest, there is a rank above me. He is the one with the numerical value 0," The man said and right now, his wrath will be directed towards Clementine and Rachel if they decide to follow through with this rescue.

-Jason and Sam had reached their destination thanks to Allison, they had taken a route where there were no threats around.

This gave them the peace of mind that they needed but Sam now wanted to get rid of Allison and Jason was aware.

Of course, Jason was against this naturally because she had just helped them.

There was nothing else to be done, Sam’s choice was the right one.

"You know, he never planned to kill Bella," Allison said out of the blue and both men’s guards were raised.

"What the hell do you mean by that?" Jason asked and Allison simply smiled when she said this.

"The camp is doomed, the zombies have run it over and I have lost the only person keeping me there, I wish to join your crew. If you say yes, I will give you all the information I have," Allison said bluntly and the clash of ideals between Sam and Jason was about to manifest itself.