"Awoo..."
A zombie was aimlessly wandering on the highway. From his faded orange work uniform and the reflective warning strips on it, it wasn't hard to tell that he, or rather, it, was a road maintenance worker in life.
Vroom... Vroom~! A low rumble came from the south of the road, growing progressively louder.
The zombie, sensitive to sound, naturally heard this roar. It twisted its stiff neck, looking at a pair of bright lights approaching it through the mist.
"Awoo... Ah!" Seeing the light, it became very excited, raising its mangled hands and shambling quickly towards the vehicle.
However... Thump! The sickening sound of flesh being crushed by a bullbar.
"Ugh!" Someone's retching sound followed...
The scene shifted to the cab of the Hilux. Dominik couldn't hold it in. Seeing the zombie crushed under his truck, he leaned out the window and dry-heaved again.
"Hey!" Simon saw this and quickly pulled Dominik back into the cab, handing him a bottle of water with a look of mild disgust.
"How many times have you thrown up today? When we escaped from the village, we ran over so many of them, and I didn't see you puke then. How can you not handle hitting just one?"
Although his words were harsh, Simon still opened a pack of wet wipes and handed one to Dominik.
"Cough!" Dominik glanced at Simon in the passenger seat and wiped his mouth. "Thanks... Simon."
Even though Simon was summoned by the System, the implanted memories made Dominik feel a strong sense of familiarity. It seemed the "childhood friend" setting was effective for both him and Simon.
However, Dominik's memories of Simon were limited to their childhood in Europe, with a blank period of at least five or six years in between—which was precisely the time after Simon joined the military.
It seemed this system was more than just a simple summoning. It could conjure a real, tangible person and implant that person's timeline into this world, as if Simon had truly lived here.
"Gulp!" Dominik regained his composure, took a sip of water to wash away the bile, and then said:
"It was different just now. When we rushed out of the village, my adrenaline was pumping too much, making me numb. I didn't really process those bodies being run over... or rather, body parts. But now... it's just quiet. And real."
"Haha." Simon chuckled dryly. He pulled a folded topographical map from a pocket on his chest rig and spread it on the dashboard.
Simon studied the map for a moment under the dim cab light, then said in a low voice, "There's a small roadside station about three kilometers ahead. The truck is burning diesel fast on these hills. Let's fill up the jerry cans before we go deeper."
"Oh, okay." Dominik, having recovered, nodded. He gripped the steering wheel tighter. "How much longer until Mandalay?"
"If the highway is clear of wrecks, it should be about four hours," Simon replied.
"Whew..."
Dominik secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't know the exact geography of the region perfectly, and if it took two or three days to get from the border to Mandalay, he wouldn't have time to complete the Main Quest in Bangkok.
Knowing that time was tight but manageable, Dominik focused on driving.
Fortunately, this Hilux was an automatic, and the rugged suspension smoothed out the worst of the potholes. Plus, with no other cars on the road except occasional abandoned wrecks, Dominik quickly adapted to driving the heavy vehicle.
He glanced at the passenger seat out of the corner of his eye, seeing Simon still tracing a route on the map with a gloved finger. Dominik couldn't help but break the silence.
"Um... Simon, thank you so much for today. First, you saved me from The Syndicate, and now you're helping me save my sister."
"Heh heh, it's nothing..." Simon smiled faintly beneath the mask, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. He murmured sadly to himself, "I can't lose any more family..."
Although the latter half of his sentence was barely a whisper, drowned out by the hum of the tires, Dominik heard it.
He felt a pang of worry. "Simon, you... I haven't been able to contact you since you joined the Special Forces. What happened? And you... still haven't taken off that mask. What exactly happened to you out there?"
"Sigh..." Simon sighed heavily. He looked like he wanted to say something, but then shook his head, looking out the window at the passing jungle.
Even with the skull mask obscuring his expression, Dominik knew he was conflicted. After several seconds of silence, Dominik pressed gently. "Simon, actually... if you have something to say, you can tell me. After all, I'm your brother, aren't I?"
"Alright. I'm fine." Simon interrupted Dominik. He reached up and slowly pulled off the balaclava and the skull mask.
Beneath it was a face Dominik recognized, but it was harder, older. Short blonde hair, piercing blue eyes—a handsome face, but one etched with deep lines of pain and sorrow that shouldn't belong to a man in his twenties.
"Heh heh." Simon let out a bitter laugh. Then, staring at the dashboard as if recounting a nightmare, he began to speak.
"I joined up five years ago. Because of my test scores, I was selected by the International Joint Task Force—Task Force 141. We were the best of the best, recruited from SAS, Delta, GIGN."
"I was deployed to South America. We were sent to infiltrate a cartel that was trafficking not just drugs, but chemical weapons."
"It was the 'Day of the Dead' festival. To blend in, to move through the crowds unnoticed, my squad adopted the local imagery. We wore skull masks. We became ghosts to hunt monsters."
Simon's hands clenched into fists on his knees.
"But!"
He spoke through gritted teeth now, his voice trembling with suppressed rage. "But! We were betrayed. Sold out by a corrupt commanding officer for a suitcase of cash. My entire team... we walked into a kill box. We were wiped out. Completely wiped out!"
After speaking, Simon, this soldier who had just killed dozens of men without blinking, silently shed a tear.
"..." Dominik noticed the tear tracking down Simon's cheek. He didn't know what to say.
In the game, Ghost was just a cool character. A badass in a mask. Dominik never knew the weight of the history behind it.
Dominik took one hand off the wheel and gently patted Simon's shoulder, a silent gesture of support.
Simon took a shuddering breath and continued.
"All five teams. Only two of us survived the ambush. Me and Washington. The cartel captured us."
"They tried to break us. Brainwashing, drugs, torture. They wanted the launch codes for the weapons we were sent to stop. But we refused. We preferred death."
"After five days of torture... they got bored. They decided to bury us alive."
Simon paused. His voice went terrifyingly calm.
"Washington died in the pit before the dirt even covered him... his injuries were too severe."
"And me?"
Simon turned to look at Dominik, his blue eyes intense and haunted.
"I... I had to use Washington. I used his jawbone... I dug my way out of that grave using the bones of my best friend."
"I should have died in that hole. But his death gave me life. So do you know why I wear this mask?"
Simon held up the skull mask, staring into its hollow eyes.
"It's not to scare the enemy. It's to remind me. I am a ghost. I died in that pit. The man sitting next to you is just the vengeance that crawled out."