As the rays of the afternoon sun shone bright on the sheet in Elia's hands, his mind recoiled back.
"Son, bring… take the brown sheet from my bag and hand it to me."
"Dad, what is this?"
"It's a new contract I have gotten from the CODEX company."
"A contract? Can I read it?"
"Sure… but don't let water spill on it. It's a life-changing document."
With the memory of him and his father reeling in his mind, shallow tears traced down his cheeks.
'There is no need to read these.' He inhaled and exhaled sharply, then grabbed the black pen that had been placed on the small desk beside his bed.
"Is that all?" He shifted his gaze from the sheet to the military guy with the tag SGT-1 on his chest.
"Yes." The guy took the sheet from Elia's hand, then walked and handed it to Aria.
"Nice…" A subtle smile tore on her face. "Be ready to be picked up in two days."
"Picked up? To where?" Elia's question hung in the air as they left, leaving all other persons in the room with an unanswered question.
That night, under the red-glow night sky, screams tore through the atmosphere as the bird-like humans and zombified humans moved toward the Jordan hospital.
Some crawled, some ran, while the winged ones flew in the air like birds.
"COME IN! COME IN!!" Joana rushed into the room, sweat dripping from her face. She gestured at the group of children, between the ages of five and twelve.
'Is that Zeno?' Elia's eyes snapped open when a familiar voice flew by his ear.
"ZENO!" He swung his legs off the bed, used the bed and the walls as a guide, then neared the kids.
"I thought you were dead." He wrapped his arms around the boy, hugging him.
"Leave me! Leave me!! Leave me!!!" The boy pushed Elia away, his voice echoing loudly in the room.
"Let him go." All the other kids joined in, pushing Elia aside.
"It's okay, he's not a monster." Joana stepped in front of Elia, gesturing at the kids to keep calm and be quiet.
'Has he lost his memories or what?' Elia stared at Zeno's face.
Screams and metal-crashing sounds echoed in the far distance, sending every bone in the kids' bodies to tremble.
After two hours, when all the sounds muffled, Joana walked out of the room, leaving the kids under the only patient who could stand on his legs – Elia.
"Take care of them. No matter what happens, don't open the door. Please." She left, kissing all twenty kids on the cheeks.
'Take care of them? Hmm… this is a great task that has been bestowed on me.' Elia shifted glances at the kids, muting their murmurs every time they tried to scream under his touch.
For a solid three hours, no sign of life appeared on the other end, and Elia also remained like a guard by the door.
Just before he knew it, all the kids began moving back, their faces turning pale.
'What is wrong with them this time?' Elia watched them go back, then followed the trembling finger pointing in his direction.
From behind the glass door, Elia remained calm, staring into the eyes of a humanoid zombie that had its splattered mouth and jagged teeth pressed against the glass.
'Is that the nurse?' His eyes opened wide, seeing Joana's green eyes.
The translucent panel shimmered back to life in front of him after taking two steps away from the door.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Presence Detected: Zombie.
Classification: Unknown.
Threat Level: Medium.
Recommendation: Neutralize Threat.
'Neutralize threat?!' Elia turned a shocked expression from the faces of the kids, then back at the glowing panel and the nurse.
"Can't I just let it stand there, without engaging?"
Just before Elia could restrain his muscles, the locks of the door shattered.
"Shit!" Elia ran toward it, pressed his right shoulder hard on it, then inserted his right arm in the hooks, where the metal locks were shattered.
'Oh… what can I do to neutralize it?' He shifted a hazy gaze from the hooks that promised to break the bones in his arms apart.
"Hey," he screamed, gesturing at the kids. "Give me that." He pointed at the silver metal bar on the side of his bed.
Zeno, the only twelve-year-old among the kids, ran toward the rod, then broke it with a strength he never knew he had.
"Yes, yes. Hurry!" Elia's arms kept swinging as he watched the boy untie the cloth from the rod.
Elia struggled but managed and shoved it, freeing his arm. "This should work." He stepped back, gestured at the kids to stand behind him.
"No! No!! NO!!!" His face reddened when two of the kids broke free from his guidance and stood by the door, their arms pressed hard on the glass.
"Aunty…" Both of them screamed the name loudly, then exchanged glances.
"Don't remove that…" Elia dashed forward when the kid on the right side of the door grabbed the rod.
The zombified nurse lunged forward as soon as the tip of the rod moved past the other side of the hook.
Although Elia had reacted earlier, the kid's action was so swift that the rod slipped from his palms.
Elia slammed on the ground, the zombified nurse on top of him, snarling. "Eww… fuck!" He shoved her off using all the strength he had.
"I'm sorry." He grabbed the rod from the kid's grip, then slammed it hard on the zombified nurse's head.
"Won't you die!" He slammed it again, three consecutive times, before the nurse fell on the ground.
Even as its neck was splattered in two, the body on the left and the head on the right, the fingernails clawed at the ground.
"I'm sorry." Elia's heart saddened as he slammed the edge of the rod on the separated head.
With the knowledge from his favorite movies, Elia knew how to kill a zombie in case he encountered one. So, it was a perfect kill.
Blood sprayed out from the head just as he pulled the rod from it.
Screams and crying echoed from behind him.
"Aunty!"
"I want to go home!"
"Mommy!"
As the shaking arms stiffened, the translucent panel appeared.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Threat Neutralized.
Strength: +1
Agility: +1
Endurance: +1
'So I get boosted with every kill?' Elia's eyes widened with disbelief, shifting from the dead nurse to the shimmering blue screen.
"Nice." He turned and placed a hand on Zeno's shoulder. "Hey, kid." A smile tore on Zeno's face when he saw the candy in the man's arms.
"Take this." Elia extended the candy to the boy, then tapped thrice on the boy's shoulder.
"At least there is an essence in fighting them." He tossed the rod, staring at the darkness in the distance.
'I have to do something with this body, else it will draw the attention of the other zombies.' Dissatisfaction filled him as he glanced at the body and the blood dressing it.
"This is heavy," he sighed, carrying the body on his shoulder, walked toward the window, then opened it with his left arm.
"I'm really sorry." He threw the body through the window, which fell and slammed on top of a discarded white Jeep.
Glass-shattering sounds echoed, followed by an alarm beeping. The air turned deadly as roaring sounds lanced through, followed by countless zombified humans.
"This will be awesome."