Stronghold In The Apocalypse

At the Stronghold .

"What~!?" Rachel yelled in anger, when she heard what Lexi said to her .

"Don"t look at me like that, that"s what Leo said to me, I"m just relaying it to you" Lexi shrugged her shoulders helplessly .

Rachel put her hands on her face, while muttering with a bit of anger in her tone, "That stupid son of mine, can"t he just slow things down for once!? It"s already hard managing the six bases, and he"s out there acting all selfless again!" she yelled, as she slammed the table in front of her with her palm .

*Bang!*

The table shook, and when she lifted her hand from the table, there was an inch deep palm print .

Amanda and Mich.e.l.le, who has been silent until now and just listened earlier, looked at it in shocked! Why? Because they know full well that Rachel hadn"t mutated yet and she already has this shocking strength! Just imagine how powerful she would be when her body undergoes mutation!

But Lexi on the other wasn"t even surprised in the least, but she at least gulped in nervously when Rachel suddenly slapped the table hard in front of her .

"G.o.d, this family are really full of freaks!" Lexi thought with a chuckle, as she felt a bit envious of them .

"What do you two think about Leo leaving you two all alone again?" Rachel suddenly turned towards Amanda and Mich.e.l.le who are sitting on the sofa, and asked for their opinion .

Amanda and Mich.e.l.le took a brief glance with each other, before answering .

"Well . . . I"m not really against it, if that"s what you want to know" Mich.e.l.le replied as she made sure not to make eye contact with her .

"Me too and he . . . he already talked to us last night about it" Amanda replied, but then she felt someone lightly kicking her foot and turned towards Mich.e.l.le .

"What?" Amanda whispered .

"Shut up, you didn"t need to tell her that" Mich.e.l.le said, while glaring at her angrily .

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

Suddenly, Rachel started tapping her fingers on the table, with her eyes closed while ma.s.saging her temple with her other hand .

"Grr . . that a.s.shole always dumps all the works to us!" Rachel said with a growl .

"Yeah, he"s always been like that" Lexi smiled at her friend, and it seems that no one noticed that she"s already sitting a meter away from Rachel .

Then Rachel gestured for all of them to get out of her room with her hand .

The three women hurriedly went out of the room, afraid of truly angering this tigress .

"Wow, it"s my first time seeing her that angry" Amanda looked at Mich.e.l.le and Lexi, and said while chuckling to herself .

"Hmmp! Then you haven"t seen what anger truly is then girl" Lexi smiled at her before going downstairs and leaving the mansion .

"What"s with her?" Amanda said as she glanced at Mich.e.l.le .

Mich.e.l.le just shrugged her shoulders, before both of them also went downstairs and left the mansion, and went to the kitchen outside to help with the cooking .

*****

In a hospital somewhere in the United Kingdom .

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

"Go! Leave! I"ll hold the door!" a young man around early twenties yelled at his two companions, as he held the door back with his back, with zombies on the other side of the door banging on it .

"No! We"re not leaving you behind!" a teenage girl yelled angrily as she also pushed the door .

"Luca! Take Alex out of here!" the young man then yelled at the other guy who"s also pus.h.i.+ng the door back .

"No Theo! We"re not leaving you here!" Alex protested angrily!

Luca hesitated but he still kept pus.h.i.+ng the door back, ignoring Theo .

*Boom!*

Suddenly, a huge force slammed the door that it almost opened up .

Theo changed his position, and this time held the door with his two hands, and there he saw a [Charger] Zombie at the other side of door rus.h.i.+ng towards them .

*Bang!*

"Ahh!" 

"Kyaa!" 

"s.h.i.+t!"

 Alex And Luca got pushed on the ground due to the force .  

"LUCA! GO! YOU MOTHERF*CKER! LEAVE AND TAKE MY SISTER OUT OF HERE!" Theo started yelling angrily with a red face, as he put his every being on holding the door, that veins started bulging on almost every part of his body .

"F*ck!" Luca cursed as he punched the floor, before he stood up and pulled Alex off the floor, and started pulling her away from there .

"NO! You promise!" Alex managed to break away from Luca"s grip and ran towards the door .

"Sorry, but it seems I will be breaking that promise, sis!" Theo smiled at her and chopped the back of her neck and knocked her out .

Luca immediately caught her, and looked at Theo .

"Are you sure about this?" Luca asked .

*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*

"Yeah" Theo replied as he groaned without looking at him, as the [Charger] slammed at the door again .

Luca put Alex over his shoulder, and glanced at his friend .

"Don"t die buddy!" Luca said as he slowly walked away from him .

"You betcha!" Theo laughed .

"Luca!"

When Luca was already at the end of the corridor, he heard Theo shouting his name, so he stopped and looked back .

"Take care of her for me, alright!?" Theo shouted with gritted teeth .

"I will!" Luca yelled back, as he ran towards the exit, leading towards the fire escape while carrying the unconscious Alex on his shoulder .

A minute later, when Theo was sure that they already got away from his place, he immediately let go and ran, as the zombies on the other side continuously slammed on the door, and the only thing that prevents them from Theo now is a crooked metal tube, that"s already on the verge of being snapped into two .

*BANG!*

But he didn"t manage to run that long as the door was finally broken down, thanks to the [Charger] Zombie, and the zombies pouring towards Leo, as they moaned in hunger and madness .

"I won"t go down that easy! I"ll make sure to bring as many as you guys with me to h.e.l.l!" Theo stopped running and turned back, as he shouted in craze manner .

Theo suddenly clenched his right fist in front of him and yelled…

"[Beast Magic: Demon Dog]"

He yelled as his body glowed golden for a second, as he underwent a huge transformation, like a werewolf but more on the side of demonic dog like h.e.l.lhound, as there"s streak like veins that looks like lava on every part of his body, and it proved true as the floor beneath his feet is oozing smoke .

"RAAAA~!" Theo roared as he charged towards the incoming swarm of zombies .

And started attacking them! Left hook! Right hook! Straight punch! Sidekick!

Every attack of his on the zombies would throw them backwards, and the part of their bodies that was. .h.i.t would immediately ignite and starts burning them to death .

But even with his amazing mutated ability, he was still overwhelmed and the zombies drowned him with their huge numbers!

*RAA!*

But when it looks like everything was over, a sudden roar reverberated throughout the building, as a burst of red light downed that part of the corridor, and the zombies that piled over Theo was thrown hard at every direction and they started burning to death within five seconds .

*Awoo!*

Theo howled as he once again charge towards the pouring zombies while waving his arms around, throwing off the zombies on his path, and his target this time, is the [Charger] zombie that has been leisurely watching the scene happening in front of it .

The [Charger] Zombie also started charging towards Theo, and the zombies on his way either got pushed away or flattened to death!

And when both sides was about to collide, Theo suddenly clenched his right fist as red golden flames immediately covered his fist, and he punched towards the charging [Charger]!

*Boom!*

Their collision was like a bomb just ignited as both were sent flying in opposite directions, leaving a huge ten meter wide hole that extends towards the two lower floors .

Theo reverted to his human form unconscious, while the [Charger] Zombie died from being cooked alive .

And in some kind dumb luck, it seems that there are no [Hunter] or even [Striker] Zombies nearby or even a single zombie from his or Theo would long have become a feast by now, and the ordinary zombies at the other side stopped, while some would fall on the hole in front of them due to the others coming from behind them, wanting to join the "fun" .

*Tap* *Tap* *Tap*

Suddenly, footsteps rang out from the corridor where Theo is lying unconscious, as a shadow of a person slowly walked towards him .

"What an interesting ability" the man said while looking down at the unconscious Theo, then the person took out a grenade, twice the size of an ordinary one and threw it towards the other side, full of zombies, and being idiots they are, the zombies tried to catch it thinking it was some food, before it exploded on their faces, creating an even more wider crater that took out a chunk of the building .

"Well, let"s get out of here before more zombies show up" the man said, as he picked up Theo and put him over his shoulder before walking away and leaving the building .

*****

Night time .

"Uhmm . . " Theo groggily opened his eyes, as he suddenly felt pain all over his body .

"Grr . . so painful" Theo growled, but then, his eyes snapped open as a sudden realization struck, as he immediately sat up even with the pain he is feeling and started looking around .

He is inside a wide and encased room, with a Campfire burning just two meters away from him, and he even saw his sister sleeping at the other side of the campfire, with a young man staring at him while eating barbecued meat .

"You"re up" the man said with a smile, as he drank some water from a bottled water .

Theo glared at him, and warily said, "Who are you?"

The man didn"t answer him but grinned instead and said, "Shouldn"t you saying "Thank you" instead? I just saved your a.s.s and your companion here" he said as he pointed towards the sleeping Alex .

"Eh . . " Theo scratched the back of his head, feeling quite embarra.s.sed .

"Heh, I"m just messing with you . I understand your wariness towards me, as I would also act the same as you do if I were in your position right now" the man, as he picked up a barbecue skewer and handed it to Theo .

"Thank you . . . for saving me and my sister" Theo said as he took the skewered meat from him, and then he looked around, and noticed that Luca isn"t present .

"But . . where is the person who was with her?" Theo carefully asked as he took a bite of the meat .

"Oh, that sc.u.mbag? He"s already dead" the man nonchalantly replied .

"What!? How did he die!?" Theo suddenly shouted but he immediately shut up, as he felt that his actions were rude and might even attract some zombies towards them .

"Sorry . . but how did he die?" Theo asked as quiet as possible .

The man chuckled and said, "It"s fine, and you don"t need to talk like that, we"re over a hundred meters above ground right now"

"And the answer to your question is . . . I killed him," the man said nonchalantly .

Theo"s suddenly widened in shock, and trying to control his emotions, he asked with a trembling tone, "W-why? Why did you kill him?"

"Why? Because he tried to a.s.sault this girl here, good thing I arrived there in time or she would have gotten it worst" the man pointed at Alex with his thumb, not seemingly bothered about Theo"s reaction .

"W-what? Luca tried to rape my sister!? b.a.s.t.a.r.d! I trusted him!"

"Eh? She"s your sister" the man suddenly smiled .

Theo was suddenly incensed with anger, but then he suddenly plopped down on the floor as he started writhing in pain .

"Argghh . . . my body hurts" Theo gritted his teeth as cold sweat started pouring out from his head .

"Chill bro, the guy"s already dead and you should stay there . . . your body . . . is pretty f*cked up you know and with your current physique, you will need at least until tomorrow before you can stand up again" the man said while shaking his head .

A few moments later .

"I trusted him you know . . . he was my best friend . I didn"t expect he would do something as sick as that to my sister with everything I had done for him" Theo sighed helplessly, with a tinge of regret .

"In your perspective, what you did might have been correct, but for me, it was a stupid decision by entrusting your loved ones to someone other than yourself, you should always remember in your mind that the world isn"t the same anymore . The rules that once oversaw our society is already long dead, even our laws before doesn"t work on some people before, much less now" the man said, after contemplating for a bit .

Theo bitterly smiled, "Right . . . I forgot, I never got your name, I"m Theo and girl sleeping over there is Alex"

The man nodded towards him and said, "I"m Leo, nice to meet you"

"You really have an interesting ability, you know . How did you get it?" Leo asked .

Theo thought for a bit, then answered, "I"m not really sure, it just appeared when I needed it I guess"

"So are you saying that nothing of particular event happened before you gained your ability?" Leo tried probe to further as he"s really interested in his ability .

Theo didn"t immediately answer while Leo just patiently waited .

"Ahh . . I remember now" Theo almost yelled as he was suddenly struck in realization as he remembered something .

"So?" Leo said .

"It was a month ago, Me and Luca were in the outskirts of the town we were staying looking for food, and that"s when we stumbled upon a meter tall mutant black dog, which were covered in blood and injuries and because of that, we managed to kill it even though it wasn"t that easy, as we almost that died that day" Theo started recounting from a specific memory, while Leo just nodded as he listened to him .

"Then when I picked it up and was just about to put it over my shoulder, I suddenly felt a sudden pain in my arms that made me scream and dropped the carca.s.s on the ground, and there, I saw, I don"t know if was my blood or the dog"s blood, but the blood started seeping through my skin which caused a burning pain, and my "friend" didn"t have a choice but to carry me back to our hideout that day and what happened after, I wasn"t really sure but my sister told me that I suffered an intense fever overnight that they even thought I was gonna die then"

"But then, I woke up the next day feeling really refreshed and I discovered that there was a sudden leap in my strength, and as the days pa.s.sed, I slowly realized that there"s a vague memory slowly surfacing inside my mind telling me how to use this newfound ability, and everything after was history" Theo said as he looked at Leo, looking for his reaction .

"Interesting" Leo muttered, as the others also had told him before that a sudden knowledge appeared inside their minds, but what confused him is that, that memory immediately appeared unlike Theo who took days before surfacing .

Leo then looked at Theo and asked, "So the catalyst in you becoming mutant is that mutant dog"s blood . So have you tried it with other mutated beast?"

"Mutant? That"s an interesting way to refer to us . Wait, are you also like me then?" Theo commented, but then realized something as he asked Leo .

"Yes, but mine"s different" Leo immediately answered, as he just stared at him .

Seeing that Leo is going into detail with his ability, Theo felt a bit disappointed, "Alright, in regards to your question, yes, I did try it with other mutated beast as you call them but it doesn"t seem to work at all"

"Really? If you don"t mind, what are those mutated beast you tried it on?" Leo asked shamelessly, as he was even surprised at how thick his face is .

"Nothing really special, just small monsters that I could take care of" Theo doesn"t seem to mind his nosiness as he just answered truthfully .

"Ohh . . I see" Leo said, as a realization immediately struck him and he realized what went work on Theo"s experiment .

Leo then stood up and dusted himself and looked at Theo and said, "Get some rest, tomorrow, we"ll try my way and let"s see if we can uncover the possibility of your ability improving"

"Really!?" Theo was just about to get up, when the pain hit him again, forcing him to just quietly lie down .

"Yes, so get some rest and I"ll keep watch" Leo nonchalantly waved at him as he started walking away from them .

"Wait!" Theo called out to him .

Leo turned around but didn"t say anything .

"Thank you . . . really, thanks a lot" Theo said, then he took a deep breath and stared directly at Leo, "I don"t know what your purpose for saving me, even when we really don"t know each other, and I really don"t know why, but suddenly feel like your a trustworthy person"

Leo smiled at him, and replied, "If I were are bad person, then you wouldn"t be talking to me right now"

"I guess you"re right" Theo chuckled, but he suddenly turned stiff when he noticed Leo deeply staring at him .

"Theo, you look like a good person from my observations so far, so I"ll give you an advice . . . don"t easily trust people easily and must always keep wary heart towards people you had just met like me, alright?" Leo said with a deep voice .

"I will . . I"ll keep that in mind" Theo just dumbly nodded at him .

Leo then grinned, "Good, now get some rest as we"ll have a long day ahead tomorrow"

Leo then walked out of the room, and stood at what seems like a balcony, looked at the town below, covered in a blanket of darkness and the sounds that could only be heard as the moans of the zombies and the growls of mutated beast in the distance .

"That kid really has an interesting ability, I wonder if I could learn it too?"

"But seriously though, that ability of his seems oddly familiar to a tv show that I saw before" Leo said as he suddenly remembered a popular tv show that he sometimes watched .

"And the kid seems a bit naive as he trust people easily that he didn"t even mind telling about his ability . Geez, he"d die sooner or later if he keeps that up" Leo shook his head and then took out his favorite sandwich and a bottle of beer from his [Inventory] and started eating by himself .

*Glug* *Glug* *Glug*

"Ahh~ nothing beats cold beer at night" Leo grinned as he wiped his mouth .