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2024-10-29 19:42:56Seth tightened his long fingers around the steering wheel of Amy’s second-hand car and breathed deeply through his nose.
Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Baby Shark
He would have closed his eyes and banged his head against the wheel just to make the song end, but that would mean he had to sport a bump on his handsome forehead. Not that anyone agreed to it, but he was particularly confident that he was, at least, handsome enough to get a girlfriend.
Ex, now. Sarah Dickson was nothing but a former lover. Hopefully, she was turned into an infectore, so he had a reason to kill – maim her. He wanted to get payback for that punch.
There was no traffic, but the road was full of turns and hills. He had never visited Cold Spring, but he figured depending on the one and only maps he found in his phone was good enough. Hopefully, they didn’t go in the wrong direction and ended up in a busy area or a big city instead. He only needs to concentrate.
However, the cacophony of childlike voices from Amy’s phone speaker made it difficult. Knowing they had an infection somewhere close to them was not reassuring either.
Seth glanced at the home décor sales girl sitting in the back seat. Amy pressed her head back against the seat, but her eyes were closed. She almost appeared calm.
This hellish song that played on repeat was her idea all along.
“One more hour of this and I’m cutting my ears off.” Seth grunted, eyeing the second-hand car owner in distaste.
Amy grumbled, too, opening her eyes to glare at him through the rearview mirror. “It’s not like I love it either.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“Do you want her to cry again?” The sales girl nodded to where Marnie was lying sideways on the back seat, curling into herself with her head on Amy’s lap. “It’s the only thing keeping her nightmares away.”
He didn’t retort, knowing well that despite his protest, what Amy said was true. Marnie had once again cried her eyes out when he moved Wade the infectore to the trunk. She thought he would do the same to her, and even didn’t believe him after ten minutes of explanation.
Then, Amy took the initiative to hug Marnie, caressing her back like a mother would. Seth merely stared through half-lidded eyes, thinking nothing at first when the six years old wanted to listen to her favourite music.
Alas, out of millions of songs in the world, of course, Marnie’s chosen song was–
Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Baby Shark, doo-doo, doo-doo-doo-doo
Baby Shark
Seth slammed his handsome forehead against the steering wheel. The only good the song did – besides making him go crazy – was to drown Wade, the infector’s struggling to be unnoticeable background noise.
“If you want the song to end, just drive faster and we can get out of the car.” Amy said in an even tone. From the look of it, he wasn’t the only one who hated that damn song now.
A loud rumble was heard. Seth’s face flushed pink from embarrassment. But he remembered that his mother’s new husband had shoved some snacks into Marnie’s backpack earlier that day.
“Can you get me–“
Amy cut him off, “I will not steal a kid’s snack for you.”
He scoffed, “Where did you lose that camaraderie?”
“How can you be hungry in a time like this?”
“That’s the question I should ask, how can you not?” Seth was baffled, to be honest.
Between the last sandwich he ate and now, many things have happened. He saw his professor, who came from the future, spontaneously explode right in front of his eyes, he was forced to babysit his half-sibling, and he reluctantly accepted that a System was real. All that happened while he teamed up with a home décor sales girl and a chain smoker to survive a world-altering event.
It was exceptionally the longest night Seth had ever experienced. And it boggled his mind that he only felt hungry now. Perhaps, adrenaline and infective-induced apocalypse were necessary for a diet plan.
“Just drive, there’s a little town ahead. Maybe we can find a twenty-four hour diner or something.”
And true to her word, they find a little town about twenty minutes later. He didn’t bother looking for the town’s name as his stomach rumbled impatiently.
The place was empty of people, probably asleep under their fluffy blankets or busy shagging each other before their kids awake. It was about five in the morning, and no twenty-four-hour diner was open. It was a very small town, after all.
Thankfully, a convenience store was open at the end of the street. He pulled over, stopping just before the store to see that someone was inside behind the cash register.
Seth turned to face Amy, still hugging Marnie’s now sleeping form to her side. “Don’t expect me to get something for you.”
“Of course, why would I expect a broke uni student to buy me breakfast?” The sales girl rolled her eyes. “But surely you’re not dumb enough right? How do you expect me to move while your sister just cried herself to sleep a minute ago?”
Seth huffed, protesting, “It means she will stay asleep even if you move her around. Come on.”
He expected her to follow and was glad she did a minute later. It’d take too much time to sort out and get as many necessary things as they needed to wait out the first wave of invasion to die down.
“Oh, I’m sorry, we’re not open right now.” the Asian girl behind the cash register said, stopping their venture on the doorway without looking up. “I’m only here to take my savings. I’ll open again next month.”
Seth eyed the cheese sticks and slices of bread displayed near the woman. He was obviously pointing to the fact that the store was open. “We just want to grab a few things.”
“I don't have much time,” the Asian girl looked up and faltered. She fixed her eyeglasses, scrutinising them openly. Perhaps, it was because of Seth’s broken nose. But then, a smile broke out on her face as if a switch was flipped. “Sorry for that. Of course, you’re welcome to shop here. Look for something to fix your nose too.”
Then, as if an afterthought, the Asian girl said again, “You know what, why don’t you two come over to my house over there. I’ve made too much breakfast and not enough mouth to feed.”
Seth shared a look with Amy. He nodded right away while she shook her head. “It’s free food.”
“It could be a trap.”
“What trap?”
And they ended up sitting in the woman’s kitchen, waiting for the warm breakfast to be served.
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100 Systems Invasion 13. Cheat Sheet
A vase of blue and purple flowers was on the table, complementing the pink tablecloth of the kitchen they were in. Besides that, only a little decoration was in sight.Unless, of course, Seth didn’t count the whiteboard displayed there.“Ah, that’s the mind map for my WIPs.” The Asian girl, who introduced herself as Izuka, said after noticing Seth’s odd look towards her prized possession. “I should have hide it first.”Seth looked critically, “Yes, maybe you should.” The sales girl kicked his shin under the table. “What? It looks like a murder plot to me.”Amy sent an apologetic face to Izuka, “I’m sorry. He’s very rude when he’s hungry.”“Understandable,” the Asian girl motioned towards the eggs and bacon she just brought from the pan. “I’m an aspiring author writing a fantasy sci-fi novel, you see. Being called freak is nothing
100 Systems Invasion 14. The Looming Death
Seth didn’t always spend time watching TV; he was more of an outdoor boy. He liked to play, pretending to be a hunter in the wild, flaunting his slingshot at everyone he passed.His late father had made it for him, saying he had to train with it first before he’d take Seth on a real hunt when he was in high school. Sadly, he passed away before that.After that, Seth spent his day lazying about. Sleeping late and waking up at noon. Then he plays a puzzle game on his phone or watches cat videos online.So, when Amy said, “It’s like we’re in a game where participants are given big money to spend on a limited time,” Seth didn’t know what she meant.All he knew was that the infection was spreading and the infectore could be anywhere close. They had to get their supplies and move fast.“Shit, what do you want? Fanta or Sprite?”Seth halted dumbfoundedly on his step. “Serious
100 Systems Invasion 15. Feeding Zombie-likes
Amy was back to driving her second-hand car, leaving Seth slumped on his passenger seat, looking out the window where green trees passed by. After hours of driving, they finally arrived at Cold Spring. They just have to find someplace to stay. It would be better if they found an empty building for themselves. “What was that?” He knew what the blonde meant, but nothing came to mind, so he merely shrugged his shoulders in answer. “She called you Jet Lynx,” she said again, repeating in case he needed clearance. “I know. I heard her.” Seth exhaled noisily, tapping the window glass with the back of his forefinger. “It just doesn’t make sense.” “Why don’t you ask your dear System?” Huffing again, Seth picked up his phone. It was uncharacteristically silent. However, given their remote location from the big cities, he figured this piece was only because there was no infectore in sight. Well, except for the one locked inside the trunk.
100 Systems Invasion 16. The Witness of A Killing Spree
She saw them.She saw them get killed while she did nothing.She saw the life drained out of his eyes, and her eyes, and their eyes all over the short course of five minutes.She heard the footsteps of the murderer as he stumbled on his uncoordinated feet; only one ragged Converse covered the ashen feet.She felt a tight knot form in her chest, witnessing this mass murder done by her very own dear cousin. Something she knew he could do but never thought of seeing it with her own two eyes.Wade killed six innocent people, and he didn’t even stop to consider that this was wrong. That he was wrong, and they were not. He moved on, cracking their skulls open and eating their brains out.He ate their brains like nothing had happened.But she knew it had happened. Her eyes couldn’t betray her. She wasn’t dreaming, nor was she hallucinating. The rasping of the heavy metal-loving man’s final breath and the crimson blood
100 Systems Invasion 17. Farming Corpse
By ‘farming,’ of course, Seth meant killing the newly-turned infectores.It was not as funny as Seth thought, but Amy would also benefit from his murder in the end. So, she had to shut her mouth unless she wanted to annoy him and make him leave her behind. And for the record, she didn’t have an abandonment issue, no matter what Seth had said.For now, she’d have to suck it and hide behind the abandoned van with Marnie. Seth, on the other hand, was busy with his hands.There were seven infectores there, including her cousin-turned-infectore, Wade. Seth said he had to kill the infectores to get his cells back. Having zero balance in the System was no fun; she knew that much. But, she didn’t think that one time thoroughly out of desperation, so Seth had to forgive her.So, with his leveled-up ‘Strength’ in the System and a knife, or dagger, to be precise, that he got from Izuka’s store, he was confident he could take all of them at the same time. However, for his big talk, Seth didn’t lo
100 Systems Invasion 18. The More Brains He Ate…
Seth was about to get his hand on a signed, limited edition CD album of Queen when he heard loud footsteps from the front.He turned to see Marnie hiding between one of the seats and a questionable furry blanket. “Where’s Amy?”“She’s out,” the six years old said, showing her missing teeth to him. “The strange man is here too.”Fingers wrapped around his metal baseball bat, Seth carefully went to the front, seeing that Amy was far too close to Wade, the infectore. He didn’t know that the blonde salesgirl was this suicidal. Though, he should be picking the signs up from the night they spent together.After all, it wasn’t like she offered a ride and tagged along with him just to win a bet, was it?Oh. She did that, alright.“What are you doing?” Seth stalked behind her, knuckle-white hold around the metal bat.The blonde turned her body to face him, standing between him and her infectore cousin. “It’s not like what you’re thinking.”“What do you think I think?”“I didn’t release him fro
100 Systems Invasion 19. Careless Alliance
As Amy stopped the car and ensured that Marnie was okay, Seth poured all his scrutinies into the lit-up phone in his hand. “Mind sharing with the class what Ally is?”It didn’t take long for the System to reply.[The word is pretty explanatory.]He heard the blonde girl’s snickers from his left. “It’s not funny.”“Sure it is,” she said, not sensing the dire situation.“I got nothing from it, after killing five infectores,” Seth argued.[No kill detected.]He read the words again. “Are you blind?”[Only Systemist and registered Ally can earn from killing infectore.]The System showed the same message.Seth grumbled, “Fine, I’m a Systemist, I get it. But the car I am in just killed a bunch of infectores, doesn’t that count?”[No.][Only Systemist and registered Ally can earn from killing infectore.]“Damn it,” he rubbed his forehead. “Then, what do you mean by Ally?”[Ally is a Systemist’s registered partner.][Invite 3 people to be Ally and get 9.000 cells for free.]“Huh?” Seth rerea
100 Systems Invasion 20. Parallel Log
When they stupidly went to open the modified van’s trunk – while ignoring the disgusting remains of the bulldozed infectores on the road and tires – Wade could only consent with a loud groan and flailing arms.“Right. He’s practically a braindead zombie.” Seth closed the trunk again.“Completely forgot about that.” Amy agreed, pinching her nose. “It’s useless anyway. We still have to kill people.”“Infectores. Not people.”“Oh, so it matters to you now? Didn’t you easily make a man explode into bits and blood?”Seth gritted his teeth, “It’s not me. Victor exploded by himself, I just sat opposite him.”“You know him?”“My professor in uni. But the one who died came from the future.”Amy guffawed, “There you go, let your creativity flow.” However, after his silence and humorless face, she faltered. “Wait, you’re serious?”“We got this nonsensical System and ridiculous invasion where your cousin now drools at human brains. Appearing from the future and then spontaneously self-explode ten
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79. Table Turned
The raid was a bust.The lieutenant didn't even wait until they were in the privacy of his office before chewing him like useless gum. He demanded, "What is this, Monroe?"Mark bit back the urge to say, 'What did I tell you about raiding it yesterday, Sir?' He waited quietly and avoided any eye contact from the many people in bulletproof vests with bold 'PPD' on their back, strapping their gun back into safety and rounding up their failed attempt. "Why did I spend three hours of driving to the middle of nowhere with a full squad to take down a drug lab and slavery den while there's nothing here?"Again, instead of pointing out that the raid should have been done as quickly as he had suggested, Mark waited."Tell me, Monroe, why are you even screwing up this bad after the rookie slip up with that fake journalist in the warehouse?"'This is not my fault,' he thought. "We are too late, Sir," he said."Too late? Are you saying I'm too slow to act?" Madsen retorted angrily. "Do you even k
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78. Make a Move
"You're so annoying, do I have to remind you every hour?" Rhea grumbled from the passenger seat, watching the dark-haired man behind the steering wheel as the car drove itself to the hill house. "Old news," Lucian commented and then glared at her. "But I already said not to let him into this again."Of course. "Mikhal's right. You do sounds like a jealous secret boyfriend.""Ha. Ha." There was no humor behind that. "First, I am not your boyfriend, I'm your fiance. Second, you're the one keeping this a secret, not me."Rhea grinned, "You didn't deny the first one? Are you jealous?""So what?" She frowned but didn't say anything else. She still couldn't figure out why he was jealous of that tall coworker of hers. No matter how many times she asked him, Lucian wouldn't tell.'Or you just never believe his answer,' a small voice at the back of her head supplied helpfully. She brushed it off because it was total drivel. There was no way Lucian actually felt jealous just because he liked
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77. Running for Life
She was not as reckless as Lucian sometimes said to her. But she was still new in this espionage thing, and Mikhal suddenly pushed her down to the ground. Her heart raced, pounding noisily along with the blood in her ears. Mikhal's tall figure was equally low by her side. Confidence may fool many people, but she had none of it right now. Especially not after a burly man in a tank top suddenly pointed his long firearm in her direction, right before she took another shot of the drug lab with her phone. Breathing quietly, they waited in suspenseful silence until the man turned his weapon away from their direction. Another man came out of the drug lab's door, probably exchanging words before both of them went inside again. Rhea exhaled in relief, shoulders slumping down as both Mikhal and her shared a look. They moved closer, trying to get more proof from the small window at the side of the building now known as the drug lab. Not only from the chemical glasses with some colored liquid
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76. Into Hidden View
After four days of work, Rhea finally got her day off again. Mikhal texted her, 'Meet you at East Station in twenty.' Smiling to herself, Rhea texted back an affirmation. "So…" Liz glanced at her from behind the steering wheel, "If I may ask, where are you going, Miss Rhea?""Out," she merely said."Any specific place in mind?"Rhea locked her phone, "Not really."The bespectacled girl looked uncomfortable for a second before she asked again. "Do you have any companions?""Yes.""Oh. Who is that?"Rhea narrowed her eyes, not liking where the bespectacled girl was going with this. "Is this an interrogation?""No, of course, not." Liz hastily said, topping it with an awkward laugh that she tried to make it sound natural. "I'm sorry if it came out like that, Miss Rhea. I didn't mean to."She sighed, turning to the sturdy houses that came into view as they finally reached the town's area. "It's fine. Lucian ordered you to do that, right?" Liz stayed silent, so she'd take that as a yes.
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75. Coping Mechanism
The cafeteria was full of cola and burgers. "Free dinner for everyone!" one of the senior staff called out as they entered it. Rhea grinned – almost jumped in excitement – as her favorite food was served in front of her for free. Emi, on the other hand, chimed in a loud voice, "We don't pay to eat here!"She stuffed her face with the burger. She sat surrounded by a white shirt and blue vest-wearing staff, finally having a nice break out of the craziness of the afternoon shift. "I can't believe I was so excited about it before."Emi smiled broadly, munching on her mouthful bite of burger. She looked funny. "Didn't I tell you that it's crazy?""Yes, but you carefully left out the fact that it is precisely like that oddball group all over again, except, it happens continuously. Marching in a group in the lobby, then shoving each other to get in the elevator. Why do we only have four elevators, anyway?""But it only happens in the afternoon. After that, it's pretty slow, isn't it?"Rhea h
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74. Unwritten Law
Lucian had been at the scene of serious diplomacy once, ages ago as he was still ten, where his father was showing him how to negotiate with a foreign mafia boss from another country. Earl would sign an agreement of letting said mafia boss move into Livingard and give him a little territory on the border to set up whatever operation they had planned. Earl would get back his prized butler slash right-hand man safely in one piece in exchange. He was fond of that man, his favorite butler. A middle-aged friendly guy who had a penchant for cutting apples into beautiful figures and dragging Lucian out of bed before dawn for a morning run. So, hearing that his favorite butler would be back after missing – he was captivated by the foreign mafia after accidentally crashing his motorbike to the mafia's daughter on the road – for three days, Lucian was eager when his father wanted him to tag along. It was supposed to be a valuable learning experience for him.One of the foreign mafia subordinat
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73. At Least We Try
'Let him be, don't talk to him, whatever, just ignore him.'She didn't even want to see him. But bottling her overflowing emotions? It was a ridiculous idea.Then a notification chimed in, breaking into her bubble of thought, pulling her from the suffocating underwater feeling. 'How's' your girl's day out with Emi?' Mikhal texted her, oblivious to the chaos she made herself. 'She was great.' She texted back.'Cool. No more outings today?' His reply came seconds later, followed by three dots, signifying he was typing now. 'Imma starts the afternoon shift today. Dunno what to expect.''Expect the worst.''Never know u'r such a pessimist.'She wasn't. Fine, maybe she was. Just at the moment, though. Rhea responded with a laughing emoticon. Followed by a string of crying yellow faces.'What was that?' She bit her bottom lip, 'I want to go out.' Her thumb sent it before she even read the line. She considered deleting it. No use, Mikhal already typed again.'I'm free, if you were asking
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72. The Walk Down
Sprinting to the beach, Rhea suddenly stopped before her sneakers touched the wet sand. Quickly taking them off, Rhea looked around for a place to put them without getting worried that the wave would sweep on them or someone take them away. Not that she was suspicious of some people enjoying the beach there, or that her shoes were extremely pricey – they were, not that Rhea knew about that, because it was Lucian who paid – but Rhea didn't want to lose her only pair of sneakers.She looked back to Lucian's parked car on the edge of the beach, where the dry ground met with green patches of grass. Squinting her blue eyes, Rhea calculated how much force she needed to get her shoes to the car's side. The light brown-haired girl got into a stance as if she would throw a slider with her sneaker as the ball. Then, Rhea let go of one of her sneakers in a powerful side swing. It flew in a bent trajectory and landed safely on the dry sand, though still a little far away from the car."Ah, I need
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71. Wolf in the Flesh
It was the first time Rhea saw a wolf in real life.The wolf looked like how a wolf would in a book or movie. Nothing special, unlike the jet-black wild wolf she saw in a show. Or the majestic white wolf in legends. The animal in front of her looked just like the usual wolf. Short, triangular ears. Broad snout. A long tail. Looking slender yet seems powerful in its built. Its back was grey, so was its upper head. While the rest of its fur was light brown, and the underside was white.Rhea could not believe it."Should we continue?" Jo asked, stepping slowly on the gas pedal.As Jo drove the car past the watchful gaze of the wolf, Rhea felt a shudder run through her body. Either it was a creepy coincidence, or Lucian somehow controlled the wolf to appear there and failed Rhea's escape. Which sounded impossible. Both of them.It was some minutes later that Jo stopped the car. They were near the first building in the outskirt of Stradfield's little town. "Are you sure you want to get off
