7: Strength And Allies

“A child?” Ace blinked twice when he heard a child’s voice. He thought it was a zombie but the zombies he encountered weren’t talking at all.

He stopped the car and watched as the figure ran in his direction. “How come there’s a child in the field with zombies? I should have noticed him earlier when we were taking a break and waiting for the helicopter,” Ace mumbled and sighed.

He got out of the car to check what it truly was. He started to sweat coldly when he thought of what he was going to do if the child was indeed a zombie.

“Hey! What’s your name?” Ace asked as he slowly approached the small figure that stumbled on the ground. He couldn’t help but frown when he heard a soft groan from the child.

Ace didn’t waste any time and helped the child get up. He could just kill him if it was a zombie, but if it was a human child, he’d be swallowed by guilt if he didn’t do anything but watch him roll on the ground.

“Hungry…” the child mumbled when Ace held him up.

“Are you hurt?” he asked the child after picking him like a bag of flour. “You’re too light,” Ace grumbled in disbelief. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that there was a child in a place filled with zombies a few minutes ago.

“Hey, say something. Where’s your parents?” he asked, putting down the child on the shotgun seat. “What’s with the blood on your face? Let me wipe it off—Aw!”

Ace arbitrarily pulled his hand away when the child bit it. He shook his hand to ease the pain when the child suddenly grabbed and bit it again.

“Aw! Stop it! I knew it, you’re a zombie—Huh? It doesn’t hurt that much—AH! Shit!” Ace cursed under his breath when the child bit him harder.

“Hungry… I want to east,” the child said after letting go of Ace’s hand.

Sighing, Ace took out a piece of bread and a bottle of water. “Here. Eat these and stop biting people’s hands. It hurts, you know.” Ace watched as the child hugged the bread. He noticed a hint of sadness and relief in the kid’s eyes.

“Give it to me. I’ll open it for you,” he said, taking out a tissue from his dimensional storage. “Let’s wipe your hands first. You shouldn’t eat with blood in your hands,” Ace muttered and carefully but gently removed the bloodstains on the child’s hand.

He didn’t know what the child had gone through but he was sure it wasn’t easy. Somehow, he felt glad that he saw the child before something bad could happen.

“East slowly. Nobody’s going to take it from you,” he said, watching the child munch on the bread. “I’m in a hurry so I’d like to leave as soon as possible. Do you know where your parents are? If yes, I’ll take them to you,” he added, observing the child’s expression.

“They’re dead,” the child replied, still eating the bread. “Maya said they will never come back,” the child continued, tears dripping from her eyes. “Maya is dead too. The zombies took her.”

Ace clenched his fists. It wasn’t that long since the explosion happened but the damage was already too much. Ace couldn’t comprehend what exactly was going on, though he believed that awakening with a newfound ability was one of the results of the mysterious explosion.

“I’m full,” the child said, handing the bread back to Ace. “You can have it.”

Shaking his head, Ace refused. “It’s yours. Save it for later when you get hungry again. Don’t bite people around,” he reminded.

The child nodded and was about to put the bread inside her clothes when Ace stopped her. “No, you can’t store food like that. Let’s put it back in the wrapper then you’ll have to hold it. I bet you’ll be hungry again in a few minutes.”

Ace brushed his hair with his fingers and sighed. “No family, huh? Then you have no place to go. Do you want to come with me? I’m on my way to my parent’s house.”

The child nodded. “Yes, please. I know how to wash myself and prepare my food. Maya taught me all that. I also know how to kill a zombie.”

Ace was taken aback. “You know how? Are those blood earlier was from—”

“Purification!” The child screamed with his hand pointing toward an incoming zombie.

“Woah! It’s gone. It’s totally gone!” Ace exclaimed, holding his head with both hands. “That’s amazing! How did you do that?”

“I don’t know. Maya said I should yell the word when there’s a zombie and it will keep me safe,” the child replied.

“You have a special ability…” Ace murmured. He lifted the child and smiled. “Good job, little boy! That ability of yours is going to be helpful. We should hurry and go now before more zombies come our way,” he said and moved his gaze to the side where zombies started to gather.

“I’m not a little boy. My name is Nicola,” the child retorted. “I’m a girl.”

“Nicola… You’re a girl?” The shock was painted all over Ace’s face. “Oh, sorry. So, you’re a little girl. I’m Ace,” he introduced and flashed a smile. “Let’s go, Nicola. Let’s head home,” he said, putting her down and buckling her seatbelt.

An hour passed since Ace and Nicola left the open field. They finally arrived at Ace’s hometown. The surroundings were quiet and there were no people outside. There were no signs of zombies so Ace thought everything was fine.

“My parents live in the end of the road. We own a small farm so it’s convenient to live there during this hard time. They should be at home by now,” Ace said while driving leisurely, roaming his gaze around to check for any abnormalities.

“What’s that?” Nicola pointed at the road ahead.

Ace narrowed his eyes and realized what was going on. “Oh no. Those are the town’s people… They’re zombies!” He gasped, his hands were shaking.

“Mom! Dad!” Ace screamed as he drove through the crowd, forcing his way to his parent’s house.