Chapter 4

Noah took to his heels as the monsters chased after him. He didn't want to end up like that person they were just feeding on. Besides, he still had to avenge his sister's death, so he kept running even though it felt as if the mobsters were already catching up with him. 

He couldn't see very clearly because of the fog and didn't notice the log on the floor and ended up tripping on it. He hit his head hard on a nearby stone as he landed on the floor.

He lay on the floor as he felt dizzy and watched as the monsters caught up with him

He held his head as he groaned in pain. He was already feeling very dizzy by now and could not continue running again. He saw the monsters staring curiously at him as he felt his eyes close and finally gave in to the darkness.

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Noah let out a groan as he sat up. He opened his eyes and saw a strange girl around his age sitting next to him. He had no idea who this person was and was startled, so he instinctively threw a punch immediately but she caught his hand before it landed on her face.

"What a way to thank the person who just saved your ass." She said with a sarcastic expression before letting go of his hand.

"I'm Gemma." She introduced herself without waiting for him to ask. 

He rubbed his head, but didn't feel any pain. The sharp pain he felt earlier was gone. He looked around the room as he woke up. It was a run down apartment. 

The furnitures were covered with a white lining that had this weird stain that looked suspiciously like dried blood. The room looked very dusty and the lighting was dim. The curtains were dirty and torn and he wondered how this girl managed to bring him here. 

He then tried to stand up, but felt a sharp pain in his leg and immediately sat back down. Luckily for him, Gemma was there to support him.

"How did i get here?" He asked again.

"I brought you" Came her short reply.

He asked her how she managed to do that and his cheeks turned red in embarrassment when she told him she had dragged him here by his feet after saving him from the monsters. 

She then went on to explain how she had come to this place to get something and had come to the window to look through her binoculars to see if it was safe for her to set out and saw him running from three monsters before tripping on something and explained how she watched the three monsters stare at him without eating him. 

"One of the monsters even brought its head to your chest to see if you were still breathing. I didn't even know monsters could do that." She said in confusion.

"You're sure that's what happened?" He asked also confused

"That's what i saw." She replied

"What's your name?" She asked him, but he didn't say anything and only winced. 

He felt a burning sensation on the side of his neck and instinctively rubbed his hands against it.

"What did you do to me?" He asked, confused.

She told him she had the power to heal and used her powers to heal his head.

"Does it come with extra pain?" He asked, surprised. She didn't say anything and just laughed.

"Come. I'll introduce you to the rest of the group." She said.

"What group?" He asked

"Come on. You'll see" She replied with a smile.

He was about to stand up when he felt the burning sensation on the side of his neck again and asked if she had a mirror. She nodded her head and fished out a broken mirror from a dirty bag that was lying on the floor next to her. He thanked her after collecting it and looked at his neck in the mirror. He noticed a glowing oval shaped scar that was not there before.

"What's this on my neck, Gemma?" He asked her

Gemma gasped and told him she has no idea what it was.

"We'll have it checked when we get to the camp" She said, standing up to go look through her binoculars to see if it was safe for them to go.

He held on to her for support as they left the room and limped as they went. None of them said a word to each other and just kept going.

"Why didn't you just heal my foot?" He asked, breaking the silence.

"We would've become monster food if i had waited to heal you where i found you" She said with a scoff.

Noah didn't say anything and just kept limping.

"I do want to know something though. How did those monsters not hurt you?" She suddenly asked.

Noah was confused and just stared blankly at her.

"What do you mean?" He asked

"Hey, you know what I'm talking about. How were you able to make those monsters stare at you for twenty minutes without devouring you? Those things feast on anything. Both the living and the dead, even animals. Which means they could have eaten you but they didn't. 

"Is that like your special ability or something?" She said without pausing.

Noah was still lost and continued to stare blankly at her.

"Come on. How did you do it? Tell me." She asked curiously.

Noah stopped limping with a sigh and she automatically stopped walking since he was holding onto her for support.

"My name is Noah and i have no ability. I have no idea what happened back there. To be honest, i thought those things were going to kill me when they caught up with me, but well..."

"That's impossible! Stop trying to hide your ability and tell me the truth" She cut in, yelling the words.

"I'm not lying. I really have no powers" Noah replied calmly.

They both stared at each other for a few minutes without saying a word. Gemma, in disbelief, while Noah stared back in agony. The pain in his foot was killing him and he wondered if this was a good time for him to ask her to heal him.

"Can you please heal me now?" He finally asked, making up his mind.

She looked down at his leg and told him healing a broken bone would take up too much energy and she needed all her energy to get them both to safety right now and promised to heal him when they got to the camp.