Spatial Manipulation System

Chapter 3 - Resistance

Dave returned his attention to the three figures in front of him. He recognized the leader in the middle. He was one of the local thugs. 

Before now, despite having seen him from a distance many times, Dave had never had any interactions with him. 

“Hey, what do you have there?” One of the thugs, a lanky man with his hair dyed yellow, stepped forward menacingly towards Dave, who took two steps back. 

“What did you do to him?” Dave asked, gesturing towards Peter's unmoving body. 

“Ehhh, he's just taking a nap” The lanky man shrugged and glanced back at the other two thugs who chuckled. 

Further back, Hei Yu continued to struggle, trying to scream something, but her mouth was tied.

“This is Mamba territory; what are you stealing from us, huh?” The man in the middle took a step towards Dave while the lanky man continued forward forcing Dave to back up again.

“Hey hey, aren't you worried about the police?” Dave tried to discourage further violence.

“What are you on about? You broke into that store and robbed it, you must already know no one will come with all this chaos around” 

The lanky man's retort left Dave helpless. Considering for a moment, he decided to hand over the bags; he had all the important supplies in his storage anyway; the bags were just for display.

“Alright, alright, I'll go-” Before he could complete his sentence, he caught movement from the corner of his eyes and immediately let go of the bags. 

A spatial blade formed in his hand, but he didn't throw it this time, wielding it like a sword; he stabbed it at the figure rushing at him, piercing the entire blade right through. 

The atmosphere instantly froze.

“A speedster?” He muttered in confusion then looked up at the other two. 

Fortunately, he leveled up earlier; his stats were now more advanced than the average person's.

There was no more time to think as a punch from the lanky man came right at his face.

“Too slow,” Dave thought and ducked. Reversing the spatial blade in his hand, he stabbed through the man's head and dashed towards the leader. 

Making a throwing motion, he released the blade, and it cut right through the leader's neck, sending blood sprouting through the stump. 

Dave paused and glanced around, he took a moment to calm himself before picking up the bags and hurrying off. 

He reached Hei Yu and quickly released her restraints, freeing her. 

Once free, Hei Yu hurried to check on Peter and looked up in relief at Dave. 

“He's breathing” 

“Okay, let's get him into the car” Dave urged urgently. 

“No, no, wait, they came in a better truck.” Hei Yu pointed across the street at a modified truck covered in steel plating.

“Alright, hold on.” Dave rushed to check the thug's pockets and found a key; he rushed across the street to the truck and put the duffle bags in the back of the truck before going over to help Hei Yu carry Peter over. 

“I'll drive” 

Hei Yu got into the backseat with Peter, holding his head on her thigh as Dave started the car and drove off. 

“Any family or friends around we could get to?” He asked, glancing back at Hei Yu. 

“I'm an orphan and Peter's parents are in France for a vacation.” She replied as she gently stroked unconscious Peter's hair. 

Dave removed his gaze from the rear mirror and focused ahead, his expression wistful.

“Alright, we'll go to my parents. I just need to fill up the truck”

He glanced back at Hei Yu and Peter then shook his head and turned the car around. 

“Let's find a clinic and get him checked out, we can't go to a hospital because there will be too many people” 

Hei Yu looked up in surprise, gazing at Dave's expression through the mirror. 

“Thank you” she bowed as a smile spread across her face and a drop of tear fell off her eye. 

Dave simply nodded and continued on as he drove, he hovered a spatial blade in front of him, controlling it with his mind. 

This was something he picked up from the fight with the thugs. The spatial blades were controlled by his mind and not his hands so he could use them however he wanted. 

More importantly, he could control their intensity to refuse the consumption of his stamina. 

[Spatial Blade Proficiency +1]

[Spatial Blade Proficiency +1]

[Spatial Blade Proficiency +1]

A smile spread across his face as he observed his proficiency grow. 

They soon arrived at a clinic not far from Hei Yu's workplace. He knew this place because he often had to bring one of his workmates here after each team-building session. Their team captain was a fighting manic and he never went easy on anyone practicing with him. 

Fortunately, the place was open and as soon as they arrived, a stretcher was rolled out to meet them. But beside the two nurses rolling the stretcher were four men holding pistols.

“Hey hey hey” Dave rushed around the car to join Hei Yu and the nurses. 

“What's going on?” He asked with his hands held up to show he wasn't a threat. 

“As long as your friend wasn't bitten or scratched, we'll take care of him. You have nothing to worry about; we provide service for everyone,” one of the nurses, a brunette middle-aged woman, explained.

Dave glanced at Hei Yu, who nodded, and he stepped away from the stretcher, letting them take Peter. 

At the door, they took off all Peter's clothes and checked him before rolling him in. Hei Yu hesitated then eventually hurried after them. She was checked at the entrance, too, but not as thoroughly. 

Dave considered his infected wound from the zombie scratch and decided to stay put. He got into the car and relaxed the backrest allowing him to lay back some more. Letting out a long breath, he took a much-needed break. 

A moment later, he heard a knock on the passenger window and opened his eyes to see one of the armed men by the window. He unlocked the door and the man opened it and got in. 

“Hey, looks like you were ready for this thing huh?” The man chuckled as he observed the reinforced car interior. 

“I snatched it off some thugs.” Dave shook his head and took a look around, too. 

“I'm Grayson,” the man introduced, and Dave nodded without saying a word. 

Grayson, a young man around Dave's age of early twenties, nodded along and then stared straight ahead through the car's windshield.

He reached out a hand and ran it through his growing stubble before glancing sideways at Dave. 

“Are you awakened too?” He asked suddenly and Dave turned to him with a wart frown. 

“It's just you said you grabbed the truck from some thugs, so I assumed,” Greyson explained. 

“You’re right, I am,” Dave replied. 

“So what are you running here exactly?” he asked back, gesturing towards the clinic. 

“You don't know? Why did you come here then?” Greyson turned to him again with his brows scrunched up. 

“Well, I knew there was a clinic here. I was hoping to convince a nurse to help us; I didn't expect it to be fully functioning,” Dav explained. 

There was a pause before Greyson replied. 

“Well, this thing just started this morning in some cities, so we are actually some of the later cities to be affected. As soon as I heard the news, I called up some friends and we set up this center to provide help to anyone who needs it”

“Why?” Dave asked again curiously. 

Greyson turned to him with a questioning look. 

“You ever seen any of those doomsday movies? If we let these zombies roam around and run in this early stage, they'll take over the city in no time. This is the best chance we have to end this thing before it gets bad. By nightfall, I bet almost half of the city will be full of zombies. Give it another week and more than ninety percent will turn” 

“So you're here to recruit me” Dave's eyes widened in realization. 

Greyson shrugged and turned to glance at the clinic. 

“Kill them all, go back to our normal lives as soon as possible” 

They were both silent for a while; a few minutes passed, and sounds of gunshots echoed from somewhere close. 

“So, what's it going to be?” Greyson asked. 

“I need to get to my family,” Dave replied.

Greyson nodded and then opened the car door. 

“You get them and we'll be here waiting if you choose to come back.” He said as he got out. Nodding firmly at Dave, he closed the door and headed off likely to join the fight. 

Dave considered for a moment then thought about the zombie crystals. He got out of the car and locked the door before following behind Greyson. 

It was some two hours before Hei Yu returned with Peter all bandaged. He was conscious now but still needed Hei Yu's support to walk. 

They found a bloodied Dave smoking on the car's hood and Hei Yu waved with a smile. 

“I was afraid you would leave,” she said as her eyes started to water. 

Dave simply shook his head and said nothing. He wasn't cold-hearted, nor was he a survivalist. While cool-headed in chaos, he was still a very emotional person. Which was why he could act just fine when his girlfriend's betrayal was eating him up inside. 

“Let's get some gas and get out of the city,” he said and helped support Peter into the car. Hei Yu entered the passenger seat this time and just before he drove off, a young armed man rushed up to him with a pistol and two magazines. 

“The captain said to give this to your friend.” The man handed it over to Dave, who looked towards the clinic to see Greyson wave. 

Waving back, he accepted the pistol and handed it over to Hei Yu before driving off.

“Do you know how to use it?” He asked as he drove. 

“Yes, three years of training in the army,” Hei Yu replied with a smile, to which Dave gave an impressed nod. 

The car continued on through the streets while pandemonium ravaged the city with zombies and fellow humans alike attacking people and destroying properties.