39 Chapter 39: Infected

"That's... I think so. But I feel very strange. I feel an intense hunger that I can barely control and I have to control the urge to attack everybody, luckily it's not very strong."

Miriam didn't know what to do. Before she could do anything, one of the survivors caught her attention.

"I'm not going to let that thing near me! Stay away!"

The zombie turned to look at the man and, without another word, walked over to the other zombies who had just gotten up and were also looking uneasy.

Miriam felt a shiver as she watched them. The zombies looked terrified and restless, avoiding looking at the humans around them, who continued to move forward without looking at them. The only one who remained was the brother of the first zombie, who stood behind Miriam nervously.

She stood in front of the zombies, anxiously waiting for the others to finish the fight and catch up.

The small group of abnormal zombies fixed their attention on Miriam, after the survivors had moved on. One of them, at last, stepped forward; the first of those who had awakened.

"What are you going to do with us?"

Miriam stepped back before she realized what she was doing, backing away from the zombie. The zombie noticed her and stopped. It looked around nervously before continuing to speak.

"I think we can control ourselves, we won't cause any problems, right guys?"

The other zombies just nodded and continued to watch Miriam.

"I don't know if we can accept that. There is enough evidence that zombies feed on human corpses."

The zombie looked away when Miriam mentioned their eating habits.

"Maybe it's true, although the thought of trying it disgusts me. Besides, if I'm not mistaken, my instincts tell me that I can survive on the flesh of other zombies without much trouble."

"Can I trust you? What if you attack us when we've let our guard down?"

"We're just a bunch of Stalkers, you can kill us easily."

Miriam realized at that moment that she hadn't tried to identify the zombies. A quick glance confirmed what the zombie was saying.

[Zombie Stalker].

Hearing this, Miriam managed to calm down a bit, but she still had many doubts.

"Are you the same person? I mean, a few minutes ago you seemed desperate enough to try to snatch the antidote from me, but now it's like you're someone else."

The zombie didn't answer, just looked away.

"I was desperate. Although I have to admit that now that I've become... this, I feel different. It's as if my past life is something far away, something I could forget at any moment if I don't concentrate."

"You're Menil, I could recognize my brother in any situation, you haven't changed a bit."

The zombie looked at his brother and seemed to feel somewhat relieved.

"Thank you Nila."

At that moment, the group that had defeated the Berserker caught up with them.

"Menil? Is that you?"

"It seems so."

Miguel felt a shiver as he looked at the black veins in the man's skin.

"What will you do with us? You haven't answered yet," asked another of the zombies.

Miriam didn't know what to do. So far she hadn't cared much after killing zombies. But these were literally people, so she didn't feel it was right to just kill them.

"I think we'd better kill them or kick them out of here, this gives me a bad feeling."

Leonard's words made Miguel hesitate. He was right, none of them had any idea that zombies could be so intelligent. If that was the case, then nothing prevented that over time the other zombies could be. If Miguel was right, then all zombies were stupid just because they had been in the world for a few days and not because their intelligence was limited.

"I don't think it's a good idea to kill them," They all turned to look at Tarin, who paused for a moment nervously before continuing, "I mean, some of the zombies we've encountered are extremely powerful, so if we have a few on our side it could mean a considerable advantage."

Miguel nodded with some hesitation, before looking at the zombies again.

"I propose we talk it over between all of us, in the meantime we'll keep them in a safe place and well guarded. Do you have a problem with that Menil?"

"No, the truth is I was hoping you would just not kill us and be on your way" Menil visibly shuddered. "Anything is better than that. Besides, I don't feel like running away and joining my savage brethren."

The other zombies nodded, Miguel noticed that they didn't seem to be interested in talking much, so Menil was different in that respect.

"I don't like this at all Miguel, I feel like they are a ticking time bomb."

Miguel wasn't sure either, but the more he thought about it the more he realized that maybe it was worth the risk.

"You're right Leonard, but they haven't given us a reason to doubt them yet. We are taking a big risk, but the reward is potentially great. With them we can learn a lot more about the zombies, their evolutions, their ways of gaining power and many other things. Besides, as long as we treat them well, this relationship also benefits them."

"But what will they eat? I don't think you're willing to feed them human flesh."

"We already have a solution for that. We can feed on the flesh of other zombies without any problem. Although I don't think it will be very nutritious." Menil said.

Meanwhile, Alfred and Carlos caught up with Noah in the parking lot and were surprised to see Adam.

"An antidote, quick!" Noah shouted at them.

Carlos reacted quickly and ran back to the superblock. Noah set Adam down on the ground after making sure there was no danger. He looked behind him and frowned as he watched the survivors running toward the parking lot. It didn't take him long to realize that something had happened, as Miriam and those in Block 2 were gathered in front of a group of survivors.

However, the matter disappeared from his mind when Carlos returned with the antidote. With some difficulty, they managed to get Adam to swallow it without choking. Only then did Noah manage to relax. That had been close.

The guard sat down on the asphalt and leaned his back against a cart. The situation had been intense, but they'd finally made it. A few deaths had been involved, but Noah didn't care much. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If anything had taken him by complete surprise it was his reaction to what had happened to Adam. He never would have thought he would have cared so much about an unremarkable man he had just met.

That was a lie, though. Adam had assembled a group of survivors by accident when he went out to kill zombies and everyone else was holed up in their homes. That's not unremarkable.

Well, whatever it was, it didn't matter much in the end. Noah had always done what he wanted and this time was going to be no different. This little hideaway seemed like the perfect opportunity to enjoy whatever was left of his life.

As he thought, Jane, who up until this point had been left guarding the rear of the group, approached Noah and tossed her bow onto the asphalt before sitting down across from him.

"I heard what happened with Adam."

Noah just nodded.

"Did you hear about Menil?"

"Who?"

Jane explained what had happened with the new zombies. Noah frowned for a moment, but then smiled.

"Would you still be willing to follow Adam if he became a zombie?"

Jane froze at the question.

"I'd like to say yes, I'd trust him, but I don't think so. Those zombies give me the creeps. It's not a good idea to let them live."

Noah smiled as he listened to her.

"You're welcome to become the executioner, if you wish."

"I couldn't do it either. Isn't that the main reason holding us back? Even killing zombies was difficult for me at first. Just the thought of killing them with my hands turns my stomach."

"Then I suppose you expect someone else to get their hands dirty for you, and since no one else wants to, we'd better welcome our new neighbors."

"I suppose so, but you make it sound like we're all bad people."

"Who isn't?"

"You like to be pretty nasty, don't you?"

Noah just nodded slightly and closed his eyes again. Jane sighed and got up to check on Adam.

Adam woke up a few hours later, only to wolf down an absurd amount of food and go back to sleep. To everyone's relief, by the afternoon, all he felt was moderate exhaustion.

Unfortunately for him, he was in for quite a problem. The situation of Menil and the other zombies had turned into a debate. Most of the survivors were against it, but there were some supporters, especially the family members.