Chapter 4: Trouble

"..."

Walking.

Watching.

The Zombie found himself once again doing something it has not done before– watching. Just watching as a group of 4 humans traveled through the streets. They've been doing this when the sun was still at its highest, and now, it was setting.

They have also killed any of the Zombie's kind as soon as they see them. And by the way they moved and extinguished all the zombies in their path, they were completely different from all the humans that have walked these streets.

They seem to be searching for something– a Ghoul. The Zombie has heard that word before from the group that abandoned their comrade a few days ago…

…that's what they called him. Is that… perhaps its name?

[Reader of Fate: Torch of the Sun, wants to suggest several names. Would you like to listen?]

[Reader of Fate: Noah 0. Zero seems quite interested.]

The Zombie blinked its eyes as words that only it could see once again popped out in front of him.

"..." But once again, it was still not capable of understanding. Instead, it just waved its hand to get rid of the texts, turning its attention back to the group of humans.

[Some of the Readers of Fate are frustrated that the Zombie can't read yet.]

The black cloak it got from the human it devoured earlier was proving to be useful; helping it to merge and hide in the shadows.

"..." The Zombie then stopped walking as the group of humans also stopped walking. The Zombie kneeled on the ground and planted its back against the wall, trying its best not to be seen.

The group found a high ground to rest on, another bus. Humans seem to tend to do that.

"We've been searching for hours. Are we sure we didn't come all this way just for some bullshit job? Or are we fucking lost?"

"Nah, I heard it was Eleanor who posted the job. One of her trainees got taken by the ghoul."

There it is again, that word– the Zombie slightly tilted its head as it continued to listen to the group. It was slowly starting to understand what the humans around it were saying… and it now knows that this group truly was trying to search for it.

"Shit, really?"

"Yeah, I kid you not. She said that it rammed a bus then grabbed her trainee when he fell."

"Damn… we need to get rid of that thing or more people are going to die here."

The group continued to talk… while the Zombie continued to listen. Watching each of their movements, their mannerisms, the way they open their mouths– the Zombie was almost like a sponge, learning everything and anything all at once.

And finally, an hour after the sun fully set, the group once again began to move. And once again, the Zombie followed. They continued to eradicate anything in front of them again and again… and the weirdest part is, that only one was actually doing it.

It was a man wearing a similar cloak to the Zombie, except it was red in color. The man just moved his hand, and the swords that were hidden in his cloak started flying in the air and slicing the heads of the zombies without even any difficulty.

The Zombie may not know a lot of things right now, but it does know one thing– it would die if it even tried to fight these humans. They were different from Nathan, different from the group that left one of their own to die…

…they were stronger. Much stronger.

And so, the Zombie's movements became even quieter; lurking very carefully in the shadows, hiding within the cracks of the city… until finally, there was nowhere to hide anymore.

"..." Because right in front of the Zombie was something it has never seen before. It felt familiar, that was for sure. But this was the very first time it was seeing the view in front of it.

So much… space. The sky that it once thought was so small now filled the entirety of its pale blue eyes. One could only imagine what this view would look like once the sun once again graces the Zombie with its presence.

There was a whole world out there, and the Zombie didn't even know. It was stuck circling the streets over and over again, just waiting for someone to devour.

"Dead end," one of the men in the group let out a short but very deep sigh, "You think the ghoul might have already left the city? We've retraced the steps Eleanor and her trainees made according to the map."

"You guys wanna check outside the city?" The man wearing a cloak pointed his thumb towards the horizon.

"At this time? Hell no," the only woman in the group laughed, "The last time we explored at this time of the night, we encountered a large fucking horned wolf, remember that?"

"Cindy's right, Ahmed. And we don't even know if the ghoul's a part of a Lich's summon. We don't have the right equipment for that," the one that seemed to be the oldest of the group stepped forward, scratching his almost greying beard.

"Shit, so we wasted our time here?" The one that was holding the map let out a loud groan as he walked back to his group.

"Let's just camp inside one of the buildings and continue the search tomorrow," the bearded man sighed as he gestured to the group to fall back.

The rest could only follow with their shoulders down, their sighs of disappointment and frustration, slightly whispering in the air. Their steps, however, quickly halted as their heads all turned… towards a cloaked individual that was standing quietly near a building.

Of course, the cloaked individual was none other than our little Zombie– still completely awed and distracted by the view of the horizon that it was not able to realize that the group was already staring at it.

"Who are you!? Have you been following us!?"

And by the time the Zombie even noticed the group, they already had all their weapons drawn.

"..." The Zombie could only slightly turn its body towards the group, extremely careful not to show its face. The Zombie still didn't know a lot of things, but there was one thing it knows now…

…it was in trouble.