A Rational Zombie

Chapter 123

This is bad. A lot of prey came. I was expecting one or two to come after killing the second one. But thats not the case. There mustve been so few prey left that one or two dying was enough to alarm them. Theres no way out. But I wasnt expecting one when I holed up in here. This is my final stand. Im in the best position I can be, even if its bad. There arent others to help me. I cant see an end to the prey. Is this how prey feel in their final moments? When theyre swarmed by others, eaten alive? I wonder, is there anything after death? What happens when I die? It seems like Im about to find out. I forced myself to survive, to avoid having my brain consumed by hunger. Dying, I wont turn dumb, mindless. Maybe it wont be so bad. Its a shame I havent met God yet. Or maybe the chief in front of me is God. He wants me dead.

But I wont die that easily. Ill kill as many prey as I can before dying. And if Im lucky, Ill live. Thats right. Im going to live. Ive never died before. I wont die now. Maybe I did die before turning into an other. Thats irrelevant. I readied my spear, kept my knives at the top of the bag of arrows, ready to grab at any moment. The prey werent rushing. Lucky me. If any of the prey had spicy brains, theyd be attacking me right now. It seems like the old prey won the fight.

Any volunteers?

Im behind a chokepoint. If any prey come, they have to come alone. The one that volunteers, itll be the hardest one to fight, confident it can beat me. But if I survive, if I dont receive any severe injuries, my chance of survival increaseseven if only by a tiny bit. Once more prey die, the remaining prey become easier to kill. They might even flee.

Most of us are injured, Chief.

Ron?

Im not confident, Chief. Didnt this smart infected kill Cosmo? Im definitely not as good as a fighter as Cosmo was.

Chris?

Im injured.

Jen?

I

No.

The prey arent confident. And it seems like the prey that are good at fighting are injured. It makes sense. The better they are, the more theyd fight, leading to more injuries.

What do you mean no? Jens one of our better fighters.

How about this? We take those drug addicts we tied up and make them to fight the infected?

Thats not a bad idea. Why should one of us have to risk our lives? Those addicts were the ones that got us into such a shitty situation in the first place.

Yeah, thats right, Chief. Make those fuckers do it instead.

Theres a lot of debating going on. It sounds like the old prey caught some new prey. And theyre going to force them to fight me. Thats a bad situation. Theyll be like me, forced to kill to survive. If I fought an old prey, theyd try to run, reduce the risk to themselves. They wont fight me to the death. I cant let the prey call the new prey. Ill use my bow, ready an arrow, force a prey to come inside to stop me.

Watch out! Its loading its bow!

Shit!

Chief! Stop ducking when you hide behind your shield!

The prey with the shield crouched down, thoroughly protecting itself. But it completely exposed the prey behind it. I aimed my bow. Fired. And hit the door. One of the prey slammed it shut just in time. Im starting to think I shouldve found a room with a window. Then I couldve escaped at least. I didnt think all the prey would gather here. Wouldnt that mean the rest of the garrison is empty? Can I dig my way out? Break down the wall. I have the wood cutting tool. The wall is made of wood. Should I try it? Theres no guarantee the prey will stay in this building. I might lose my chokepoint, be forced to fight in the middle of the garrison.

Ill stay. I picked this spot in the first place because it was good. The prey with the spicy brain, maybe Ill get lucky with my bow, kill it before it enters. But I cant count on my luck. The prey with the spicy brain, injuring their limbs doesnt matter. I have to end the fight quickly, go straight for the brain or neck. Most likely the neck since the head is protected. The prey fight without care for themselves, focusing only on offense instead of defense. I dont think itll block my attacks; the last one didnt. Its a good thing I fought one of the new prey before. Without that experience, Id make a poor choice.

I waited for a while. The prey were talking outside. But their voices were too muffled. There were footsteps. Then, the door made a sound. I readied my bow. There was more talking. The door opened by a tiny bit, letting in a sliver of light.

The instant I open this, its going to shoot, is what youre saying.

Yes, so be careful.

Whered you put my baggie?

Your what?

You know, my baggie. The pouch I kept in my underwear.

We burned it.

Motherfuckers. Do you know hard finding that shit is?

Is he going to be alright? Hes shaking.

Who knows.

Hurry up, bastard. If you want to live, you have to kill it.

You better not close the door behind me. I cant see for shit in the dark.

The door opened. I was about to release my arrow. But there wasnt anyone there. They mustve followed the door, opened it, walked with it to hide behind.

Hand me that glass.

A moment later, a piece of glass came out from behind the door. Reflected on it, there was a dome. Thats a neat trick. Instead of looking at me directly, risk being shot, the prey can use a reflective material to look around objects. Ill have to remember that trick. If I can survive this, that is.