บท 50: Struggle

It was just another floor that was being cleared with the same method he used before.

The music was playing loudly and led the zombies up the stairs towards the next floor and above where the doors were wide open.

The zombies foolishly followed the noises and found themselves on the balcony area or near an open window before they reached the edge.

Those behind pushed forward which caused them to fall or they leaned over to reach towards the source of noise then they fell down.

Brick waited patiently until the noises created by the zombies had stopped then came out from his cover that blocked the entrance to the stairs to gain access to the main floor.

He wandered through the rooms to check to see if there were any that had not completely fallen prey to the trap he set.

He did not find any but once he had started walking down the stairs.

A lone zombie was in front of him and was crawling towards the noise but turned its attention to him.

It was like it could not stand on its feet and it had struggled to climb the stairs, its large and slow body had stumbled several times on the way up so there were marks on its body.

It tried to crawl up towards Brick but he kicked it in the face which sent it flying backwards a little as it crashed down to the bottom of the stairs again.

His steps were slow and cautious as he walked down further then kicked the zombie back again until he reached the bottom of the stairs and sent a kick to the head of the zombie again to send it away lying on the ground.

It was stabbed in the eye before it could attempt to reach towards him again then Brick started to go from room to room on the floor that he had cleared.

He entered another room where the bathroom was open, he pulled back a curtain then a zombie that was naked had stood there and turned its attention to him.

Its legs hit the obstruction that was the bath that was a part of the bath shower part of the bathroom design so it fell out of the bath towards him like it lunged towards him.

Brick grit his teeth and reached towards a nearby towel then he held it up in front of the zombie that had fallen towards him all of a sudden.

It was a quick reaction that could save his life when there was a split second where he could accidentally be bitten or scratched.

He was pushed against the wall after he lost his balance a little by the zombie that fell onto him then slid further down as the zombie had fallen awkwardly positioned so that its weight was pressing down on one of his legs but its upper half was closer towards his chest area as it tried to move its head towards the neck or chest of Brick once it regained its bearings.

The towel was over the head of the zombie that had been naked and on top of him as he pushed it back and reached for the axe hanging on his waist but his positioning was not the best to allow him to pull it out so easily.

There was not enough room for him to push the zombie back within the small sized bathroom that had little space available so he would have even less control over the zombie and it could just as easily fall close to his ankles where it would find an opening in his clothing to bite onto better that could break his skin.

He felt the urge to hold it back but the teeth were coming through the towel as the zombie was biting it hard to get to him while its hands were waving around. "Hrr aargh hrr."

It did not matter if Brick tried to push it away or off his body when it was so close to him and it kept moving forward without tiring or feeling pain.

The only thing that was keeping it stalled was that its vision was hindered further and the towel was in the way to stop it from biting Brick but that would not last forever.

Brick could not reach for the knife on the other side of his waist which was easier to pull out since he was using the closer hand to hold the zombie back then the axe on the other side was not as easy to reach with how he was positioned with the wall being against his back that further obstructed his freedom of movement.

It was already lucky enough that there was nothing behind him when he fell or he did not hurt himself when he fell backwards so there were no open wounds that would only help to increase the zombies excitement and ferocity when it picked up on the scent of blood.

Its nails were coming towards his stomach area which made him panic but a strange scene took place all of a sudden.

A strange layer of something formed on the outside of his palm which seemed to protect him and blocked the path of the head.

It was solid, thin, flat and small but it seemed to protect him from any potential danger that came from any kind of contact with the teeth that were breaking through the towel.

That gave him more time to change his focus and freed up his other hand right away.

His other hand had already reached for the axe and his other hand stopped the hand that reached towards the stomach then moved it to the side to free up the angle of his swing.

The axe was swung towards the side of the head and it was like the blood splatter had passed through the towel then fell onto an invisible but small flat wall before the body turned limp and slid down it a little before there was no more surface to lean against.

Once it lost its support, it fell down and Brick pushed the body to the side.

Brick got back up fully to his feet and sighed. "That was a close one.. but I guess what I have been missing all this time was maybe a real sense of danger and a threat to my life."

He held his hand out and an invisible flat surface formed and he prodded it a little but it did not move. "So this really is his power. It really does suit the role for a protector. It really helped to free up my hands there so it should be useful!"

If Brick had known about the situation back at the Reed Residence then he would be overjoyed to find out how Cherie gained an ability similar to his own which was of the psychic or energy type.

Cherie had a power based on repelling using some kind of force while Brick used a similar force to create solid and stationary flat surfaces that could be referred to as barriers.

His own type of power was called force field generation, flyrokinesis or barrier manipulation.

The original Brick could use his power to create barriers to protect himself or others within a certain range of himself but his abilities were very limited due to the lack of knowledge on how to use or train it.

Brick thought to himself excitedly as the barrier was maintained with his own energy until it finally disappeared once it had endured enough or ran out of the energy supporting its existence. "I really hope this has the potential that I am thinking of.

I have some decent examples to base my future path on so hopefully one of them will work out. Bartolomeo of One Piece with the Barrier Barrier Devil Fruit, the Invisible Woman of Marvel, Violet of the Incredibles and other similar abilities used by witches, mutants and psychics."

It could be used to create, shape and manipulate forcefields that were a field of some form of energy without mass which was capable of simulating matter and could act as a solid barrier or wall.

Nothing could pass through them to reach the other side and the durability of them depended on the user.

Brick was limited to the flat shape that he could summon but he wondered if it was possible to create a more spherical shape in the future too so that a barrier could be formed that was shaped like a wall, dome, bubble or shield.

There were certain limitations to the ability like how much the user could have control over the size, shape of duration of the barriers then there were other issues that others would run into when facing all kinds of powerful enemies that could overpower the barriers and break through them.

It was one of the reasons why Brick had been so enthusiastic about raising his own power so soon so that he could have an advantage over others so that they could not get past those barriers he created with the power they would possess.

Brick sighed as he thought to himself. 'For now… this is just really good for delaying others advances blocking less powerful physical attacks. Guns will still pose a threat at the moment so I cannot be too careless. I guess I just have to play the provoking card if it really does come to a real fight with others.'

It was a power that was described in the novel as an absolute defence type of power but it did have some potential for offence too if the right person used it well enough.

Brick could feel the positioning of the barrier than he summoned and his sensitivity to his surroundings seemed to have been raised as a result of his awakening so he could feel that his ability was not so simple as just an ordinary barrier.