章節 10: Chapter 10 It Started

"So before anything happens, what do you have in your trunk?" Kisha probes Duke.

Not getting annoyed with her probing and seemingly bossy attitude, he opened his SUV's trunk and showed her his collection.

The trunk was full of black boxes, each box was full of high-end guns. From pistols to rifles, there are even sniper rifles.

He looked smugly at Kisha as if waiting to be complimented.

Before he left to fetch Kisha and her family, he made sure to select the best of the best from his collection of weaponry from his private collection. He won't even let his close friends touch it and they could only enviously look at it. All of his collection was customized and modified to be better than the regular model.

But what he saw in her eyes was a mocking and taunting look.

It puzzled him. So he asked. "Why don't you have a look?"

She rubbed the tip of her nose, trying not to laugh because he looked earnest and cute like a child waiting to be complimented for doing good. She did not want to burst his bubbles but she had no choice as they were lacking time.

"They are indeed good guns." She smiled which made Duke smile proudly. She continued. "But we don't need them." His smile froze. Feeling guilty she patted his shoulder. "Not for now."

She rummaged through the other boxes but did not see what she was looking for. "Did you not prepare any cold weapons?"

He looked a little dejected, that's why Kisha felt down, thinking that he had not brought any and they might have to improvise using the tools they could find in the gas station store.

But Duke walked to the other SUV's back and opened it. Kisha followed and just like the other trunk, it was full of black boxes.

Duke silently opened each one and murmured. "You can choose from here." His voice was so low that only Kisha heard it because she was standing next to him.

Feeling bad for him, she tried to appease him. "Don't worry, we'll use your gun in the future, let's just save the best for the last."

Only after hearing that, did Duke's expression improve. His subordinate not still used to his change in expression and mood felt like this was very novel and wanted to gossip about it with their other bros but they held back because they were well aware of his temper.

After checking the boxes, Kisha's face lit up, a smile blossomed on her lips, and her eyes turned to a crescent shape.

Duke was silently watching her expression change and he completely recovered from his earlier temperamentality and smiled too.

After looking around, she chose a really sharp katana, the blade had a cold sharp glow and had a long Chinese dragon engraved on it that covered the whole blade, the Guard before the handle had a cherry blossom design on it and the handle had the same design. It's craftsmanship is indeed top-notch.

She took the 75 cm long katana and a small version like a dagger. She also took a double-sided dagger and hid it in her boots.

Duke looked at her in appreciation. "Great choice, these mother and son swords are my favorite too. It is made of a combination of Chromium and Tungsten. The most durable metal." He rubs his chin as he reminisces. "I even went to Japan's number one family that crafts the best Katana personally to get this made."

"But why do you even want to make this, are you going to a war or are you going to hack someone with it?" Asked Kisha questioningly.

Stump, he answered. "No."

"You're lucky that we found a use for this in the apocalypse, else it will just be a useless collection and will collect dust."

"It's a collection, it doesn't need to be used. Collections are for novelty of the item, though." As he spoke, Kisha looked at him with a deadpan expression and his voice turned lower and lower until he stopped talking.

"Tsk, world of the rich." She then turned around and asked everyone to choose a cold weapon to prepare.

The people inside the store are all standing near the door and are looking at them, they do not know why and what Kisha's party is preparing for but they could feel they are not to be trifled with.

Once everyone had chosen and prepared, she looked around in satisfaction and said. "In a few minutes, the rain will fall and so I want everyone to be vigilant. Avoid using guns and loud-sounding weapons because it will attract their attention."

She stood next to her family and said. "Don't get too far from me and try not to fight a one-on-one battle and always aim at the head."

"Are we going to collect those things called crystal core?" Keith asked, enough for everyone on the team to hear.

"No, crystal core has yet to form in this stage. Once the virus is well concentrated on the body only then will a crystal core will be formed." She explained as she looked up at the sky. "Avoid getting the rain in your mouth and those among you who have wounds need to avoid the rain. Ingesting it as well as it getting into your bloodstream through the wound is sure to 100 percent transform you into zombies."

Hearing this, Duke made sure to send this information to his men to make sure to lessen their losses.

After a little waiting, red drops of fluid started falling from the sky, it started slowly and then it poured. The ground turned red and it was hard to see far from all the red raindrops but they did not stand together, they maintained a two-step distance from each other.

Kisha especially paid attention to the people Duke brought with him because she was sure that none of her family members would turn and neither Duke.

The people inside the store were shocked by the scene and they slowly went out, out of curiosity, they touched the rain wanting to see if it smelled like blood or rust.

The man whose family got crushed by the signboard started laughing which shocked the people near him. He ran outside and kneeled beside the diseased, he looked up at the sky and started shouting. "The heavens have eyes, it saw that my wife died tragically and it sympathized with her!" He continued to cry as he shouted.

"Sister, this." Keith pointed at the man as he worriedly looked at his sister.

He was worried that he would not only transform but would also attract the nearby zombies with his shouting. He's starting to get flustered as time passes by.

Duke took a step forward, wanting to take care of the man but Kisha stopped him and shook her head.

She did not want him to make a move because the people inside the store all went out to try and help pull him back inside. They are now all drenched and no one can't say who among them will transform.

Their own group still needs to be monitored so she does not want him to get distracted.

After a moment the rain stopped and Kisha made sure to time it, and just like what she expected. It lasted five minutes longer than usual, so she is afraid that the potency is stronger than usual too.

Not long after, a continuous scream reverberated from afar and nearby. It sounded like the roar of a beast rather than from a person.

"It started." She said.

The man who was shouting earlier started shaking nonstop, he fell to the ground and everyone thought that he was just having a health seizure. They surrounded him and pressed him down. A man even gagged him to make sure that he would not bite his tongue while having a seizure.

All four of his limbs were pressed by the healthy men, but another one fell, and then another. Of the ten people, half of them fell, one after the other, and started convulsing.

Their eyes turned up, their lips turned purple and they bled from their seven orifices.

A sudden sound that dropped on the floor brought Kisha and other's attention. Their heads turned like a whip and saw two of the men Duke brought fell to their knees. Nerve bulges in their forehead and their jaws clench tightly.

As if trying to fight it, they balled their fist, enough to dig their nails into their flesh.

The two of them closed their eyes, breathing heavily and letting out a muffled grunt.

Another scream from the front of the store caught their attention when they turned around. They saw the first man who fell, now turned to a zombie pounce on the man taking care of him. The guy held the zombie's collar to stop him from biting him but he was not safe from being clawed, his face was scratched badly and he couldn't stop screaming.

When his eyes got caught by the scratching, he squealed and momentarily let go of the zombie's collar, and because of it, he was bitten on his face. The moment he was bit, he tried to push the zombie away but the zombie's jaw seemed to have locked on him and wouldn't let go of him so he used his lower half to kick it hard but part of his face was torn off. He rolled on the ground from the severe pain and couldn't stop screaming.