Chapter 27: Going Home

“Papa! Papa, wake up!”

I tried to slowly wake up, but a blinding light struck my eyes. There were three small figures of people standing in front of my bed.

“Papa! I’m going to be late at school!” The child in the middle said. “Wake up!”

As I tried to make sense of what was happening, I realized that I was back again. “Michael?”

I embraced him tightly as I met him once again. I couldn’t help but shed tears as I was back from a terrible dream. The twins, Daniel and Danielle, were also in the room with confused look. They looked exactly as I remembered. They were just three years old and Michael would turn eight this month.

“Papa.” Michael said. “Were you having a bad dream again?”

“Yeah.” I replied as I also embraced the twins. “I missed you guys so much.”

“Papa, I’m going to be late at school. It’s already 6:30!”

“No.” I said. “You’re going to stay home today. I’ll write a letter to your teacher.”

“But Papa, we have a test today!” He said in protest.

“Fine.” I said as I got up from my bed. “What do you want for breakfast?”

“Pamcakes!” Danielle said as she hugged my leg.

“I want chocolate in my pangcakes!” The other twin said.

I carried the twins on each arm as we all went downstairs. Normally, they’d only have instant oatmeal as it was easy to prepare even though they hated it. But that day, I never thought I’d see them again, so I cooked whatever they wanted for breakfast. That day we ate pancakes with chocolate chips. Kids do love it for sure. I noticed one thing though. I couldn’t see Claire around.

“Where’s Claire?” I asked.

“Mama didn’t come home last night.” Michael said. “Didn’t she texted you last night and said something about her work?”

Now that he mentioned it, I did remember that Claire texted me that she couldn’t come home last night because of the audit work in their client. It was mid-august and though it wasn’t the audit season, their client must be using fiscal period instead of the usual calendar period.

Anyway, after the kids finished their breakfast, all of us went to the car as I took Michael to school. It was at least an hour ride to his school and let me tell you this, it was chaos. Not because of heavy traffic, but because Michael and the twins liked to play on the backseat. I tried my best to stop them, but my words fell deaf on their ears. Kids.

“Bye!” The twins waved at Michael as he rushed towards the school gate.

As I drove back to our house, the twins seemed to be well-behaved. You can smell from a mile away that they wanted something from me that I won’t probably give. Usually it’s a toy or sweets, but sometimes, what they want is something impossible. Like on the other day, they asked me if I could buy them an airplane and when I said no, they transformed into little devils and threw tantrums for the rest of the day.

“Papa, can we have ice cream?” Daniel asked.

I smiled in relief as the request was at least feasible. “Later. We’ll wait for your brother, and then we’ll grab some ice cream, okay?”

“Okay!” The twins said in unison.

As you can see, I decided to quit my work to take care of the children. I know that women usually do this thing, but being a stay at home dad has its perks. One of them is I can get naps. Nothing can ever beat naps. It wasn’t that I did it for the naps, but I seemed to be more capable in taking care of the kids than Claire. She couldn’t even handle the fury of the twins, Daniel and Danielle.

Plus, I already gained enough experience and connection that I can now take clients of my own and work at home. Before my early retirement, my salary was big enough that Claire and I bought a decent house. But now, the fees I got from my personal clients were smaller compared to Claire’s salary, but it’s a start. Soon, I will have my own firm. There’s nothing greater than earning money at home and seeing the kids grow at the same time.

When we got back to our house, the twins rushed back inside and went upstairs. They were running around the house playing tag. They would probably spend their entire day running and all I can do was to remind them the “no running” rule which will be unheard until one of them is crying.

As I was working on my computer, I looked at my phone and read a new text message from Claire.

“I’m coming home.”

“Hey.” A voice said. “Are you okay?”

I felt a slight tug on my robe. As I slowly regained consciousness, a tall blonde beauty stood in front of me as she waved her hand on my face trying to gain my attention.

“You stopped all of a sudden. What’s wrong?” She asked again.

I looked around and realized that I was back at the terrible dream again. Or maybe this was the real world? I don’t know anymore. I don’t care. I just wanted to be back at-

I noticed that a little girl with cat ears was staring at me as she hid behind the blonde girl’s back. What was their name again? I already forgot.

“How long was I gone?”

“I don’t know.” The blonde woman said. “You’re just standing there and spaced out for a couple of minutes. I thought you were thinking or something. Is there something wrong?”

“No. I’m fine.” I said to her. “What’s your name again?”

“Is that another insult?” The blonde woman furrowed her eyebrows. “Anyway, just in case you’re an idiot, this is Asharra and I’m-“

I raised my hand and interrupted her. It all came back into me like a wave of information suddenly jacked inside my brain. From what I remembered, this blonde bitch was a celebrity singer who was full of herself.

“Oh, it doesn’t matter. I’ll just forget you again anyway.”

Daria fumed silently as we went on our journey. She and Asharra still continued to follow me, even with my unwelcoming attitude. I just wanted her to receive the message that I didn’t want her with me.

As I remembered it, I was on my way home when I saved these two from the undead horde. I cured her from the zombie sickness, but she and the cat girl decided to stick with me like leeches on my balls. Not that they’re currently sucking blood in my balls, but they’re nearly there. I’m sure.

What can I say? I’m a homing beacon for bitches. I won’t mind it if it’s only Asharra, the cat girl. She’s just a kid and kids are easy to handle. Plus, she reminds me of one of my twin children, Danielle. She had her eyes, but I wonder if she had the same behaviour.

“Do you know any safe place? We travelled all the way from Manila because Jen said there’s a military base around here.” She said.

“I know one.” I replied. “But I’m not going there.”

“But why?” Daria asked, raising her voice. “Where are you going?”

“Just go west until you pass two rivers then go north. It’s hard to miss.”

“You’re not going there?”

“No.”

“But why?”

“I got somewhere else to be.”

Daria seemed to be in conflict when I gave them directions to Camp Aguinaldo. I stood up and went on with the journey. I expected them not to follow me after that, but they still ended up following me.

After for what it seemed forever, I finally reached our house. Good lord, I almost expected it to be a ruin with the roof collapsed, but it was still in somewhat good condition with a just few cracks on the walls and a dusty roof. I prayed that Jen was fine and alive.

The gates were locked, but thankfully, I still have the key to our house. I sprinted towards inside the house and looked around to see any clues as to what happened to my sister. Instead of a heart-warming reunion or a heart-wrenching revelation of truth, I didn’t find anyone or anything inside our house, except for a message written on the wall of our living room.

“Miguel, if you ever find this message, we want you to know that we’re okay. We’re going east. Follow the signs.”

I instantly recognized it as my mother’s handwriting. I was overjoyed to learn that even my mother made it out alive in the first week of the apocalypse and managed to take my sister with her. I still wanted to see them though. The message on the wall seemed to be written in haste.

“This is your house, isn’t it?” Daria asked as she stared at the wall.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to go? I already told you where Camp Aguinaldo is.”

A vein in her forehead popped and her face was red in anger. “What the fuck is your problem?”

I got to admit. It’s only been a few hours since we met and I was acting like a real prick. She was drop dead gorgeous and as a cripple one-eyed guy with a terrible, terrible looks, I should’ve been more thankful that a blonde goddess pop singer like her decided to accompany me on my journey.

Do you know the feeling when you were a fan of a celebrity and when you’re face-to-face with your idol, you have an urge to ask for an autograph or a selfie? Well, I don’t. Actually, my feelings at that time were on reverse. I had an urge to punch her in the face and maybe break a bone or two. I have no idea why, but there was something in her that I didn’t like. I couldn’t pick it out, but somehow, I hated her. Just like how Claire hated me, I guess?

“Wasn’t it obvious?” I asked. “I told you to go away. What the hell are you still doing here?”

“Didn’t you say we’re a team?”

“I never said that” I shook my head. “I said: if you’re going to stick around, you should put zombie guts on your clothes, so that you won’t be a bother to me. I never said we’re a ‘team’.”

“Still sounds the same to me.” Daria said as she folded her arms. “Hey, I have an idea! Why don’t you take us there and we’ll be off your back? Sounds good, right?”

I didn’t know if she was serious or she was being sarcastic and making fun of me. But I just happened to know the greatest solution to annoying and stubborn people: Ignoring them and pretending they don’t exist.

Of course, I understood her. If I were her, I would also stick with the one who could protect me. Surviving isn’t easy when you can’t protect yourself, so you suck it up. There’s a chance that the person that can protect you would also be your demise, but either way, taking a chance by following an asshole is a better option than being eaten by a monster.

That night, Daria, Asharra and I stayed at my house. The house was a mess and even my favorite couch was ruined. Not that they still have their uses, but the TV and my PC were ruined too. I went upstairs to further investigate and hoping that they left me more messages. Alas, I only found empty clothes cabinet. Well, they weren’t exactly empty. Some of Jen’s clothes were scattered all over her room.

It was a terrible night. As if my bad luck streak was at all-time high. Not only I became a cripple the other day and lost my eye yesterday, today, I got myself a useless pretty songbird and a toddler cat girl as extra luggage. Everywhere I went around our house, they would follow me like dogs and they never let me out of their sight. Daria even helped herself with my sister’s clothes.

“Are these your sister’s?” She asked with a disappointed look on her face. “They’re a bit small for my size.”

See what I’m talking about? She even had the guts to complain as if our house was a shopping mall. Meanwhile, the cat girl imitates her and tried to put on an oversized shirt. I guess it was okay. I mean, Jen wouldn’t need these hideous clothes anyway.

I was itching for a bath, so I went to my room to indulge in my bathtub. Like a said, bathtubs in this country were almost an indication of wealth. As you would’ve guessed, we were considered rich, but I can tell you, we were somewhere in middle class; perhaps upper middle class, but we’re not as rich as Eric. You may wonder. How did a military general and a detective on a government payroll managed to have this house?

My father takes bribes. My dad gets it from government officials to earn his support. I didn’t know who they were exactly, but I only knew where my father got his because he told me himself. I think he even had a connection with the arms dealers that sold weapons to the terrorists. My mother, on the other hand, said that she never once took a bribe. Although she seemed to be an honest person, I doubted it.

What a bunch of hypocrites, aren’t they? My dad liked to brag about doing his ‘duty’ and honor of serving the country while my mother hated drugs like President Duterte. Unfortunately, not only in this country, but also everywhere in the world, corruption is an unbreakable tradition and you won’t survive for long if you don’t participate in this circle jerk.

After I took a long bath, I went downstairs to the kitchen and tried to find something to eat. It seemed that my two ‘companions’ were already waiting for me on the kitchen.

“You took a bath?” Daria asked as she pointed at my wet hair.

“Yeah.” I shrugged.

“Oh, you can do water magic too, huh?”

What did she mean by ‘too’? Was she capable of doing magic all along?

“Can you do it too?” I asked.

“No.” She shook her head. “There was someone in our group who can do that. By the way, do you have any food? We haven’t eaten anything for a day now. Last time, we-“

Before she could continue her non-stop talking, I raised my hand and interrupted her. “You talk too much. Please stop talking.”

Finally, she stopped. She didn’t stop glaring at me though. If only glares could kill, I’d already be dead. Anyway, I took a metal pot from the cabinet and filled it with rice. After I washed the rice, I put the pot on the stove. It’s been days since I last ate rice and I already missed it.

“You should’ve killed me if you really hate me. I’m curious. Why did you save my life?” She asked.

Why indeed? In fact, I don’t really care about other people I believed that I do, but I really don’t. Perhaps Dianne rubbed off some of her ‘goodness’ in me, I don’t know. It just felt like it’s the right thing to do. Maybe it’s just me trying to do some good, but most likely, I just did it to feel good about myself.

“I don’t hate you.” I replied. “But I don’t like you either.”

“Then why save me?”

“This cat girl will probably follow me if I didn’t and I don’t want any burden.”

“Burden? You don’t know me. You don’t even know what my skill is.”

“Okay.” I said. “What’s your skill?”

“[Lullaby]”

“What does it do?”

“I can make the enemies sleep with my voice.”

“How about your party members? What if they hear your voice?”

“Uhmmm. W-well, that’s why I don’t use it much.” Daria said laughed wryly as she scratched the back of her head.

This was one of the reasons why I was picky about party members back in the university. Most people I met there were useless. Or at least I didn’t appreciate the use of their skills yet. Anyway, I don’t think her skill was appropriate with adventuring. In other words, her skill is useless to me.

“Anything else?” I asked.

“Uhmm, [Observe]?”

“We all have that skill.”

“Well, that’s it. That’s all I got.”

“How about your attributes?”

“I put everything in agility.”

“How about you?” I turned to Asharra.

“What’s a skill, nyah?” The cat girl asked.

“Are you seriously going to ask a kid to fight?”

“I’m just asking. Maybe she’s more useful than you.” I said. “Just open your skill window and we’ll see.”

She tilted her head with a confused look on her face. “What’s a skill window, nyah?”

“Do you know how to read?” I asked again.

Asharra shook her head.

“She’s only seven years old and she’s not from this planet.” Daria said.

I instructed Asharra how to access the SYSTEM. Like George’s son, Ethan, it seemed that if a person doesn’t know how to read, you won’t be able to see a blue screen. Instead, you will hear a voice. Her attributes were sub-par except for her strength and agility which was already at 8. She didn’t have any skills either, except for [Observe].

“So that’s it? You’ll let us come with you?” Daria asked.

“It’s still a no.” I replied.

Daria’s hopeful expression turned into a frown as I told her my decision. Did she really expect me to take them to Camp Aguinaldo?

I turned around and turned off the stove, so that my sinaing wouldn’t burn. [1] After that, I opened two cans of sardines for us to share. You may wonder why I was willing to share my food with them even though I didn’t like them. You see, we Filipinos have an unspoken rule about treating guests.

Like in Game of Thrones, hosts must not harm their guests and vice versa. That’s right. No matter how much you hate a person or even if he or she’s your enemy, you must still offer them food and treat them with respect when inside your roof. Even if you have very little food for yourself, it is only right to share them with your guests. It’s stupid, I know, but this rule would also apply if someday, you’ll be the guest. I doubt it will happen though; Daria doesn’t live in this country and Asharra wasn’t even from Earth as Daria said earlier.

As I served the food, Daria quickly dug in on her share. Before I even took my first bite, she was already asking for seconds. Meanwhile, Asharra wasn’t touching her food. She was just sniffing it and playing with her food. After she tried to take a first bite, Asharra’s face turned sour and it was clear that she didn’t like the food. She stood up and approached me as I ignored the cat girl and continued to eat.

“Can I have some meat?”

“Asharra, you shouldn’t be picky about food. Didn’t you say you’re hungry?” Daria scolded her.

Ignoring Daria’s words, Asharra continued to pull my robes to gain my attention. “Give me some meat, nyah.”

“Asharra.” Daria called her again. “No!”

“Please!”

Asharra stared at me with her begging eyes. It reminded me of Puss in Boots’ eyes in Shrek movie. I just couldn’t resist it, so I gave in and opened my inventory to see what other food I can give to her. “Do you eat chimera meat?”

I swear, as soon as I mentioned chimeras, I saw a twinkle in Asharra’s eyes. She nodded her head with enthusiasm as I gave her a piece of chimera steak. Fortunately, I bought a lot of it before I left Camp Aguinaldo. I was planning to save it when I’m in a mood for a steak dinner.

“Thank you!” She said as she devoured the steak.

In the end, Daria ate almost all of the rice I cooked. She reminded me of Claire’s appetite. Each time I remember that, it infuriates me. Why the fuck can’t I eat more and not get fat? *Sigh*

After dinner, Daria decided to be useful and took care of the dishes. She asked me a favor to fill the bathtub with water, so she and Asharra could take a bath. I wasn’t pleased when I learned that they planned to use the bathroom in my room as the other one in the first floor was ruined. Anyway, I couldn’t stand their stench any longer, so I went upstairs and filled the tub with warm water for them.

That night, I wasn’t in the mood to try and restore my lost limb and eye with my magic. I was thinking of another option. After a few minutes of thinking, I had an idea of making a prosthetic limb, but unfortunately, I have no idea on how to make one.

I could make an iron hook with a clothes hanger for starters. It would be cool and I’ll look like Captain Hook. With an iron hook as a hand and an eye patch, I was well on my way of being a pirate. I didn’t know how to swim though.

Another great idea of mine was that instead of a prosthetic hand, I could attach a chainsaw on my left hand like Ash Williams with my staff as my “Boomstick”. The problem with that idea was that chainsaws are useless because of the SYSTEM.

Enough with the jokes. My best idea was to make a mechanical limb. I know that it sounds ambitious and it may be impossible due to the SYSTEM fucking with the modern technology. I was thinking that maybe I could make a mechanical limb and controlled with mana. Even if somehow I manage to make an artificial hand, I have no means to make it useful or at least to make it move.

“Phew! That felt good.”

I was drinking a bottle of rum when Daria sat on the sofa in front of me as she dried her hair with a towel. She was wearing Jen’s grey tank tops and denim shorts. It was a bit small for her size and the tight fit of Jen’s clothes revealed her voluptuous body shape. She has a nice pair of legs too.

“Where’s Asharra?” I asked.

“Sleeping.”

Her almond shaped blue eyes stared at me seductively as she slightly bent down trying to show off her cleavage. Unfortunately for her, her poor attempt at seduction wasn’t working. Back in college, Claire tried to be nice to me, so that I would study with her. She even tried to seduce me with her fake personality.

When Claire realized that I already saw through her disguise, she became aggressive. Only later on, when I cured her of the zombie infection, she softened up on me, but she still makes fun of me and her overall aggressive attitude towards me didn’t change.

Everyone has a hidden agenda. And clearly, this blonde bitch wasn’t trying to seduce me because she wanted me. It was obvious and stupid. The only way to break it up was to call on her bullshit, but I decided to play along.

“What happened to your eyes?” Daria asked.

“Slime acid spit. It melted my eyeballs out of the socket yesterday.”

Daria curled her lips in disgust. “And your hand?”

“I was attacked by dire wolves on the other day.”

“Wait- so you lost your hand and your eye in just two days?”

“Yup.” I put down the bottle on the table and took out my pipe. “I’m having streaks of bad luck recently.”

“Don’t worry. Some women like men with scars.” Daria said as she tried to console me.

I shook my head as I puffed a smoke. “Right.”

“Is that weed?” She asked. “Can I have some too?”

I handed the pipe to her as she took a puff. “This is good shit. Where did you get it?”

“Why, why, why do you have so many questions?!”

Daria folded her arms and glared at me. “You got a serious attitude problem, you know that?”

“Not really.” I said in defence. “I just can’t stand annoying people like you.”

“Funny. I wanted to say the same thing to you.”

“Ha-ha-ha.” I let out a fake laugh.

“Eye have to hand it to you. You have a way to charm a woman.” Daria said sarcastically.

I raised my right hand and gave her the finger. “I only have one fuck left to give. I’d give you two if I still had my other hand.”

“If I had a face like yours, I’d sue your parents!” She retorted.

“Calling you an idiot would be an insult to all stupid people.”

“Tub of lard!”

“I envy the deaf whenever I hear your music. Your voice sounds like a dying elephant.”

“Oh really? Can you sing better than me? Care for a demonstration?”

“Sure thing. Do you have an auto-tune with you?”

Unfortunately for Daria, I have thousands of insults and comebacks in my arsenal as a result of Miguel-Claire insult wars. It doesn’t matter if the person I’m insulting is a pretty singer. I can still find a way to poke holes and they will understand that they couldn’t beat me at my own game.

Daria gritted her teeth as she fumed at my last insult. She was trying to make a comeback from that burn, but that last one burned her good. She almost wanted to throw my pipe to my face, before taking a puff and handing it to me.

After that, there was silence between us. Unlike Claire and me, the atmosphere between us was not awkward, but rather, we ran out of things to say to each other. Daria seemed to have an attitude of taking things without permission as she took the bottle of rum and helped herself with it.

“Where did you meet Asharra?” I asked. I figured that it was time to get serious.

“I don’t exactly know where. But Jen and I met her and her mother a few days ago.”

“Where’s her mother?”

“Dead.” Daria said as she frowned. “We found Asharra crying over her mother’s body, so Jen decided we should take her with us. She couldn’t survive alone.”

“Poor kid.” I commented.

“How about you? Have you ever been to this military base you’ve mentioned?”

“Yeah.”

“What was it like?”

“Shitty.”

“And? Is it safe in there?”

“If you call dying of starvation or sickness as safe, then yes, it is safe.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I’m trying to find my family. That message...” I pointed at the wall behind her. “...is my mom.”

“Why didn’t you just ask for help?”

“The army won’t do shit about it.”

“How did you survive by your own?” Daria asked as she took a big gulp. “I mean, there are lots of monsters out there.”

“Wits, I guess?” I replied. “And magic, of course.”

“You know, I’ve been from Manila when all of this happen-“ Daria continued.

You might not believe it and I wouldn’t either, but Daria actually told me her backstory just like in the movies. You know the ‘character introduction’ cliché? Fiction sin counter: 1.

Unfortunately for her, the whole dialogue of her story wasn’t really worth a single entry on my diary as it was full of hiccups, sniffing and tears in between. It’s only been a while since I have someone to talk to, but I really didn’t miss it, especially now that the dreams or reality whatever was back again. I didn’t exactly know why she told me her story, but it sounded like she was trying to gain my sympathy instead of seduction, so she could stick around for a while.

Okay, I know most of you are still curious about her back story, so here’s it is:

Daria Swann was staying at a hotel in Manila after her concert in Araneta Coliseum. Her flight was on the same day, but unfortunately for her, her flight was delayed. Not because of the apocalypse, but because delayed flights were common in the Philippines. Of course, she might be fortunate that it was delayed because the apocalypse happened the day after.

She, her manager and a couple of her friends were in the hotel when it happened. Her manager and her friends suddenly collapse to the ground when the blue screens appeared and like in Professor Gerry’s story, they mysteriously died on the spot. She met a group of survivors in the hotel and they tried to stay in the hotel and wait for someone to rescue them, but they only managed a few days before the hotel was overrun by monsters.

Daria and a handful of survivors in the hotel managed to escape the hotel and that was when her group also met another group of survivors, but they weren’t humans. I got to admit. As soon as she mentioned elves and beastmen, I became interested with her story.

Coming from another world filled with magic and technology comparable to medieval age, the non-human survivors were starving and lost because they didn’t know where to get food in this strange world. They banded together to survive and they were successful. Only in the first few days, of course.

Their group had at least forty members and when they reached Pasig, most of the survivors died because a massive monster horde. Only three of them were left. And after Jen, a hotel employee she met in Manila, died today, all that was left was her and Asharra.

“So that’s what happened.” Daria sniffed as her eyes got teary from her ‘sad’ storytelling.

The tears in Daria’s eyes seemed to be genuine. It must be hard for her to be helpless as she watched the other survivors get massacred before her eyes. I couldn’t even imagine what it looks like when slimes digest a live person. It must be painful I’m sure. I guess I was lucky that I just lost my eye to the slimes.

“Look, I know that I seem like a burden to you. But at least let me prove to you that I can be useful. I can take care of my own and Asharra. I can watch your back.” Daria said.

“On three conditions.” I said to her as I put up three fingers. “First, if I run, you also run. Don’t expect me to save you if you fall behind. Same goes for me. Second, you will obey me, no questions asked. Don’t worry, I won’t ask you anything that- Well, let’s just say that I already got a girlfriend and I’m not a pervert.”

“Not a pervert. Got it.” Daria said. “And the third one?”

“Don’t take my things without permission. For example, you wore my sister’s clothes without so much of: Can I have these?”

“Oh, sorry. I just thought I can take them because no one here can use it.”

“I don’t know where you live, but I’m pretty sure that everywhere in world, you always need permission before taking things.”

“Fine.” Daria shrugged. “Is that it? We can come with you?”

“Yes, that’s it.”

“Can we form a party? I think it’s better if we can share exp points.”

“No.”

“But why? I need to get stronger too!”

“You’ll just leech every exp I earn.”

“But how can I get strong?”

“Not my problem. You said you wanted to prove yourself useful? Then do it.”

“Look, I know you hate me for some reason. But please, I need your help. I want to get strong.”

One reason why I lost my arm and my eyes was because of lack of companions. When you’re alone, no one watches your back. I admit that most of the times it is necessary to have a few friends with you. But the thing is, those friends should be reliable and they should at least be as capable as you are.

“Fine. We’ll form a party.” I grinned. “Create Party: Daria Sucks Ass. Invite Party: Daria Swann”

“What the fuck?”

“Is there a problem with the party name? It’s either this party or no party at all.”

“Fine!” Daria said. “Accept Invite.”

After we formed a party, Daria was eager to prove herself and volunteered to take the first watch. I told her to go to sleep as I didn’t want to sleep tonight. There was so much going on my head right now and honestly, I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep normally again.

The next morning, I decided that Asharra should also join the party, so she can put all of her stats in agility. I didn’t need her to fight, but she should at least be capable of running fast when things go downhill. I also instructed Daria to also put some points in strength and vitality if she has to go melee.

Before we took off, I opened my Character Screen and put all the points to wisdom. I wanted to see what kind of perk I would get if it reaches 100.

Name: Miguel Arevalo Race: Human Level: 34 HP: 628/628 MP: 1686/1686 SP: 250/250 EXP: 10.12% STR: 19 WIS: 80 AGI: 25 INT: 100 VIT: 50 LUK: 13 DEX: 12 CHA: 21 Satiety: Hungry Status Normal Undistributed Attribute Points: 0 Title(s): Masochist: +10% Pain Tolerance and HP Perk(s): Leadership: +10 Charisma and increased follower loyalty Tactician: Tactics and Strategies have higher chance of success Mana Affinity II: Increase in Mana Control and +20% MP

“So what’s the plan?” Daria asked as she pointed at my map.

“We’re going east.” I said. “There should be a bridge here going to Rizal. That’s probably where my family is.”

“Where’s the military base?”

“Right here.” I pointed at the opposite side of Rizal. “I told you I’m not going back there. Not until I find my family.”

“I don’t have a choice, do I?”

“Of course, you do.” I replied. “You know the location. You can go there by yourself.”

“...”

After that, we did my standard procedure of survival: making a last sweep in the place for anything we can use before leaving. I had an idea of how Daria’s skill could be useful. I found some ear plugs that my mom kept in her drawer alongside her gun. She said that anyone who can hear her voice will fall asleep, so if I can’t hear it, I won’t be affected. It’s a simple solution, but we didn’t have time to test it.

We also took a couple of blankets with us, so we can apply zombie guts on it. It was messy, but necessary. It took me a while before I get used to the smell, but Daria just couldn’t get used to it and Asharra was being stubborn. It took a while for Daria to convince her, but in the end, Asharra wore the blanket and called me a bad person.

As we went on and left our house, I began to notice the low density of monsters on the area. There were also crude barricades blocking the road just a few blocks from our house. Whatever my mother did, she’s definitely a lot stronger than I thought. My heart beat rose at the thought of seeing her again.

A few hours later, I’ve seen a familiar symbol drawn on the wall. It wasn’t a message, but when I saw the symbol, I knew that my mother was the one who draw it. It was the sign.

It’s from my mom’s favourite TV series: The Mentalist. I didn’t exactly know the story, but it’s like Sherlock Holmes in FBI or something. It was clever. She knew that I would know that it was her.

Restless Dead Lvl. 16

Though most of the fast zombies we encountered were dormant and harmless, it seemed that our disguise weren’t effective with these variant of zombies. The Restless Dead were different than the other zombies around us. Their skin was slimy black and had a fouler stench than the others. I already got used with the stench of rotting corpses, but their foul stench made me throw up.

“SHIT!”

Again, I lost my focus and spaced out for just a few seconds as I burned through the horde. I missed one of the Restless Dead and pulled my foot. Even though it was almost flesh and bones, the undead was much physically stronger than I thought. I was pinned and I lost grip on my staff as I fell down on the ground.

The ravenous undead got on top of me as it tried to bite me with its rotting teeth. I raised my left arm and stopped the zombie’s bite on time as I held its neck with my wrist. It overwhelmed me with its strength and pushed its head forward with its mouth a few inches above my face. I tried my best to reach for my staff with my right hand, but it was too far.

-51 HP! Critical Hit!

A spray of cold black blood splashed on my face. It was Daria. As we realized that it didn’t die in one blow, she tried to pull the axe buried on its skull, but it was stuck. The zombie flinched for a split second, but it became more enraged as it tried to sink its teeth on my neck. Daria, on the other hand, tried to pull her axe in vain.

On that moment, I pulled every fiber of my remaining strength on my body. Everything seemed to slow down, as if time itself was counting my last remaining seconds in this world. I almost resigned to my seemingly inevitable fate, but then, I remembered why I was out here in the first place. I must not fail.

Suddenly, an idea came into mind. As a last resort, I placed my hand on the undead’s forehead and cast [Living Matter Manipulation]. I poured a huge amount of my mana and focused on blowing up its head.

Target Died

It was a little bit overkill as I didn’t expect such a violent explosion of putrid brain matter, blood and pieces of skull. I spat out some of the zombie’s debris because some of it got into my mouth.

“Are you alright?” Daria asked as she helped me get up the ground.

“I’m fine.” I answered. “Thanks.”

I immediately splashed some water on my face with magic as I tried to clean up. I also gurgled some water to remove the taste of disgusting flesh in my tongue. I picked up my staff and kept on walking as if nothing happened.

I heard a strange noise. It wasn’t the gibberish whispers that I’m used to, but it sounded like children laughing.

“Papa!” the voice said. “Papa!”

“Danl!” I shouted. “Dan, is that you?”

“Hey, who’s Dan?” Daria asked.

“Dan! Daniel! Where are you?!”

“Hey, stop that! There’s nobody here but us.” Daria grabbed my arm tightly as she tried to stop me.

“Papa! Help me!” The voice was near. I couldn’t help myself but to answer it. It was my son, Daniel and he needed my help.

“Daniel!” I shouted as I bolted towards the voice. The zombies around me woke up, but I quickly finished them off with my fire magic. “I’m coming, Daniel!”

“HELP ME! PAPA!”

As I arrived at the scene, I was in despair when I saw my son, Daniel, being eaten by a horde of undead. They stood up and ran forward as they noticed me.

“NOOOO!!!”

I raised my staff and decimated the charging horde with a barrage of [Rock Bullet]. Seeing the zombies dead wasn’t good enough. I crushed them repeatedly with a huge boulder until they were just a pile of mush. Nothing could stop the pain I felt at that moment.

The tears in my eyes continued to fall as I looked at the broken body of my son. “Daniel...”

I held him in my arms and tried to heal him, but it won’t work. He was already gone and his body has gone cold.

“Miguel?” I turned around and saw Daria and Asharra with confused looks. “What are you doing?”

My mind couldn’t even understand how insensitive Daria was. I just lost my son and the word I heard from her made my blood boil. I had an urge to incinerate her at that time. But then, when I looked back at Daniel’s corpse, I was holding a piece of wood. What the fuck was that?

“Miguel!” Daria called me again. I could hear her but when she called me once again, there was no sound. Like she was on mute.

There was a shriek of the undead as they finally found us. The restless dead were numerous and swarmed at us like moths in flame.

Everything around me was silent. Even with the chaos ensuing on the background.

I could only hear one voice. And she was saying one thing again and again.

“I’m coming home.”