The people in the freezer scream in what I can only assume to be fear and shock. I take a weak step back expecting them to attack. My movement seems to only heighten their fear as they recoil further into the freezer.

“Don’t worry we’re not the undead.” Decker says in a calm voice.

The screams die down as the group realize that we haven’t attacked them yet. And furthermore we are talking. A short girl stands up from where the group squated.

“Is…”

Her words come out weak and horse. Looking closely I realize all of them seem to be shaking not out of just fear. Their skin is a bluish hue and their lips look dried and cracked.

Cold air wafts out of the freezer with abundance. The cold draft is strong enough to make me want to shiver too. How long have they been here?

“Is it gone?” She asks.

I can barely hear her words. Her voice comes out raspy and shaky. It’s also broken up by the chattering of her teeth.

The dots connect in my head and I put together what happened. The Zombie Butcher was probably one of the chiefs here that had turned. By eating everyone in the restaurant it probably leveled up fast. And these people probably locked themselves in here out of fear.

“Yes. We killed it.” Decker says.

The girl’s shoulders rise as if the weight of the world was finally off of her. A smile cracked her dry lips and I notice a small bit of blood flowing at the corners of them.

“Does that mean it’s safe to leave?” She asks.

Decker shakes his head.

“No. The streets are filled with zombies. And I’m sure that there’s more like him out there.” Decker says.

The girl's shoulders drop.

“Oh.” She says

Her head drops and I see tears start flowing down her face.

“But I have a safe place. If you guys are willing to help out there’s more than enough space.” Decker says.

Her spirits instantly rise and for a second I imagine her emotions as a yo-yo. Being brought up and down with Decker’s words.

She furiously shakes her head in agreement. Then she looks back at the group on the floor. She seems to read something in their eyes as she turns around and addresses Decker.

“We’ll come.”

With that the group slowly makes their way out the freezer. Most of them keep a wide berth from me. I don’t have to question why as even beneath the layers of clothes that I wear the blue glow of mana is evident.

Peering into the fridge I notice lots of fresh food, fruits and vegetables lining shelves. Further back is another door that I assume is where they keep the frozen goods. Decker directs the group to grab what boxes of food that they can before leaving.

The girl leaves the freezer without anything. Her eyes fall onto me and stay there for a second. Long enough to make me feel uncomfortable. I look away and she continues to a small hallway that I hadn’t noticed before. There are more boxes of food, mostly dried things like rice and beans.

She takes a large bag of rice probably weighing around ten pounds. She walks off towards the front door where Decker stands watching over the group of people. When everyone aside of me and Decker has something Decker turns to the outside and beckons me to follow.

I shamble forwards nursing my still broken ribs. The group parts around me like I’m infected with something. As I pass through I hear some of the whispering questions about my glowing.

Once near the door I extend the small amount of mana out before me. I sense no beings on the block right outside the entrance. I give Decker a small nod before walking out onto the street.

The same sense of a heavy fog greets me. Unlike last night however, this fog feels less full of death. Something in me reacts to the fog wanting to pull it in and make it my own. The practically empty lake of mana in me practically growls with hunger.

The sensation is very much akin to being hungry. Just in a different way. Like if hunger and thirst were combined. I ignore the sensation, filing it away as something to think about when I’m not weak, exposed, and guiding a group of people to the building.

Everett street is clear of any zombie. I take the radio from off my belt, hoping that it wasn’t damaged in the fight. Looking down at it I see that the antena’s tip is broken off. My heart sinks as I worry if that’s going to affect it.

I press down on the button and hear the crackle of static.

“Open the door.” I say

“On it.” Andy says

I turn the corner and see no zombies on the second street either. The door to the kitchen cracks open as Andy’s head pops out. He looks up and down the street like some rat before catching sight of me.

With the all clear and knowing that the door is unlocked I motion for the group in the restaurant to follow. They file out of the restaurant and into the street in a single file. They follow me around the corner and start piling into the kitchen. The short girl is the last of the group followed by Decker.

“Who are all these people?” Andy asks, watching the group pile in.

As he turns his attention form the group of people he spots Decker. Blood cakes Decker’s face and one of his arms hangs uselessly. In all honesty he looks like trash.

“Oh God what happened to you?” He asks, horrified by the image Decker gives off.

“Got in a fight. What do you think?” Decker shoots back. A grin spread across his lips revealing bloody teeth.

His smile is honestly a little horrifying. But the reaction it inspires in Andy is hilarious. The chubby man stumbles back as the blood drains from his face.

“Alright, the kitchen is through that door. The Walk in fridge is to your left. Put everything in there for now.” Decker says guiding the people.

They do as he asks. As they’re putting away the food Angila appears through the doors that lead to the lobby.

“I hear commotion. Is everything alright?” She asks.

As her eyes fall onto Decker and I, her face drains of color.

“Are you guys alright?” She asks, rushing to Decker’s side.

Her hands gingerly rise to his face. I can see that she wants to baby him but is too scared to.

Out of the corner of my eye I notice Andy glaring at Decker and Angila. Does he have a crush on her or something?

“It’s nothing. I’ll be fine don’t worry.” Decker says brushing away Angila’s hands.

He turns his focus to the group of new people, guiding Angilia’s gaze. She only now realizes there’s more people.

“Who are they?” She asks.

“We found them in the restaurant. We should probably give them some water and some time to warm up. Then we should discuss some things. Have them go to the seventh floor and give them as much water as they want.” Decker says.

With his instructions issued Decker leaves the kitchen. I want to follow him but I don’t want him to see me as a lost puppy. Instead I head to the seventh floor ahead of the others. Once there I take a protein bar from the pile of food and down it.

I sit down and close my eyes focusing my attention on my mana pool. A large drop of mana falls into the lake as I finish the protein bar. Adding around three percent of my max.

I focus on the process watching as the mana forms from within me. It then falls down like a rain drop into my pool. Causing waves to spread outwards.

It’s as if the nutrients or calories that I eat replenish my mana. But that’s not how it usually works in the stories, right?

From the stories I read, magic is either an innate talent people have that can do anything or it’s something they can develop and do specific things with.

Personally I feel like this isn’t an innate power people just have. Instead it feels like something that needs to be trained and worked on.

At those thoughts the tingle in my mind raises its head. Strangely I understand that it’s telling me that I’m on the right track. No words come from it. Just a strange gut feeling that I’m doing something right.

Remembering the hunger from the street I try to recreate the sensation. It’s less me forcing the sensation back but remembering that my mana pool was hungry. The sensation returns with a sort of growl from my mana pool. I feel it tugging at the air through all the channels in me.

Usually my mana flows out from the lake through my body. The only times mana flows the other direction is when I pull a spell back into me. However, that strange whisper in my mind makes me feel as if I should try pulling that weird fog in the air into my lake.

I reach my senses out and find that strange fog in the air. It’s far less dense up here on the seventh floor. But it’s still present. All around me. Slightly pushing in on me like water does when you’re submerged in it.

I focus on that pressure that I feel from the fog. I mentaly picture it flowing into me but nothing happens as I focus on pulling in the fog. Trying to figure out where I’m going wrong I focus on the channels stretching along my skin.

Starting at the end I command the streams of mana to flow in reverse. It’s sluggish at first but I feel it working. The streams start rolling back in on itself as I feel my mana pool fill a lot faster.

As the mana in the channels flow back I feel that fog press in on me even more. Begging to be let in. Somehow on an instinctual level I know how to let in the pressure.

Suddenly I feel as if I’m in the center of a tornado with the pressure whipping around me wildly. The energy passes through my skin burning through my mana channels as it does so.

The moment that the first bit of energy passes through the barrier of my skin I feel intune with the world around me. I feel insight flood me. I feel at peace.

Mana is an abundant energy in the world present all around us and in every being. Having the ability to manipulate mana I can control not just the energy in me but influence the energy around me. However, the energy not in my body isn’t attuned with me. So the most I can do is pull it into me. Imprinting it with my will.

As the mana passes through my veins to my core I feel the fire ants in my chest vanish. I feel a rush as the energy passes through me. I feel like I plunged myself into ice after a harsh workout.

Inside my mana pool I watch as the light rain becomes a torrential downpour. The energy from the world around me fills up my pool far quicker than what my body can produce from digesting the miniscule amounts of mana in the calories that I eat.

“Joel?” a voice breaks in through the storm filling my mana pool.

Opening my eyes I see Decker standing a few feet from me, sword pointed to me. Behind him Andy has a weird smile cracked across his face as he holds his bat between us. The other people cowere behind Angila who has a spinning ball of mana floating in front of her outstretched hand.

Is their fear directed at me?

Looking down I see black veins criss crossing my exposed skin. Panic instantly rises in my chest. Am I becoming a zombie? Did I get scratched or anything in the last fight?

Thinking back to it I did just stick my fingers back onto their stubs. I didn’t take the time to sanitize the wounds or anything. And if all my mana does is hasten my natural healing then it’s totally possible I got whatever makes a person a zombie in me.

Fuck I don’t want to be a zombie.

“Kid what’s going on?” Decker asks.

His sword no longer looks so cool when it’s pointed at you. It’s actually pretty scary. The silver coldness of the blade gives me a chill.

Looking down at myself again I see that the veins are fading fast as a glowing blue light fills them. Hope rises in me as I desperately try to justify what’s happening to me.

“I’m not dead.” I blurt out.

My arms rise in front of me as my proof.

“Look, it was just my mana. See.” I say hoping that Decker would understand.

My eyes look into his eyes as I silently plead him to believe me.

The black on my skin completely vanishes revealing only the blue glow of my mana being channeled.

“Stop using mana and let us see.” Decker says.

It takes a second to force my body to calm down and let the mana settle. My skin returns to it’s normal pale look with no glowing or black veins. Decker watches me for what feels like an eternity before relaxing.

His sword lowers and I read relief in his eyes.

“What was that kid?” He asks.