“I accept.”

As I hear her say those words with a face filled with submission I feel the empty place inside me spasms. My motive whatever some might believe is not to create others like me. But to understand. The result seen in others is a mere by-product as I explore myself.

I will make myself whole by eradicating the weakness, the tumour… The thing ThAt sHOuLd nOT HAVe eXiSTeD.

I wILl bE wHaT IT NeVEr cOUld hAvE BEeN.

I NE-eD T-t-To calm down.

I inhale and exhale trying to calm my emotions.

“Now, what were you saying about having a mysli bar?” I ask while lifting her to stand and wipe some dust off her blouse. The exploration can wait for later. I’m too hungry to work. Besides…

I look at the corpses of the now re-dead and around the corridor of the offices. I don’t have anything to work with.

“I truly appreciate you sharing this with me!” I say to the woman cowering behind her desk while I slowly savour the taste of food. “I-I’m glad you like it Mr. Smith” She awkwardly stutters back at me.

I chuckle at her response and wave my hand. I never liked the surname I was given.

“Oh! Heavens, no need to be so formal, please. Just Kaine will do.”

“I, erm. See. About the dea-”

But before she finishes I interrupt her.

“Now, now. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but as it stands, with so little to work with you’d die before you even get your feet wet. Rather, what were you saying about knowing where to get more food? I presume that means there is none here?” Why couldn’t there be a vending machine here?

“Ye-y-“

I rise my hand, interrupting her and massage my temples with my other hand. “Listen, I know I’m scary to you whatever I do but for the love of god, can we please get past the stuttering and converse normally? You have little use to me as a corpse.”

She looks at me with poorly hidden disbelief.

“I-I It’s not that easy to change the way I’m speaking… s-so s-s-suddenly.” She says.

“Fine, I admit it would be slightly too much to ask from someone of your.. profession to act normal in my presence without being in a controlled environment.” I relent. I guess I expected too much from here.

So, based on what this stuttering nerve wreck is was able to express in her quaint way was that there is quite the selection of snack machines in the staff’s locker rooms on the ground floor.

I honestly don’t like the idea of going there as most of the staff was probably there when shit hit the fan but it’s a lot better than the idea to go through the canteen into the kitchens. It would have most likely four times the number of people compared to staff areas as this thing all started yesterday morning around when rest of “patients” would be having breakfast.

I want to relocate in to the locker rooms, so I have to take her with me. But before that she needs to be armed. So, I took my female companion to meet someone very special who can help us in arming her. Or legging her. Free choice.

I guide her towards the office I was before while she kept a few meters behind me.

“Meet Dr. Jason!” I say to her as we enter and gesture towards the trusty Doc.

“…This is?” She asks bewildered as she peeks warily in the room.

I smile at her while her gaze moves to where I was pointing.

“Oh god.” After using the holy name in vain she proceeds to desecrate Dr. Jason’s office/resting place by puking in it.

Ignoring the reaction I gracefully move next to her and before she even manages to register my presence I grab her by the nape and drag her next to the Samaritan of a corpse. Which is followed by her screech due to my unexpected contact and the nearing of a half-eaten corpse.

She of course shows further ineptitude by stumbling on a not one but two of the other corpses in our way.

As we get next to the objective she’s shaking all over like a leaf. To my disappointment the scissors in her hands haven’t moved an inch towards me even though she’s holding on to them to dear life in between her hands while sobbing quietly.

This is not going to work. I would have wanted her to do the next part but once more my expectations and plans have been betrayed.

I ignore the sobbing damsel in distress and once more dislocate the other leg. Which is orchestrated by more sobbing, followed by dry heaving coming behind me. She’s not even leaving the room due to being paralyzed by fear. I look behind me and to my surprise she hasn’t averted her gaze from what I’m doing.

Surprised by the woman, I for the first time I give her a proper look over.

She has a Lithe body, a head shorter than me, I’d wager a bit over 1.7 m tall with head full of wheat coloured long hair reaching to her shoulders. Oval shaped face, small nose, green eyes which were filled with dread, and surprisingly a slight hint of curiosity of what I’m doing.

The magnetic door slowly slides open after we unlocked it from the duty post on the inside of the psychiatric reception block and we step out into another corridor leading in to the different parts of the asylum.

All separated by magnetic doors ether requiring a magnetic key card or unlocking from a duty station to get them open.

The woman is now equipped with another femur with scissors strapped to the end of it making it a very short spear like object. She surprisingly willingly took the improvised weapon compared to earlier fiascos. I guess she understood that it’s no point arguing with me on the subject, not that she’d be able to argue with that stutter of hers. It’s to the point that I haven’t asked her name.

Not that I’d care about her name.

Our goal is to head to the management and staff block on this level to get to the personnel elevator on this floor to avoid scouring through the whole facility to get to the locker rooms on the ground floor. We culled the few stragglers and small groups of the undead along the way, or well I did.

I’m thankfully a lot more efficient after getting a bit to eat after almost two days of starving and I don’t need to be as cautious as before as I’m starting to see patterns in these mindless creatures and use it against them.

On our way to the elevator I reduced the zombie population in this complex by 20, all of them members of the staff. There were a bit less than 250 patients as well as staff numbering around 50 in this institution on normal days, no idea how many staff was off duty due to the influenza. But place like this never runs on skeleton crew.

Especially after money flowed in when I was institutionalized here.

At the elevator my companion typed in the number and letter combination into the keypad to use the elevator and we wait for it while stepping back in case it’s occupied.

With a chime the doors opened unveiling 4 hunched over figures one draped in a doctors outfit and the rest in orderly’s clothes with a fifth or what was barely left over of the fifth in the middle of them with little clothing remaining on the mangled body.

They attempted to stand up and turn towards us, but I’d rather avoid that, so I rush over and give one of them a hearty swing to the head that leads its head to smash into the elevators side housing the button panel while pressing quite a few of the buttons, dyeing them red with stale murky blood as it slowly slides to the floor leaving a line of blood behind from its head.

I dance out of the elevator, followed by one of them who managed to follow me before the elevator closed its doors to start it’s decent to the selected floors, along with orchestrated banging coming from the inside. Echoing thought the elevator chute.

I sweep the legs off below the one that followed me and dispatch him as it hits the floor, smearing the floor and walls along with me with murky crimson that flew out of it on impact leaving the creature lying there, motionless. I give it a couple of good hits more for good measure to ensure the kill.

We wait a couple more minutes before I motion her to recall the elevator. But not before she gets a head pat from me. She didn’t scream once while coming here. And good girls who don’t scream like a banshee deserve a reward.

Well for her I suppose a head pat from a serial killer isn’t much of a reward, as she flinches from my touch and pulls away awkwardly.

The elevator returns along with it’s fanfare of banging, coming inside of it.

The doors open once more releasing it’s three occupants who shamble out of it moaning and groaning as if lamenting their fate.

I look at my companion whose eyes are on me as well. I smile at her and with an elegant bow I retreat leaving her staring at me for an instant before she turns towards the shambling trio who are about 4 meters away from her.

She starts to back away while shaking once more but not screaming which is a good thing. Her spear thing had risen to point towards the hostile entities as a defence reflex. The bad thing about that was that she was only holding it with one hand..

Ah, she started to sob again. She keeps retreating in the hallway we came from, while I first when to a corner and then circled around the lobby we were in.

It appears that two of the three has decided to go for her while the last one is coming for me so walked over to it and greeted it with a casual bash to the head followed by a quick retraction of my weapon which I sent back at it while it was staggered towards it’s neck with a stabbing motion sending the creature backwards. I change my aim to it’s arms and disable them by dislocating it’s shoulders by hitting them above.

Continuing, I rotated myself 360 degrees on my heels while lowering myself into a crouch and extending my right leg to kick the legs from under it causing it to fall on its back.

I continue the rotation another 180 degrees while retracting my leg and using the momentum while moving my weight from my heels to my toes by leaning forwards to rise back up.

I turn around quickly and apply my foot on the creature’s throat to keep it from getting up and turn to look how the other party is doing, only to see the race still continued on with her retreating and the zombies following.

Losing interest, I turn back towards my quarry who’s attempting to still get up despite me forcing it down by applying force to its neck.

I study the creature, or rather the former orderly of this facility. Dilated, bloodied hazy pupils and skin that’s lost its colour giving it a pale if not purplish complexion. Its lips have been chewed off by ether the creature itself or one of the others in the elevator leaving behind nothing to cover its teeth and gums.

The mouth was constantly moving in attempt to bite to a point of reflex or instinct, filling the hallway with the sharp echo of clacking teeth. The creature’s veins were deep purple due to stagnated blood and were highly visible all around it’s body that wasn’t layered in gore. It was missing an ear from the left side as well as a chunk from its right thigh revealing bone and tendons.

“Kaineeee!”

My study session was abruptly interrupted by a sharp scream coming from the hallway the woman had retreated.

“Well sorry, but duty calls apparently.” I apologize to the sorry mess of an undead and while keeping my leg on it’s throat I bring down Jason to its cranium, putting the creature down permanently and head into the hallway to find a banshee.

I caught up to the race between the dead and the living and kept a relaxed paced behind the undead around 4 meters away from them.

Seeing that the woman hurled a bunch of insults towards me in between her sobs.

“Asshole! *sob* Coward! *sob* Liar! *sob* Monster!”

“I remember saying I have no interest in babysitting a useless person with me.” I counteract while motioning towards her “You’re look rather useless to me at the moment.”

“Fuck you!” She retorted back, forgetting to even sob. “These were my co-workers you heartless monster! Just like Doctor Martin, whose legs you chopped off and made into weapons you deranged maniac!”

“Oh! His name was Martin? By the way while we’re on the subject may I know your name?”

The response I got was something in between a screech and a roar.

“You insane motherfucker!” Were the next words she graced me after her screech. We’re still retreating by the way. Or well, she is. Zombies don’t even care about me due to her screeching.

“Excellent diagnosis Doctor! Now for the love of god just at least try to stab them!” I retort once more. While this is fun and no real danger comes from the retreat due to me clearing this block, but.. Ah, she stumbled over one of the undead I dispatched earlier.

I stop and wait. I’d honestly prefer if she’d grow a pair and at least poked them a little before I did something. But alas, I have no use for her if she can’t even defend herself so it’s up to her.

Stunned by her sudden stumble the woman had fallen on her back and the duo of ordely zombies creeped ever closer to her with their jaws opening an closing instinctively. At the point where the zombies were almost on her she finally reacted and in a moment of desperation stabbed on of them.. in the chest.

As this is happening I facepalmed. “Haven’t you seen any zombie movies?! Aim for the head!”

I was once more greeted with more screech/roar for my efforts to help. I sight, believing she’s had enough I rush the not impaled zombie who was half a meter behind it’s impaled compatriot and do a full swing with both hands twisting it’s head to the side while it falls in the direction of the momentum of the hit sent it, never to get back up.

I then turn around to watch the struggle of the century between a maiden and a zombie.

She was desperately holding the zombie away from herself with the scissor stick while the shambler was reaching for her with it’s hands and maw.

She once more sends me a pleading look with her snotty face and for once I decided to indulge her. With a clatter Jason lands a little bit behind her. She eyes me with a face that this wasn’t over and grabbed the weapon with it’s other hand and swung it from the floor aiming at the zombies face.

And then she hit it again. And again. And again. Till the zombie collapsed which was followed by her letting go of the spear and using both hands to swing Jason till she got exhausted and let go of the weapon, followed by her legs giving out from exhaustion.

“Kaitlyn.” With a hoarse and tired voice she whispered her name, a response to my earlier question.

I pick up my weapon from the floor and lean next to her ear and whisper

“Welcome to the realm of people who get things done, Kaitlyn.”