Zombie

"KILL ME."

The half mutilated corpse began sprinting towards the van.

"I-I thought that thing was dead! Everyone!" Midas spoke into the microphone. "Step on the gas NOW! There's a threat following from behind!"

The vans in front began to accelerate. "What's wrong? What's happening back there?"

"One of the bodies got up and started running after us!"

"What!?"

"It's like a zombie, and it keeps yelling—"

"KILL ME!" The corpse screamed. This time, it was loud enough that the ones further up could hear it.

"Midas! Release the rear hatch! Let me kill it!" Venus tugged at the backdoor's handles. Midas looked in the rearview mirror. He could see the zombified subject keeping to pace with their van.

"Not yet. Don't forget that it used to be a subject. It was probably given an ability just like us. We could be harmed if we reveal ourselves."

"But he's literally asking us to kill him!" Venus exclaimed.

"It could be a bait tactic. Let's see if we can gain distance first, and maybe just outrun it." Midas continued to watch through the rearview. He then noticed something horrifyingly spectacular; the corpse's body began to heal its open wounds. Slowly but surely, the body was being restored to its original state, revealing a male subject with short hair.

"NO!!!" The male screamed. "KILL ME, PLEASE!"

Stunned by the zombie's revelation of ability, Midas continued to drive, unaware of the shouted words.

"He's back to normal!? I think that's his ability Midas!" Venus observed the entire event. "Maybe he can regenerate just like Reed!"

Hearing this, Midas accepted the idea of extermination. He released the rear hatch, revealing the two to the male who ran after them.

"Subjects? You guys must have fatal abilities! PLEASE KILL ME!" The male yelled as he ran.

"I'll do just that then," Venus gripped his heavy wrist. He aimed his palm directly at the male who followed, and released a heavy blast. The gust zoomed forwards, eradicating the subject's entire body, leaving just a decapitated head.

"Easy." Venus closed the rear doors behind him. "We're good now Midas. I took care of him."

"No you didn't." Midas kept his eye on the rearview mirror. "He's regenerating again!"

Venus looked back, shocked to see a fully reformed body for the male he'd just terminated before.

"DON'T LEAVE ME!" The male was suddenly infuriated. "I'LL KILL YOU ALL IF YOU DON'T KILL ME FIRST!!!"

The statement confused Midas. "What is he talking about?"

The male continued to run in their direction, then suddenly, let out a blood curling scream.

"What's he doing?..."

The floor began to rumble beneath them. Looking around, they noticed the surrounding bodies begin to spasm like the male subject had before.

"Don't tell me…"

Each body stood up one by one, striding alongside each other, eventually gaining speed into a sprint towards the vans.

"Midas!" Ian called on the frequency. "The bodies in front of us have begun moving! They're all running towards us!"

"I know! Back here too!" Midas replied.

"They're running along the width of the tunnel, and there's so many of them! I don't think we can drive any further! It's like they're forming a wall!"

"But they'll catch up behind us!" Midas panicked. Their convoy was caught in a sandwich.

"Stop the vans, all of you." Venus spoke seriously. "I can take care of this."

The convoy slowed to a halt. "Are you sure?" Midas asked.

Venus turned to him. "If you imbeciles need my help, I'm willing to help." He then reached into Midas' car pit, unlatching the rear doors himself. Jumping outside the van, he climbed on top to reveal himself to the hordes of subjects approaching their cornered situation.

The original male subject noticed and let out another blood curling scream. Following this, the mindless undead subjects that ran along came to a stop.

"Oh god… Have you finally decided to liberate us?" Tears began forming in the male's eyes.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Venus found himself irritated at the sudden sentiment.

"Please," the male dropped to his knees. "Kill us. All of us."

Surrounding the convoy were the hundreds of bodies that the group found to be dead just previously.

"Is that your ability?" Midas had exited the van. "The ability to revive the dead?"

The male rubbed his eyes, surprised at Midas' appearance. "Sort of… A.X.A. bestowed me an ability to revitalize the souls of those who've passed."

"So that's why all these guys are like zombies? They're just undead bodies with resurged souls?" Midas looked around. The mindless half-dead subjects stood stationary surrounding the convoy.

"Yes, I can activate and deactivate them at my will, as long as they're within my one mile proximity. See, look." The male screamed, scorching his throat. This caused every zombie surrounding them to drop to the floor, falling limp like the dead bodies they initially were.

"Your ability's voice-activated?" Midas asked.

"Yes..."

"But how about you? Venus here just recently blasted your entire body away. How did you manage to come back intact?"

"Regenerative abilities…" The male began to sob. "Unless you destroy my entire body in a singular instant, my cells will continue to duplicate and I'll keep coming back."

Midas watched as the male fell forwards, crying on the floor. "Did Overseer Raphael give you those abilities?"

"Yes," the male replied. "He said it was a blessing… to be able to heal my injuries time and time again. But at this point, it's a CURSE! I can't die even if I wanted to… I've been stuck in this tunnel for a very long time… envying all of my peers who've already died YEARS ago…"

"And you simply can't die because your regenerative abilities prevent you from doing so?"

"Yeah… I can let my body sit and rot until it reaches my bones, but I can never reach true death."

"Then why don't you just escape to the surface? That's what the rest of us are doing." Midas reached out his hand. "Join us."

"Escape to the surface? What do you mean?" The male was confused.

Midas eyed Venus, who glanced back. "Does the word 'district' ring a bell for you?"

"District? No… What's that?"

Midas accepted the given situation. This male subject wasn't aware that there was a world outside of the A.X.A. facility.

"Just come with us." Midas reached out his hand. "We'll show you a place better than this—"

"I CAN'T!" He slapped his hand away. "I… I can't... I have to stay and keep them company…"

"Them? All of these zombie-looking imbeciles?" Venus asked.

"No… All of those guys are already dead. But them…" The male pointed at numerous distinct bodies that laid among the other dead bodies. "They're still alive."

The bodies he spoke of, were of the same nature that Midas noticed before; un-rotted bodies, but simply, whited eyes, and frozen positions.

"Some of these guys are my own colleagues, and they've been paralyzed by the White Syndrome for nearly a decade now…"

"White Syndrome huh…" Midas thought to himself. "So that's what Ian was talking about… White lights so strong they can reduce you to a vegetable… "

Midas understood. "So that's why they weren't lifted when you used your ability. Because they aren't dead?"

"Yeah…"

"But that brings me to ask, why haven't you been affected by the White Syndrome?"

"I could ask you the same. Why aren't these lights affecting you?"

"Our Resistors don't expire until another 3-5 years from now. I checked the Overseers' database regarding us subjects."

"Well for me, I don't know… It's odd, but the white lights have a reversed effect on me. I'll be paralyzed if I'm not under these bright white lights. So I'm only able to move if the tunnel's lights come on, of which there have only been two entire times since I was left out here. In the dark, I'm no different than the rest of these guys… I call it Black Syndrome."

"Then if that's the case, don't you want to get moving and out of here before you fall to the darkness for another few years again?"

"It's exactly that reason that I just want to DIE!" The male bowed his head at Midas' feet. "I don't care about living anymore. I've been casted away by A.X.A., defining my lack of purpose in life. Just kill me… please. And them too. Kill me and everyone else in this tunnel that's still being affected by the White Syndrome. Put us out of our misery…"

Midas felt a hint of anger bellow in his heart; one at A.X.A. for brainwashing the mind of such a selfless soul to the point of desiring suicide. The thought sickened Midas. "If only he regained his memories of the surface world, somehow… Maybe then, he would have a newfound purpose in life. But how… how did I even get my memories back? If only… If only I could just give this man even a hint of his past life…"

The male grabbed Midas' hands, noticing they were as cold as ice. "Do it… please."

Midas felt his neck tighten. Holding back his emotion, he decided to stray the focus elsewhere. "What's your name?"

"Pluto…"

"Nice to meet you Pluto. My name's Midas, but it won't be me liberating your soul" He pointed to Venus. "He has the power to erase your existence in a single blow."

Pluto frantically scurried to Venus' feet with sobbing desire. "Please, oh please... PUT AN END TO OUR ANGUISH!"

"Tsk!" Venus gripped his hands into a fist. "You're unnecessarily loud."

"Please, oh I beg you," he cried his eyes out in front of Venus.

Venus sighed, taking a moment to accept the given situation.

"Get in the van, Midas. Make sure everyone secures themselves safely inside."

Midas looked at Venus in awe.

"What? Get going!"

Midas rushed into the van, closing the rear doors behind him. Activating his microphone, he called everyone's attention on the frequency. "Everyone stay put inside your vans. Venus will wipe out all of the threats."

Ian spoke up, "What happened back there? The zombies all stopped moving up here."

A scream echoed from behind the convoy. Suddenly, the horde situated at the front began to migrate towards the rear-end of the convoy, back where Venus was.

"Don't worry about what happened, or what's about to happen. Venus' gonna clean up this mess, and we'll continue on our way out of here…" Midas spoke quietly. He still felt affected by the disgusting sight of such pitiable humans.

"I swear I'll avenge you one day… Pluto."

Behind the convoy, Pluto called every single subject to remain situated in front of Venus. Dead or alive, they were all ready to be wiped out of existence by Venus' fatal blow. He held out both his hands, instigating massive amounts of energy that surged through his veins. The power overflowed, seeping into the palms of his hands, ready to explode at any second.

"Thank you Venus…" Pluto knelt before him. "Do it."

He initiated the blast, releasing all the pent-up energy stored within his hands. His veins nearly imploded, as he'd never bore such an amount of power ever before. Before him; Pluto, the zombies, and those disabled by the effects of White Syndrome, slowly had their bodies dissolved by the sheer pressure of Venus' power, cell by cell, body by body.

Soon enough, nothing was left to stand, kneel, or lay before Venus. All that remained, were minimal specs of dust from the remains disintegrated.

Venus sighed, standing still for a moment in time. He took a deep breath, swallowing every inch of emotion he pledged not to show.

The doors behind Midas opened, and inside came Venus.

"Let's go," he said.

The vans were brought into motion, and the convoy was now back on its route to the surface.