Who Are You?

Shalei took a step backward to brace herself, legs widening in a stance as her grip on the sword tightened.

Sebastian came to stand back-to-back with her, the warmth he exuded was a soothing presence that grounded her to focus. Alright, Shalei, let's do this. As excellent as she was in her combat lessons, this would be the first time she would be involved in a real fight. And against zombies — mutants, Infected, whatever they were. She could feel adrenaline coursing through her veins and the world shifted into focus.

"Are you sure, Your Excellency?" Sebastian confirmed yet again as he fired a shot to the nearby Infected.

Instead of answering, Shalei asked, her eyes darting back and forth toward the two Infected that were closing in on her. "How do I incapacitate them?"

"Usually we just… destroy them until they can't get back up anymore."

Okay, that was brutal. She was in. Shalei gave an affirmative hum to show that she understood.

She eyed the two Infected again. Weird, why did they stop? Instead of attacking like the others, they halted a few distance away, their murky eyes staring at Shalei in what seemed to be… hesitation? Apprehension? Alarm? Shalei's nerves grew tense with every passing second until she finally snapped. If they wouldn't come to her, then she would.

She broke into a run, shocking Sebastian and the Infected alike — the latter, if Shalei didn't see wrong — and for a split second, the Infected halted and turned as if they intended to flee.

Alas, Shalei had arrived, sword in hand as she brought it down onto the nearest Infected's arm, effectively cutting it to the ground. Blood spurted out of its stumped limb like a fountain and a screech escaped its mouth, the sound piercing enough to make her wince. Shalei flicked the blood away from her sword in disgust. Her mistake, she should have slashed its throat first.

Shalei was preparing her next move when a dark shadow lunged forward from behind and shot the Infected right on its forehead and mouth before kicking it away.

She winced and subtly rubbed her tingling ears. Damn it, that was one strong gun. She could even feel the sharp whistle it carried through her skin. The corner of her mouth twitched and she offered a razor sharp smile to the other person. "Seth, they are mine."

"My apologies," Sebastian said, not sounding sorry at all. This insufferable bastard. He moved as quick as lighting, firing shots after shots, not even giving her a chance to break a sweat. When she blinked again, the area around her was already clear.

"Grenades!" Sebastian barked out an order.

"We have only two left!"

"Damn it, can we kill all of them? What about the three head?! Where the fuck it is?!"

Shalei bit the insides of her cheek. Now she understood what Sebastian meant by not enough. Against those undead Infected, no amount of explosives could be enough. She exhaled and scanned around in extreme caution. Where was the Three Head? How could it disappear just like that?!

The atmosphere around them was so tense that it could be slashed by a knife. The fight was still going on as Sebastian's men drove the Infected into one circle like before.

Then suddenly, Shalei's vision darkened. She frowned and shook her head. It wasn't getting better. What the—

She glanced up and had to suck in a breath as dark clouds loomed in and covered the sun which wasn't so visible to begin with. It was like someone had just flicked the light switch. One minute it was sunny, and the next minute, night settled in. The golden light rapidly dissipated and darkness loomed over them.

"Where's the fire?!"

"Our beacon has been destroyed, remember?!"

Sebastian growled out. "Where are the lightsticks?"

"They… They are buried under the beacon."

"You idiot! Why weren't you bringing them out before the beacon collapsed?!"

"Tell me that after I didn't save your ass!"

"Quiet!" Sebastian's voice cut through the arguments and the three others turned as quiet as a mouse. Shalei didn't really like where this was going.

However, as soon as she opened her mouth, her sight abruptly went dark. It was the kind of intense darkness that swallowed her whole, drilling into her nose, mouth and ears and she was choking on it. Her grip on the sword slackened and it slipped off her hand to the ground with a dull clang. She clutched her chest and coughed.

"Your Excellency!" Sebastian's voice sounded so far away, for some reason. Tinged with urgency she never heard from him before. "Stay where you are, I will go to you!"

Right, Sebastian had excellent eyesight, Shalei recalled with relief. She wanted to reply to reassure Sebastian that she was okay, yet she was also unwilling to open her mouth.

There was something strange with the darkness around them but she couldn't put her finger on it. Her instinct told her not to breathe in, hence she clamped her mouth shut with her palm and hummed, wishing Sebastian could hear her and arrive faster.

The darkness enhanced her other senses, especially hearing. She could hear snippets of conversation a few distance away, yet it was muffled as if her ears were stuffed in cotton.

Weird, Shalei recalled that she hadn't strayed so far, so what was taking Sebastian so long? Shalei's chest started to hurt from holding her breath and tears pooled on the corner of her eyes.

It was at that moment that she heard a twig snapping behind her, loud and clear. She turned sharply to the direction of the sound and narrowed her eyes albeit she couldn't even make anything out. It was too dark for her to see.

Seth? She made a little sound from her throat.

A low growl sounded in response and Shalei's heart abruptly sank. That definitely wasn't Sebastian. The hair on her back stood on its end and she couldn't help it. She inhaled out of shock and right in that moment, she felt light-headed.

Her mind was ringing with white noises and chill crawled from her toes up to her entire body. She trembled. Where was her sword? She had to… she had to protect herself. But she couldn't move. Why couldn't she move?!

The growl drew closer and closer yet Shalei's feet were nailed in place. She could feel it. The Infected's eyes on her, measuring like a predator while she… she was the perfect prey.

Dread and hopelessness sank into her body like a vicious claw. The wind shifted around her and she screwed her eyes shut to brace herself for whatever was going to come—

Except the attack never came at all.

Shalei's arm was yanked backward and her body spun, falling straight into an embrace. Her nose was tucked against the soft fabric on the other's chest and the scent of sandalwood, warm and slightly spicy dominated her senses. Their palm moved to the back of Shalei's head and pressed down, keeping her in place.

Two things registered in her mind at the same time. First, the arms that were holding her, they were real, human flesh. Not metals. Not Sebastian. Second, instead of panicking like she ought to, Shalei only felt immense relief. The scent was tugging on the furthest memory in the back of her mind. Familiar, yet she couldn't remember when. Just that… it felt safe. It felt like home.

Shalei grasped onto their clothes, gasping as she took in large gulps of air. "Who… are you?" She asked after she could finally find her voice again.

The other person stilled for a moment. Their palm — broad, long fingers, Shalei noted — slowly let go, brushing against the shell of her ear in the process. Shalei shuddered at how cold their skin was. She could feel that person walking away and Shalei reached out, fumbled around amidst the utter darkness. "Wait…!"

Her fingertips barely grazed against the corner of the soft fabric and then… there was nothing.

She held onto empty air, blinking as the voices around her came back like a tidal wave. There were shouts, the residual rumble of explosions and piercing through all the chaos was Sebastian's voice. "Your Excellency!" The man arrived by her side in seconds, this time he was holding a torch, its glow illuminating the man's pale face and wild look as he sought her eyes. "Where have you gone to?!"

"I—" Shalei got tongue-tied. Where…? She didn't go anywhere. She had always been here, waiting for Sebastian because the man told him to stay. But then the area suddenly turned pitch black and her chest started to hurt, and then there was also… "Three Heads!" Shalei gasped. "It was here—"

The words died down in her throat as her peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a huge lump on the ground a few meters away from her feet where the source of light barely reached.

It took an approximate amount of ten seconds, or it could be half an hour, for Shalei to realize that it was the three headed Infected they were searching for.

Dead.