Strange Female Zombie

Suddenly, a sharp pain assaulted Alex on his neck, waking him from his unconscious state.

Slowly opening his eyes, smooth black hair entered his sight.

When he looked closer, Alex noticed the persons dangerously pale skin.

'... She's a Zombie... I'm getting eaten...' Alex thought, noticing the Zombies gender.

"Mom...Dad... Eve... Wait for me, I'll meet you guys soon." Alex muttered, as he felt the sharp pain assaulting his neck.

Hearing his words, the Female Zombie raised her head.

Seeing the Female Zombies face, Alex was shocked as a beautiful face entered his sight, her red eyes flickering in an eerie red glow, her dangerously pale skin creates a stark contrast with her smooth black hair.

After seeing her face, Alex blacked out and fainted again.

***

Opening his eyes, the dark Dessert Shop entered his vision.

Alex looked around and saw the cold body of Zack, he reached out and pinched his cheek, checking if his in a dream.

"Ow!"

Alex groaned in pain and let go of his cheek.

"...I'm still alive..." Alex muttered, still feeling the pain on his cheek.

"Yes, you're still alive, are you okay?" A gentle voice said from behind him.

Hearing the voice, Alex turned around and saw female figure, her appearance cannot be viewed properly in the dark.

Seeing the figure, Alex felt nervous and stepped back.

'Mm?'

Feeling his hand empty, Alex looked at his hand, unable to see his katana.

He looked around looking for his katana; when he saw the dead body of his father, Alex gave up resisting.

'My family is dead anyway, so what the point of living?' Alex thought, emptiness gripping his heart.

"Looking for this?" Asked the female voice.

Hearing her voice, Alex turned to the female figure and saw his katana in her hand.

"Yes." Alex calmly replied.

Seeing Alex being calm, the female figure was slightly shocked and asked, "How are you calm? Aren't you scared of me hurting you?"

"... My family's dead, what's the point of living?" Alex slowly replied.

As Alex's word echoed in the empty shop, the air around them turned silent.

"... I see..." The female muttered, destroying the strange silence around them.

The female slowly walked towards Alex, he noticed this but stood in place.

After a while, the female stood in front of Alex.

Due to her being so close, Alex saw the appearance of the mysterious woman.

Based on the woman's appearance, she was about the same age as Alex; she has a long lustrous black hair, her pale skin creating a stark contrast with her black hair, looking at the woman's eye. Alex noticed her red eyes flickering in red eerie glow.

The woman was wearing a casual outfit, consisting of a white sweater and and black shorts.

'A Zombie!' Alex inwardly said, seeing the woman's appearance.

"Here." The woman said, showing Alex his katana placed on its sheath.

Alex looked at the katana in her hand then back at her, "Why are you giving it back to me? Normally, a person will steal the katana and use it for themselves." He asked.

"First, I'm not that type of person. Second, I'm not a human anyway." The woman said.

"Looks like my guess is correct, you are a Zombie." Alex sighed, and then took the katana from her hands.

"Also, thanks!" He added.

Alex pulled out the katana from its sheath, when he saw it was clean of blood, Alex was slightly shocked.

Alex put the katana in the sheath, then turned to the woman and asked, "Why have you not eaten me yet?"

The woman thought for a bit then replied, "Firstly, you called me a Zombie earlier, how did you guess?"

"You look exactly like my whole family." Alex instantly replied with emptiness on his eyes.

The woman looked at his empty eyes, and then muttered, "I see."

"Secondly, answering your question. I do not want to eat you, I did sucked your blood though. Thirdly, I am not like any other Zombie. I retain my memory and intelligence; I also did not lose my humanity. My body is like them, but also different." The woman further answered.

The woman hesitated for bit, but continued, "People those that transformed into Zombie will experience pain 24/7. The only way for the pain to fade away is by eating a human, specifically. Devouring the 'Energy' inside humans. We also get stronger the more 'Energy' we absorbed."

"Does the 'Energy' look like white fog?" Alex blurted out, upon hearing the woman's explanation.

"Yes, have you absorbed those white fogs?" The woman asked.

"Yes, so that's why I get stronger the more of those 'Energy' I absorbed." Alex replied.

"Also, I should add that Zombies are more stronger than humans. The animals also mutated when the 'Energy' descended into the world." The woman said.

"Thanks for the explanation, which I won't need. There's no point of me needing it anyway." Alex smiled bitterly.

He took out his katana from the sheath, then thrown the sheath on the ground. He pointed his katana on his neck.

Seeing what he was doing, the woman pushed the katana on his hand away.

"What are you doing!?" The woman shouted.

"Isn't it obvious!? I want to kill myself! All of my family is dead and I'm all alone in this world! If what you said is correct, then it's the end of the world!" Alex angrily shouted, tears streaming down his face.

"Don't you have friends?" The woman rebutted.

Alex didn't say anything and just stayed silent.

"But before you kill yourself, look at this first!" The woman said and showed Alex a black phone.

Looking at the phone, Alex noticed it was familiar and discovered who owns it. It was his dad's phone!

"When did you get this phone?" Alex asked.

"Just open it!" The woman said, not answering Alex's question.

Alex nodded and opened the phone, upon opening it. Alex saw a video with the tittle 'My last message for my son' the length of the video was exactly [00:01:01].

Seeing the tittle, Alex immediately played the video.

Once the video started playing, All of the screen was all black, suddenly. A light flashed and Zack's face entered the screen.

Zack opened his mouth and said:

[Alex, if you're watching this video, I'm curious. Have you changed? Alternatively, are you still the same? Did you see me on this shop as a monster? What do I look like? Have I killed anyone when I turned into a monster? What happened to your mom and sister? Did they also turn into a monster...?]

[... If yes, you probably have killed them, you probably encountered me in this shop as one of those monsters.]

[If I had to guess, you must have killed Marie, Eve and me. If yes, you are probably thinking of killing yourself, thinking there is no point of living, where the three of us are dead.]

Upon saying that, tears was streaming down on his face.

He rubbed his tears and continued.

[It may be selfish, Alex, please live. Do not kill yourself, on our stead, live! Find friends and survive!]

[I want you to interact more with people and find friends, you have to live behind you loner ass behind. Preferably, I also want you to find a lover and have a child.]

[Again, Alex. Please live!] Zack said with a bright smile.

After saying that, the video ends.

Looking at the phone, tears streamed down on his face.

"You are so selfish… Leaving me behind and telling me to live… If that is what you wish, then I will do it!" Alex said in a determined voice.

Alex closed the video and browsed Zack's phone; he found two more video meant for Marie and Eve.

Alex watched the two videos, the woman stood behind him and watching him.

After watching the videos, Alex stood up and turned to the woman, and asked, "What is your name?"

"Charlotte Wenston." Charlotte replied.

"Okay, where are going to go next?" Alex asked, thinking of their action from today onwards.

"But first, are you not going to take it?" Charlotte asked, pointing at Zack's cold body.

"Let's just leave it like that, even though I want to burry them. It's going to be hard carrying a corpse around, while getting chased around by Zombie." Alex sighed looking at Zack's cold boy.

Charlotte shook her head, before saying, "No, I didn't meant that. I mean the Red Crystal inside his body."

Confused, Alex turned to her and asked, "Crystal? What Red Crystal?"

"What, you didn't know?" Charlotte asked, confused.

"Yes, please explain." Alex nodded.

Charlotte did not say anything; she just crouched next to Zack cold body.

She stabbed her finger on the back of Zack's neck, wiggled it around, seemingly searching for something.

Alex tried to stop her, but stopped seeing Charlotte taking out something.

Charlotte stood up, turned to Alex, and threw a Red Crystal to Alex.

Alex caught the Red Crystal and looked at the thing in his hand, the size of it was equal to a small pebble, and coated in blood.

He rubbed the blood off, and saw it was a transparent Crystal, looking at it. Alex felt something he cannot explain emanating from the Crystal.

Alex looked at it closely, before turning to Charlotte and asking, "What the use of this?"

Charlotte thought for a bit, then answered, "I can't explain it properly, but it's the White Fog condense into a Crystal pebble, people can absorb it. Increasing their strength."

"Can I try absorbing it?" Alex asked.

"Sure, you defeated him. It's yours." Charlotte nodded.

"How do I absorb it?" He asked.

"Eat it." Charlotte replied, full of confidence.

"Come again?" Alex asked as his face darkened.

"Eat it." Charlotte repeated.

"Wha- But it's from a dead body! A Zombie no less!" Alex said full of disgust.

Charlotte shook her head, not changing what she said, "There's no other way, and you have to eat it."

Alex hesitated, but quickly swallowed his disgust, and swallowed the Crystal.

A gulping sound echoed in the quiet shop.

After swallowing the Crystal, like a broken dam, Alex felt a rush of Energy filling his body.

Feeling his body full of energy, Alex's happiness soured to the sky.

The happiness didn't last long as extreme pain assaulted his whole body.

"Gah! Aaaaah!" Alex screamed in pain, as he dropped on his knees.

"What's happening?" Charlotte worriedly asked, seeing as the situation changing rapidly.

"I-I..." Alex tried to say something, but failed. Due to pain, Alex was unable to speak.

But after some difficulty, "I doun't Knouww!" Alex was able to speak, but it was barely understandable.

Seeing Alex suffering more trying to speak, Charlotte tried to stop him, "Stop speaking."

As time slowly pass, blood leaked out of Alex's nose and mouth.

Seeing that, Charlotte was unable to help, falling more into panic and despair.

'I finally meet someone after searching throughout the neighborhood; I don't want to be alone!' Charlotte thought, as despair gripped her heart tightly.

Suddenly, a ray of hope shone down upon them.

[Child, listen to me and follow my instruction, follow it and you may live.] A gentle voice said, its voice echoing in their mind.

"Wha- where are you!" Charlotte questioned, and began looking around.

[Its not the time for question, your friend is in danger.] The voice said; it's gentle tone replaced by a strict one.

"H-how can I t-trust you? Aaauugh!" Alex asked, not fully trusting the voice.

[You have no choice but to trust me, now. Just follow my instruction.] The voice said.

The voice was right, Alex has no choice but to trust it, he either die or listen to the voice and potentially live.

"Okay, I'll trust you, so what do I have to do?" Alex asked with some difficulty.

[Right choice. First, you have to guide the Mana all over your body, and gather them in your stomach, secondly. You have to condense the Mana in your stomach into a sphere like shape, thirdly. You have to-] The voice began explaining, before suddenly getting interrupted by Alex.

"Mana, what's that?" He asked.

[Its the Energy inside your body, or the White Fog you absorbed from the undead or Zombie you call it.] The voice replied.

"I don't get it!" Alex angrily said.

[Its inside your body, you just have to sense it. You have to close your eyes and focus, remember the feeling when absorbing the White Fog. You have to make haste, the more time we waste, the closer you are to death!] The voice said.

Hearing what the voice said, Alex closed his eyes as instructed and focused, he frowned as he tried to remember the feeling after absorbing the White Fog.

1...

2...

3...

Suddenly, Alex felt like his mind struck by lightning, as he felt a sense of enlightenment

Alex sensed an unknown Energy or 'Mana' whatever the voice called it.

"I-I feel it, Aaaugh!" Alex muttered before screaming in pain

[You sensed it that fast, as expected of her chosen partner...] The voice muttered.

The mutter was not heard by Charlotte and Alex, as the former was panicking too much to notice it, while the latter was in so much pain and was unable to hear it.

The voice quickly return from his state earlier and said with urgency, [Quickly! Follow my instruction earlier!]

Alex nodded and tried to guide the Mana allover his body to his stomach.

After some attempts, Alex successfully guided the Mana to his stomach, and condensed it into a sphere like shape. After that, the extreme pain all over his body quickly disappeared.

"Is it done?" Alex stood up, feeling glad that the pain was gone.

[No, this is only the start.] The voice said.

Following The Voice's words, pain more intense than earlier assaulted Alex's stomach.

Alex dropped on his knees and hugged his stomach in pain, and screamed in pain, "Gaaah! W-what's happening?"

Due to the pain, Alex nearly fainted, but he resisted, because it may potentially harm him.

[This is expected, you have gathered all the Mana on your body in your stomach, and of course it hurts more.] The Voice answered.

[Now follow my instruction, you may have noticed, tinge of Mana leaked out of the sphere. You have to guide them into your veins, you have to do it little by little, but be careful. One mistake and your veins will explode killing you instantly!] The Voice continued.

Alex nodded and did as instructed; he slowly guided the Mana in his veins, and let a small amount of Mana flow on it.

Little by little, Alex was feeling the hang of it, but he did not let his guard down, as The Voice said, one mistake and he will instantly die!

After a while, Alex did what The Voice instructed, Mana was smoothly flowing on his veins, and Alex felt his body getting stronger, as the Mana flow on his body.

Suddenly, a powerful aura burst out of Alex's body, following this phenomenon. Alex felt his body getting rapidly stronger.

After a while, the rise in strength quickly stopped, leaving Alex with a sense of new power.

He closed and opened his palm, confused about what is currently happening.

"What happened!?" Charlotte asked, confused on what is happening.

Hearing Charlotte's soft voice, Alex turned to Charlotte, returning into his normal state.

"I'm confused to, what-?" Alex asked too, before suddenly being interrupted by The Voice.

[Congratulation's, you have now entered the path of Magic. You are now an Early-Stage Black Core Mage!] It said.

"What's all this about!? What happened to me!?" Alex questioned.

[Quiet down, I currently have a short time to stay, so I'll quickly explain it!] The Voice said; then quickly explain.

[What you have done earlier is creating your own Magic Core; the Magic Core is where all the Mana is stored inside your body.

The thing you did next was creating your own Mana Vein; it is connected to your Magic Core, with it. It will let your Mana easily flow throughout your whole body.

Achieving the Black Core Stage, it strengthened your whole body to a high degree.

There are countless more higher Stage, the Stages goes like this:

Black Core.

Gray Core.

Red Core.

Orange Core.

Yellow Core.

Green Core.

Blue Core.

Purple Core.

Silver Core.

And lastly, White Core.

There are more Stages, but you are not ready for those.

What you did right now is called 'Breakthrough' for you to reach higher Stages, you must absorbed great amount of Mana surpassing yours!]

"Can I do it too?" Charlotte asked, after hearing The Voice explanation.

[Yes, you can, but it will require greater amounts of Mana compared to Alex.] The voice replied.

"That's a bummer, but I can still get stronger!" Charlotte happily said.

[My time is up, and when fate feels it, we shall meet again! Goodbye!] The Voice said.

"Thanks for your help!" Alex said.

[Your welcome.] The Voice softly said, before disappearing.

Following the Voice's disappearance, the shop turned quiet.

Suddenly, The Voice's word echoed throughout the whole world.

[Hello, Awakeners. The Apocalypse descent is near, and the time of reality's destruction is slowly ticking, various races shall go extinct. Your family, friends, comrades, lover, or yourself may die in the hands of the Apocalypse... or perhaps in the hands of your fellow brethren. In this new era, huge changes will appear. What will you do is up to you. You either get stronger and resist the Apocalypse or surrender and die by it's hand!]

[Awakener, your fate is up to your hands, as I said you either resist or surrender to the Apocalypse. I shall watch your actions closely, when the Apocalypse descend. I shall arrive, till then. Goodbye!]

After The Voice dissapeared, Alex sighed, he walked to his katana, grabbed the blade and sheath, placing the former in his right and latter in the left hand.

After that, he smiled and turned to Charlotte, and said, "Now then, shall we?"

Charlotte returned a smile of her own, a gentle one, " Yes!"