Hope

"Are you injured?"

"Have you been bitten or scratched?"

"Is there anyone or anything else in there with you?"

Those were the frequent questions that were asked as Brick banged on the door of each home he had visited.

When he had finally found some living people further into the outer area, there were some times where he was completely rejected entry or they refused to come outside.

Upon gaining entry into a building, there was a woman who looked very pale and had bags under her eyes who sat opposite them.

The seats were arranged to face the others so guests could be allowed to talk and spend time together without many interruptions.

There was a music setup nearby but there was an absence of a television or anything else that would bring too many distractions.

Brick sat back and his ears perked up a little while his eyes were locked onto the woman. "Are you alone?"

He looked around the room for signs of others living there while the woman had answered him. "No. It is just me. My husband.. he went outside."

Brick nodded but he did not show his inner scepticism towards the woman after he caught something.

He coughed and went on to ask. "Oh.. so you have a child? How come I do not see them?"

Brick had seen several soft toys and some essentials around the room so he could not leave it alone.

It was a dire time where tragedy struck and not many were able to cope with their losses.

The woman's gaze changed and she suddenly became a little defensive. "Why do you need to know? This is my home, you have no right to question me like this."

She calmed down then answered coldly. "He is sleeping."

Brick knit his brows and then stood up suddenly which caught the woman off guard.

By the time Brick had opened the door and walked into the room, the woman had gotten up from her seat and tried to catch up. "Stop. You can't. He is sleeping."

Her voice sounded very desperate to stop Brick but the pleading from her only increased the dread he felt.

"Stop!"

"Stop!"

"Please!"

The woman had slightly reddened eyes as she grabbed to pull back Brick by the arm but it was already far too late.

He had already seen what was inside which had made him reach to unsheathe the knife on his waist.

Brick's voice became cold and authoritative suddenly. "Alice!"

Alice stepped inside and asked. "What is it? Oh my god!"

She became frightened upon seeing the scene inside so she stepped back until she heard the stern voice coming from Brick which contained a little remorse in it. "Hold her back. No.. take her out of here."

The woman heard what he said then instantly went into protective mode for her child before Alice could grab onto her.

She ran in front of the crib to shield the child inside which was her own baby that was only one year old.

Her hand rested on the wooden barrier on the side of the baby crib while her other hand waved towards Brick who approached her quickly. "Get back! No!"

Just as she was about to push him, Brick grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "Fool!"

The hand that was on the side of the crib held on and pulled at the crib so it was knocked slightly off balance while there was a small sized zombie baby inside. "Wuaa."

If Brick had been a second too late then the zombie baby inside would have bitten onto the hand that it had climbed up to reach upon being attracted to the noises in the room.

It was a classic example of people denying the reality in front of themselves and not wanting to believe the situation they were in.

Brick caught the woman then pushed her towards Alice then spoke in a tone which showed his impatience. "Hold her this time."

The zombie baby had crawled out from the crib which had fallen onto the side and it crawled towards Brick who was closest to it.

Brick removed the knife on his waist then stabbed it into the skull before it could reach him. "Hah.."

He wrapped up the zombie baby in a blanket then picked it up. 'Hah.. it is not like I want to accumulate hate but I cannot let someone be so reckless. There was no way she would do it herself and it would only bring danger to her and others.'

It was not strange for people who were in denial to not see what their loved ones had become so they would hesitate to act against them or deny everything.

In some cases, they would be quick to die because they had no vigilance towards their relatives who had transformed while others would learn to treat them with a little vigilance.

In worst cases, there were people who went completely insane and chose to resort to even more inhumane methods in the hopes of treating or preserving their loves ones who had already died.

Brick had seen and read too many movies, tv series and novels that featured similar scenarios so when he had entered the building and looked around, he had a bad feeling that something similar was happening.

Although he had prevented the mother from dying to her zombie baby, the grief and hatred from him killing the zombie baby would be directed towards himself.

The mood of Brick had become sour, his hands clenched into a fist as the other arm carried the zombie baby that was covered up.

He walked out and put on a solemn expression. "I am sorry. This had to be done. Your baby was already gone. Whatever you choose to do from now on is your own decision."

The woman looked towards the stained blanket that wrapped her child and hugged it tightly in her arms until her legs weakened beneath her. "No.. no.. hic.. uwaah."

A complicated look was on the face of Brick until he suddenly slapped both hands towards each side of his face. "Huu… I recommend that you give your child a burial or burn them to give them a proper send off while you still can. I am going to gather more of the remaining survivors. Whether you can overcome this or not is entirely up to you but it is safe for you to go outside now."

More time had passed as more people had followed behind him and the group had increased from a small group of four to a small crowd of more than ten people.

Each of them were workers of the Reed residence or relatives of them who had been visiting or staying in the buildings during the outbreak.

There were some that survived by luck while others had locked themselves or the zombies in another room to protect themselves.

Brick, Alice and Tristan had been the sole people to take action against the zombies while Cherie was given small tasks to keep a lookout and shout when she spotted a 'monster' nearby.

She was scared at first but when she discovered the power she had upon directing Brick, Tristan and Alice to kill the zombies, Cherie grew a little more confidence in herself and trust in the others to keep her safe.

It became more like a game for Cherie rather than survival but it best suited her current age and helped her adapt quicker than most other kids.

Brick had slipped in some crystal nucleus granules into the water he had given the three of them but he did not tell them the full details yet because it was not yet time.

The only instructions Brick had given them was to keep exercising and moving about to rid themselves of the feeling they each had in their bodies.

Since they were already fighting and wandering around the outer area of the Reed Residence, they were already doing enough to absorb the viral energy within them and since they were rationing their food and water, they did not go over the limit of what their bodies could handle.

Brick had held onto the water bottle of Cherie to avoid her sneaking some more so it had been placed in his backpack and was only taken out when she really needed it.

There were some members from the security division of the workers of the Reed mansion following behind but most people had become too used to watching from behind as Brick and the others did most of the fighting.

Although Brick had tried to get them to participate, they did not adjust that well or they had become too complacent upon seeing that someone else could take on the dangers.

In response to that, Brick did not share anything with them and told them they must bring their own supplies if they needed anything.

If they asked for anything belonging to them then they would be rejected right away.

Brick had already saved them and given them a path to walk down, he did not need to give them food, drink and extra protection too if they were just going to sit back and watch him put himself in danger for them.

While he had been adapting to his body and gaining familiarity with killing the zombies, there was a certain bitterness and anger which was stirring within Brick because of the present situation. 'All that hard work to clear the area and make it easier for everyone.. there must be so many more that have survived too… but my god! These ungrateful and annoying people should just stop being leeches!'

His gaze turned towards the small seven year old girl which had a slightly more uplifted attitude than before. 'Even a kid her age has done more than them… it is usually the elderly, injured and the children to get abandoned first then it would be the women before the men who would take priority in being preserved. That would be the case if it was a normal world with ordinary zombies.. even an elderly person or a child can be useful if they are used correctly.'

When it came to survival, people started prioritising certain groups for survival of the group or to ensure the survival of mankind so there were many which were first pushed aside, abandoned or lost their basic rights.

The elderly were experienced but they were left behind or left to starve in the zombie apocalypse.

Children died of starvation or grew up as thieves or assassins and that was if they did suffer worse fates at the hands of cruel people who had sick fetishes or chose to use the children as bait for the zombies.

Most women that could not survive on their own had to cling to a male for survival so their fate was always uncertain, such relationships were not solid and a single whim of their partner could result in them being abused, killed or used in some dangerous way to benefit their partner.

There were many men who saw themselves as the kings of the apocalypse in many stories and the present novel that Brick had come into was no different.

Once law and order no longer existed, the human power struggles and how they chose to make certain decisions to benefit themselves or the group became much more cruel and ruthless.

Human compassion was for the weak and those who would be taken advantage of time and time again until they no longer had anything to offer.

The day was becoming night and the actions of Brick and the others had already drawn attention to themselves as some people sat inside of a room watching some monitors.

Within the inner walls of the Reed residence, there were people who had been watching the security camera footage which showed what had been happening throughout the whole day and they had each gained courage of their own to take back their control of the inner walls.

The image of a group of humans surrounding a bonfire as they gave their farewells to their loves ones was shown on the monitor which showed that humanity still existed in the world and that hope was still alive.

They had first formed a group and armed themselves with knives, bats, golf clubs and frying pans as they marched through the main mansion first.

They had been given hope that they can survive their current situation and take back what had been lost to the zombies.