Fighting the puppets

Ali walked out of the building with heavy steps and lost in thoughts.

His mind was a mess at this time as thoughts about revenge echoed into it. Yet his heart still only played the tune of betrayal from Aarvi.

In this battle between his mind and heart, his stomach was growling in hunger, trying to cave in on itself, as all intestines felt fucking twisted.

And when he held all of that in, the cold wind outside started brushing against his open wounds, sending little jolts of pain all over his nerves.

He kept walking towards the place where Sky Ultima was built, with a baseball bat in hand and a long dagger on his waist.

Normal zombies didn't get close to him now, some infected ones did come around snooping, but he either ignored them or bashed their heads in.

Looking at the faces of some people hiding in nearby buildings or running around on streets looting shops, only the thought of eating them came to his mind. Turns out biting Kiara wasn't really a good choice.

"Is this really a zombie virus or a freakin 'vampire one?" Ali muttered to himself, as he ignored his urges and kept thinking about Kevin.

"Hold on, body. we're almost there." Ali said, as he saw the Sky Ultima building in his eyes. He was ready to lose himself once he killed Kiara and Liebe this morning, but hearing that he could find Kevin, he held on. Pain became a backdrop in his body, as he forced his mind to think of various methods he could use to torture Kevin and kill him.

"Should I chop his hands that he pushed Shiva with, and slap him to death with them."

"Or break his leg that he stepped on me, and then shove it down his throat."

"Ohh maybe catch him alive and put him in front of a zombie. Leaving him to suffer the slow bites until he does or turns."

"…"

"…"

When he was finally in the familiar streets of the building where he worked for three years. The place which held so many memories for him, looking around the empty crossings and broken stalls, he could still see the scenes of two-three months prior when everything in his life was fine. When he would look forward every night to coming here so he could see Aarvi again, or those stalls where he'd go smoking or chilling with Shiva when he needed a break. Or the parking where he'd find Emily waiting for him every time he finished his work.

Sometimes he still couldn't comprehend how fast everything changed.

But no matter how much he missed those times now, there was no going back.

'Let's just get this over with, and then maybe I can get some peaceful rest again too. There's nothing left for me anyway.' Ali said in his heart and moved forward.

But his steps came to a halt as he looked at the side where he saw an empty road. His brows furrowed and he started going in that direction.

'Where did her house go?'

Ali thought confused, as he looked around but found nothing. This was the place where he first met that little girl Shashi and later burned her house down too. Yet now in that place was just large cracks on the road. With half burnt stuff and smoked stones.

The mystery about that little girl only grew more in his mind as he saw no clue of her presence anywhere once she disappeared. It was like someone was erasing all tracks of her existence. I mean she'd pop up here and there, and then suddenly disappear.

"Is she even real, or was I just imagining her?" Ali couldn't help but think.

-oye oye , oye oye, oye o oaahaa

-can you hear me walk away

-Derniere danse

Ali was thinking about Shashi and questioning his sanity, when loud music started playing all around him.

He turned around to see that there were 5 people standing clad in black clothes with mask covering their faces.

"Who are you?" Ali asked, as he was in no mood to deal with some pesky survivors gang, made by a bunch of teenagers. Especially when his senses were begging him to eat them all at first sight.

"Boss liked your gift, so he sent us to return it." One of the masked man said, as he waved his hand, extending the baton in his hands.

Hearing his answer and listening to the loud music, Ali looked at the Sky Ultima and then shook his head with a smile.

"Since you're with him, there's no reason for me to hold on." Ali said and rushed towards them with high speed.

"Covid's been over for a year now, why don't you remove your masks and relax a little." Ali said as he kicked the nearest masked man in the chest. And dashed forward with a ferocious shout, he slammed the metal bat in his hands, towards another robed figure's head, but he dodged it and the bat ended up hitting him in the shoulder.

The impact behind that hit sent the black robed man crashing to the ground, but to Ali's shock, the robed man quickly got back up and threw a roundhouse kick at his face knocking him several steps back. All the while without showing any signs of pain or distress over the hit he just received earlier.

"What the _ "

Before Ali could curse, the man he kicked away got behind him and kicked him in the back. Before he could get back on his feet, the rest of the 3 people surrounded him too.

When one of them swung his baton at his head, trying to bash his skull in one clean hit, Ali rolled to the side and kicked the man's leg, throwing him off balance. When the man fell to his knee, Ali swung his bat at his face again, breaking his teeth. Yet in response to that hit, the man clenched his fists and punched him in the face. They both got knocked down spitting blood from their mouths.

"Where's your boss hiding? Doesn't he even dare to show up to fight now?" Ali said, as he swung his bat at the man who tried to kick him.

"He's playing games with your Aarvi up there. So he sent us here, to play with you instead." The masked man said as he jumped with the other leg again trying to kick him.

"Aarvi _ " Ali muttered her name under his breath, as his mind played all the memories of their time together.

The moment of distraction got him a punch in the guts, that opened all his previous wounds there.

"Who are you idiots?" Ali said as he got up from the ground dodging another guy's feet that was about to stomp over his head.

"Die, and I'll tell your ghost the answer." A masked man said as he rushed forward and swung his fist at his face. He was wearing those iron knuckles that every street level goon wore before a gang fight.

Ali bashed the bat at his knuckles, while throwing a kick at his nuts like he was going for the goal. As his kick landed, the man first jumped and then fell to his knees. His mask fell off, as he spat saliva mixed with blood in the air.

A smirk came to Ali's face, as he prepared to hit him in the head, but the man suddenly bent sideways and threw another punch at his face.

The sharp iron knuckles broke his skin, leaving little holes behind, as Ali felt a few of his teeth getting loose. He jumped back a few steps, creating little space between him and all the masked men.

Spitting another mouthful of blood at the ground, he looked at all of them, and muttered "if even the low blow doesn't cause you to scream, then that just means either you aren't even a man, or someone _ ."

"So you aren't completely dumb. We don't feel anything, no attack can hurt us. So now stop struggling and die." The man with a baton said, interrupting him, as he ran towards him.

"Wow, I was gonna say, someone who got nothing down there, or is a robot, but yeah, what you said makes total sense." Ali said as he clashed with the man. The clash of metal sending sparks flying in the air. In between the hit, Ali moved forward, pulling out the large dagger from his waist and stabbing the man in the neck.

"Just because you don't feel them, doesn't mean you don't need them, you idiot." Ali said, as he pulled the dagger out and backed away,

dodging another kick at his head.

Ali looked at the masked man standing up and walking towards him, while his neck bled out like a fountain of blood. But he didn't seem to care. The sight was really unsettling to look at.

"And here I thought, dealing with you lot would be easy now." Ali said, as he looked at another group of masked man who appeared there, leading a horde of zombies for him.

"You're going to die here, Ali." The man who arrived just now said. Ali recognize his voice, as one of Kevin's trusted idiot follower. "That's your fate, and you can't avoid it anymore."

"Well I say, fuck you fate." Ali said, as he charged right into their group with the dagger in his hands. His face twisted in a cold grin, as he tried to hide the sensation of pain that seemed to return to his body.

Kevin standing on the third floor of the Sky Ultima looked at everything with a little telescope in his hands. "To force me to use my last resort, you really are a good surprise Ali. But no need to be sad, your death would give me everything back."

Kevin glanced at his system panel, where his points had dropped down to zero. But then he smiled, as he looked at the quest reward that he'll get for killing Ali.

"You'll die a horrible death, Kevin." A cold voice came behind him, cursing him. Yet he just smiled when he looked at the cold girl, with an angry expression, glaring daggers at him.

"Horrible death, is what awaits him, my Aarvi. Come let me show you." Kevin said, as he pulled Aarvi near the glass window and passed her the telescope. "See it with your own eyes."