Exhotic Taste

The day had drained every ounce of energy from Levi, but despite his exhaustion, curiosity won over caution.

As he stepped into the quieter side streets, away from prying eyes, he let go.

For the entire day, he had been suppressing his sight, but now, he wanted to see the world as it truly was.

The moment he stopped holding back, his vision shifted.

Everything was different.

The cold evening no longer looked dull and lifeless—it pulsed with heat. Every living thing around him was outlined in glowing warmth, their body temperatures casting them as flickering, moving silhouettes.

His eyes darted around, absorbing every detail. People—bright and warm—moving through the streets. Their heat radiated outward in soft waves, each one labeled clearly:

Human – Male

Human – Female

Dog

Cat

Even the smallest creatures were visible—rats scurrying between buildings, stray cats weaving through the alleys.

But then—his gaze shifted to the buildings themselves.

And his stomach dropped.

The houses, shops, and apartments were no longer just ordinary structures. His sight peeled back their layers, revealing something that should not have been there.

Inside some of the buildings—heat signatures.

Not just one or two.

Many.

Corrupted.

The word hovered above the shifting masses, and Levi felt a cold sweat form at the back of his neck.

Scattered throughout the city, hidden within abandoned structures, ruined apartments, and high-rise buildings—they were there.

Silent. Waiting.

His breath caught as his eyes locked onto one particularly large building. Through his sight, he could see past the walls.

And there they were.

Dozens of them.

Some barely moving, their bodies twitching unnaturally. Others were completely still, as if resting. But their heat signatures were unmistakable—each one labeled Corrupted.

Levi took a step back. Then another.

They had always been here. Hidden just beyond normal sight.

People walked past those buildings every day, completely unaware of the horrors lurking just a few meters away.

How many of these buildings did they pass without knowing? How many so-called "safe zones" were actually filled with waiting monsters?

Levi clenched his fists, forcing himself to breathe.

His face fell in absolute horror.

So much so that, for the first time since unlocking his sight, his vision snapped back to normal.

The glowing outlines vanished, and suddenly, the world was dull and ordinary again. But his mind still saw it—the masses of Corrupted hidden inside buildings, the ones he had just seen moving.

He froze.

Completely.

His body locked up, every muscle tensed to the point of pain. His breathing became erratic, shallow, almost nonexistent. Cold sweat formed across his back and neck, uncomfortable and suffocating.

He couldn't move.

A primal terror gripped him, something ancient in his blood screaming at him to run, to get away—but his feet wouldn't obey.

His mind raced.

Scattered. Dense. Concentrated in some places. Sparse in others.

The Corrupted were all over the city.

Everywhere.

How?

Levi had heard stories.

They had been taught how minor settlements fell.

How entire towns had been wiped out by sudden outbreaks.

How cities turned into graves.

Was this how some of those cities had fallen? Had they already been infested before the outbreak even started?

Then—like a door unlocking in his brain—he remembered.

Research.

His breathing slowed—just a little.

That was why they were here.

The city wasn't in chaos because of an outbreak.

The Corrupted were being studied.

Kept contained.

At least, that's what he thought.

Levi's hands trembled as he stared out over the city.

There were too many points where the Corrupted were present. More than he could count.

There's no way it's all for research.

His mind warred with itself.

What should he do?

Panic clawed at the edges of his thoughts, but then he made a decision—go to the nearest location.

Maybe… maybe he could confirm it up close.

His feet moved before he fully processed what he was doing.

Cutting through side streets and narrow alleys, Levi kept shifting his vision, flipping between normal and heat mode.

When he finally stopped, he found himself in front of the local mayor's house.

A grand building—too grand—compared to the rest of the city. Well-kept. Secure. One of the places where safety should have been absolute.

But when Levi turned his sight back on—

His stomach churned.

There, inside, he saw a fat man lying on top of a Corrupted woman.

His mind stalled.

What…?

What was he looking at?

Was the man struggling to keep from being bitten? Was he holding her down?

It made no sense.

Levi took a step back, suddenly feeling way too close to whatever this was.

Fear overtook reason. His body moved before thoughts could catch up.

He ran.

As fast as his legs would take him, he sprinted to the guards. Heart pounding.

When he reached them, he practically yelled—

"There's a zombie in the mayor's house!"

Levi's breaths came in rapid, uneven bursts as he frantically explained.

"She—she's shaking! She's gonna bite him! He's on top of her! You have to do something! You have to help!"

His voice cracked under the weight of his fear. His hands moved wildly as he spoke, pointing toward the mayor's house, desperate for the guards to understand.

But instead of rushing to help, the guards stood frozen.

One of them—the taller of the two—stiffened, his expression twisting into shock.

The other? His face darkened.

Levi didn't care.

"Why are you just standing there?! We have to—"

CRACK!

The dull, sudden impact of metal against his skull sent a flash of white through his vision.

Pain.

Before Levi could even register what had happened, his legs buckled.

He hit the ground. Hard.

His ears rang, his sight blurred, and the world around him spun.

A sharp, burning pain pulsed from the side of his head, and as he reached up with shaking fingers, he felt warmth.

Blood.

The guard who struck him—rage flickering in his eyes—grabbed him roughly by the arm and dragged him across the ground like a ragdoll.

Levi tried to resist, but his limbs felt like lead. His thoughts struggled to connect.

What was happening?

Why?

The terrified panic that had fueled him was gone, replaced by something colder.

Dread.

As he was pulled through the estate grounds, past staring workers, past murmuring voices, his mind barely managed to hold onto one thought—

This isn't right.

This isn't right.

Then—

The heavy slam of a cell door.

Darkness.

Cold.

The metallic scent of rust and sweat.

Levi sat where he was thrown, stunned and confused.

From the other side of the bars, the guard scowled.

"Stay put, brat."

And with that, he walked away.

Levi sat hunched in the cold, damp cell, his head still throbbing from the impact. The metal bars in front of him felt impossibly solid, a silent reminder of how powerless he was at that moment.

The guard—the same one who had dragged him here—stood outside the cell, arms crossed, his eyes filled with suspicion.

"Who told you?" he asked, his voice sharp, demanding. "Who told you there was a zombie in the mayor's house?"

Levi opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

His thoughts were scrambled, disjointed, spinning. How could he explain something he himself didn't fully understand?

"I…" he hesitated, his fingers curling into fists. "I just knew."

The guard's frown deepened.

"What do you mean, you 'just knew'? You expect me to believe that?"

Levi's breath felt shallow. He wasn't lying—he really did know. But how?

How did he know?

"I've… always been able to see things." Levi's voice was quiet, his words uncertain. "It's hard to explain. When I was little, I thought it was normal. I used to see a box, no—a square."

His fingers gripped his shirt, finding it hard to think straight.

"This time, I had a feeling there was something in the mayor's house. And I listened."

The guard's expression didn't soften.

"So you're saying you have some kind of… intuition?"

Levi nodded hesitantly.

"And it just happened to tell you that a zombie was inside a government building?"

The weight of the words made Levi's stomach sink.

Said like that, it did sound ridiculous.

But still—he couldn't ignore what he'd seen.

What if… what if the city really was in danger?

What if this was only the beginning?

His hands clenched even tighter.

"I don't care if you believe me," Levi said, his voice steadier this time. "I just… I just want to stop the city from falling—if I can."

The guard studied him, his expression angry.

Levi's world became a blur of pain.

The first punch had sent his head snapping to the side, but it was the second, the third, and the countless that followed that really made the world spin. Fist after fist slammed into his face, his ribs, his stomach. Sharp bursts of agony tore through him, his skin splitting, his bones screaming.

"Stop lying!" the guard snarled, dragging Levi up by his collar before slamming him back down. The impact rattled his skull. "Tell us who you're working for!"

Levi coughed, his mouth filled with the metallic taste of blood. His swollen lips parted, but no words came out.

He wasn't working for anyone.

He had just been trying to help.

"I was trying to save the city," he wheezed.

That only made things worse.

A boot connected with his stomach, knocking the air out of him. A sick, wet gasp left his throat as he doubled over.

"You think we're stupid?" another guard spat. "You expect us to believe that some kid just happened to know about a zombie in the mayor's house? Who are you really? Who sent you?"

Levi's vision was blurring, but even through the haze of pain, he could see the anger, the paranoia in their eyes. They didn't just think he was lying. They thought he was dangerous.

Then came the question that made his blood run cold.

"Who are your parents?"

He hesitated.

The moment stretched too long.

Then—another hit.

He groaned, barely able to lift his head as he forced out the names.

Silence followed.

And in that silence, Levi realized something.

His vision flickered.

Through the haze of pain, he switched back to his heat mode.

The zombies were still there.

Still in the mayor's house.

Still not moving.

Or rather—they weren't moving freely.

They were folded. Pressed together in an unnatural way.

Levi's breath hitched.

They were in a cage.

Like they had been put there.

And then—he saw it again.

The man. The mayor. Still moving.

Still, on top of the corrupted woman.

A horrible, gut-wrenching realization clawed its way into his mind.

Could it be…?

No.

No, humans couldn't be that sick.

Could they?

But it was there. The truth.

The mayor was… sleeping with the corrupted.

Levi's whole body went cold.

His pain was forgotten.

His horror swallowed him whole.

Even at fourteen, he knew what this meant.

And in that moment, he realized—

He had uncovered something far, far worse than a zombie outbreak.