“Jasmine! Hi!”

She rolled her eyes, clicked her tongue and strode away. Guess she still doesn’t like my gut. Had she not gotten over her crush toward Taylor? That might be a little bit troubling.

“Don’t mind her. She got crankier after she was rejected,” Layla intercepted.

“Rejected?”

“Just now. Didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I was there. Funny how she was so narcissistic while confessing to other.”

“How is that even funny?”

“Of course it is. She professed her feeling so arrogantly and demanded him to take her out on fancy dinner for their first date. I couldn’t held my laughter when he bluntly rejected her. Oh~ the look on her face. Like a mammoth sized tomato.”

“I really don’t know whether I should reprimand you for talking behind other, or should I thank you for informing me.”

“Just thank me,” she said, patting my shoulder. “Looks like my cue to go.”

Taylor trotted his way toward me, looking like a puppy who had done something wrong. Cute. Even though he done nothing.

“Someone got an admirer already,” I quipped. Finally a chance to tease him.

Scrunching his face. Biting his lips. He lowered his head, mumbling, “she told you that?”

Stepping closer to him, I placed my hand on his chest. “You’re going to tell me yourself? Or perhaps, you didn’t plan to share with me at all?”

His face relaxed. Wrapping his arms around me, he whispered, “I wanted to tell you myself, so you won’t get the wrong idea. No one could get to me like you do. No one in my eyes except you.”

Snuggling on his chest, I let out a chuckle, “I know.”

John coughed. “I know it’s important to show affection toward your partner, but do you mind do it later? We have to start moving.”

As I pulled myself away, Taylor clicked his tongue. “Everything ready?”

He looked around, “other than the last batch of our food supplies, everything else on board. Sure the two of you won’t ride with us?”

“Mm…” I nodded in response. “Much comfortable for us and other.”

Although transportation were provided for the mission, Taylor and I choose to use our own mode of transportation. For convenience and personal comfort.

The mission encompassed cleaning up the area and rescue in zone red. Zone red referred to the area of town or city populated mostly by zombies. Hardly a shadow of human could be seen. Either they were on hiding, or die of starvation.

Cleaning up the area was the main task. After the theory of destroying the core equal to killing them for good being confirmed, the government issued the order for the superhuman to wipe out the zombies. That was cleaning up the area.

Rescue was done while completing the main task. Humans they met along their way doing the mission must be rescued and brought back to the evacuation center. This mission was the first clean up task after the government issued the order.

One point after another, the group would make a halt, in order to carry out the mission. One place after another were filled with corpses of the living dead.

Layla who could manipulated the earth would buried the corpses into the ground. For a cleaner environment and making use the corpses as fertilizer. Meanwhile Lee, a water user would flushed the blood away. He seem to be real obsessed doing it.

Days turned night, and night turned days. 52 hours passed since we departed from the city central. That day was sunny and the sky was blue. Even when evening came, the heat didn’t made us sweat.

“Um… Miss Nelson…” a young lady came with a meek greeting. She looked like a trembling bunny.

“Yes? Cynthia, right?”

Fiddling with her fingers, she stuttered with a flushed face, “y—yes.”

“How old are you?” I asked, seeing how nervous she was. I really hope she could be more relaxed. Perhaps, being with Taylor made me someone scary too.

“I—I’m 17.”

“17? No wonder you look so young! You are young. Is this you first mission?”

“Y—yes.”

“What do you think? Looking at senior in action.”

As if a switch had been flipped, her shy demeanor changed into the look of a fangirl talking about their idol excitedly. Her eyes was bright and her smile was wide.

“They were so cool! The way they utilized their power in a way one couldn’t use was truly exceptional. They are the very definition of phenomenal! Ah! Di—did I talk too much?”

“No, no. Not at all. Even I had thousand praises I could chanted all day long.”

She stared at me with relief, then paused, then looked at me again. “U—um… Miss Nelson.”

“Yes?”

“May I asked you for something?”

“Of course.”

“Ple—”

“Ple?”

“Please look at my power!” she said, bowing down her body ninety degree, as if she was greeting the strict and stern headmaster in school.

“I wanted to hear your opinion on how I could used my power better…”

“Sure.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Why not?”

“Then! Could we step out to the field? I had already scouted the area. There was no monster in vicinity.”

“Alright.”

“Thank you! Thank you!”

“Say your thanks later. Let’s go.”

Got to admit. I was impressed. Despite her young age, she had the best strategy and tactics on how she manipulated her ability and her surrounding.

Aura. A form of energy that gave its user strength beyond limitation. There were numbers of superhuman who gained aura.

However, only few was able to go beyond limitation of imagination. One of them, somehow end up appeared before my eyes.

She enveloped her whole body with aura to lighten her weight, while also surrounded the energy around the kitchen knife. Her movement was swift despite having an awkward fighting style.

“Stop.”

She halted. The energy covering her and her weapon dissipated into thin air. She trotted her way closer, said, “am I not doing it right?”

Seem like her nervousness had gone away with how she stop stuttering. “No. It was good. If anything, almost good even though you had no prior experience in combat. Personally, I would advice you to take a combat lesson. Or maybe learn any martial art.”

Her eyes sparkled wide. “Can I keep asking you if I had anything in mind?”

“Su—”

Crunch. Growl…

The echoes caught us off guard. Looking at our back, a horde of zombies lunged fast toward our direction. “Run!” I shouted, pulling her hand, forgetting the fact she was superhuman.

Cynthia face went pale. Her body was shivering. Was she scared? It doesn’t make sense. “No, no… why?” she mumbled out.

Perhaps, she blamed herself. After all, she said she had confirmed the safety of the area. Yet, this happened while the others were not around. “Cynthia!”

“M—Miss Nelson. I—I’m sorry. Sorry… I didn’t know this…”

“Cynthia!” I shouted, tighten my grip on her hand. “We will talk about that later. For now, run. Let’s save our live first. Focus!”

The girl went silent. Tears trickled down her cheeks. I really don’t want to bring anyone else into my space. But… This is an emergency, right? Just as I about to bring her inside, swoosh, a throbbing pain caused me to lose my balance.

“Miss Nelson!”

Her scream pierced through my ears. I heard you loud and clear, that I wanted to say out loud. But for some reason, my voice just won’t come out.

I need to get up, those ugly living dead would catch up, yet again, I wondered where my strength had gone.

I heard her voice. Telling me to hang on tight. From what? I pondered again. I kept searching for an answer in my brain. For this pain that etched deep into my bone.

My back. Something wet was soaking through my plain white shirt. My body felt heavier than I ever remembered. I could not stop shivering. It’s cold. Even though the weather was warm that day.

Slash! Swoosh! Smash!

The voice kept going. Cynthia braced herself and was fighting with zombies by herself. I need to get up. I need to do something. But this metallic scent from my back kept holding me back.

It’s hurt. It’s painful. I hated pain. I hated blood. I really hated my weak self. I need to get up. I know. He still waiting for me. Taylor was waiting for me. Bavoom! The sky roared.

“EVE!”

When I thought about him, he would appeared. From the corner of my eyes, I saw him dashing toward me, grimace on his face. A droplet of water seem to trickle down his cheek.

“Taylor?”

He dropped his knee just before me. Somehow he was hesitant to carelessly touch me. Was the wound on my back that bad? His lips was trembling and his eyes was wavering. He gritted his teeth.

“Michelle! Where’s Michelle?!” he screamed out on top of his lung.

“Sir Maxwell!” Cynthia cried out. The sound of thunder I heard must be Taylor wiping out the rest of the zombies. “It was Jasmine!”

“What did you just said?”

“It was Jasmine! I thought it was weird zombies suddenly appear around here even though this was supposed to be a safe area. Then, I saw Jasmine running away! The cut on Miss Nelson’s back can’t possibly be the zombies, because I was running behind her,” she explained.

“Go bring Michelle here.”

“Y—yes! On it! Miss Nelson, please hang in there!”

How smart. She enwrapped her aura around her feet to make her step lighter and faster. That’s why there was no sound with every step she took running away.

“Eve. Can you go into your space? We can use the water to heal your wound,” he said. His hoarse voice was trembling.

I shook my head. “I can’t…”

The wound was too severe. Healing water alone was not enough. My soul was being pulled out of my body. No medicine, no healer could bring a dead person alive.

Funnily enough, I somehow knew my time in this world had reached it end. This is worrying. Cynthia told Taylor about Jasmine. He will be sure to kill her after this.

Not that I disagreed. I’m not kind enough to forgive those who harm me. Those who does evil shall be punished. She reaped what she sow.

What I do not wished to see was him dwelling in sadness and anger. I do not wished for him to live in madness. I do not wished for him to live with hatred.

“Taylor…”

“I’m here.”

“Do me a favor.”

“Anything. I’ll do anything as long as you keep living.”

I could only smile with no promise. I glimpsed over his back and saw them with tears in their eyes. Sadness had engulfed the air. Good. There’s something I need to relay with them as witness.

“If killing her can extinguished the anger in your heart. Do so. I have no intention to forbid you from doing so. That is my revenge that you took or me.”

“I will… I will…”

“But… do not harm those who did nothing. They are not one to be blame. Only the one at fault deserve punishment.”

“Eve… Please… don’t leave me…”

“Forgive… me…”

Ah~ I can’t anymore. My time had come.

[Initializing home portal… Transition ready in 3… 2… 1…]