Chương 27: Chapter Twenty-Seven: Repercussions

TWENTY-SEVEN Roan realized it was a mistake at the end of the first hour. He'd killed over thirty of the reanimated corpses by now. The weight of credits in his bank account was comforting but he could only watch as more and more of the anomalies peeled away and ran down corridors. He'd just killed his thirty-first of the reanimated corpses, sweeping its legs and bursting the tumor on its stomach, when he noticed it.

I NFERIOR REANIMATED CORPSE 300 CREDITS ANOMALIES DESTROYED: 49/4336 The amount of anomalies had crept up by nine. Roan could only curse as he backed up, legs wobbling in exhaustion as the weight of his fuck up descended on him." I knew. I could have warned them. Given people a chance." He reached into his pocket and found the stamina potion, popping it open with one hand and swallowing its contents in a single swig.

It was the first time he'd felt tired since he had repaired the amulet and he instantly knew he never wanted to take another one. It was bitter and sour, puckering his face while his heart lurched in his chest as he felt a boundless energy explode in the pit of his stomach. The lethargy disappeared, his trembling muscles firmed up, and clarity returned." You couldn't have warned everyone. There's at least another eight saferooms at minimum and you wouldn't have been able to save them.

These are competent and skilled fighters who knew the dangers. We do need to warn our group though." Roan accepted the self-reprimand and started to back up at a faster rate. His continued retreat had been much slower than his earlier run towards the breeze he'd felt, but he still felt like he should be close to where he had started his journey. The issue was the crypts all looked identical. Roan couldn't tell exactly where he'd come out of." Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. Impatience is going to kill you."

There was a frenzy to the thoughts as he jogged backward, keeping his eyes on the horde while looking over his shoulder every now and then. The pressure from the gale of life force was muted now, close to what it had originally been. Roan saw him out of the corner of his eye. A man rushed out of the hallway dressed in the tidy uniform of one of the colleges. Black leather coat with the sigil of a white tower on the breast. He drove into the horde and cut down two of the reanimated corpses in a flash of light.

The stranger was supernaturally quick, darting in and out of the gaps in the horde before they could respond. Five of the reanimated died in moments as the man sped through the ranks. There was a glimmer around him as if light was refracting off of water. Then it guttered out as the man reached the edge of the horde. He stumbled and nearly fell, but he was skilled enough to cut apart a sixth reanimated as he fell into a roll and got away from their grasping hands.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Roan thought the man had enough space for a second. Most of the reanimated were slow, only moving in bursts of speed once they were close to him. Except for those who had had bloodlines. A figure lashed out of the lines of undead and was on the college trained fighter instantly. Roan started forward to help the man, but the fighter was skilled enough to escape.

His short sword gutted the reanimated but missed the tumor growth. Roan watched as the man jumped free as the reanimated hit its knees on the ground, body folded around the wound.

"Hey! I'm Jared! You have anyone else with you?" Jared, the college trained fighter, panted as he got closer.

"Roan. And it's just me. You have anyone?" Roan asked, suspicious as the man got closer to him. The thought of seeing the credits hitting his account when he'd killed the thief warned him. He couldn't trust them, not when his account was so recently swollen.

"No. I'm the only one who figured out the amulet trick," Jared said, his hand reaching to touch his chest. A confused look flashed across his face as his fingers found nothing.

"Shit, did it grab it?" Jared said, spinning around to look at the last of the reanimated he'd cut. Roan felt a sense of dread as he remembered all the undead trying to reach for his own fully charged amulet. The folded in half zombie looked up and Roan could have sworn there was a sense of victory in its eyes as it lifted the amulet up to its cracked lips. The pulsing tumor on its chest was shrinking as wounds stitched together, its innards pulled back into its stomach.

In slow motion the amulet touched the thing's cracked lips and then into its mouth. With a powerful crunch the zombie bit down. Even from nearly twenty feet away Roan could hear the crack of the jewelry breaking.

"Shit." Jared muttered as he rubbed at the back of his neck. Roan's eyes tracked over to the man's neck and widened as he saw boils starting to fester. Roan reached into his pocket and grabbed one of the shards and pulled it free.

"Jared, put this on. You're starting to…blister?" Roan said, wondering what exactly was happening as he tossed the man the small amulet. Jared caught it with the hand that had just rubbed his neck and Roan winced again as he saw the man's fingertips were smeared with blood.

"Thanks. How many more of those you got? I had to use all of mine to build the upgraded amulet," Jared asked as he put the shard over his neck. Instantly the boils stopped, but they didn't retreat.

"A few," Roan muttered as he turned his attention back to the zombie. Its wounds were healed now, and not just the one that Jared had given it. But the ones that had killed it in the previous life as well. She had been a well built woman with the musculature of a swimmer and a long gash through her throat. That was closed now and the tumor that had been on the top of her chest had shrank drastically.

"Hello." Roan froze as the word seemed to freeze the boulevard. The zombie's gray eyes watched them as she smiled, her teeth bloodstained as a laugh started up. It turned into a hacking cough that saw a wad of clotted blood splatter across the ground.

"Did…did she just say something?" Jared asked as he took a step back instinctively.

"Yeah. I don't know what's going on," Roan admitted, but he was still buzzing from the strength of the stamina potion. He lifted the warhammer up, ready to fight the zombie, but the reanimated woman shook her head slowly.

"No. Still not quite there. Need more." She lifted her weapon, a long dagger, and frowned at it as the zombies started to lurch forward again. She raised a hand and the zombies stopped, eyes turning to look at the woman.

"Definitley need to kill her," Jared said and Roan couldn't help but agree. The reanimated woman looked at them and snapped her fingers. Instead of a shuffling horde lines began to form as the zombies started to form actual battle lines, their tumors glowing bright white.

"Oh. Fuck us."