Day 1: We Are An Object Part ll

—Hey, Jason, I found a civilian! Tell Madison to get the shelter ready! —Kalinic shouted, catching the attention of both Jason and the criminal.

—Please don't come any closer! Don't come any closer, I beg you. Stay right there! I've already seen nameless things outside... and I won't hesitate to use anything in my power to make you leave me alone!

Unlike the video, that man looked like someone different from the way he acted, and dressed, as he didn't have the same black trench coat and that hockey mask.

—Stay back! I'm warning you!

The man got up and walked over to a shelf with teddy bears on it.

—Hey, buddy! We've come to rescue you. My friend Jason and I are part of a rescue squad, we're the help you need —Nikolai hoped Jason would play along.

—Uh... Yes! We have a shelter with so many people, and it's pretty good. We are gathering people to escape from here. We saw you hanging around here a while ago, and we stopped by to say hi.... —Jason hoped he got it right, as he had no acting experience.

—More people? Really? Oh God... Please help me! I need your help... It's urgent!

—What is it, friend? Did something happen? —Nikolai struck up a conversation, waiting for the stranger to say exactly what he wanted to hear.

—A group of criminals kidnapped a bunch of women! Among them my sister... We must rescue them! They've all barricaded themselves in the gun store at Black Card Plaza. Can you help me, please? It's been hours! I... I don't want to imagine the kind of things they're doing to them. I hear screams... people begging... please! You gotta help me!

The man implored Jason, whom he grabbed by the shirt and held it tightly.

—How many men are there, friend? —Nikolai asked, as Megan's numbers were possibly incorrect.

—There were ten... but five were killed. I saw how a civilian fought back and killed one, soon the lights went out and when I came back... the criminals were eating each other. What terrified me the most was.... was...

The guy approached Nikolai, as he had whispered something to him that changed the perspective of everything.

—... the first to die... he wasn't bitten, and he came back from the dead —It was a whisper that seemed lethal.

—Are you sure?

—I swear! I swear... don't ask me how I know, but... but I know that man was NOT bitten. We're all infected, man... ***we all come back when we die***.

Nikolai swallowed hard, too hard. He was struggling with what to do with that information.

—Lead us to the gun shop and we'll see what to do. Okay?

—Perfect! I'll do it... Thanks a lot, man! Thank you! —The stranger hugged Nikolai. Nikolai could smell the characteristic scent of sweat and dirty clothes....

—Jason! We have some civilian prisoners. We must go to their rescue. Report our actions, we will call for reinforcements if necessary —Nikolai winked as he continued to hug the man.

—My name is Ryan Stryker, by the way. It's nice to meet you. So what do we do, guys?

—We're going to the gun shop. Come on, we gotta hurry. These fucking zombies like to group up... —Jason opted to leave the toy store and walk on foot. He didn't trust the guy enough to get him in the back of the truck.

So the trio began to make their way, all three going at the same pace.

—So, guys... How did you find me? If I was hiding in the store...

—We saw you come in —Nikolai purposely omitted the detail of the cameras.

—And we come to the rescue when we see people alive. We believe that God has given us a second chance to go on living, so we don't mind at all to lend a helping hand —Jason felt disgusted to speak that way.

—God...clearly God went on vacation... ha ha... —Ryan laughed at his own joke. —Sorry...

—We don't mind... And what have you been doing all this time, Ryan? —Nikolai was curious about another one of his lies.

—I was barricaded in Black Card Plaza, the plaza we're going to. A group of criminals took my sister prisoner while she went to get food... but she hasn't returned. I'm afraid something bad has happened to her —Ryan looked at the ground as if trying to make Jason and Nikolai feel sorry for him.

Nikolai couldn't believe the contradiction.

—We'll find your sister, buddy. —Jason comforted Ryan, patting his shoulder with his hand, even squeezing it a little.

—Look! The bodies... the dead...

The trio hid behind a table they used as a barricade. In front of them were men dressed in black, wearing leather suits, who had been zombified. The bald guy was being devoured by his three colleagues.

One of them apparently decapitated him by stretching out his head and was eating his eye socket while the decapitated man's mouth was still moving. He then proceeded to devour the other eye, plunging his tongue into the eyeball and proceeding to bite into the area, extracting the eye and eating it.

The other two men were enjoying his guts, as they opened her torso and ate his organs. The way they were eating each other looked as if it was a cannibal orgy.

Finally, the fourth man who fell began to eat the bald man's body, at least the lower half, devouring his guts and eating everything in his crotch.

Nikolai looked at the scene... and it was marvelous.