It was a shadow of a figure stamped on the pink wall. There is no trace of blood only shadows of people trying to run from something.
If he wanted to describe what it is, then it could be described like someone who has died of a nuclear blast.
He sees the red figure on the wall, and he could make a faint figure of a man holding the hand of a woman with children running behind them.
His family.
He has no doubt about this. All the things in the living room has disintegrated, only ashes and dust remains.
There must be some beast that could do this. A beast that has some unique power this kind of thought cross Azief mind.
Unconsciously, tears started to fall from his eyes. His knees become weak and he collapsed lifelessly on the living room.
No matter, how their relation is, they are still families. But this state did not last long. Azief quickly steel himself and he got up….but his hand still trembling.
His knees are still wobbly and his heart is still beating furiously, an indescribable anger rising up from his heart and stuck at his throat.
At this moment he wanted to wail and yelled to the heavens. But he endures it. He endures the unfairness, he endures his anger, he endures the pain.
Because there is nothing else he could do.
He was powerless before and he is powerless now.
This sense of….defeat….is not something unfamiliar. All of his life, he never did achieve anything great.
He always had great aspirations but he never had the means.
And never before has he is being confronted by his own powerlessness other than now. The feeling he felt. The fear and anger.
Fear to this new world, fear that from now on….he would be alone. And anger to the world for what has happen.
He is truly alone now. No family. He has no close friend other than Nizam and Yusof. Other than that, he only has his family.
But he got up. He got up because he has to survive. If the world is expecting him to fall and crumble, he would prove the world wrong!
He gritted his teeth, his eye is still red, he clenches his hand and he got up. In life, there are certain defining moments that shape a person.
And for Azief, that moment was the moment he determined himself to survive. He was reborn at that moment.
He didn’t know it, but his heart has already hardened and his determination only fires him up.
He tried to surmise what happens here.
Seeing the way that they died Azief begins to believe there is some weird beast prowling around his village.
His mind also flashed towards the peculiar way his third uncle and First uncle demise. He also notices that he barely met a stiff when he is entering the village.
And most of the zombies he met in the intersection did not come from this village.
Living in a village, he almost knows everyone.
At least, once is a while, when there is a feast (it is called kenduri in my country, but I don’t know what to call it in English so I wrote feast) he could see the elders and the villagers.
But what made him uncomfortable is that he doesn’t know what it is.
There is something nagging in the back of his mind, sensing that there is something eerily wrong about his village.
He scans his surrounding but he could not find any hostile’s monster and this is what makes him feel more unnerved.
There should be many zombies. Even though his village is small, there should be at least a few that has turned into a zombie but there isn’t.
Only monsters. And none of that gigantic beast.
Some crow, a little snakes and a few rodents. At least it should have a horde of zombies prowling around like in the city.
He moved forward and enters his room.
He could only see ashes but the wall of the house is fine, only the thing inside the room was completely disintegrated.
What manner of creature did this? he thinks to himself.
His room was clean; he then walked to his sister room. The same. And to his parents room. The same.
They all left dust and ashes.
It was like a nuclear blast happens inside this house but the house is perfectly fine. There is another thing that bothers Azief.
It has been a few days.
Supposedly, his third uncle and first uncle should have turned into stiffs but they didn’t. Something bizarre is happening in this village.
He then came to the living room again, looking at the figures the wall. He doesn’t know what to say…or do.
The tears come again but this time he quickly wipes it.
He then crouched down and he caressed one of the figures. It is his youngest little brother. He was only ten years old.
The world is unfair!
Azief always plays with him when he has the spare time. Then he looks at the figure of her mother.
Even though they rarely talk, her mother still cares for him, in her own way. Azief knows this and realizes this.
They both are clumsy, in the way they expressed their feelings towards each other, but Azief understands.
And then his quiet father.
It seems fathers are like god. Distant and aloof. They are complicated emotions inside him…It was not sadness…but regret, maybe.
He was a 23 years old man, with no job or prospect, he is not yet married, and he has no money.
He still lives in his parents’ house, and rarely helped his parents other than helping washing the plates, or cleans the yard.
Other people sons, each month give some allowance money to their parents but he couldn’t even do that because his job gives him only a little bit of money.
Even living for himself was hard enough.
His parent did not say anything or tries to rid him out of the house and for that he is always grateful.
But he like other sons also wanted to make his parent proud. Wanted them to live in luxury and repay their care.
To be a filial son.
Then looking at the figure of his parent he said, eyes streaming with tears, teeth gritted in angers, eyes bloodshot, like a devil just escapes from hell, his robe emitting a black aura around him, making him look like a Death God
‘Watch over your son. Your son will someday be a great man, shaking the world and make you proud in the Afterlife. No one will not know my name! And if I ever get to know, what beast did this to you, I will end its life, grind its meat and make it suffers a thousand fold of your pain!’
That is the only thing he could offer. A promise to the dead. At least, this way he could motivate himself.
With one last look, he exited the house with tears filling his eyes.
***
The clouds still is blue, and the wind pushes the clouds. It was a sunny day. But a gloomy atmosphere surrounds Lord Shadow.
He went inside his neighbor hose. This time the circumstance of his neighbor death is also suspicious.
It enhances Azief initial conclusion. That there is some weird beast running around his village.
Their heads were all missing and their bodies were mutilated to such gory extent.
However Azief has……for some reason, has accustomed himself to seeing such level of gore.
He stills feel uncomfortable, but he can’t barf every time he sees a horrifying corpse.
After all, for some reason, Azief believes he would meet many more corpses like this in his journey.
Uncle Zulkifli is his neighbor.
He is short, stocky man. His corpse is at the living room, his hand gripping tightly a kris.(keris is a weapon. google it for anyone interested)
But his head is nowhere to be found, only a pool of blood from his severed neck.
As he walked deeper inside the house, he could see a naked young woman. This must be the second daughter he mused.
Azief knew the second daughter of his neighbor.
Slightly tall than the first daughter, she also has a whiter skin. She left for Australia before, learning there….but it seems she return.
She should have stayed there, Azief mused.
Azief crouched down and looked at the corpse. The woman breast…..was severed from the chest with maggot eating the meat.
The white skins were stained with the red blood, and the deep scratches, leaving a deep gash.
But it was not that, that attract his attention, it was the white thing on her vagina. Azief looked and at first he thought she was raped….but then where is the rapist?
Looking at her nails and hands, there is signs of struggle. The wounds are indication of that. There is also some kind of fur stuck on her nails.
Azief examines this with rapt attention. She was raped, there is no doubt about it.
Then a thought crystallizes inside his head.
Could it be, whatever that killed her, is trying to mate with her? Its sounds absurd but if this is true…..Azief shudders thinking of this.
But in the city he never sees this kind of corpse. Another mystery he mused.
He neared the corpse and tries to smell the corpse. The smell was of course not pleasant but when Azief smells near her vagina, he really wanted to puke.
It was rotten but the white things smell pungent. It’s semen he is confident with his answer.
He is calmly analyzing the corpse. Anything could be a clue.
‘Hmm’ he sighed as he got up.
‘Whatever that attacked them, is not the same thing that attacked my family’ he said.
He walks again to another room. Another woman. Auntie Ta. Also dies the same way even more brutal.
It seems the area around her thigh all were ripped apart. There is also the semen sprayed around the corpses.
It was a ghastly scene. Around the corpse was maggot, wriggling about, near the wounds and some is inside the corpse stomach, moving about
Maybe, my family died in a better way he said consoling himself. At least whatever beast that killed his family, did not submit such torture to its victim.
Walking to the kitchen he had to be careful not to slip because blood pools from the kitchen, flowing to the living room.
This time, he found another deformed corpse.
‘Another children’ he sighed.
The boy name was Syakir and was a friend of his younger brother. Their age is not that far apart.
The body is missing its lower part and the head is also not there. What beast did this? He mused.
Other than the occasional snakes and rats, he found no other beast. Could they have retreated from this village?
There are too many bizarre things that is happening in his village. It is not like the pattern of attack he sees before in his way home.
Zombies attack is quite simple and while they are dangerous, they do not try to **** anyone.
They are mostly moving log.
They don’t even have any ideas. Their strategy consists of trying their hardest to charge at their targets.
They are stupid, EXP farming method.
But Azief is also cautious.
If he did not know the level of his enemies and even what they are, not to mention he doesn’t even knows the abilities of these monster, remaining here might be a problem.
He wanted to avenge his parents at least and kill whatever beast that kills his parents but he is also faced with the possibility, that the beast has long fled the area.
If they do not flee the area, then they have moved deeper to Across Log village. And then he has also has to consider the level of his enemies.
If they are stronger…hmmm…he wanted to avenge his parents, not send himself too early to meet his parents.
‘Hmm’ he needs reinforcement.
It took him about 6 hours since the battle at the bridge and he checks his taming time. 1 hour left.
He needs reinforcement and one person comes to mind.
‘I guess, I have to fetch her.’
He said, his face was grim and full of determination. He then went out of his neighbor house and look at his old house.
‘I will avenge you’ he said, looking wistfully at his house.
Saying this, he dashed out from his neighbor house, heading back to the entrance of his village, his heart is full with despair but his face showed a calm expression.
A cold calmness, sharp like a blade.
***