Blood Moon. Age Of Survival

chapter 8

I could get why they named him Big Bob. He looked busty and had a beard that looked bushy all over his chin like he had not combed them for long.
His big red eyes flickered and I thought maybe that was how all Nightstalker eyes are included me.
" could you help me with this?" Big Bob asked the plain old woman. She smiled and she put a sandwich on my plate, patted me on my hair and walked off to serve the other nightstalker who looked exactly like me.
They all look the same, though they have different features but the red eyes, twisted faces, and long nails make them look alike. Somehow I felt at home, like I was with my family but I knew I just had to go back, to Stephen and Emil." So they are nightstalkers?" I said as I put some sandwiches in my mouth and took a bite. But I spewed it out back. It tasted like a sour drink.
Big Bo nodded. "It's okay, it would take some time and you could go hunting on deer, someone does"
I looked at him. " Deer?"
" Yeah, since you drank human blood how is deer threatening?"
"How.."
" We are all zombies Jayden I could smell it from you, " Bob said.

You all are. I corrected but I was sure I only heard it.
A nightstalker hideout. This felt like a dream. Zombie was supposed to be on their own and hunt for human flesh and blood, they shouldn't be together but here it is different. An army of zombie night stalkers coming together and forming a zombie stronghold seems crazy to me. But I am also glad I found some zombie with humanity like me.
"It's hard Jayden," Bob said. Twitching his eyesbrow as he eats his sandwich. "It's hard that you couldn't believe it right?. A Nightstalker camp, isn't it a fantasy ?".
" Is that why mom asked me to find you?." I asked ignoring his questions.
" Yeah, she knows this is the only place safe for you in this situation," he said.
" Yeah, but if the apocalypse didn't start I wasn't still gonna come here right?" I asked.
Bob stopped stuffing his sandwich. His eyes flickered and made a quick contact with the table. Then he looked at me." It was gonna happen Jayden, it was bound to happen so either way you would still be with us"
" Uhn what do you mean,?. Was mom aware that this gonna happen?"
Bob smile. " Yeah, she knows, and that's why she made a bold step in biting you, or if you had been bitten by another zombie it would be a different story "
I looked confused. " What do you mean?".
" You are a rare blood Jayden though we didn't know why but you are a powerful weapon to the apocalypse. " Bob said. " Unlike any of us, you were born with a zombie half ".
I looked at myself more seriously. " You mean I am a zombie from a kid? "
"Mm," he gulped down a water from a mug. " Your mom finds a way to heal you and make you human but nothing could change fate. She only managed to create a medicine that could keep you at bay but not for so long. "
" You know what" I interrupted him. " I know all this I have been told and I don't want to be told the same story this time again "
Bob's eyes widened. " What, who told you all this?"
" Vance, I met him at the stronghold" I said. I told him of my conversation with Vance and the stronghold plans and tricks. After I finished Bob made a low growl.
" I know he would have been on the run "
" What is that? Do you know Vance?". I asked.
He nodded. " Yeah, Vance was one of us, but he is a runner, you know a runner Among hundreds of night stalkers it was somehow complicated he couldn't even do what he wanted. He is corrupt, and he wants to turn every living human into a flesh eater, but we didn't want that, he turned his back on us and left here, we hadn't heard from him for so long. Thought he had died"
" But he is not dead he is in the city capital " I said.
" I know he is evil and we have to stop him"
I remained silent. Vance, I kept thinking that he had his plan all along that is why he planned to keep me alive and sided with me. How could he?
" Hey kid" Bob Shook me. "It's like that, he was born evil so he is gonna be like that"
" Yeah," I said grimly. " I have to save everyone at the stronghold, my sister and brother are also there"
" True no doubt he would also transform them, we have to stop him, but how do we get there?"
I looked at him confused. " We are gonna pass through the tunnels we came through "
" That ain't a tunnels anymore jay, it a well, I had to pass in through there to come to rescue you and drag you out, it ain't easy for a zombie to pass through there. It made us lifeless "
" And how do we get there sharp they might be another way"
" Do you know where we are? We are outside the city and there isn't any other way for us to get there unless we take the road and that is a month to the city"
" A month?" I choked. " That is crazy "
" Yeah really crazy " Bob agreed. A blonde guy walked up to our table.. and whispered something into Bob's ears.
I had a feeling it a bad news. But Bob just smiled and looked at me.
" Hey Jayden, we are gonna find a way to save everyone and your siblings so just relax we are gonna talk "
"Why this sudden change?"
"It's okay kid," Bob said and went with the boy.
"Excuse me," a voice said behind me. I  turned, admist group of other nightstalker was Emily, in a blue coat and her hair pulled back in a ponytail.
"Emily"
" Jayden" Emily called and ran to hug me. " you are alive"
" Yeah," I tightened her. " Yes I am alive"
" Hey, you are a cate kid right ?" An old man asked after studying me for some time.
" Yeah,"
" Oh," he said and resumed his chat with his crew but from time to time, they kept glancing at me.
Emily led me towards a brown-tached building in the heart of the town. It looked worn but cozy as we entered.
" seat here," she said and went inside the kitchen.
This house looked strange and I could pick different scents of zombie.. but no doubt she is a zombie. I was surprised to see Emily still alive, my inner part of me thought she would be long dead since she was in the playground at the park when the zombie had broken inside. But finding her alive was something I was grateful for, she walked back into the hall and handed a cup to me. It was hot when I touched it and the aroma from it tells me it is a black tea.

" Thanks," I said and drank it. She took a seat by my side. She rested her once blue eyes which had now turned red on me and studied me until I drank finished.

" It good?" she asked.

" Yes, good" I looked at Emily clearly, now that she was a zombie she looked a bit scary but still beautiful and I could tell she had been feeding on deer as Bob had said. I could catch the scent of her.

" You know I have been awkward lately, " she said. " I even survived a clash of zombies and turned one myself isn't that crazy"

I nodded. "It's okay it wasn't your fault. What of your mom and Melvin?"

She shook her head. " They .... they are dead"
I blamed myself for asking her of course I should have known but I asked her, what an idiot am I.
" It okay Emily, it okay," I said.
Emily nodded"You know the last person I dreamt or hoped of finding is you Jayden "
I nodded.
" when the zombies broke into the park, Mom was afraid, so she had to leave me and Melvin and ran to her car we were stuck there amidst the army of zombies." Her voice cracked and I knew she was trying not to cry. "I had no other option but to protect Melvin when a zombie charged at us he bit me and bit me until I couldn't feel my blood, but I didn't give in to the virus as it began to spread in my body. I have to save Melvin, that was all on my mind even if it meant turning into a zombies myself. But I guessed it was all futile I tried protecting Melvin but he was bitten and killed they didn't even bother turning him, they killed him, I was powerless I couldn't defeat them" she broke down. " Then Bob came, he found me and rescued Melvin from the zombies And took us away with him but before they could rescue him he died, I had to move on it had been a week since it all happened but I just couldn't go over it "

I hugged her. "It's okay you have me now"

Though I don't know how I would react if I went back to the stronghold and found Stephen and Rose dead I know I can't forgive myself.
" How do you manage?, I mean Bob but he said he can only get back to the city within a month?"Emily cleans her tears. " Yes, we took the tunnels we came through, but a zombie can only pass there two times so he couldn't now"
"But I can right?" I asked.
"It's dangerous Jayden, you can't go there on your own"
" I think I can "
Emily nodded. " I know you to be stubborn Jayden so I can't tell you not to go but ..."
"It's okay," I said. " I have to save Rose and Stephen before Vance unleashes his plans."
She planted a kiss on my cheek." Just promise to stay safe"
" I will "
The door flung open and the boy that had came to tell Bob something a minute ago entered. " Jayden you have to come see this"
I stood up from the sofa and followed him.
" What is it ?" I questioned on our way.
" It's someone he got here and.."
He couldn't finish saying it as panic sounds in his voice.
Before he could finish I ran towards the circle of Nightstalker surrounding something I couldn't see.
What would I see? Someone I had been expecting to see ?, mom or who?.