Chapter 17—PTSD

In the large villa, Song Yu huffed heavily as he got off the treadmill. It had been a month after the meteor hit. Like he promised, the recordings got out. He didn’t know what the outcome of his actions had made, but if it had saved even one life, then he was happy.

He tiredly rubbed his sweat-laden hair as he checked his body in the full length mirror. Nothing beat youth. His stick-like figure now looked toned and sleek. Although he was still slender, you could see definition and tightened power.

The electricity was still on, but like his last life, the water had become polluted. Not so much so that people would become infected, but it was a slow gradual climb to that point. A few days ago, he soaked himself in the lake, absorbing the water, purifying it and letting it flow out. He was a human turbine, churning out clean water. The lake took a long time to purify; as he had to control the entryway to his allocate just enough water and equivalently let it out.

This was a good thing for him as well. It exercised restraint. He had done this in the Paradise Base once a year, then twice a year. By the time he died, he had been purifying the waters once a week. This took a toll on his body, and he usually went into coma’s.

Life at the base became somewhat blurry. Overusing his powers, delegating tasks and overall trying to keep the base in survival mode he did all he could.

But now that he broke through, his spiritual powers were overflowing. As if the life back then didn’t happen, the flow of his spiritual space was cleaner, purer, and overall easier. He knew that the lake would stay purified for a long time.

Song Yu went to take a shower, his body too sticky with sweat. He hopped in and smiled as hot water steamed the bathroom. Ahhhhh! He would have hot showers for the rest of his life!

After the shower, Song Yu went into his wardrobe and took out his hunting gear. Yes.

He had been preparing for an outing for quite some time.

As a shut in, he didn’t want to wait until zombies came near him. He needed practical experience. Learning weaponry and fighting in the comforts of his gym was not going to cut it. He was going to live in the zombie apocalypse for a long time. He needed to know what he had to deal with.

He carefully put on his hunting garb, several layers of elastic material, lightweight body armour infused with rubber on his forearms, calves and neck and a mask that could double as an air filter and hide his identity. On his thighs, he had several knives and a hand gun with a silencer. His primary weapon was his spiritual blade.

He admitted that he took inspiration from M**tal Komb*t, so many of his ‘inspired’ hunting garbs were similar in both aesthetics and functionality. He checked himself in the mirror and admired his lean body in the armour.

Ahhh…If only I had a hot hunk to admire me like this!

His spiritual space had water and snacks alongside a sleeping bag for when he napped in his car. His target was the westward region that had local villages. A primary spot to train himself. Not that many zombies and spread out enough not to overwhelm him.

Song Yu got a bit excited. That was a somewhat terrible thing to think, but he felt a bit stuffy staying at home these last two weeks, and going out would restrain his wanderlust. He got out of the room and met with Squinty-eyes.

His spiritual sense did not lie. After several days after the meteor hit, Song Yu had to kill one of the dairy cows, a handful of chickens, and had to re-do an entire vegetable greenhouse.

It was very easy to spot the animals turning. Zombies had milky-white eyes, pale skin, and their blood postulated a purple and greenish hue. The dairy cow had chased and eaten a piglet, snapping its jaws on the poor baby. Song Yu had sliced it on the spot and burned the remains. He cleaned up the pen, making sure the animals didn’t lick the zombie blood.

After checking that, he spent two days replanting the vegetables.

Zombie vegetables were vibrant in colors like red and fuchsia, sometimes secreted tantalizing smells, and tended to squirm like maggots under the surface of the soil. He also burned it, making sure the roots didn’t penetrate the surrounding seedlings.

Derpy and Squinty-eyes didn’t turn into zombies, and in maybe a few weeks will show signs of having an ability.  

“I’m going out for a night, take care of the animals for me okay?” Squinty eyes barked happily and drew circles around Song Yu. He ruffled his adorable head and headed out to the garage.

He purchased the off-road vehicle from the military, but had some things altered such as the tires and doors. Doors were both a safe thing but an enemy. Doors especially on cars were hard to open when fleeing from zombies, and if you opened one during flight and a zombie happened to jump, the door would be lost and the cars defense would go down 100%

So he made them slide doors that opened when he pressed a button. Of course, the button was on his person, so even while running, he could safely open and close the door. The opening and closing mechanism could be set at a speed, and even if zombies tried to pry the door open, the titanium press would continue to close the door, leaving the zombies body to be cut in half.

Song Yu smiled gleefully as he got in. The color was a sleek brown color that could easily camouflage in the dark and not look out of place in the daytime; he revved the engine and drove out of his compound. He brought along a sensor that detected movement around his perimeter, if any zombies had traveled to his location. He was set.

He pressed a button and the doors to the gate swung open. Seeing that nothing was untoward, he silently drove out, watching as the gates silently shut behind him. He heaved a sigh of relief and drove off.

The journey to the west was long. He had to drive very far for just a few hours of zombie killing, sleep, then return, but this was a safety precaution he had to bear. He pressed the radio and turned up the volume as he heard harsh feedback, before a low radio transmission echoed.

“…the B Country military base will bring reinforcements to the common areas…please wave a red flag outside your window and we will do our best to bring you to safety. I repeat, please wave a red flag. We will ensure your safety…”

Song Yu frowned. The B Military Base? The one in the north? Song Yu remembered that the Military Base was one of the longest lasting bases. The famous fire user was there. Song Yu did remember that the Military Base was the only one that prioritized citizen rescue, but that it was after a several month.

Song Yu didn’t bother paying more attention to the radio and instead picked several songs from his phone into the auxiliary cord. He sang along to the songs and watched the forest change from mountain to plains.

He stopped a few times to use the bathroom and went on his merry way. On the maps, there were several small villages that outcropped the area. The closest village was 8+ hours from his base with a car. He intended to clear out this area and create a wider berth of safety for himself.

Eight hours of driving took a toll on Song Yu, so he took out his sleeping bag. Looking at the movement detector on the screen, the surrounding zombies were still a whiles away. A 20 minute nap would be okay. He had parked himself behind a tree, so there was shade covering.

Song Yu closed his eyes and fell into a light sleep. He mind was still consciously awake, his spiritual sense still on high alert. The 20 minutes were up, Song Yu stretched his neck and wrung out the kinks before driving another 20 minutes.

Song Yu had known that the village was filled with the elderly and left alone children. He had waited a month; anyone still alive would have run away. At least he hoped that. He didn’t want to have to save people.

Song Yu parked outside the village silently. He checked the screen and counted that there were only a dozen in his close vicinity. Perfect.

The zombies right now were still slow.

He got out and immediately slowed down his breathing. His heart beat slowed down, and his body went back into that zone. Eyes focused, mind clear. His hands didn’t tremble, but were deliberate as it reached his small dagger. His eyes slowly checked his surroundings.

Then he spotted a zombie.

It was an elderly woman; her hunched back had been torn open revealing purple blood and greenish bones. Her skin was sallow and falling off the back bone. Her legs were walking in jerky movements and her hands had transformed into the ones Song Yu remembered.  

Song Yu had the urge to vomit. Seeing that thing again…he felt the calmness disappear as his hands trembled, holding himself. He heaved and ran back into the car. The calm breath was no longer as he gasped, his hands clawing his throat like he couldn’t breathe.

Sweat soaked his body armour as he placed his head against the steering wheel.

No.

No.

No.

No….

He laughed pathetically. A zombie that could barely support itself, that even a child could have killed…He buried his face in his hands as tears escaped. His bravado was gone. His pride was gone.

 Everything was gone.

His skin still crawled in trembling fear as the memory of being eaten alive engulfed him. He didn’t want to be eaten. He didn’t want die.

He didn’t want to die!

He heard a light scrape on the side of his vehicle. Song Yu froze as he turned to look out, and saw a new zombie pressing its blackened nails on the surface of his tinted window.