Chapter 6 The Strongest
Running back into the hallway of the house, Jack wiped his tearful face. Attempting to smile while looking at the mirror on the wall, the resulting image was a face that even terrified himself. Dropping the gun, he wanted to avoid letting the poor luck of the individuals affect him. He desired to leave this place as if he had never come.
*Ahem*
Clearing his throat, Jack walked out of the home. Ralph was still being blinded by his mother, trying to look around through her hands. The image was enough to make Jack laugh and clear up his clouded expression.
Jack walked up to them and thought,
“Okay Lilith, you can let him go.”
Ralph, finally free again, looked up to see his father in front of him. Jack was smiling at him, his eyes still red and puffy. Ralph walked up to his father and hugged him. The sensible child did not ask what occurred in the house and only gave his father as much emotional support as he could muster.
His feelings were warmly accepted. Jack said in a forcefully cheerful voice,
“Onto the next home.”
He secretly hoped that he wouldn't have to find any humans again today. Walking up to the house on the right side of the last house.
Grrrrr
The ugly sound of flesheaters became the most beautiful sound. Jack thought, “Just how great would it be to bash some heads in right now.”
*Sigh*
A deep sigh left Jack’s mouth. He looked at the two hollows; by the time he came back, somehow all the glass shards had fallen out of them. Jack confirmed they would recover after some time. His fear that Lilith would get hurt decreased with this discovery. He once again ordered them to break into the house.
Many low growls were heard the moment they entered. Jack ordered them to stop. Walking closer to the wall, he hid himself from the flesheaters and had Ralph and Lilith stand out of sight as well. He saw a reflection of the walking corpses in a slightly larger piece of glass. The corpses and hollows were standing in front of each other without moving. He wished he could see from the hollow’s perspective and control it directly.
The corpses did not take the hollows as enemies. Jack nodded his head silently; this would greatly decrease his danger. He thought, “Now it's time to see the corpses' response to hostile actions.”
He ordered the two hollows to attack together, the corpse walker closest to the window Jack was hiding near. He had them attack the neck, hoping to do the most critical damage.
Jack suddenly had a thought, “What would happen if they ran and kicked the neck like they were kicking the door.”
He softly chuckled, but what he saw left him with his mouth open. The hollows ran to the end of the room and sprinted back to the poor flesheater and kicked his neck with full force. The powerful kick from the two hollows made the rotting corpse lose its head. There were two more walking flesheaters left, but Jack had no more patience; he ordered the hollows to unlock the door.
Ralph, seeing the door open, was excited and asked,
“Dad, are we gonna fight too now?”
Jack laughed, “Not you, but I am.”
Ralph was slightly disappointed but was also curious how much stronger his father had become after this morning's fight.
The door opened, and witnessing the two humans, the walking corpses started to run at them. Jack offered the hollows to block two of them and let one come. The bouncers were effective at their job, and only one made it through.
To Jack, the corpses moved very slowly even before experiencing the battle, but after devouring the white ball, they were twice as slow.
Like his first fight, he pulled his arms back, and once the walker was close enough, he swung the bat. A significant bang was heard, and the head was blasted off. It was much easier than before, feeling nearly no resistance, like the head was nothing but a clay pot begging to be shattered.
Feeling refreshed, Jack smiled and allowed another walker to come close to him. The outstretched hands that once made his skin crawl and muscles twitch in fear looked like a small house cat trying to scratch him now. He took a step back while pulling his arms diagonally upwards. He squarely hit the chin of the flesheater, and it flew in the air for a half foot and landed on its back. It struggled to stand up; at the same time, he brought his bat down like the hammer of the gods vanquishing the wicked. Jack stood there for a moment adjacent to the corpses, taking in a deep breath, not in fatigue but in satisfaction of his own growth.
He thought, “I only consumed a single orb, but I feel as if I became twice as strong as I was. I wonder if there is a correlation to the white orb and the flesheater I killed.”
After the adrenaline from the fight was gone from Jack’s body, what drew his attention immediately was the white balls. There was an intense seduction from them, and he went to them immediately. Being in a great mood, he popped the first one without thinking much.
Much like before, it dissolved the moment it touched his tongue, and thus he could not savor it. Unlike last time, however, he felt there was no need to relish the taste nor the warm current flowing into his body. He hurriedly took the second piece and tried to rip it into two pieces. The white orb became strands of white. They flowed into themselves and soon became smaller orbs. He immediately wanted to give Lilith one but thought it would be best to try it on another hollow first.
“Come.” The first hollow came closer. Jack noticed that while holding onto the flesheaters, the skin on the face and arms of the hollows was cut, likely from the struggle. He
handed the small orb to the hollow. He then grabbed Ralph and Lilith and positioned them behind him. He gave the order for it to eat.
Once the orb was in the hollow’s mouth, much like himself, the orb disappeared, but what Jack saw was a small white current appearing all around the wounds of the hollow. The areas that were scratched quickly healed, and the arms and shoulders grew slightly larger. The significance in muscle mass was not as significant as his own but still noticeable. He nodded his head and thought, “Indeed they can become stronger.”
He handed the second orb to Lilith and was about to order her to eat it. But Ralph quickly grabbed her hand.
“NO!!!! I don't want mom to be a bodybuilder.” Yelled Ralph.
Jack was confused for a second and thought back to himself and laughed. He explained, “Ralphy, your mom has always been the strongest, don't you remember.”
“Huh” Ralph then recalled last December when they went downtown for dinner.
**December 12, 2024**
It was a dark and cold night. No moon was present, and the alleyway that housed the best ramen restaurant in the city just closed. The family of three was walking hand in hand. Ralph was in the middle, Jack was on the left, and Lilith was on the right.
“Dad, the ramen is still the best here.” Ralph exclaimed with a face full of smiles.
Jack laughed, “Your mom and I have been coming here since before you were born, the quality is the same, is it honey?”
“Mhm” Lilith hummed in agreement.
Approaching the end of the alley were five large men, with tattoos on their faces, leaning on the wall. They looked impatient when the family came to a halt near them. Irritation sprouted from the largest man. He began to speak in a hoarse voice, “It seems you are not gonna let us surround you. Doesn't matter, take out everything you have, and we will let you go.”
*Sigh*
Jack said with a tired voice, “Listen guys I know you're just trying to survive, but stealing from people like us is no good for you. You can steal now when you're young; but what about when you're 60. Think about the future. You should go steal from the rich.”
“What!”
The large man was shocked. He thought, “Is this skinny looking guy a thief too?”
The large man concluded, “He looked smart and he had beauty with him. This man is a professional; maybe I could learn something.”
The men in the alleyway also gave Jack their full attention; to score a big heist and never have to steal again was a dream for every criminal.
The guy next to the large man couldn't hold back his curiosity and asked, “How, tell us quickly?”
Jack smiled and said, “See you're curious; I knew you all were smart. Okay, this is the best heist you can ever do, it's no risk and the payout is really good. You go to this place every day. You pretend to do what they say for a while then… You never go back, but they will keep giving you money. How does that sound?”
The curious man was shocked, “No way, where do I go.”
Jack laughed, “They are all over the place; you just need to find one with nice people. So you don't mind seeing them every day. You might even become friends, and going there will start being fun. You wanna do it?“
The curious guy jumped up and down and screamed, “Boss let's go, this sounds great. We don't have to risk our lives, and it could even be fun.”
The large man was more skeptical and asked, “Is that what you do?”
Jack nodded proudly, “Been doing it since I was 20.”
The large man was sold, “Okay, what is it called?”
Jack smiled like a mentor and said, “A job”
*Silence*
The eyes of all the men in the alley become bloodshot. Lilith next to Jack chuckled softly, covering her mouth.
The large man asked with palpable rage, “You think you can get away alive after making fun of us.”
Jack smiled without fear and continued his education. “Honestly, friend, I was telling you all this out of goodwill. I hope you turn over a new leaf and become members of society again.”
No longer able to restrain himself, the large man took out a gun and aimed at Jack. His underlings did the same as well.
*Sigh*
“Oh well, I tried.” Jack said equally tired and sad. He pulled Ralph's hand and walked a few steps back and covered his eyes. Ralph did not see what occurred after that, but seconds later, the men were missing, and Lilith was walking back without a hair out of place. What confused him the most was that his ears were wide open, but he did not hear anything.
The family walked away from the alley like nothing happened. Only Ralph had a confused expression.
**Present time**
Ralph recalled the incident and put his hand down. He then said, “Yeah, I remember. But how is mom so strong?”
Jack laughed and said, “I don’t know.”
There was not a single speck of doubt in his voice. If anything, the sentence contained all the love he had for the woman by his side. He now, like before, couldn't care less about what she did in the past; he only cared for her.
Ralph was still confused but trusted in his father’s judgment and was excited by the prospect of having such a strong mother.
Lilith took the small orb and placed it in her mouth. The same phenomenon occurred. A white light descended from her mouth downwards, but it did not change her body in the slightest.
Jack nodded and confirmed out loud. “The orb makes us stronger, and when the body is not in optimal form, it changes it until it becomes perfect. But since Lilith’s body is in perfect condition, it didn't change anything, only made her stronger. Good, that means there is no limit to how strong we will be in the future. Let's move on. We will gather supplies after clearing up our street.”
