Chapter 9 New Adversary

After making the promise, it was time to act upon it. Jack was seen in his casual wear, and so was Lilith. But Commander Ralph was still dressed in his metal-toed shoes, puncture-proof gloves, along with many towels around his arms and legs.

Ralph looked even more exasperated than yesterday; he couldn't help but ask, “Dad, can I please not wear this?”

Jack laughed and said, “Haha, a commander needs to be best equipped. What would your troops do if you got hurt? Do it for them, okay?”

Ralph sighed in defeat and said, “For my men.”

Jack could barely contain his laughter upon hearing his answer.

Jack then looked at the street that he lived on for so many years and thought. They have completed the 7 homes across the street; now, he only needs to take down any flesheaters on the 6 homes east of his house, due to clearing the two homes adjacent to him.

Since the house was filled with food, Jack left most of the hollows there, besides the two that he used most of the day yesterday. The evolved hollow, Big, and his housemate were the ones leading the family of three.

The first house they arrived at was similar in size to the same; however, the home was giving Jack a strange feeling. It seemed that the eeriness of the house was affecting Lilith as well. She walked up from slightly behind Jack and Ralph to standing in front of them with her two small knives up. She seemed to be expecting something to attack them.

Jack never ignored what Lilith told him before the apocalypse, and he certainly was not gonna start now.

In a mental order, he had Big stand in front with his housemate slightly behind him towards the left. He also had Ralph stand between Lilith and himself.

He raised his bat in a fully flexed position. He was ready to use his full power in anything that came. When the group of 5 were at the height of tension, nothing happened. Seconds felt like hours. The cold winter air blew across Jack’s face, but the high tension made him drop a bead of sweat.

As the sweat droplet fell to the concrete, a loud crack was heard. A black flash was seen crashing out of the window. It attacked the weakest person there, Ralph. Like a true predator, it wanted to kill off all the individuals in front of it in the most efficient way, from weakest to strongest, yet it failed to comprehend that the weakest prey in its eyes would be the most precious to all.

The black flash jumped from left to right, trying to get to Ralph, but Jack made the formation even tighter , not allowing anything to get across to Ralph, placing him in the exact middle.

The moment it landed close, Lilith jumped at it like an angry lioness whose territory was being hunted on.

Qaaaaaa

An ugly screech was heard. Lilith had cut a deep cut on the left eye of the beast, making one side blind, using her right knife while she had pierced the ear of the beast on the same side.

The beast was finally visible; it was larger than any adult male. From head to the base of the tail, it was 7 feet long. It had shining black fur. Powerful muscles could be seen contracting as the beast was wailing in pain.

The appearance was leaving Jack with cold sweat. Ralph pulled his sleeves and asked, “Is that Mr. George’s cat, Scruffy?”

There were not any cats on the street, but one person had received permission from the housing council, and that was Mr. George; his cat was always walking across the fences but never harmed anyone before today.

The now identified Scruffy had blood on her fangs and mouth, meaning Mr. George did not have the best time with his longtime feline companion.

But what truly terrified Jack was the prospect that Scruffy brought with her: animals too have turned into man-eating beasts. Jack instantly thought, “How many have turned? If every animal in the world has grown and turned, how will we fight it?”

The wailing stopped abruptly, and the change brought Jack back to his senses. Looking at the large feline, he saw that Lilith shoved both her knives through the already pierced eardrum. White liquid and blood were seen leaking out, and the arms of her knitted sweater were filled with both biomatter. Jack also saw she was unhurt; the large monstrosity couldn't even land a scratch on the dual-bladed beauty.

Jack walked up to the beast and saw a bright green orb. He did not think much about it and placed it in his mouth. The world began to slow down slightly; Jack nearly fell when he took a step and would have kissed the concrete if not for Lilith catching him. He felt the world was slower; every step was faster than he was used to.

Jack thought he needed to understand why this is happening. He looked at Ralph and said, “Hey buddy, let's take a lunch break.” Ralph looked more horrified that he couldn't play with the cat anymore than anything else and nodded his head.

Jack ordered for the hollows to take Scruffy back to his home. Jack walked slowly and became more used to the new speed he had. He was walking awkwardly until he arrived home. Jack confirmed, “The green orbs specifically increase my speed; this would mean that white increases everything slightly.”

Finally being in front of his house door, he asked, “Please honey, go and take a shower and throw the clothes into the wash. And thank you so much for protecting our child.”

Lilith did not change her expression and nodded. Jack, however, felt something when he stared into her eyes. Jack had suddenly closed the distance and embraced her tightly. His embrace was almost as tight as when he thought she had returned. He reassured her, “Don't worry, honey; he is fine. You did it. You saved him. He will be fine throughout this whole ordeal. We will all be fine.”

Jack did not know why he felt the urge to do all this, but Lilith’s eyes he felt were calling out to him.

After letting go, he looked down and noticed he was drenched as well. He laughed at his unsightly appearance. He looked up at his wife and asked, “If you saw me like this before, you would be upset for ruining your hard work of cleaning and ironing my clothes, right? Haha.” Lilith shook her head and walked away.

Jack laughed and said, “Yeah, you're too kind to ever be actually mad.”

“Ralphy, your mom and I need to clean up. You should go to the your room and relax for a bit until lunch is ready.” Jack said. Ralph, still saddened that the cat died, nodded dejectedly.

Jack, seeing his appearance, asked, “Hey buddy, you know your mom was protecting you, right?”

Ralph nodded and explained, “I am more sad that she attacked us. She was such a good girl before.”

Jack nodded and gave his apologies to his son, “I am sorry, Ralphy. I am gonna need you to be a big boy though; there are gonna be a lot of deaths like Scruffy. And besides, big boys get to have steak for dinner.”

Ralph’s contents did a 180, and he asked, “Really?”

Jack smiled and nodded, “I will grill it myself.”

The child ran to his room happily. Jack, watching the sight of his child’s cheerful steps, turned back around towards the corpse of Scruffy, the once good girl, and said, “Sorry, Scruffy, but I need to understand what makes you tick .”