The morning sun greeted the urban fringe with brightness and life. Yet the streets were deathly silent, filled with a monotonic atmosphere of dread and despair.
Hans strode along the empty streets, wondering if that liveliness of the previous world would come back again.
As he entered the small clinic, he stumbled upon one of his female Medics, Clara.
"Ah, Commander," she said, startled. "Good morning. May I know what the Commander needs?"
"The residents," Hans nodded to her. "How are their conditions?"
"Some will require days to recover," Clara shook her head. "The children and the young adults may need a week or two."
"The infection must be quite serious." He remarked.
"Yes. We couldn’t save all of the patients," she gripped her suit. "The rest were euthanized. I am very sorry, Commander."
"Don’t be too formal with me," Hans dismissed. "It should be my carelessness asking for forgiveness, not you or anyone else."
"I do not dare to, Commander." Clar lowered her head, eyes closed.
Hans’s eyes twitched. Their loyalty was surely unmatched.
Yunera and Kimmy are going to say something about this.
However, now was not the time to delve on such matters.
"Have you compiled a report on all the patients?" He asked.
"Yes," Clara turned around. "Dominic summarized the report. Let me get it for you, Commander."
Hans waited outside, near the entrance. He couldn’t stomach the smell of blood and excretion. Even with the system’s help, he will never get used to it.
Clara’s footsteps sounded behind him. On her hand was several sheets of paper filled with written report.
Hans browsed through the information.
Poor Mr. Walter, he lamented. The electric reclamation hasn’t even started, yet he had died.
To think the old man boasted about being able to do an huge accomplishment on his life.
Hans continued, checking the status of the other council members.
Marco and Walter are the only ones who died. The rest are either critical or stable.
"All who died or turned were aged 40 or above?"
"Those were indeed the results, Commander," Clara responded. "There is also no one aged 50 and above in the list. Perhaps the Commander hasn’t encountered them?"
"You’re right."
Hans saw a pattern. Indeed, he hadn’t seen a single 50-year old man during the apocalypse. Now that he recalled it, that manager was at the peak of his 40’s.
No wonder he turned. Could it be...?
The figure of his parents came into mind. They were nearly approaching their fifties’ too. If they turned...
They haven’t turned. They...
A sudden wave washed over his body, calming his stammering heart. Hans stared at Clara’s eyes, making the other party uncomfortable.
"I apologize," Hans sighed. "Thank you for this report. Have it checked by the others, then submit the final copy into my room."
"I will inform Dominic."
"Oh, and before I go," Hans halted his steps. "If Yunera and Kimmy comes over, have them be injected. If they ask, tell them it’s my order."
"Yes, Commander," Clara crossed her right hand into her chest, bowed, and watched as Hans left the area.
"This will give Yunera and the others time," Hans muttered on the way back, "I should accelerate the plan on terminating that have."
He grabbed his comms and connected into the channel.
"Dmitri."
"Yes, Commander." The other side quickly responded.
"Move the schedule ahead," Hans ordered. "The residents will take time to recover. Use this time to debrief everyone."
"Roger that," rustling sounds echoed. "I shall inform all non-patrolling squads."
The transmission died.
Hans returned to his seat in the Commander’s Room, revising a few of his plans and scribbling more notes.
It continued for two more days, and until then, the urban fringe has never been put into such chaos before.
Protesters arrived several meters outside the Commander’s room. The residents each had their own motives.
Some wanted to know what caused their loved ones to turn and die. A few greedy ones pursuing the method to becoming a superhuman. The rest simply watched on the sidelines.
They either waited for an opportunity, or to listen what Hans would say.
Unfortunately, Hans was nowhere to be seen—rather too busy handling the planning of the hive’s attack.
The soldiers has been ransacking banks, malls, and other sources of Gold in the meantime, as Hans wanted to have enough firepower to bulldoze the hive in one sweep.
On his stead was Clara and her attempt to explain the events. Surrounded by soldiers, nobody dared to assault this frail-looking woman.
Furthermore, she had saved their lives. Only a fool would dare to repay gratefulness with assault.
At the third evening, the protesters had dwindled, yet some were not content.
"Clara should have already told the residents what happened," he frowned while scribbling on his notes. "It seems it’s time for Yunera to step in."
Tensions rose when these remaining protesters glared at Kimmy and Yunera for not turning into zombies.
"You killed my husband with your blade, you ruthless woman!" A mother of two spoke.
"Why didn’t you stop the soldiers from killing them?" Another stepped in. "Have you sold your body to that Commander?!"
"What is it? What makes you superhumans special?"
"How come we cannot become one like you?"
"Are you any different from me, you damn office worker?!"
The residents were riled. Their fervent pursuit of the superhuman ascension has been awakened, alluring the rest of them into the formation.
Eggs, fruits, and vegetables were thrown. All were cut into pieces by Yunera’s blade. In her mind, the insults seemed to have veered off from what she and Hans expected.
But she wasn’t one to take it all in passively.
"If you want to become a superhuman, you meet with the Warlord in the underworld," she sniggered, pointing her blade to them. "I may be different from you—stronger, faster, more cruel. But if you hadn’t seen it, I was injected by Nurse Clara with the vaccine."
She said while showing the part where she was pricked.
"Lies, full of lies!" Argued a protester.
"He’s right. You’re using that nurse as an excuse, you evil woman."
"You’re trying to prevent us from becoming a superhuman! Everyone she—"
"I can still be infected, and the chance is no different from yours," she cut him off. "Why do you think I was injected in the first place?"
She checked their expressions, "Still don’t believe me? Go ahead and check the prisoners in the den. See if they’re no different from the zombies you know."
She gazed at them with a cold look.
The protesters suddenly faltered. Indeed, there was nothing wrong with her logic.
If superhumans could become zombies as well, then what was the point of insisting on becoming one?
Wasn’t that asking for trouble?
Look at that, the soldiers are already placing their fingers on the trigger. Speak more, argue more, and you might really encounter the Warlord in the underworld!
Nobody wanted that to happen, and so, the short-lived interruptions ended. Those who were opportunistic didn’t get what they want.
Yet, the heavy feeling in their hearts wasn’t quenched, until—
A large cremation ceremony was held on the outskirts of the fringe. Everyone watched as the fire engulfed the corpses of their loved ones.
They had already turned, dead, and now burned.
Cries lingered in the air for hours, attracting zombies into the large pyre.
The patrolling soldiers never gave them any chance to interrupt. As their corpses fell, it was used then used to fuel the fire even more.
Yunera stood at the edge, thinking of that old man who had died from her hands.
"Old Arthur," she spoke, tears rolling down her face. "Thank you for being there with me. You didn’t deserve this death. I swear I will avenge you..."
She remembered the nights when she was alone, and he was there for her. When she was heartbroken, he mended the cracks. When she was down, she lifted her up.
The memories flooded in like the river water that damned his body and soul. Her mind lingered on those moments, weeping for minutes until she was content.
She rubbed her eyes dry of tears. Turning her head, she noticed that the girl beside her has long vanished.
"Kimmy, where did you go?" She shouted. "Kimmy?!"
Her voice echoed loudly in the field, reaching the ears of someone who stood atop a two-story commercial building in the south.
"She’s looking for you," Hans spoke. "Are you sure you want to spend the night with me?"
"Tell me, Hans," Kimmy walked out from cover. "Have you swapped the corpses that night?"
Hans chuckled, blowing a smoke from his cigar while doing so.
"You’re a very perceptive one. Why do you want to know?"
"I want to confirm something," Kimmy grasped her hands. "Why did you do that?"
"They’re of no use to me," Hans turned around and faced her. "Zimmer and his buddies are loyal to the warlord. Clyde is too broken to speak up. They’re using resources while doing nothing for the territory. Tell me, what benefit does it give me for them to stay alive for long?"
"But they are people, prisoners of yours," Kimmy shook her head. "They should have been treated humanely. They hadn’t done wrong to you, have they?"
"You’re right, they haven’t," Hans chuckled. "But I have no use of them. Their superhuman strength or powers are obsolete. My soldiers are strong on their own."
"Then Yunera, why did you let her free?" She asked.
"Because she has of use to me." Hans answered.
"Does that mean I am to you?"
"What do you think?" Hans stared back at her.
"I... still can’t think over it," Kimmy’s heart was beating fast. "I—"
"Their sacrifice has served great purpose today," he interrupted. "You should understand the consequences that would have happened if I haven’t done that."
Kimmy was silent.
"I understand," she said after a while. "Now that I know of this, will you kill me?"
"Why would I do that?" Hans was startled.
"I have learned of your secret," she responded. "Is that not enough of a reason to you? What if I spread it? What if the residents protest again?"
"I can quell the chaos that comes after," he rebutted. "But you, can you escape it, Kimmy? Can you quell what I can?"
She paused, "Did they die in peace?"
"I have made sure they didn’t suffer. That is a luxury many cannot afford in these dire times."
"You are always a step ahead, aren’t you, Hans?"
Kimmy felt that talking with this man was confusing, yet also an opportunity to broaden her horizons and steel her mind.
"I am not," Hans rubbed the burning tip into the ledge and exhaled. "I am just someone cursed by rationality."
"What will you do now, Hans?"
He raised his head and basked under the moonlight.
"To end what started this tragedy."