William held his katana grip and grinned. "Let’s go." His Spatial Ether Sense was working at full strength. He was sensing a blur of fog around him, but within it, many colourful energies were mixed together. He just focused on the white-blue energy in it. ’That’s it.’ It was enough for him to understand what it truly was.
"Go find it," Grandma Jenny said with a calm smile. "If you wait for me, I’ll slow you down."
"Okay." William nodded as he broke into a run. As he sped up, Grandma Jenny followed with slow steps. William followed the energy and turned towards the street Uncle John and the others were in. ’It seems this direction is Carter’s store.’ He glared in the direction that the energy was travelling.
John was yelling, "Everyone, William has found a hint regarding the portal." His voice was filled with hope, and it attracted everyone’s attention. A few people who were in the houses responded, "Why wait this long to reply?"
"Is it true?"
"Then why the hell are we still searching the houses?"
"I don’t want to fight zombies anymore."
People responded very swiftly to the good news. Outside, many had surrounded John for more details.
"Don’t give up," Uncle John roared as he scanned the street. "I’ll help you out." Thud! Bang! Sounds of objects being thrown around echoed. John’s words were enough for people to get out, who were hiding intentionally, and others who had already killed zombies, but remained to avoid fighting more. A few weaker ones were unable to fight and were locked in the dwellings. They increased their strength in their attacks, making noise.
’I need to step in.’ John mused and held his hammer as he randomly picked one house where a huge noise was coming from. He swiftly moved to the walls of the house.
"Help!" Suddenly, a scream broke through from one of the dwellings on the right side. William, who had entered the street, stopped in his tracks. He turned towards the noise. Thud! Bang!’It’s a zombie.’ He scowled. Before, he had heard a zombie growl in this same street, but Grandma Jenny had pulled him away, letting others fight on their own.
He hissed, "Everyone, stay calm. I’ll help." He then reached out to the fence of the house and leapt in. Thud!
"My body’s too weak." His hands trembled for a bit. Jumping over a one-meter wall made his breathing uneven. He glanced around. He was in the garden, and the garage was in front of him. He turned to his right as he found the way to the main entrance.
He moved swiftly as he found the door already open. Bang! Sounds echoed from within. He drew his blade as he moved in.
Thud! He clicked his tongue as he failed to maintain noiseless steps. ’Wooden floor.’ He frowned as the wood below his feet shrieked with each movement. He shook his head, broke into a run, and found the direction of the noise. "Help. Someone help."
He reached the stairs at the center of the living room and climbed them. He paused his movement as he entered the second floor. An average middle-aged woman was trembling, kneeling down, as a thin boy of around twelve years old stood in front of three zombies. A zombie with no hands had bitten into his arm. He was slamming the metal rod on the zombie’s head with his free right hand as the other two zombies closed in from behind.
William clenched his katana grip tightly as he noticed the blood flowing down the kid’s arm. ’There’s not much time.’ He moved swiftly and leapt towards the zombie and barked, "Bend down."
The kid didn’t seem to hear him as he didn’t even move, just kept hitting the zombie’s head. Bang! William stopped his blade in midair and landed next to the zombie, then rolled a bit forward. He clicked his tongue in annoyance as he turned around, and whoosh! beheaded the zombie.
He then killed the two zombies without blinking. The young boy was shocked as he recovered. He asked, "How? You finished them in one hit and at such high speed."
William sighed, glancing at the boy’s bitten arm. Noticing him, the boy grinned. "I saved my mom." He crouched near his mom and patted her shoulder. "Don’t worry, Mom. Now everything’s gonna be fine."
The middle-aged woman held his arm, and glaring at his bitten bicep, she roared, "It’s over. You’ll turn into a zombie." The boy patted his mom’s hands. "As long as you are fine."
"Brother William, I think you’ll have to kill me..." the boy said in a low voice, his head down, but before he could finish, whoosh! A cold light flashed over his left hand, just below his shoulder. His hand fell on the ground thud!. It was cut off, and blood splashed on his mom’s face and on the floor.
"What?" The boy howled, holding his shoulder. "It hurts." Tears fell from his eyes in pain.
"Ahh!" The woman bawled. "William, you severed his arm?"
"He can still survive." William shook his head. "Don’t act like it’s the end. It would take a few minutes for the virus to spread into his body, but I..." He pointed his blade at the fallen arm on the ground. "Chris, I’m faster than that, right?" He locked his eyes with Chris.
Chris, whose face was full of tears, bit his lower lip and nodded. "Yeah, I think." He asked, wincing, "Now, I can live on, right?"
William smiled. "Yes. If I’m indeed faster before the virus has spread." He then glanced around. "We need to get you first aid and stop that bleeding."
The woman stood up. "I found first aid on the first floor."
"Good." William rubbed his right thumb over his katana grip as a white bandage was wrapped around Chris’s remaining bicep. He then closed his eyes and moved out. He didn’t ask about Chris’s father as he had already noticed he’d turned into a zombie. One of the three zombies was him.
"Is everything fine?" John asked, cleaning the head of his hammer with a cloth as it had blood. William spotted that everyone had a tough battle, with red marks on their clothes. Noticing him, John clenched his hammer’s handle. "Two had fallen in the battle."
Silence fell over the place; even the wind seemed noisy. Everyone with crimson eyes turned towards William and Grandma Jenny, who had sat on the ground under one of the trees.
John coughed. "I checked everyone. They had no zombie bites." William asked, "Did everyone finish the fight so fast?" He had taken very little time to kill three zombies and spent a bit more time helping Chris apply first aid, but he felt it wouldn’t be enough for John to help everyone out.
John shook his head. "There were only six or so zombies total, and that too only in three houses..." He pointed to one dwelling in the center. "I took down only two." Others had gained the strength to kill zombies when he announced William had found a hint.
A middle-aged man raised his voice. "What happened to Chris and his family?"
William fell silent. "What happened?" The man yelled, clearly wanting an answer. William replied in a low voice. "Chris lost his arm." He clenched his fist around the grip of his weapon. "His mom is safe, but his dad turned into a zombie."
Everyone raised their heads towards the sky. Suddenly, one old man hissed, "It’s your fault."
"Mine?" William pointed his index finger at himself. The man hissed at Jenny, "And yours..."