System Of The Undead

Chapter 170: What The Hell Went On Here!?

Things weren’t looking good, Brayden wondered what came over them because even if Jason needed to breathe, jumping out of the car was a tad bit too extreme.

It was a selfish decision that affected not only him but Clementine, he was surprised that Franklin remained composed but a leader needed such traits.

He had no intention of questioning Franklin about it because they had a goal bigger than two people. However, he hoped that Clementine and Jason found a way to survive, it would be a pity to lose both of them after coming so far.

Franklin was somewhat disappointed that Jason was gone as he could have served as their trump card against any undead zombies.

If more of those zombies existed, Franklin could only imagine what else was outside.

There was no telling about what was coming for them but he had to discuss his findings with Dimitris once he got back.

"It is just around the corner," Franklin muttered to which Brayden turned in response, they had overtaken the other cars so they were following their lead.

Brayden turned to another street and the stench in the air was overwhelming.

There was no doubt that zombies just passed through here or there were far too many rotten corpses to account for.

"Woah! What the fuck is this smell?" The man in the back seat commented.

He said what everyone was thinking but this was the smell that some had gotten used to.

The smell of rotting flesh was slowly becoming an everyday thing.

Franklin stepped out of the car once again after it had come to a halt.

"What are you doing?" Brayden asked but Franklin shrugged it off.

He had no intention of explaining himself because they needed him as much as he did them.

"This area..." Franklin said, looking around as he noticed the buildings surrounding them had flies and insects buzzing.

Andre walked out of his car to meet up with Franklin, he couldn’t deny that Franklin was useful to their cause and the possibility that he was seeing something that they weren’t was high.

"What is it?" Andre asked.

"Something isn’t right, there should be zombies in this area..." Franklin said.

"And how did you guess that?" Andre asked.

"The smell, it is the smell of the dead," Franklin responded.

Andre looked around and noticed that there were far too many flies around for this to be a coincidence.

"They would be crawling out here if they were present as you said. We haven’t exactly been quiet," Andre was right, the cars had stopped right in their territory.

The engines were anything but quiet so there was no way that they would come here without attracting the zombies.

The only reason they didn’t wake up the nest earlier was because they had the advantage of distance. They couldn’t hear the car engines from that far out.

"Something must have taken them out, it might not even be zombies, it might be the bodies of those that couldn’t make it out..." Franklin said.

Andre looked back and gestured for his men to inspect the area, the chances that these were corpses of normal people didn’t cross his mind.

They were used to zombies oozing this stench that the possibility of any other thing being far-fetched.

And they found what they were looking for, it was as Franklin predicted, these were the dead bodies of people that couldn’t make it out.

They were killed in their homes and the surrounding areas but there was something strange about each of these corpses.

Brayden came out of the car and sluggishly walked towards Andre and Franklin.

He didn’t like the smell but he wasn’t as affected as the average man due to him being used to it.

"What is the hold-up?" Brayden questioned and Andre turned to him.

"There is something wrong with the place and we want to see what it is," Andre asked.

"I see," Brayden didn’t say anything else, he knew that Andre was in charge.

He didn’t want to challenge his decision publicly even though he thought this was unnecessary.

"Andre! You must see this!" A voice called out from one of the houses.

Andre, Franklin, and Brayden walked to the building to see what the commotion was about.

The moment they saw the state of the corpse before them, their faces went pale.

The brains of all these corpses were missing and that was the sole reason they didn’t turn.

This was the first time they had seen something like this and Andre immediately shot Franklin a look but noticed that he was equally as surprised.

He couldn’t have known about this but they had to entertain the possibility that they were dealing with another abnormal zombie.

-

Jason and Clementine were walking, Clementine led the way with Jason trailing a few inches behind her.

"I never said this but thank you, Clementine," Jason expressed his gratitude.

"Don’t thank me yet, I’m going to kick your ass once we get out of this mess," Clementine said.

Jason was glad that she chose to come with him or he wouldn’t know what to do.

Jason knew he needed a long-term solution but nothing was coming to mind right now.

Clementine didn’t know what to do with Jason in his current condition and she wondered why he even consumed the fragment in the first place.

Was it an impulsive action or did he know more than he was telling her?

Clementine hated to admit it but she no longer trusted Jason a hundred per cent; she knew that without that fragment, she would have been dead.

She would have been sacrificed by Franklin and Jason too would have most likely perished but there was also the possibility that none of that would have happened in the first place.

They would have gone in and out without any trouble, it all started with the fragment and there was a possibility that the zombie only became reckless when Jason was within proximity as they didn’t hear anything when they first entered.

"Do you wish Sam was here instead of me?" Jason asked Clementine.

Clementine couldn’t hide that she missed Sam but she kept herself occupied with other tasks.

"Do you want the truth?" Clementine asked, to which Jason affirmed.

"I wish Sam was here... I wish for it every day that he would just return," Clementine began to speak, taking her mind away from their current situation.

"But never have I thought I would rather have Sam than you, you bring out something in people Jason. It is funny but I think you remind people of what the world could be," Clementine said.

The world had gone to shit but Jason was a constant reminder that the world could be shaped into something entirely different.

They didn’t need to toss aside their humanity to survive this world, compassion was still a necessity. Jason smiled when he heard this.

It warmed his heart to see that Clementine was still in his corner despite his current predicament.

"I think you and Sam would have been perfect together," Jason said and Clementine giggled.

"Oh please, we will be terrible for one another," Clementine managed to speak through her laughter.

"Hey, you said it, not me. I was trying to be nice but who said things only had to be good before you can be with someone?" Jason tossed the question in the air.

"Sometimes, it is best to love from afar. I know Sam for all he is but I doubt he has taken the time to know me to that degree. Sam isn’t like everyone else..." Clementine muttered.

"... Said every guy ever," Jason repeated and Clementine hit him slightly on the arm as she giggled.

"Not like that, Sam is different. I don’t know if you have noticed but he lacks empathy or remorse for the things he does," Clementine said.

"Isn’t that a trait psychopaths share?" Jason said.

"That is a harsh word, I prefer anti-personality disorder," Clementine said.

"Ha! You’re something else, you really don’t give up on people," Jason said.

"Nope!" Clementine said with a smile but their conversation was cut short as they saw multiple zombies walking around.

They had to be quiet but they somehow walked towards Jason.

It didn’t matter if they were quiet or not, as long as Jason was there, they would find them.

"Jason..." Clementine muttered, she knew that this realization was hitting him hard.

"This is nothing!" Jason exclaimed, he remembered that he had something to live for and Clementine was right.

There had to be a solution to what he was going through but he would never find it if he gave up now, that was the one thing he was certain of.

Clementine smiled, it seemed like she was enough to keep Jason from losing his shit.

She assumed she wouldn’t be enough but things were working out just fine even though something told her Rachel would have done a far better job than she did.