System Of The Undead

Chapter 276: The Search For Jason

The Specters had been scattered for a while and this left Bella as the only one currently in Hell, she was the sole leader and this allowed her to shape them into something more than criminals but they had a purpose.

Bella couldn’t have done this without the help of the Specter whose name she was yet to get.

She held so much power that even Ren was like a docile child around her.

But they didn’t share the same privilege as the community and she has been tracking a zombie that has shown abnormal behavior for quite some time.

She didn’t know why it did what it did but she understood that this wasn’t how zombies acted.

They had encountered a few evolved zombies but alone, they were easier to kill than in groups.

However, the evolved zombies had gotten smarter and stronger because their experiences were linked.

Should a zombie be ambushed, the information about how it was killed would be relayed to the others as long as they shared the same maker and this would give them the experience to navigate a similar situation. This made it unwise to kill them but of course, no one knew of this effect and as such, kept killing them whenever they came across them, if they could kill them that is.

This meant that the more that were killed, the stronger they got individually but Bella couldn’t accept that Jason was dead.

And that was only because of Rachel, Rachel was certain that Jason was alive and had something to do with the zombies seemingly avoiding the community.

It sounded crazy and Rachel couldn’t go into details but she begged Bella to help her search for him.

The world was vast with no technology hence making everything ten times more difficult.

But this didn’t mean that Bella had any intentions of giving up.

However, what she could do was limited because she needed to safeguard her home too.

She couldn’t be spread too thin because there was no telling what would happen to Hell if she did.

The order there was fragile, a bunch of criminals who could do anything they wanted suddenly had restrictions.

There was sure to be tension but even they wished for some order or it wouldn’t have been possible in the first place.

"Bella, we have a new trail..." A bald man approximately 5’ 5 in height informed her.

Bella was stationed at the entrance of their gate like she was on the lookout for something.

"Good work, Neo..." Bella said, heaping praise on the much older man.

She was glad that people were willing to turn their lives around but this wasn’t enough.

They were all pieces of shit but Jason taught her that even shits like them could get redemption.

-

It took Bella a few minutes to assemble a team and they were out following this lead.

A trail of bodies led to a mountain terrain but there was something bizarre about this sight because the impression on the ground wasn’t that of a human.

It was too big to be a human but Bella also knew there was a possibility that an animal stayed here.

She had assembled a team of six, including herself.

These were some of the best soldiers she could muster as they were mercenaries in their past lives.

Recently recruited and eager to earn their keep, they knew this was where their skills shone.

Bella instructed them to scan the area, she stood in place to observe the surroundings or if she could notice any movements.

Going in with them would be putting herself in danger and Bella had no problem staying back as these people were confident in their skills and Bella had witnessed it.

It took little over ten minutes before one of them returned to report what they had found.

"Bella, I have found an entrance to a cave with the same set of footprints..." Bella squinted her eyes in suspicion as she was led there.

She noticed that the footprints were recent but she also knew it wouldn’t be smart to rush in without precaution.

They had to be careful because whatever that could be in there could very well be the thing that kills them.

-

Sam and Clementine were together in a place far away with Sam claiming to hear Jason’s voice through the fragment.

Sam had been a victim of constant hallucinations and the last Clementine checked, Sam wasn’t a fan of Jason so why did he suddenly listen to him?

She needed to know more but she also knew that prying might do more harm than good as he was in a fragile state mentally.

Asking for answers he might not know might set him back on his recovery.

He often spoke in his sleep, mumbling incoherent nonsense but whatever he was dreaming about was a nightmare.

He couldn’t go a night without having nightmares for every slumber was a gateway to it, it broke Clementine’s heart because Sam was one of the strongest people she knew so to see him in this state was disheartening.

But Sam wasn’t giving up, neither was she, she was going to be by his side every step of the way.

"Clementine..." Sam called out, looking right into her eyes, she didn’t know what he wanted to say but she knew it was her duty to give him a listening ear.

"Yes, Sam?" Clementine responded.

"Thank you," Sam showed his gratitude, he knew that he wasn’t the easiest to deal with these past couple of months but Clementine never once gave up on him.

He didn’t know why because if the tables were reversed, Sam would have put a bullet in her head long ago.

This made him question just what Clementine was and part of the reason he still thought she was a hallucination despite the overwhelming evidence showing that she wasn’t.

Clementine’s heart warmed and she couldn’t help the smile that crept up on her face.

This moment right here, made it all worth it.