My Strange Savior - Chapter 65

Chapter 65

[For Those Who Went First]

The bodies of the members that she saw when she collected the bodies of the members. 

Although they were torn apart messily or some parts of the bodies were damaged with tooth marks, Gia could recognize them.

‘Not infected.’

For some reason, they were not turned into zombies. Were they just captured for consumption? There was a possibility, but according to Kalion, it seemed not.

When Kalion first entered the cave, Morrison was explaining the experiment and sticking his nails into the neck of the last remaining person, according to him.

“Maybe he was injecting blood. Infection can occur through blood or saliva.”

Following Gia’s explanation, Kalion also nodded, confirming it. Gia found it strange that Morrison would go to such trouble for experiments, especially since he knew better than anyone the process of turning people into zombies.

Moreover, Morrison had mentioned using Kalion as an experiment, and if it failed, he would eat him. Gia gritted her teeth as she mulled over Morrison’s words.

It felt like a piece of the puzzle was missing. Gia, who was looking for that missing piece, came to one conclusion.

Morrison can no longer turn people into zombies.

Putting that conclusion into consideration, it neatly explained why Morrison experimented on people for some reason and couldn’t turn them into zombies in the end.

Doing something like dimensional transfer or whatever, Morrison lost the power to infect people. Gia, who found a sense of relief in one of the worst situations, barely caught her breath at this fact.

If Morrison had infected others, there wouldn’t have been time to think so calmly. Gia, who obtained the certainty that Morrison can no longer spread the zombie virus, continued her thoughts to piece together the remaining puzzle.

“Moreover, the last part was really strange.”

Gia, who couldn’t understand Morrison’s last action of disappearing alone in a flash, lowered her voice seriously. If he had stabbed her heart, this tough fate could have ended cleanly.

Knowing Morrison as she does, he was never one to miss an opportunity. There was undoubtedly a problem that Ishedidn’t know about.

“He could have killed me. There’s a problem with Morrison. But I don’t know what it is… haah.”

The time when Morrison’s sharp nails were still aimed at her heart was vivid. If the timing had been slightly off, Gia might not have been able to live and breathe here. Gia placed her palm on her heart and pressed it firmly when she felt the heartbeat.

Thump, thump.

Feeling the heartbeat, relief came.

“Gia.”

Unable to witness that scene, Kalion clenched his fist.

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help.”

“I’m not asking you to apologize.”

Gia looked at Kalion, who was apologizing with a face full of guilt, and shook her head dismissively.

“But….”

“Enough. Again with that.”

Gia seized Kalion’s neck, which naturally dug into the ground whenever she let her guard down. Gia, who was sitting close enough for their shoulders to touch, shifted her weight towards Kalion.

To look at Kalion’s face, which was bowing, Gia tilted her chin sideways.

“If it weren’t for you, I would have died a long time ago, Kalion. Right?”

The tone and gaze Gia used, treating him like a child, made Kalion’s face flush like someone who had been exposed to fire for a long time.

“No more self-blame from now on.”

As if she would only listen and speak after hearing an answer, Gia leaned her body further towards Kalion.

“Answer.”

Avoiding Gia’s face, which was full in his view, Kalion eventually raised the white flag.

“I understand.”

“Promise.”

“Yes.”

Only then did Gia’s body step back. Kalion did not know why the sound of his heartbeat suddenly became louder. He merely inflated his chest to keep the pounding sound from leaking out.

Not aware of Kalion’s state of mind as he fell into other thoughts, Gia seriously clicked her tongue.

“What could be his weakness? There must be a reason why he suddenly ran away like a crazy person.”

Gia pondered on what his weakness could be, frowning in frustration. Knowing that alone would give her a sense of security as if she had a powerful weapon in her hands.

Gia, lost in thought, murmured seriously.

“The body returned to normal, then changed into a strange form, glowed, strangled me, and shouted before leaving.”

Placing a finger on the deeply wrinkled chin, Gia looked directly into Kalion’s eyes, seeking help.

“I don’t know.”

Kalion, who had been listening to Gia’s words with one ear, answered hastily. The pounding sound of his heart made his head spin. Kalion, whose ears were ringing, bit his lips to regain his composure.

“If we know the cause, it might be easier to kill him.”

“That’s true, but we don’t know where he went now.”

“Maybe he went down to the folk village… It can’t be, right?”

In a dreadful atmosphere, Gia took a deep breath and blinked rapidly upon hearing the mention of the folk village. Kalion only then regained his composure.

“Let’s hope not. We need to leave for the capital as soon as we arrive at the territory. We don’t know what this person Morrison might do.”

A sense of gloom washed over them as they faced the grim reality, where all they could do was pray that Morrison wouldn’t do anything foolish. Kalion’s long fingers gently touched Gia’s smooth forehead.

“If we had ended it back then, we wouldn’t have to worry about this now.”

Regretfully, Gia added a sigh.

“He was too strong for that.”

“Yeah, he suddenly became incredibly powerful, like a completely different person.”

Gia shivered at the thought of Morrison’s destructive power.

How could he hide so well, like a mouse? 

Morrison’s strength was slightly above that of an ordinary human. Gia couldn’t fathom how someone seemingly powerless like Morrison could become so strong in an instant. 

What connection did Morrison have to this world? No matter how much she thought about it, the answer eluded her. 

Frustrated, Gia wrinkled her nose.

The unresolved questions weren’t limited to this. Whether Morrison was controlling the monsters was also uncertain. Gia couldn’t be sure. The biggest problem, however, was that even if they killed or captured Morrison, Gia couldn’t return to the world she came from.

Gia ran her fingers through her bangs in frustration. 

Why did she have to capture Morrison? Living each day in fear of turning into a zombie without knowing when the medicine would run out, the situation she had to endure was both bizarre and pitiable.

Despite losing all the reasons, why did Gia still want to stay close to Kalion? She revisited the one remaining reason.

Her father’s revenge. Did she still want to do that?

Gia lowered her gaze. Two of the remaining reasons were gone, leaving a large hole.

Of course, she wanted her father’s revenge. Knowing why her father created the virus, Gia felt she had to pursue Morrison to the end and cut the lifeline. But that alone didn’t neatly explain why she needed to stick with Kalion.

It seemed like there was something bigger than that.

Does it make sense that she doesn’t know her own heart? 

Gia clenched her bangs in her hands. She was genuinely curious about what her heart truly desired.

If Kalion returned to the capital and convinced the emperor to bring the army, couldn’t she just stay here and wait? She didn’t particularly feel the need to build relationships with people. 

Once Morrison was dealt with, it would be over.

In the end, all that remained for Gia was her own body, a ticking time bomb. When the half-dose medicine ran out, she would turn into a helpless zombie. 

Facing the certainty of such an ending, Gia looked at Kalion with a piercing gaze.

Would she devour him when the time came? The horrifying conclusion seemed all too obvious. Gia imagined the expressionless Kalion pulling out a large knife in front of her.

‘Is he going to do that?’

As a coward, Gia silently asked within herself, resting her chin on her knees and fixing her gaze on the tip of Kalion’s straight nose.

‘Why… it feels like a betrayal.’

It was an emotion she had never considered in the other world. 

Naturally, when one turned into a zombie, they had to be killed, and if it happened to her, she should be killed. She had never thought it was regrettable or felt betrayed. She, like everyone else around her, had changed that way.

Becoming a zombie and dying for the sake of others was considered a natural thing. It was one of the reasons Gia had not deeply connected with people and had not built normal emotional exchanges. 

If they shared emotions, both the act of killing and being killed would be too painful.

Gia had witnessed such events for several years, during the times when she was rejected by people and even after becoming an enhanced human. Whether it was between spouses, lovers, parents, children, or close friends, the deeper the human relationship, the more difficult it was to end it.

Those who couldn’t accept the fact that their loved ones had turned into zombies sometimes became selfish. They either hid the fact or chose to die together with the one who had turned into a zombie. 

Therefore, the number of people in the shelter, which was close to saturation, gradually decreased and later decreased exponentially.

Parents who couldn’t give up their children. Lovers who couldn’t send their loved ones away with their own hands.

The more humane their choices were, the emptier the shelter became.

Gia, who had nothing precious in that place, cleanly abandoned the idea of establishing different relationships with someone. She knew better than anyone that a relationship that would eventually become a burden to each other was not worth pursuing.

Therefore, all her efforts to adapt to this world by building friendships with someone else were futile. She knew more than anyone that such attempts were meaningless.

However, she couldn’t help feeling a sense of regret.

There was no way to prevent the lingering affection for the person who remained like a regret from reaching Kalion.

Just a little longer. Just a bit more. 

Until they capture Morrison. Maybe that will be enough. 

Since the outbreak of the zombie virus, she hasn’t decided on anything according to her own feelings.