Number 7

Marcus couldn't help but feel gratitude.

Just when he felt that everything had gone wrong, just as he began to feel that his situation was completely hopeless, a coworker appeared before him.

His mind had been invaded.

His body, overtaken.

His flesh, rotten.

He had literally been eaten alive, and the mental trauma of such a thing was still fresh in his mind, as if it happened just moments before.

And to make things worse, the arrogant monster within him could likely take over his body on a whim.

However as he awoke, and as he witnessed his coworker who had cried on his shoulder, he realized something.

He was not alone in this madness.

While he wasn't in control of his own body, Sylvia was here - giving her life for the sake of these two children.

The woman who never seemed to show even the slightest hint of emotion, the best employee he had ever worked alongside.

She was a person who never opened up to anyone about her personal life, and yet here she was.

Vulnerable.

And no longer human.

Just like him.

And it was as he saw that vulnerability that Marcus realized what he needed to be doing.

He realized that even in this chaos, before all else, he had a duty.

A duty to sincerely and professionally give his all.

----

"Then is it not our duty... to do everything within our power to ensure that our clients receive the best possible service?"

Standing up, Sylvia smiled as she witnessed a man who was filled with confidence.

"It would seem... that I am going to be working with you once again."

Stepping forth, Sylvia motioned for the two children to follow her, at which they quickly stood up.

"Don't let it end the same way as it did before."

"That was a fluke. I will not allow such a thing to occur again."

The man responded to Sylvia's jest, to which she gripped her spear.

"Then... What should we do? We have enough food and water to survive for now, but we're in the middle of the city. If we want to escape... we're going to have to somehow make it out of here."

Shane spoke up to the man, gripping the skewer that he held in his hands.

The two had been given weapons, yet they found themselves too shaken to use them even when on the brink of death.

And at this, Shane felt disgusted in himself.

'If it weren't for the whims of those monsters... we would be dead too. And we probably would have become the same as all those zombies.'

How could he call himself the older brother when he had failed to even protect his sister?

He forced someone else to sacrifice her life for him.

And because of his inability to react, Sylvia had died.

Even if Sylvia forgave him, he couldn't forgive himself.

Gripping his weapon, the boy seemed to frown as these thoughts overcame his mind.

"I... don't want to have to rely on you two."

The boy began to shiver, the skewer shaking within his hands as he spoke with his head lowered.

"I... don't want to have to see you die again... just to protect me.", he whispered.

"Me... too.", Amy added, in an equally grim tone.

As the two said these things, Marcus turned around, walking over to the two.

"I see."

Bending down, the man looked the two in their eyes, reading them.

"So even in this forsaken world... things like this are possible."

And then, he grinned.

"Excellent."

Sheathing his own two knives, Marcus then motioned for the boy to follow him.

"You. Come over here."

Shane looked up to the man, unsure what was about to happen, yet after looking at his sister and receiving a nod, he stepped forward.

'If I am terrified... then that will only hold me back.', Marcus thought.

[Oh? What resolve…] Number 7 cooed. [But will you really go through with it?]

Marcus then sat down at a chair, resting his arms on it.

"Come behind me, boy."

[Marcus, I think there's something that you're failing to realize here.]

The voice continued to speak into Marcus’s mind, yet he ignored it.

Instead, he smiled grandly as the boy made his way behind the man.

[However... I suppose I'll let you learn this on your own. After all... this is an experiment. Is it not?]

Even as the voice assaulted him, Marcus continued to smile.

He smiled, and he smiled.

His smile carried such blatant arrogance, such vast overconfidence, that one might question his mental state just upon looking at him.

And then, he spoke.

"Kill me."

"Wha-"

These words reached the ears of the boy, who stumbled backwards in shock as he heard these words exit the mouth of the man who sat in front of him, not so much as turning his head around to look at the boy.

His neck was exposed, and even as he said these words, he did not flinch nor prepare himself for such a thing.

He merely said those words.

"Kill... you?"

"If you cannot even kill a zombie... then you will never be able to protect yourself. Much less your sister."

Without turning his head, Marcus said these words to the boy, who began to shake as he tried to grip the weapon.

"Therefore... it would be best to practice on someone... who will not end up dying anyways."

On hearing these words, the boy froze in place.

'How... can I kill him?'

'Why... would he ask me to do such a thing?'

The boy slowly stood up, yet he felt as if he could collapse at any moment.

The fear made it's way through each and every one of his limbs, weakening him to the point of horror.

"Perhaps you are wondering why?"

Holding up his hand, the man looked at it, glancing at his own palm, and then turning it to look at the vein covered back of his hand.

"Because I want to know. No... I need to know. Is there any way at all to kill the creature inside me?"

Grabbing his neck, the man began to rub his throat, and then he grasped it as if he were about to choke himself.

"If he can only revive me a limited number of times by turning me into a monster... then perhaps another death should be enough. If you will not kill me... then I will."

Looking up with a smile, the man then aimed his words towards Sylvia.

"I apologize for leaving you so quickly. I will leave these children in your care. However, even so... I must know for certain."

Looking up to the woman, Marcus could see a clear expression of surprise and concern - one in which she had never shown in her previous life.

With this, Marcus closed his eyes, still smiling.

"I wish to know if we even have the power to choose when we die. Now kill me, boy. Or I will give your sister a turn."

As the man said this, Shane froze.

The words which the man just said, he could not comprehend.

His mind became filled with confusion, and the shaking would not cease.

Instead, it became all the greater.

And then, he dropped the skewer to the ground.

He could not kill this man.

For even as he was being instructed to, he was terrified.

Terrified of what would happen if he were to succeed.

And terrified of what would happen if he were to not.

Yet as he sat there, trembling in fear, a figure began moving in his fuzzy vision.

And then, his vision cleared.

"If brother will not... then I will."

And then, he saw it.

His sister stood before him.

And her knife was pressing into the neck of the zombified man.

Tears filled her eyes, and she trembled as well, but even so, she pressed the knife to his neck without mercy.

"Thank you, Sir. Because of this... I will be able to protect him. If you truly do die here... then I will never forget you."

And then, she slit his throat.

Blood gushed out of the man's neck, and his body fell forward, hitting the ground with a mushy sound.

The girl looked onto the zombified body with cold eyes.

Yet these cold eyes, though fearful, were filled with another emotion.

Resolve.

In that instant, on seeing her weak brother fall backwards, the girl had taken this opportunity to resolve herself.

And thus, a killer was born.

"Thank you, Sir.", she stated, her voice having become robotic, cold and detached.

"For our sake... you risked everything."

Wiping the blood off on her shirt, the girl turned around, looking at her brother with a lifeless expression, eyes vacant.

"Brother. Why are you so scared? Look. Now I'll be able to protect you from the monsters."

And thus, Marcus died.

For the third time.

----

"Huff... huff... huff... huff... huff... huff...."

The panicked panting of two people filled the room as they frantically searched for their bearings.

The first was the man whose throat had just been slit, yet had soon regenerated.

His blood covered the floor around him, yet right now he was awake again.

He was awake.

He was alive.

Yet even so, he was in a panic.

The pain of having his throat sliced open still remained, even though his wounds had already healed.

It was enough to the point where he wanted to scream out, yet he could not, for he did not even have the energy to do so.

He held back his own tears, looking around with eyes of madness as he tried to calm himself.

And it was then that he saw it.

The boy, Shane, was having a similar panic attack.

He was breathing heavily as well, panting and struggling as he backed away from his sister.

"Who... are you?", he whispered.

Yet his sister merely cocked her head to the side, as if she didn't understand his question.

"What do you mean, brother? It is me, Amy. Your little sister. Who else would I be?"

"You... you..."

The boy looked around, however he then caught sight of Marcus, who was now struggling to stand.

"You"

The boy stood up, only to immediately fall back down - for his limbs were unable to handle the immense emotions which spurred within him.

"You!” He spat. “What did you do to my sister!?"

"I..” Marcus huffed, grinning as he felt his throat. “I see.”

Marcus then stood up, his hands twitching as he confirmed that his neck was repaired.

"So I truly cannot die... yet even so... it seems... that I was successful."

It was then that Marcus heard a horrible laughter erupt inside his mind.

[Ahahaha!] The creature cackled. [How interesting! How truly interesting! You wished for the children to survive, so you decided to turn them into killers! I like it! Excellent, absolutely excellent! I am grateful I chose you as my host, Marcus!]

Holding his hand to his face so that he covered one eye, Marcus merely smiled as the creature shouted with madness.

"Be quiet. I can't hear anything if you scream like that."

[Ahahah..]

Then, walking over to the girl, Marcus placed his zombified hand on her shoulder.

"Are you alright?", he asked.

"Ah! You're alive again! I'm glad that you survived, Sir!"

The girl turned around with a bright smile, and Marcus felt relief fill his chest.

'This... is exactly as planned.'

He felt as if his chest was about to burst, yet even so the relief overcame any form of terror or fear which could make it's way into his heart.

He grabbed his own chest, holding his undead heart as it seemed to beat with madness.

Then, turning around, Marcus was met with the cold eyes of a woman.

"What have you done to her?"

"I did nothing... except what was necessary."

"I... see."

Nodding, the woman looked at the two children with concern.

"Then... I suppose she will be fine... even if something happens to us. Logically... this is for the best."

Sylvia didn't seem to agree with the words she spoke on an emotional level, yet even so she spoke them.

For she knew that this world was one of madness.

And she understood that the horrors which they had seen were only the beginning of what they might experience.

'If they were to remain innocent... then they would die. That much... is guaranteed.'

Clenching her fist so hard that she drew blood, the woman approached the boy.

And then, inside her mind, Sylvia heard a voice.

[Hey. Can I help you? I won't interfere if you say no, but I won't endanger them if you agree.]

Grimacing, Sylvia closed her eyes as she was filled with indecision.

'Am I truly about to do this?', she thought.

Opening her eyes, she witnessed the two children.

The girl looked to Sylvia with cheerful happiness, as if fear was no longer present in her.

And the boy was sitting on the ground, having fallen backwards in terror.

Which one was better?

To die a fearful coward?

Or to go mad, and remain alive as one turned into a monster?

She did not know.

However, she knew which one would survive.

'Very well. Do not lay a finger on them.'

[Great!]

And then, her sclera turned black.

A wicked smile drew itself across the woman, and a multitude of tentacles shot out from her, wrapping themselves around the smiling girl.

"Haha... miss, did you let the other one out to play? Hello! You said your name was Number 1, right? I'm Amy! It's nice to meet you!"

The girl looked back even as she was wrapped in tentacles and lifted into the air, speaking to the monster without the slightest ounce of fear.

Her mind had completely snapped.

"Hello, lump of human flesh! I'm Number 1. And yeah, I suppose you could say that I'm here to play with you. Although... I wonder if your brother will join in on the fun? Hehehe..."

Turning to the boy, who scooted back in fear, the monster approached him as she held up the girl, wrapping more and more tentacles around her neck.

And then, with a horrible crackling voice, she spoke to the boy in a condescending manner.

"Alright, child. It's your turn. Are you going to let your sister protect you from everything?"

And then, she approached the boy, bringing her demented face only inches from his.

Picking up the skewer, she placed it in his hand, and slowly she wrapped his fingers around it.

With a horrid smile, the woman turned her face a perfect 90 degrees as she looked into his eyes with pure madness.

"Or are you going to kill the monsters who attack her?"