Flip the Coin [BL]-Chapter 416. |Hi Ren (by Ren)|

I put the child down, not really registering what Henry meant, and nearly lunged to the window.

And damn, I wasn’t prepared for what I saw.

Henry hollered at Ethan.

"GET THE MOST EXPLOSIVE WEAPONS WE HAVE!"

I stared speechlessly at the thousands of bodies that were at the far end of the horizon, coming from the direction of the city.

Henry ran up the steps first; Ethan followed directly after him to the attic.

The bodies were still so far away that it would be impossible to detect them with the naked eye or human senses.

Yet, they moved so fucking fast...

"Why are they so fast?" I asked dazedly before opening the door to get a better look.

While I watched them speeding in our direction, having a clear goal, a target, PREY, I felt the crystalline surface covering the table in my mind ache, as if bearing a sudden weight.

>>

Part of me was sucked into the dark room inside my mind, to the table with the coin on top.

This time, however, three chairs surrounded a table, and no coin was in sight.

On one chair sat a thin, taller man—his red pupils smaller than average, his gaze penetrating.

<<

Someone tugged on my shirt, and when I looked back, I saw the kid holding onto my shirt, looking at me happily.

He didn’t understand what was going on; the sirens did nothing to him, and Kitty’s growling wasn’t alarming to him at all.

>>

On the other chair sat a man with black eyes and black shoulder-length hair.

He held onto a white mask that had a smile etched into it, covering his face.

His long black fingernail chipped away at the table’s surface in front of him.

<<

I patted Ren’s head.

"It’s alright," I assured the uncaring child before I closed the entrance door again and teleported a few kilometers away from the house.

Standing in a field, I conjured a thick blanket and threw it on the ground before conjuring up the unpacked scalpel from before.

I cut deeply into my arm, my blood spurting onto the blanket.

The zombie horde should now target me; they should smell my blood.

I had teleported far to the side, so there was no reason to target the house anymore.

Absolutely no reason...

Henry appeared behind me and yelled something before looking at what I had done and waiting for the horde’s reaction with me.

A few zombies left the group and steered to the right, to us, but they were too few.

The majority still targeted the house.

"IS THERE STILL SOME OF YOUR BLOOD INSIDE THE HOUSE?" Henry yelled.

He probably meant the blood the doctor drew for the paternity test and whatnot.

But my thoughts scrambled elsewhere as I watched them come closer...

Another fifteen minutes and they would arrive at the house.

"Henrietta, the kid and Kitty have my blood in them."

>>

On the third chair—

- It was me who sat there.

<<

"WHY HENRIETTA AND THE KID?" Henry growled furiously.

He conjured a big black shadowy wall in front of the zombies, and seeing his state, I held my already bleeding wound to his mouth.

Henry latched onto my flesh, sucking my blood, but the shadowy wall was soon conquered, and we watched it in horror disappearing.

It surely had acidified quite a few zombies, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

My eyes snapped to Henry, who cursed silently.

He was still pale and trembling, despite having fed on my blood...

>>

"Why hesitate?" The giant asked me, tapping the table’s surface.

Chip

Tap

"You know the reason, so why do you need me to spell it out?" I asked with raised eyebrows—my subconscious speaking, my true self talking.

Chip

Tap

<<

"I can’t produce another shield. FUCK!" Henry cursed.

I tried to find a solution, tried to come up with something, while looking at the eyeless bodies running towards the house, all pinkish, all naked, running with all their might, faster than real humans should be able to.

It was impossible to just use a gun or a sword to kill them before they would arrive at the house. Not even the enhanced sword with the shadowy energy would take down that many zombies before they reached THE FUCKING HOUSE.

"Can you do what you did before? Using me and my power, but without flipping the table?" Henry cupped my face.

>>

"Use the resources given to you—that is the law of nature; that is how you survive." The maestro slightly moved the white mask covering him to show his own bright smile.

Chip

Tap

"What use has everything you went through if you die now? You came this far. You didn’t win against me only to get eaten in the end, did you?" The giant spoke with urgency.

Tap

Chip

Tap

"You speak as if you know me." I chuckled, knocking against the crystalline surface of the table

<<

"You take Henrietta, I’ll take the child, and we’ll test if they are really after us."

Henry clenched his jaw but nodded and acidified the blanket on the ground, along with the earth around it, just to be really sure.

Meanwhile, I let my wound completely heal and conjured up a wet towel to swiftly get rid of the dried-up blood sticking around my healed wound.

I put it back in the past and then immediately teleported back to the entrance, where I found Ethan with Kitty and the kid.

Our attorney was in the midst of loading a bunch of guns, and very expertly at that.

"How is the situation?"

"They are here soon; Henry’s powers are out. Do you have grenades? A FUCKING BOMB?" I yelled against the sirens.

Ethan shook his head.

"Wait here," I ordered loudly and lifted the kid up.

"If we manage to lure them away, take care of Jeyjey, the doctor, and Emma! I glanced up and saw the three of them standing by the staircase.

Jeyjey looked even crappier than last time I had seen her, but who the fuck cares?

"WHAT IS HAPPENING?" The sirens were loud, but Jeyjey’s voice was louder.

Henry nearly ran them over while dragging his unconscious sister after him.

I chuckled.

"CARRY HER PROPERLY!"

He threw her over his shoulder and shot down the staircase.

I gave Kitty a look, and the tiger stood up.

Then we all ran the hell out of the door.

>>

Chip

Tap

"Who would know you better than me?" The giant spoke, tapping and tapping, forcing me to knock and knock to make my point.

"Wrong question; who knows YOU better than ME?" I laughed.

Knock.

Chip

Tap

"The entitled boredom, the cowardly thirst for survival, the disregard for EVERYONE and EVERYTHING that isn’t yourself. You are just a disgustingly terrified, selfish hill of decomposed flesh."

Knock.

Chip

Knock.

<<

I bolted through the garden with Henry right behind me.

"Don’t look back, Ren. Close your eyes, kid," I said.

The small body in my hands nodded while I turned left towards the endless fields.

Always looking back, I checked on Henry and his sister, always hoping to see the eyeless bodies following us instead of continuing towards the house.

>>

"Your lonely childhood gave you the right to do whatever you want? You have reached enlightenment because you threw yourself from a tree? You have THE RIGHT to kill everything in your path of survival because you are the only one knowing the truth about the world? Give me a fucking break!"

Knock.

Chip

Tap

"Point taken." The maestro slid his mask to the side again, showing his smile once more.

<<

And finally, while practically flying over earth and corn, under the morning sun that had risen and the clear beautiful blue sky, I saw the zombies collectively changing direction.

They turned and ran towards us.

And for whatever reason, while cursing because of this useless blood that had lost its nurturing effect for Henry but not its allure for monsters, I remembered the crystalline world.

I remember thinking of my mother; I remembered how I conjured up the lake, but most importantly, I remembered the fire.

"I HAVE AN IDEA!" I yelled at Henry.

>>

Knock.

Chip

Knock.

"You misunderstood." The giant tapped the table and moved his finger left and right, correcting me.

"I am entitled because of the power I’ve gathered, the power that now lies in your hands, but this isn’t all."

Tap

Chip

Knock.

"I also left behind the entitlement, the will to live no matter where, no matter why, no matter how."

Tap

Chip

Knock.

The maestro laughed loudly, again showing his delighted smile.

<<

I thought of the fire, imagined the vividness and the damn fucking pain, and how it licked against my skin to whet his hunger for my flesh.

"YOU ALL RUN AHEAD OF US!" I adressed Henry carrying his sister and Kitty.

>>

Tap

Chip

Tap

"At the price of becoming a monster?" I didn’t ask; I was just putting the question out there in an attempt to hear its echo coming back to me.

"Exactly." Tap

"Monsters aren’t allowed to live? Why wasn’t I informed?" Chip.

"I want the air to leave my lungs before sucking it in anew. I want my heart to beat. I want to eat, I want to sleep. I want to feel devastated; I want to feel freedom. I WANT TO FEEL!" TAP

Tap

"Match." Another chuckle.

Chip

<<

I met Henry’s eyes, and he picked up speed, though he really didn’t look to be in a good state.

Kitty was running beside us, matching our inhuman speed, although it didn’t seem as if we were really leaving the zombies behind.

>>

Chip

Knock.

Tap

"Really? Then how much did you FEEL AS AN UNCONSCIOUS MONSTER?" KNOCK

Knock.

Chip

Tap

"Nothing."

Tap

<<

After watching them take over, with the kid in my arms, I sent the fire ’there’.

’There’, to the bodies of creatures that shouldn’t be, that shouldn’t have ever been able to copy humans to then hunt humans.

A big fire, eight meters wide and tall, appeared amidst the zombie horde.

>>

"And nevertheless, air left and entered my lungs," TAP.

T̷A̷P̷

"A heartbeat provided my cells with blood."

₮₳₱

"I ATE."

₮₳₱

"I rested."

ㄒ卂卩

"I LIVED."

卞丹尸

CHIP

TA̴P̴

<<

It looked as if a bomb had struck them, but I didn’t dare to turn slower, still running with all my might.

And it was good that I did so.

>>

"THAT WAS JUST YOUR BODY; YOU ARE SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT!!" I KNOCKED against the surface of the table.

KNOCK

KNOCK

K̶N̶O̶C̶K̶ <

<<

The fire went out fast, far too fast.

And even the zombies catching fire didn’t stop or die; they continued after us until the fire clinging to them died out.

>>

While I tried to knock some sense into them, I saw the crystalline surface under my knuckles weaken.

"WHAT ABOUT YOUR MIND? THE MOST DANGEROUS, MOST POWERFUL WEAPON THERE IS?" I yelled as if possessed.

K̷N̷O̷C̷K̷

"NOT EVERY LIFE IS WORTH LIVING!"

₭₦Ø₵₭

"I WON’T BECOME LIKE YOU! TAKE YOUR POWERS AND GET THE FUCK OUT!"

₭₦Ø₵₭

<<

I conjured new fires up, more, bigger, and wider, all directed at the group of zombies coming after us, constantly turning back to look at the damage I was able to produce.

>>

"Living is living, no matter the way."

Tap tap tap

"Dead is dead, no matter the way."

<<

It didn’t help; it didn’t LAST.

I went through my memories, searched for a weapon, and asked myself if I had something that could end them instantly, once and for all, something born out of my own power.

>>

Tap

"Your own life is the most precious. If everyone takes care of themselves, everyone is well." Shrug, Chip.

Tap

Chip

Tap

"Don’t be stubborn, boy. Use the resources you have to survive." Tap

"You don’t want much, do you? Not power, not money, not the world. You just want what your body and mind demand." Shrug, Chip.

Tap

Chip

"Just a little puppet led not by strings but by hormones and the overwhelming instinct that tells you to never let go of air, of blood, of hunger and sleep—of your consciousness."

Knock

Chip

Tap

<<

I couldn’t come up with anything, but there had to be something. THERE HAD TO BE SOMETHING I JUST FORGOT, SOMETHING I JUST HADN’T THOUGHT ABOUT.

THERE HAD TO BE A WAY.

A WAY TO KILL THEM MYSELF.

Without the pesky ghosts of past and present.

<<

"HAH! And who is it that will feel then?! Who will be conscious when my mind breaks under the weight of the lives we have taken?" I yelled before falling into an absentminded mumble.

I KNOCKed and watched as the crystalline surface shattered under my own hand.

Tap

Chip

"𝐼𝓃𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝒸𝓉."

Chip

Tap

"ⱧɄ₦₲ɆⱤ."

...

I looked up.

-and found that I was alone.

"Where did you all go?" The crystals fell off the table like sand running through an hourglass.

I placed my hand on the shattered surface and stroked away part of the pulverized crystals to see the dark wood underneath.

With my nail, I chipped a bit of the wooden surface away.

I then tapped the table.

I ҟղօçҟҽժ against the wood.

>>

- I saw the table turn.