Page 9 of 3013: Hellion

The gray people all looked like they were in bad shape, and they made the most disturbing animalistic sounds as they tried to reach for the net. She wished her twin was with her since Jecca had an affinity for dealing with wild animals. Then again, the group of attackers didn’t seem like they could be reasoned with.

A deluge of rain began to fall, adding to the chaotic scene. She used her magic to keep from getting wet, but the othersweren’t as lucky. As the crowd of gray people grew larger, some of them slipped in the mud and fell. Others began climbing on the fallen, trampling them under their feet as they continued to try to reach the screaming humans. As more gray people tripped and fell, the pile of bodies grew. Crawling on top of one another, they used each other as a human ladder to get closer to the net.

“Help! Somebody, help us!”

Jaya sighed. Since the gray people seemed to be attracted to sound, the trapped males were simply drawing more of them to the area by making so much noise. She didn’t blame them, though. Their fear and panic were obviously making it difficult for them to think straight.

To entertain herself, she created a whip and went to work destroying the gray people. Since they kept coming at her even after they lost body parts, she coated the whip with a magical flame that instantly destroyed them upon contact. As she destroyed decaying bodies, the humans stopped screaming and began shouting encouragement.

When she had taken care of all the gray people on their feet, she got rid of her whip and sent a fireball at the big pile of people on the ground, turning them into dust. Admittedly, she could have gotten rid of the group of attackers a lot faster, but that wouldn’t have been as much fun.

Scanning the area, the only real people she sensed were the two trapped in the net. Strolling forward, she came to a stop under the tree. Bracing her hands on her hips, she frowned when she realized the trapped human males were mere younglings.

“You seem a little young to be here on the island. I thought this place was age restricted,” she said conversationally. “What are you doing here?”

“A Dragon Warrior,” the boy with brown hair said reverently.

“Are you sure, Cosmo?” the blond boy whispered. “She might just be part of the game.”

“I am very real,” Jaya assured them.

“That’s what a holo in the game would say.”

Since she couldn’t fault his logic, she said, “Believe what you wish. Although, if I were a holo, I probably would not have saved you.”

“That’s…a good point. Technically, we shouldn’t be here, but we snuck in. Can you get us out of this net now?”

She shook her head. “Not yet. I have some questions first. What exactly were those things, and why were they attacking you?”

Both boys blinked at her, then the one named Cosmo said, “You mean the zombies? They were attacking us because that’s what they do. They want to eat peoples’ brains and stuff like that.”

“They eat brains?” She had dealt with many species over the years, but even for her, that sounded a little extreme. “Do they require neurons and axons to continue to function in their injured states?”

Eddie groaned. “Fucking hell, is she for real?”

“Don’t make her angry,” Cosmo hissed. Clearing his throat, he spoke louder as he answered her question. “Zombies are technically dead, so I guess the brains do keep them going.”

That made her frown. “If they are dead, why are they still moving?”

“They just do! They’re the undead, okay? They fucking died, and then they come back as zombies,” Eddie blurted out. “Stars, haven’t you ever seen a zombie vid or read any comics?”

She stared hard at the mouthy one. “Why would you reanimate dead people? What is their purpose?”

“It’s just part of the game. In the program, a virus caused people to reanimate once they were dead. The how or why isn’t that important. Killing them and surviving is the purpose of the game. But they’re supposed to be holos,” Eddie said, soundingbewildered. “One of them scratched my arm. They shouldn’t be able to do that, right? I have no idea what the fuck is happening. Am I going to become a zombie now? Or does that only happen when one of them bites you?”

“Calm down, Eddie,” his friend said. “You’re not going to become a zombie.”

“But what if I do?” The young male was now reaching hysterical levels of panic. “What if I don’t even know it until I start craving your brain? Isn’t that part of the zombie lore?”

Taking pity on them both, Jaya healed them, scanning them thoroughly to make sure she didn’t miss any injuries. She didn’t know much about this zombie lore they spoke of, but since the holos had become semi-real, perhaps an actual living, breathing person could get infected.

That wasn’t something she wanted to test at the moment.

“You are not going to become a zombie,” she stated, hoping to ease his panic.

“You don’t know that for sure!”

“I do because I just healed you,” she explained, striving for patience.