Chapter 3
I have no idea where Alicia could be.
The echo of survivors' footsteps and the murmurs of a city overrun by zombies resounded in the distance, but my focus was elsewhere: a faint trace of spiritual energy. It was subtle, almost imperceptible to most, but not to me.
I moved toward that place. If Alicia used her spiritual energy for something, it must mean she can break the seal she imposed on herself.
I narrowed my eyes.
She's only fifteen, but to me—and to anyone who's witnessed what she can do—Alicia is the most dangerous person in Little Garden. Her Gift, her manipulation of souls, is as deadly as it is unpredictable. Just a touch of her fingertips on someone's skin is enough to twist, rewrite, or in the worst-case scenario, shatter their soul. And the worst part… is that she does it as effortlessly as others paint on a blank canvas.
As she did with me.
Before, my body and soul were in perfect harmony with what it meant to be a monster. An oni who had reached the peak of power, known and feared as the Oni King Sengo.
But Alicia… took my soul in her hands and, with unsettling precision, completely rewrote it, stripping me of my oni nature and turning me back into a human.
I walked into the forest, pushing aside branches and leaves. The air was thick with tiny traces of spiritual energy.
The city behind me was in chaos, but the forest… held a different kind of silence. It wasn't the comforting calm of nature. No. It was a tense silence, a prelude to something dangerous.
"What the hell are you doing this time, Alicia?" I muttered to myself.
I quickened my pace.
[•••]
The clearing was eerily empty, except for a figure I recognized instantly.
"Alicia." I ran toward her, feeling a ripple of concern.
She was lying on the ground, her white hair spread like a halo around her head. Her small frame looked far too fragile in that moment, and the contrast with the forest's silence only rang alarm bells in my mind. I knelt beside her, checking for visible injuries.
Nothing. No blood, no scratches, no signs of attack. But what worried me most was her lack of response.
"Wake up…" I whispered, placing my hand on her forehead to check her temperature. Nothing. Her temperature was normal, and her breathing steady, but her condition remained a mystery.
I gently lifted her, holding her to my chest like a piece of glass about to break. The same Alicia who could shatter souls with the tip of her fingers… now looked like a helpless child.
But she wasn't.
Something had happened here. It couldn't be a coincidence that there were traces of spiritual energy in the area.
Why would she break the seal she put on herself?
I stood up, Alicia in my arms, and began scanning the clearing for answers. Examining footprints in the dirt, broken branches—anything that could indicate what had happened.
Nothing.
Frustrated, I glanced toward the shadows between the trees.
"No point staying here," I murmured, adjusting Alicia's weight in my arms. If something—or someone—had triggered her to use her powers, they were surely gone by now.
I started heading back to the city.
...
Beyond the clearing, among the bushes and trees, a body lay hidden beneath fallen leaves and branches. A dark-haired woman was twisted into an unnatural position, as if death had claimed her with brutal force.
Her neck was bent at an impossible angle, the imprint of small fingers marked into her pale skin—a reminder of who had done this.
Alicia wasn't going to let anyone interrupt the Gift Game she created to enjoy with her father.
...
[•••]
The time it took to search for his daughter, Alicia, proved crucial. While Senji made his way through the forest carrying the girl, the group had already mobilized in the Humvee. They advanced through chaotic streets, crushing the undead beneath the armored wheels of the vehicle, trying to carve a path toward a safer destination.
But elsewhere, things were turning deadly for someone important.
The roar of the plane's engines barely drowned out the screams and gunfire filling the main cabin of Air Force One. A place that should have been the safest in the world was now a deathtrap.
"Shit! Aim for the head!" yelled one of the Secret Service agents as he emptied his weapon at the infected who had broken into the cabin.
"Goddamn it! Who the hell let them on board?!" shouted another, drenched in sweat and blood.
Chaos was absolute. The zombies had found a way onto the presidential aircraft, breaking through all security measures. In a corner of the main cabin, the President of the United States watched in horror as his wife, the First Lady, convulsed on the floor.
"The First Lady's been bitten!" one of the doctors yelled, struggling to stabilize her.
"Mr. President, enter the code!" the general insisted.
"But…" The President swallowed hard, looking at his wife, who now lay completely still. He knew what that meant.
"We've both been bitten!" the general shouted, showing the bite marks on his left arm. "We have to eliminate any threat to the United States of America—and for that, we must destroy all countries using I.C.B.M.s!"
"This is a matter of national security, and all you've done is announce 'Day 666'! We must fulfill our duty to our people and our constitution—we have no other choice!"
The general coughed up blood.
"Sir!"
The elderly man with gray hair stared, wrinkled face tense, as the general vomited blood.
"Mr. President, it's critical that you make a decision!"
[•••]
Smoke rose from several points in the city, fire devouring buildings and abandoned vehicles. The stench of burnt flesh and rot filled the air—a stench so strong that even I, with my resistance, found it unpleasant.
I carried Alicia in my arms as I walked through streets infested with the undead. Her breathing was steady, but she remained unconscious, her small body curled against my chest.
A group of zombies blocked my path. Four, five… ten.
I sighed.
"I don't have time for this."
Without letting go of Alicia, I bent my knees slightly and crushed the first zombie's head with a side kick. Its skull exploded like a ripe fruit, splattering brain matter across the pavement.
The others came forward mindlessly, dragging their rotting bodies with ravenous desperation.
"Annoying."
I lunged forward, smashing another's head with a downward kick and shifting to take down another.
One tried to bite my arm, but before it could reach me, I lifted my leg and drove my heel into its jaw, shattering it into pieces.
The last two lunged at the same time.
I sighed.
I spun on my axis and decapitated both with a single swipe of my bare hand, using my nails like blades. Their heads flew through the air before rolling along the ground, the bodies collapsing shortly after.
The street went silent.
I adjusted my grip on Alicia and kept walking.
Buildings were death traps. Too many dark places, too many corners where something could be lurking. I needed a secure refuge, but also one easy to defend.
A sound made me turn my head.
Growls.
From a nearby alley, a larger group emerged. At least twenty. More than I cared to deal with without a good reason.
I moved quickly, running with Alicia in my arms.
I kicked in the door of a small, closed supermarket. Useless.
I kept moving until I spotted an abandoned garage with a half-open metal door. That could work.
Without stopping, I jumped onto an abandoned car and used the roof to spring inside, landing on the dusty floor of the garage.
The growls grew louder outside. They'd find me soon.
I gently placed Alicia in a corner and approached the metal door. I couldn't leave it wide open, but I couldn't shut it completely either.
"I need a distraction."
My eyes scanned the garage until I found what I was looking for: an old gas tank and a lighter near a workbench.
I picked them up, stepped outside briefly, and tossed the tank toward a pile of rubble nearby.
The zombies ignored it at first. Until I lit the lighter and threw it onto the tank.
BOOM!
The explosion sent out a wave of heat and light, illuminating the street.
The undead turned toward the blast like moths drawn to a flame.
I smiled.
"Old tricks still work."
With a quick motion, I lowered the garage door, leaving only a small opening to monitor the outside. For now, we were safe.
I turned to Alicia, frowning.
"It's time for you to wake up, little one."
[•••]
After clearing the way of zombies, the Humvee continued moving through the ruined streets. The roar of the engine was the only thing breaking the silence of the devastated city.
Takashi kept his eyes on the road while the others checked their weapons and caught their breath after the last fight.
Saya sighed and looked out the window.
"I hope Senji and Alicia realize we're heading to the next city."
No one replied immediately, but they all shared the same thought.
The Humvee sped up, leaving behind the hell that was once a city.