Legendary Vampire in the Apocalypse
Chapter 16: Will You?

Chapter 16: Will You?

Dion felt his expression loosen a little there.

’Government aid?’

That was the last thing that he had thought about, if he was being honest. And by last he meant that he had only thought about it now because of the fact that this guy had brought it up to him.

Had that not happened, he would have only thought about it later, perhaps when he had seen a police car, or a helicopter flying through the air.

Dion couldn’t help the slight laugh that had come from him there.

"You don’t think they’re coming either, do you?"

Dion gave a brief nod in response.

"The world has ended. I doubt they’re in any position to do anything about helping the masses right now. Their bases are probably flooded with gnolls and zombies. Would you blame them if they even went and bombed some of the countries in the name of purging once they did deal with their own issues?"

"...They’re our most organized forces. If anyone can manage, then it would be them. They’re sure to have awakened with them as well."

Dion’s attention drifted back over to Norman.

’I suppose it’s always good to be hopeful. But as far as I’m concerned, I don’t want to count on it. The apocalypse might have spawned zombies and a race of fantasy monsters, but at least it also allows me to get stronger.

I’m not going to sit around and wait for the government to finally deal with their own issues, and then go through making the decisions of whether they will put in the effort to save as much of the world as they can or forsake everyone else.

That would just leave me hoping that my family and I are among the people that are lucky enough to be saved. I’ll end up nowhere but where I was last night, unable to do anything to save myself, and much less anyone that I care about.’

At that train of thought, suddenly, Dion’s heart rate rose a little.

He had noticed something strange through his own reasoning.

’...Are there other monsters besides gnolls? Will more of them appear soon?’

The gnolls were already such a huge issue, especially because, unlike the zombies, they had the intelligence to use weapons and more, clearly.

If anything stronger than them was to appear so soon... wouldn’t that just doom them all?

Dion felt his urgency to figure out the mechanics of his system and the awakenings grow that moment.

However, he was suddenly brought out of his thoughts when another brush of wind came, and it carried with it that disgusting stench into his nose.

"So, will you join us? Even if you don’t believe the government will be coming, it is much safer for us to be together, and we will be able to get a lot more food from the gas station with your help."

Dion’s jaw faintly tensed, and at this point, there was no mistaking it.

His eyes, solemn, focused on Norman once more.

"I don’t mind joining you," then his attention drifted back, towards Glen who was still speaking with Hannah. "However, not with him. He has to leave, for everyone’s sake."

Norman’s attention turned back, brows furrowed.

He had known who Dion was talking about, but perhaps he had needed to see specifically, to be sure about it.

He had only glanced at his friend for the briefest of moments, and then he looked back at Dion.

"You’re joking, right? I mean, the whole zombie thing was a false alarm because of your ability."

Dion didn’t answer the man. He just left his gaze focused on Glen, without looking at Norman.

"Will you tell them? It would be best if you do so while you have the time to say your goodbyes. I doubt there is anyone who has recovered from being hurt by one of them.

’Although, even though I say that, maybe the awakened have some kind of immunity, and the reason his transformation has been taking time is that his body is trying to fight against it.’

"Motherfucker you seriously think I’m becoming one of those things?" Glen snarled as he snapped his head to him.

"Yeah! Who do you think you are? If you’re going to be so rude, then just leave; we don’t need you either way. Just because you didn’t know about Eve’s final broadcast doesn’t mean that you can throw around such bitter accusations when zombies are responsible for killing so many of our people." Hannah stabbed a finger at him, her brows furrowed deeply.

’Eve...?’

The thought came distantly, to the back of his head, at what she had said.

Although he didn’t ask for an explanation, he only sighed to himself as he shook his head.

Amongst them, one of them hadn’t said anything at all while the others muttered between themselves about his audacity.

Dion drifted his attention to the one that stood somewhat farther away from Glen, unlike the others, gripping the kitchen knife they’d given him.

His lips had been pursed tight, and as soon as Dion’s eyes had met him, he flickered them away, looking anywhere but at him.

’Whatever. There is no point in fighting for this. If this is how they are, then staying with these guys might only cause more harm than good.’

"Goodbye then." Dion didn’t linger any longer than that. "And I wish you well. You might need it."

The cover of the nighttime wouldn’t last forever. This was the best time for him to be moving about and gathering his preparation supplies.

As he walked through, he heard the other normal people amongst them go into muttering incoherent, exasperated things about his attitude.

"Hey, wait, Dion! We can talk this out; there is no need to go out on your own. You’re just asking to die out there!" Norman called, "It’s just rude to call out someone without any basis. We can all apologise to each other and move on."

’I don’t have any proof besides that I can smell it, and clearly trying to force him to strip would cause a bigger issue.’

"Leave him! Let the bastard feed himself to the zombies!"

Thereupon, Dion snapped his head towards the windows.

He had only looked because he had caught the scent of something different beneath that of the foul zombies.

It had been faint, and slight enough that it was easy enough to ignore.

But perhaps it had been because of the fact that he had already been so focused on his senses, discerning the fact that Glen was hiding a bite or something like that, he had managed to catch it.

And coupled with that was the fact that the scent was so painfully familiar, stabbing through his chest even though so fleeting in that moment.