System Of The Undead

Chapter 322: The Final Stand

Sam saw the message but he was skeptical considering he was almost lured to his death but something unexplained so maybe this was something on that level.

Sam knew he couldn’t let down his guard, more so with the woman hanging over his shoulder.

There was no telling just who she was allied with but Sam didn’t doubt his ability to take off her head should she go rogue.

Sam wondered what the military was doing, they had a strong outpost that even the evolved would have trouble taking so there was a chance it was still standing.

Sam knew this was likely but there was also a possibility they had fallen.

Sam needed to go alone and if the influence of the fragment led him here then maybe it could lead him to Clementine.

"Hey you... I need you to do something for me..." Sam asked the lady knowing she was eager to impress him but Sam simply ducked down, scribbling something on the ground.

It was an address confusing the woman as to why he was doing this.

"Go here, look for a man named Sanders. Tell him I will join his ranks but he must do something for me," Sam said with a grin, Sanders would be glad to have Sam with him despite their indifference because Sam was one, if not, the best killer he had encountered and they could use that now more than ever.

And Sam knew if the base survived for a year, then they would be more than capable of holding their own against these creatures.

They also had good trackers that could help him find Clementine if she was truly missing.

"Meet him? Where should he meet you? I have no idea where you will be when I return," The lady responded, her voice uncertain because it sounded like Sam was trying to get rid of her.

"He will know where..." Sam responded under his breath, staring at the message before him.

"And if I refus-!" She couldn’t even complete her sentence before Sam grabbed her by the neck, constricting his hand as oxygen was slowly cut off from her brain.

"Hahaha! You wouldn’t want to know," This was all Sam said before letting her go, she dropped to her knees, breathing heavily.

Sam wasn’t asking her to go, he was telling her to but why did he trust her with something like this?

She could easily abandon him and go her way without delivering this message but this wasn’t a fight for one’s ego.

No, it was a fight against the zombies and she still believed that Sam was the one who could put an end to this.

This meant her abandoning him was equivalent to giving up on the fight but she noticed that Sam’s current unease must have been caused by this message.

"Clementine..." She muttered under her breath as she walked away, she didn’t know how to find this place but she had heard of a military outpost in the city that Sam had written on paper.

There was no doubt that this had to be it, she didn’t know how long it would take for her to get there considering she had no vehicle, it could take weeks and there was no telling if Sam would be there or not.

Sam focused his gaze on the crows, if they were capable of communicating then there was little doubt that they were capable of understanding dialogue.

"Take me to her..." Sam commanded and the crows responded to his words, slowly flying in an unspecified direction, there was no telling where Sam was being taken.

However, as long as Clementine might be in danger, he was ready to take that risk and this surprised Sam himself.

He has never been particularly bothered by the existence of those around him but Clementine, Sam was beginning to see her as something or someone that belonged to him.

He knew she was strong but if she had to face what he had just done, there was a limit to what she could do because they didn’t just have the advantage of the zombies, they had the intelligence of humans giving them an unfair advantage.

But it was clear that Jason waited this past year for all of the chips to fall in place but what did he use it to do?

-

A year ago, with the community on the verge of defeat, a deal was made with Jason to spare the lives of its inhabitants but that would inadvertently cause him to lose his.

A bargain Jason accepted in a heartbeat as he caught a glimpse of the terror that awaited them.

He couldn’t believe the strength of these zombies but he understood on some level that these things could be bargained with.

Jason was restrained and taken back to Schneider, the will to resist was stripped away from him.

He had no reason not to cooperate since he knew he couldn’t take them all done and if Chronos was somehow linked to the one resonating in him.

Then there was no doubt that it knew every step he was going to make before he even did so.

It was like playing a game after watching the walk-through, one would know everything that was about to happen but this was befitting of its name, Chronos.

[[Nexus Active!]]

Chronos said within him and Jason was puzzled because he hadn’t activated this skill but the moment it said this, all the zombies around him stood still.

They didn’t move or bulge an inch, it was like their brain had been turned off.

"You’re indeed the missing piece..." Schneider said and this made Jason realize that the man standing in front of him or whatever possessed him.

It couldn’t automatically control the dead if it hadn’t explicitly turned them or had a piece of itself directly embedded in them.

Or rather, the control it had was severely limited and this was why it was willing to spare a community for Jason’s sake.

Jason thought it simply wanted to rejoin with its other half but something told him that there was more to it than that.

[[Infection: 30%!]]

[[Infection: 32%!]]

Chronos informed him and Jason realized that it was spreading a lot faster than it did previously but that must have something to do with the usage.

He took to his heels but to his surprise, Schneider didn’t move; Jason was unsure if it was because of the effects of Nexus or it simply didn’t want to risk it.

But this was how he got away from the threat that was Schneider but before he could turn off Nexus and question Chronos what the hell that was.

He noticed physical alterations to his body with a message he wished not to see.

[[Infection: 50%]]

Officially making Jason a half zombie or whatever it was that he was becoming but why did Chronos deliberately do this?

"Explain yourself!" Jason barked at his system but he knew deep down that it was because of Chronos that he was able to escape in the first place.

[[Nexus activated because you wished for it to activate. To access Nexus full power, the infection in your body must spread]]

Chronos informed him and Jason finally understood why it accelerated the way it did but this wasn’t something he could keep doing or he would cease being human.

"What happens when I reach 100%?" Jason asked the most important question and Chronos had a simple response to this.

[[You become a god]]

Not everyone could handle the influence of the fragment and there had to be a reason Nexus manifested in him and not in Schneider or anyone else for that matter.

There had to be a reason but why wasn’t this variant of Chronos willing to rejoin with the other?

"A god? I would be dead!" Jason responded, downplaying the extravagant title that came with being a corpse.

[[That is correct but my other half can only take control of the Nexus when you’re alive. The moment your heart stops, he can no longer become whole and you will have the power to absorb and make him yours.]

Chronos informed Jason, and Jason finally realized why Chronos was opposed to rejoining his other half.

It was because its consciousness would cease being the primary one and just a part of the collective mind of the parasite.

"And what happens after that?" Jason asked prompting a silence that felt rather loud but he got his answer eventually.

[[You will lose everything that makes you human]]

Chronos informed but Jason expected something along these lines so he wasn’t caught off-guard.

It sought individuality and it knew that Jason was who it would get it from, Jason didn’t mind this.

If anything, it made him more trustworthy but there was something wrong, his skin was now looking pale but his body felt lighter than it ever it.

Jason didn’t know what his next step was but he knew that the deal he had with Schneider would stand now that it had confirmed he had the Nexus and he was right.

From the shadows, Jason learned to hone his powers without sacrificing his individuality.

He wasn’t going to become a monster or he would lose the very thing he was trying to protect.

That was his humanity.