Shluck!
"AGHHHHHHH!"
A pained roar escaped Marin's lips.
He had no time to react.
Vincent's teeth sank into his tender neck.
Blood spurted around, drooling down Marin's neck and Vincent's mouth.
"LET GO!!!"
Thud!
Panicked, Marin swung.
A strong hit landed on the back of Vincent's head.
But Vincent didn't react, as if he didn't even feel the hit. As if he were not himself.
SHLUCK!
His teeth sank.
Schlrrkk!
Vincent pulled back - flesh tore, wet and stringy.
"Gghhkk!"
Marin stumbled back, covering his neck with the palm.
Pain attacked him. But even more, a horrendous fear shrouded him.
He stared at Vincent in shock, his eyes wide open in terror.
Crimson blood filled his mouth, dripping down his chin.
Vincent leaned back on the chair, the bloody chunk of flesh still in his mouth.
Blood drooled down his chin.
"Ghhhk,"
Marin tried speaking, but only a wet, drowning gurgle escaped his mouth.
"BOSSSS!" Finn shouted in fear and panic.
Blood spouted from Marin's wound, seeping out through the gaps in his palm.
Blood in thick, rhythmic spurts - the mark of an artery, not a vein.
The carotid artery.
Thud!
Marin collapsed backward, losing consciousness.
"Boss," Finn immediately ran to Marin. "DORVIN! HOSSIK! HELP!" He shouted.
Munch! Munch!
A munching sound reached his ears.
He raised his head, glancing at Vincent.
Their eyes met. His blood froze.
A red hue flashed in Vincent's eyes. Inhuman.
Blood drooled down his lips as his jaw moved, chewing the human flesh,
Thud!
Finn stumbled backward, his body shaking in fear, unable to take his gaze from Vincent's mouth.
The sharp, inhuman teeth effortlessly chewed the thick, tingly human flesh as if it were a perfectly cooked five-star meal.
GULP!
A lump went down Vincent's throat. He swallowed.
Disgust and nausea rose from Finn's stomach to his throat. More importantly, fear.
A wide smile crept up Vincent's mouth, showing his sharp, blood-painted teeth with chunks of human flesh stuck in the gaps.
"M-Monster..." Finn muttered, tears welling in his eyes.
Those words unconsciously escaped his mouth.
He couldn't know, but he felt it. The person before him was no longer human.
BOOM!"
"WHAT HAPPENED?!"
The door broke open.
Dorvin and Hossik, the skinny, tall man, rushed in.
"BOOSSSS!"
Their eyes landed on Marin.
His head already lay in a puddle of blood, his skin slowly turning pale.
They ran to him, but as they saw the state of the injury, their guts turned upside down.
Shock, confusion, grief, myriad emotions engulfed them. But one stood above all. Fear.
They had finally found hope to survive in this apocalyptic world. But now, it was gone, just like that.
A sweet, metallic scent filled the room. Blood.
Dorvin's heart pounded. His anger rising. "Bastard," He glared at Vincent, his voice calm on the surface.
He didn't need to be a genius to know what happened. Marin's thorn neck, Vincent's bloody mouth. It painted a clear enough picture.
THUD!
A punch landed on Vincent's face. Strong, heavy.
His nose twisted, blood sprouted.
"W-What is this?"
In shock, Dorvin stumbled back.
Violet blood covered his fist. Violet blood flowed down Vincent's nose.
"YOU! What are you!" Dorvin shouted.
"I think I know what that is," Finn stood up from behind. "I think he has awakened an ability." He looked at Vincent, his eyes sharp, cold.
He wanted him dead. He killed Marin, the strong leg he finally took hold of to survive the apocalypse. Now, he was on his own again, without anyone to protect him.
And with what he did, even if he saved Vincent now, he didn't believe Vincent would forgive him. So, Vincent can only die.
"So that's it,"
Dorvin returned his attention to Vincent, his gaze turning colder, no longer shocked.
PAM!
Another heavy punch landed.
"I'll kill you,"
While Dorvin punched Vincent and their attention was on him, they didn't notice that beneath the crimson blood of Marin, the intact veins and arteries slowly bulged and grew darker.
The blood had turned darker, no longer crimson red but deep, dark red with a greenish hue.
Thud!
With each punch, Dorvin felt the pain in his knuckles. His anger grew.
So easy. So weak. Vincent couldn't even resist, yet he killed Marin, their hope.
PAM!
A punch landed on Vincent's forehead, sending him back.
The chair fell.
"Haaaa...Haaa..."
Dorvin caught his breath, panting heavily.
"What do I do now? What after I kill you?" Dorvin stepped forward with a pained expression. "How do I move forward?"
Badum!
Just as he tried picking the chair up, his heart skipped a beat.
"Aghh..." His face twitched in pain as he felt a sharp pain in his chest.
His saliva drooled from the corner of his mouth.
'I-I can't move...' Dorvin's heart trembled in fear.
His body had gone numb.
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move an inch.
An inexplicable terror took over him—terror seeping from the depths of his soul.
Unbeknownst to him, under the violet blood on his hands, his veins had turned dark.
It took effect—the virus.
It entered the blood flow, rapidly spreading through his body.
Thud!
He collapsed face-first to the ground.
"Aggggg!" He groaned in pain, still unable to move.
"Sir Dorvin, what are you doing?" Finn shouted.
"Are you alright?" Hossik immediately approached.
He and Finn glanced at each other.
Their eyes met.
Panic.
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
The pain intensified.
Dorvin roared.
In panic, Finn and Hossik quickly examined him.
Too late.
The virus didn't only spread through the blood.
The air was already contaminated.
Thud! Thud!
Suddenly, a sound rang behind them.
Marin's corpse twitched.
Hossik's and Finn's blood froze. Their faces paled.
Marin's body trembled.
"Gluhh-hhhhrk!!"
Suddenly, Dorvin let out a wet, choking gurgle.
His mouth foamed.
His body started trembling.
Muscles contracted, making his body jump off the ground and fall back as the muscles eased.
Ghaak-ghaak!
Dorvin choked, his throat contracting and filling with blood.
Pain attacked his mind, but he had no control over his body.
Tears welled in his eyes. He could see his end.
Too late for regret.
SPLAAASSHHHH!
Blood!
Massive amounts of blood spurted from his mouth as his body tried to expel the blood from his throat. Futile.
Finn and Hossik glanced at each other again, their lives flashing before their eyes.
The room turned into a scene straight out of a horror movie.
In the dimly lit room, Vincent lay, tied to the fallen chair, his face disfigured, bones broken, covered in violet blood. Unrecognizable.
Marin's corpse trembled, dark green blood foamed out of the mouth.
Dorvin's body spasmed around, blood gushing out of his mouth, splashing around the room.
Blood covered the floor. Disgustingly pungent stench of blood filled the air.
In just a short while, Dorvin's body turned pale.
His pupils trembled. He felt the pain Vincent felt before.
The virus reached his brain.
It marked Dorvin's end.
His pupils rolled back, and eyes whited out.
His body stiffened, and he remained with his white pupilless eyes wide open.
"D-Dorvin?" Hossik called out weakly, crouching to check him.
Badum!
Hossik's eyes widened in terror.
A sharp pain attacked his chest just as he touched Dorvin.
"D-Dead..." He uttered weakly.
"H-How is it possible?" Finn stumbled backward, his whole world crumbling. Heart pounding.
A sense of crisis shrouded his heart, expelling the initial confusion.
His eyes widened. Cold sweat drenched his back. "H-Hossik, you..." He pointed his finger, trembling.
The virus has infected Hossik.
The veins on his neck had turned dark.
"No, no, no..." Finn stumbled backwards, tears welling in his eyes.
A realization befell him.
The crisis in his heart soared, his heart almost jumping out of his chest.
"No! I don't want to die,"
He stormed, rushing outside into the pitch dark night, not caring about the dangers.
If he stayed, it was certain death.
"Save me! Someone save me! I don't want to die!!"
Finn ran through the ruins, his screams merging with the howls in the dark - just another desperate soul in a dying world.
...
Hossik remained in the room.
His body frozen, unable to move.
Tears rolled down his face.
'Curse you bastard!' Hatred filled his eyes as he stared at Vincent. 'You can all go FU.CK YOUSELVES. WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?'
Unwilling. Extremely unwilling.
He didn't want to die.
It was unfair.
'I only followed orders obediently and am still meeting my end here! WHY! GOD! DO YOU EXIST?? Why did this happen?! Why did the towers fall!? Are you watching this in satisfaction!? Are you happy for my suffering!! YOU CAN GO FUCK YOUSELF TOO! SHITTY GOD!'
Soon, the same symptoms started.
First, he collapsed, then his mouth formed, and he lost control of his body. His muscles spasmed, and blood filled his throat, gushing out.
Soon, the virus reached the brain.
His body turned pale, and his eyes whited out.
He died.
What an irony. Marin's gang met their end at the hands of their prisoner.
They all died in pure agony.
Their corpses fated to roam the city and rot away.