Chapter 20：CHAPTER TWENTY ABOUT ME

"Hm…I was human before the radiation, before the war actually."

"So you are, like…" Dylan starts mumbling, counting." Ten years with the zombies, plus five with the radiation, and what, three to four with the war before?"

"Yup."

"So you have nineteen vampire years on your back?"

"Actually twenty, it happened before the war started, when they were threatening each other with nuclear weapons, plus twenty-seven as human."

"Why the surprise? I'm a vampire, thought to be obvious."

"No, is just that, you don't act like your age." Well, that was true, but I couldn't stop saying:

"And how I'm acting as? A horny teenager? Better than a middle-aged man, don't you agree?"

I can physically feel Richard rolling his eyes.

"No, but seriously, what did you work with? Did you have a family?" I lick my dry lips, pressing my tongue behind my incisors, thinking.

"Well, I was actually a lawyer."

"No way!"

"And why not?" I raised my eyebrow at that.

"No, is just too serious and stuff." I shrug at Dylan commentary.

"Nah, is actually very entertaining, except the family part, with divorce and stuff, bleh, boring~~. But the criminal part; which the one who speaks to you worked at; is very interesting. It was very nerve and brain-wrecking. Each new case had a lot to search on their own, as well as convincing others with what you were saying, it was quite a lot of fun."

"Well, I can't see the fun in that." Says Richard, who earns a snort from me.

"Yeah, of course the all muscle man wouldn't understand, right Dyyylan?"

I start laughing until he tightness his grip over my neck. Ouch ouch ouch.

"Doesn't know how to-to take a joke w-wolfy?"

He let's go, making me swallow dry over my sore throat.

"And my family… well, they were nice and all, but we never talked much, busy as we were with our lives, even more since I wanted my independence fast and went out of their houses as soon as possible."

"Are they alive?"

"I… don't know, but still, the zombie apocalypse didn't change anything it that regard."

"How so? I don't understand…"

I hesitate, I didn't know what to say, actually, I didn't want to say, but in the end the words slipped out of my lips almost too low to hear:

"Who would want a monster as a son?"

At that they stop talking, tense with my words, and I sigh at that.

"And they think I'm already dead anyway, or at least lost, so it doesn't matter anymore." I see Dylan scowl, and brace myself for the lecture that was coming.

"How it doesn't matter anymore?! They could be out there in this hell needing your help and it doesn't matter?" I clench my teeth at that, speeding up unconsciously, angry at the subject, at the interpretation, at the judgment.

"Really?! And you think that would be the best? That beyond all this plague their son comes from the dead, but wait, he is dead, he is just a fucking blood sucking immortal monster?! Do you think that they would prefer that?!"

"S-samael, you a-re h-urting m-e."

Just then I realize that I was hugging him too strongly, making me clench my teeth once more and try to calm down.

"We are here." I say in a monotone before they could retort.

Both look down from the building we were in at to the street filled with zombies, the ground visible only here and there as they moved endlessly at a slow pace.

"Where? Which building?" Asks Richard, his voice serious and getting down to business. I point forward, but not at the ones they would expect. "The subway?"

"Uhm. You didn't think we were going through the front door right?"

Without further ado; and still annoyed by the conversation; I jump down right between all the zombies, earning a scared gasp from Dylan and almost making Richard fall down by trying to get his gun out.

Before both ended up killing themselves though I run towards the subway, one hand free quickly taking my sword and cleaning a path until we reached the metallic closed doors.

"What now?!" Asks Richard beyond all the noise, Dylan been unable to see anything as his face was buried against my chest.

It was too dark for both human to see much anyway, the only light coming from upstairs, so the door seemed final and impending for them; but I knew my way around, as well as the existence of a hole on the door right where it touched the ceiling.

I jumped up quickly without warning, and for a moment both tense, thinking we would hit the door face first, but the impact didn't come and we stood in the dark, the only sounds coming from the muffled groaning of the zombies on the streets above and beyond the metal door.

"What happened?" Asked Dylan, almost at the same time that Richard said:

"A little warning would be good next time."

"Already thinking of next time? How many more do you want dear wolfy?"

"… Stop turning everything into an innuendo."

"What did I do wrong now?!" I said in an innocent voice, but my smirk gives me away.

They get down from me, patting their clothes of the dust they couldn't see; and I could feel that the complete darkness was starting to make them nervous.

And of course I saw my opportunity to play around with them once more.

I let go of Dylan's hand and immediately he starts looking for me, his brown eyes melted in a dark chocolate color for the lack of light.

"Samael?" He whispers, grabbing the first thing he finds; which is Richards sleeve, lucky guy.

I chuckle, the only sound beyond their heartbeats in this cold tomb long forgotten underneath the graveyard of stones and metal. I start to back off, seen both petrified at the idea of been left alone in the middle of a city filled with zombies and locked away from all exits.

I wonder what was passing through their minds? I bet the first thing they thought is that I betrayed them, lured them to their graves, but then they would realize that it is too much trouble just to kill them when I could have done beforehand, so they would realize that I was only-

"Stop playing around Samael. Let's just get this over with."

I'm very tempted to keep doing just that, being in complete darkness would make their other senses sharper… and sensitive, but we would have enough time later, so I went away quickly only to come back with a lantern, blinding them both.

"What? Scared of the dark wolfy?"

He snarls, showing his teeth and biting the air before smirking at me; and that surprises me, Richard playing my game for the first time. He quickly takes both Dylan hand and the lantern out of me as I was left petrified for a few seconds, as he analyzes his surroundings.

"Why is this place… so empty?"

I turn around and stop beside them. By empty he meant of corpses and zombies, because the place was nothing like a normal subway; there were houses made with wood, clothe, forming tents here and there, trash thrown around without a care, backpacks and human miscellaneous all around, clearly indicating that this place had humans living in it at some point.

"Not all were lucky enough to get out of the city in time, many got stuck and those who did came here. It was amazing really, to think they survived for at least two years like this."

"How it ended then?" Asks Dylan, looking at a playground for kids one the side, a sad expression in place. I shrug.

"I don't know, I wasn't here when it happened, but it would be easy to overrun this place, one zombie would be enough to spread the virus and they would be trapped underground with no place to run to."

"But that doesn't explain the lack of zombies and corpses." Says Richard as we start to walk through the dusty tends.

"Oh, that was me. Cleaned the place up and locked all the bodies in one place."

I saw he wanted to ask more, but his lips sealed in a thin line as he looked over his surroundings once more.

"Wait, you said that they were stuck here, but there isn't an entry for the laboratory in here?"

"Yes but… it was locked back then."

Without further ado I walk in front of them, not really caring if my figure disappears from time to time in the dark, they were the ones who should keep up with my pace; And now, getting so close to the laboratory, I was dreading what we would find inside.

Hum, never thought I would come back to this place after 8 years … but it was far from enough, even a lifetime wouldn't be enough time away to forget this place.

I look back at the humans, remembering Dylan happiness, stilling my heart. I wasn't the same as before, things weren't the same as before.

I wasn't up to be lead astray again.

I wasn't going to be played fool again.

I was in control now.

And I was here by my own will, with a mission to complete.

"Let's go."