Chapter 154 - Experiment

Mark woke up the next day and had his breakfast. He went back into the room and took out both his guns and sword. Strapping the sword to his back and the guns in their holders, he took the Jeep keys and walked out of the apartment. He told them not to wait for him during lunch and would have it outside. Kevin asked him if he could accompany him, but he didn't allow anyone. He only said he was going for a ride and everyone knew it was something personal, so no one asked. 

Getting into the car, Mark took a deep breath. He started the engine and drove away from the building. He kept both the guns to the side and looked around for any places he could use. He didn't know the city well. He was an introvert, apart from the university, which he rarely went to, only to show that he was alive. He didn't attend any social activities like going to clubs or parks, which was more of a Kevin type of thing. 

He looked around for any small places he could use. His ideal place was a small closed out basketball court so that he would have his alone time with his helper, the zombie, to know more of the abilities. But he didn't find any, so he searched for the next best thing, alleyways. The alleyways were small and cramped, so it was easier to isolate them. Feeling pumped up, he started looking for alleyways and after an hour of searching through many streets, he finally found the one. 

It was a small alleyway with an iron grid about his height in the middle. He also noticed the few zombies on the perfect street. The final deciding factor was the garbage bin, which was big enough to block the alleyway if kept correctly. 

"How convenient." He smiled and parked the Jeep inside the opposite alleyway before getting down. He had a gun in his hand and slowly walked to the other side. Before attracting any zombies, he went to check the alleyway. It was simple, a few Ac outlets and windows he could use to climb the wall if things go out of hand. The iron blockade was also good enough for him to jump. He moved the huge garbage relatively easily and noticed it was enough to block any other zombies from trying to get in, at least for a few seconds. 

After getting everything ready, he moved the garbage bin a bit, enough to squeeze in one human at a time. Slowly moving outside, he lightly hit the scabbard of the sword to the wall to make as little sound as possible. He aimed to only attract a single zombie, not a horde. It would be a disaster if it was a horde. So he continued to move forward down the street, near an isolated zombie. He then slowly hit with a quicker pace and finally made the zombie turn around. It looked at Mark before it groaned and moved towards him. 

Mark slowly moved back after noticing it was only a normal zombie. Luckily he didn't attract too many zombies and backed up, with the zombie till he reached the alleyway. Moving the bin a bit more, he allowed the zombie to come inside. Moving the zombie forwards inside, he reached the iron blockade and then jumped over the zombie using it as support. 

'Damn, I can do some parkour now.' He felt amused and moved quickly towards the garbage bin and closed it. Now it was only one human and a zombie in a small alleyway, blocking both sides undisturbed by the creatures outside. He noticed the zombie making back towards him and slowly stretched his hands. He kept the gun and sword back in their places.

With nothing in his hand, he moved forward until he was almost within its reach. The zombie sprung at him as he sidestepped and dodged it. He could feel his heart beat faster as the zombie rose again. Even though dodging was easier, the stress he was under didn't make it easier. 

The zombie continued to grab him as he continued to dodge. Instead of sidestepping the slow zombie, he made it harder by cutting that off. No sidestepping. He could only dodge when the zombie was dangerously close. This worked as he continued to dodge in close proximity. 

He could feel an unsightly aura coming from the zombie, which made him feel disgusted. He continued to back away and dodge the zombie and finally stopped when he felt the cold iron of the blockade touch his sweaty back. He felt a cold shiver run down his spine when he saw the zombie trying to jump on him. He rolled away without waiting. 

Standing up immediately, he kept his palm on his chest and felt the hard beats of his heart. He looked up and saw a bird circling them. He then looked down and saw the zombie jumping on him again. This made him freeze. He didn't have time to dodge it properly and would only get scratched. 

'Shit, stop.' he cursed and tried to reach out for the sword behind him. As he did, he saw the zombie slow down and knew it was the same phenomenon. He looked up, saw the bird still flying around, and immediately knew what ability he had. He felt a strange connection with the zombie in front of him. 

'I can control zombies? Damn, that's good.' feeling esthetic about the situation. But before he could continue to enjoy the situation, he felt the brain splitting pain attack him once again. He could feel the strange connection he had with the zombie being cut off and become weak. 

Without minding the pain for a few seconds, he slashed the sword right on the neck of the zombie, severing its head from the body perfectly. He finally exhaled when the body and the head fell at his feet.