Chapter 6: Mind Drug
1385 Words
Three months had passed since Luke shut himself in his experiments.
It took him a while, but he managed to complete it.
A synthesized Zombie Organ capable of enhancing the human brain in the form of a small pill.
Luke called it, the Mind Drug.
Theoretically, it can help improve one's memory, thinking process, and focus. However, there is also a small chance of gaining ability.
It is normal to see such references in science fiction novels and movies. Wherein a person's mind is capable of achieving unimaginable things once its potential is unlocked.
Telepathy, telekinesis, mind control....
Of course, these are all simply conjectures and nothing more. There is only one way to prove if this is real.
Luke took the pill in his hand and tossed it to his mouth without hesitation.
Athena quickly objected.
"Sir!"
"Shut up, I told you already, I won't be testing it on myself if I'm not 100% sure of its effects."
"Are you 100% sure?"
"I'm 99% sure."
"..."
Athena was speechless.
"Sir, I know you are smart, but you need to stop doing these experiments on yourself!"
"Do you see any living being here other than me?"
"In fact, I do! Remember the gun you gave to a zombie when you were outside last time?"
Luke raised a brow.
He remembered someone killing that zombie before but he didn't bother to look afterward.
"The gun was picked up by a human and was taken to their base. What's more, after returning, that guy immediately killed their shelter's leader to replace him!"
"Interesting. Where are they located?"
Luke's phone then displayed a map and a small red dot appeared a few blocks away from him.
Luke nodded.
After that, he stopped thinking about it and focused on himself.
Having swallowed the Mind Drug, Luke hasn't felt any discomfort or changes yet.
But this is still within his expectations.
The drug won't immediately change him, but a gradual process instead to avoid any side effects like overloading the brain.
Luke laid down on a bed and attached a couple of monitoring equipment to himself.
"I'll be sleeping for now. Athena, monitor my vitals for me."
"Understood. Sweet dreams sir Luke."
"..."
Sweet dreams?
When was the last time he had sweet dreams?
...Right, it was when she was still alive.
Luke closed his eyes and rested, knowing that he will once again be plagued by nightmares as he did. But that's fine.
He was already used to it.
Five hours later.
Luke opened his eyes without a change in his expression.
"Athena, how was my vitals?"
"Your heart rate elevated a few times while you were sleeping but other than that, your body is perfectly healthy. How do you feel?"
Athena asked.
"I feel like shit."
Luke shook his head.
Maybe it was because of the Mind Drug, the nightmare was even more vivid than before.
He sighed and no longer cared about it. He will eventually get used to it over time.
Luke ran a couple more tests on himself to check the new changes to his mind.
As expected, his memory had indeed gotten better. He can multitask more efficiently no as well as if he has a separate brain that helped him think in parallel.
As for special abilities...there were none.
Well, it could be because he had only taken one Mind Drug that the effects were minimal.
In order to stabilize the Organ, preventing it from overloading his brain and such, the effects had diminished a lot so this was all within his expectations.
According to his calculations, he can take one Mind Drug every 24 hours for safety and without worrying about any detrimental side effects while enhancing his brain little by little
When he's finally done with his tests, he checked on the map that Athena showed to him before.
"This building is a bank in the past, right?"
"Yes. I've taken a look at the blueprint and noticed that it has a fortified basement used to safeguard its money and gold in case of emergencies."
"Gold huh?"
Hearing Luke's tone, Athena asked.
"Are you interested in gold, sir?"
"I'm interested in it as a material. Gold is quite durable as well, shall we try fitting a zombie with gold armor?"
"..."
Luke imagined a zombie wearing a full-plate golden armor while fighting against humans...
He turned to Lucy.
"What do you think?"
"Aaa?"
"Is that a yes or no?"
"Aaaaa?"
"I'll take that as a yes then. I'll give you a gold armor."
"Aaa!"
Lucy didn't know what was happening but felt that she was going to get something good so she exclaimed.
Athena asked Luke.
"Is there any point in this?"
"I'm curious."
"..."
"Besides, I need the bait to act like one."
"..."
Wearing a golden armor, its shine would naturally attract attention. Be it from the dead or the living...
Humans are vain creatures.
If they see the gold armor, they would want it for themselves to show off.
Basically, Luke wanted to turn Lucy into a big target so he can easily act when needed.
"What about those humans?"
"We'll take them too of course. I need living test subjects after all."
Luke no longer said anything and got into gear.
After suiting up, he left his underground shelter along with the zombie Lucy.
On the way, Luke had Lucy grab the zombies they meet and he attached collars with chain leashes on them.
Lucy held onto the chains while Luke walked ahead. As Lucy was also a zombie, the other zombies had no interest in her and instead wanted to eat Luke in order to spread the virus. You can say that this is the virus' instinct.
Like that, Luke calmly walked ahead while being followed by dozens of zombies behind him on a leash which Lucy is holding at the back to restrain them and prevent them from grabbing Luke.
Since Luke had given Lucy injections of the synthesized Core serum, her strength is far above that of a normal zombie. It was easy for her to hold the leashes as if she's simply walking a dog.
A few more minutes passed, Luke and Lucy finally arrived at the entrance of the bank.
From the outside, the bank looked deserted. However, it could be seen from the barricaded windows and wire sensors that there were people inside the building.
Luke intentionally triggered the wire sensors to let the people inside know that he is there.
Inside the shelter.
A soft bell rang from one of the rooms.
The two men stationed inside heard it and looked at each other.
"Go take a look."
"Alright."
One of them nodded and grabbed a wooden bat as he left the room to check on the situation.
The leader happened to be passing by while embracing two women. He saw the man and asked.
"Dan? What's up?"
"Ah, leader...one of our sensors above was triggered. I'm just heading out to check if it's a survivor or a zombie."
The leader nodded.
"Alright. Let me know immediately after you check."
"Understood."
After saying his piece, the leader ignored him and dragged the two women to another room.
Dan stared at his back and clicked his tongue.
"Tsk, just because you have a gun now...what a bastard."
Dan shook his head and headed to the ladder to head up and check on the situation.
As he opened the hatch leading above and got out. Looking around, there was nothing abnormal. However, after checking the bank lobby, he was greeted with a surreal sight.
He saw a man in black wearing full tactical gear with guns and knives strapped in his body.
Behind him was a group of zombies wearing collars in chains. They were all blocking the entrance of the bank
All of them were held back by...a lone woman!?
Seeing Dan appear, Luke took out his gun and shot him on his thighs to prevent him from escaping.
"Ahhh! s**t! What the f**k!?"
"If you shout any more, more zombies will come. Now shut up."
"Ghh....who the f**k are you!?"
Dan asked while gritting his teeth in pain.
Luke ignored him and started to look around the place.
Finally, he saw the hatch from where Dan came from.
"Found it."
- Writer
