The boy who leaped in the year 2050

TBWL#30: Am I human?

Careless decision-making is the naive belief that one decision affects only that decision since one decision can lead to thousands of other decisions that are completely unnecessary, or it can bring peace to thousands of places that we never knew about. In this land, where the food chain had changed, we could not find the reason to trust single bleeding and wounds. Kill or be killed, the choice is all in your shoulder.

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Calixto's Point of View

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"Are you sure it's not a zombie bite?" Lore asked while 

Although I removed the pieces of the shattered side mirror on my legs, it still hurts like crazy. I had stopped the bleeding by tying my leg using my shirt as a tourniquet. Then Lore removed it, but I was surprised that it healed faster than I expected. Although there were a few traces of cuts, surprisingly, it did not hurt anymore, it is as if nothing had happened.

"It's just a minor cut, but it had started to regenerate blood clot outside," says Lore. She is touching my skin, her eyes furrowed, and I think, I know why. She must have noticed that my wounds had shown a peculiar self-healing. 

"You scared me, dude. I thought you were grievously injured. Look at you scared over a few scratches after beheading zombies." Jiro tapped my back and started laughing his ass out. Then to my surprise, he knocked me out, and the next thing I knew, I was being tied, like how we took care of Kael.

I released a huge amount of stress that can't even be converted to money nor kilo. I could hardly tell whether it was morning or afternoon. Romer knocked me out, well at least they did kill me.

"Calixto, how are you feeling? Here, have some water," says Lore. She bends a little to put the straw on my lips. 

Although they did not kill me, they were still suspicious of me. My feet and hands were tied. I do understand them, I had to endure this until they were satisfied.  

I myself, am quite not sure of my existence. My whole being is a mystery, I never aged, and my wounds could heal with a blink of an eye. I could not tell them this fact right now. I need their trust to find the hottest depth of this hell. 

If I go back to that laboratory where I first saw Lore, would I find a piece of useful information about me, in that place?"

"Can you feed him this biscuit? We are busy deciphering the bodies, it would be treated inhumane," says Romer as he hands the sky flakes to Lore. 

"I hope you are not mad at us. We are simply guarding our own safeties, no worries you only have 8 hours probation," says Jiro, standing next to Romer.

"I'll wait until I prove to each of you my earnest pledge on this team. I will resolve your suspicion. I am not bitten, it's just an accident wound."

"This is for everyone's safety. I will kill without fail if you turn into a zombie," Jiro warned, and I replied with a smile. "Please let Lore do it. I want to die by her hands."

"We'll talk about the result of today's research if you are still Calixto."

He left and Lore stayed with me. "Your wounds, may I see it now?"

"Don't be surprised..."

"T-they're gone." She stood up and walked three steps backward. "W-what are you?"

"Come here. I want you to keep this as a secret for now."

"What if your eyes start to dilute... your skin would turn cold as dead people's temperature?"

"Listen to me. I have not bitten anywhere. I can't reveal what I am because I don't know the answer, but I do have a secret, so will you please listen to me?"

"No, I will report this to Jiro and Romer."

"Lore! stopped! this is an order, are you not listening to the crown prince of this country?" I was desperate and I don't know what to say, back then I was the second powerful person next to his majesty, my father, the king of Maharlika.

Please make this work... stop her... Lore, look at me.

"C-crown Prince?" She dashed to me and touched my forehead. "You are losing your mind, Calixto." 

"Lore, I am the only son of his highness, Charles Dalton."

"Calixto, stop talking non-senses. The imperial family is nowhere to be found. Your age contradicts the historical timeline."

"I was in the capsule for 20 years."

"Stop stitching stories, Calixto. I will ask them to examine your brain," she replied. "I won't believe it unless you have the proof."

"I know you won't believe me, but at least hide this fact. Protect me, and I will find his majesty."

"How are you going to find a dead person? He probably died at his age."

"You may be right, but you may also be wrong. Would you believe in the age-stopping experiment?"

"I don't know, but I heard it was a secret experiment at the boulevard wall."

"I think his majesty had perfected that. I am the living product."

"Let's not talk about that right now and let me process it all over again. You should rest now. I won't report my observation," says Lore."

Lore rested her head on the corner of the cell. She's holding a ZS-9004 M4 powerful compound xbow with high speed for shooting and hunting archery, for protection purposes.

She's right, I am too stressed, perhaps resting at this moment would not be a bad idea...

Bang!

An explosion destroyed the underground cell. Everyone is panicking, while I am here watching everyone getting killed one by one. My mind is telling me to help my fellow survivor, but I have no weapon, and my hands and feet are still tied. 

In the end, I can't get out of this situation... In front of me was a nightwalker.

I had lived this far, but in the end, it doesn't even matter. Cessation is inevitable, and at some key moment in our childhood, we all realize that this applies not only to material objects but also to themselves. For the first time, we look at our mortality and what exactly death means. Do we cease to exist after our last breath? After spending this life creating a place for yourself, creating countless seemingly limitless memories, and forging countless meaningful human connections, will everything … disappear?

"H-help..."

Then Lore came with her bow, in a blink of an eye, she skillfully killed the nightwalker. 

"Die monster!" She pointed the bow at me.

I gasped for air, woke up in a cold sweat, my heart frantically beating against its cage of ribs as I vividly remembered the vicious thing Lore had pointed at me. 

I inspected the place, glad to see that it was all a nightmare. I woke up suddenly, not because of any noise or interruption, yet because my dream had come to its conclusion. Now it was time to engage in the real world once more. Though my eyes are open, I can't think of why; my heart is pounding, my mind empty. It's as if a hypodermic of adrenaline has been emptied into my carotid. I strain into the utter darkness, my breathing rate beginning to steady. The nightmare, as the demons of dreams, comes to educate me to be brave enough to look into these dark recesses.

My heart feels like it’s beating out of my chest, it causes such intense pain, enough for me to think that my heart might explode at this moment.

Why am I feeling this pain again? The first time I felt this excruciating pain was that moment before I woke up from the capsule.