May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 35: Abilities emerging 2

Throwing the nagging feeling she had in the back of her head, Aila did not mind it much and went and contacted her relatives. In her last life she was not able to communicate with them on time because her phone became dregs when she was escaping, so she did not have much idea of what was happening on their side. Although, as far as she knows, in this life her relatives are sufficiently prepared, she still has to check on them.

It is a good thing that the whole clan has prepared a huge number of satellite phones they can use. They will at least have some way to send a word without worrying about when the commercial lines will no longer be useful. She especially lamented her grievances about her past life without any form of contact with them all after her phone became useless.

“How are things on their side, Aila?” Judith asked as she began packing all sorts of things she could bring in her knapsack. Aila could suspiciously see a frying pan among those her mother had packed.

“So far so good.” Aila relayed what she heard from her cousins’ side. “Though there was some conflict on Merlin's side. Aunt Ruby was making a storm with uncle Martin. Merlin just wishes to give the two a divorce to spare his ears.”

“Well, the courts are useless in a few days or months from now, even if he wanted to, his wish is almost impossible to fulfill now.” Stephen was nonchalant as he said that. “Besides, divorce is impossible in the family. Each could cheat their matrimony for all they want, but no divorce is allowed in all their lives.”

“Why did this rule come about again?” Aila had a headache when she came to know about this particular rule handed down from their ancestors. It’s old-fashioned, but she understands that it was a result of protecting the family even at the expense of living a miserable married life.

“Well, life is just like that.” Stephen did not bother to say more and flipped a painting to reveal a hidden storage there. Aila always wondered how come she never thought there were plenty of guns behind that painting. No wonder her father insisted they should drop by the house before they fled. Understanding is understanding, but this did not stop her from showing some complex emotion in her face.

“Surprised?” Stephen said as he saw the emotionless face of his daughter.

“I turned this house upside down growing up and I never saw this hidden stash of guns.” Aila said as she began eyeing the other painting or whatever possible place firearms might be hidden. “How did you even transport all these without being caught?”

Judith giggled at her daughter’s inquiries and explained, “Your father is an enthusiast of guns. His property in the ancestral lands has more variety compared to the one you see here. He was able to get some of them here through special means I would rather not talk about, simply because he is not at ease without them, so they exist around the house.”

“Does that mean there are more hidden in plain sight?” Aila asked as he helped her father to store them in special briefcases.

“Well, there are some in the bedroom as well as the kitchen,” Stephen said as he retrieved some bullets he stored in the compartment on the side of a cabinet.

“I’ll get those.”Judith said as she dragged a briefcase with her to the kitchen.

Aila observed the skillful way her father seemed to dismantle and assemble the guns as he arranged them to fit into where they would be placed. It occurred to her that her father held himself in a way most veteran survivors do when he holds a gun. It was like there was a beast within just waiting for a chance to pounce on their prey.

Not that Aila does not have any ideas of the grayer parts of her father's personality. She was quite certain of this fact, only that it still brought them no small amount of shock to her/ i[pm finding quite a number of weapons arsenal in the house without her knowing.

“Are you curious?” Stephen could see the wonder of his child as she observed him at his side.

“I admit I am, but really I should not ask this time.” Aila still held her curiosity to herself. “No matter the past you have, you are my father and I know you will not do anything to harm me consciously.”

Stephen only hummed at his daughter's words. As a father, there is nothing more assuring than having a sensitive and understanding child. He is open to questions and is willing to answer whatever is asked. But it was clear his own child would rather him keep it until the secrets were unearthed by herself.

They moved at a fast pace afterwards. Fortunately, Aila herself was familiar with firearms intimately during her past life, which made her know how to handle them with care. With a thoughtful look on her face, Aila was fiddling with a pair of hand pistols that took her fancy.

Her period of thoughtfulness was broken by a sudden Judith screamed from where she was. Thinking of the worst, Aila and Stephen immediately ran to the kitchens with guns in their hands.

When they arrived, there was an unidentified man in the kitchen. He was fully zombified and was about to take a bite on Judith. Pale skin and sunken contours, eyes lifeless and nails abnormally black and sharp. His movements were stiff, but mobile enough for him to continue approaching Judith.

Judith is not a weak woman, and using her trusty frying pan, she repeatedly slammed into the undead’s face until the nose was deformed.

Seeing that, Stephen quickly neutralized the zombie and took his wife away from the now lying man.

“How did this guy come inside?” Stephen said, as he wished to burn the intruder so badly for daring to harm his wife.

“This guy might have been here for a while now.” Aila said as she pointed out the door to the backyard that was not closed at all. It might be because her mother wanted some fresh air that she opened the door as well as the windows. Knowing her mother, she was confident that no one could see what she was doing, as their house was walled all over except the front yard that was only separated by a fence from the other houses.

“He might have plans to rob us or someone else’s house, but because of the sudden increase of the patrol this morning because of the warning I gave to the guards, he hid in the backyard. Quite coincidentally, he was infected. Following a zombie’s instinctive reaction, he might have followed the scent of the nearest living human.” Aila analyzed as he made sure they did not attract unwanted attention to the neighborhood. Thankfully, the gun they had used had some silencers. If not, the security will be crowding here in just a few minutes.

Hearing that, Stephen kicked the now immobile body hard. For good measure, he once shot it in the head a few more times to vent his anger. And with some weird feeling rising inside of him, he grabbed his head and let the raging energy flow to his hand.

And to his surprise, his hand was on fire. The fire was blue in color and quite whitish in the center. From what he knows, this color of flame is the hottest. Strangely, he did not feel any heat and only felt that any fire cannot burn him so easily. With cold eyes, he watched the body burn until there was no ash left.

Startled and worried about her husband, Judith immediately examined her man’s hand. There were no burns or any indication his skin was in direct contact with a flame.

“What the hell is happening?” Judith asked puzzledly.

“It just meant dad is a supernaturalist mom.” Aila said as she assured us that nothing was wrong with her father. “He could produce and control fire, as we had seen. In winter we won’t have the problem of being frozen to death with him around. From the looks of it, dad’s fire abilities are mutated for it to be so different in appearance and lethality.”

“It’s so unscientific,” Judith absent-mindedly mumbled, she couldn’t wrap her head about what just happened.

“Well, the zombie apocalypse is both unscientific and unreal. But here we are now.” Aila said as she went and searched for the case her mother had to store away the firearms. Turns out below the sink was another compartment to hide these arms. When she did not see the case, she asked her mother where she placed it.

“It was just here!” Judith said as she turned around to look for the missing briefcase. “I placed it here for easier access after I took the firearms out.”

Massaging her temples, Aila asked her mother prior to her screaming. Did she think of hiding the case? If she did, then the mystery would be easier to solve.

“I think I did. I mean who wouldn’t think of doing so? We are dealing with firearms here. Even if these are licensed and with paperwork, it is still hard to explain their origin if you are caught with them after all.”

“Mom, try to think of them appearing. It will answer this mystery without much suspense if you do.” Aila said as she recalled the first time space ability users shared their experiences before. Travis had mentioned it prior to the chat. Aila just did not think that, she had to use her experience to guide her mother.

Following her child’s instructions, the briefcase did appear as she thought. Much to her wonder.

“Mom, you're a space supernaturalist. Most of those with the same abilities as you were could store things inside an independent space only you could perceive. I don’t know much of the specifics of the extent of their abilities, but I heard it differs from person to person.” Aila said as her mother tested her ability like a child who just had a new toy.

Turning towards her, Judith grilled her daughter for info. Unfortunately, Aila really does not know more, as she herself does not have an ability in the first place. She might sound like an expert when she says some words, she is only a layman who happens to know more than the rest.

Stephen stopped his wife after Aila felt like crying about how much her own mother was questioning her about why and what. Stating that they are in a hurry. Coaxing his wife to store most of the heavy luggage in her space to not let them look suspicious. Especially in the cases where the firearms are stored, it will be troublesome if some checkpoint is stationed somewhere in the city and they are detained because of the sheer number of them in their car.

With that, their packing was fast and by sunset they were ready to leave should they decide to. But because it was late and they didn’t want to try their chances, they decided to enjoy the night with a hearty dinner.

After all, after that night, it will be hard for them to have leisure time like ever again.

The intermittent broadcasts from the television told them that much. The amount of destruction in many properties is staggering, because there isn't yet any news about zombies in the city. All of the news contributes to this mayhem for terrorist groups as they advise everyone to stay at home and avoid going out as much as possible in the following days. A dumb move for Aila, as this was the reason why many people had died in her past life.