MIRAI

Chapter 5. The Humanity in Us

Kirk told everyone what he told Beru and Mei. They were skeptical at first but at how things were, the information Kirk has was the only hope they have in surviving.

Once Kirk finished his words, he let everyone get some rest as he knew everything was so sudden that it will be hard for them to cope - just like how it was hard for him when he first heard it from Lui.

Everybody run to their room, locking it, afraid that someone might barge in and bite them while they were sleeping. Tafu, on the other hand, knew who exactly they were afraid of. Even she herself was afraid of her own.

She let Kirk and Lui tie her hands and lead the way to Ram's room. When they arrived, she let them tie her feet as well. Then she sat in the corner, trying her best not to cause any trouble for Ram.

"Ram. I'll help keeping eye on Tafu later, I just need some sleep to gain my energy back. Just let me sleep for an hour or two." Kirk said to Ram while Lui was waiting for him outside the room.

"It's fine. Come back when you can." Ram answered.

Lui and Kirk walked back up to their room.

"Today was tiring" Kirk said.

"Today was nothing." Lui responded coldly as he knew there would be a lot more tiring days to come.

"You won't help keeping an eye on Tafu?" Kirk ignored his previous statement and jumped to another topic.

"No."

"Why?"

"It was your choice to keep her in. It has nothing to do with me." Lui answered as if it pained him to care.

"This bastard didn't really care about everyone, just his friends." Kirk uttered loudly, making sure Lui heard him.

"Well, what kind of zombie will Tafu be?" Kirk asked again.

Lui didn't bother to answer.

So Kirk sighed and said, "Don't you care if Mei slipped in and became Tafu's victim if she turned?"

Lui suddenly stopped and Kirk knew he hit a spot. But jokes on him, Lui only stopped because they were already in front of their door's room. Then Lui answered. "Even if she turn or not, Tafu will not hurt Mei."

Kirk immediately thought that maybe Tafu would be an evolved zombie which do not harm anyone just like Tiana. But what kind of evolve zombie would Tafu be?

* * *

"Thank you!" Tafu said to Ram.

"Don't mention it." Ram responded as he sat on the other side of the room.

"Aren't you scared of me?" Tafu crawled her legs and hugged it.

"I'll be a hypocrite if I said I'm not scared" Ram looked at the ceiling. "But the way you looked at me earlier, like you trusted I would be the one to make everyone agree for you to stay. It felt like I matter. Like I was capable of something good."

Tafu giggled, "So you were peer pressured?"

"Maybe? Or maybe not?" Ram stretched his legs. "I actually wanted to be that person."

"Well in my eyes, you already were." Tafu hugged her legs tighter.

Then a loud knock came from the door. "Ram, you in there?" It was Tsuki.

"Just a moment." Ram got up and open the door to see Tsuki holding a plate of pie.

"What's that?" Ram asked.

"I saw this at the kitchen earlier today, and I sneak it to my room without anyone noticing. It smells delicious so as a thank you for keeping an eye to Tafu, I'd like to share it with you." Tsuki said and glared at Tafu as if Tafu has a contagious disease.

"Thanks" Ram accepted it and put it on his bedside table.

"Take care!" Tsuki said and went back to her room.

Tafu saw the pie and asked "Is it something Tsuki baked?"

"I think no, but it smells delicious." Ram answered, sitting back to the other side of the room after getting the plate with the pie.

"Do you want to have a bite?" Ram offers Tafu as he sniffs the fruity fragrance of the pastry slice on his plate.

"Do you think I have the appetite to eat something right now?" replied Tafu as she stared at the pie oozing with its red filling.

"I'll go and help myself, then." Ram answered as he took a bite on the pie. He nodded his head while closing his eyes as an affirmation that the pie tastes impossibly good.

Tafu watched Ram as he finishes the pie on his plate, feeling a bit wary for reasons she didn't know. She somehow felt bothered, as if something bad might happen. "Is this how one turns?" she thought to herself.

"How are you by the way? Feeling any pain?" Ram struck up a conversation after clearing the plate.

"I don't know. I don't feel any pain, even the bite doesn't hurt." Tafu answered, clearly not showing zombifying sign.

"Maybe your body is slowly decaying so you feel numb." Ram coughed putting the plate back to the bedside table.

"Hey, don't say anything scary!"

"Just joking!" Ram laughed, then turned serious. "But who knows, we don't even know what Tiana felt when she turned."

Remembering what she saw happened to Tiana, Tafu leaned her head on the wall, wondering if she will distort her body the way Tiana did. Even though Kirk said he came from the future, he didn't say anything about what kind of zombie she will become.

"Do you think, I'm an evolved zombie?" Tafu tried to strike a joke to eased her own mind.

She looked at Ram when he did not respond, and there she saw Ram, leaning on the wall while catching his breath.

"Ram, are you okay?" Tafu tried to move closer to him but she couldn't move as all her arms and legs are tied.

Suddenly, conversation from earlier echoed in her memory.

Kirk: You'll turn if you eat the blood moon food...

Von: What is a blood moon food?

Kirk: It looks like a pie with a red color.

"Ram, the pie that you ate? Where did it came from? Where did Tsuki get it?" Tafu gasped, but Ram couldn't respond. He stooped down facing the floor while holding his chest. It seems like he's being suffocated, like he's drowning in a sea of air. Ram slammed his body on the ground, trying to form a word, but his own sounds seemed like caught somewhere inside him.

"Somebody, help!" Tafu shouted as loud as she could. She has no other choice but to call for help as she could only watch him from the corner of the room where she's being tied. "Ram, hang in there!"

The air grew thick around him, as if the life was being drained from his lungs. He could feel something cold creeping beneath his skin, his body getting heavy and disconnected. His thoughts were fogged over by a spreading numbness at the edges of his fading awareness.

"Ram!"

* * *

"Why can't you just give me a hint of who will be an evolved and who will be a normal zombie?" gushed Kirk.

"I thought you were trying to save everyone?" Lui replied without even looking at him.

"So?"

"So you won't need those details if no one is bitten."

Kirk huffed at Lui's reasoning. "Well Tafu is bitten!"

"She's harmless."

"Ugh, there's no point arguing with you if you don't want to spill the information you know!" Kirk blurted in frustration.

Lui can't help it. He doesn't know who among who were bitten by Mei that regressed back in time the same way they did. He just knew that the last thing the regressor would remember was Mei biting them.

If someone who also regressed heard that Kirk came from the future and learned that Mei caused the regression, it will be troublesome for Kirk to explain how he knew things when he is Mei's first victim. They might even think Kirk has some special skill and might use him for whatever reason.

"If you want to survive, you have to trust me." Lui spoke. "I'm doing this for you."

Just then, they heard a shout. "Aaaaahhhhh..."

They immediately run towards the noise and it's coming from Ram's room.

"She bit Ram! She bit Ram!" Tsuki exclaimed.

"Who?" Kirk blurted.

"No. I didn't." Tafu pleaded, crying, with yet another visible bite on her arm.

"Liar!" Tsuki interrupted, then she faced Kirk, "I told you we should have thrown her out! Ram turned because of her!"

"Ram turned? Where is he?" Lui blurted holding Tsuki on both her shoulders, and when she didn't answer right away, Lui roved his eyes around to look for Mei.

"I did nothing!" Tafu cried despite the fact that she knows no one would listen. Their eyes were looking at her with fear, including Kirk.

Meanwhile, Lui doesn't care. He was about to go look for Mei as he couldn't see her in the crowd, when Tafu shouted, "It was Ram who bit me!" That statement made Lui stopped in place. "Then he jumped out of the window!"

"Dear, don't take us for a fool. How can a human bite a bitten one?" Ren calmly said. "And we are on the second floor, how could he just jump if there are a lot of brains he can eat inside the house?"

"No! No! He turned! He turned because..." Tafu snapped but she was interrupted.

"You must be an evolved one pretending to be a human to hunt your victim!" Tsuki cried and turned to Kirk. "Right, Kirk?"

Kirk did not know how or what to respond. He did not know why Ram turned in the first place. Lui said Tafu is harmless so how did this happen?

Kirk's mind was full of questions --- How should he react on Ram turning? Is it true that he turned because of Tafu? Where is Ram? What should he say? How can he control the situation? Why isn't anyone answering him?

He tried to breathe, but even his breath seemed caught between questions. His fingers twitched. Sweat beaded at the back of his neck. The questions in his head grew louder than the loud panicking voices around him.

"Right, Kirk?"

"Kirk is from the future, he should know what to do!"

"As long as Kirk is with us, we can survive!"

"But Kirk also said we can let Tafu stay! Look what Tafu did!"

Lui noticed Kirk dissociating, drowning from the swarm of people calling him, so he tapped his shoulder like he was saying "It's okay, I'm here."

"Let him rest. He had it rough too, like everyone here had." Lui said as he came forward.

"He told me some things earlier, Ram is an evolved one, and he targets girls only. If you are a man, you are safe from Ram, but I suggest that once you see him as zombie, kill him immediately." Lui looked at Kirk, making sure he was okay.

"See him as zombie?" Tsuki echoed.

"How about Tafu?!" Cier asked, worrying, hoping that her friend still had a chance.

"He said..." Lui looked at Tafu who at that time is disorganized from the crying and begging, with her bitten arm and shoulder. "He said she's harmless."

"Why can't you just say everything you know, Kirk? Like what kind of zombie each one of us will be?" Ren sighed, and everyone agreed.

"He said he came from the future but he also said to me that his memories have a discrepancy. He couldn't remember everything, but he could remember what could help us survive." Lui explained.

"Hey, are you his spoke person or something?" Ren mocked. "Why are you the one answering?"

Lui stopped momentarily.

"Can't you see Kirk is breaking down right now?" Lui responded. "He needs a break."

Lui glanced at Kirk who at that time can understand everything but couldn't react.

"Seeing your friend die one by one is a hell, but having to experience it again is like being buried in it. Can you imagine how Kirk feels right now?"

Everyone stayed silent.

"Maybe it's time to stop depending on Kirk and just use the knowledge you gain from him for your own survivability, no?" Lui added.

"I..." Tsuki acknowledged. "I agree. I'm sorry Kirk."

Lui stepped back and whispered to Kirk "You're tired. I suggest you take a break and let somebody keep watch on Tafu instead." He patted his shoulder. "Don't worry, she's harmless."

As Lui went off to rest back to their room, Ram's room suddenly felt painfully quiet. Guilt danced in the air. It was collective but unclear. Nobody knew if they had done something wrong, or as if they'd missed something they should have caught. Some looked down, avoiding eye contact, while their shoulders were tight, as if anticipating the blame they didn't yet understand. Until Tsuki broke the silence.

"I felt guilty towards Ram, so in return, I'll be the one to keep watch on Tafu tonight." Tsuki stated.

"No you won't!" Cier rebutted. Cier knew Tsuki wanted Tafu out so who knew what she might do if she was left alone with her, but Ren interrupted "It is settled then, goodnight everyone!"

"Wait, no! I will be the one to keep an eye on Tafu tonight!" Cier demanded.

"No, dear. You're just too close with Tafu, you might cover up her zombifying or something..." Ren answered. "That could make everyone else in trouble again."

Ren walked off but stopped momentarily and said "You can keep watch tomorrow when everyone is awake." Then she went off to her room.

* * *

Lui came to their room, and closed the door, leaning his back on the door face. He let out a big sigh of breath. The sequence of events got jumbled at first, but now its back on track.

First, Tiana turned, wherein before, it should have been Mei; And Kirk should have been Mei's first victim. But today, both Mei and Kirk were safe.

Second, Tafu got bitten, then Ram turned. This pattern is on track but the difference was... today, Tafu stayed inside the house, wherein before, they throw her out. Also before, it was Hana who Ram bit before fleeing, but today, he bit Tafu, then flee.

"There are a bit of discrepancy but I think I can manage." Lui said to himself.

He sat on the corner of his bed, thinking that if the events were still in sync with what he knew, Beru will arrive anytime now to discuss looting necessities outside.

Just then, the door popped open. It was Kirk, and with him were Beru and Mei.

"Was there a commotion?" Mei kept on asking Kirk but Kirk stayed silent.

"We just minded our own business for a split second and those guys did something already?" exclaimed Mei.

Kirk looked at Lui with eyes that seemed, who knows?, maybe apologetic.

"Kirk's been quiet since." Beru said as she closed the door. "What happened?"

Kirk looked down. Before he could say anything, Lui answered. "Ram turned."

"What?!" Mei responded in shock.

"He bit Tafu, then flee." Lui summarized.

"How could he bit Tafu if Tafu is already bitten? Isn't it the other way around?" Mei probed.

"I said what I said." Lui remarked.

"But isn't it a mystery. Why aren't you asking how's and why's?" Mei instigated.

"Having a sudden apocalypse is a mystery already, let's not pour all of our brain cells to things we couldn't fully understand yet. For now, let's talk about things we can solve at hand." Beru interrupted them.

Mei sat silently as she knew where Beru would be going.

"Someone stole our food and drink supplies." Beru added when she got their attention.

Kirk sitting on the other bed suddenly blurted, "What? The one that we prepared yesterday?"

"Wait, this did not happen in the future you knew?" Mei asked.

Kirk bit his lips and looked at Lui, while Lui seemed unaffected. Based on Lui's reaction, he immediately knew it happened, even this very conversation or some part of it happened. And he knew he put himself again on the hot spot by reacting impulsively.

He was about to explain something dumb when Beru spoke "I think that's not important right now."

Kirk sighed a relief, silently thanking Beru for interrupting.

"What's important is to form a group that will go to haul any nearby store for food and water."

"But if we could know if this happened in the future Kirk knew, we could pinpoint who stole them, and bring back the supplies." Mei butted in.

"Let's not investigate who did it." Beru suggested.

"I can't understand! Why?!" Mei stood up, facing them, "Why should we brave the zombied street when we can get back the food and drink that we initially have?"

"You know why?" Beru stood up as well but her tone is not rising nor falling. "Because I'm so mad right now, I might kill them myself for being selfish in this situation."

The room fell silent.

Beru was using her usual monotonous tone, but everyone in the room could feel her bloodlust. They just knew she's not joking.

Kirk looked at Lui and Lui's facial expression suggested that 'this side of Beru slipping in' actually happened in the future Lui knew. Kirk's impression of Beru turned from unbothered to scary.

Beru sat back down, and her demeanor returned to normal.

"R-right! Let's discuss this tomorrow morning with the group. I know today is kind of a lot to handle." Mei said.

"Why don't you both just stay here?" Lui suggested.

"We can't." Mei answered. "Ain is waiting for us, she needs us." She left the room and Beru followed.

When the both of them were gone, Kirk started speaking. "Hey, Lui."

Lui glanced at him.

"I'm sorry" Kirk stooped down.

"For what?"

"You know, for you witnessing our colleagues turning again one by one."

"That's not your fault."

"Still I'm sorry. I never really asked how you feel about experiencing this all over again, I just..."

Lui stood up and looked out the window. "It is my fault in the first place."

That's right. Lui let himself got bitten by Mei in the future that made him go back to the past.

"But I'm with Mei." Kirk suddenly said. "How come Ram turned and bit Tafu? It doesn't make sense."

Kirk looked at Lui who was still looking out the window.

"Come to think of it, Tafu isn't turning yet." Kirk remarked. "Is she immune?"

"She is an evolved." Lui responded, not turning away his sight from the window.

"But why isn't she turning yet?"

"She already turned?"

"Huh?"

Lui was intently looking outside the window as if he's watching something, responding to Kirk without looking at him.

"She is a zombie that heals."