Chapter 126: The End is Also a Beginning

Chapter 126: The End is Also a Beginning

Joseph wasn't really thinking straight.

Dude was desperate, like, really desperate.

Especially when he looked down at those white papers scattered around his feet. All his hard work and patience? Poof, gone like bubbles.

Hestia's house? Not his. And that woman? Dead.

David, that jerk, squeezed two hundred grand outta me.

And Aaron, that high-and-mighty dean, totally crushed my dreams.

Damn it! All I did was stir up some trouble with the villagers behind the scenes. Is it really worth all this drama?

The hospital's got so much cash, and it's not like it's Aaron's personal stash. A few million here and there, I could've gotten a piece of that pie, right?

This world is so messed up. You guys have too much, and I can't even get a little bit of what I need. My wife left me, and now I'm left with nothing. Might as well take everyone down with me!

Joseph lunged at Aaron.

He roared, his moves wild and violent, eyes blazing with rage, pupils shrinking fast, and blood vessels popping. No sign of his usual grin, just pure madness and bloodlust.

His massive fist swung through the air, and Aaron didn't have a chance to dodge. A heavy punch landed on his cheek, teeth mixed with dirty blood and spit flying everywhere. His face went numb, but Joseph didn't let up. With a twisted grin, he swung again, aiming for Aaron's weak spots.

Aaron almost blacked out from the pain.

He heard bones cracking inside him, his body slumping from the chair, flying sideways. His head hit the ground, scalp splitting open, blood pouring out.

Footsteps above were speeding up. James must've heard the chaos downstairs.

Blood dripped down his forehead, blurring his vision. Through the red haze, Aaron saw Joseph stumbling towards him.

No doubt, he wants to kill me.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, Aaron felt his hair yanked hard. He screamed, trying to break free from Joseph's grip. His feet kicked wildly, his right hand clutching a scalpel, slashing frantically.

Even though the scalpel was small, it was still a knife.

The shiny metal glinted in Aaron's hand as he stabbed at Joseph. Terrified, Joseph let go and stumbled back a few steps. His steps were too big, and the narrow space limited his movement. Joseph's head smacked the wall hard, pain shooting through him.

He staggered, trying to regain his balance, his anger boiling over.

Then Joseph noticed his abdomen had been cut open. The wound wasn't deep, no internal organs hit, but blood soaked through his clothes, dripping down his pants, staining his knee red.

"You damn bastard. I'm gonna kill you!"

Joseph howled, charging forward recklessly.

He grabbed Aaron's knife hand with a vice grip, snatching the scalpel away. Then, he started stabbing Aaron like a madman. He didn't care where or how hard.

Joseph had lost it, no fear, just pure insanity. The only thing on his mind was killing Aaron.

Aaron kept screaming, his voice fading into weak groans, losing all strength to fight back.

"Why didn't you give me the spot? I wanted to be the captain!"

Joseph roared, raising the scalpel high, ready to deliver the final blow to Aaron's temple. Just then, he heard urgent footsteps behind him, real close. Turning around, he saw James standing at the door, looking shocked and dumbfounded.

"Bastard, you gotta die too!"

Joseph couldn't tell friend from foe anymore; he just wanted to kill.

As he turned the knife towards James, a force way beyond Joseph's capacity slammed into him.

It felt like getting hit by a car going 60 miles an hour, his body lifted off the ground, crashing into the opposite wall, and he passed out cold.

Ordinary folks are no match for mutated infected individuals.

James rushed to Aaron's side, lifting his barely alive body from the pool of blood, urgently asking, "What happened to you? How did this happen?"

Aaron's body was covered in knife wounds. He struggled to look down at himself, finding a deep gash on his chest, blood gushing out uncontrollably.

"That damn bastard, he... he pierced my... heart."

Aaron was a doc. He knew this wound was a one-way ticket. Even if they tried to save him now, it was game over.

Glancing at the knocked-out Joseph on the ground, Aaron weakly asked, "Is he... is he dead?"

James nodded grimly.

When he walked into the storage room, he heard the sounds of arguing and cursing below. Despite speeding up, by the time he reached the bottom of the stairs, it was too late.

James saw it clear as day when Joseph hit the wall, his neck snapping completely. That kind of injury? Instant death.

James lifted Aaron by the shoulders and legs, trying to get him out of the basement and to the hospital.

Aaron stopped him with a look.

"No one... can save me."

He was super weak, feeling cold.

That meant he was losing way too much blood.

Aaron grabbed James's clothes tightly, groaning, using the last of his strength to say, "In my right pocket... take it out."

Following his instructions, James reached into Aaron's coat pocket and found a fancy pen-style multifunctional recorder and two glass test tubes encased in plastic. Through the semi-transparent plastic cover, he could see the clear liquid inside the finger-thick glass tubes, looking like glucose solution.

James had seen this kind of pen-style recorder at the electronics store while shopping with Emily. It was pricey, capable of recording and functioning as a radio. Besides using a common plug for charging, it also had a solar panel on the side to harness energy from light.

"This is my gift to you."

Aaron smiled: "I didn't lie to you. I've been researching Dr. Sharp. If... if I had a little more time, I would have surprised everyone."

James had never felt so low.

He always thought Aaron wasn't really his friend, just a collaborator.

Only now did James realize that Aaron had a lot in common with him.

In fact, many times he had been looking out for him.

Maybe it was because they were both too young, too arrogant, and had an instinctive skepticism towards everything, which prevented more communication between them.

I was always opposing him.

And he, he was always doing research. That was his goal, his responsibility.

What is my responsibility?

Looking at the two plastic test tubes in his hand, James's voice darkened with pain as he asked, "Is this the vaccine?"

Aaron's face was pale, but he showed a very strange smile: "Yes. So far, you... you can only get these."

James, engulfed in pain, focused his eyes on Aaron. At this moment, he felt deep regret and self-blame.

If I had come down a few minutes earlier, none of this would have happened.

Aaron's weak voice continued in his ear: "This is not the 100% vaccine you imagine. No... not that kind. It can't turn Dr. Sharp back. But... but it can save people, they won't... be... infected."

Emily's image flashed through James's mind.

"You are a good person."

Aaron's voice grew fainter: "Glad to... know you, my... friend."

James felt his heart sinking, the pain inside him real and profound. He held Aaron tightly, as if trying to reclaim everything he had lost.

Aaron's low voice was barely discernible, and he uttered his final words.

"Remember... the gift I gave you... and... what I told you."

"Goodbye."

His body was slowly growing cold.

James sat on the ground holding Aaron, motionless for a long time.

He knew, Aaron was gone forever.

A dull thud came from the wall.

It was Hestia and William.

They had smelled the scent of humans, the scent of food. Their actions also pulled the grief-stricken James out of his silence.

Laying Aaron's body down, James stood up, picking up a steel pipe from the corner of the wall.

He had brought it down from the storage room last time.

James was tired of the killing and bloodshed, and he didn't want to stuff Joseph and Aaron's bodies into the wall to destroy the evidence. At least, he couldn't do that to Aaron; he needed to find a place to bury him.

It was a form of respect for a friend.

But first, there was one more thing to do.

Tearing off the wooden board on the wall, William's blood-stained face appeared. Since Hestia's abdomen had burst, her strength and stamina had rapidly weakened. She was no match for William in the fight for food.

Looking at William's lifeless gray eyes, James gripped the steel pipe tightly and thrust it with force, piercing William's cheek. He fell heavily, never to move again.

Hestia crawled to the front of the gap, baring her teeth and claws at James, making hollow and terrifying sounds.