Chapter 71: Aftermath
Walking upstairs was a little more challenging than he’d expected, so instead of immediately heading out, he changed his mind and decided to take a quick nap in the innkeeper’s bedroom since that was the safest part of the whole inn. He slept fitfully as he struggled with his regret at how he’d handled the situation, his anger about Freya’s fate, and the vague anxiety about the newest hazard he’d introduced into the world.
By the time he’d finally sobered up and gone downstairs, the slime had reduced Brenna’s body to bones and was working on another corpse. Simon was pleased to see that it hadn’t turned into some pile of necrotic sludge, and instead, it was its translucent, gooey self. As soon as he got close enough for it to bother, it reached up from its partially digested meal with a pseudopod to try snacking on him as well.
“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” he chided, pulling out his freezing sword. “Not unless you want another time out.”
The creature stopped as soon as it felt the chill of the blade and retracted its pseudopod. It wasn’t particularly smart, but it knew what it didn’t like. Besides, it hardly needed him. There were literally dozens of corpses waiting to be devoured just outside the windows. Idlyly, Simon wondered how big the thing would get when it had eaten them all, but he didn’t stress it too much. That was a later problem.
“Well, you just keep doing what you’re doing,” Simon said, backing away slowly, “and I’ll check on you… well, I’m sure we’ll see each other around.”
With that, he was off. From the second story, he climbed out onto the peak of the tiled roof and carefully started walking down it, mindful of the way it creaked under him. Weight was a factor, but even more than that, he cursed the body he was trapped in right now for its lack of agility. He just couldn’t move like he knew he was capable of, and that irked him.
“Is anyone out there?” he called, certain that there was. “I’m looking to help the survivors get out before the umm… the itsy bitsy spider gets out and makes everyone else’s life hard!”
There was no immediate response, but that didn’t surprise Simon. He wasn’t sure he’d respond either if a crazy person started to yell in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. When he reached the edge of the building, he stood there for a couple minutes, just watching the milling mob of undead churn beneath him in a way that was almost blase.
It should have been terrifying, but he just couldn’t make himself care too much anymore. Instead, he just had to resist the urge to burn them down because, ultimately, that would undermine his current plan. There was no way he could kill them all like that. He was sure of it. Even if he burned the whole city down, someone infected would escape and start it all over again, just like in the movies.