System Of The Undead

Chapter 90: Hint

Bella wasn’t bound, she was allowed free mobility of her limbs but the moment the sun came up, it was revealed that she was being tortured throughout the night not for information but for betraying her own.

Her nails were peeled off her fingers and toes, she was in great pain and one could tell she was on the verge of losing her sanity.

She sat on the chair obediently, she cried but she didn’t scream because she knew how much it irritated the man with the numerical value, I.

He had gone out to assist in the eradication and once again, Bella could leave but she didn’t for reasons unknown.

This was a lady that didn’t have any problems leaving Jason behind even if it meant saving her ass and it could be debated that she didn’t return for Jason but for the car that she had.

She wanted to leave the camp and she knew the best way was to put some serious distance between her and them.

But it was clear that this man had a hold over her that the others couldn’t even comprehend.

The door to the room swung open and a man came in, Bella’s face was swollen and it was almost like her eyelids were thrice their normal size.

"Bella, Bella, Bella... What were you thinking?" A man walked in but he had no numerical value on his body so it was safe to rule out him being a Specter.

Bella didn’t respond to him, barely even acknowledging his existence and this seemed to infuriate him.

"Answer me when I speak to you bitch!" The man barked but Bella maintained her silence.

There was nothing to be gained from talking to him, she knew this better than anyone.

The man took out a gun and pointed it right at her head but Bella didn’t flinch.

Death would be a kinder fate than living at this point because she knew that the worst was yet to come.

There was a reason that this man was able to keep others in line, it wasn’t because of his fighting prowess alone but his ability to induce fear into others.

He was feared for a good reason and this pig in front of her paled in comparison to him.

He was like a mouse in a lion’s world but this wasn’t why Bella wasn’t afraid.

"Pull the trigger..." Bella egged him on, she wanted to die but for some reason.

The bullet never came, it was only silence and Bella smirked the moment this happened.

"You cannot do it, can you? That’s because you aren’t real..." Bella muttered and she was right, the door never opened and everything that occurred was a fragment of her imagination.

"It looks like I will be joining you soon, Liam... Glenn" Bella muttered to herself but the question was who was this man she just hallucinated about? Was he the Glenn she just called out?

This was yet to be seen but it looked like Bella was reaching the end of her rope, she couldn’t withstand the pain she was going through and her brain conjured up these things to keep her mind from going insane.

-

Jason was briefed about everything that happened during his blacked-out period and he was terrified.

It aligned with what Chronos told him about Chronos interacting with the world through its host.

Was this all Chronos doing and if so, why didn’t he attack Clementine and co despite killing Lorenzo in such a gruesome manner?

If anything, what he did wouldn’t have been possible without Clementine and Sam’s assistance but something felt a tad bit strange.

Was this why Chronos freed Lorenzo just so they could kill him or was it because Lorenzo would prove to be the key to enforcing the update that seemingly gave Chronos a leeway to interact with the physical world through Jason? Chronos knew Jason better than anyone, even himself and this would mean it had the necessary means to manipulate him as it saw fit and there was nothing Jason could do to stop it.

Jason was beginning to understand that Chronos wasn’t just a system interested in the apocalypse but it might have its own goals; why was he chosen out of everyone that Chronos could have chosen?

These thoughts, of course, were read by Chronos as Jason couldn’t keep anything away from him so it was tricky.

Jason noticed his knuckles had been bandaged, even with Clementine doubting him, she still looked after him in his time of need.

His eyes soon settled on Sam, something that Clementine noticed.

"You were right, it would take a lot more than that to kill him," Clementine reassured him with a smile. Jason heaved a loud sigh of relief but the pain that rang through his entire body was telling.

"I hope the others are safe..." Jason blurted out.

"You should worry more about yourself. We still don’t know what came over you earlier but we can at least tell that whoever that part of you was, he knew we were allies. Have you ever blacked out before?" Clementine asked but Jason couldn’t recall anything.

He hadn’t blacked out before, this had to be a first or at least this was what he thought.

If this was the case was entirely up in the air but having nothing to go by, Clementine took his word for it.

"Have you heard of Dissociative identity disorder?" Clementine asked.

Jason wondered what she was on about, was she implying that he had this?

Jason realized that admitting he had one would be a lot less complicated than explaining what Chronos was.

There was no way that Clementine would know but speaking of Clementine, how strong was she? Jason wanted to take a peek but his attention was diverted as he slowly realized that the gunshots were getting closer to where they were.

Jason braced himself but there had to be something that they could do to get out of this situation as he didn’t know how they would take him killing one of their own.

[Ding!]

[Hint: The Enemy Of My Enemy Is My Friend!]

But what did Chronos mean by this? Jason was about to find out.