Gwen
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"Benjamin, don't!" Her grandfather yelled. Before he could take action, thick gas quickly spread through the surroundings. Within dozens of seconds, the whole force field area was covered in dense smoke.
"I'll be back… later." Ben, transformed into some kind of bulky armored monster, ran as the gas quickly hid him.
"Idiot!" Gwen shouted.
Whatever this watch is, does he really think that the one(s) especially coming for it aren't prepared?! And what about the zombies?!
She tried to see beyond the gas, but couldn't see more than five or six meters in any direction. The thick fog turned everything ominous — anything could be lurking just beyond her vision.
The gas is meant to hide us?
Growing concern crept into her thoughts.
But what if we are found? How are we supposed to move and avoid dangers with diminished visibility?!
Any thoughts of going after Ben vanished as she realized the scope of what he'd done.
He's trapped us all in here, then made it even worse!
The fear hit her then — genuine terror for their safety. Ben's transformation had brought whatever was hunting them, and now his help wasn't helpful at all.
For f*ck sake, Ben!
She kept the swearing in her mind, but her panic-filled eyes betrayed her mental state.
She stepped inside the Rust Bucket. Her grandfather followed moments later, wearing a deeper frown than usual.
"What is happening, Grandpa?! How do zombies exist?! What is after Ben's watch?!" While she asked these questions, her main and unspoken one was:
Will we be safe?
Max stepped closer, starting to speak but quickly stopped himself and exhaled. Then he reached the front of the vehicle, ignoring Gwen's confusion. After pressing some buttons, a secret compartment opened — likely the source of the strange laser gun in Max's hands that he'd used to kill zombies earlier.
He put back the weapon and took out another. Gwen couldn't tell if it was stronger, but it was definitely bigger.
Whatever his secrets, he will protect us.
Her heartbeat slowly diminished — not to a stable rate, but better than before.
However, relief was short-lived as something rubbed her the wrong way, an inconsistency.
Neither Ben nor I knew about this compartment in the first place… why didn't Grandpa just hide the watch in here instead of with his normal belongings?
The implications began to sink in. If Max had secret weapons all along, if he had hidden compartments with advanced technology… then leaving the watch where both Ben and Gwen could easily find it…
Max seemed careless and messy, but Gwen knew, he wasn't either of those things.
She found herself struggling to breathe as Max, focused on the weapon while pocketing several objects, finally spoke.
"I'm leaving to get back your cousin." The words hit her like cold water.
"But—"
"Don't worry, the Rust Bucket has a protection mode. Just consider that no one can enter." At these words, he quickly bolted from the vehicle, closing the door behind him and vanishing into the gas as Gwen watched through the windows.
Terror filled her as the full realization crashed down. Max had been lying from the start — well, not exactly lying since he hadn't revealed anything at all. But if he could hide weapons and compartments, if he could plan and fight against supernatural threats… what did that make his apparent carelessness with the watch?
"They are both dangerous," she trembled, alone in the vehicle as gas swirled outside and her grandfather disappeared into the chaos her cousin had created.
She reached the vehicle handle. It was locked. She exhaled. While she wouldn't take at face value the protection mode as her grandfather called it, the door being locked was better than nothing.
A sudden realization struck her as she raised her gaze through the windows toward the moon. While the shape and features couldn't be seen through the gas, there was still a dot of light visible.
I need to turn off the lights!
Before she could reach for the lights, movement caught her eye. A zombie stumbled into view just meters away, empty eyes locked on her through the window. She lost her footing, landing on the ground and seeing the rotting figure looming above her from her lower perspective — gray-green skin, jaw slack, dark red fluid dripping from its mouth.
Yet as the zombie touched the window, electricity surged through the glass. Gwen could see the current lighting up the rotting flesh like some grotesque cartoon. The sound of burning meat filled the air as the creature collapsed, twitching once before going still.
I'm safe.
She stood up on shaking legs, looking through the window at what remained. What she saw was barely recognizable as human — too charred to tell if it had been a man, woman, or child. Someone who might have been saved, now dead because they'd stumbled into the wrong place at the wrong time.
The protection had worked perfectly. And that was exactly the problem.
Did my presence contribute to killing this person? What if I turned off the light sooner? What if I hid myself instead of staying visible via the windows?
Her hands trembled as she looked around. Inside, no one. Outside, zombies, untold dangers, and two dangerous and untrustworthy individuals.
Even without these supernatural elements, this road trip was a clear mistake from the start!
She reached for her phone with trembling fingers and dialed the number.
"Police, what's your emergency?" came the professional voice through the speaker.
"I need help." Gwen finally broke down in tears. "I don't know what is happening, there are literal zombies!"
"Ma'am, did you say zombies?" The dispatcher's tone was skeptical but still attentive. "Are you injured? Are you in immediate danger?"
"I… I'm safe for now, but there are dead people walking around, and there's some kind of force field, and…" Her voice broke completely.
"Okay, I can hear you're very frightened. Help is on the way. Can you stay on the line with me? What's your exact location?"
Gwen gave the details, her voice steadying slightly with the routine questions. When the call ended, she stared at the phone screen, feeling completely alone and helpless.
What the hell are their problems? Grandpa who thinks that his silence is helpful while plotting something. And Ben who just had a simple mission to not transform. He shouldn't have gone to the restaurant in the first place. And he…
The pattern hit her like a physical blow. Repressed memories surged back:
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Gwen saw her best friend lying in the hospital bed, eyes lifeless, breathing the only sign of life. Then slowly, consciousness returned.
"Gwen? Where is Ben? Why can't I feel my legs?"
Gwen had stayed by her bedside for hours. Ben never came to visit. Never even called. Her fists tightened at the mention of the name.
"Emily…" Gwen didn't know where to start.
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His selfishness was a danger even before he got this watch!
The tears came harder now, mixing grief with fury.
No matter how much he grows up, he just can't learn. And now, he will stay dangerous as long as nothing can stop him.
And maybe Grandpa is the same but more sneaky about it…
As she sat processing this disturbing possibility, a sound from outside made her look up. Something was moving toward the front of the Rust Bucket.
Another person that will die for no reason.
She exhaled, looking with desperate hope at the newly revealed buttons on the driver board. Maybe she could save someone for once instead of just watching people suffer.
Maybe I can disable the voltage.
She saw a green button and pressed it without thinking.
A laser fired from the front with a sharp crack, clearly hitting something. Gwen made a horrified face as the reality sank in.
Now I'm a murderer like Ben and Grandpa… Grandpa, for f*ck's sake, why a green fire button?!
The guilt twisted in her stomach, but confusion and terror pushed it aside.
At least she was safe, not that she liked the consequences at all.
I just need to stay still. Nothing more. Don't be like Ben. The deaths are on Grandpa…
Hm?
The blurry figure became less blurry as a red dome surrounded it — red like the force field!
Wait, wait, wait! Can't this party track down Ben when transformed?! Why come here and not for that jerk?!
She took several steps back as the figure became clear.
The pale humanoid being stood beside the vehicle, malice radiating from him like heat from a furnace. He looked like death itself — skin stretched taut over bone, with burning red eyes and a fin on his head. His face twisted with contempt as he saw Gwen, as if she were something beneath his notice yet worthy of destruction.
The force field covering him flickered, then vanished.
He closed his right hand into a fist and pointed his glowing gauntlet directly at the vehicle. The air around it hummed with lethal energy.
Before it fired, Gwen ducked behind the seat. The explosion didn't come, but the whole vehicle trembled violently.
Don't worry Gwen, Max said it will protect me—
More shots were fired. After several hits, an explosion finally erupted at the side of the vehicle, blasting through the door.
"I recognize that this protection was strong." Each word dripped with arrogant superiority. "But the main goal is to protect the vehicle long enough to flee, not stay immobile, a very inconvenient design flaw, don't you think?"
Death with red eyes stepped through the smoking wreckage, looking down at Gwen sprawled on the ground where she'd fallen while ducking. His presence filled the small space with dread.
Terror paralyzed her as she stared up at him. Her black belt in karate felt beyond useless against something that could tear through Max's advanced security like paper. If only she had the means to defend herself against these kinds of threats.