Maizen: Return of the Zombies

Chapter 45

(I am challenging myself to finish this story before 2024. I'm assuming there's going to be about fifty chapters or less, including the multiple epilouges, so it might not be too hard for me to do. Yes, we're this close to the end...)

"No, no, no!"

There was a scream, and then a crash, followed by a tense silence.

JJ watched the lime green liquid of the potion spread across the metal ground. Another failure, another mistake. He walked over to the table, grabbed the piece of paper with the written down ingredients on it, and tore it to shreds.

It was useless, just like all his attempts at brewing a cure had been so far. He'd been in here for days now, spending hours upon hours combining the most logical things together in hopes to see the liquid inside the bottle turn pink, but no luck.

It was driving him crazy. At this rate, he'd be spending forever in this lab trying to brew what he needed. When would he finally succeed? How long would it take? Would he even succeed?

JJ took a deep breath. "I'll try again," He thought. "It will work. It will work. I'm smart, I'm capable. I can do this."

As he worked, he started to feel a sting near his elbow. It turns out, he'd been putting pressure on the wound he'd given himself using a piece of a shattered glass bottle, another failure of his. Ignoring it, JJ kept working.

When the potions would turn the wrong color, JJ would take a piece of broken glass from them when shattered and use it to cut himself; a punishment for failing. He'd start with small and insignificant cuts, but would go deeper with each failure, a reminder to try harder with the next attempt. At this point in time, JJ had cuts and wounds all over his arms, a marking from the nearly thirty potions he'd created these past few days. Some wounds were still bleeding, while others had dried and were left as scars in the process of healing. JJ paid them no mind and continued to work, leaving them to bleed under his hoodie sleeve. Rule number four: No distractions. His rules still applied, even now.

After nearly ten minutes, JJ took a small step back and observed his creation. Intently, he waited to see what color the potion would turn. It took a minute, but slowly, the ingredients fully combined to reveal the final color.

Dark blue.

Letting out a frustrated scream, JJ snatched the potion from the table and smashed it onto the floor, right at his feet. But suddenly, when the liquid was released from the bottle, swirls started to rise up, and JJ accidentally breathed them in.

Suddenly feeling light-headed and dizzy, JJ stumbled back slightly and used the table to keep himself upright. His head buzzed with a slight pain before, eventually, it all went away. The swirls were now gone, and all that was left was an oozing blue liquid and glass shards scattered along the ground, joining the rest of the broken bottle pieces.

JJ was going to reach for the largest piece of glass, to cut himself once more, but something stopped him. Despite the light-headed feeling having disappeared, he still felt strange in the head. It wasn't anything major, but it was just... different. And, what was even stranger, he felt as though something was here with him; another presence. He could just feel it.

He tried looking around, but he didn't have to for long. To his absolute surprise, something was here.

He didn't believe it at first, but it was definitely there, sitting in front of him, staring at the ground, clearly deep in thought. It wasn't a something, it was a someone.

And that someone, was a spirit.

But not just any spirit. It was someone JJ knew, and it didn't take long for him to recognize who this spirit was.