" This is really not my day" Mark groaned.
He was having a hard time escaping from the college grounds.
There were numerous undead walking around, and most of them wore bright uniforms stained with blood. He had to carry Katarina and avoid the undead's attention. And sometimes they noticed and he had no choice but to fight and kill them. And if he was slow in doing so, it would attract others too.
He passed through the corridors of the current building. he wanted to go to the main building that was just across from the one they were at. The main building was huge and had a lot of rooms where they could hide. And Mark needed time, time to catch a breath and heal Katarina.
She was still unconscious and he wanted her to stay as such, he didn't want her to experience the pain of her broken bones. But his wish didn't get fulfilled as Katarina slowly opened her eyes only to shut them close tight and scream in pain.
" It Hurts!!!!" she screamed. Mark quickly covered her mouth and looked around to confirm that had they alerted the undead. Seeing nothing like that he took Katarina inside a classroom.
The classroom's desks and chairs were in shambles. The people must have panicked and ran just like it happened in the hallway. Either way, there was no undead so it was safe for a while.
He put down Katarina who was tired of muffled screams that she went to bite his hand.
" Ouch...stop that will you!" He said, taking back his hand that was covering her mouth.
"What did you do to me...It hurts all over!" She shouted with a loud voice. And hearing her voice Mark instantly covered her mouth and said in a low hiss.
" It was not me!! don't you remember what happened"
She was taken aback by his behavior, but she took her time recalling " There...was this monster and...screams...then I fell!?" After finishing her thought she grew silent for a moment before speaking again.
" My neck... it hurt for a second before I blanked out...I should have been dead"
"And yes you would have if not for my ability"
Then Mark proceeded to tell her what had happened till now. About the giant monster, the undead, and the ability that he came to possess.
" I don't know what's going on outside, but that sums it up," He said.
"Monsters?!! Okay, I believe that, I saw one. But undead? A magic ability?? You kidding me?" Katarina was having a hard time believing that.
Mark didn't speak anymore as he was sure that would be useless. So he put his hand over her broken hands.
" ahhhh...." She winced in pain which slowly vanished. The small fracture healed and it relieved some of the pain off her. Then when she realized what happened.
" Holy shit!!! It's true!!" she gasped her mouth in shock. And after some time of silence.
" I'm sorry Mark...for...you know...it just hurt so much when I woke up..."
Sigh...She sighed and looked into Marks's eyes
"And thank you, Mark...really I'm sure if it was someone else they would have already run away."
"No problem, I just didn't want to abandon my first girlfriend," Mark said casually, he was too tired to think rationally.
Hearing him say that, Katarina just turned away and blushed a little. Which went completely unnoticed by Mark as he was not looking in her direction.
Mark needed to do something, he couldn't go outside the campus as there were undead roaming around. And to add to his frustration the undead seemed to grow stronger as time passes. The ones with fresh blood flowing out of them were weak and those who looked like dry mummies were stronger. The last time he tried to fend off one he nearly died escaping.
He assumed that the strength factor of the undead depended on time, the older the undead the stronger it was.
Mark was hungry and he knew he had to secure food first. They were currently in the civil department building. To get food Mark left Katarina in the classroom and made his way to the canteen. He filled his bag with whatever items may go expire soon. He wanted to save as much as food because they may have to stay here for an extended period. so he took milk and food prepared for lunch which was left as it was since no one had bothered to have lunch in the chaos.
Securing food, Mark and Katarina unexpectedly spent three days there. Katarina couldn't move and since the undead were growing stronger. Mark couldn't carelessly bring Katarina with him. And healing her was going very slow. Apparently, his power was not tailored for healing, whenever he healed an injury it caused enormous pain. Katarina would be in tears when he healed a broken bone. And not surprisingly she had many broken bones!!
Mark discovered various things about his ability. As its name meant, it deconstructed materials and rebuilt them. And in case of healing, he was rebuilding her wounds. which caused intense pain to the person as it forcibly reconstructed their tissues.
And he could also reconstruct and shape ordinary materials like concrete into a sharp spear, which helped him a lot in defending himself.
The first two days passed away uneventfully but on the third day, they met other people. Two groups of people in fact. And it somehow ended up like this...
A fairly tall man who looked to be close to his age. He had a Pale but a bit dark skin tone. His eyes were pitch black like the night sky. He held his sword in his left hand and put his right hand on Mark's shoulder.
" Hey, I came back for another reason. I wanted to try my ability on you..."
" Uhh...wait!! Virgil, we can't be sure that your ability will not end up doing anything....." Before he could say anything he felt all his strength sapped out of his body and fell unconscious.