After Forcing Me to Speak, They Regretted Everything Chapter 09

After Forcing Me to Speak, They Regretted Everything Chapter 09

The rusted iron door let out a piercing screech as Archie stumbled and crashed into the broadcast

room.

I leaned against the window, watching coldly as this man-the one I had once willingly accepted

the rune’s brand for-crawled before me.

In just a few days, his arrogant self-importance, the entitled pride he’d flaunted throughout the base, had been utterly stripped away. His once-full cheeks had sunken into hollows. He was so

gaunt he was barely recognizable.

“Lydia…”

The moment he saw me, his whole body convulsed He scrambled forward on all fours and threw

his arms around my calf, clinging desperately.

“Lydia! I was wrong! I know I was wrong now!”

Archie pressed his blood-smeared face against my pant leg, sobbing so hard he could barely breathe. “It was that bitch Emma who lied to me! She said you only had to speak once-just once- and it would save her… I really didn’t know it would ruin everything you worked for!”

I looked down at him through half-lowered lashes, silently watching his performance.

Didn’t know?

“Lydia, we’ve known each other since we were kids. You loved me so much once. You would’ve given your life for me!”

Seeing my complete indifference, Archie lifted his head desperately. “Can’t you forgive me just this

once? All you have to do is say one word-just tell the monsters outside not to kill me. I’ll wait on you every day for the rest of my life. I’ll be your slave!”

Those eyes, once so clear, now held nothing but the terror of death and a nauseating selfishness.

From the hallway outside, chilling roars and the dragging shuffle of footsteps were already closing

The horde of zombies that had followed him all the way to the broadcast tower was lingering in
the corridors.

Listening to the low growls drawing nearer, Archie completely unraveled.

“Please, just say something! Lydia! Do you really want to watch me die?!”

I looked down at him from above.

My lips parted slightly.

Seeing my movement, Archie’s entire body jolted. A wild, ecstatic light burst from his dimmed eyes.

I gazed at his hopeful, expectant face and paused for two full seconds.

Then, my face completely expressionless, I closed my mouth. I pulled my leg free from his grasp.

“No… no, don’t…”

The ecstasy on Archie’s face instantly froze, then contorted into a mask of extreme distortion and despair.

I turned around. Dragging my still-unhealed broken bones, I walked toward the stairs leading to the rooftop without a single backward glance.

The old grudges were severed completely in this silence.

“Lydia! Come back! You devil! I hope you die a miserable death-AAAAAAHHH-”

As I turned and walked away, the invisible shackle that had been restraining the zombies’ minds shattered with a thunderous roar. The sound of the door being smashed open erupted behind me.

I didn’t look back. Not even once. I simply lifted my hand, pushed open the iron door, and stepped onto the rooftop.

A violent gust of wind, thick with the heavy stench of blood from the apocalypse, slammed into my

face. I raised my head and looked up at the murky, gray, turbid dome of the sky, preparing to deliver

my final command to this crumbling world.