The original Harker was currently passing through the seemingly never-ending hallways under the Clink Prison Museum.
"It's like a maze here." He whispered softly. "I don't sense any signs of life within 50 meters yet, and we've been walking for so long. Victoria and her people hid pretty well."
However, though he couldn't sense 'life' itself, he can sense movements. He knew it must be the zombies from the SS cells. They were made of organic matter, but they very much weren't alive. This made Harker realize….
That his clone was also technically not 'alive'.
What cruel existence would be, to be moving and breathing but not alive.
His clone would be nothing but an empty shell. Not different from robots that just had gained sentience, yet could never be quite human.
But then again, he wasn't human himself. There was no reason to feel pity, as pity in itself was also a form of superiority. You pity someone because you believe you were more advantaged than them.
Harker had come to terms with his abnormality and being inhuman, as well as what he must do in this world. The only thing left was seeking truth.
That was the reason why he still wanted to seek the Shards. To learn the full truth. After that, he will decide what happens right after. Whether he will still ask to be human again….
Or ask for something else. Something that's not just for himself, but for the sake of the people he cared about as well.
Harker was always contemplating, but he was also multitasking by fighting zombies at the same time. The first one appeared inside one of the many jail cells, reaching out to Joan's leg and trying to take a bite.
Harker moved quickly and slashed its hand too fast for the eyes to see. It may be dark, but he had the night vision not just from being a Snake Demon but also a Wendigo this time. He could control his transformation now, only turning his limbs into the long, grayish clawed arms of the cannibalistic beast.
The zombie's mutilated hand moved on its own to reach out for his face. Harker opened his mouth wide to eat it. Soon, more zombies appear from the jail cells overhead.
But they were different from the first one. They seemed to be biding their time, not moving from impulse and watching Harker battle the first few ones before attacking for themselves.
And the longer they watched, the more they studied his actions and improved their fighting skills. The 5th zombie that Harker fought was more strategic than the 4th, learning to mutilate itself by will in order to avoid his attacks.
First, when Harker aimed to slash at its chest, it separated itself by the waist. The upper half clung onto the bars while the lower half distracted Harker so that the upper half could attack Joan. But Harker could easily notice it from his superior senses, and used the small flamethrower that was given to him.
They had developed one that was as small as a pistol, but only works if you place a flame over it. That's why the lighter was important. Harker had burned the zombie's upper half before it could flung itself over Joan. And the fire had given them better vision in this dark underground dungeon which now became a battlefield.
The 6th zombie was even smarter. It knew what fire could do, and so it grabbed one of the zombies and shoved it to Harker. It then kicked them, trying to set both of them on fire where the burning 5th zombie was.
But Harker was faster than them and could do the same tricks as them, but better. He separated himself vertically and avoided the fire, letting only the decoy zombie to burn.
He then aimed his pistol flamethrower and burned the 6th zombie. He caught his breath a little and turned to Joan.
"I know they can't kill you, but step back. They get trickier and trickier the more this fight goes on."
All the zombies in the area had seemed to escape from their cages. They seemed to have been placed there precisely as the Victoria's defense while they possibly made their escape.
Harker saw dozens on every corner. He knew what he must do, but it won't be easy.
Concentration was the key to Legion's skill. He needed to learn how to divide his attention. The more replicas he made of himself, the more difficult it would be to manage all of them. He knew this meant he would have to sacrifice his awareness of what's happening to Harker 2.0, but it was necessary not for his survival….
But for them to catch Victoria on time.
"Let's do this." He said, as several copies of him appeared all at once.
Joan's eyes widened at this. About a dozen Harkers had appeared to fight off hundreds of zombies attacking them strategically like an army. She had seen the wendigo replica coming out of him to attack the bodyguard before….
But this was different. These were exact copies of Harker's appearance as a 'human'.
They had the same fighting style and skill as him. The Harkers had managed to destroy tens of the zombies at a time, even when they needed to share just one flamethrower. They used their hair to lasso a lot of them and shove them into the fire, some transformed to wendigos to easily pick them up, and some divided themselves even more for their advantage.
If Harker was capable of doing this kind of Duplication….
It dawned upon Joan why he was acting so strange that night. Because it made no sense for him to say all those things and do those things to her then move onto another girl. Harker was not heartless like that.
He may be a monster now, but he still has humanity left in him. So could it be….
Her thoughts were interrupted when the ground suddenly shook. There seemed to be an earthquake, and it was a very strong one.
The original Harker turned to Joan. "We need to get out of here! Take my hand!"
He held out his hand, and Joan hesitated a bit because she feared this might be one of his clones pretending to be him. But she saw something in his eyes, and knew he was the one.
She took his hand, and Harker pulled her close to carry her out of there. But not towards the entrance. Harker sped up and ran to find the other exit to this underground dungeon, the escape route for Victoria and her crew.
He let his replicas continue the fight and they managed to breeze through all that chaos just fine. The earthquake ended pretty quickly. They saw a new staircase….
And it led them to the Port of London. There, they saw a single ship about to depart as a group of people in lab gowns rushed to board it at the last minute.
Harker yelled. "Victoria! You can't run this time!"
Joan felt like she was struck by lightning as someone with a tight bun and round spectacles looked back from the deck of the ship.
"Mr. Jones….. And you." Victoria looked at her in disdain. "Of course it had to be you, Jo."
Joan thought she would also feel disdain upon seeing her adoptive sister again but…..
All she felt was pity.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l