Chapter 656 - A Talk With His Brother, His Familys Circ.u.mstances During the Outbreak (1/2)

Day 147 - 11:26 PM - Abandoned Farmhouse, Catanduanes Circ.u.mferential Road, Codon, San Andres, Catanduanes

As his dizziness from his sudden actions from waking up subsided, Michael's eyes turned away from the silhouette that he could barely see in the dark. He then let out an audible sigh.

”Just what's up with that greeting, Big Brother.”

Hearing that reply made the silhouette shrug his shoulders.

And then, with a flick of his hand, activating the crystal hidden inside his pocket, Mark lit up the whole room, showing himself to his younger brother.

It was one of the few reasons why Mark did not want any, even a slight, contact with his family.

There was a trait that was inherent to his family. It was more specific to his mother, Mark, and his siblings.

And it was...

They were all bad at remembering the faces of people. It did not matter even if they knew the person for a very long time. As long as there was little contact, it would be hard for them to recall the person's face. It was unless the person left a strong impression, no matter it was good or bad.

Then, how could they recognize people?

Except for the face, other different things could help them identify people. It could be the person's body shape, voice, clothing, movements, or even just the person's aura or by instinct. While the last two might be vague, it did help them recognize people.

That was why jokes like someone covering their eyes to guess the other person would not work on them. Even if the person that covered their eyes and the person asking the question were two different people. It would not work at all.

And now, it was shown here that even just Mark's silhouette allowed his younger brother to recognize him.

Mark even made some effort to change his voice slightly.

Actually, Mark was not any different, being uninterested towards people. He only relied on his Emphatic abilities to recognize people before he gained access to his subconscious.

Due to the sudden brightness, Michael could not help but cover his eyes. Nonetheless, he asked.

”Are you here to bring me to the afterlife?”

Mark almost stumbled from where he stood.

No wonder his brother was lacking expressions. It seemed that he thought that he was already dead and Mark was here to fetch his soul.

”Do I look like a grim reaper to you?”

Mark asked back.

”Not really,” Michael replied. ”But even if you're a total zombie apocalypse fan, there's no way you should have survived this sh*t and make it all the way here.”

That...

That was reasonable.

Before the outbreak, Mark was nothing but a shut-in that lacked exercise in their knowledge. Even if he had some abilities, it was not enough to let him live this long and make it here alive. Back then, he only had emphatic abilities and his control with his adrenaline. The first one was only usable towards living people, while the other had a life-threatening side-effect. Although it would allow him to live for some time, it would be extremely challenging to last any longer.

That was if Mark did not have his fair share of fateful encounters, before and during, the outbreak.

”Don't curse me dead.” Mark rolled his eyes. ”I'm still alive and kicking, you idiot.”

Michael looked back at Mark as his eyes recovered and asked.

”So, I'm still alive?” He then pinched his cheek. ”Ow, I guess I am, huh.”

Michael sighed in relief that he was still alive and not dreaming.

”I thought, I suddenly died in that freaking suicide mission.”

Mark stared at his brother and his lacking expressions. It seemed that the situation was still surreal for him. This was very likely because of the effects powder that Pefile used and the fact that they could not remember things before they fell unconscious.

Of course, something was surprising. The attack on the settlement did not last too long. It meant that the preparation time of the rebels was much shorter. Even so, Mark's brother still remembered being on a suicide mission.

”How much do you remember before passing out?”

Mark could not help but ask.

Michael fell silent and thought about it a little.

”The last one was before we were about to enter the forest near the government settlement?” Michael then replied. ”I don't really remember anything after that.”

Mark scratched his head. It seemed that the effect of the powder was too little on his brother. It just meant that he had to shorten his conversation even more.

”Well, you know that it's a suicide mission. Why the hell are you even there?”

Mark asked, not giving his brother any chance to ask about him instead.

Michael looked at Mark, confused. He wanted to ask questions too, but his older brother was not giving him a chance at all.

Nevertheless, the question he was given was rather important too. As such, he could only answer with another sigh.

”Who wanted to? But we can't really disobey those people, especially that man called Renz.”

Michael then looked down.

”Marian is under their custody, working in their factories. If I disobeyed the rebels and got her harmed, Mom won't forgive me, right?”

Those words made Mark frown.

Marian was their younger sister. And by the looks of it, she was the leash that the rebels used to force his brother into dangerous stuff.

Before Mark could ask the next question, Michael continued.

”We've been caught while hunting in the mountains about a month ago. Since then, we're living under the roof of the anti-government faction of the rebels.”

Mark felt a bit relieved to hear about this. As Mark asked questions to the two soldiers yesternight, he already had some information. The leader of the aggressive faction was not unreasonable, except for her extreme hate towards the government.

That was why he did not have any vision about his siblings getting in harm. And probably, even if Mark did not interfere this time, this brother of his would definitely survive this suicide mission due to various factors.

”How about Mom and Dad? Also, Thaddy?”

Mark asked.