Chapter 10: Helping a Young Girl

The darkness of the night receded as the sun rose up on the horizon. The first burst of light shines, illuminating the land. This sunlight continues to glow, signaling the arrival of a new day.

Shawn woke up early in the morning, his need for sleep had been reduced since his absorption of origin energy. He had quite a good sleep earlier, despite the events of the previous day.

The moment he woke up, he first drank a glass of water and then started preparing his breakfast.

He quickly finished eating his meal, intending to set out early in the morning.

That way, he will arrive at Harper Town sooner too.

Shawn then gathered his gear, making sure that he didn't forget or leave out anything.

He did secure his weapon and items, the Origin Source Encyclopedia, beast cores, and some other essentials in his bag.

He then proceeded to leave the house, stopping just at the front part of it.

"I might never visit this house again since I might set up my base of operation somewhere else," he thought, acknowledging that this might be his last farewell to this house he had lived in for a few years.

Shaking off any of his nostalgic thoughts, he started his journey to Harper Town.

He needed to pass by two villages and another town in order to arrive at Harper Town.

Shawn just plans to travel by foot and not use any vehicles or any sort of transportation.

Let's set aside the fact that there might not be any taxis or buses available now, but just look into the safety issues first.

He was worried that staying in any kind of vehicle might impede his reaction if there's any danger on the way. The noise might also attract many mutant beasts, which will make this journey much harder.

Shawn began to run and maintain a running speed of twice the speed of a normal person.

Within twenty minutes, the village where he came from looked a little vague, far in the distance.

The path that he took is in the opposite direction of the way to the small forest he traveled to yesterday.

After just leaving the village, Shawn came across a mutant beast. It's a mink.

He didn't waste any more time and just charged and attacked this mutant beast.

[You've successfully killed Level 13 Mutant Mink.]

Not minding this small encounter, he just continued on his way again. Half a minute has just passed when he suddenly encounters another mutant beast.

Just like what he did earlier, he just charged and let out a slash.

[You've successfully killed Level 16 Mutant Toad.]

[You've successfully killed Level 12 Mutant Worm.]

[You've successfully killed Level 14 Mutant Dragonfly.]

Within 10 minutes, he encountered wave after wave of mutant beasts. It appears that these mutant beasts look a little weak in front of Shawn.

However, if another human were to encounter them, then these mutant beasts would transform into their nightmares.

They would be able to easily kill those normal humans.

"The average level of those mutant beasts seems to be higher compared to yesterday. Their growth speed is alarming. If the humans still didn't pick up their courage and fight, then they'll only fall victim to these beasts," he thought.

Setting aside those concerns for later, he resumed his journey and started running again.

He ran for about another twenty minutes, and only then did he arrive in the next village.

After he arrives, Shawn notices that the village is in a devastated state, and there's no trace of people at all. He even perceives some drops of blood scattered in some places.

Seeing this devastated village, he frowned. "Is this the village where those four scoundrels came from? What the hell happened here? Although the zombie crisis might have broken out suddenly, it should not be to the point that there's no one that survives."

Disturbed by this scene upon his arrival, he went to investigate the reason for the wrecked state of this village.

Walking deeper into the village, he passed by several houses, and yet he still didn't find any living people at all.

After rounding a small house, he noticed something strange in the corner. There seems to be a sign of movement there.

It looks like someone was waving a small piece of cloth in that area.

Shawn makes his way there after noticing this small anomaly. With a few quick steps, he reached that area and stopped.

It's the corpse of a middle-aged man.

Shawn examined the corpse and noted that the man seemed to have been murdered last night.

Murdered indeed, an intentional act of killing someone. This man wasn't killed by a monster or a zombie.

He died at the hands of a fellow human.

His eyes squinted and grew cold as he pondered this. This kind of human treachery is really disgusting.

A faint sound reached his ears, pulling him away from his grim reflections. The sound is very faint, and he only heard it because of his enhanced hearing.

He turned towards a small shack nearby and cautiously approached. He pushed the door open and inspected the interior of the shack. He didn't see anything at all at first glance, so he went inside promptly.

The shack is full of crates littered everywhere. After careful observation, Shawn noticed the shadow of a figure in the corner of the room.

He closed in, only to find a young girl hiding behind a stack of crates. The young woman looked to be 14 or 15 years old, and she was in a disheveled condition. Her clothes are torn and dirty, while her face is smeared with grime.

Her body was still trembling, her eyes wide with fear and apprehension. A hint of exhaustion can also be noticed in her, with dark circles under her eyes, suggesting that she hadn't slept for a while. Shawn even noticed some faint bruises on her arms.

His heart ached at the sight. "It's okay, I'm not here to hurt you," he said softly, kneeling beside her. "Can I ask you what's your name?"

The young girl hesitated, looking at him with distrust. Finally, she whispered, "My name is Lily Fritz."

Shawn smiled after finally hearing a response.

"Lily, huh. That's a good name," he replied, trying to reassure her first. "Mine is Shawn Turner, but you can just call me Big Brother Shawn," he continued.

Lily just nodded her head a little, indicating her understanding.

"Did you know what happened here, Lily? And can you tell me why you ended up here?" He asked, wanting to understand the situation.

Lily took a shaky breath. "Yesterday morning, some people suddenly turned into monsters. I heard people all over the village yelling that they're zombies. All of us panicked at first, running randomly and just escaping without any thoughts. Some people, though, began to fight back and started killing those zombies. They led us to the central part of the village and just hid us there while they went and fought the zombies."

"Within an hour, they managed to quell the chaos and kill those zombies. Unfortunately, only three of them survived and even those three were injured. They also stay with us and rest after that. At first, it's still peaceful within the next few hours. When night was about to come, however, some yelling and quarreling resound in the area. It seems that someone is telling those three injured people to go out since they might be infected with the zombie virus."

When Shawn heard the last part, he couldn't help but curse, "Ungrateful bastards!"

"Ehem, ehem, you can continue."

Realizing that he interrupted Lily, he gestured for her to continue.

"Obviously unwilling, the three injured people argued that they didn't feel anything wrong with their bodies. The people quarreling with them naturally didn't believe them and said that they're lying. They then proceeded to take out some weapons and try to drive away the three people. The other villagers didn't know who to believe, so they just stood by the side and observed what happened."

"Then does that corpse outside belong to one of the three injured people?" Shawn asked while he was pointing his finger outside.

Lily, on the contrary, didn't agree and shook her head.

"That guy is one of the people going against them."

Only then did Shawn realize that those three should have already absorbed the origin energy and improved their strength.

"Those guys didn't expect that the three injured people could still fight, so they were caught by surprise. A fight broke out between the two parties, but the three injured people still won despite their wounds. Because of their injuries, they weren't able to hold back, which resulted in that guy and two other guys dying. Seeing that some people were killed, both sides quickly stopped the battle to avoid any more casualties."

"The three people were disappointed that this is the outcome of them saving us, so they just decided to leave and go to the next village. The other villagers shamelessly followed them even though they just watch them when they're in danger. That's the reason why no one is here in the village now."

Finishing her recounting, Lily gasped for breath and swallowed her saliva. It looks like this young girl hasn't eaten anything since yesterday.

Shawn took out a water bottle and some biscuits in his bag and gave them to Lily.

"Here, eat something first to replenish some of your energy."

Her eyes grew watery, and her hands trembled due to hunger while reaching for the food.

"T-thank you, big brother Shawn. Thank you very much." Her voice is shaking, and some tears drop from her eyes. This simple gesture of kindness moved this young girl greatly.

Shawn gently wiped the tears from her cheek. "It's alright, just keep eating." His voice was gentle, calming, and reassuring to Lily.

Lily nodded and began eating, taking small bites and eating cautiously at first. As the food began to energize her, she ate with more vigor and faster.

Still curious why she chose to remain here, Shawn asked her, "Lily, why didn't you go with those villagers? I mean, shouldn't you be with your parents right now?"

Lily was still eating when she answered his question.

"My dad died a few years ago, and I have lived with my mom ever since. Mom wasn't here yesterday since she went to work the day before yesterday. She said that she'd be home last night, so I want to wait for her here."

"And where did your mother go for work?"

"At Harper Town, she works as a nurse there."

Hearing this, Shawn fell silent for a minute.

"Since your mother didn't manage to get home last night, then something might have stopped her. Do you want to go with me first and let me take you out of here?"

Shawn offered.

"No, I want to wait for my mom here. I don't want to leave her alone," Lily firmly refused.

"Don't be in a hurry to refuse, Lily. It's just that I'll be going to Harper Town too. If we get there, I can help you find your mother and see if she's safe."

"Really?"

"Yes, really. I might not look like it, but I'm definitely much more powerful than those three you mentioned earlier."

She hesitated at first, but then chose to agree in the end.

"Okay."

Finally managing to coax this young girl, Shawn smiled and said,.

"Finish your food then. I'll carry you on the way there so that you can continue your rest."