39 Getting to know

Its rotten head exploded in one giant pulp, shattering like a fragile glass; even leaving a tiny crater from the other side of its skull. It was gorish enough to baffle the insides of my stomach, as I could feel its terrible aroma from the explosion.

Once the bullet had pierced its way onto its other end, the zombie's body fell lifelessly on the stony floor.

"Gross…" Its scent had defiled most of the weeds growing within the vicinity, as the body continued to decay. The massive flesh contained from its muscle slowly vanishes from its skin, leaving a trail of several bones and tissues scattered from the humanoid cadaver.

I gave out a sigh of relief knowing that the battle had been won, and thus I rested, as I sat upright, comfortably on the ground.

I observe my reflection from the stream of azure coming from the waterfall. The image returned my gaze, with worried eyes and a lonesome expression.

It was very unusual for me to feel this way, yet my heart had been missing out something…someone, hoping for a praise.

"I did it…Venice" I turned around hoping to see her again; but there was no answer. No call. No nothing.

It was like then when I had survived on my own, down on the occupied streets, where the crowd was in the sense of panic. Albeit Pura had told me that Venice was miraculously alive; it didn't felt the same without proving me wrong.

If she was living, then where is she now?

The question left me with no answers.

"Ano—sumimasen. Anata wa dare?" The girl, with her pony tailed hair, crept closer to me—frighten. It was if I was the monster they had previously observed.

"Sorry, I'm working on my Japanese. Do you understand English?" I shifted my gaze towards the little girl, who seems to be next in line for the oldest one in their group.

"My names Fleur. Yuki Fleur. You did great job for surviving"

I offered my hand and soon patted her soft and shivering head. She���they had done a great feat of escaping their death; and luckily enough, I was there passing by.

"M-My name is Konoe Kanata. H-H-Hajimemashite…I-I mean, n-n-nice to meet you. Thank you for saving us"

Her appearance is similar to red riding hood from her obvious scarlet hoodie covering her head. As soon as she introduces herself, the glittering jet-black hair immediately welcomed my eyes. Her pupils gave off a thorough shade of hazel hue, akin to the organic nuts sold in your nearest convenience store.

"M-My name is Matsuoka, Itsuki. My brother! He needs help"

The eldest boy with the glasses cries from behind, while caressing his pale little brother. The bite inflicted from his brother's bare foot was now oozing with greenish slimy liquid. His veins seems to be popping out at any minute, and without further basic medications his cut may put him in grave danger, for every passing minute.

"Hold on! I'll see what I can do"

I rushed to their side and observed closely the open wound. The fluid was getting darker than ever, consuming all of his healthy red blood cells and platelets. I am no expert of tending delicate grazes, but I've watched plenty educational videos about crafting alternative bandages, which should probably do the trick.

"Do you mind? I was hoping to tear apart the ends of your cloth." I asked the agitated boy who seems overly cautious of the actions I was doing.

Despite my courtesies, he sprawls farther away from me, while carrying his fainted brother unto his lying arms.

"Oh, I see" I suppose his actions was a bit fair, knowing that a stranger with no medical degree would come and tend the wound of his blood relative. However, I knew more than they could, but it is not right for me to invade deeper in their privacy.

I stood up from my seat and approached Konoe at the front, as I caught her staring at the scene.

"Go tell that kid of yours that he needs to close the wound to avoid further blood loss…er, I meant to say was—blood is bad. Blood will fall. Blood inside will be no more, so we close blood with cloth" I raised the tips of my uniform and folded it gently to a square, in a kid-like demeanour.

I simply forgot that I was giving instructions to a high school girl who knows nothing about first aids (It's not like I knew everything too). Were they even students in the first place? Maybe they're cosplaying? Maybe it's a new trend!

Lost in thought, I was reminded by the soft laughter from the little girl. She was tightly holding her abdomen due to the retractions of her chuckles. Amused, she wiped her teary eyes and heeded my gaze.

"You're a funny one, onee-san!" Her flustered expression was no longer carved on her face, and what replaced the awful plight was a beaming smile suited to a beautiful young lady.

"Nee-chan…owarimashita ka?"

Joining in the fray, a younger girl, who was hiding on the nearby tree—just beside Itsuki and his brother, sprinted towards Konoe's side. Her appearance were alike with Konoe, with her indistinguishable black hair and hazel eyes. Despite these two aged high schoolers (Konoe and Itsuki), they had brought each of their younger relative with them out in the wild. However, It was really fortunate for them to have reach this far despite living in this terrible apocalypse.

"Hai hai. Inda yo, Tomori. Ano ne, kochira wa Fleur-san. Kanojo wa watashitachi o mamotta, soshite, kanojo wa amerikajin desu yo~."

"Woah~ sugoi! Amerikan?!"

"Uh—we call ourselves 'Kiwis'…nah, who cares. Nice to meet you, uh—"

"Tomori, my little sister" Konoe proudly presents Tomori to me, as she pats her head with a dazzling smile.

"Tomori. Aw, look at you. You're so adorable!~"

"English…bad…kowaiii"

Tomori runs back from her sister's behind, and soon began shivering from our short conversation.

"Sorry. She's a bit shy" Konoe throws me an apologetic look, as she sunk his head in embarrassment.

"No. I'll give her a hundred points for cuteness. Besides, I like her already" I abruptly revealed my canine teeth and started roaring near her ear; softly as I could ever muster

The little girl shrieks and momentarily faints on the warm fuzzy grass, and soon succumbs in deep slumber.

"Oops. I think I went a little bit over board"

"Haha…Sukoshi omachi kudasai. I'll mend Itsuki's and his brother's wounds." Konoe rises from her place and gently lays Tomori on the ground. She then heads over to the two brothers, who seemed to be pre-occupied from the swollen bruise.

Their voice trails off to a distant, as I could hardly hear the faint whispers from their conversation.

With nothing much to do, I decided to venture forth on the other side of the forest, separated by the roaring torrent.

"I'll check this side if there's more from where they've came from" I notified the others, so they can be aware of my location.

Konoe was hesitant at first, but soon nodded to my statement. "Be careful" as she sees me off deeper in the forest.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"Wow! Raspberries! Even apples, and all sorts of vegetables!"

I came across a land rich with crops and other formidable stones that can serve as a protective screen to fend off a nearby zombie attack. The site was located deep at the extension of the forest, not too far away from our temporary settlement. In any case, the waterfall can be used as our main water source; as it needs further filtration.

I remember it correctly that we'll be needing a small clean bag and stack the following materials (in their respective order): rock, sand, charcoal, sand, and rocks. By cutting a small hole at the bottom of the bag, the water will be then filtered through the numerous layers, and come out relatively clean at the bottom of the bag.

These are the very information I had discovered when I was still immense at watching various videos and such at a certain popular site. (Youtube: The Infographic Show-Survive the 2019 zombie apocalypse challenge)

Using what I have, I took the fallen leaves and wrapped it around, creating an alternative bag that I made with a size of an adult man's fist. I assembled three of each just in case we'll be needing more using the abundant resources of our mother nature. The bag-itself was thoroughly made by heaps of twigs and leaves, which holds a favourable capacity of 10 fruits each, 500 millilitres for the volume of water.

"I suppose this should be enough for the four of us combined" Thinking aback, it was time for me to return. Before the sun sets on the west, we better construct a temporary shelter out from the wild. As I headed back on my way, I discern a loud cry towards the origin from where I had come.

"Oh, you got to be kidding me" I've exhausted all of my ammos, and the distinct combat knife given to me by Venice.

But it seems, trouble never sleeps

in my domain