Noises

The night's descent finally closed the curtain for the fourth day of the apocalypse.

Since there were corpses lying around the fifth floor, the team decided to settle on the sixth floor.

In one of the rooms, they gathered around a table with a total of ten women survivors. These women were sitting behind Julia and Lilia because they were still weary of the men. Although the two already stated that they can be trusted, each one of them carried a bitter experience that doesn't let them do so.

They divided among themselves the hamburgers that Cecile made for them and the survivors that they might've found. Some of them were mushed because of the fighting but they were still good to eat.

"Is it good?" Julia asked one of the women.

She nodded and gave a faint smile. "It's really good."

"Cecile made it. She's the chef of our team." Julia then began chatting with the ladies to get closer to them.

On the other side, Helen and Michelle just finished wrapping some bandage cloth in his arm and torso for his more severe wounds.

He was still unconscious and was lying there peacefully.

"What happened to him?" one of the women with dark violet hair walked towards Michelle and asked.

Michelle smiled and replied. "He killed sixteen of those scums and took some injuries."

"Oh…" The lady lowered her head. "Is he going to be fine?"

"Mm. He'll be fine."

The lady took Miles' hand and cried. "Thank you…and sorry."

Michelle and Helen comforted her.

…

The ladies took a room and used it for themselves while Miles was taken into a separate one where Michelle and Helen took care of him.

William and the others took the night watch.

"I'm gonna check the rooftop." Dante said as he stood up.

"I'll come with you." William followed him.

They opened the door to the rooftop and saw the clear night sky.

Under it was a pile of corpses lying on the cold concrete.

Not of zombies, but humans.

The smell of the blood of hundreds of dead bodies entered Dante and William's nostrils and frowned as they pinched them.

"Really irredeemable garbage, those guys." Dante said and closed the door.

They quickly realized what happened to those bodies.

William clenched his fist.

"Makes you angry, right?" Dante asked.

"Yes. These guys were treated as Exp by those scums."

"It's fine to be angry. Just don't lose yourself or you'll be damned." Dante patted his shoulder.

William looked at Dante. "I know."

As they walked back, he asked. "Why do you follow me, Dante?"

"Hmm?"

"From what I could see, you're tougher than me and Miles is even stronger than me but why does everyone let me take the lead?" William asked.

"Oh, that's easy. Because we need someone who can stay composed and make tough decisions at the most difficult times." Dante answered.

He then continued. "Remember the moment the zombies attacked? Everyone was shocked to see what happened and even I was stunned. But you stood up and led the group, shouted and pulled us back to ourselves and quickly decided to do things that saved us. You did very great. Not to mention you assisted us in understanding about the system and were patient with the people who didn't have any idea about it like me and Cecile."

"Oh.." William's face cleared as he heard Dante's words.

"That's why you should not lose yourself or not just you but us too might be damned."

"I understand." William nodded.

"Plus, me and Miles are here to support you."

"Thank you." William smiled and sighed the next moment. "Hah…that guy…is strange."

Dante raised his brows. "Miles? How so?"

"You know, the way he didn't take the drops and skill books. He said himself that he's a gamer and I can't think of any reasons why he would refuse those drops." William stated.

"Didn't he say that he already has those skills and he didn't need the items because he's content with what he has?" Dante asked.

William then pointed. "That's the strange part. Being content in that little amount of what he has is not a typical mindset of someone who played a few games. This is just the starting point of the game. We're literally at the beginner's village and yet, he was refusing those items and skills that could be very vital for our survival."

"Hmm.." Dante pondered. "Weird indeed."

"Right? And also, he said that his class is a warrior but from my knowledge, a warrior can't perform a magic skill that only mages could have. That fire skill of his is not a warrior skill and I'm sure of that." William explained.

"He might be lying about his class then." Dante interjected.

"That might be the case or not. I don't know." William sighed.

"Then ask him to share his character window with you. That'll solve the confusion."

William shook his head. "No, I won't do that. That's just straightway invading his privacy."

"Don't stress yourself too much about it then. Plus, at the end of the day, he helped us and is on our side. Each one of us has a secret and it won't do any good if we pry too much about it."

William smiled and nodded. "You're right. He's on our side. That's what's important."

They returned to their position for watch.

"Secrets, huh." William muttered and then turned to Dante. "I think you have many secrets, Dante."

Dante laughed and shrugged. "Who knows."

…

At about 5 am, Miles' eyes slowly opened.

He sat down on the table he was lying on and saw the bandages around his arm and body. He felt that there were still injuries in his body but his condition was better than before.

Then, he noticed Michelle and Helen who were sleeping on the tables on each of his sides.

He went down the table, wanting to go to the restroom.

His movements woke up Michelle and Helen.

"Oh, Miles. You're awake. Thank goodness." Michelle expressed in her sweet voice as she approached Miles and assisted him in standing up. "How does your body feel?"

Miles smiled. "I feel good. Thank you."

He turned to Helen. "You guys must've taken care of me. I appreciate it."

Helen waved her hand. "Just doing my job. You should lie down and get some more rest. It's still early."

"Thank you but I'm already recharged. I just want to go to the restroom. You guys can go back to sleep."

Michelle took his arm and placed it around her shoulder as she assisted her in walking.

Miles smiled awkwardly. "I can walk fine, you know."

"I know." she smiled. "I just wanna kinda do it."

He chuckled and let her do what she wanted. Feeling her warm shoulder and arm around his waist makes his heart beat a bit faster.

"Oh, you're finally awake." Paul said as he smiled at the two, particularly how close they were. "Yep, you're fine buddy."

Lilia also smiled. "Really fine."

Brent faked a cough and spoke. "Just don't make a lot of noises. Many are still sleeping."

Mile and Michelle could not believe it.

"You guys…"

However, before they could even say anything to the three, they already turned their back on them and looked at the window.

"Don't mind them." Miles said as he walked straight to the restroom.

"Mm." Michelle just smiled and kept herself close to him.

They arrived at the male restroom and Miles entered in while Michelle waited outside.

Miles went straight to the sink and washed his face with water.

As the water ran, he looked at himself in the mirror.

Miles locked eyes with himself.

Half a second later, the series of scenes happened before he lost consciousness flashed in his mind.

How he killed the guys with his Flame Bullet.

The moment he decapitated those men.

And the time when Karl begged for his life but he still killed him and locked eyes with his dying body.

The scent of blood suddenly permeated his nose in the midst of the clean restroom.

His mind went spiral as his stomach went upside down.

Miles puked violently into the sink.

The sound he made must be so loud because Micelle went in charging and began patting his back.

It lasted for about some minutes before he stopped puking. His stomach went empty and he lost his energy as he slumped to the floor.

Fortunately, Michelle caught her and rested his head on her shoulders.

Miles' tears began to flow uncontrollably.

…

"I'm sorry you have to see that." Miles said as he separated himself from Michelle.

"It's fine." she smiled. "I also took some time to accept what I've done. But I did what I did to be alive."

Both of them stood up.

"Thank you." he smiled.

After a moment of silence, he coughed.

"I'll take a shower so you can wait for me outside."

"Oh! Yeah sure!" Michelle bolted out to the door. Miles shook his head lightly while smiling.

He gave his body a quick wash before he turned back to the mirror.

'I did it to survive. Mm. That's it. If I hesitate, those who I want to protect will be hurt. I need to be stronger. Much, much stronger.'

He convinced himself many times that what he did was necessary.

Still, some pain remained in his heart. He's just an eighteen year old guy after all.

He let out a long breath.

"To see my family and friends again."

[ Current Points: 725 ]

"I'll use these points that I got from those men."

[ Item ] [ 100 ]

[ Congratulations! You have received the item, 'Dark Purple Shirt(Normal)'. ]

[ 'Dark Purple Shirt(Normal)' - A clean dark purple shirt. Size M. ]

"At least it fits me. Again."

[ Congratulations! You have received the item, 'Bottle Flask(Normal)'. ]

[ 'Bottle Flask(Normal)' - A good quality one liter bottle thermos flask. ]

"Meh. Again."

[ Congratulations! You have received the item, 'Crumpled Paper(Trash)'. ]

"..."

[ Congratulations! You have received the item, 'Rusted Chef's Knife(Trash)'. ]

"I'm done with items."

[ Skill ] [ 100 ]

[ Congratulations! You have received the skill, 'Wall Licking(Trash)'. ]

[ Wall Licking(Trash) - You can lick walls without hurting your tongue. ]

[ Would you like to learn the skill, 'Wall Licking(Trash)'? ]

"No!"

[ You have refused to learn the skill 'Wall Licking(Trash)'. ]

[ Please choose what you would like to do with the skill 'Wall Licking(Trash)'. ]

[ Destroy ] [ Store ]

[ The skill 'Wall Licking(Trash)' was destroyed. ]

"Hoooh..Again."

[ Congratulations! You have received the skill, 'Cockroach Evade(Trash)'. ]

[ Cockroach Evade(Trash) - You can evade cockroaches when they fly towards you. ]

[ Would you like to learn the skill, 'Cockroach Evade(Trash)'? ]

"Hmm? This is not bad but I still won't learn it."

[ Please choose what you would like to do with the skill 'Cockroach Evade(Trash)'. ]

[ Destroy ] [ Store ]

"I'll store it though. This could be helpful in some way."

[ The skill 'Cockroach Evade(Trash)' was stored and could be learned in the future. ]

"Oh, I could really learn it in the future."

"I have one more roll."

Miles took the 100 point Skill dice and threw it.

It rolled and stopped with green facing up.

[ Congratulations! You have received the skill, 'Fist Canon(Normal)'. ]

[ Fist Canon(Normal) - Your punch will pack twenty percent more power and will shot twice as fast than normal. ]

[ Would you like to learn the skill, 'Fist Canon(Normal)'? ]

"Oh! Yes!"

The knowledge about the skill flowed in his mind.

He took his stance.

'Fist Canon!'

Swoosh!

"Another great skill."

"But it also consumes my stamina. I need to be more careful in using this skill."

"Hmm… can I use it with both my hands at the same time like the Flame Bullet?"

Miles took his stance again, placing his fists both on his side.

'Fist Canon!'

Swoosh!

Both of his punches activated the skill.

"Good. Very Good."

Miles was satisfied with it. He just hopes that he can get something that could strengthen his body like the Body Strengthening Pill.

After wearing his clothes, he walked out and returned to the room with Michelle.