Infected?

Nicole along with her parents were all laying down in a room with a blanket covering themselves as suggested by Kairos. He simply said that they were going to have to get used to having no beds and also needed to sleep in the same room so he could keep watch on everyone.

There weren't any complaints about that logic, so here they were.

Both of Nicole's parents were absolutely exhausted. And so, they were fast asleep before they even knew it. As for Nicole, despite also being tired, she was having some trouble.

She looked up to Kairos.

"I got all the bags filled with rice and brought refillable containers filled with water like you said."

Kairos nodded in response.

"That's good."

Nicole smiled slightly.

"I also got the bats. I got two metal ones and a wooden bat, just like you said."

Kairos nodded again.

"Yes, I can see them in the room. Go to sleep now."

Nicole shut her eyes, but she was still awake.

"Hey, Kairos. Me and my parents got this strange status panel thingy. It's almost like we are all in a game! Do you have it too?"

Kairos cracked his neck.

"Yes, yes."

Nicole softly giggled.

"This must be a dream, right? How could any of this happen in reality?"

Kairos let out a soft sigh.

"...Just go to sleep, Nicole."

She was silent for a moment, but responded in the end.

"Ok."

With that, several quiet snoring sounds filled the room. Kairos didn't feel comfortable even wasting this amount of time, but he knew that having companions he could trust were necessary. After all, Kairos couldn't just hope that no monsters would sneak up to him while he was sleeping.

There had to be someone to keep watch.

As for his parents... their condition was unknown. For now, he could only rely on Nicole and her parents.

Kairos opened his status panel up once again.

But soon after, he furrowed his brows.

He continued to open and hide it several times, before confirming something.

Kairos was unable to see the future version of his status panel. He didn't notice this until now, but it seemed his ability was ineffective for this sake.

Though that fact by itself hardly mattered, it also meant his ability wasn't exactly all encompassing. There were some things he could not see the future of.

Kairos internally sighed, realizing he couldn't depend on his ability too much. But at the very least, he realized it sooner than later.

Kairos decided to use this time to think a little more.

How should he tackle things moving forward?

Maybe being in an area with so many people wasn't the smartest idea, as monsters should be lurking everywhere.

Not to mention, there wouldn't be an easy way to make a sustainable food source with concrete. As such, moving to the plains seemed to be a good option for now.

Kairos stood up and began checking the three backpacks they had with them. There was a metal container filled with water on each side and within the backpacks themselves, was plenty of rice. They would be quite heavy, but also be a good source of food assuming they could cook it.

Although they didn't have much water, his backpack was full of it, so there at least was that.

"Hmm... we probably need to bring things like pots. Plates might be too much, but utensils are also important for hygienic reasons."

As he continued to ponder, he realized that Nicole's mother, Sydney, was squirming around in her sleep. She was sweating slightly with her brows furrowed. At first, Kairos didn't see anything wrong with that.

It was pretty normal to have nightmares after an event like this.

However, what set off alarm bells in his head was when she began fervently scratching the side of her arm.

It wasn't so much a scratch one did when they were itchy. This was like Sydney wanted to tear off her skin entirely.

Kairos raised an eyebrow and walked around so that he could see what exactly she was scratching.

It was the part just below her arm. By now, her sleeve had been pulled back. It revealed bright red skin with bulging veins.

Just like how the monsters looked.

Though Sydney was scratching it with all her might, it was simply too tough. Her fingernails couldn't dig in at all. They would probably break before that portion of her skin got damaged.

Kairos sucked in a sharp breath.

Was she... infected? Was that even the right term?

It was definitely plausible to think that Sydney was going to transform into a monster as that is what happens in all those zombie movies. However, the monsters did not seem to transform because of some infection, but rather exposure to the sun.

There was a chance that Sydney was fine.

However, it would also be a big risk when they didn't know anything.

Kairos slowly raised his lamp, right above her head.

He began to contemplate the consequences of such an action. Killing her would definitely piss the other two off tremendously. But that was the only thing to do if he wanted to play it safe.

Kairos took a deep breath.

Then...

Slowly lowered the lamp to the floor.

He would see if Sydney talked about it later. Then, that would determine the decision he makes.

With that, Kairos kept watch. Mostly on Sydney. He used this time to come up with plans and decide on several courses of action.

After an hour or so passed, the adrenaline in his body disappeared. With that, came a strong sense of fatigue. He didn't realize it before, but his arms had been strained badly.

Even though he just swung the lamp twice.

Kairos' eyebrow couldn't help but twitch when he thought of his pitifully low endurance. It seemed that his body wouldn't be able to handle the pressure if he didn't increase that. He hesitated only for a second before adding to it.

[Endurance: 0.4 -> 1.0 | Points 5.6 -> 5.0]

Kairos immediately felt relief spread through him along with strong currents of warmth. He took a deep breath and got up as it was getting a little hot. After a few moments, it settled down.

Kairos was right in thinking that endurance was closely linked to his stamina. Though he still didn't feel good about getting stronger this way, Kairos decided to continue using these points until some sign told him not to.

After a total of three hours passed, Kairos began shaking the people that were asleep awake. He used a bit of caution For Sydney.

The three of them were able to wake up, but they were clearly still sleepy. Nicole rubbed her eyelids and let out a long yawn.

"Let me sleep some more..."

She covered her eyes with her arm, which Kairos promptly removed. He sighed.

"No more sleeping. Now is a pretty sensitive time. We can catch up on sleep later."

Sydney was the first to get up. She held onto the side of her head.

"How long were we asleep for?"

Kairos responded quickly.

"Three hours."

Harold grumbled.

"Gah... that's not healthy."

Kairos rolled his eyes.

"The apocalypse is not healthy either. Nothing happened while you all were asleep, but the sooner we get out of this highly populated town, the better."

Nicole mumbled.

"...So it's all real."

Kairos closed his eyes.

"Yes, it is very real. Quickly wake up. There are some things we have to discuss."

Several groans and eye rubbing occurred before everyone sat up, pushing the covers off of themselves.

Kairos cleared his throat.

"First things first, we are in an apocalypse where most of the population has become some sort of monster. Obviously, our main goal is to survive. That means we have to go somewhere that doesn't have many people and somewhere we can grow food. In other words, a place in the wilderness."

Uncomfortable expressions appeared. Especially so for Nicole.

Harold pressed his lips together.

"So that's what all those... screams were."

Kairos simply continued.

He raised a finger.

"I've thought about using a car to get there, but it is simply too loud. The monsters appear to be attracted to both sound and the smell of blood. From what I've seen, they are also strong enough to have a high likelihood of surviving a car crash, thus allowing them to further damage the car."

Kairos sighed.

"Basically, the car is essentially a giant iron death trap."

He raised another finger.

"The other most important thing is immediate food and water. Water is definitely the most important, but it will be hard to get too far while extremely hungry. We will only be able to cook while safe, thus the rice you all have can be used for later, which we should bring a pot for. As for the bread I have in my backpack can be what we eat for now."

Kairos cleared his throat.

"And the final thing is related to the monsters themselves. We shouldn't fight them unless it is relatively safe to do so. As I said before, they are strong. In addition, how exactly people become these monsters is not fully understood. If there are any signs of that whatsoever, then you should talk about it."

His eyes drifted over to Sydney as he said that, but naturally continued on towards the others.

Kairos took a deep breath.

"Anyway, I hope you three will go get a pot and enough utensils for each of us. On top of that, if you have a med-kit, please bring that. Try to cook something with lots of the nutrients we will be missing, as we can't be picky eaters later on."

He paused.

"If you can think of anything else helpful that isn't too heavy or hard to carry, bring that too. Also, change into a new pair of clothes. We will probably be in these for a long time, so might as well get something without the sweat."

He stood up.

"As for me, I will be taking a shower as I still have blood on my clothes. I don't want to attract any monsters, after all."

Nicole perked up.

"Alright! I will go get the med-kit from the basement!"

Harold stood up.

"I will prepare the other things. Also, I'm going to get my stash of disinfectant wipes. That should be useful."

Kairos nodded.

"Nice."

As for Sydney, she laughed.

"I guess I will cook something for us. I've had a pretty good understanding of all the essentials one needs in their diet, so that would be good."

Kairos intently stared at her.

She didn't seem to notice.

While Nicole and Harold left, Sydney furrowed her brows. She began to scratch her arm once with a bit of frustration.

"...What?"

Kairos remained dead silent.

Sydney slowly pulled up her sleeve, before gasping as she saw the bright red skin and bulging veins.

"W-What is happening to me?"