Chapter 23: The Upcoming Storm.
The sound of pitter pattering filled the dark quiet room. The curtains were closed preventing any light to enter.
Inside the figure of two children could be seen. Their bodies trembled violently as a cold breeze would occasionally escape through the broken window.
They stuck together to one another, trying to keep themselves warm. As one was about to doze off, the other suddenly stood up and began heading towards the door.
"Sister...?" The one on the floor called out to her.
They were a pair of siblings, a young boy and girl.
Confused, he watched as his younger sister made her way towards the door. After getting a closer look, he noticed that her eyes were shut close.
Seeing this, he quickly sprung up, heading towards her before grabbing her by the arm to stop her. At their current distance, he could hear it.
The groans coming from outside. The slight scraping and banging. Chills rushed down his spine as he froze stiff. He wanted to call out to his sister but his voice wouldn't escape.
Thanks to him grabbing her however, his sister had stopped moving. Her mouth was moving in a strange pattern but he couldn't decipher what it was that she was trying to say.
Suddenly, her mouth closed shut and she collapsed into his arms before the two fell to the floor. Just as he was about to let out a sigh of relief, a knock was heard.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
The young boy's widened.
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Despite figuring it out, he didn't rush into making a decision. He placed it back inside of his pouch and put it back in the hiking bag. There was no telling how it might be useful, so it was best to wait for now. Furthermore, what if not being able to learn a new skill was down to a level issue?
The leveling up of pause would be helpful, but it was not absolutely necessary.
Gray was filled with regret as he turned away from the hiking bag, moving toward the door with a heavy heart. He put on a shirt, and got prepared.
'Time to go explore Room 15F.'
That's right, Gray was on his way to see what was so interesting to the zombies about that particular floor. In addition to this, he would also take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy some fresh air on the rooftop.
It was somewhat quieter today than when Gray first left the labyrinth, there were barely any explosions going off. He could not really get a good sense of what was happening outside through the windows in the house.
As soon as he opened the door to leave, a voice called out to him from behind.
"Gray."
Grey turned back and saw Aurora standing there with her disheveled pink hair and a tired look on her face. She was trembling as if struggling to hold herself up on the door frame.
"Wait for me to get ready…" She said, blushing as she glanced away.
The cuteness of it almost made Gray's heart skip a beat.
"For what? You can barely hold yourself up."
"And who's fault is that?" She responded with narrowed eyes at him.
They stared at each other for a moment before chuckling.
"Sit this one out, i'm just going to check something out."
"But It's dangerous to go alone..." She muttered with a dejected look as she hung her head.
Hearing this, a smile was formed on his face. Gray nodded to himself before suddenly making his way towards her. Startled, she almost slipped only to be caught by him as he said.
"I forgot something."
"Wha-"
She was cut-off as their lips interwined. He kissed her.
Surprised, Her cheeks flushed a vibrant red as she tried pushing him off, seeing as how he wouldn't budge, she gave up and accepted her fate.
A normal kiss on the lips, nothing excessive as Gray had planned. He honestly just wanted to tease her before he left, but her reaction was certainly something he didn't expect.
Her cheeks were as red as a tomato whilst her ears twitched. She looked him in the eye with an innocent yet hypnotic stare.
Just as Gray's urges were about to take over, she suddenly pressed her head against his chest before saying. "Just be careful..."
"Yeah..." He replied as he patted her on the head.
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Before descending down the floors, Gray first went up the rooftop. He neded to catch some fresh air. Unexpectedly, the rain was pouring down heavily on the city.
Rain was a small word to describe it, a storm or typhoon would have been much more accurate.
On the rooftop, he struggled to open his eyes with all the wind and rain drops crashing against his skin, but he didn't mind it, it was quite relaxing.
*Vooom!* *VOOOOOM!*
THe sound of an engine could be heard in the far distance. Looking over the rooftop edge, Gray could see a motorbike suddenly zoom past. The view was cut off by the building so Gray couldn't see exactly where they went.
'Riding around with all those cars laying around. How odd.'
Speaking of which, Gray recalled seeing a few military cars pass by when he was surveying the city on his way to Pesco. The military were definitely making their move but what were they doing?
So far, all he could hear was retaliation such as gunshots but the fact that there was still no news was constantly on his mind.
He was getting a bad vibe from this.
"They wouldn't try to nuke the city to purge the virus would they...?" He questioned. "No, that would be unreasonable. The virus has spread across the world according to what's on the internet."
Gray had spent the morning searching through articles and recent posts online regarding what was happening. Truthfully, even the internet was in chaos. Many forums and sites asking for help.
Videos of what was happening flooded on Newtube. Many were people uploading their locations in refugees, crying out for supplies and help. Others were people recording the zombies and how to kill them.
There was even one which showed someone turning into a zombie.
Gray had seen all of that, this morning.
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After he was done catching his breath, Gray descended down the staircase, making his way back down to the 15th floor.
Once again, there were zombies standing in front of the doors to room 15F. It was strange how he hadn't encountered not even a single one on his descent until now, but yet again there they were.
*
[You have slain 6 Zombies]
[You have received 12 exp]
[Level: 2
XP Required For Level Up: 170/200]
Despite trying to avoid it, he still ended up getting blood on his arms.
'I really wish this skill was long-ranged.' He thought to himself before knocking on the door.
The corpses of the zombies on his feet didn't bother him at all.
*Knock* *Knock* *Knock*
He knocked and knocked, but there was no reply.
Seeing this, there was no other choice. He was going to have to break in. Unfortunately, he had left the silenced pistol at home with Aurora so he wouldn't be able to do it like in the movies.
"If there's anyone inside, open the door now before I kick it down. The noise will attract zombies so your choice."
If zombies came, Gray would take responsibility and kill them. But he wouldn't be able to guarnatee the lives of any of the survivors inside .He wouldn't have done this either if the zombies weren't so attracted to this place.
Gray counted down.
"3... 2... 1... 0-"
He took a step back, ready to gather enough momentum to kick it down. It was highly likely to fail but worth a try.
In that instant however-
The door opened, with a surprised expression. Gray's eyes couldn't help but land on the young boy peeking out from inside.
"A kid?" He asked.