Chapter 4 - Bad Luck

"I know him... That boy."

Adriel spoke suddenly as we camped at a fork in the river. It was about to be nightfall, but we had not yet reached the Oboragawa River.

Deciding that it would be dangerous to move forward after investigating a bit on my own, I eventually came to the conclusion to pitch tent and end the day for now.

"..."

I remained silent, not responding to her mutterings as I continued to clean my weapons.

"Koyomi-kun... he was the supposed son of my acquaintance's father. I met him once when I was a little, way younger than my current self."

'And she doesn't remember that acquaintance's of his father?'

For some reason, I'm more curious of the acquaintance of his father. Though, that person's probably dead by now. Possibly.

"He's a pleasant boy. Even in just a few hours of meeting, I already liked him. We had so much fun together that I carved those memories into my head. It was one of the most precious things to me... besides my family." Adriel said, her tone of voice starting to tear up. "And yet, now that we'd just met... he---"

"Adriel," I put away all my weapons, and moved to grasp both of Adriel's shoulders simultaneously.

Although she lowered her head to hide her expression, it was obvious that she was crying right now. She must be devastated, seeing one of her precious friends turn into a completely different being right before her eyes, and worse, die by this hand of mine. No normal person wouldn't feel broken after that.

I gently put my hands to her cheeks, forcing her to facing at me.

"I know. I know it was hard, and horrifying, even. But remember what I told you beforehand? He is not the only one who turned out to be so. There are very, very many of those things out there. It's probably not an exaggeration to say that, the whole world was on the same boat here. As of now, it's just a matter of what we want. To not give up, or to give up. I have to keep you safe at least until we reach our destination. And afterwards, I'll keep living. Even in the world full of calamity. But what about you? Do you want to be protected? Do you want to live? I won't criticize you whatever your choice was. However, your father wants you so, even in the now cruel world. He, John Aula, sees hope in this kind of world, you know? But again, what about you? What are you wishing for? I won't force you out of the way of kindness, to trick you into staying alive in this kind of world. You are smart enough to not be affected by all of these, after all. But I know... you are not fool enough to understand this. ...So? I asked you, Adriel Aula. What is your choice?"

The girl in question widened her eyes as wide as she could once I'm done with blurting my thought. She probably was a little surprised by me, talking at such length.

As she tried to lower her head again, I attempted stop her, but before I could, she forced herself to look me in the eyes. Her face still bore signs of doubt and fear, but she still trying to put on a firm face in an attempt to answer my question.

"I'm... very scared, scared of what's out there," Adriel spoke shakily, but she nonetheless continued. "However, even if my father tells me to keep living in this kind of world, I'm sure it's not because he sees 'hope' towards the world."

I'd thought she would give up from the way she said it, but she put on a smile that made me rethink that.

"Unlike mother, he's very protective, you know? Maybe... it's because the passing of my mother. He's really overprotective to the point I myself get annoyed, but still... he's not a bad father."

'Lucky for you to have such a good father at all.'

"If he wants me to continue living, I guess I have no other choice, do I?" She put on a fresh smile so wide that it felt out of place. "If I go to their place too early, I'll just get scolded. So, I'll continue this journey until the end."

"That's good," I patted her head lightly, then tried to lighten the mood by saying. "Well, shall we eat, then? My stomach is dying for food here..."

Adriel chuckled before nodding her head in agreement.

"Alright, I'll cook it for you, then."

First of all, though, we need the means to do so.

I look for an open area that is clear of dry leaves, grass, and debris to then set up the campfire. Of course, I gathered a variety of dry wood, such as twigs, small branches, and larger logs to keep the fire going for cooking our food. Afterwards, I prepared the fire pit, as I dig a shallow pit about 6-8 inches deep and surround it with rocks or stones to prevent the fire from spreading and help contain the flames.

I then start by placing a few small twigs and dry leaves in the center of the pit. I add kindling on top of the twigs, such as small branches. Finally, we light the kindling and blow on it gently to help the flames spread. As the fire grows, I add more and larger pieces of wood.

I keep a bucket of water nearby in case the fire gets out of control. I don't have the intention to keep it all night. Once we've done cooking, I'll extinguish the fire completely by pouring water over it and stirring the ashes.

Adriel decided to have meat and vegetables as our food, a skewer, to be precisely. I don't have any objections, so I go along with her.

Adriel proceed to soak the wooden skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before using to prevent burning. She thread the meat and vegetables onto the skewers, alternating between them, then, sprinkle salt and pepper on the skewers and drizzle it with olive oil. She cook it over the fire, turning occasionally until the meat is cooked through and the vegetables are tender and lightly charred for about 10-15 minutes.

"That looks good," I say as I accept a number of skewers from Adriel's hand. It is not enough to fully relieve our appetites, but we have to conserve as much food as we can under these circumstances. There were too many obscure elements out there, and Adriel alone knew that, thus she prepared for the worst.

As we ate together in front of the campfire, warming our bodies from the cold, Adriel who was sitting next to me suddenly leaned on my shoulder with a limp body. When I looked over at her, I found that she had fallen asleep. Although the time still hadn't marked the arrival of night, I guess all the events that had happened to her today had made her tired.

I gently picked her up and laid her down inside the tent so that she could rest in peace. I myself had no intention of resting as soundly as Adriel, to keep watch outside, but I also realized that I needed to rest sooner or later. I'll at least only be half asleep when possible.

With that in mind, I keep a watch outside the tent.

///|||\\\

'But seriously, to not even given a peaceful night was simply too cruel, isn't it...?'

I woke up in the middle of my half-sleep when I heard strange noises from the two trees to my left and right on the other side of the river. Far ahead of me also, I could see the dim shadows of something moving closer. I frowned as I caught a glimpse of what might be happening.

What made me come to the decision to rest here was because of what was ahead. To be more precise, it's when I did a little investigation into the Oboragawa River, when I found a not-so-little number of Infected passing by its banks. Because of that fact, I have to question our choice to go there.

Our options now were twofold, detour or fight. Obviously, I chose the former without much thought. I still lack information about the nature of Infected, specifically human Infected. Although I was considering testing the first human Infected we encountered this afternoon, there were still some risks I had to worry about, like for example, a way to summon the herd. There's also Adriel to consider.

I half expected them to enter the mountain, but at this speed, I did not. Something clearly wrong with those things, beside they are dead but still can move.

Regardless, I pushed those thoughts to the corner of my head and entered the tent in an attempt to wake up Adriel. The girl in question didn't look like she needed it, however. She had sat up straight the second I entered the tent.

"What happened?" She promptly greeted me with the question in a serious tone.

I matter-of-factly told her the gist of it.

"Pack up as quickly as possible. A number of Infected might swarm at us."

Adriel's face tensed at that, but she quickly changed gears and followed my orders quickly. I exited the tent to check the surroundings, and the results were not what you would call good.

The Infected from the trees on the side weren't many, but they weren't few either, at least seven, and sixteen if the ones quite far ahead of me were counted. I was lucky enough to have the river current rushing hard. All the Infected that tried to rush us from the other side were carried away with no resistance once they set foot in the river.

'Still not good, though...

I pulled an axe from my left waist, but before I could close in, there was something startling me.

"What the---"

I circled around one of the Infected who attempted to tackle me, then brought my axe down on its head, making it stop moving forever.

Their movement... or rather, their speed was above average. To be more precise, their speed was like a bowstring being pulled to its end. That was definitely not normal.

Although I managed to dodge the first one, the second, the third, and the fourth couldn't be as easily avoided as before. Utilizing the momentum as I spun away, I severed their necks, stuck them to their foreheads, and sometimes kicked them away from me.

"Ayanokouji-san?!" Adriel cried out to me anxiously.

She ignored my initial orders, picking up her bow and arrow in an attempt to help me. I wasted no time in shouting.

"No! We have to conserve it!"

"Is now the time for that?!"

"Just take the valuable supplies, and out with it! We'll need to run as fast as we can from this place!"

"B-But..."

"Do it!"

Adriel seemed reluctant but did it in the end.

I continued to swing my axe and at one point, drew the machete in my left hand to kill the charging Infected, including those who had recently been quite far ahead. It was likely, or even certain that they were able to get here because of their abnormal physical upgrade condition.

I do not know exactly how they tracked me here. There might be an acceptable reason for this situation, but I can't figure it out. I was at a far enough distance from them to be discovered just like that. I was sure of that. Even if their senses were also upgraded just like their physique, it would be impossible for them to smell or see me several kilometers away in the mountains.

I kept swinging my axe relentlessly, dodging when necessary, and reducing their numbers while I thought about all that. And amidst that situation I found myself thinking,

'The only possible thing I could thought of, was that we had one hell of a bad luck, I guess.'