Inside the house, in the living room, Bernard was sitting on the sofa while Sheila tended to his wound. Bernard had to endure the painful feeling every time the alcohol-filled cotton touches him. If it were not for the warm energy that circulated inside him, he would have a hard time moving.
He asked, while feeling breathless, "I won't die, right?"
"Of course not, you'll be okay," Sheila said assuringly.
The wound was finally cleaned, and she started bandaging the wound. She took a few medicine tablets from the black hole beside her and gave it to Bernard.
"I'm sorry... it's my fault." Ester said as tears fell down her cheeks. "I should have killed it... but I couldn't."
She started hiccuping, and then her sobs turned into crying. A few of her workmates consoled her to stop her from crying but failed.
Bernard stood up and took a scarf from his pocket. "Don't cry... it's not your fault. I'm still alive and kicking, look."
He moved around and showed how energetic he was. Seeing that, Ester stopped crying.
Bernard went back and sat down, thoughts about his family filled his head.
***
"The door won't stand for long. We need to get out of here," said Jun as he entered the living room.
Edward anxiously appeared behind him, looking at the front door that repeatedly produced pounding noises. Roars and growls can be even be heard from the other side.
"Right! Let's go! Although this lord isn't scared of a dozen devil's minion, everyone's safety should be the top priority." he said panicky.
Adrian went into another room and searched the area.
Sheila stood up and said, "We can't leave right now. Bernard needs to rest. I don't know why, but his body suddenly became weak."
Jun frowned. He knew that getting bitten shouldn't have this effect. He scanned Bernard and didn't notice anything remarkable except for the bandaged wound.
He placed his hand on top just to make sure.
[Left Arm - Bitten (Bandaged)]
[Description] The user is now infected. When the user dies, the body will reanimate and become a carrier.
Stacks: 2
[Additional Effect - Sickness]
"It's because of this!" Jun thought to himself. He placed his hand on Bernard's forehead and was immediately greeted by the hot sensation.
"He's sick. Have you tried giving him medicine?"
"That's impossible! I just checked him earlier!" said Sheila while checking Bernard's temperature.
Her expression darkened as she muttered to herself, "...its true, but how?"
"Didn't you heal him?"
"I healed him! But I didn't use a cure since he didn't seem to need it."
Their conversation was interrupted when someone barged into the room.
"Oh, thank God! Some people are still alive. I thought I was hallucinating for a momen—"
The old man couldn't even finish his last words before a fist struck his face.
***
Am I dead? Ugh. My head hurts. Someone is shouting. I focused and tried my best to listen.
"Don't stop me! This asshole almost got us killed! Move!"
I opened my eyes to see a young man being held by three people.
"Look! He's fine! A few more punches won't hurt him! Let me go!"
Is he crazy? Why do I feel like he wants to kill me? Are young people nowadays this blood-thirsty. Has this become the norm? Since yesterday, everything has become weird.
"Can you calm down for a moment?!" a woman shouted.
"I AM CALM!"
***
"Haa... haa..."
Jun panted as he tries to catch his breath. All the shouting seemed to increase the infected's enthusiasm as they pounded harder and faster. More and more infected gathered outside!
Kalaching!
The windows glass was broken by an infected, who got its head stuck on the window's bar's, then two more infected followed suit. Their hands stretched as far as possible, trying to reach the people inside.
"We're not safe here. We need to find an exit." Jun said as he killed the infected for EXP. Since they hadn't had enough time to search the area, they, of course, don't know the house layout.
"There's a kitchen here, but there's no exit.
At that time, the old man called to them. "Follow me!" he then ran through the same door where he came from.
Nobody moved, all of his group members were looking at him, waiting for him to decide.
Jun could only sigh and control his anger.
"Follow the old man. Adrian, take the lead." Jun said unwillingly. "Sheila, If I remember correctly, you're cure can remove sickness, is that right? Can you try it now?"
"It's only a chance, but I will try!" Sheila straightened her hand and patted Bernard's left arm.
Bernard's complexion visibly lightened, which meant that the skill was effective.
"It worked!" Sheila rejoiced.
Bernard's temperature came back to normal, but his eyes seemed to be delirious.
"It probably takes some time." Jun thought. He then went forward to help Bernard up.
With his 15 points in power, carrying an adult man shouldn't even be a problem.
He carried the unconscious Bernard like a princess. To prevent his hand from dangling, he took hold of it. Since he couldn't see the arm from his position, he accidentally held the bandaged wound, causing the screen to pop-up.
[Left Arm - Bitten (Bandaged)]
[Description] The user is now infected. When the user dies, the body will reanimate and become a carrier.
It was the usual messaged of someone infected. The stacking effect and sickness debuff were already gone since Sheila already cured his sickness. Then Jun became shocked when he thought of something.
If they really stacked, then is the infected debuff considered an ailment? Then, is it possible for Cure to completely remove the infected debuff?
***
After making a few turns on the house's hallways, Jun and Sheila caught up to the group. The group was peeking through the glass door, looking carefully outside. He noticed that someone's missing and so he asked, "Where's Adrian?"
Edward put his finger on his lips before answering his question. He whispered and pointed outside with his head, "Killing infecteds. Sssh."
He looked outside and immediately saw a white van parked at the corner of the street. There are also several old cars parked on both sides of the road.
Adrian was sneaking towards an infected.
When he was close enough, just an arms reach away; he grabbed its hair, limiting its movements and stabbed it through the ear. He caught the body and slowly placed it on the ground. Behind him were two more dead bodies, at least five feet away from each other.
"Why is no one looting the bodies? Don't you guys know that they reanimate!?" asked Jun angrily.
"What do you mean, reanimate? Those dead people can still come back to life?" Sheila asked, unable to believe what she just heard.
Not only her, everyone in the group was in doubt whether that claim was true.
Jun handed Bernard to Edward. "We're not done yet," he said to the old man on a suit, then went outside.