It might seem like Riku accepted the situation he was in but the truth is that he just want the most efficient solution. If the System was real then he didn't waste a question, if it wasn't then he didn't rely on it to survive.
There might've been too much information for the System to be just some sort of hallucination however, he doesn't intend to blindly trust it. Especially when his life is at stake. Just imagining himself attacking a zombie because he thought he acquired some strong skill felt stupid.
He also thought that the opportunity to ask questions might disappear, but he figured that the detailed System will put a timer or it'll simply say that it's timed besides he already wasted a few minutes a while ago.
He didn't know how the System works and he could've just asked the System but he decided to try and figure out what he can first and then he'll ask the system. He couldn't waste time, though he needed food and water so he took all the food that wouldn't expire soon.
"Well, that's all we can carry, if we carry too much and the zombies find us we're screwed" Stephen said dejected. Riku and Eliza couldn't blame him though. Stephen gave them an umbrella for a weapon because that's all they could use.
The table leg might've worked for Riku, but they needed something sharper and they aren't willing to sharpen the table leg which could take some time.
It was around 3:30 in the morning, although there's a chance that the zombies are inactive during the day they weren't risking it.
"So we have our own supplies now all we need is shelter. Do you guys know any secure shelter, we could rest in?" Eliza asked. The group decided that they'll have their own supplies because circumstances might force them to separate from each other.
"Not really w- I don't live here, it was just a vacation." Riku replied as he remembered his parents again. The two not noticing this nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, it's the same for us we were here with our friends" Stephen replied.
"I guess we'll just have to find one, then let's go" Eliza ended the conversation.
They used the cover of the darkness to walk through the streets, sometimes they were even forced to crawl under vehicles, either they had no other way to walk through or they were hiding from the zombies.
They kept looking until they found a two story house with a garage and a metal gate there were signs that the owner left in a hurry because of the skid marks in front of the garage. Riku's group walked slowly in front of the door, Stephen pressed his ear against the door and then he slowly opened the door.
Inside was a hallway with a door to the right and a stairs leading to the 2nd floor, there's also a door of what seems to be a storage room at the end of the hallway.
"Stephen go check upstairs, meanwhile Takahashi and I will see what's down here also remember whatever happens be quiet." Stephen simply nodded and then he went upstairs and Eliza and Riku cautiously opened the door to the right.
Before they entered the house they tried to peek through the window, however the curtains were drawn so they couldn't see inside. It was a mess inside, while there were no blood splattered on the floor and the walls like they expected, broken pieces of a vase were on the floor, a glass table top was smashed into pieces a sofa was even flipped over. A portrait of the family could be seen on the floor.The same could be said from the kitchen, drawers and cabinets were open and it seemed as though the owners were rummaging everything.
There were no bloodstains so they assumed that either the zombies were on the second floor or the owners managed to escape. They were about to go upstairs when they met Stephen on the stairs.
"I guess the owners are lucky, they were able to escape in time" Stephen said enviously.
"There's still that door, we're better safe than sorry" Riku suggested as he pointed to the door at the end of the hallway.
They were approaching the door slowly while there's a huge chance that it is a storage room. One can never be too careful
Stephen and Eliza pointed their umbrella at the door while Riku was in front to open the door. Riku looked at the two people behind him and they nodded in return as if they're saying.
"We're ready"
Riku braced himself as he swung the door open. Nothing came out, they didn't open the lights in the hallway so they couldn't properly inside.
Eliza used the flashlight on her phone to look inside and they saw a
puppy, dead. There's a sign of it being hit in the head with something hard. It probably happened recently since it barely smells, but the scene of the adorable creature being killed was a little heartbreaking.
"I can understand why they had to, but I can't help but pity the poor animal." Eliza said sadly.
They decided to bury it in the backyard and on the mound of dirt they put a little flower. This served as a reminder that the peaceful world they were in didn't exist anymore. They had to brace themselves for the future. They started fixing the mess in the house.
The second floor had 4 bedrooms. Based on the family portrait it's for 3 kids and then the parents' room. They each had their own bedroom while it was safer to stay together, they weren't exactly close enough to sleep in the same room. Stephen and Eliza might be friends, but they aren't close enough to share the same room.
Besides, they made a simple warning system. Using a string they found they tied the string to the handrail of the stairs 5 inches high and at the end of the string it is tied to a frying pan that is lying on top of a table. With the lights turned off and the string barely visible even with the lights on. Whether it is a zombie or a human, if they went up they'll hit the string that'll pull the frying pan.
They tried it before, to see how loud it'll be and it turns out that while it could be heard in the rooms upstairs, they can't hear it in the living room with the door closed.
Riku tried to fall asleep, but he couldn't. The memories of his parents, the way they died, everything about them just kept on coming back to haunt him. Whenever he closed his eyes, he'll either see the bloody angry face of his parents or their lovely smiling face and neither of the two allows him to sleep so he ended up going downstairs to the living room.
"I'm sorry, Mom.... Dad, it's my fault. I was the reason why the two of you died." Riku was sitting on the sofa as he whispered while he started to cry.
"What have you forgotten about me? How you killed me? You're a murderer!"
It seems like his brain enjoyed his suffering as he was reminded of the zombie he killed. True that it may have no longer been the same man that it was before, but it was still a human being and he killed him.
They say that when we are in danger and we have to kill another person or we'll be killed. Our mind ignores our moral values and the guilt because we were born with the instinct, a great desire to preserve our lives. That's exactly how it was for Riku, he was always moving and someone was always talking that he forgot what he did.
Now that he's alone and no longer in danger. All the memories come flooding in filling him with guilt and despair at every corner. He was so close to his breaking point when he felt a warm hand on his shoulder.
He was just about to shout when his mouth was covered by another hand.
"I told you a while ago no shouting didn't I?" the Eliza asked while giggling.
Realizing that it was Eliza, Riku calmed down, seeing that Eliza removed her hand covering his mouth and asked.
"What happened, why are you crying? Is it about the zombie before?"
She gently caressed his head while she looked at him obviously worried. Riku couldn't take it anymore the comfort he felt as she caressed his head made him spill everything while Eliza just listened to him.
" I killed my parents, I abandoned them when they needed me they could've left earlier, but they went and saved me and how did I repay them! I watched as they were being eaten! I killed them by doing nothing! That's not the worst part, the worst part is when I was finally able to move.... Guess what's the first thing I did.. I left, I left and abandoned them to be eaten.. And they're not just the ones I killed.. I intentionally killed someone.. And no matter how much I comfort myself thinking that he was dead already it doesn't change the fact. That this hand of mine is stained with his blood and this life of mine was at the expense of my parents' lives."
Riku was shouting midway but at the end he started talking weakly, he was on the verge of crying. Eliza didn't stop caressing his head as she started to talk.
"I can't say that I know how you feel because I don't, the best thing I can do is imagine it, but I doubt it'll be close to how you feel. All I know is that if I am a mother, I'll do anything for my child, even if saving my child means dying I'll do it without a second thought. I don't know your mother, but if you're alive and your parents aren't that simply means your life is way more important compared to theirs and whether they're in heaven or wherever it is that dead people go. As long as they know that you love them and you're alive will be enough to keep them happy."
Eliza paused as she smiled at Riku.
" True you killed that man, it doesn't matter what the reason is but you did it. You can only think of it as freeing them. Yes, it is brutal, but there's nothing we can do about it. The only thing the living can do is avenge and remember the dead."
"Now let's go to sleep" Eliza said as she dragged Riku into his bedroom. She didn't leave, she just hugged and continued to caress his head as Riku started to fall asleep.