"I'll take your brains as compensation..."
Although it's surreal for them to hear the ridiculous rule coming from Pati's mouth, they are unable to say anything back. With the power display he did fighting against the Runner, they couldn't hope to disobey Pati.
If they did then they won't even be able to protect themselves if Pati wanted to take their brains and eat them, and the worst part is Pati looks serious.
Pati scans his eyes to the group of four before he asks once again, "Do you understand?"
"Y-Yes...", the guy in front of him nods his head and replies.
After seeing the guy nod, Pati gave another look at the other three on the corner before he turns his body away and walks through the hole on the wall again. Using his arms as a vessel, Pati took the remaining Walkers' brains that are still intact before leaving the place.
With the harvest he did for a bit more than half an hour, it's enough to last him another day.
For other people in the apocalypse, they need to secure food but not for a Brain Eater like him. All he needs to find is water and he will be good to survive this harsh place.
But thinking about that, 'I'm fucking thirsty...', he thought feeling his throat dray.
The fight he did with the Walkers, Brawler, and the Runner surely took some of his stamina away even with him leveling up. With no adrenaline, his basic needs are starting to demand his attention.
Not long after, Pati gets back inside the classroom and finds the guy looking up upon his arrival.
Even for someone as dumb as the guy, his mind is alert and that's a survival instinct of any human. The guy looks at Pati bringing brains before he rolled his eyes, "Of course, more Brains for some reason"
"Why are you still judging, I saved your life", Pati replied putting the brains carefully.
After putting down the brains and gathering them into a pile on a wooden plank that the lecturers use to write on the glass board, Pati wipes the sweat on his forehead before he saw his arms are full of blood and brain juice.
It's disgusting so he intends to go to the bathroom for a moment to clean himself.
While heading to the door again, the guy who is looking at him curiously from the side stopped him, "Be honest with me, does killing Zombies give you Chaos?"
"Hmm... yeah", Pati stops in his racks and replies.
Since the status window can't be seen by others, there must be specific reasoning behind that. At least that is what Pati thinks, so he decided to keep the fact that he needs to eat brains to gain Chaos a secret.
Hearing this, the guy squints his eyes, "Why didn't you say that earlier?"
"You should've known about that already, and besides you didn't ask so why do I need to say that to you? What do you think I've been doing, chilling like a motherfucker as you do?", Pati remarks harshly without even sugar coating his words.
This clearly hurts the guy's feelings, "Damn... I'm not a motherfucker"
"Technically you are since you brought that big Zombie straight to me, it's a real asshole move", Pati replied without even batting an eye, and his honesty makes the guy even more hurt.
Deciding to just ignore Pati's cold and harsh remarks, the guy then stands up.
With wide steps approaching Pati, the guy walks slowly before stopping right in front of Pati, "What are you doing? Is this somekind of aggression?", he said looking at the guy up and down.
"No! Of course not!", the guy slumps his shoulder tiredly.
For someone to hear the non-stop cold and nasty words coming from Pati, it's surely tiring but Pati doesn't seem to care, "We haven't really gotten to know each other. My name is Jeff, I'm from the ar-"
Before Jeff can even finish his introduction, Pati can't help but blurted out some of his laughter.
Although he tries not to laugh since Jeff is putting on a serious look, he just can't hold onto his laughter when he hears that the guy's name is Jeff, "Your... Your name is really Jeff?"
"Yes, I know. I get mocked all the time because of that so fuck you", Jeff replied intending to leave.
But just when he reaches for the door's handle, "Pati..."
Jeff turns around upon hearing this, he looks at Pati before a smile blooms on his face walking toward Pati and giving him a big slap on the back, "That's it, we're getting somewhere!", he said while laughing.
Out of nowhere, Jeff got silenced when a slap landed on his face.
"You're too loud bruv, I'm going to ditch you with those people if you shout or even speak loud one more time", Pati said before going out of the classroom and heading to the restroom.
Not long after, Jeff also got out and called out to him, "Wait, Pati!"
Hearing this, Pati glared at him making Jeff smile wryly holding both of his hands up, "I'm sorry, but wait. What do you mean by those people? What people?"
"There's a group of survivors on the sixth floor, four people. Two guys and two girls", Pati replied.
But while answering Jeff's question, Pati didn't stand still and kept going toward the restroom. There were no Zombies on the ninth floor so he went inside the restroom and started cleaning himself by the sink.
Jeff also walks inside, "Why didn't you tell them to come here with us?"
"Not a chance, those girls are fucking loud. I consider myself having saint-like patience, but those girls are just a burden", Pati replied while brushing off the blood on his arms.
While scratching the back of his head, Jeff leans on the wall while looking at Pati.
The look on Jeff's face makes Pati looks back at him in confusion, it's like he's hinting at something but Pati doesn't understand him at all. But Pati knows that whatever Jeff was about to say is probably plain dumb.
"I mean in the apocalypse we kinda need girls right?", Jeff said hesitantly.
Although he tries to say it in a way that's not really sound perverted, his pervertedness is loud and clear in Pati's eyes. He looks at Jeff with a judging look before he said, "Really? That is your best reason for wanting to bring those girls here?"
"Shelter, water, and food are the priority. Why don't you clear up your dirty mind and help me sort those things out so we can actually survive", he added.
Hearing this, Jeff smiles wryly before his eyes suddenly lit up as he flicks his fingers.
With brimming expression, Jeff then suggested, "The cafeteria storage room probably has some food in it so we can use that for a week or two, as for water the storage has it too and if we ran out we can just drink pool water"
"Pool water? Is that even edible?", Pati asks with a frown.
Jeff nodded his head repeatedly, "I know weird stuff that even I sometimes question myself how did I know it, but yeah pool water is edible no worries"
"Alright, let's go to the cafeteria first", Pati said before finishing up his cleaning,
But even after saying that, he saw Jeff is still leaning on the wall and giving him the same look. It's weird to see Jeff like this but somehow Pati seems to doesn't mind, maybe it's because it's the apocalypse and somehow this Jeff guy doesn't mind him eating brains.
Unconsciously a big weight burdening him down in making friends is lifted because of this.
Sighing to himself, Pati then finally said knowing what this look on Jeff's face means, "Fine, I'll allow you to bring the girls and also not ditch you"
"Yes!", Jeff punches the air in exhilaration.
Just from seeing how Pati fought the Brawler with such a calm mind and confidence is exactly what anyone wants to have as a friend in the apocalypse, even a dumbass like Jeff seems to realize this as well, and thus even asking permission from Pati.
Pati shakes his head seeing this before he added, "But! You need to become able first before even thinking of taking in those girls. Let them survive on their own, if they still survive until you're able then you can take them"
"Alright, no worries. I'm going Zombie hunting right now!", Jeff replied cheerfully before leaving the restroom under Pati's gaze.
Even though they are strangers before, they're friends now.
In this kind of situation where the Apocalypse is ongoing and they don't know when danger will strike then, it's good to have reliable friends to help in such a dire situation.
'He seems to be an honest guy, so it's fine, and besides...'
Pati looks at his status window before looking at his Brain Eater class. With the current class of Brain Eaters, Pati has one huge advantage over the others. Others need to kill the Zombies themselves but he only needs their brains.
It's still a hypothesis but the probability of it being true is high, at least that's what Pati thinks.
'Let's test this class out on the way to the cafeteria, if it really does work as what I think it is then I will have one fucking major cheat in this world. I gladly will accept it', Pati thought with an excited smirk on his face.
A moment later,
While walking sneakily, Pati glanced at Jeff on the side with a cynical look.
Jeff noticed this judging look coming from Pati, "What? I have no choice but to use this as a weapon", he said clarifying himself that is holding a folding steel chair in his hands.
"You know that we can make a quick stop at the janitor's room right?", Pati asks.
Hearing this just like a dumbass forgetting something as easy as that, Jeff face-palms his forehead in realization, "Oh, yeah! Let's go right now, they should have a knife right?"
"You're late, idiot! We're already near the cafeteria", Pati snorted before looking at his front.
Both of them are back at the back entrance of the university descending the stairs with the cafeteria on their right. The carcass of the Zombies here that Pati killed are still fresh, and the scent they're emitting is utterly nasty.
It doesn't even smell like blood, it smells like decayed meat with expired fruity undertones.
While carefully descending the stairs, Pati looks around and finds about a dozen Walkers nearing the parking lot building 60 or 70 feet in front of them. It seems they are crowding the Brawler's corpse and this gives a perfect opportunity for Pati and Jeff to sneak into the cafeteria without having to deal with them.
Upon arriving at the cafeteria, Pati was about to go straight to the storage room in the middle.
Jeff then out of nowhere pulls Pati back surprising him, "What are you-", Pati stops when he saw Jeff putting his index finger in the middle of his mouth before pointing at a black creature eating a Walker.
Since the creature's fur is black and the day is already bright, Jeff and Pati look at each other trying to see if they're thinking about the same thing. True enough, they both realize that they both know what or who that creature is.
The black-furred creature is about a meter tall with a body structure just like a cat.
Its skin is decayed just like the other Walkers or even the other Zombies, some of its skin decayed so much that it reveals the cat's ribcage. For some reason, this cat didn't only turn into a Zombie but got bigger.
Soon the cat looks to the side where a Walker is walking toward it.
Pati and Jeff who are a distance behind the cat saw the cat's face that has its flesh rotten, this makes the facial features of the cat hardly seeable. It's completely disgusting with dangling flesh.
For some, this Zombie cat might just be a cat.
But for students of Jayrata International University, this cat is not just a cat. It's everybody's cat called Tanky that has been here for years and is quite old but still cute at some point.
The creature in front of them is definitely Tanky, she has turned into a Zombie.
Upon looking at Tanky's condition, Pati and Jeff touches their chests in sadness, "How could the world be so cruel to such a wonderful creature, I've fed her multiple times in my years here"
"Me too... I hate other students so Tanky is my only friend..."