'Barged in?' Aria thought, her brows furrowing slightly but she didn't say anything.
"We're not here to fight or cause trouble, we only came to get drugs." Blake said, trying to dissolve the tension in the air.
"Drugs? Is one of you sick?" The shorter blonde asked, with a slight frown on his face.
"You? Or is it you?" He mumbled with his tiny voice, his gaze alternating between Blake and Aria.
"No, we are both fine." Blake said, before explaining the situation to the duo.
After hearing what he had to say, and understanding why they came to the pharmacy, the two boys felt quite guilty for even suspecting them.
"Seems like she has a fever, but to think there was a group of survivors not far from here." The taller teenager said, his eyes gleaming with a weird glint.
"I'm really sorry for my earlier rudeness, but you should understand, given our current situation." A tiny voice spoke, causing Blake's gaze to turn to the short blonde boy.
"Now that all that's settled, I'll introduce myself. I'm Edward, and standing beside me is my brother, Karl." The short boy whose name was Edward spoke with a soft smile, while his brother nodded slightly in affirmation.
'Brothers…' Blake mumbled inwardly, the image of a dark brown haired boy briefly appearing in his mind.
Now that he thought about it, it was quite obvious that they were related. The two boys had the same hair colour—blonde, and even though one was shorter, their facial features still had some resemblance.
"I'm Blake, and this is Aria." Blake said, going on to introduce himself also.
Meanwhile, Aria looked at the two brothers with a slight frown on her face, before turning her gaze back to the door behind them.
"We don't have time to waste, and shouldn't you guard the door more properly, to prevent zombies from storming in?" Aria said.
"We only got in here a few minutes before you two, so we were preparing to do just that, before, well… you two came in." Karl said, his gaze lingering on Aria for a few seconds before turning away.
'She's really pretty.' He thought, his cheeks turning slightly pink.
After using a short shelf to guard the door, Aria and Blake went into the pharmacy, looking for drugs and syrups for cold and also painkillers.
"So… Aria huh? W-what kind of things do you… do for fun?" Karl said, his voice stuttering a little as he approached Aria who was busy scouring through the shelves.
She had already gathered a few drugs, stuffing some in her pockets and also packing some in a nylon bag.
"As you can see, I'm busy." She coldly said, without even bothering to turn her head towards him. 'It's good that none of these drugs have expired, it's better we also take along some paracetamols… I'm honestly not sure.'
"H-huh. O-okay." Karl replied, scratching his head awkwardly.
'Damn it! I shouldn't have said that. Fun? Really…?' The boy thought, clicking his tongue. He felt like smacking his forehead for asking such a stupid question, especially at a time like this.
Edward simply watched on by the side, shaking his head in pity for his poor brother.
Meanwhile, Blake's eyes shifted towards the brown counter, and he couldn't help but notice the blue and yellow vase delicately positioned at the side.
In his hands was a black nylon bag which was already filled with the different kind of drugs he felt they would need.
He slowly stood up, tightly clenching the nylon bag in his hands, feeling somewhat entranced by the sight of the flower.
The vase had blue and yellow petal designs, neatly drawn from the top to the bottom, and in it was a set of beautiful red and yellow tulips.
The flower was opened, revealing its beautiful petals to the world.
"Beautiful huh?" A tiny voice suddenly spoke, causing him to turn his head around.
His eyes met with that of Edward, who stood behind him, staring at the tulips with a weird expression on his face.
"We met that flower vase here, i really like the flowers. For me, it's like a reminder, that despite how things are now, nature is still beautiful." Edward muttered, with a sad expression on his face, like he was remembering something.
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Harry mumbled in response, not sure how else to reply to his words.
Yet, he could somewhat understand the boy. If it were before, he would have loved to draw that flower, in all its beauty, but now, drawing was the last thing that came to his mind.
He sighed, slowly turning away from the counter, before walking back to the shelf.
"So, do you two just plan on remaining here? I think it'll be better if you come with us." Blake said, his gaze turning back to Edward.
"Huh? Come with you?" Edward mumbled, not expecting such an offer. He finally took his eyes off the tulips, turning his head towards Blake.
"Yeah. It'll be safer, and besides, we could al…ways…" Blake said, his words suddenly slurring towards the end.
'What the…?' He mumbled inwardly, his eyes widening in shock as he watched the stems of the flower slowly grow longer, with the petals increasing in size with each passing second.
Right in between the petals, a small, black circle slowly opened, revealing a disgusting set of sharp teeth.
Seeing the dreadful sight in front of him, Blake subconsciously stepped backwards, his mind frozen in fear.
"Hey… are you okay?" Edward asked, finding Blake's actions strange. Since he was backing the tulips, he couldn't see the horrifying mutation taking place behind him.
"Hey! Duck!" Blake exclaimed, as the tulips… or rather monster suddenly shot out one of its stems towards Edward.
Whoosh!
The boy didn't bother questioning Blake, and swiftly ducked down, successfully evading the thin stem that shot above him with rapid speed.
Edward's eyes widened in shock, feeling something pierce through the air above him like a whip.
Hisss!!
The plant hissed loudly and it hurriedly tried to retract its stem, but Edward didn't plan on letting it to.
In a flash, he gripped the hilt of his sword and drew it from its sheath with a fluid motion.
Whoosh!
With a swift and decisive upward swing, the blade sliced through the air, connecting with the thin stem of the mutated flower, before cleanly cutting through it like butter.
The cut stem dropped to the ground, its vibrant green fading quickly into a wilted brown.
Screee!!!
The mutated plant screeched in pain, as its stem was cut off.
Edward wasted no time, swiftly leaping toward Blake before turning back to see the creature that had attacked him.
"What the hell is that…?" He muttered in shock, as he stared at the mutated plant with a deep frown on his face.
Like an octopus, Its elongated stems kept wriggling in the air, and on all its petals, were small mouths that kept screeching in agony.
He felt a cold chill run down his spine at the mere sight of the plant, and he couldn't help but imagine what would have happened if that stem had pierced through him.
"Thanks man… you saved me." He said, briefly glancing towards Blake.
"Don't mention, we still have to deal with… that." Blake said, clenching his fists tightly.
"Yeah… you're right." Edward mumbled. 'And to think I was even admiring it…' He thought.
Scree!!!
A piercing screech echoed in the air as all the plant's petals abruptly shifted toward the duo. The small mouths between them hissed loudly, revealing a set of small yet deadly fangs.