"I'm sorry... because of me, your hand..."
"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault," Kalsie smiled slightly at her, adding, "If anything, I should thank you for letting me use your lap as a pillow."
"But your arm!"
"... I know. But discussing it won't make it grow back," Kalsie replied but his expression seemed pale.
"Do you resent me now?" Nicole whispered, her voice barely audible.
"Why would I?... Don't blame yourself. I knew the risks when I decided to save you. I did it because I didn't want anything to happen to you."
"Eh?" Kalsie's words left Nicole slightly red-faced, at a loss for a response.
"Yeah, Nicole, don't blame yourself! After all, if it weren't for you and Bella, Kalsie's arm wouldn't have stopped bleeding!" Wendy suddenly spoke up.
"Is it true?" Kalsie noticed the tightly bound bandages on his elbow, and he looked at them gratefully. "Thank you so much!"
"Don't thank me; Nicole was the one who did most of the work! She even tore her sleeves just to stop your bleeding!" Bella pointed towards Nicole.
"N-No, I-I..." Nicole felt embarrassed and flustered.
The conversation helped improve the group's mood, and they were relieved to see that Kalsie was handling the loss of his arm well.
After some time, Kalsie stood up and walked toward the terrace's edge.
"You should rest more," Nicole advised him.
Although Kalsie seemed fine, he appeared slightly paler and weaker than before due to his blood loss.
"It's fine... I just need some time alone." He replied.
But ignoring his words, Fred followed him and kept a respectful distance.
"Didn't I say I wanted to be alone for now?" Kalsie spoke up as he looked down at the unending swarm of Dead Walkers.
"I'm just worried about you... Are you really okay?" Fred asked, concern in his voice.
But instead of replying, Kalsie surveyed the scene in front of him.
"Growl!!!!" Dead Walkers were everywhere, their numbers so vast that finding a free space seemed impossible. Kalsie then observed the other buildings, where Dead Walkers were growling all over the place.
Then he gazed his eyes at the other buildings, where dead walkers were growling all over the place, leaving no place remaining.
There he could faintly see some human figures hanging themselves over the edges of one building just to protect themselves from harm's reach, while those in the water tanks still seemed to be surrounded and yet luckily still alive.
"It is painful... and traumatizing to not be able to feel my arm… But I-I can't be ungrateful now." After a few moments, Kalsie opened his mouth and replied while still observing the surroundings.
Then he turned towards Fred and continued, "Some are straining themselves while hanging over the edges, and some are still holed up inside water tanks, not knowing when their nightmare will end... and I can't imagine how many lives were lost today just because of this stupid survival test. Compared to that... I think losing an arm isn't much of a big deal," Kalsie spoke his thoughts aloud, disregarding the pain in his arm.
Fred listened to him, silently acknowledging the weight of Kalsie's words. They both stood there, gazing at the grim scene below, a somber understanding passing between them.
"Do you detest the people who made this test? If not for them, then all of this never would have happened," Fred looked at Kalsie and asked.
"I would be lying if I said no," Kalsie turned back towards them and continued intensely, "But it isn't that simple… the person who chose me as her 'Candidate' was none other than my… own mom. So you tell me, should I hate the person who I know loves me the most but sent me here to take this cruel test?... For now, I believe she must have her own reasons and I believe, we will get all our answers soon."
Fred fell silent, realizing the complex emotions Kalsie was grappling with, as he himself had faced a similar situation.
After a while, Fred finally spoke up, "The one who threw me here against my will was none other than my elder sister, Chloe and honestly, unlike you, I… felt hate for my sister... But now, as I kept on going, I realized how ignorant I was of this world. Man-eating monsters, magic, and whatnot have happened ever since we came here."
He paused for a second before continuing, "But you know, my sister, Chloe, wasn't always cold and distant like you saw back at college… She was like every other girl out there. She was a kind and caring older sister of mine, but things changed after she joined Saint's University. Her personality changed completely, and she became even cold to me, her brother. All these years, I always wondered what caused her to change this much… but now that I think about it… if she also went through these hellish nightmares, then it all makes sense, doesn't it?"
"You are right, Fred," Kalsie looked at him deeply and said, "And just like them, we are also going to survive these tests with everything we've got, and no one amongst us, the people I care about, is going to die. Not on my watch."
*****
40 minutes later.
Slowly the darkness began to fade, and the sky brightened as the sun's rays emerged. The light they had eagerly awaited was finally rising.
"Look!" Wendy pointed in a certain direction. The dead walkers on the nearby buildings were the first to come in contact with the sunlight.
"Growl..."As soon as the sunlight touched them, they groaned in pain and their skin started burning out smokes, and they were immediately set on fire until nothing remained except ashes.
"It's finally over..." A sense of enormous relief and exhaustion washed over the survivors as they witnessed the destruction of the dead walkers. The people who had been hiding inside water tanks or elsewhere gathered on their terraces or buildings and cried tears of joy, knowing that they had finally survived the disaster.
However, their excitement was short-lived.
[Well, well, well! A very good morning to all you resilient survivors! Allow me to extend my heartfelt congratulations to those of you who have managed to withstand the trials of this Survival Test! Oh, what a joyous occasion indeed! As it stands, a mere 136 of you remain standing tall out of the initial 400. Quite the feat, wouldn't you agree?]
The voice of that mysterious man echoed all over the place soon after the dead walkers were eliminated.
'Two-third of us perished…' Some felt shocked by the news. But it was overshadowed the relief of having survived.
But what made everyone more dread and anxious was the announcement for the next test.