258 I'm Blind, Not Deaf

Jun remained seated and watched everything with interest.

Edward accelerated and ran with his top speed towards the bridge. A small group of R0 Carrier came running towards him like a ferocious dog from the other side of the bridge.

Wondering whether Edward would run away, or defend until backup arrived, Jun became shocked to see the yellow energy that enveloped Edward's hand turn into a short blade.

Edward's two hands easily cut the flesh of the R0 Carriers, killing them in the process. It didn't even take him a second to behead his targets before decisively jumping into the water.

A loud splash of water was heard before things became quiet.

While Edward was being a busybody to someone who obviously wanted to die, the Fiery Dragon's passengers accomplished their jobs.

Adrian grew up as a team leader and learned to remain calm in emergency situations. He even came up with a decision while devising a plan, barely knowing what was going on.

The group gathered at the bridge and looked under. It was already common knowledge to behead a carrier if you want to disable it. 

Edward was running underwater while pulling a fully grown man behind him up to the surface level.

After Anna's group looted the bodies and received essence shards, Edward was finally able to climb into the water surface and stood up stably.

Without wasting any second, Edward ran towards the riverbank and put the ragged man down.

Jun finally jumped down from the jeep and joined the crowd watching the scene.

Edward shouted, "Anyone knows how to do CPR?"

"I do!" Sheila raised her hand.

Before Sheila could take a step forward, her hand was pulled down causing her to turn her head. Adrian was staring at her with a strange pleading gaze.

"What is it? Speak!"

Sheila watched Adrian stare at her, which caused her to become pissed. She yanked her arm out of his grasp and walked towards Edward.

A few seconds later, Adrian overtook her and sat next to the drenched unconscious man. He turned and said to Sheila, "What to do? Aren't you going to teach me?"

"Sometimes, I don't understand what you're thinking..." Sheila sighed softly, then proceeded to instruct him on what to do. "Place the heel of your hand on the breastbone at the centre of the person's chest. Place your other hand on top of your first hand and interlock your fingers..." After a few more sets of instructions, Sheila ended with: "Now, keep pumping."

Adrian was not knowledgable in terms of life-saving techniques. After performing a set of chest compressions, he felt the ragged man's chest heaving and hurriedly moved to his head to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

Sheila got surprised and shouted, "Stop! What are you doing?"

Adrian turned to Sheila in puzzlement.

"CPR? Isn't it normal for, you know, tha-that kissing thing..."

Seeing Adrian's panicked and blushing appearance, Sheila finally understood what was going on. Adrian was getting uncomfortable with the thought of her having to do CPR because of the "kissing-thing". She didn't know whether to feel happy or angry about how he responded.

As the older one in the relationship, Sheila chose to remain calm and explain. "Listen here. You only do mouth-to-mouth when the person isn't responsive after receiving chest compressions. The man clearly regained breathing and you still went for it. If I haven't stopped you, you would be soaking wet right now."

"I know, it's just that..."

"I understand where you're coming from. Stand up for a bit and let's talk over there."

Sheila pulled Adrian behind the Fiery Dragon and started the lecture.

"Mister, wake up. Are you okay now?" Edward called as he shook the ragged man's shoulder.

"Have you ever considered that what you did was something wrong?" Jun said.

"What do you mean?" Edward replied in confusion.

"The man clearly wanted to end his suffering. Have you forgotten that he was blind? Living in this new chaotic world, how do you think he feels every day? I'm not saying that saving someone suicidal was wrong, and I don't doubt that you only intended to help. However, every decision takes courage and every choice equates responsibilities. What are you going to do now?"

Jun stared at Edward stoically and in return, he received a serious answer.

"I'll take care of him! I have enough money to support him!"

Jun sighed. "You didn't even ask the man what he wanted? Why are you even doing this?"

Edward contemplated deeply.

Why? 

Why do I feel empty? 

Why do I want to help people?

He was asking himself, even though he already knew the answer. 

Just like how I received hope from someone when I thought everything was lost, I wanted to share that blessing to other people.

With a determined expression, Edward stated: "I want to bring hope to those who need it. I don't care whether they think of me as someone evil as long as I can give them hope."

"What a selfish bastard."

Edward smiled after hearing the familiar voice of the ragged man. He excitedly turned his head only to see a face filled with tears. A fist was slowly zooming towards his face. With his speed, he could easily dodge the attack but decided not to.

"Pak!" The punch landed on his cheeks but Edward wasn't moved from his position. He had too high of endurance to receive damage from someone who seems to not prioritize levelling up.

"I won't apologize. Please allow me to change your mind." Edward bowed sincerely with both hands at the sides.

Jun watched the ragged man sit back down as if all the energy he mustered up was already consumed. Seeing that Edward doesn't know what to do, Jun took it to himself to fill his curiosity.

"Why are you trying to kill yourself? I heard from my subordinate that they invited you back to our town but you declined. You have a strong will to live by yourself. I can't think of any reason why you would choose to do that."

Edward was reminded of the first time they encountered the blind man. Although he was alone most of the time, he had a positive outlook in life and even joked around them.

The ragged man stared at Edward as if he could see him. His white eyes pierced through Edward as if he wanted to burn him alive.

Then tears continued to fall once again, followed by tragic sniffing noises.

"I killed her... She got bit because of me."

Edward practically ran and kneeled in front of the man. "What happened? Tell me, you can trust me, us. Who is she?"

"I-I... I told her not to come anymore. Stop giving me food and other things, but she won't listen! She invited me to her house, but I refused. And yet, she kept delivering food to me! Why! Why did she not listen to me?! Can't she see that the world has changed! Why!?"

At one point, the blind man held Edward's shoulders while shouting his heart out. The grief and sorrow from knowing someone died because of him kept clawing at his conscience and his will to live.

"What happened to her?" Edward asked firmly. If there's one thing he learned about the apocalypse, important losses need to be said out loud. Unless one was able to do it, the decaying feeling inside one's self would continue to eat someone from the inside.

"She got bitten yesterday and I haven't gotten news about her. I told her that I would come with her but she refused to go with me."

Jun was feeling melancholy until he heard the reason. "Haa... I guess people have different breaking points."

What he didn't know was because of his high wits that kept his mind clear and calm, things cool down faster in his head once he focused on recovering. Once he lost interest, the matter died down in his head and he started analyzing the situation.

"Heya, my name's Jun. You have one?"

The ragged man turned to Jun's direction and frowned. He contemplated for a few seconds before deciding to answer. He wiped away his tears and responded, "Matt Rojan."

"Alright Matt, according to your statements, the one you're talking about is not an adult, right? You wouldn't be this worried if that was the case."

Everyone turned to Matt in surprise. Although not confirmed, they never imagined that the one he kept mentioning on his story was a teenager.

"That's right. I think she's around ten or eleven years old? She's a playful and cheerful girl. Why?"

"How did you know that she got bitten? You're blind right?" Jun asked.

To which Matt replied with contempt. "I'm blind, not deaf. Besides, I can see the surroundings though they're only lines of black and white."