Chapter 59: Chapter59-Gluttony Bags

When we stepped outside the school building, I scanned the surrounding neighborhood, which was currently filled with silence.

I wasn't too surprised by the silent and empty street, considering I was the main reason for it.

I had killed nearly a hundred zombies on these streets just a few days ago.

Then I turned to Lia and said, "Lia, for now, let's split up and search those houses in different directions. Collect as much packaged food as you can, but make sure it's not expired."

Given the chance that the zone might start shrinking and the barrier could expand, it was better to gather as many resources and as much food as possible to survive in the upcoming days.

She nodded and was about to head off when I called out, "Wait!"

She turned back, "What, Michael?"

I tossed one of my explosive guns toward her. "Take this with you in case you run into any monsters. You can use it to protect yourself."

I could see the question forming on her face, so I added, "I'm giving you the gun because it's dangerous out there. Better safe than sorry, right?"

She nodded, a little sheepishly. "Thanks again, Michael."

I nodded back. "Be careful."

When she finally walked away from me, I breathed a sigh of relief.

Man, it was tough to keep up my usual character around her...

I tried to avoid eye contact with her because of what happened between us.

I felt a bit ashamed for what I did.

Leave it for now, I have others things to do.

And, then, I looked at houses in front of me.

"Let's go!"

Then, I entered the first house, which was only a few meters away from me.

I moved quickly since I had to check other houses too.

I searched each room as fast as I could to find anything useful.

In the kitchen, I found some packaged foods in the fridge.

As I worked, I kept an eye out for any signs of danger, ready to use my own weapons if needed.

***

Minutes turned into hours as we searched through the houses.

I found some packaged foods and a few useful supplies, but I stayed vigilant, knowing danger could be lurking around any corner.

After two or three hours of searching, I regrouped with Lia at the same place we split up.

I hadn't told her where we'd meet, but she was atleast a little smart enough to come back here.

I looked at Lia.

She looked a bit worn out but determined.

"I found a good amount of food," she said.

She turned to show me her bag of packaged foods.

"Good job," I replied. "Sorry, I didn't get much food, though."

As expected, kind-hearted Lia said, "It's okay, Michael. Not every place will have food. Don't be sad."

Then, I responded with a voice still pretending to be sad, "Thanks for your encouragement, Lia."

And then I said, "Let's keep going."

Lia replied, "Okay."

As we continued moving forward, my thoughts lingered on our recent conversation.

I didn't tell Lia that I gathered lots of packaged foods, opting instead to store them in my inventory rather than in my bag.

I wanted to keep this knowledge to myself, thinking about my future survival.

If food ever becomes scarce, I know I can rely on the stored provisions in my inventory.

"Think about it, Lia. We're already dealing with our own problems, and now you want to go on a wild goose chase for someone we don't even know? What if it's a trap? What if we end up getting injured or worse because of this? We can't just risk everything for someone we might never find." I shouted at her.

I was really frustrated by her kind-hearted nature. Helping others is fine, but risking your life to do it is just idiotic and dumb.

I couldn't do it.

"Michael yo"

I cut her off again and said, "Sheesh."

I put a finger to my lips, signaling her to be quiet.

She got the message and stayed silent.

I heard a noise.

We both remained quiet, trying to listen more closely.

The silence was eerie, broken only by occasional distant growls or shuffling footsteps.

Zombies?

Suddenly, as we turned a corner, we saw something terrifying: a large group of zombies, maybe dozens, slowly coming toward us down the street.

Lia and I froze, trying to figure out what to do.

Without hesitation, I used my Appraisal skill to check out the zombies.

"No way, there are so many zombies..."

One might expect a nervous or scared tone in the voice, but I was feeling excitedimmense happiness surged through my body.

Oh my god, so many essences...

Without hesitation, I used my Appraisal skill to check the ranks of the zombies to make sure they were lower-ranked.

I quickly confirmed they were all lower-level zombies, not dangerous on their own, but together, they posed a serious threat to anyone elsethough not to me.

Turning to Lia, I said urgently, "Lia, start shooting!"

She hesitated, nervousness in her eyes as she looked at the mass of undead. "Michael, there are too many of them, we can't"

Before she could finish, I raised my weapon and started shooting, aiming carefully at the nearest zombies.

If you don't want that kill, then don't. But don't tell me not to kill just because there are too many.

I'm not going to miss any essences.

They're all mine.

The shots echoed in the quiet air, each bullet hitting its target accurately.

The cries of the zombies filled the air. I was on a killing spree.

Not one zombie could get close to me as I shot in a zig-zag pattern, covering the entire area.

Zombie bodies fell and disappeared one by one.

The zombies' barrage and charge failed because of my shooting pattern, and it was clear that it was only a matter of time until I killed them all.

I didn't know their exact number, but it was probably around 50 or 60.

It didn't take me long to kill them all, but not every zombie was killed by me since

Lia also helped out.

This made me a little unhappy because I didn't get to kill them all.

The evening air was no longer filled with their disgusting smell.

I turned toward Lia to say something until I heard a cry for help.

"Help! Anybody, please help us!" The voice belonged to a woman.

I immediately went toward the source of the noise, not because I wanted to help her, but because I wanted to kill more monsters.

The cry for help came from another corner.

I ran as fast as I could to get as close as possible.

It took just a minute or two to get there, but what I saw really surprised me.