After Eric got rid of the headless zombies inside, he proceeded to enter the room with the guidance of Michelle.
As always, Michelle was awe-struck by how Eric could easily take out a zombie, which, even with the aid of four of them, seemed to be impossible to do so. First, once a person turned into a zombie, their madness seemed to have enhanced their strength. Second, the very fact that the zombie lost their mind affected their state of mind. Lastly, they were girls, worst, they barely even excelled in the physical education class.
It should be the same with Eric–his body framework was not that outstanding. Michelle could even compare Eric's feeble arms to them and perceived they were pretty much the same. However, Eric could strike without fear, not wasting energy or disrupting his breathing–it was as though killing for him was like a walk in the park.
Michelle was terrified at first, but she knew being ignorant was bliss. If she continued to insist on asking Eric, the latter might not hesitate to end her life. Just recalling his bloody indifferent face when she saw him in the entrance would never change her mind.
After Eric pushed the grey crystals on his pocket, he turned to Michelle, and the latter sighed.
She knew she would be the one to take out the zombie. She glanced at the zombie and recalled she was her friend. Her heart seemed to have been crushed, seeing her state. At this moment, she knew she had to survive.
Even if the apocalypse sounded to be a hopeless world, it could also be a paradise for those who fought to build it.
"I will take her body out. She is my friend."
"No can do." Eric shook his head. "Just look at her, if you drag her outside, the blood will be all over the floor. I will carry her. You should clean up the remaining mess, including outside."
That was an order and Michelle knew there was no compromise. She nodded and moved aside. She felt revolted, staring at Eric putting the headless corpse on his shoulder while clasping the head on his right hand.
However, she already vomited everything on her stomach.
She glanced at the blood all over the room and was in a daze for a while. She soon sighed and cleaned it.
…
"The noise stopped. It seems they are done." Samantha gave Zoe a mischievous smirk.
Zoe rolled her eyes. "You are making it seem like they are doing something dirty."
Samantha chuckled and shook her head.
They then turned their attention forward, where they gathered all the food from the other room, except theirs, in this room. Surprisingly, electricity was still functioning, except the network signal, so they quickly finished sorting the food.
"Thankfully, they are instant foods, canned goods, rice, and some that can last us for even half a year–that is, if we don't eat it." She giggled.
"Silly." Zoe smiled and shook her head. "By the way, the water has been running for some time now, and judging by the noise, the five gallon jug should have already been filled up."
In total, they gathered five five-gallon jugs, to which three were already filled up and they were now about to load the remaining two.
Samantha nodded.
"You should inform Michelle about this. Better, you should collect the food in our room and gather it here, too. After all, our dear king ordered us that she would sort it and report to him how long it would last us. I have been wondering, why does it seem like he knows a lot about us? Worst of all, I even have this feeling that he knows something about us more than us."
Zoe shook her head. "You better keep those thoughts to your head. Did you not notice? He was being secretive about it."
"You're right."
"Now, don't waste anymore water, lest we die from thirst."
"Roger that!"
Zoe shook her head when seeing Samantha acting silly.
…
The boarders rarely bought bottles of water as they have a thermal flask, while storing a gallon of water in their boarding house. Hence, the five gallons were crucial for their survival.
At first, Samantha was bewildered why she was given a task to inspect foods. She was a bit surprised that earlier she could distinguish the safe place to store the foods, making their searching a bit efficient. Zoe even applauded her–though, she felt she was only being sarcastic.
What was most marvelous though, Samantha could analyze the tiny particles in the air–deeming it dangerous or not. Those tiny particles were more present earlier when two zombies died, distracting her. It gave her the feeling that the place was a danger zone.
She was scared she would turn into zombies if she inhaled them. However, even though she did, she noticed her body seemed to have developed a resistance towards it–only turning the air on her exhale more stinky.
Hence, she calmed down somewhat.
Those were the only differences that Samantha noticed. As she was in a daze, she accidentally glanced at the fifth gallon being slowly filled. Her eyes turned sharp when she noticed something.
The water was still clean if one looked at it, but it seemed to be slowly being contaminated.
So, she hastily stopped the running water and decided to report it later on.
…
The girls gathered in front of Eric, who had just finished cleaning his face with a wet towel provided by Michelle. His face was stern as always as he sat, while letting the girls stand in front of him.
He did not notice that after obtaining the Title, his face was becoming healthy, making him a bit handsome compared earlier.
"Report?"
Samantha was about to report when Michelle beat her into it.
"The food can last us for a month, but considering you still have your friends, it might reduce to half. As for the water, they said that there are five five-gallons of jugs, equaling to twenty five gallons, so without considering your friends, it would last us twenty days, that is already included in the plans for minimizing the drinking water and limited to that–excluding sanitizing, cooking, and more."
Eric nodded, a bit satisfied–but not enough to complete his mission. I hope they have the same amount of foraged food and water to complete the mission.
He glanced at Samantha and noticed she seemed to have something to say, so he signaled her to finally say something on her mind.
"As for the fifth jugs. I did not finish it. The running water is contaminated."