"Huh?"
The group appeared surprised for a moment, with Ethan quickly grasping what this could mean.
The military woman was dazed, and with the mention of that name... Dane...
It showed that this guy who had just turned into a zombie was her brother, the one she had been fighting through hundreds of zombies in search of.
"Dane..."
Her voice broke as she fell on her knees. Her once strong, fierce face had suddenly turned pale and faint. No further indications were needed to explain how shattered her heart was.
"I promised Mom and Dad that I would protect you," she sobbed. "But I failed. I failed so badly. I am sorry, brother."
She stroked his curly hair as she cried, the pain unbearable, so unbearable that the sobbing soon turned into wailing.
Anna and Mella had to draw close to console her, but that did not seem to help at all. They just had to give her time to mourn her brother.
...
Not wanting the body to rot there, they had to dispose of it. Ethan and Helen helped, as Dane's sister insisted on burying him somewhere outside the building.
They grabbed a shovel somewhere around, and Ethan did most of the work.
They did not dare to waste much time outside so as not to attract the zombies, and within two hours, they were back in their refuge.
The military woman sat alone by the window, still sore and quiet. It did not take long before Ethan approached her.
Not that he wanted to spend time consoling her, but because he had a lot of questions to ask.
He sat next to her and observed her mood for a minute, then decided to start the conversation.
"I lost my father when I was four. Mom was not ready to do it alone even though she had a little girl. At a point, she had no choice. She carried her cross alone and somehow, she survived. We survived."
The military woman glanced at Ethan with a blank look on her face.
"It is okay to be fatherless," she said in a faint tone.
Ethan nodded.
"It is also okay to be both," she then added, giving Ethan a straight look. "We were."
Ethan understood at once that she and Dane had been orphans, which explained the emotions she showed after losing him.
"They must have gone through a lot together," Ethan judged.
"He was the only one I had left. Our mom told me to take good care of him and make sure he was safe. But I failed in the end. I failed to protect my little brother," she said as she began sobbing again.
This time Ethan decided not to let her cry her eyes out. It would not be encouraging for someone he needed answers from.
"It is never your fault, miss. Shit happens in life, and well, it is not as if he died from some minor incident. There was a disaster on campus and we have lost more than half the population of the university."
"You do not need to be hard on yourself," Ethan said.
She gave him a short glance and nodded faintly.
Ethan did not want the nod after all. He just wanted her to be in the best mood to talk about life outside the campus.
After wiping her tears, Ethan figured he needed to get straight to the point.
"The monsters... they are everywhere, right?" he asked.
She turned to him, stayed still for a moment, then gave another faint nod.
"They are everywhere. Actually, not only them. The large monsters that attacked first are still roaming around. Every city in the country is overcrowded by those things, and it seems there are no survivors."
"The government never came out for an address. The media went silent. It was at that time that I realised the world had ended."
Ethan nodded.
"It started so suddenly. I never expected such a thing in my life," Ethan said.
"No one did," she cut in.
Ethan nodded again.
"So, how did you get in? We would love to leave this hellhole before we turn into those things," he asked.
She threw a stern look and remained silent for a moment, giving Ethan an impression completely different from what he expected.
His jaw dropped right before she responded.
"If you do not want to be like one of those things, then I advise you to stay here."
Ethan's face darkened.
"It is miles safer here than out there. You will not survive an hour the moment you walk into those ruins," she explained casually but clearly, with words that came from real experience.
Ethan did not dare to doubt anything she said.
"Ruins?" he asked with furrowed brows. "What do you mean by that?"
She gave a soft sigh and stood up, still with that hint of sorrow and grief in her eyes.
"The world you once knew is gone, Ethan."
While Ethan was still digesting the heavy words, she left with one last statement.
"I am Nina. I will stay here, thank you. If you want to leave, I can show you how I got in."
At that point, Ethan did not just believe the apocalypse was everywhere. He also realised it was far crazier than he had thought.
He walked back into the room after a moment, his face still unsettled.
The fact that Nina, Dane's sister, had decided to stay kept their number at seven.
Although the space was not much, they had to make themselves fit in.
Thanks to the satisfying accumulation of Boyfriend Credits, they all had a great meal that night.
Only Nina decided not to eat anything, and even though Anna tried talking to her, she asked to mourn her brother in peace.
...
The next day came in a blur, quicker than expected, and the first thing that greeted Ethan was the system's Daily Intelligence notification.
And right at the beginning, it was the first line that blew his mind.
[Daily Intelligence Alert!]
- At 7:27 AM, Nina will commit suicide due to frustration and hopelessness and you will lose your d**k.
At that point, Ethan froze.
"Ah!!!"