"Jaxon... why did you bring us in here?" Isabel asked softly as they walked into his room, her eyes looking around in confusion.
Jaxon stood in front of them, looking calm but feeling tense inside. He took a deep breath before speaking. "There's something I need to tell you guys."
"What do you need, Brother? We're here." Cindy asked right away, her face serious.
Jaxon met their eyes one by one. "I was the one sniping those zombies yesterday."
Silence filled the room. The three of them stared at him, speechless.
"What... what do you mean?" Natasha asked, frowning. "Don't joke like that, Jaxon. You don't even have a gu-"
Before she could finish, something shimmered in the air beside him. A rifle appeared in Jaxon's hands.
Cindy and Isabel gasped, their hands covering their mouths. Natasha's eyes widened, disbelief written all over her face.
"H-How did you do that?" Natasha stammered, pointing at the rifle in Jaxon's hands, her fingers shaking.
Jaxon let out a small laugh at their reactions. "Now you believe me, right? That I'm the sniper?"
"Jaxon, what did you do? Is this some kind of magic trick? Where did you even get that thing?" Isabel asked, her voice full of worry.
"That's what I'm about to tell you," Jaxon said calmly. "Two days ago..." He started explaining everything, from randomly getting the sniper system to killing zombies and earning coins.
...
…
"So you're saying you got a system that lets you buy rifles and stuff with coins, and you have to kill zombies to get those coins?" Natasha repeated, trying to wrap her head around it all.
"That's right," Jaxon confirmed, explaining the basics of the system.
"Brother, that's amazing!" Cindy exclaimed, practically jumping into his arms for a hug. "Does this mean you're like a real-life main character?"
"I'm not, I'm your brother," Jaxon said, shrugging with a small smile.
"Sniper system... I still don't get any of this," Isabel said quietly, her voice full of disbelief and confusion.
"Don't worry too much about it, Mom," Jaxon said gently. "Just know that this is something that's going to help us survive all this chaos."
Isabel nodded slowly, relief in her eyes. "Thank you for telling us, Jaxon."
"You're welcome. This system... it's strange, but it's the reason we're still alive." Then he opened his System Store.
(25 coins spent. Binoculars successfully purchased.)
The binoculars appeared in his hands. "Natasha, Cindy, I can't watch the house by myself. I need you to help me keep an eye on the zombies," he said, handing the binoculars to Cindy.
"You just want me to keep watch?" Cindy asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah, it's important," Jaxon said, his voice serious. "The zombies are changing. That weird big one yesterday... and now this one that could open gates. Plus, it attacked here out of nowhere, which means it probably has some way of sensing us."
"I get it, Brother. So you want me to watch for the weird ones."
"Exactly, we can't let them get close again."
"I'll help her. We can take turns," Natasha added.
"Thanks, Sis," Jaxon said, giving her a grateful smile.
.....
While the streets were clear, showing no infected around, Jaxon decided to train first. Cindy and Natasha watched from their windows with binoculars, ready to alert him if any infected appeared so he could snipe them.
Meanwhile, Isabel went downstairs to clean the bloodstains left by thatstrange zombie.
"Forty-six... forty-seven..." Jaxon grunted, sweat dripping off his chin as his arms shook. He was breathing hard and heavy, the sounds echoing in the room. His muscles were burning, but he pushed through the last few reps.
He let out a sharp breath and collapsed onto the mat, his chest heaving. "Damn... that's fifty," he muttered, wiping the sweat off his forehead.
After resting for a bit, he stood up. "Alright... squats next."
He crossed his arms over his chest and started counting again. His thighs started to burn pretty quickly, but he didn't stop.
"Ninety... ninety-one..." His legs were shaking like crazy, his muscles screaming, but he kept going, feeling the deep ache in his thighs.
Suddenly, the door swung open.
"Jaxon, have you seen-" Natasha froze mid-sentence, her eyes widening when she saw him. "What are you d-doing?"
Jaxon froze, a little embarrassed. "Squats," he mumbled. It always felt weird being caught working out at home.
Natasha blinked, her cheeks flushing as she took in the sight of him, he was half-naked, wearing only his shorts. "You could've at least put on a shirt…" she mumbled, quickly averting her gaze.
Jaxon rubbed the back of his neck, feeling just as embarrassed. "Didn't think anyone would walk in."
For a second, the room was awkwardly quiet. She tried to act normal, but her eyes kept glancing at him.
Jaxon chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Why don't you join me? Working out together makes it less... awkward."
She blinked, caught off guard. "Me? I don't really... work out."
"You should. It'll help if we ever need to run from zombies."
"Fine, th-then I'll join you tomorrow," she said, her face still a little red, before hurrying out of the room.
As he turned back to his exercises, Natasha glanced at him one more time, a small smile tugging at her lips. Somehow, seeing him focused and inviting her along made her chest feel warm.
….
(Strength +0.10)
Just as Jaxon finished his workout, Cindy came rushing in. "Brother, I spotted an infected. But this one, it's acting really weird."
Jaxon's expression turned serious. "Good job, Cindy. Show me."
He followed her to her room, and through her window, he raised his rifle and looked through the scope.
About two hundred fifty meters away, near the gate of another house, he saw a zombie that looked... different. It was wearing a business suit, still clutching a suit bag in one hand. It kept knocking on the gate, over and over, while holding a phone up to its ear with the other hand. If it weren't for the blood dripping down its face, Jaxon might have mistaken it for a living person.