"Do you awaken any ability at all?" Daniel sounded skeptical as he eyed Zerra with suspicion.
Zerra's mouth twitched, wondering where this petty man's sudden hostility was coming from. With a thin smile, she answered, "I think it's quite vast and definitely 'useful'. Surely, a lot of items can be stored."
She specifically emphasized the word 'useful', making Daniel halted his contented expression.
"We better be quick." Nyra reminded them. Her face scrunched with worry. "We don't know how Laziel's situation is."
None objected. They divided their tasks. Cassias stayed with Zerra as they swept the supplies in the warehouse together and placed them in her space.
Meanwhile, Nyra and Daniel were trying to gather basic supplies that can be placed in their car from other sections of the supermarket. Until now, Zerra still couldn't understand why the two of them tolerated Daniel's existence, but nevermind…
It wasn't for her to worry about.
Her attention was placed on the current task. Cassias was there to protect her in case there would be another group of zombies hiding somewhere.
She had space power, but it also came with a limitation. She had to touch the items directly and imagined them placed inside her inner space, which was mentally draining.
"Drink some water." Just as dizziness began to hit her, Cassias handed her a cold bottle of water. She let out a sigh as the coolness refreshed her a bit.
This item undoubtedly came from his space storage somewhere, but she would just continue to pretend to be dizzy and act like she didn't notice it. Ever since the few days of storms, the electricity was cut off. The refrigerator they had no longer worked.
Her mind wandered to her parents' situation, wondering how they were doing right now. Luckily, her father was a bit smart. She hoped he would figure out there was something special about the ring.
"Tired?" Cassias came from behind her. She nodded wearily, yawning slightly. The items gathered in her hands, and because she was dozing off, she hadn't had the chance to put it inside her space.
"Stay outside." He whispered and pulled her out of the warehouse. After he found a small stool for her to sit on, he went back inside.
She leaned against the wall, rubbing her head. A wisp of spiritual energy emerged from her fingers, slowly alleviating her headache. Her mind cleared bit by bit and she became more sober.
By the time Cassias was back, she had recovered most of her energy. She knew what he had done. Because she could not put all the items in her space, he had taken it to his own hand to collect the remaining supplies inside.
"Let's meet up with Nyra." Cassias muttered, linking their arms.
She didn't object as he helped her to stand up. They headed toward the exit of the supermarket that Cassias had sealed.
"Zerra." Cassias called out.
Zerra yawned and lifted her eyelids to look at him. "What?"
"What happened to your grandma…?" He trailed off at the end of the question.
She sobered up in an instant. If she was walking behind him as he used his strength to help her move, she was now walking side by side beside him. With pursed lips, asked, "Nyra hasn't told you?"
Weren't they on the same floor earlier?
"Why would she tell me?" He looked at her with an inexplicable gaze.
"Oh," she muttered and lowered her eyes. "Grandma… turned into a zombie."
Cassias squeezed her hand, as if assuring her. "Sorry, it must have been painful."
Zerra fell into a daze. Painful? Yes, actually no matter which version of reincarnation it was, watching those around her experiencing misfortune one by one, she always felt pain and unwillingness.
Grandma was included.
Yet, she still forced herself to be indifferent. Because she wasn't supposed to feel anything for those mortals, either. Albeit that she still did… unfortunately.
"Thank you." Her voice came out more hoarse than she imagined.
Cassias handed her the previous bottle of water. She halted her steps temporarily to drink, and he followed, waiting for her. The water was no longer cool like the previous one. Clearly, he didn't want her to be suspicious of his other abilities yet.
Previously, even with her and Daniel present, he and Nyra still revealed they had lightning and fire ability, respectively. Since they were going to travel together, their abilities weren't going to be much of a secret as they fight the zombies later, anyway.
They headed to the exit, finding Daniel and Nyra packing things and stuffing them into backpacks.
"We need to pass those zombies outside." Daniel shivered as he pointed at the zombies that had started appearing, walking around like they had no actual sense of where they were going to go.
There was a small motel nearby, seemingly to be the source where these zombies were coming from.
"We need to solve them first before we can move those things to the car." Cassias decided in an instant, unfastening the ropes on the supermarket's door. He turned to Daniel and Zerra. "Can you two protect yourself?"
Zerra had killed zombies before, but she currently had no weapon. Her face was a little tangled. She was about to open her mouth when a pitchfork was shoved to her face.
"This weapon will do right now. Use it." Cassias told her. He handed another gardening tool, a hoe to Daniel.
He only came out briefly and returned again, bringing those gardening tools. Beside the supermarket, there was indeed a shop that sold those gardening tools. Zerra checked it as they came out of the supermarket.
Daniel was shivering as he followed the group, his eyes darted warily around. When Zerra saw the tool in his hand, she couldn't help but said with a small snicker, "A hoe."
He turned sharply to her. His jaw clenched as he glared in rage at her mockery.
Before he could express any more of his anger, a zombie jumped in front of him. The zombie opened his mouth, completely taking all of Daniel's attention away. He had no time to be angry, having no choice but to survive the zombie's attack.
Zerra also had to deal with the zombies in front of her, applauding Cassias silently in her heart. Thankfully, the pitchfork was long enough, and she could avoid whatever stinky liquid that might splash on her.
Although she wasn't as clean and efficient as the main protagonists, she did kill a few zombies through a lot of effort. By the time she finished, she had the urge to lie down and rest.
It was still early in the apocalypse, so zombies weren't that strong yet. Any normal adult can kill them with weapons as long as they aim at vital parts. The zombies were just terrifying if they were too many in number or because of the risk of infection.
"Hey, what is it?" She heard Nyra say, pointing at a certain decapitated part of a zombie.