Zerra scrutinized it with arched eyebrows, and she followed Nyra's footsteps as she approached an unmoving zombie. She thought in her mind, oh here we go again, that scene where she acted like she just discovered a crystal core for the first time.
Daniel took a few hesitant steps forward and as soon as he saw what Nyra was doing, he recoiled back, covering his mouth and nose.
Nyra was stabbing a zombie's head. Its brain juices flew everywhere except for her hands. Cassias already stood beside Zerra by the time she realized it.
"What did you find?" His lips pursed, and the pair of his deep black pools flickered with something.
Zerra almost couldn't help but want to take a few steps back. No wonder they deserved each other. What a pair of psychopaths. Didn't you find it weird at all that a normal girl suddenly became so proficient in dissecting someone's head in the apocalypse?
Her little fox heart still trembled whenever she witnessed this scene. The trauma was still as clear as a day; her memory recollected the day when Nyra split her head little by little before she dug out her crystal core…
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. The moment she opened them again, a wide palm already covering them. Cassias whispered to her ears, "Don't look."
"That's okay." She muttered nonchalantly, trying to make her voice normal. Taking a step away from Cassias, the sight in front of her had changed into Nyra, who was holding a small crystal core. It was the size of a bead.
The thing might have sparkled if there was the sun. Unfortunately, the weather retained its gloomy color after a long rain.
"Do you know what is it, Mr. Virethorn?" Nyra used a tissue to clean the crystal, holding it out for Cassias to touch. Her eyes briefly locked on Zerra before she looked back at him, completely ignoring Daniel, who was vomiting at the side.
"It comes from the zombie, huh?" Cassias took the crystal core from Nyra's hand. His finger grazed its rough surface. "The world is so unpredictable now. Maybe save it for the time being. Who knows, it might hold some value later?"
Zerra watched the interaction in front of her while inwardly crossing her hands. Obviously, they already started suspecting each other's identity, but still insist on playing the fool to one another.
Nyra was too excited when she saw the protruding crystal core earlier, almost exposing herself. It forced her to take a step back by involving Cassias when she already knew the use of those crystal cores. Well, did that matter anyway? She already started giving herself away the moment she revealed her proficiency in killing zombies.
Only a fool like Daniel would believe that awakening abilities were equal to gaining fighting skills.
"Maybe there are more of those zombies?" Nyra looked at the zombies on the ground. Zerra almost thought that she had seen it wrong, but Nyra's eyes glowed for a split second, very eager to find more crystal cores.
"We can try to find them." Cassias agreed, scanning his surroundings. "Five minutes."
After he said that, Nyra agreed, and she called out to Daniel. "You come here. Help us find more of those crystal things."
Daniel widened his eyes when he heard that, shaking his head fiercely. "Are you crazy? Don't you see that those zombies can infect us?"
"They won't." Nyra deadpanned. "As long as you don't get wounds infected, it's safe."
"And how do you know about that?" Daniel argued, showing his unwillingness. His face was taut.
"I haven't turned into a zombie even after I touched those zombies…" Nyra argued back.
Zerra was tempted to take popcorn from her space and squat down to enjoy the show. Cassias broke that illusion by dragging her toward the supermarket. "Let's get those backpacks in our car."
He picked the bigger backpacks and deliberately left the smaller ones for her to carry. She perked her ears as she passed by the arguing Nyra and Daniel.
In the end, Daniel was defeated when Nyra threatened to leave him there if he didn't contribute anything to the team. Gritting his teeth, he could only force himself to rummage through the zombie's head, softly cursing Nyra as a psychopath under his breath.
"Cassias." Zerra called out as she walked not far behind him. He glanced back at her, then thoughtfully slowed down his long strides, walking beside her and raising his eyebrows.
She cleared her throat and began, "Don't you want to find your parents? Instead of wasting time helping us here…"
"My parents are in the capital. Don't worry about it. They are safe," Cassias told her.
Her eyes flickered when she heard that. Right, he must have prepared everything in advance before he decided something this time around. Since he came to this city, then he must have things settled first.
Under Cassias' leadership, the team efficiently solved a lot of things.
There were more zombies coming out of the other buildings near the supermarket, so they had to be quick. Just like Cassias had predicted, five minutes was all it took for them to start appearing again.
They all jumped into the car.
Daniel was fanning himself like he had just gotten the shock of his life. His body was trembling uncontrollably, shrinking in the corner.
"How many did you get, Eldest sister?" Zerra curiously asked. "Can you let me take a look?"
A flash of unwillingness crossed Nyra's face, but when she glanced at Cassias, she took one crystal core and handed it to Zerra.
The moment that purple colored crystal landed on Zerra's palm, she bit her lip.
"There are only three. Don't lose it." Nyra warned.
"Only three of them have this thing?" She asked, secretly swallowing saliva. The psychological instinct as a zombie was still present, and she nearly couldn't resist from taking a bite of this crystal.
Her eyes fixated on the crystal core, knowing that once she lost control and took a bite, her mouth would be full of blood. She wasn't a zombie at this moment, after all.
Nyra nodded, taking the crystal core back from Zerra's hands. Zera closed her eyes, resisting her longing.
There were more than ten zombies present earlier and only three had crystal cores inside their brains. Zombies at the first level were generally weak, so it was understandable. Some hadn't even reached the first level.
They drove for another half an hour before they passed by some cars. Nyra's calm facade subtly changed, and she called out to Cassias urgently, "Mr. Virethorn, please stop."
Cassias stopped the car and Nyra rolled down the window. A vehicle passed by their car; a military car.
"Where are you people going?" A soldier rolled the military car window, watching them with a scrutinizing gaze.