Early morning light slipped through the small basement window, cutting a pale beam across Ethan’s face.
His eyes slowly opened.
For a moment he simply stared at the rough concrete ceiling, letting the quiet settle. The dizziness from the night before was gone. His body still felt heavy, but the sharp, tearing pain that had ripped through his back was noticeably weaker. An itchy, tingling sensation spread through the wounds~a good sign. The Recovery Potion was still working.
He carefully rolled his shoulders. No sharp pain. The gashes were healing faster than he had expected.
A quiet breath of relief left him.
Then he felt something warm against his chest.
Ethan froze.
He looked down.
Daisy was asleep in his arms.
At some point during the night she must have moved closer without realizing it. Her head rested against his chest, long dark hair spilling across his arm. She looked completely different from the woman he had met the day before. The dirt and grime had been cleaned away, revealing smooth, fair skin and delicate features. Her breathing was slow and peaceful, her expression completely relaxed.
Without the fear and exhaustion that had weighed her down yesterday, she looked younger. Softer. And beautiful.
Ethan stared for a moment.
Beauty Score: 96.
He remembered the system’s assessment. Daisy was easily one of the most beautiful women he had encountered since the apocalypse began. He also remembered what she had told him~how she had deliberately made herself look dirty and unkempt after the world collapsed. She knew exactly what kind of attention a woman with her appearance could attract when society fell apart.
Smart.
If the men who had imprisoned her had seen what she really looked like, things could have been much worse.
He looked at her sleeping face again.
She really went that far just to survive.
Daisy suddenly shifted. Her eyelashes trembled. Then her eyes slowly opened.
For a few seconds she seemed confused. Then she realized exactly where she was.
Her eyes widened.
She was lying against Ethan’s chest. Their faces were only inches apart.
Color rushed into her cheeks so fast it looked almost painful. She sat upright so quickly her hair fell messily over her shoulders.
"I~" She hurriedly tried to fix her hair. "I didn’t mean to."
Ethan sat up as well, careful not to startle her further.
"It’s fine."
Daisy lowered her head, fingers nervously twisting together.
"I was using my Mental Ability to keep watch last night. I must’ve fallen asleep after my energy ran out. And it got cold, so... I guess I moved closer without realizing it." Her cheeks grew even redder. "Don’t misunderstand."
Ethan almost smiled.
"You’re overthinking it."
She looked up briefly. "Really?"
"Really."
She visibly relaxed. Then she noticed him looking at her.
"What?"
"Nothing." He looked away.
Daisy pulled her jacket tighter around herself and cleared her throat.
"We should probably eat."
"Good idea."
Ethan reached into his Space Ability and pulled out a can of beef, then another. He handed one to her.
"Thanks."
She opened it and started eating slowly. Ethan did the same.
As he ate, his thoughts drifted back to the system. He still had some of the canned beef he’d scavenged earlier. In six days Daisy’s gift cooldown would reset. If he gave her one can then, the system should return at least a hundred.
His eyes briefly lit up.
One hundred cans from one.
He imagined the cans stacked neatly inside his Space Ability. It was almost ridiculous. A 100x Base Return meant ordinary supplies could multiply at an absurd rate. Compared to scavenging through abandoned stores one item at a time, the system was basically printing resources.
Ethan couldn’t help smiling.
Daisy noticed.
She tilted her head, still chewing.
"What are you smiling about?"
"Nothing."
"You’ve been staring into space for the last few seconds with that look on your face."
Ethan shook his head, trying to keep the smile from widening.
"Just thinking about supplies."
Daisy narrowed her eyes. The way he was smiling did not look like someone thinking about canned beef.
"That’s it?"
"That’s it."
She stared at him suspiciously for another long second, clearly not buying it, before finally returning to her food with a small huff.
They finished breakfast quickly.
Ethan stood and stretched carefully. The wounds on his back had already begun to scab over, and most of the weakness from the previous night had faded. He wasn’t fully recovered, but he estimated he was back to around seventy or eighty percent.
Daisy looked better too. Her complexion had regained its color, and her Mental Ability had recovered significantly after a full night’s rest. She closed her eyes and focused for a few seconds, then opened them again with a small smile.
"My range increased. About half a meter. And I can distinguish emotions more clearly now."
"That’s good."
Ethan glanced toward the basement entrance.
"We’ll take another route."
Daisy understood immediately. "The tiger?"
"Yeah."
He had no interest in running into that monster again while he was still injured. Not yet. He wanted to come back~but next time he wanted to be the one hunting.
Daisy clenched her fists quietly. She hated admitting it, but yesterday had made one thing painfully clear: she wasn’t strong enough. Ethan had saved her more than once. She couldn’t keep relying on him forever.
I need to get stronger.
She silently made the decision. The next time something attacked them, she wanted to be able to fight beside him instead of hiding behind him.
They left the basement and took a quieter route through the ruins. Daisy kept her Mental Ability spread out as they walked. It gave them enough warning to avoid several groups of wandering zombies and multiple packs of Mutant Rats hiding among the wreckage. Neither side noticed the other.
As the hours passed, the destruction around them grew worse. Collapsed houses lined the streets. Personal belongings were scattered across the pavement. A child’s toy lay half-buried beneath a pile of rubble. There were bodies too~some little more than skeletons, others partially eaten and left where they fell.
Daisy’s face gradually lost its color. She turned her head away more than once.
Then she saw something that stopped her completely.
A woman sat in the middle of the road, clutching the remains of a small child against her chest. She was crying~not screaming, not begging, just a broken, exhausted sound that seemed almost too quiet for the horror surrounding her.
Daisy’s stomach twisted. She looked away.
The apocalypse wasn’t something she could understand from stories or television anymore. This was real. People were dying everywhere. Families were disappearing. Children were being left without parents. And there was no one coming to save them.
She glanced at Ethan. If he hadn’t come for her... she might have ended up just like them. Her fingers tightened around the edge of her clothes. She didn’t know what she would have done without him.
Ethan noticed her expression.
"Don’t look." He placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. "Let’s keep moving."
Daisy looked up. His expression was calm. Steady. Something about that steadiness made the knot in her chest loosen.
She nodded. "Mm."
They continued walking.
Ethan’s mind, however, had already returned to the previous night’s battle. The Mutant Siberian Tiger. Its speed. Its strength. Most importantly, its defense. That kind of creature couldn’t have mutated without something valuable inside it~a powerful Core, probably an extremely high-level one.
I’ll come back.
He wasn’t going to forget that monster. Once he fully recovered and his Ability became stronger, he would return and take that Core. Whatever Ability it contained, it was too valuable to leave behind.
The two continued toward the villa district. Neither spoke much after that. Yet the silence between them no longer felt uncomfortable. They had survived a battle that should have killed them both. Something had changed between them. Neither of them said it aloud, but they both felt it.
By four in the afternoon the familiar walls of the villa district finally appeared ahead. Ethan recognized them immediately.
"We’re close."
Daisy’s tired expression brightened. They quickened their pace, though Ethan still didn’t let his guard down. They moved along the base of the perimeter wall, keeping themselves as hidden as possible.
When they reached Villa 8, Ethan suddenly stopped and raised one hand.
Daisy immediately froze. "What is it?"
"Listen."
She held her breath. At first she heard nothing. Then faint voices drifted from inside the villa.
Ethan’s expression changed. There were at least two people inside.
Daisy closed her eyes. Her Mental Ability spread through the building. A few seconds later she opened them.
"Two people. One is agitated. The other feels... sympathetic."
Ethan frowned. "Anyone else?"
"No."
He stared at the villa. Something wasn’t right. Debbie and Nina should have been inside. If they were in trouble...
He didn’t want to imagine what could have happened while he was gone.
"Stay here."
Daisy immediately grabbed his arm. "Where are you going?"
"I’m checking inside."
"I’ll come with you."
Ethan shook his head. "No. If there’s danger, I need you outside where you can sense it."
She hesitated, then nodded. "Be careful."
"I will."
Ethan crouched and moved through the shadows, keeping close to the trees and the outer wall until he reached the side of the villa. Then he climbed. The familiar skylight came into view. Just like before, he carefully pried it open and slipped inside without making a sound.
The attic was dark and quiet. He lowered himself onto the floor and waited. The voices from downstairs were much clearer now. He still couldn’t make out every word, but there were definitely people talking.
His grip tightened around the sword.
He slowly moved toward the stairs~one step, then another~keeping his breathing as quiet as possible. His mind was already racing.
Debbie. Nina. Please be okay.
He reached the top of the stairs and stopped. Then he began descending, slowly, silently.
Whatever was happening downstairs, Ethan was about to find out.