They were at an impasse. Sebastian was clearly not listening to him, and David had no idea what he could say or do to prove his point. He wasn’t Infected!
This is getting us nowhere.
He cleared his throat and stared sternly at the hulking man, “Look at my wounds. Study them intently, if you have to, and tell me whether I am an Infected!”
David didn’t like the situation and found his patience slowly seeping away. He did not need to stay if they didn’t want his help. He could leave!
Footsteps rang out to his left. Hunter Jack returned from checking the surroundings, his gaze lingering on the girl, which caught David's attention.
“There are Infected down the street to our left. About three dozen,” He announced, “Let’s leave before they find us.”
David stared impatiently at Jack as he looked up. The Hunter returned David’s stare and looked at Sebastian a moment later. He cocked his eyebrow and frowned deeply.
“What are you doing, Sebastian?”
“That guy is injured. There is a bite mark, and he is covered in scratches. He is infected!” Sebastian grunted, his expression hardening, which only annoyed David further.
“That’s not true, though,” David retorted.
What an idiot. The cliché about muscleheads being foolish seems to be true. Who would have thought?
Brawn but no brain.
David noticed Jack nod subtly, his pupils dilating as his eyes flicked from one of David’s wounds to the next.
“You’re right, Sebastian,” Jack agreed with the Warrior’s comment, but David noticed a sharp glint in the Hunter’s eyes and remained calm. Sebastian got up, grasping the longsword, but Jack raised his hand, stopping the Warrior.
“But only about his injuries. He was injured, to be precise, probably by an Infected like you guessed. However, he is not infected,” Jack commented. “Can’t you tell? Flora is suffering beside you. Look at her wound and tell me what the infection is doing to her. Then compare what you see with… him.”
Jack’s eyebrows rose slowly as he returned David’s gaze, “You are not infected, but you…”
“I was infected, yes. But I picked the Cleric Class and healed myself,” David nodded.
Jack began to smile, his eyes flicking to Flora, while Sebastian remained tense.
“I can leave her to die,” David said coldly, “I wouldn’t feel guilty about it either.”
He shrugged, his eyes drifting to the Warrior, “I’m merely telling you that saving her is no problem for me. I healed myself multiple times, as you can tell from my wounds. If it hadn’t worked, I would be like those rotting Infected by now. Dead.”
Jack walked up to Sebastian and tried to shove him aside.
“Just let him help her, man. She will die if we leave her like this! I don’t want Flora to die! Not…Not if we can rescue her… Or do you want her to d—”
“Don’t say anything you cannot handle,” Sebastian glared daggers at Jack, reached for his collar and pulled him closer, “Don’t even think about gaslighting me, boy!”
Sebastian pushed Jack to the side and made space.
They have a really nice dynamic. David mused.
He approached the little Mage girl and bent down. He studied her for a moment and pressed his hand over her wound. Maybe that wasn’t necessary, but David had to make sure not to waste any holy power.
[Cleanse]!
David’s hand began to glow, a dim light pulsing through his skin until it burst through his pores, coating his palm in a faint but pristine light. Using [Cleanse] on someone else felt weird. Different.
It was almost like he invaded the Mage’s body to fight a battle. A battle she was currently losing.
The pristine light surged from his pores, but David barely noticed; he was too focused on the Mage’s improving complexion.
A few silent seconds passed before David got up.
“Will she be fine?” Sebastian asked curtly.
David ignored the Warrior. He looked at a bunch of interfaces.
[Patient’s Infection has been cleansed.]
[Proficiency of Cleanse increased.]
[Proficiency of Cleanse reached 100%.]
[Tier-0 I] → [Tier-0 II]
David wasn’t surprised by [Cleanse]’s rank up but was slightly disappointed that he didn’t receive any rewards. His expression soured briefly, but a smile crept on his face when a strand of information entered his mind. It joined the other information of [Cleanse] squeezed into his mind.
[Cleanse] should be more efficient now. That’s neat.
He had a few theories revolving around applying Skill Runes, but digesting the intel would take a while.
“Thanks…” Sebastian murmured. David turned to the hulking man and saw him tending to Flora. The infection was gone, “Sorry about earlier.”
David waved a hand dismissively; none of it mattered anymore.
Flora stirred, and her eyes shot open. David stood there as she gasped for air, a tear slipping down her cheek.
“I’m not dead?” She asked in a whisper, and more tears welled in her eyes, “I’m not an Infected!”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
She bawled her eyes out, while Sebastian put his longsword aside to embrace Flora tightly
“It’s okay. Everything will be fine. Our friend helped us. He removed the infection,” Sebastian spoke in a low, reassuring tone, though David barely registered his words as his gaze fixated on the longsword beside the hulking man.
It was a beautiful weapon. A double-edged sword. A real weapon made of cold steel.
David’s attention lingered on the weapon before drifting to the wooden staff beside Flora and the bow on Jack’s back.
“Where are these weapons from?” David asked, his attention finally locking onto the baseball bat.
Maybe they were lucky and received them as drops? That would explain the weapons’ flawless appearance. They look like they’ve never been used before.
“Didn’t you receive anything?” Jack asked. David turned, his gaze following the Hunter as he approached a fallen Infected and pulled an arrow from its eye. “The weapons appeared after we picked our Classes.”
That…
David’s eyes narrowed to tiny slits. Realization dawned upon him.
“Fuck this shit! Even this world-ending event is scamming me!” He growled while Jack accelerated his steps. He retrieved all the arrows in a hurry and returned to the others.
“We have to leave. The Infected should be close by.”
David ignored Jack and headed to the baseball bat, “I can have that, right?”
“Take it. You deserve it.” Sebastian said.
David didn’t waste any time and reached for the bat. It was shorter than his forearm but thicker and heavier than an average baseball bat. David didn’t recognize the material used to make the bat. It had to be something special, some sort of dark wood maybe?
He swung it a few times and nodded in satisfaction.
Even though the stones were great, this is much better.
“Guys…” Jack grumbled, “The Infected are on their way!”
“Are you asking us or telling us?” David couldn’t help but respond. Jack glared at him while Sebastian moved. He grasped his longsword with one hand and lifted Flora from the ground with the other hand.
How about we kill the Infected?” David proposed suddenly. “There might be three dozen, but they’re slow—most of them, at least—and we could eliminate half a dozen or more before they reach us. Sebastian can cut through them easily, and I am not too bad when it comes to thrashing walking corpses, either. I think we can make it work as long as we work together. Even if we’re getting scratched, I can cleanse the infection.”
David noticed Jack’s expression twist in disgust, but it was Sebastian who finally answered.
“Normally, I would agree, but Flora’s mana reserves are empty, and I’m running out of stamina. Using [Slash] and [Parry] close to a dozen times drained me,” He explained, “Don’t get me wrong. I can still keep going, but fighting thirty or more Infected when it’s not necessary is just wrong.”
To think the musclehead would start a lecture like that. Maybe he’s smarter than he looks. But do we need Flora to fight the Infected? Sebastian and Jack can deal with a dozen Infected while the heavy bat deals with the rest!
David felt a grin creep across his face as the thrill of battle surged within him.
His eyes widened slightly at his thoughts. His heart stopped beating wildly a moment ago, and he wanted to return that sensation.
Is that what they call ‘addiction’?
David scoffed and shook his head. He cussed himself and nodded after a good second.
“You’re right,” He agreed, “But you guys don’t have any food, right?”
The trio shook their heads in unison, bringing a smile to David’s lips.
“In that case, we should return to the supermarket once everyone is ready!”
He didn’t care about their lingering gazes or what they thought of him. The thought of fighting the Infected en masse excited him.
Maybe we can find something stronger soon. One of the Infected was stronger than the rest.
That would be terrifying but also exciting. David licked his lips.
“Whatever. Let’s leave!” Jack said, yet he turned to David first, “I guess you're coming with us.”
“As long as it’s fine with everyone.”
Nobody said anything. The voting was unanimous.
Jack’s gaze flicked left and right before landing on the shopping center entrance.”
“How about some more shopping?” He asked, jogging to the entrance. Jack didn’t even wait for the others. He entered the shopping center and disappeared.
“I hate this guy,” Sebastian grumbled but followed inside the shopping center, not forgetting to help Flora, who was having difficulty keeping up with the rest.
David glanced to his left, spotting the group of Infected that Jack had mentioned earlier. They weren’t close yet, but the group headed in their direction.
He sighed and followed the trio inside the shopping center.
“Silent,” Jack’s calm voice rang out when David entered the shopping center. The dim light from the morning sun shining through the high windows illuminated a lone Infected.
Did he lose his group? Sorry, mate, but your colleagues are dead. Like dead, dead.
There shouldn’t have been people in the shopping center. It was closed the day before and hadn’t been close to the opening hours when the world turned upside down. Maybe that was why Jack returned to the shopping center.
Whatever.
David wasn’t going to avoid a single Infected. His heart rate quickened, and he rushed forward, ignoring Jack’s whispered outcry. The Infected turned to David and snarled, but all that followed was a loud crunch when the heavy baseball bat crushed the Infected’s skull and brain in one go.
[You have defeated an Infected(Common).]
That was easier than expected.
“What the hell are you doing?” Jack hissed as he appeared beside David, grasping his arm firmly and yanking him back.
“I removed the obstacle,” David responded in a matter-of-fact tone.
“By being a bulldozer? Do you want to bait all Infected in the building??”
David’s expression turned ice-cold, his eyes trained on Jack’s arm holding him.
“First of all, you’d better let go of me.”
Jack’s hair stood on end as he quickly released David’s arm.
“Second, you and your friends have attracted more than enough Infected already. I have no clue what you guys were doing in the shopping center, but I’m fairly sure it was empty this morning. Furthermore, your clothes are stolen. You forgot to remove the price tag.”
Jack looked at the back of his shirt and cursed when the price tag peaked out, “So what?!”
“So what? Nothing. Really. It’s just that, since the shopping center was empty this morning, you and your friends must have lured the Infected inside. That said, I doubt there are any more Infected in the shopping center since they’ve been pursuing you guys. Of course, that is only my guess. There might as well be other survivors in the shopping center, and they lured the Infected inside, but given your expression, I can tell that my theory is correct.”
David shrugged lightly.
“It’s not too important, either way. I don’t care too much. I will also take some stuff from the shopping center. Some new clothes to switch out of my old clothes drenched in a mixture of blood and sweat and a bag, I guess,” David sighed softly.
“The point is that you guys were loud enough to pull all Infected out of the shopping center. Our conversation is probably louder than smashing an Infected’s head.”
David watched Jack’s face turn red, rage clear in his eyes. He wondered why the Hunter was so angry.
Was he upset about putting the group in danger? Probably not. Maybe he was fuming because I exposed him so easily- David was certain his theory was right, even if Jack was fuming about it.
But maybe it wasn’t that simple. To David, Jack seemed lost, even confused. Why was he so on edge?