“So, how is it?” Jay asked as he looked at the doctor who was carefully checking his forearms. Frankly, this was a waste of time and he’d rather be anywhere else than here. For him, those bruises were an inconvenience at best and there was no need to fuss over them.

However, Lexie obviously didn’t think the same and wouldn’t have it that way. As soon as he and the twins finished their discussion, she went off, dragged the doctor back, and asked her to check up on him. The latter too agreed without hesitation and under the insistence of the two women, he could only sit helplessly and let the doctor do her magic.

“If it were any other time, I’d ask you to rest and avoid moving your arms too much. However, I guess you won’t listen to my advice,” the doctor answered while giving Jay a complicated look. It was only after taking a closer look at Jay’s wounds that she truly understood all they had to go through to leave the arena alive.

His fists were covered with numerous cuts and the joints were bruised. It looked like he hammered his hands against a wall for minutes without any protection. It was really a miracle that not a single of his bones had been fractured.

As for the bruises on his forearms, whatever left him with those must have hit him extremely hard and caused immense pain. Anyone else would already be whining to no end, but Jay acted as if he couldn’t care less. Still, she wasn’t too surprised by his behavior. As the team’s doctor, she had worked with him on multiple occasions during the last three years and had some understanding of his exceptional physical prowess and character. His resilience had always been one of his strongest points.

Nonetheless, it truly bothered her to see him in such a state. As an adult, she considered it her duty to protect the youngsters and keep them out of harm’s way. That Jay and the twins had to shoulder the responsibility for everyone's survival and pay such a price to do so didn’t sit well with her. However, she was aware that in times of crisis, age stopped being relevant and strength and abilities became the most important things.

“It’s not that I don’t want to. Just that I can’t afford to,” Jay replied with a shrug. Obviously, he would rather not have to fight for his life. However, it wasn’t like life was going to wait for him to recover. Besides, he couldn’t just sit around if he wanted to get the maximum benefits from the quest.

“I understand. Anyway, we should clean up all this blood and dress your wounds. Just promise me to be careful later,” the doctor said and immediately got busy. While she wasn’t a fighter, she was determined to put all her skills at their disposition and protect them in her own way.

“Thank doc, I will be,” Jay said seriously. He really intended to follow the doctor’s advice. While he could shrug off his current injuries, he knew it was wiser to avoid getting wounded altogether. After all, every injury would affect his performance and he would rather not be weakened given the current circumstances.

“I should be the one thanking you. And you can call me Angela,” she said.

“No need, Angela. I was just trying to save myself,” Jay replied with a smile.

“Look like you got yourself another fan,” Lexie joked as she observed the interaction between the two from the side.

As he heard Lexie, Jay simply shook before turning toward Angela again and asking, “How is it going with Caleb?”

“Well, he is doing well. His vitals are a little higher than normal but it is nothing to worry about. For the moment, I didn’t notice any serious abnormality. His injuries look quite normal too. He has all his awareness and he is responding well to the drugs I gave him. However, I can’t draw any conclusion yet as the observation time is too short. Still, if nothing goes wrong, I expect him to recover soon,” Angela reported.

“Good work. We hope he'll recover as you expected,” Jay said, giving a small nod in acknowledgment.

“It’s nothing,” Angela said as she continued to carefully bandage Jay’s hands. Soon enough, she was done and Jay's previously bloodied hands were now completely clean and wrapped in white gauze. And frankly, Jay had to admit that he felt much better after receiving Angela’s care.

Afterward, she turned to Lexie, administrating her a much similar treatment to the one Jay’s received.

“Where is Alex? I need to check up on him too,” she then asked after she was done with Lexie.

“He’ll be back with the other soon,” Jay answered.

“Oh! Is something going on?” Angela asked, curiously looking at Jay.

“Don’t worry, they should be here soon.”

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“Alright.” Angela nodded and sat down to wait for Alex.

A few moments later, he returned with the few people who volunteered to help them at the start, and a small group gathered in the locker room.

“Okay, since everyone is here, we can start,” Jay said as he looked with a smile at the small crowd gathered in front of him. There were the twins, Damian, Hendrick, Lucas, Louisa, Carlos and Angela. If nothing unexpected happened, those few would be the core of his group and the ones he’d rely on the most from now on.

“We called you here to discuss our next course of action,” Jay said, stating his intent for gathering all of them here.

“For starters, we are considering leaving this place for let’s say a much safer one,” Jay said, immediately surprising most of those present, save the twins.

“When?” Damian asked.

“As soon as possible. Actually, as soon as we conclude this discussion,” Jay answered.

“Why? Isn’t it too dangerous to move right now?” Louisa voiced her concerns. After all, given her brother’s state, it was definitely not an optimal choice to move right now. For her, the later it was, the more time her brother would have to recover.

“I understand your concerns but I don’t think we really have the choice. For starters, there are almost no supplies in this place,” Jay said as he looked at Damian.

In response, Damian nodded and said, “It is as Jay said, there is really nothing here. Earlier, while we were looking around, we only managed to find some energy bars, snacks, and fruits. However, I doubt there is even enough for everyone. And that’s even if we try to ration it. Then the only weapons we found were some tools. The only good news is that we have enough water.”

“I get it, but we can just go for a supply run,” Louisa said.

“Yes, we can. But this is just one of the reasons. I don’t know about you but I just don’t feel right with thousands of zombies frolicking a stone's throw away from me. And I don’t trust that door to keep us safe when it truly matters.” Jay replied.

“I get what you are saying, but they don’t have any reason to come here. As long as we don’t do anything to draw them, we should be alright,” Lucas said.

“Let’s not even talk about the ones that were after us when we ran and should still be banging at our door. What do you think will attract them? How do they sense us?” Lexie asked with a smile.

“Noise?” Lucas answered uncertainly.

“I wish it was that simple. You should have noticed that as soon as they woke up, those things instantly unleashed their rage upon any person who was still normal. Not a single one attacked another zombie,” Lexie pointed out what happened earlier. At first, it may seem normal. Attacking humans that’s what zombies do. However, that was an incredibly odd situation. “How do you think they could tell apart between humans and zombies?” she once again asked.

This time no one answered and they simply waited for her to develop her thoughts.

“Let’s suppose they rely on their hearing like you think. In case you didn’t notice the zombies weren’t particularly discreet either. I don’t see how they could have made anything apart in the noisy mess that was the arena. At best noise can attract their attention, but that’s it.” She started, first breaking down the possibility of zombies relying on their hearing to track them down. It was impossible that the zombies could specifically tell apart between the noise they made and the one created by humans.

“Now let’s talk about sight. I can’t even tell apart a zombie and a human if I don't really pay attention. Do you think those things can do the same? I highly doubt they still have the intelligence for that.”

“That leaves us with smell then. Honestly, it is the most likely way they track us. However, something happened while we were escaping. I don’t know why but most of the zombies we met were weirdly drawn toward us. And I confess that neither of us put on something that could attract them,” Lexie said, sharing with the group the odd situation they had to face while escaping the arena.

After that, Lexie stopped and gave her listeners some time to think over her words. “I think that now everyone should understand, right? There is more likely another way for the zombies to point us out and whatever it is, it is affected by our personal strength.”

“Life force, vital energy,” Angela muttered, attracting everyone’s attention. As she felt everyone's gaze, she took a moment to organize her thoughts before sharing them. “In fantasy books, zombies are undead. Undead are characterized by undead energy or death energy while living beings are characterized by life force or vital energy. Most of the time a living’s life force intensity increases with their strength. And undead can sense life force. If our zombies too can sense life force, it wouldn't be surprising that they targeted Jay and the twins since they are stronger.”

“That’s what we thought too. While we can’t be sure at 100%, this is the most likely possibility we can think of,” Lexie said.

“I guess you are afraid that the zombies in the arena will pick up our life forces and target us,” Lucas said.

“More or less. We have no idea how far the range of this sensing is and they could very well be unable to sense us. However, we can’t exclude the possibility of something going wrong. Even if they can’t, who is to say that the system won’t try to mess with us? Anyway, if our fear comes true, it could end really badly for us. We won’t be able to defend this place if a horde comes barreling at us,” Jay explained. The locker area wasn’t only too narrow but there were only two issues, one leading to the arena and another that was the arena’s exit.

If the zombies inside the arena managed to break through and reach them, they would have no choice but to escape and that could be dangerous, considering whatever could be waiting for them outside. Then, things could be even worse. If by some twist of luck, the attack was to come from their only exit path, they’d had no way out and it’d be game over.

“Alright, we get it, staying here is risky. I guess you already have an idea of a place we can stay,” Carlos sighed as he asked.

“Well, I do indeed.” Jay acquiesced as he started to explain his plan.