The group looked between each other. I had laid things out pretty clearly, and it covered basically everything we needed to do.

Suddenly, our head coach stepped up. "You were talking about rationing. I can also think of several other menial tasks that can be carried out. Cleaning, trash disposal, organization. We'll need multiple people to help with your rationing idea along with doing chore work."

I quickly nodded. "You're right. I'm planning on taking Kevin, Elijah, and Kait with me to go and find this bow, so we won't be here. During the time we're gone, can I leave rationing and all that to you? You can gather some people, maybe athletes, and use their muscle to move all the food and supplies into this warehouse. Gather everything here and take inventory. Then you can create a food plan. As for implementing that plan, you can wait until we get back if you wish. Sound good?"

The head coach nodded. "Yes. I can handle all that."

"Nice." I stood straight. "If there are jobs to be done, then have people do them. Don't be afraid to hand out work. Oh, one other thing you should do. Form a team of scouts who will be in charge of keeping watch of the surroundings. They need to be on the lookout for any zombie variants, like the Screamer or Grabber. If these variants, or anything out of the ordinary, are found, then everyone needs to retreat and hide away. We also have all those weapons, so don't be afraid to use them. We need to be ready at all times for any sudden attacks."

"Got it."

"Then that's all I have. We'll set out tomorrow morning for the bow. Until then, if anyone wants to come and hunt outside with me, then feel free to follow."

With that, our little meeting was dismissed. I walked to the back door while the head coach and Albert began organizing some athletes and preparing a list of jobs to do.

Elijah, Kait, and Kevin followed me to the back door. We all walked outside. We didn't immediately fight though.

I turned to Elijah. "So? What kind of rewards did I miss out on?"

He smiled brightly at the mention. "Hehe, see this coat I have on?"

Elijah opened the black trench coat he was wearing. It went down just below his knees, and the material looked like some thick synthetic leather.

"This coat is a kind of armor, capable of shielding me against all kind of blades and impacts. The Archive said it's capable of blocking even low caliber bullets."

"Wow." I was genuinely surprised. To have an entire coat that was bulletproof was no doubt very confidence-boosting. He wouldn't have to worry about zombie scratches at all.

He smiled even wider as he reached into the coat, grabbing some kind of scabbard. "That's not all. I got this sword. It's like some kind of gladiator sword. Much longer reach than my machete."

Saying that, he unsheathed the sword.

The sword he showed me had a silver blade and brown handle. The blade was almost a meter long, with the handle being several inches long. The hilt was rather ornate with gold inlays, and the blade had fancy designs in its core that looked like Damascus steel.

"It's called the Spatha, a long sword. Although it's technically heavy for a sword, with my strength, I can wave it around just fine. I haven't actually tried using it yet, so I'm excited."

I slowly nodded my head. "That's really cool. Now, you also don't need to use your ability all the time to get rewarded. It'll greatly increase your longevity in a fight. So is that all?"

Elijah nodded. "Yup. Coat and sword. Now I just need to learn how to properly swing this thing, and I'll be golden."

"Then let's get some practice. It'll be good for you too, Kait." I turned to Kevin. "As for you, take this shovel. Kill zombies with it and you'll get Ectoplasm. Time to start building your stats."

I handed Kevin the shovel. It had been taken when I passed out from the zombie infection, but I eventually retrieved it. I liked that little shovel, but Kevin needed it more right now.

After that, we stepped into the line of sight of some zombies. I summoned my skeleton, and we all started farming kills.

I had it the easiest. Elijah had to actually step forward himself and fight, moving his body and using strength to swing his sword. He was using more energy than I was.

I also got to see Kait's new ability in action.

She waved her arms, and from them, frost began to form. The moisture in the air seemed to gather and turn to ice, creating several small orbs that looked like musket balls. Then, she launched them forward, and those little bullets created bloody holes in the zombies' heads.

She was able to make a lot of them, but there were some that didn't manage to pierce the skull of some zombies. These were wasted after she threw them, the energy that went into their construction and firing not achieving any results.

It was clear that she needed much more practice, but she still took to it well.

As for Kevin, he couldn't use his ability yet so I just watched my skeleton.

My minion had definitely grown stronger after its evolution. Its bone axe could cleave through bodies easily, and it had more Energy to use for fighting. It could easily kill 50 zombies before tiring.

It disregarded almost all attacks, since nothing could really hurt it. Although zombies would grab its bones and try to tackle it, a wave of the axe could usually get them off it.

Not only that, but I made a habit of having it absorb bones. The bones of standard zombies were obviously lesser in quality than the Grabber, but they were still worth something.

We spent two hours outside battling zombies, and with all our combined efforts, killed almost 300 of them. The surroundings were much clearer than before, but beyond the store, there were still thousands more waiting for us. By the next day, they would likely flood inward again.

With so many zombies available, I had my skeleton absorb all of their bones while I checked my rewards.

"42 Ectoplasm. And we actually got a drop."

I looked at the item in my hands.

----------------------------------------

{Jagged Cleaver}

Type 1

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

Stage 2

Damage: 15 - 27

Durability: 110/110

A Cleaver that’s been worn down by the endless hacking of large cuts of meat.

Remarks: Good for adding some healthy brutality to your murders.

----------------------------------------

The cleaver was standard except for the large chips in the blade that would undoubtedly make the wounds it inflicted that much nastier.

I handed this item to Kevin, taking back my shovel. I liked my shovel better than a cleaver. It was handy.

Kevin was happy to have the cleaver, an actual weapon. And unlike me, he didn't mind the brutality of it. I saw another, more primal side of him when he decided to test it out on some zombies. How he sheared and tore off chunks of their flesh, smiling as splatters of blood stained the street...

Note to self: Don't piss Kevin off. He might enjoy killing you.

As for Kait, well, she had magic, so I could keep the shovel.

After going through our energy reserves, we all retreated back to the store. It was at that time that Kait trotted up to me.

"Jack. How's your arm?"

"My arm? Oh, it's been getting better."

I lifted my left arm. On it, two scars ran from my elbow to my wrist atop the forearm. The cuts were nasty, created by sharp but jagged nails. The scars they left were even worse.

But surprisingly, it had healed completely. In fact, contrary to the fresh pink flesh that would usually appear when wounds healed, the scar tissue was faintly... golden.

It was like all the blood vessels around those wounds had turned gold, creating golden streaks that filled the scar and spread from the site of the wounds. I had noticed this a while ago since it wasn't natural, and I figured something out after staring at it for a while.

My Trait, like abilities, had left its mark on my body through those wounds. Since those wounds were the original infection site, and I had gotten a Trait that let me beat the infection, I earned something like a badge of honor.

Those two golden scars were very obvious above my slightly tanned skin, but since I often wore a sweater for protection, it was usually covered up.

When Kait looked at the scars closely, she obviously noticed the abnormality. "Wow. Do scars turn gold when they come from zombie infections?"

"Heh, no, I don't think so. Truth be told, I actually got a Trait." With a chuckle, I explained the Trait I got by beating the infection.

She was thoroughly surprised, not thinking that I had been withholding even more about myself. "That's crazy. Though, I don't think I'd want to test my luck just for a Trait..."

"Believe me, I rather wouldn't have either." I laughed a bit. Although it was nice having the Trait now, I wasn't keen on getting so cozy with death.

She looked up. "And what about your shoulder?"

I scratched my head. "It's better than it was. I'm barely able to move it now. But it still hurts way too much when I move it, so I've tried to keep it relaxed as much as possible."

"Seriously? Why haven't you put it in a sling then? Come on. I doubt you've wrapped it either, so let's find a medical kit."

She grabbed my arm, not allowing me to refuse as she pulled me away.

She quickly found medical supplies and had me take off my shirt. That's when she cringed.

I had stabbed and tried to cut my shoulder off with my knife, which, now that I looked back, was a stupid idea. I really should've commanded my skeleton, having it use its axe to outright chop it off. That would've been much better.

But I still had my arm, and now, there was a giant stab wound in it. The knife had severed several muscles. I'm pretty sure I hit some bone too. Thankfully I had been blinded by adrenaline and shock, allowing me to actually push through that pain.

But the wound was bad. The skin had kind of healed over, sealing it with a large scab. I had also wrapped it with a shirt I found. But the wounds hadn't healed completely, and definitely not properly.

The giant gash went from just under my collarbone to my chest, creating a long, jagged trench in my body. Blood had clotted the wound, but I could tell that it had only healed by at best 20%. The fact that I could move my left arm at all was a miracle.

And the only reason it had healed as much as it did was because of my vastly increased Vitality. That same vitality had regenerated my muscles and killed the zombie infection, so it was working wonders for my shoulder.

But one thing I was worried about was whether it would be able to heal completely. Kait seemed to worry about that too when she saw it.

Elijah, who had followed us, also became worried upon seeing the wound.

"You did that to yourself?"

I looked deadpan at him. "I was infected. I should've directly ordered my skeleton to chop my arm off. But instead I almost died."

"Heh, right." Elijah scratched his head sheepishly.

Kait carefully traced the wound. I sat there and let her do as she wished. Her touch was quite soothing, though I was still a bit timid when she got near the wound.

Her face lowered into something of a frown, yet mixed with sorrow when she remembered that I had done this to myself out of sheer desperation. "You've sliced apart muscles... Anything of that nature usually needs to be sewn back together before healing over the course of a few months. Without reconnecting them, you won't be able to use those particular muscles. And if it heals like this..."

"I have some confidence that it'll heal back with my Vitality." I spoke to reassure her. "Although many muscles have been cut, I still retain some function. I can still activate my shoulder and lift my arm, and I can even activate some strands of muscle in my chest. Although doing those things hurts to no end, I'm sure it'll be better when I fully heal. But yea, I can see my arm being a bit disabled in the future."

I had made this evaluation a couple days ago while eating. I obviously hadn't ignored my wound, but there also wasn't much I could do. I wasn't worried about infection or sickness of any kind now, and the wound had stopped bleeding not long after the knife came out of it. Without a doctor or surgeon, nothing more could be done, and I just had to wait for it to heal as much as it could.

Kait eventually sighed. Then, she took some of the medical wrap and covered the wound.

It didn't need to be cleaned. Again, I was basically immune to any kind of disease or infection now. But the wrap still kept it from being irritated by clothes.

After that, she used some other wrap and cloth to put it into a sling. This helped me keep from moving it around and hurting myself.

Suddenly, I looked at Kait who was adjusting some of the wrap. "Did you learn kinesiology?"

"Yea. I was studying for it." She confirmed my suspicions. "It's not as handy as being a nurse considering we're now in the apocalypse..."

"It's still something though." Elijah chimed in. "Most injuries are probably going to be non lethal, maybe not even bleeding since any wounds from zombies are going to kill you. In that case, things like sprained ankles or bad joints will be the most prevalent injury to treat with people fighting and all. Any form of medical knowledge is valuable."

"Mm." She smiled at the encouragement, finishing up the sling.

I moved my arm slightly when she was done. It was comfortable and supported my arm, keeping it from hurting all the time. I had just been dealing with the pain since I didn't think there was anything I could do about it, but now, I was at least comfortable.

"Thanks. I'll wear it until I heal."

"Good. And when we go on this mission tomorrow, let your skeleton do all the work. And let me take the shovel." She smiled as she grabbed the combat shovel next to me.

My face turned sorrowful. "B-but my shovel..."

"You need rest." She scolded. "That means no fighting unless absolutely necessary. Besides, using that ice ability takes a lot out of me. This will increase my longevity."

"Ugh. Fine."

With a pout, I gave in. She laughed before we got up and left to go eat some food. We'd need it for tomorrow.

............

.......

Everything was packed the night before, so we set off at the buttcrack of dawn.

It was only the four of us, and considering we were all awakened and equipped with special items, we were like some kind of elite squad.

I felt especially comfortable with the revolver under my left arm.

I had simply kept the gun on me these past few days, and everyone decided to ignore it, staring from far away.

As for actually using it, that was almost entirely out of the question. I knew from experience that calibers such as the 44 magnum were loud. So if I didn't want to attract the entire city to our position, then I would leave it be.

It was a trump card, a form of insurance in case we ran into anything really bad. Perhaps another variant, like the Grabber, would warrant its use.

And there was another thing I discovered. I could stash away bullets!

The revolver generated a single round every five hours, and it inserted generated rounds into empty chambers. Well, I could simply take the bullets out, allowing it to continuously generate more bullets without limit.

As for carrying around all the spare bullets, a generously donated and relatively clean fanny pack from a zombie solved that problem. I kept it on my waist at all times, throwing in another bullet whenever one was generated.

Since receiving the gun, I had stashed 15 bullets, not including 6 in the cylinder. In total, I had 21 bullets.

So I left the store with confident steps. And even though I no longer had my trusty shovel, no thanks to Kait, I was still able to keep myself safe with a few kicks to any zombies that invaded my personal space.