With careful steps, Roy made his way amidst the bushes and trees until he was right in front of the big boar. While Roy was analyzing the situation, he reached the conclusion that hunting the bigger of the two boars was the best decision. Firstly, the relatively small boar showed a less aggressive tendency, which meant it was more likely to run away than fight in case of a battle. Secondly, killing or deeply wounding the big boar in a surprise attack would greatly reduce the risk that he would be facing.

While the giant animal was still feasting on the corpse of the deer, Roy pounced at it from behind the bushes with unimaginable speed. By the time the boar looked up, the young man shoved the tip of his blade through its neck.

Shit, it’s tough.

Even though Roy put all of his strength behind his sword, the boar hide was too tough for him to completely pierce the neck. The animal squealed as blood rushed out of its neck and looked at Roy with aggravated eyes. It was just a second ago that it was the predator eating its prey, but now it was being hunted by the human in front of it. But such was the law of the jungle.

With its last remaining strength, the boar rushed like a mad bull at Roy. As if the young man was a matador in a ring, he looked with eagle eyes at the beast charging him. Only at the last second did he roll out of the way.

The boar could not control its speed and rammed into a tree that was behind Roy with tremendous force. The trunk snapped in half, and the medium-sized tree fell with a loud thud.

Roy stood up and looked around to check the situation. The boar that was eating berries was nowhere to be found. As for the large boar, it laid down on the ground beside the fallen tree, having already breathed its last.

Looking at the size of the boar, Roy couldn’t feel any happier—Its meat could feed everyone for at least a week if it was properly preserved. Roy could only hope that Mister Roger had enough salt to make it into jerky. If not, then it would at least last them for a couple of days before spoiling. From there on, Roy could simply just go back to hunt more.

With his left arm injured, Roy struggled for a couple of minutes to carry the body of the boar on his back. However, once he was able to put it in a comfortable position, he threaded his path through the forest with ease. Fortunately, the only beast Roy encountered on way back was a lone red fox. The process of putting the boar on his back took more time than the actual fight.

After an hour of walking, Roy had finally returned to the village. By then, the sun was at its peak. It pierced through the clouds and illuminated the bloody village. After a full night and morning battle between monsters and men, the scent of blood and gore permeated the streets.

However, when Roy came back with his hunt, no one paid the scent any heed. Their eyes were full of relief and hope and they shouted in joy.

“Today, we’ll be having a feast!”

Roy’s words only added fuel to the fire. Women in the back started chanting songs while the old men praised and thanked him.

Hearing the commotion, Roger went outside running. His jaw almost hit the ground as he looked at the enormous size of the boar Roy was carrying on his back. To top it off, the sight of a young man carrying a beast twice his weight only added to the surrealism of the situation.

Words got stuck in Roger’s throat as multiple questions flooded his mind. How did Roy find such a large boar? How did he hunt it? Did boars even grow to such a size normally?

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In the end, there was only one thing he could say to the young man who came back triumphant from his hunt. “I’m glad you came safely.”

“What bullshit about safe.” Jacob blitzed past Roger before checking Roy’s left arm. He clicked his tongue, “Put that thing down and come with me. I’ll fix you up real quick.”

Roy felt warm in the chest as he looked at Jacob. The doctor had spent the whole night and day treating his friends, and even then he did not complain nor stop. As he was told, Roy put down the boar and followed Jacob upstairs to what had basically become his operating room.

There were still two patients left in the room: Jaimie and Thomas. The first one was sleeping on the bed, while the latter was on a layer of cushions on top of a small wool carpet. The both of them looked like mummies as they were wrapped in absurd amounts of bandages. However, even through the dozens of layers of bandages that wrapped Jaimie, Roy could still see the pained expression on the young boy’s face.

“Hope you don’t mind sitting on the floor while I properly check your wound.”

Roy looked away from Jaimie and sat down while Jacob carefully examined his arm. The doctor’s face contorted with various emotions before he let out a massive sigh.

“I give up, I really don’t understand how you awakened’s bodies work. I know that the body heals best on its own, but this is too much.”

The wound that was the size of a golf ball and gushing with blood when the fox first bit Roy shrank to the point where barely any flesh could be seen.

“Well, just to be safe I’ll disinfect it at least.” Jacob took out a vial of vinegar and poured it on Roy’s arm before wrapping it up with bandages.

“Keep these bandages wrapped for three hours. We will replace them with fresh ones afterward.”

With his treatment finished in a matter of minutes, Roy went back downstairs to a joyful crowd. However, while everyone was happy due to the new boon, Daniel and Jeanie were sitting alone in the corner of the living room, their heads shoved between their arms.

“Hey, you two. Why are you so down?”

“We didn’t find mom and dad,” Daniel answered with a somber look while Jeanie silently sobbed.

Roy scratched the kid’s heads before warmly hugging them. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Tell me, what’s their names? That way I can look for them.”

“Dad’s name is Donald, and mom is Elena,” Jeanie said with a small voice.

Roy felt conflicted as he looked at the two kids in front of him. On one hand, his brain told him that the chances of their parents being alive was very low. But on the other, he could not bring himself to crush their hopes.

In the end, he could only do as he promised. Even if he could not find them alive, he should at least find their bodies to give a certain closure to the siblings.

What am I thinking? I’m talking as if I already saw them die.

There was indeed another major probability. From Roy’s talks with Marth, he knew that a majority of the villagers are stuck in the hall under John. The kids’ parents might be there.

Again, while Roy was lost in thought, the two kids’ stomachs growled with hunger.

“Is that two hungry little kids I’m seeing,” Roger said while laughing. “Here is some beef jerky for you, some appetizer before the main feast!”

Daniel and Jeanie quickly nibbled on the pieces of dried meat Roger had given them. Once they were done, both Mary and Greg came rushing from behind their father’s back.

“Hey, do you wanna play tag with us? It’s been a while since we haven’t played,” Mary asked the two siblings.

“Yeah, we need two more so that we can play. You can join us if you want,” Greg added.

Daniel and Jeanie looked at Roy as if asking for his permission.

“Sure, you can go.”

With a smile on their face, the two kids joined their new friends. The group of four started running in the living room and kitchen, amidst the sea of older men and women.

“It’s amazing how fast kids make friends, isn’t it?” Roger remarked.

Roy nodded his head. “Yes, it is.”

As he looked at the scene in front of him, Roy couldn’t help but be mesmerized. The kids were playing, the women singing, and the old men laughing with each other. For some reason, in the middle of this apocalypse that created so much sadness and misery, Roy was able to see the happiest and most joyful scene in his life.