CHAPTER 46: CHAPTER 46: A BIG MISSION

Laziel snorted. "She is most likely still sleeping like a pig right now."

Zerra’s mouth twitched, and she jumped, almost biting Laziel’s foot hadn’t he been fast enough to withdraw it.

"My heart." He took a deep breath in shock, his hand on his chest. "I thought I almost died."

Darren’s attention shifted to the smug-looking Zerra, who still hadn’t let go of Laziel. She ran after him like her life depended on it. Her paws were lighting fast.

"Cassias, bro, help!" Laziel screamed, running around the room. "I don’t know what’s wrong with this thing!"

"Take off your sandals." Cassias shook his head, and he even let out a small chuckle.

His sudden laugh surprised everyone. Even Darren now was looking at the snow white fox curiously. Cassias liked such cute animals? He can see it from the way he was looking at the cute thing.

Nyra frowned, but said nothing. She stood up, intending to help her younger brother.

Laziel, who heard Cassias’ words, hurriedly took off his sandals and threw them away. The moment he did, Zerra stopped chasing after him.

Well, that was only a ruse. She needed a good reason to go after him, right? Otherwise, people would be suspicious if she always acted strangely every time Zerra’s name was mentioned.

A small crystal core tumbled out of the sandals, making a clinking sound against the floor. One last of her snacks she had thrown, had landed on his sandals, hence the chase.

Zerra avoided Nyra’s hand and went to the crystal core. She sniffed it for a moment, then threw it away in disinterest and disgust. It landed on Laziel, who had the illusion as if the fox was deliberately playing him.

"I already gave it to you? Why did you throw it away?" He scowled in protest.

Zerra was back to the chair, looking at Cassias with expectant looks. Her eyes telling him her meal was incomplete, missing one crystal core.

Darren coughed. "Maybe it doesn’t like the smell of your foot."

"What’s wrong with it? The crystal core had been inside those rotten zombies for a long time, anyway." Laziel snorted. Even Darren joined in to pick on him now.

"I pay attention to hygiene." Cassias raised his eyebrows elegantly. "The crystal cores that she ate are clean."

Laziel huffed and didn’t answer anymore. He begrudgingly sat a few meters away from Zerra, who had received another portion of the crystal cores.

Her eyes visibly lit up when she saw them. She dug in again, but secretly she was listening to their conversation.

"Is this your pet, Cassias?" Darren asked. Curiosity was evident in his eyes. "A mutated animal?"

"A zom–" Nyra was about to open her mouth. Cassias’ voice was louder. "Yes, a mutated animal."

There were two types of mutated animals. Those who were zombies, solely driven by zombie instinct for flesh, and the other was the type of living, mutated animals.

Animals were one of the first beings to mutate faster besides the plants. Human mutation took a slower rate compared to animals and plants, but that would eventually happen. It was just that they still had a long way to go.

"A mutated animal?" Darren nodded in understanding. He turned to Nyra, realizing that she had just said something. "Nyra, did you say something?"

"Nothing." Her facial features were stiff.

Darren sensed something weird. However, since he came to visit them with a purpose, he didn’t dwell on insignificant matters for too long.

Zerra shot Nyra a look as she groomed her paw after finishing a meal. She didn’t look like a normal mutated zombie animal indeed.

Her eyes... they were hazel, like the color of her true body in the celestial realm. If one didn’t take a close inspection, they wouldn’t notice she was a zombie. Unless they hurt her and saw her blood.

"How is it? You all really agree, right? Others are either not strong enough because they are only ordinary humans or are still in the process of recovery." Darren opened his mouth again. "I will also go. My younger brother stays here."

"I will go." Cassias said, dragging Zerra to his arms.

Nyra and Laziel didn’t refuse either. Since they all would go, of course, they couldn’t leave Zerra behind. They still didn’t believe that she, a magnet of trouble, could stay unscathed by the time they returned.

Darren had a satisfied smile on his face, and he proceeded to tell them the location of the supplies and the difficulty that they needed to deal with.

"There were still a lot of roads blocked on the way there. We might need to clear the path occasionally...," Darren began.

Approximately, the journey there would take around two to three days. So, they needed to prepare for their necessity.

Zerra listened as she licked on the water prepared by Laziel. She scrunched her nose. The quality wasn’t as good as Cassias’ spring water.

"What? You despise it?" Laziel whispered, rolling his eyes at her. She looked away, ignoring him.

Yet, after a while, she began to take a few more licks again. Well, forget it. Although the water wasn’t that good compared to the ones in her inner space, it was still made by the effort of that buffoon.

As a good sister, she wouldn’t waste it.

A smug smile plastered on Laziel’s face when she saw Zerra still eventually drank his water.

Darren left the room after he informed them of everything they needed to know. Zerra raised her head and looked at his retreating back meaningfully.

See? That was one reason they couldn’t go to the capital so quickly. The plot already prepared a surprise for them.

"Does this little thing only eat crystal cores? Wouldn’t we go bankrupt if she always eats so many of them? How about some chicken meat?" Laziel was spouting nonsense.

An idea suddenly appeared in Zerra’s head. She glanced at Laziel, showing a disdain to his idea before darting out of the door. Just in time with Darren closing it.

She didn’t look back, going as fast as she could to her room. Darren seemed to sense something, but couldn’t find her figure. He merely shook his head before continuing walking.

The moment Darren took a step to the stairs, heading down, she turned to her human form and opened the door.

Just as she was about to throw herself onto the bed, Nyra appeared. She told her, "Go pack your things."

"What do you mean? You are chasing me off?" Zerra pretended to be stupid.

"I wish." Nyra snorted. "We are going out for some days. Make sure you have everything ready in your space."

"Another mission? That’s such a long time. A few days," she commented.

"Yeah, so prepare whatever you need. Less you throw a tantrum there." Nyra didn’t forget to take a jab at her with her words.

Zerra didn’t mind her. She really packed her necessities, which wasn’t much, just making sure that she had everything ready in her space. Like sanitary pads, just in case.

Unfortunately, only a small part of her space could be accessed right now. She couldn’t go to the springs, retrieve the celestial realm items, or send her body inside to hide. In her wild guess, she needed to improve her power.

It was unknown at what level she could access them, though. Thankfully, most of the supplies can be taken out.

She also needed to return the grains to Cassias... she just didn’t know how. Oh, forget it. She would think about it later. Maybe she would have a chance later when she could sneak into his space.

After half a month, the shelter, which now had morphed into a human base, began to sell things for crystal cores. All people now needed to contribute to be able to survive.

The base had no place for idlers. As of late, they received an influx of people coming. They finally stopped being stubborn and willing to go to the base.

It also caused some problems. Some people were homeless, and they looked worse than hobo before the last days began.

Their arms were thin, like they hadn’t eaten for days. The clothes were dirty and hair looked like they hadn’t been washed for a long time. Their lips cracked.

***

The next day, it was the time they would head to the location of the supplies.

To arrive at the front of the base where the cars were parked, Zerra had to witness the unfortunate others.

"Let’s go." Laziel tugged on her. His jaw clenched, and she could tell that he was also trying hard not to look. It could bring pity.

She exhaled. In contrast to her and Laziel, Cassias and Nyra, who had survived the apocalypse before, were better at keeping their expressions straight.

Zerra had experienced a few apocalypses too, but as a zombie whose consciousness wasn’t truly hers, it didn’t count.

Even before she became a zombie, she only spent a few months. She hadn’t gone through the worst of it, which hadn’t come yet...

When they finally arrived at the front, Darren was there. Henry and his people, too. This time, they brought a few trucks to retrieve the supplies.

Henry and his minions smirked at them. In their smug faces, it held a promise of something sinister.