Thankfully, the journey back was surprisingly peaceful.
With Rose's zombies present to shield them from sight and divert any approaching undead, the group of five was able to successfully return to the girls' dorm. The eerie sight of the zombies acting as silent bodyguards, their shambling forms draped in silver moonlight, made for a macabre parade.
Though seeing more undead in the building than he expected to be around after he left, Kael didn't put much thought into it and watched as his sister's small army mowed through any challenge.
Even when Rose forced the shy Sophia to kill the creatures, Kael barely reacted, and while Nathan's expression showed his distaste, he also didn't make a move.
Like this, their group finally reached the door to Alice's room.
Before he could even knock, the door opened, and a figure jumped and embraced him.
"Thank God you are alive!" Natalie spoke with a relieved voice thick with emotion as she hugged him tightly.
Rose's eyes widened slightly at the display, her dark-as-night irises bright and clear as she watched the exchange, her young mind already churning.
'I thought big brother doesn't have any friend, after all he spends most of his free time playing with me and Sophy.'
As for Kael, he was already sweating bullocks.
'Oh God! I'm doomed.'
One shouldn't be deceived by Rose's former reaction, as just like Kael wasn't a normal child, his little sister was even more so.
If Kael was a prideful yet cautious and petty person, then his little sister could be described with only one word.
Prankster
She was a mischievous little minx, one that derived joy in instigating chaos.
Kael fidgeted a bit from the stares around him, prompting Natalie to release him, with a slight blush on her face.
"I-I am sorry. I just..."
"It is alright." Kael coughed before waving it off, prompting the girl to run inside the room in embarrassment. But when he caught that teasing look on Nathan's handsome face, a slight feeling of irritation rose within him.
'What are you thinking, you handsome bastard?'
The group soon entered the room before Kael spoke again.
"Rose, you should leave the zombies outside the door."
Rose nodded without any complaint, and soon after, the door shut closed with the small horde of undead standing before it like quiet sentinels of the damned.
---
Inside the room, Kael was surprised to find one more figure than he expected. It was a young girl who looked to be a bit younger than him, probably in her last year in junior high. The girl sat on one side as she seemed to almost want to make herself sink into the shadows. She sat with her knees pulled tight to her chest, her eyes wide and glassy, reflecting the deep trauma of the day.
He didn't spare her much thought and turned towards Alice.
"Thanks for the sword." He remarked sarcastically, yet he was surprised to see the usually stoic Alice flash him a rare smile, however slight it might look.
"You are welcome."
Her soft voice sounded so pleasant to hear. Still, Kael shook off the weird feeling before turning away.
'Soon... I will have my revenge.'
After deciding to leave with Nathan to search for his little sister, he had abandoned the blue mana sword construct in the room they were in. Still, he would never forget he was cheated of his experience points.
He moved towards Claire who stood quietly beside the door.
"Ms. Claire..." he started, before bowing deeply, "Thank you for keeping my little sister safe."
Claire quickly waved her hands around as she gave a stiff smile.
"I only did what I was supposed to do. Besides, your little sister was the one who really kept us safe."
Rose's prideful giggle resounded from beside them, but Kael conveniently ignored her.
Claire suddenly stared at him fixedly, causing Kael to blush slightly as he fidgeted.
"Ms...?" he asked questioningly.
Claire didn't reply for a few moments before a sad smile surfaced on her face.
"You've been through hell, haven't you?"
Kael stiffened upon hearing her words, his eyes widening slightly.
"You did well to survive," Claire finished as tears filled her eyes. Looking at Kael's miserable appearance filled her heart with pain. Her eyes scanned his frame, noting the contrast between his youthful features and the hollow, haunted depth in his eyes that no fourteen-year-old should possess.
After all, she was familiar with the young boy, as he always came to pick his sister from her class, and even play with them during his breaks.
'What did he go through within one day to look like this?' she didn't know, but what she was sure of was that Kael must have struggled badly to meet his sister again.
The boy in question sniffed to hold back his emotions. No matter what, he was still a fourteen-year-old boy about to reach fifteen. Smart and mature or not, he was still young at heart. Having someone acknowledge his efforts stirred his emotions and almost made him lose his composure.
He quickly shifted to the quiet Sophia beside Claire's side before flashing a smile.
"Sophy... how are you doing?"
Sophia quickly pulled Claire's clothes as she lowered her head.
"Big brother Kael, Sophia is fine," she whispered quietly. Hearing her familiar way of speech, Kael smiled in relief and was about to speak when the quiet Rose on Claire's other side suddenly shrugged away her sad look and practically jumped on her friend.
"Hey, Sophia. I told you not to call him brother. He is a baddie baddie."
"But..." Sophia argued, "...he is your brother."
Rose suddenly placed her hands on her waist and stared down at her friend.
"One that I have to suffer with for the rest of my life. You don't have to go through the same."
A look of irritation surfaced on Kael's face as he watched his own sister speak of him in such a way, and that too to his face.
"You, this cheeky thing..." He moved to pull her ear, but the girl was nimble enough to escape from his grasp before hiding behind Claire's back.
Claire laughed slightly at their antics, something she didn't realize she had not done since the apocalypse descended.
"Huh?"
As if remembering something, Rose suddenly peeked her head from behind Claire, her bright eyes staring at Kael.
"Big brother."
Kael sent her an annoyed look before answering.
"Yes?"
The little girl stared at him for some moments before she asked.
"What did you have in your mind stat when you awakened?"
A feeling of unease suddenly sprang up within Kael's heart when he heard her question. Still, he refused to show any weakness, as he composed himself and asked back.
"What did you have?"
"Not fair..." Rose pouted cutely but still replied soon, "I had nine."
Despite trying his best not to show much, Kael's brows still twitched when he heard her answer. He felt his pride hit, and he couldn't help but want to curse the system in his heart.
With the theory that while ten points was the highest limit of a normal human, but it was virtually impossible to reach it, it meant that the system judged his sister to be among the smartest top percentile of her age group, while he was a level below her in his.
Seeing him not answer, Rose asked again, "So what did you have?"
Her big yet bright eyes didn't shift away from him for a second as she dissected his every reaction.
With a somewhat strained smile on his face, Kael responded:
"Guess!"
But Rose wasn't fazed as she burst into giggles. She knew her brother too well to be moved by that response.
She moved confidently away from behind Claire and came back into full view.
After a few soft yet low laughs, she looked at him smugly and whispered.
"Dumbass!"
"Hey, that's no way to talk to your elder brother." Claire turned about to smack the little girl when she saw Rose cover her mouth quickly and point at Kael accusingly.
The message was clear.
Kael was the one who taught her the word.
Unsure of what to do, Claire could only turn back to Kael, who gritted his teeth in anger, with a strange expression on her face.
Thankfully, someone was there to save Kael from his embarrassment.
The shy Sophia suddenly rushed at him before hugging him tightly.
"Big brother is not dumb. He—he is very sweet."
"Hey, Sophia, why are you hugging him?" Rose tried to approach her friend, but Kael quickly picked the shy girl up into his embrace before flashing his little sister a victorious grin.
"Hey, that's not fair. Let her down."
Rose jumped around him, while Kael ignored her. Sophia, on the other hand, buried her head in Kael's shoulder, too shy to look at him.
Watching this sight brought another smile to Claire's blood-smeared face. For a second, it seemed like the world had not changed.
She suddenly shifted her gaze down to the phone to see it blink twice before abruptly switching off, its soft flickering torchlight dying out and sending the room into total darkness.
'That fast? But I turned it off since morning and only switched it back on this evening.'
The room, now quiet and with the windows shut, seemed smaller and far darker than it should be. The darkness was absolute and oppressive, smelling of stale sweat and the metallic tang of blood that lingered in the stagnant air.
Left with no choice, Alice could only open the window slightly to let the soft light from the moon enter. A thin blade of silver moonlight cut through the gloom, illuminating the dust motes dancing in the air.
She quietly pulled a bag from the side before handing out snacks and bottles of water she was able to scavenge on the third floor.
Nathan quietly muttered a thank you as he watched the previously whisper-filled room now fall into an unsettling silence.
As each person ate the small food they had to recover whatever little energy they could, a system message suddenly flashed in front of each of them, and every other surviving human around the world.
[ SPECIAL NIGHT EVENT STARTING....]
*****
AN: AN: Thank you for reading. Vote power stones if you enjoyed the chapter😁.
*****
AN: AN: Thank you for reading. Add as a favorite if you enjoyed the chapter😁.