Chapter 56- Infestation (Part 1)
Chapter 56- Infestation (Part 1)
Rein then picked up a piece of paper and a pen and decided to draw the tower, what he saw, and anything he considered peculiar about it. He wanted to deduce any possible information from it that could be deemed useful for the future.
’What I know so far about it is that it emerged when the chaos erupted and when the earthquakes hit the city... or potentially the entire world.’ He thought to himself. ’It’s safe to say that it is either the result of that catastrophe or the reason for it. Either way, it is clearly something that should be of interest to us.’
Judging from how it looked, Rein could also guess that he could access the interior of it in some way. What that way was, or what he was going to find inside if he did indeed access it, was still completely unknown.
His eyes didn’t leave the tower for a while after, as he kept sketching a drawing of it, adding every detail he would notice about it. He felt oddly enticed by it that he didn’t know why he was even doing such a thing in the first place... It was very unlike him.
However, at the same time, every fiber of his being was simply drawn in by this entity, and he could only abide by that weird calling.
’What do you hold inside you, I wonder...’ His eyes slowly got lost in the sketch, not even noticing his surroundings that well.
Time passed rather quickly for him, unaware of whether it was still morning or it was already noon.
"I didn’t know you could draw so well, Rein."
Suddenly, a voice snapped Rein out of his daze as he looked to the side before he looked out of the window again. "I try to sketch sometimes. It’s nothing impressive."
It was naturally Violet. The girl had spent the morning sleeping to recover some of her lost energy, and then she came over to talk to Rein.
"We are about to eat. We found some food in the storage room. Do you want some, Rein?" Violet asked.
"Not yet. I will be there with you in a minute." He said as he continued writing down. Violet watched him silently from the side, a bit curious about what he was writing, before she looked up.
"Hey, Rein..." She said.
"Hm?"
"What do you really think this system wants from us?" She asked. "Everything that happened between yesterday and today... It all has a meaning, doesn’t it?"
"..." Rein stopped scribbling and looked at her. "It does. At least that’s what I see."
"Yeah. Everything feels purposeful and deliberate. But I’m curious what it truly wants from us. Where is it leading us?"
Rein pursed his lips and didn’t reply immediately. He also asked that question, and naturally, he had no answer to it yet. The information they had access to was so little that it wasn’t even possible to build any useful assumptions.
It could truly be anything, and that was an infinite number of choices. Yet, Rein, purely from his gut feeling, somewhat believes that the answer is more straightforward than one would expect.
"It is trying to cultivate the strongest individual in the world... That’s what I think it is doing."
"Cultivate the strongest individual in the world?"
"Mhm, if you really think about it. The way things are going... It is survival of the fittest now. You either kill, stomp, and get stronger, or die and become the stepping stone for another individual. If that doesn’t mean that this system is cultivating the individual who will stand at the pinnacle of power in this world, then I don’t really know what it’s really doing."
"You have a point..." Violet seemed a bit disturbed by that reality. However, she understood it and knew it was their reality now. Whether she liked it or not, she had to adapt, learn, and avoid being the stepping stone for another person or monster.
"For now, we can only do what we know and well... If there is an answer to any of this, then that tower is our best bet. It could either answer everything... Or give us more questions, and I don’t mind either." Rein replied as he closed the notebook and stood up with a pained grunt.
Giving the tower one last look, he turned to Violet.
"Let’s go eat."
"Mmm." She nodded her head and walked out of the room with him.
At that moment, unbeknownst to them, the tower in the distance pulsed faintly with a blue light. It happened in a split second before disappearing completely without a trace.
***
For the rest of the day, the group tried to fortify the building as much as possible, closing any possible openings monsters could access, and then, they simply tried to get as much rest as possible.
Every minute that passed was a precious time of peace they won’t get after that, so making use of it as much as possible was key. Rein particularly tried to use all the time to accelerate his healing as much as possible. He knew that if something happened while he was still heavily injured, he would be in great trouble.
Luckily, those hours of rest helped a lot, and the pain subsided a bit. He was still far from close to healing, but he could at least run around and move his limbs, even if it hurt a lot. That was all he needed to work with.
The afternoon turned into sunset and then into a blinding darkness that cast its shadows upon the ruined city.
The group used flashlights and candles to light up the cafe. It made it possible to see within a good distance. It was quiet and cold... Nobody was talking, only the faint sound of breathing and the occasional noise.
Everyone was asleep, with at least two always awake to guard the group. For that time, it was Teo who sat near the window, daydreaming in silence.
’I wonder when we will start moving again. Ugh, just thinking about traveling all this distance hurts my feet. Ugh, but, but, at least I am way stronger now. I think I can fight monsters... Actual monsters and not just the Undead!’ He clenched his fist as he filled his heart with determination.
*Click*
"Hm?"
At that moment, Teo heard a small clicking sound that made him look up. It was faint and distant, but in the silence, he could hear it.
"What’s that?" He turned his flashlight on and looked around the cafe. Then, the clicking sound happened again. "Huh?"
There was nothing. After roaming the place for a bit, he came back to his seat with a nervous look on his face.
’Is that just rain? Maybe the walls of the building are cracking? Fuck, this is so scary.’ He clenched his teeth and tried to focus on the outside world. He was just staring at the beautiful sky and trying to pass the time.
However, as his eyes slowly moved to the sky, he noticed something in the distance. His eyes squinted as he leaned forward. At the same time, he turned the flashlight again before every single color was drained from his face in a second, and his heart completely stopped in his ribcage.
Teo froze. He stared again, then froze... His hand started shaking, his lips quivered, and his eyes widened to the extreme. Then, without realizing, he fell back, dropping the phone as the sound he had heard earlier appeared again.
*Click*