Chapter 38- Hungry
The morning light filtered softly into Julian’s room, painting the walls in a pale glow. Ms. Rei stood at his bedside, arms crossed, a stern but relieved expression on her face. "You’re lucky," she said flatly. "If treatment had been delayed any longer, you would’ve died. Good thing I hadn’t used my [Revitalize] skill yet, it saved your life just in time."
She exhaled, her tone softening. "Get some rest, Julian. And... thank you for saving everyone."
Turning her gaze to the four girls gathered closely around his bed, she gave them a pointed look. "Make sure he doesn’t try anything absurd while I’m gone," she said, before striding out of the room.
Veronica moved closer, her arms folded, her eyes narrowing slightly at Julian. "Don’t even think about moving too much," she warned. "The side effects of my ultimate skill are probably putting a huge strain on your body right now."
Emma nodded, her expression serious but kind. "You need complete rest if you want to recover quickly," she insisted.
Julian sighed in defeat, his face calm but resigned. "...Yeah. Fine."
After a moment, his eyes flicked between Clarissa and Veronica. "What happened... after I left you two?" he asked, his voice quiet.
Clarissa shifted closer, her expression grave. "We managed to rescue all five people who were taken," she began. "But... they were being kept in these... cocoons. It was like they were trapped or being preserved. When we freed them, one of them... he couldn’t speak anymore. His mind was gone, like he’d lost himself completely."
Veronica picked up the explanation with a frown. "There was something wrong with those cocoons. Maybe something the zombies used to... change them. Or learn about them."
Julian’s eyes darkened in thought. So the zombies are evolving... finding ways to study humans... He clenched his hand into a fist under the blanket.
He looked back at Emma. "What about the situation here in the shelter?"