Chương 52: In the Dark

While the LitRPG superhuman abilities were certainly a shared trait with novel protagonists, Vince was the only one who truly understood the agonizing reality of the countless life-and-death crises he had endured since the apocalypse began. With his stomach full and his hydration replenished, a wave of exhaustion washed over him. Letting his mind wander through a haze of random thoughts, he leaned back against the corner wall, listened to the rhythmic drumming of the rain, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but a faint, rustling sound of hushed whispering eventually drifted into his ears, waking him from his slumber.

"Zoe, are you out of your mind?!"

"You said yourself that he was severely injured and bleeding profusely! What happens if he turns into a zombie while we're sleeping?!"

"Bro, why are you like this... Dage... he wouldn't turn!" It was Zoe Chu's voice. She sounded like she was fiercely arguing with someone.

"Did you forget about Li Tian?! He only got bitten once! And he turned into a monster not long after!" Another male voice chimed in, keeping his volume low. Vince didn't know exactly whose voice belonged to whom, but since Zoe called the first guy "Bro," it had to be Cody Chu. The second voice must belong to the other student, Seth Xu. Vince had long anticipated this exact scenario playing out. However, in his original expectations, the one harboring these doubts should have been Zoe.

After all, she was the only one who had actually seen the horrifying extent of his bite wounds. Yet, to his surprise, the girl was either adorably dense or completely unfazed. She hadn't brought it up at all—acting as if whether Vince turned into a zombie had absolutely nothing to do with her, or perhaps holding an unshakeable, blind faith that he simply wouldn't turn. Since she hadn't asked, Vince naturally hadn't volunteered the information.

But it seemed he couldn't escape this classic apocalyptic melodrama after all. The three of them were still whispering inside the breakroom. Because the gas station wasn't very large, Vince's enhanced hearing picked up every single syllable with crystal clarity.

"Mind your own business! Shut up!"

"You guys didn't see it! It was a massive mutated monster! And Dage just—BAM—smashed it to pieces! Literal pieces!"

"And do you know what? It wasn't just one! There were three of them! And every single one was the size of a full-grown calf!"

"Even if you didn't see that, you definitely saw the regular zombies outside, right? He killed every single one of those corpses with just one punch each!"

"He's not a normal person, he's basically Superman! What's a couple of zombie bites to someone like him?!" Zoe was enthusiastically "educating" Cody and Seth on Vince's glorious combat history with vivid, exaggerated storytelling. Listening from outside, even Vince felt his face heat up in second-hand embarrassment. When did they become the size of calves? And who the hell kills zombies with one punch each? But the two boys clearly felt she was exaggerating and remained entirely unconvinced.

"Zoe Chu, you literally just said that when you dragged him back, he was bleeding heavily from multiple wounds. Then, a few minutes later, he gets up to go look for some gemstone with you? Does that sound like he's recovering normally? Is that humanly possible?" If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. That was Seth's voice—the guy Vince had barely heard speak until now. His voice trembled slightly as he added, "What if...

what if he's actually one of those high-tier, evolved zombies?! What if he's just keeping us alive so he can..." The other boy, Cody, hurriedly cut him off, his voice tight with panic.

"Keep your voice down!... But Seth makes a fair point. Maybe we should just leave..."

"Bro! What are you saying?! If it weren't for Dage saving us, we would've died in here days ago..." Vince ignored their incessant gossiping and checked his Health Bar. He had slept for a little over an hour. [185/370] His Max HP had recovered by 84 points. Meanwhile, his blue energy bar had dropped. [22/100] The deep lacerations on his abdomen had essentially scabbed over. Vince carefully pulled at the skin; the wounds held firm and didn't tear open. He had regained basic motor control over his left shoulder.

Although he still couldn't exert any real force with his left arm, testing its mobility revealed that the agonizing pain had faded to a dull ache. The fractured bones had clearly begun knitting back together. With a mental command, Vince unequipped the [Revitalization Crystal]. As the powerful passive buff faded, a wave of profound physical weakness washed over him. His healing abdominal wounds immediately began to itch intensely.

His left arm throbbed with a dull, swelling pain, but within a few minutes, Vince gritted his teeth and acclimated to the sensation. He was already incredibly pleasantly surprised that his catastrophic injuries had recovered this much in such a short time. He decided to leave the crystal unequipped for now to let his energy bar recharge.

"Ahem..." Vince let out a deliberate, loud cough. A moment later, the rapid patter of footsteps approached. Zoe Chu was the first to run out." Dage, you're awake!" Night had completely fallen. With the power grid dead, the gas station was pitch black inside and out. Vince could only make out a vague silhouette, accompanied by a bright green bar floating in the darkness. [21/100] It was Zoe's Health Bar. Further back in the gloom, two yellow bars hovered nervously, refusing to step closer.

[21/100] [20/100] Seeing that Zoe's HP had ticked up slightly, it meant she was naturally recovering and hadn't suffered any severe internal trauma. But why has her health bar turned green? Does she really trust me that much?" Dage, they were saying..." Zoe mumbled softly, hesitating whether she should repeat the boys' accusations.

"If you guys feel like you're in danger, you're free to leave at any time. You know about the quarantine zone, right? The official military safe zone is literally at your university..."

"Just go back the way you came. Simple as that." Too exhausted to waste breath explaining himself, Vince pitched his voice louder, directing his words at the two yellow Health Bars hovering in the back.

"Heh heh..." Zoe offered an embarrassed, sheepish laugh.

"You heard all that, huh, Dage... Actually, they just..." Before she could finish her excuse, footsteps echoed from the back, and one of the yellow Health Bars cautiously stepped forward.

"B-Brother Vince... are your injuries okay? The doors and windows here are all shattered. Is it really safe for us to spend the night here? Do you need us to do anything? We could use the display shelves to barricade the doors, or maybe we can take turns keeping watch..." It was Cody Chu. Clearly, between the two boys, he was the slightly more level-headed one. Sensing the cold dismissal in Vince's tone, he had hurriedly stepped forward to placate him and offer his services.

Although they had just been whispering about running away, saying it was one thing; actually walking out into the pitch-black, zombie-infested streets was another. If getting back to the university was that easy, the three of them wouldn't have been trapped in a gas station toilet for days.

"Oh? Aren't you afraid I'm going to turn into a zombie and eat you?" Vince shot back with a cold, sarcastic sneer. He didn't actually want to bully these terrified college kids. Putting himself in their shoes, it was perfectly logical to be paranoid about bite wounds in a zombie apocalypse. He just despised Cody's two-faced, secretive whispering. Even if this was just a temporary, fleeting alliance, Vince preferred people to voice their concerns straight to his face.

In contrast, Zoe's blunt, slightly dense honesty was much more endearing.

"Please, how could you say that..." Cody's voice immediately tightened with anxiety.

"We trust what Zoe said. Please, just get some rest. We'll take turns keeping watch tonight..." Without waiting for Vince to respond, Cody awkwardly backed away. He muttered something to Seth, and the two of them somehow managed to scrounge up a couple of flashlights. By the weak beams of light, the scraping sound of heavy metal shelves being dragged across the floor began echoing through the hall.

They were attempting to barricade all the shattered windows and doors to prevent any wandering zombies from stumbling in. Meanwhile, Zoe clicked on a small flashlight, grabbed a few bags of chips and some milk candies from a nearby shelf, and crouched down next to Vince." Dage, just ignore those two. My brother is a massive coward."

"When we were kids and went to steal peaches from a neighbor's orchard, he literally got chased across half the village by a tiny Pekingese dog..."

"And that guy, Seth, he's his classmate. He's just as spineless. A while back, his girlfriend..."