“The trail of drops goes in that direction. I am sure Saeko is right ahead,” Eve looked through the binoculars. They were standing at the roof of the skyscraper, watching for their surroundings.

“Oh,” Aurum sat on the ledge, taking the binoculars from her, looking in the direction that she was looking. Most of the items were at the entrance, along with littered drops. He turned towards the open iron gate, “Well…we can wait for her here.”

“Wait,” Eve arched her brows, tilting her head, “Hm, ah, so it’s the usual.”

“Yeah,” Aurum was about to give her back the binoculars when he noticed something from the corner of his eyes. He changed the direction of the binoculars, noticing a group of zombies walking towards the building, but it was strange, “that…don’t tell me…”

“What’s wrong?” Eve curiously asked, looking in the same direction as him. Even from here, she could see things moving in the city devoid of people on the streets, “Are those zombies?”

“See for yourself.”

Eve took back the binoculars, watching the zombies more closely, and it struck her as odd, “are they…sneaking around?”

She could feel the confusion building her. Her chest grew tighter, “big brother…”

“Could be people who put effort to dress like zombies, hoping no one would find them.”

“Could be,” Eve didn’t sound so sure.

“Or it could be…”

“Could be?”

“Worse.”

Kaze Terrace Apartments, Third Floor,

Saeko stood in a flat, going through their wardrobe. She had searched a few houses before, but none of them had any good clothes. She liked a dress, but it wasn’t her size. Though, a teenage girl used to live in this one. They were almost the same size, and the girl had a good taste too. Especially when it came to underwear.

A smile appeared on her lips. She slid her hands across all those frilly panties, picking the light purple one, the colour she liked. She stretched them, putting her legs one after the other, sliding them up her bare skin. She picked her other clothes, walking back to the entrance where there was a full-body mirror kept checking their appearance.

She had just taken a bath, and right now, she stood in front of the mirror, naked. Her purple hair sprawled over her back. She slid the strand of hair that stuck to her cheek while touching her proud breasts that her boyfriend loved. With a smile on her lips, she moved her eyes down, running her fingers along the strap of her panties, noticing the path of hair inside. They weren’t wild yet, “Should I trim them the next time I find a supermarket?”

“Maybe a little,” Saeko nodded, “a woman should have some hair down here.”

She took the bra off the lingerie set, having chosen the tight yoga pants, and a black tank top with a v-neck, which she pulled down to show more cleavage, “Perfect.”

She would have liked to dry her hair before going out, but as it stood, she had to forcefully tie them into a ponytail, waiting for them to dry off the old-fashioned way, “I am late for my rendezvous.”

She picked her utility belt from inside, putting her katana by her side, but right when she was about to step out of the room she stopped. She could feel her a threat coming from outside the door, something she hadn’t noticed before. She narrowed her eyes, staring towards the wall beside the doorframe, her eyes filled with killing intent.

She put all the force of her body in her toes, and with a burst of speed she dashed forward. In that motion, she drew out her sword, finally able to see her enemy, a zombie, but different from other zombies. She didn’t think much as she pulled the katana fully, swinging it, using the support her body being motion and with a sharp sound she came to a stop, slowly putting her katana back into the sheathe, watching the zombie whose held slid, until it fell on the floor.

“Zombies hiding behind the wall?” Saeko looked towards her body and clothes, “I would have gotten pissed if it dirtied my clothes.”

She walked towards the exit to this house. Her stride was casual, but her mind was cautious of every change around her. She stepped into the hallway, walking towards the stairs. Her ears perked up, hearing the hushed footsteps, making her narrow her eyes, ‘Zombies are thinking…? Could it be that one that Aurum talked about. The one that controlled those Mini-Bosses and loitered around the settlement before disappearing.’

‘I can’t go down…I need to go up,’ Saeko walked up the stairs, climbing at a steady pace. It took a while, but they caught on that she wasn’t coming down. Instead, they started rushing up the stairs, like monsters they were. She hastened her pace. She might have wasted her stamina if not for the increasing in levels.

It barely took her any time to climb to the roof, and instead of looking towards the entrance to the roof, her eyes went to the other skyscrapers of the same height or taller ones. Feeling eyes on her, she jerked her head to the only sky-scarper of the same height, diagonal to their location, “there they are.”

She walked in that direction, standing at the corner of the roof, waiting with her hands crossed, holding the katana in the palm of her hand. The zombies sure were patient, taking their time, hoping to catch her off guard. Just when the thought of letting her guard down crossed her mind, the first zombie entered the roof. She could see its legs from the gap between the door and floor. It was about to come into her sight when a silent bullet passed through the gate and hit him in the head.

A smile appeared on Saeko’s lips, the zombies stopped, like they had intelligence, and two of them rushed in at the same time with more following. Only to have another bullet pass through the gate and hit both their heads, crushing them. Saeko narrowed her eyes with an impressed look in her eyes, curling the corner of her mouth. Finally, three or four of them rushed in, one died as soon as it came into Saeko’s view, the other stumbled on it and died. The third one jumped up, and still got shot in the head.

Finally, the fourth one took a step back, standing beside the door, only to die. Saeko looked in that direction, lost in thought. She was expecting more zombies, but none of them came. One minute passed, and then five, before she heard the sound of footsteps and a familiar voice that followed, “Damn. Did she have to make a mess at the door.”

Saeko chuckled, seeing him fingers as he grabbed the above the door, using it as support to raise his body in the air, moving like a hand of clock until his legs reached 12. He bent his elbow, pushing himself off the door before landing in front of her. She tilted her head to the side, watching him until he gained balance, “Show off.”

Aurum scratched his cheek, “Wow, now I am embarrassed.”

Saeko chuckled, “Like I thought. That was Eve?”

“Yeah, taught her myself. Like her shooting?” Aurum proudly thumped his chest.

“Prediction?”

“Yeah. Things happened,” Aurum placed his palms on the railing, trapping Saeko between it and him. She didn’t pull away, if anything, she inched closer.

“Like?”

“Rei…I stayed away from her and that’s all it took for her to give in. Eve awakened her Angelic Powers, and her natural future sight got stronger…or stabler I should say. She can predict a few seconds in the future,” he lowered his voice, looking at her lips.

“She did, did she,” Saeko rubbed her thighs together, unable to pay attention to anything but his lips, watching them move, teasing her. Her eyes fluttered, but she resisted the temptation, “Whoever is controlling the zombies didn’t come for me…don’t you think they would go after Eve?”

“Eve’s already retreating to the rendezvous point nearby. That should provide enough defence…but you are right…we should make it there.” 

“We should…” Saeko murmured.

“Saeko…did you have fun?”

Saeko looked up, feeling the slight seriousness in his voice. She peered into his crystal blue eyes, gently nodding, “I did.”

“Then,” he leaned in, whispering in her ear, and she smiled, nodding again, “I will.”