Bella hesitated, but Elijah just went into the kitchen to fetch the sharpening stone. This unconsciously relieved Bella, and her body relaxed.
Elijah observed her closely, finding Bella's state quite amusing. As he was about to leave, he lightly patted her on the back with his right hand!
"Ah!" Bella exclaimed, turning her head to see Elijah walking away as if nothing had happened, unable to help but grumble, "You annoying guy..."
Elijah faintly heard Bella's muttering and felt a sense of joy in his heart. It seems it might work out...
Perhaps something good will happen tonight?
With a peculiar sense of joy, Elijah took the sharpening stone to the bathroom and carefully began sharpening the tip of the trekking pole.
After a while, Bella also finished cleaning up the dishes.
Seeing Elijah busy, she organized the materials collected in the morning.
Seeing the solar charger, she felt very happy and quickly placed it in a sunny spot to charge her phone.
With this, there would finally be some light at night.
After finishing all these tasks, Bella realized she didn't feel tired at all.
"Is the effect of martial arts training this good?"
she muttered to herself, unable to resist starting to practice in the living room.
In the living room bathroom, Elijah was still sharpening, and the tip of the trekking pole was beginning to take shape.
Seeing Bella's graceful and charming posture in the living room, he couldn't help but feel a little itchy in his heart.
Maybe it's time to teach her the second set of movements? Some of the moves inside are quite difficult, and detailed guidance is necessary!
After Bella finished the first set of exercises, Elijah walked out of the bathroom and said, "You're already very proficient in this set of movements. Let me teach you the second set!"
Bella's cheeks were slightly flushed from the recent exercise, and a few drops of sweat glistened on her nose.
She remembered the physical contact when Elijah taught her the movements last time, and the inexplicable atmosphere between them during lunch.
Her heart trembled!
"I... I'm a bit tired, maybe next time!" She dared not.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself, she still hesitated, afraid to take that step.
"Your own training is more important. Don't let me affect you. After all, you're in more danger outside. Every bit of training adds to your safety!"
Bella gently approached Elijah and took the trekking pole from his hand.
"I'll take a break and help you sharpen it. You make the most of your time to train!"
Bella's consideration for him made Elijah feel somewhat guilty.
He had to focus all his energy and firepower on training, leaving him completely exhausted.
Bella came over again to help him relax his muscles, this time consciously maintaining a distance.
After finishing, she immediately went back to sharpening the trekking pole, without any hesitation or procrastination.
The day passed in the strange behavior and atmosphere between the two.
...
The fourth day of the apocalypse.
Elijah still woke up early, and to his surprise, Bella was also up early today.
The meal was already set on the table.
"Just the porridge is left. You can start eating!"
Bella shouted from the kitchen.
She still looked beautiful today, although the atmosphere between them was somewhat strange yesterday.
But today, she was still wearing short shorts, with a sleeveless T-shirt on top, exposing her snow-white arms and complementing her long, beautiful legs.
"Are you going out today?"
Bella brought the porridge over and sat next to Elijah, unlike before when there was always some distance between them.
"Yeah, we gathered a lot of food yesterday, but not much water, so I need to go out and find some!" They chatted while eating.
If someone unaware saw this scene, they would probably think they were a married couple living together.
Breakfast was quickly finished. After a short rest, under Bella's attentive service, Elijah got dressed and prepared to go out again with the trekking pole Bella had sharpened yesterday.
"Be careful, I'll be waiting for you at home!"
Bella said, like a wife advising her husband before he leaves.
A warm feeling surged in Elijah's heart, feeling quite gratified. The feeling of someone caring and waiting for him to return home didn't seem so bad after all?!
With a gentle demeanor, he set off, his heart seemingly drawn towards warmth yet entangled in heroic ambitions.
He shut the door behind him, shaking his head. His eyes regained clarity, filled with determination.
He went straight to the fourth floor, where he vaguely heard the commotion of zombies from this unit yesterday.
He didn't immediately unlock the door; instead, Elijah lightly knocked on it.
If someone was inside, he could politely retreat, and if there were zombies, he might not startle them.
"Ah... groan..." Indeed, the sound of zombies came from inside, although it wasn't very clear through the door.
"Judging from the sound... it's a bit distant, probably trapped in the bedroom!" Elijah didn't rush to conclusions.
If this person was sleeping in the bedroom before turning into a zombie and didn't have the intelligence to open the door afterward, they might still be trapped inside.
Conversely, if it were a zombie, it would have likely approached the door upon hearing the noise, and he would have heard it clearly.
After waiting for a moment, Elijah knocked on the door again, and the same noise came from inside.
Confirming that no one was there, he began to tamper with the door lock.
With a "click," the lock opened. Elijah clenched the trekking pole in his right hand and cautiously opened the door.
The layout of the room was the same as upstairs, and no one was in the living room.
The door to the side room made a banging sound when hit, and the sound of a zombie could be heard from inside.
"As expected..." Elijah entered the room.
It was obviously a girl's room, with predominantly pink decorations.
There were many plush toys, and several pieces of women's underwear were hanging on the balcony, all made of scanty fabric.
Despite this, he didn't let his guard down.
He briefly checked a few rooms to confirm no one was inside before approaching the closed bedroom door.
"This is a good opportunity to control this zombie!"
Elijah's most useful ability was to control zombies for his own use, but the premise was to inject the seed of consciousness into the zombie's body.
He had missed the chance during the previous encounter in the hallway due to the urgency.
Now, with the environment on his side, he could control the zombie well.
Returning to the living room, Elijah blocked the bedroom door with a sofa and chairs to prevent the zombie from rushing out when the door opened.
He also tied a rope to the door handle from his backpack.
Since the bedroom door opened inward, he could control the size of the gap with the rope.
Everything was ready, but Elijah felt uneasy.
He had a feeling that someone was watching him, but when he checked the room again while moving things, he found no place where someone could hide.
"Is it just my imagination?"
Elijah shook his head, not thinking much about it and slowly turning the door handle.
When the door opened slightly, a hideous-looking woman stretched her head out.
Veins bulged on her face, her eyes were black and red, her pupils gray, devoid of any vitality.
Blood residue remained at the corner of her mouth, which unconsciously opened and closed like a beast, emitting terrifying growls.
Her body kept trying to squeeze out through the gap, intending to bite Elijah.
Using the rope, Elijah firmly held the door handle with one hand to prevent the door from fully opening.
Then, he pricked his finger and flicked the fresh blood into the zombie woman's mouth. This set of actions was done smoothly and skillfully.
With the blood containing the seed of consciousness entering the zombie woman's body, an invisible bond immediately formed between her and Elijah.
The raging zombie woman immediately quieted down. Elijah controlled her to move away from the door, fully opening it and peering inside the room.
There was no one else inside. At this moment, the zombie woman's figure was fully revealed.
She wore only a pink camisole on her upper body, exposing large areas of fair skin.
Her lower body was clad in extremely short shorts, with her long legs standing straight and slender.
"Tsk, are girls nowadays so casual at home?"
Bella was the same, wandering around in shorts all day, giving him an eyeful.
Elijah sighed twice, moved the sofa aside, and entered the room.
The predominantly pink bedroom suited a young girl's taste, but there was nothing else noteworthy.
"Speaking of which, this girl seems familiar..." Elijah carefully observed the zombie woman.
At this moment, her face was peaceful, devoid of the terrifying appearance with bulging veins, and she returned to her original appearance.
Except for her eyes, which remained zombie-like, she looked almost no different from a normal person at first glance.
"It seems like her name was Abigail?"
Abigail still looked quite pretty overall, with a good figure, and she lived upstairs or downstairs.
Although Elijah's memory was fuzzy after experiencing a year of the apocalypse, looking at the person in front of him, he recalled it.
"Something feels off!"
Elijah pondered, unable to figure it out, so he let Abigail walk to the living room while he began to search for useful items.
"This kitchen... cleaner than my face!"
Upon entering the kitchen, Elijah found that the stove hadn't been used.
He looked around two bedrooms, but apart from finding some potato chips in Abigail's bedroom, there was no food or drink anywhere!
"That's not right..."
Elijah's sense of unease grew stronger.
Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he knew what was wrong.
The zombie woman had blood at the corner of her mouth, which couldn't have been self-inflicted.
She was wearing little clothing, and there were no corresponding marks on her body... This indicated that there was probably another person in this room when she turned into a zombie...
The food and water in the room were too clean...
There were opened snack wrappers in the trash can...
Zombie Abigail had blood at the corner of her mouth...
Countless pieces of information were pieced together, and Elijah could only make one assumption.
What if there was another person in the room!
And this person was bitten by zombie Abigail, hence the blood at Abigail's mouth.
This person was lucky, just like him, didn't turn into a zombie or die.
Instead, they were alive and well, having eaten all the snacks in the room and drank all the water.
If this person hadn't gone out due to shortages of supplies...
He wouldn't have seen it!
Then he must have awakened some kind of superpower like him?
Invisibility? Disguise? Phasing through walls?
No wonder I always feel like someone is watching me...
Elijah quickly figured it out, continuing to pretend to search for things without a sound, his body fully focused on sensing every bit of anomaly around him.
This direction...
Although not a clairvoyant, his enhanced physique made him more alert, quickly noticing the unusual direction.
Elijah didn't turn directly, but changed his angle, glancing at it with his peripheral vision.
He didn't miss any trace, quickly noticing a blurry figure in the shadow of the corner.
This figure completely blended into the shadow, only slightly dissonant at the edge contours.
If it was just a casual glance, it wouldn't be noticed at all.
Even if it were a bit darker, Elijah would have overlooked it.
"Interesting ability..."
Elijah gripped his hiking stick tightly and thrust it towards the figure.
"Ah! Don't..."
A female voice exclaimed, and the previously empty corner of the wall immediately revealed a stunning girl.
The girl was probably around 1.7 meters tall, with a round face, chubby cheeks like a child, with a bit of cuteness, but at the same time, her facial contours were quite distinct, blending softness with modern beauty.
She wore a pink camisole similar to the one worn by the female zombie Abigail, revealing a little cleavage, particularly enticing.
Below, she wore a pair of white hot pants, showing off her snow-white long legs, looking no less attractive than Bella.
She had on a simple pair of flat sandals, her chubby little feet seeming to curl up nervously due to tension.
At this moment, the girl frowned, her watery eyes showing a bit of timidity, nervously looking at Elijah.
"Daisy?"
Seeing her appearance, Elijah immediately remembered the name.
After all, as neighbors living on different floors, who wouldn't notice two girls with such sweet faces and figures?
Elijah once thought about pursuing her, but just as they had met not long ago, the zombie outbreak occurred.
"Elijah..."
Daisy looked pitifully at Elijah, but her next words almost made him burst into laughter.
"Do you have any food..."
Elijah put away his hiking stick, and said unkindly, "You recognized me a long time ago, why didn't you say hello, now suddenly you want food..."
"I didn't know it was you at first, but then I saw you dealing with Abigail, I forgot..."
Daisy pouted, then immediately became excited again.
"Elijah, have you awakened abilities too? How did you make Abigail obedient?"
"You'll know if you lick it!"
Elijah extended his finger, the wound not yet healed, and squeezed out a drop of blood.
Without hesitation, Daisy really stretched out her tongue curiously and licked it.
This girl...
Elijah shook his head, she really had guts!
Hmm, big chest!
Elijah couldn't help but touch his nose as he watched her body's vigorous movements.
"It's nothing, really," Daisy wrinkled her nose, not fond of the taste of blood.
"It doesn't have much effect on people, but it can make zombies obedient!"
Elijah observed the invisible spiritual connection forming between them and casually took out a bottle of water and a bag of biscuits from his backpack.
"I didn't bring anything else out, so you'll have to make do with this for now. By the way, care to explain what's going on?"
Taking the water and biscuits, Daisy didn't care about her image as she gobbled them down.
While eating, she explained, "On the night the outbreak happened, Abigail was scared, so I slept with her."
"Then, in the middle of the night, Abigail suddenly had a high fever, and then she bit me. I got scared, so I ran out and locked her in the room."
"Actually, I knew Abigail had turned into a zombie. After she bit me, my head started spinning, my body felt hot."
"I thought I was done for, going to turn into a zombie like Abigail. But then I thought, well, at least I could go eat others, better than being eaten."
Elijah was almost dumbfounded by her peculiar thoughts. Was this what they called "big-chested and brainless"?
Encountering such things and not being afraid at all.
"When I woke up again, I found out I was fine, but my arm was indeed bitten. Look, there's still a mark!"
Daisy extended her pale arm, showing clear bite marks on the smooth skin, though they had scabbed over.
"Then I felt very hungry and started looking for something to eat in the house!"
Daisy puffed her cheeks, somewhat annoyed.
"Normally, we don't cook much at home, so besides some snacks, there wasn't much to eat. And there's not much water either. I haven't eaten for a day, I'm starving!"
The self-reliance of modern girls...
Elijah couldn't help but sigh. Suddenly, he felt that girls like Bella, who were capable in both social situations and the kitchen, were really good!
"What ability did you just use? Why couldn't I see you?" Daisy's excitement returned at the mention of it!
"I also watch anime, dramas, and read novels, so I thought, in the face of danger, maybe I would gain magical powers. So I tried it out myself when I had nothing else to do, and I really sensed a mysterious energy within me."
"It allows me to blend into the shadows, especially at night. It's like being invisible. Even Abigail couldn't find me!"
Daisy proudly demonstrated, walking to the corner where they were just standing, fading away in front of Elijah's eyes, blending into the shadows.
If it weren't daytime now, with weaker shadows, her blurry silhouette would be barely visible, making it difficult to spot her.
Elijah had just ignored it now. What if it were at night?
It would be a killer technique!
If he had this ability, many things would be easier to do, and he wouldn't be stuck here...
But having this ability under his control, nurturing it properly, would be quite sharp!
Suddenly, Elijah felt his own abilities were quite strong again, capable of controlling other strong individuals...
But how to convince Daisy?
Elijah thought of many things in an instant, just as he was about to invite Daisy to join him, she suddenly said something.
"Elijah, why don't you be my boyfriend?"
Huh?
Elijah was instantly dumbfounded!