บท 233: Waiting… Again
<Author's note: The things (racism, sexism, political views, etc.) depicted or mentioned in this story do not reflect the real world and are purely coincidences. If they do, please keep in mind that they are simply for world-building and are only works of fiction. Thank you for your understanding.>
Zita was wearing a pair of thermal vision goggles and sitting on top of the bed with her arms wrapped around her legs inside the house where Nathan left her.
She raised her goggles and checked her pink watch.
The watch was one of the items she picked up when she and Nathan were inside the boutique shop this afternoon.
9:24 pm.
She wore back her goggles.
'Mister is late again…'
'When is he coming back…?'
She buried her face in her forearms.
'Please come back already, mister…'
She raised her head and glanced at the items around her on top of the bed.
Aside from the weapons, there were also packs of food -- MREs, bottled waters, junk food and cans of warm sodas. Some were left open and all that were opened were left half-eaten.
Looking at the food, a desire to vomit suddenly welled up inside of her.
Gulp.
She looked away from the food and swallowed to stop herself from vomiting.
Normally, she wouldn't mind eating, especially the junk food.
However, so many things just happened today.
This morning, she killed a person for the first time.
And in the afternoon, she killed a family.
In the case of Licker, the man she killed in the morning, although she still thinks it was wrong to kill him and Nathan left her with only two options: kill Licker or let Licker live but she and Nathan will go on their separate ways, she understood that it was Licker and his group who were the ones that attacked them first so it was more or less justified.
Meanwhile, in the case of Earnest and his family, this is where she was torn. Although she understood the explanations that Nathan gave to her -- the numerous times he offered them to take the deal, the scarcity of food and shelter, the stereotypes of each race here in Muwin, and the training, it was still a family.
However, at the same time, just like with Licker, she didn't want to be separated from Nathan.
Despite how scary Nathan was, being with him was unlike anything she has experienced.
At the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, during the times she was with her parents and under the care of Sweet Dave and the others at the government shelter in Burrow City, their main goal was to survive, be it from the humans or the zombies.
That was simply it, nothing more and nothing less.
But when she started traveling with Nathan, it was the complete opposite.
For starters, instead of seeking for a place where they can protect themselves from the threats brought by the zombie apocalypse, they were brazenly traveling out in the open to search for Nathan's family while also training.
Human and zombies were so powerless against Nathan that he even had to resort to killing in creative and fun ways in order to relieve boredom.
As a matter of fact, in some ways, Zita couldn't help but feel that maybe they were the bad guys, especially during that time they encountered Earnest and his family.
And when it came to food, she never thought that one of her biggest challenges during a zombie apocalypse was eating vegetables.
She always struggled to eat vegetables. Even her own parents struggled to convince her to eat.
And here she was, being forced to eat vegestables by someone like Nathan.
And speaking of eating, truth be told, during her lunch break with Nathan earlier right after they killed Licker and his group, she didn't have any appetite to eat but she was afraid that Nathan would get angry so she forced herself to eat.
Also, the MRE that she ate tasted really bad, but it was better than eating vegetables.
Anyhow, as far as Zita was concerned, traveling with Nathan was just so different. He was simply operating on a different level. Very different from back when she was with her parents or at the government shelter in Burrow City.
With him, she felt like she was in this some sort of bubble of peace and relaxation which is both a weird and scary feeling because once you stay away from him, that bubble would immediately pop and quickly reveal to you the sad and scary reality of the world they currently live in.
Meow~!
Zita heard the sound of a cat.
Meow~!
Scratch…
Aside from the cat's meow, there was also the sound of scratching.
Zita raised her head and turned to where the noises were coming from.
In the corner underneath the door, there was a cat's paw poking from a small hole, trying to push open the front door.
Earlier, when she and Nathan first came here, Nathan forcefully opened the front door.
The front door didn't have a doorknob and only had a padlock which Nathan pulled out, breaking it. Because of that, when Nathan left, Zita had no choice but to barricade the door with anything she could find while she waits for his return.
Meow~!
Meow~!
Scratch…
Meow~!
Meow~!
Scratch…
The cat continued what it was doing but Zita didn't do anything.
Meow~!
Meow~!
Scratch…
'Mister told me not to step outside, not make any noise and not to turn on or make any light...'
'And if I find myself in a situation where I have no choice but to leave this house, I should come back here when the sun rises because he will be waiting here...'
'And also, I should kill anyone or anything that isn't him…'
Meow~!
Scratch…
Zita closed her eyes and buried her face once again against her arms.
'Go away, mister kitty, I don't want to kill you…'
'I also don't want to kill anyone anymore...'
The cat finally stopped scratching.
However…
Meow~!
Meow~!
Meow~!
The cat continued making noises outside but it sounded like it was moving around the house, trying to find an opening.
Meow~!
Meow~!
'Go away, mister kitty…'
Meow~!
'PLEASE...!'
Meow~!
'Please go away…'
Meow~!
Meow~!
'Mr. Kitty, why are you not going away…?'
Meow~!
Meow~!
'The zombies will hear you and you'll get us in trouble…'
Meow~!
Meow~!
She raised her head, activated [Lift] and concentrated to search for the cat.
She specifically searched at the location where the cat's meow was coming from.
The house that Nathan left her at was a small shabby-looking house made of wood. Its exterior wasn't painted and it had various posters plastered on it.
And as for Zita's Chosen One skill [Lift], according to its description on her Status Chart, it allows the user to mentally lift physical object(s) within 10 meters, the target with higher INT compared to the user is immune, the skill's power, speed and Mental Capacity are based on user's total INT, and lastly, it doesn't require any mana required and has no cooldown.
The 10-meter range of her skill was more than enough to cover the whole house.
Also, as far as she knows and what Nathan told her, animals didn't have the power of the System. And the way her power works, anything that's within the 10m radius of her skill, she doesn't need to see them. She just needs to feel them.
But of course, just because she can feel them, that doesn't mean she could feel their shape or texture. She can only feel their weight.
And based on the cat's meow from earlier, Zita was sure it was an adult cat.
Meow~!
Meow~!
'This feeling…'
'No, I don't think it's not the cat…'
'It's too light…'
She continued to search for the cat.
'This…'
'This is too heavy…'
She continued.
Meo--
The cat's meow was cut off.
'Found you, Mr. Kitty!'
She carefully moved the cat as far as her power allows her to.
'Please leave, Mr. Kitty…'
'And goodbye...'
However, after about less than a minute, the cat came back.
Meow~!
Meow~!
Zita's face distorted, pouting her lips and she made a ball of fists.
'Why did you come back, Mr. Kitty?!'
Meow~!
Meow~!
She tried to search for the cat again with [Lift].
Meo--
As soon as she found the cat, it stopped meowing.
MEOW!
This time around, she tossed the cat away from the house using [Lift] and the cat made a yelping sound.
'I'm sorry that I have to do that, Mr. Kitty, but I have no choice…'
'And plus, if mister sees you, he might kill and cook you…'
She recalled how Nathan killed the duck and her ducklings this afternoon, which then also led her to recall the stereotypes she heard about Asians back in home country in Iskaldia when it comes to food.
She waited if the cat will return.
30 seconds passed…
60 seconds passed…
90 seconds passed…
When 5 minutes passed, Zita let out a sigh of relief.
She looked at some of the half-eaten food beside her.
She was about to grab a bottle of water using [Lift] but then stopped.
She wrapped her arms around her legs and buried her face in her forearms once again.
'Mister, please come back already…'
'It's so lonely and scary here…'
Thud…
Thud…
Thud…
Thud…
She heard footsteps and she raised her head.
Thud…
Thud…
Thud…
Thud…
The footsteps got louder and louder as it came closer.
Zita activated her skill, immediately lifting the weapons around her and her eyes turned to slits as she stared at the door.
Knock.
Knock.
Knock.
"Zita, it's me. Open the door," a male voice said in Regisian.
*********************************************
Hello, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Thank you for reading!
By the way, this former Grandmaster Immortal who failed twice has returned once again.
To view the Immortal Drafts at P-a-t-r-e-o-n, you can read them at…
• https://www.patreon.com/Immortal_Shades
There, you will have access to this Lowly Shameless Immortal's Immortal Chapter Drafts for $5 a month.
Please note that the chapters posted there are only drafts. So when this Lowly Shameless Immortal will publish them here in the First Immortal Book, there will be some edits.
And at the moment, Immortal Chapter Drafts 169-172 are the latest chapters posted there.
Thank you once again and this Lowly Shameless Immortal will see you in the next chapter... *Kowtows 300 times*
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