บท 24: Ultrasound

[02:05:17]

[STATS:

Name: Althea Witt

Age: 25

Level: 3 (925/5000)

Life: 330/500

Spirit: 270/500 (-5%)

Physical: 80 (-5%)

Agility: 77 (-20%)

Defense: 64

Mana: 300

Physical Potential: B

Mental potential: SS+

Skills:

Active: None

Passive: None

Elemental Affinity: Wood, Water, Earth

Titles: None

Overall rank: S

Current Status: Gestating: two life forms, weakened state ]

She swore never to let her spirit get lower so much ever again.

Althea opened her eyes after 15 minutes of rest before turning her head to the machine beside her. It was just that she was too late to realize that was full of blood and heavily damaged.

She took out her katana to check out the next room. They dealt with all the zombies in the hallway that approached them, and they soon reached the other ultrasound room.

However, before they entered, the door of the adjacent storage room tentatively opened, creaking up to a small angle, just enough to see a round eye looking out warily.

Althea's eyebrows rose, meeting the gaze directly.

When the owner of the eye realized they weren't zombies, she visibly brightened and opened the door.

But she seemed to realize something and immediately closed it again. A moment later, the door opened again a little, revealing a cute head of a girl with a shoulder-length haircut, who then looked side to side at both ends of the hallway, checking if there were monsters around.

When she saw that every enemy was dealt with, she turned her head to the girl standing alone in the hallway, and opened the door completely.

The girl was wearing a nurse uniform and looked at her like she was Buddha. "I.."

"I need to check my children's ultrasound. Can you help me?"

The girl looked like she was in a daze, as if wondering if Althea was talking to her.

She looked flattered when she finally realized. "Y-Yes, of course!" And she followed Althea to the ultrasound room.

The nurse kept stealing glances at her as she opened the door.

Althea's eyebrows rose. "What is it?"

The girl looked a bit apprehensive, before gathering her courage to ask. "You killed all these zombies?"

She nodded, and the girl stared at her in amazement and also disbelief, as she inevitably looked at the abnormally big stomach.

It was really big, bigger than the ones she'd seen.

Then she saw a flash and a head rolled down to her feet.

She screamed at the top of her lungs.

Althea quickly covered her mouth and dragged her inside. "How did you survive for so long?" She asked. Not to be rude, but it was really hard to imagine.

The nurse blushed and her head tilted down in shame. Could she say that she was locked in by a bullying fellow nurse?

"I'm sorry."

Althea just sighed and sat down on the bed. They were wordless until the nurse had set up the machine and placed the gel on the transducer.

Seeing the other girl nervous, Althea smiled and decided to lighten up the mood. "My name is Althea, by the way. What's yours?"

The girl's big eyes blinked in surprise, just before letting out a kind smile. To be honest, it reminded Althea of Nanny. "Sheila. My name is Sheila."

"Okay, Sheila. Can we see the children now?"

Shiela, now much more relaxed, placed the transducer on the bulge and she stared at the screen. Her expression was one of amazement. "Twins! No wonder it's so big."

Althea looked warmly at her children on the screen, floating around, looking so peaceful and small and cute.

She was so incredibly looking forward to when she could hold them in her arms.

"This is already eight months old," Sheila mumbled, tone mixed with admiration and admonishment. "I can't believe you're massacring zombies at eight months pregnant…"

Althea, though, flinched at her words, "What?!"

Sheila was startled. "Y-Yes."

Althea's eyebrows furrowed in puzzlement. "Are you sure?"

"Y-Y-Yes."

Althea stared her down, making her even more nervous. Soon, the brunette realized that the nurse was really not lying and she could only rub her throbbing head.

She then took out another ultrasound image and showed it to the other girl. Sheila stared at it blankly, not knowing what to say.

Althea sighed and pointed at a text in the upper right corner. "Look at the date."

Sheila passively followed her instructions and her eyes immediately widened at the sight. "T-This–"

Two reports, a few days apart, extremely different results

What's… going on?

Sheila then looked at the stomach a little warily, wondering if some weird creature would be born.

But she shook her head in the end. She saw the ultrasound herself and she should know what a human looks like.

Probably.

Maybe?

Althea watched the changes in her expression with amusement.

"I reckon the force that messed up with people's genes strengthened the survivors. In the case of my children, they grew up faster."

Sheila nodded cutely, while Fufi kept staring at the screen, wagging his tail excitedly.

Friends! Friends! Friends!

Althea smiled and patted his furry head. After a while, she stood up and walked out.

Noticing that Sheila was staring, unsure what to do, Althea held her forehead with a sigh. Really a mystery why this girl chose a stressful job like nursing when she was such an air-head.

"Do you know anything about childbirth?"

"Y..yes I have assisted in natural and cesarean births before."

Althea nodded and continued to walk, pausing her steps and giving the nurse a sideward glance. "Aren't you coming with me?"

"Me?!" She gasped, looking at Althea again to see if she just made a cruel joke. "Can I?"

"Don't want to?"

"N-NO, I want to!!" She squeaked, hastening her pace to meet hers.

"Let's go get cleaned up." Althea said and paused, looking at the darkness outside the window.

"I want to greet the New World well."