Chapter 13: Weak Adam
'What can a person do in a ruined world?'
Meditating for another hour, different thoughts came to his mind.
'What should I do now? Survive? That comes without saying. Establish a survivor camp? Whatever the case, people would still flock to each other.'
Growing accustomed to struggling for his survival, Dave never had the luxury to think about the future since his present bore on him much heavier than his future. However, it was still hard to believe that he got a chance to be on the top.
First-year, he was locked in the storage room.
Second-year, he joined a survivor camp established in the university.
Third-year, he joined the ranks of soldiers for better living conditions.
Forth-year, he became a hunter obtaining a weapon from the system.
Fifth-year, he obtained the title of the weakest hunter.
Every year he had struggled to survive desperately clinging to his life. Not until he became a hunter, he never was in control of his life.
'But now I am going to be strong enough to decide my own fate. No matter how difficult would be my situation, I'm used to fighting in a disadvantageous position. I'll show everyone pride of the weakest hunter.'
Dave wasn't in rush. Currently, growing stronger was far more critical than searching for survivors. He still had skills he wanted to learn before venturing into a university campus.
"I did it! Dave, finally, I did it!"
Brian suddenly shouted with a happy voice as he ran towards him. Evidently, he was happy for an unknown reason.
"Why are you so happy? Did you learn a Small Fireball?"
Dave said it half-jokingly, but Brian was so happy that Dave feared he will die from the over-excitement. After Dave had given him a Skill Book, he was gloomy from failed attempts to learn it just a while ago.
"Yes, I learned it. I got system notification saying that I have learned Small Fireball."
As Brian spoke proudly about his new skill, Dave was surprised that he obtained a skill just in 2 days. An average person needed at least 5 days to learn it.
'It seems Brian has a high magic aptitude. Should I turn him into a mage?'
Dave thought that it was the best outcome for Brian. Mages dealt a lot of damage and were able to kill a big group of monsters in one moment. Fortunately for Brian, mages were able to attack from the distance making it ideal for a poor fighter like Brian.
'Brian killed a lot of zombies stealthily but in hand-to-hand combat, he is too cautious, so he wastes his opportunities to attack.'
Dave quietly summarized Brian's fighting abilities in his mind. Definitely, he will become much better mage than a fighter.
"Then, let's check your skill in action. Let's go grinding levels."
Currently, ordinary zombies were no threat to them unless they meet a large batch of them. However, having Brian with them, such worries were reduced to a minimum.
As Dave and Brian were close to leaving the room, Dave noticed that Adam looked slightly weak.
"Sorry, guys. But can you go without me?"
Dave was caught off guard by his sudden refusal. He found it strange that he didn't tease Brian when he ran excitedly in the room but didn't pay it too much attention
'Don't tell me he is...'
On a second glance, Adam looked paler than usual. His breathing was heavy and he looked drained of energy.
When Dave touched Adam's forehead, he knew what was going with him. Adam was burning from inside as his temperature rose by several degrees.
"Adam, why didn't you tell us that you are feeling ill?"
He was concerned, but at the same time, he was happy for his buddy.
'Is it the future that had awaited him if he didn't die? But, isn't it too early? Ahh, nevermind, nevertheless, it is still good for him.'
Dave was surprised by the fact that Adam had caught a fever. It may mean nothing before the heavenly voice, but catching a fever in a new world meant only one thing.
'I know that Adam was blessed by the heavens, but awakening right after the beginning is stretching it too far. Lucky brat!'
Dave cursed him inwardly since it was a happy occasion for Adam. Everybody found it envious to awaken as it was more about luck than effort. Even Dave in his past life was jealous of Awakeners.
"What is going on with Adam? Is he gonna be alright?"
"Don't worry about him, he just caught a fever. However, it seems we should move to another location since we can't just lay him down on the floor."
Brian was clearly concerned about Adam. Even though both of them bickered as they had a bone to pick with each other, they grew closer to each other in last days.
'Adam is lucky to awaken, but neither we have temperature lowering medicine nor we have any beddings to lay him down. We should find another place to settle down.'
Dave quickly made a decision to leave the storage room. Even though it had food to eat, it couldn't provide them with a soft bed nor it had a kitchen to cook dishes. Brian had already complained a lot about how sore his butt had got.
"Adam, can you walk without any assistance? If not, then Brian will aid you."
Albeit with difficulty, Adam still nodded weakly since he knew that being stubborn won't help them. He hated to be a burden but he could only accept it.
His eyes were hazy as everything blurred around him. Never in his entire life did he have such a strong headache as now. He felt like his head was going to burst as he was assaulted by both cold and warmth.
As Brian supported vulnerable Adam, Dave packed everything into his bag. He mainly focused on packing canned food and mineral water.
"We are going to the closest dormitory building. Brian, lead the way. Try to avoid big groups of zombies as much possible."
Filling his bag to the brim, Dave gave directions. They quickly strode out of the minimarket slowing down several times when they met a big group of zombies
Of course, he was strong enough to deal with an evolved zombie. However, the biggest advantage of zombies wasn't their evolution prospects, but their numbers.
There were ten thousands zombies scattered on the campus, not to say, several millions of them in the city. Humans will definitely die in the battle of attrition with zombies.
Even though they had already killed more than 50 zombies, Dave and Brian needed to protect Adam making it harder to fight with big groups.
They were slowly nearing to the dormitory building, so they could see it. Since it was in the residential area, there were lots of zombies wandering on the road.
As it got harder to progress further towards the building, Dave decided to kill zombies who blocked their way into it.
"Brian, how many zombies are blocking our way?"
"There are more than 30 zombies including 2 fast zombies as the one you killed. Would you be able to handle it?"
Brian reported the numbers of monsters as he gazed at him concernedly causing him to smirk lightly. Without saying anything, Dave rushed towards zombies.