Into the Zombie World

Istan was now inside the ancient house. He still could not believe that the humongous carabao outside was just the pet of his brother Nile. He somehow felt proud about it, even though it wasn't him who owned the carabao. 

As a hybrid who lives at the center of the town along with the other hybrids, he knew and learned a lot compared to those survivors that were only wandering around. After all, the hybrid's have a common leader so they are more organized than the average survivors. 

From what he knew, animals that have become mutated are more intelligent and ferocious than their normal kind before the pandemic. Docile pets like cats and man's best friend, the dogs, have already changed, becoming more like a beast, rather than being cute pets that can be petted any time. 

He was more than surprised that his brother Nile had already tamed some of those ferocious animals. Although Nile was still sleeping peacefully at this moment, his admiration, and respect towards him increased even more. He looked at the sleeping Nile with fiery admiration present in his eyes. 

"Were you followed?" Jellan suddenly asked. 

"No, Sis Jellan, I wasn't. I was very careful on my way here. And oftentimes, if there are no tasks given by the Elders, we hybrid always like to search alone, to avoid competition. Of course, we are still required to report what we got or what we discovered while we were out. But for now, I am safe." Istan answered with confidence. 

Jellan nodded her head, as Istan started to distribute the foods he bought for his lil brothers and sisters. The children were very much happy seeing the foods and they started eating them madly, even though some of them were already spoiled, it was still better than nothing. 

Sometimes, even if one already has the abundance of fruit and vegetables to eat, one could still not hold their cravings for man-made foods sold at the market. Such is the case for the childrens of the ancient house at the moment. It also helped that the food Istan brought were some biscuits and chips that the children love very much. 

After they were done eating, Nalyn ordered them to go to bed early. They have clearly suffered a lot. The stress and fear of being discovered by hybrids and zombies day and night scared them, making all of them lack some sleep. However, with Jellan here and not to mention Nile's pets outside, they no longer have to be scared. Nalyn and the other children knew that Jellan and Nile's pets would protect them from harm, so they could now allow them some nice sleep. 

At this time, only Jellan, Nalyn, and Istan were left, each of them sitting not far away from Nile. 

Ogis and his lil' wife were outside, perching on a tree, being lovey dovey. On a closer look, you can see some twigs getting arranged to form a nest not far away from them. 

Below them, Maximo was lying on his stomach, his eyes looking at the location where Nile was at. Croco was nowhere to be found but Jellan knew that the crocodile was only patrolling the premises. 

The night was still and quiet, the three of them looked at Nile's peaceful sleeping face. 

"Oh yeah, Sis Jellan, I just recalled something. It's better not to wander around from now on. I noticed that some of the higher ups have been going outside earlier more often. I suspect that they are up to something. I also noticed that they seem to be going towards the east side of Daan." Istan suddenly said. 

Jellan thought for a moment and nodded her head. She was also not planning to wander around while Nile was still evolving. She was afraid that something or someone might attack the ancient house while she's away. She planned to just go out to fetch some food from the surroundings, and then return immediately. 

"Oh, because of that, I might not be able to return here more often either. But it still depends, if I see that the security has tightened up, I will need to be more careful, lest I get suspected. I'm afraid I might drag you guys down, so I'll just endure there and just sneak out when things get lighter." Istan added with a sad tone. 

"Alright, be careful okay?" Nalyn said with a tone full of worry. 

Jellan also nodded her head, indicating that she understood. 

"I will. I'll also try to snoop some news around to determine what's going on. If I find something, I'll be back." Istan said. 

Jellan and Nalyn nodded their heads in unison. Silence befell the ancient house again. But not long later, Istan found a decent topic that the three of them converse with.

Jellan was never the talker type, so she won't try to start a conversation, except with Nile, perhaps. Nalyn was also a silent type and more often, she would just talk if necessary. 

Istan on the other hand was a very talkative boy. Ever since he was forced to eat human meat and become a hybrid though, Nalyn noticed that the boy changed a little, he no longer spoke as much, and he was no longer as cheerful as before. However, seeing him now, a smile crept into Nalyn's face, as it looked like the previous Istan was now slowly returning back.

'If only his state would also return to normal.' Nalyn thought. 

Time passed and it was already the middle of the night. Perhaps because he no longer has anything to talk about, silence befell the house again. A while later though, Istan decided to bid them farewell, he was afraid that the hybrids might suspect something if he went home too late. 

Jellan and Nalyn nodded their heads before they sent him out. Nalyn repeatedly reminded him to be careful, in which Istan assured that he would. 

"How's your wound?" As they returned to the space where Nile was at, Jellan suddenly asked. 

"The wound is still here but it's already starting to close. It's no longer as painful and as itchy as before either. If I continue eating the Java Fruits, I might be able to completely recover in two to three days." Nalyn answered truthfully. 

Jellan nodded her head. They arrived near Nile and both of them sat not far away from him. 

"You should sleep, I'll handle this." Jellan said.

"Alright!" Nalyn did not stand in ceremony and went to the sofa to sleep. She knew that with the current circumstances that she was in, she was more like a liability than an asset. She needs to rest to recover more quickly. 

Jellan no longer minded her as she also closed her eyes. Her hand was clutching a green and gem like object, a core of a high leveled zombie, as she meditated and absorbed its content. 

After the last fight from that Level Three zombie, almost all of her possessions became broken while some were left behind during the pursuit. She also already used some of them and only this zombie gel or the zombie core was remaining. It was the one she got from the sewer zombie. 

She knew that this would be her last chance to absorb something like this, as she was already briefed by the system that every time Nile and his pets took a kill, the apocalypse virus would be deposited to Nile immediately. 

She also knew that Nile would not need something like this so she thought it was best for her to absorb it. 

With the System, she knew that she would also level up along with Nile. However, she was not willing to let Nile handle everything for her. She also wanted to work hard for him. She was planning to surprise Nile after he woke up. 

Slowly, Jellan's breathing became stable, the gel-like apocalypse virus on her hand also quivered a little as she did so. Slowly, every inch of her body was slowly nourished by the apocalypse virus that she was absorbing. 

…

Meanwhile, ever since Nile started evolving, he was having a weird and long dream. Up until now, the dream was still going on. 

Inside his dream, he was in a very dark world. Two liquid-like beings that are monstrously strong are fighting against each other. One was Green in color, while the other one was Gray. 

Although their way of fighting was strange, Nile could tell that both of them were strong. They formed into many different forms as they battled against each other. The dark world constantly shook, every time a hit was connected.

Every hit, Nile would always feel like the world would shatter into chaos.

As they battled intensely, Nile, the dreamer, was only a spectator to their brawl.

Not until when the Gray liquid reached out its hand towards them. And then, all of a sudden, Nile felt as if an energy that came from inside him slowly seeped out, and went towards the Gray liquid. 

With that, the Gray liquid was suddenly invigorated, its strength rose and it now has the upper hand of the battle.