"Lux, the bleeding has stopped. I'll rebandage him and disinfect it a bit."
"Can you wash off the blood on his head?"
Lux unscrewed a bottle of mineral water, took a sip, then handed it to HK416.
"No. The wound hasn't scabbed over yet. If it gets wet, there's a high chance of infection and inflammation at this level. If we had more time, I could wipe off some of the blood with alcohol pads, but for now I can only replace it with clean bandages."
"Alright, go ahead."
Lux didn't insist. He turned around, opened a bag of chips to release the air, then stuffed it into his backpack.
Normally, he wouldn't need to do this. The system's storage space was huge.
But with Bob around, he didn't intend to expose his abnormalities, so conserving backpack space this way was necessary.
"Lux, two zombies have appeared forty meters away. Open fire?"
MDR's voice came through the tactical headset.
"No. Gunfire will attract them from farther away. I'll handle it."
With that, Lux grabbed his blade and walked out of the shop. The two zombies rushed right up to him.
One swung blood- and virus-stained claws at Lux.
He leapt back nimbly, dodging the attack, then thrust the katana into the first zombie's skull.
Without looking at the corpse, he swung the scabbard into the second zombie's leg, knocking it down, then stabbed the katana into the back of its head.
He didn't dare take zombie attacks head-on.
Even though the system provided vaccines to prevent infection, a single dose cost ten thousand resource points.
He wasn't that rich.
And if Bob learned he had a way to be immune to the zombie virus—even if he was a good person—there was no guarantee he wouldn't betray him.
After all, immunity to infection was an irresistible temptation in the apocalypse.
After filling his backpack completely, HK416 finished treating Bob's wound.
"Let's go. Even though we couldn't clean the blood, I poured some disinfectant on the side of the bandage. It should mask the blood scent a little."
"But if we can find perfume, that would work better."
Disinfectant and perfume served different purposes. Perfume was designed to evaporate and spread fragrance, so it was much stronger scent-wise.
Disinfectant's pungent smell was just a side effect.
Heading toward X High School along the sidewalk again, MDR resumed scouting ahead.
Even with the gene serum greatly boosting his physical abilities, Lux still couldn't match MDR's reconnaissance module.
"Two zombies at forty meters, seven o'clock direction. Currently wandering. They don't seem to have noticed us."
"So it really is fresh blood…"
Lux muttered quietly.
Confirming this didn't make him feel any better—it only made rescuing Bob's daughter more difficult.
Knowing the problem didn't mean having a solution. Aside from masking the blood scent with perfume, he couldn't think of anything else.
Waiting for the wound to heal? Even if his daughter was still alive, she'd likely starve or die of thirst by then.
"What should we do? You take them out, or do we detour?"
MDR asked.
"Detour."
Lux issued the order quickly.
This city had a resident population of around two hundred thousand. Even with gene enhancement, relying on one man and one blade would just exhaust him to death.
Besides, killing zombies brought no benefit. He couldn't be bothered to clear them all.
"This way."
MDR crouched low, using the wrecked vehicles to carefully move through the zombies' blind spots.
But when the four of them were still about ten meters away from the two zombies, both suddenly let out a roar and charged straight toward the group hiding beside the vehicle wreckage.
"Tch, we've been spotted. I'll leave it to you, Lux."
MDR shrugged helplessly.
Lux exploded into motion and instantly chopped off both zombies' heads.
"Looks like even with disinfectant interference, once we get within ten meters, we'll still be detected."
Shaking the brain matter off his blade, Lux said with a headache.
At this rate, it would be extremely difficult to bring Bob to X High School while avoiding zombies. Forcing their way through by killing everything ahead… with their current firepower, that was a joke.
Lux began thinking about how to get Bob to the school gates.
"Thank you, sir… I know you've already done your best. Please give me the blade. I'll walk the rest of the way on my own."
Bob suddenly made up his mind and spoke seriously.
Over the past three days, he had been constantly thinking about how to save his daughter. He was well aware that once they entered the city center, the density of zombies would only increase.
Right now, it might just be three or four zombies at a time. But once they went deeper into the city, the blood on his body would continuously attract large numbers of zombies.
Even perfume could only interfere with their sense of smell to the greatest extent. It couldn't completely erase the scent of blood.
Having realized that success was unlikely, he didn't want to drag down these three kind-hearted young people.
"…Let me think. There might be another way."
Lux neither agreed nor refused immediately.
He could easily tell that Bob already had the will to die. Next, he would probably rush blindly toward X High School and get torn apart by the surrounding zombies along the way.
"You should know very well that if you keep heading into the city, you'll be eaten alive. Rely on us for now. Staying on the outskirts, you can still survive. Once the wound on your head heals, I might be able to take you to a survivor settlement."
Lux said calmly.
"No need, sir. Thank you. As a father… I have to go save Anna. Her mother left her a long time ago. This is a responsibility I must shoulder as her father."
"If even I, her own father, don't go save her, then who will?"
Even if I fail… maybe I'll be able to see her again in the afterlife. At least I tried.
Bob spoke with unwavering resolve.