"It's unfair to make only you three do night watch. I'll do it too. I'm used to staying up as a security guard."
Seeing Lux hadn't mentioned him, Bob quickly spoke.
"You have a head injury. Rest properly. If tomorrow the X High School area is too dangerous… you'll have to find your daughter on your own… or I can send you directly to the military shelter."
Lux shook his head. Bob hadn't rested well in the museum; he didn't want an exhausted person on night watch. If he fell asleep and something happened… the consequences would be serious.
"Thanks for that." Bob stopped insisting. He was indeed tired but didn't want Lux and the others to handle everything alone, hence offering to help with night watch.
After the meal, everyone gathered their items and crawled into sleeping bags.
---
Early in the morning, Lux opened his eyes and noticed HK416's gaze.
"Good morning, Lux. Today, I won't lose to anyone."
"Morning."
Lux looked around; the others were still asleep, and a few tears clung to Candice's cheeks.
"I'll make breakfast. You can sleep a bit longer if you like."
Lux crawled out of his sleeping bag and grabbed five self-heating rice boxes to activate their heating packs. After several days of instant noodles, he wanted a change.
Today could be a life-or-death day for Bob. If the X High School area was too dangerous, they might part ways. It was only fair to have a proper meal.
Also, he reasoned that if they encountered a zombie horde, survival wasn't guaranteed. Enjoying good food now was better than storing it and dying with regret.
HK416 watched Lux prepare the rice and the half-open sleeping bag, hesitating.
Normally, she wouldn't have the chance—or wouldn't dare—to get close to Lux, but the sleeping bag with his body heat was incredibly tempting.
"I-I'll just lie down a little longer." She comforted herself and dropped her bag, slipping into the sleeping bag.
---
Smelling the long-missed aroma of braised beef, Lux turned with two boxes of rice to hand one to HK416—but she was already in the sleeping bag.
"Cough… I think I'll rest a bit more."
Looking at Lux, HK416 averted her gaze.
"Not feeling well? We can leave later." Lux asked, concerned. He wasn't sure if the tactical dolls could get sick; he wouldn't force her up if she wasn't feeling well.
"No, I'll be fine resting here for a bit."
"Good. If you feel unwell, tell me. Don't endure it alone—address problems early."
Lux set down the rice and stroked her pure-white hair.
"Your temperature feels a bit high… are you feverish? Want some medicine?"
"No! With my medical module, I'm perfectly healthy! Don't worry!" HK416 replied quickly.
"What's all the noise? Smells good here."
MDR, wrapped like a caterpillar, sat up and looked around.
"You're awake! Breakfast's ready—self-heating rice."
"Oh, smells delicious! Hey, Lux, you didn't let 416 do night watch alone last night, did you?" MDR teased.
"This is my sleeping bag."
"Wait… so you two were flirting? Last night was officially night watch, but actually, once you fell asleep, you snuck in and did… that?"
MDR covered his mouth, shocked.
"You're dreaming. This is a single sleeping bag. If that happened, you'd have woken up."
"I did wake her for night watch. I just let her rest while I prepared breakfast."
"It's getting close to autumn, mornings are cold. She just wanted warmth."
"Exactly! I was cold, so I went in." HK416 explained.
"Ah, you don't need to explain what you're doing to me. I was just joking. Why are you so nervous? Heehee~"
"I'm going to enjoy breakfast, the source of happiness for the day."
MDR wore a meaningful smile, rolled up her sleeping bag, stuffed it into her hiking pack, and picked up a box of self-heating rice.
After MDR's noisy interruption, Bob and Candice also woke up.
"It's… morning already?"
Bob yawned and crawled out of his sleeping bag.
"Yeah. Eat up. We'll be leaving after."
"Can you… bury my dad? I'm only asking for this one thing."
Candice asked quietly, knowing full well how selfish the request sounded.
"..."
"I'll put him in the cargo area at the back of the truck. First we'll go try to save anyone who might still be alive. After that, I'll find a place to bury your father. Let him rest in peace."
Lux sighed and nodded.
He didn't know whether Bob would even make it out of that high school alive today.
Once the number of zombies reached a certain point, a small number of firearms became completely useless. He'd be torn apart by the horde.
Though he was moved by Bob's love for his daughter, she wouldn't gamble everyone's lives for it.