Chapter 26: Chad

"Get the fuck out of here! You're not going to step a single foot closer!"

"I'm either dying right here, or walking over your dead body into that grocery store!"

Two large groups of people were fighting each other over control for the grocery store. It had worked up to be quite the messy fight, with many human corpses on the floor in the form of bashed skulls and people bleeding out from stab wounds.

Kairos looked at the groups and noticed that there were only a couple people left on each side. Not to mention, they were injured, so they would be very easy to take care of.

He took a step forward, but suddenly Chase called out.

"Wait."

Kairos turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

Chase slowly crouched down, gently laying his hand against the floor.

"...We should wait a little before getting closer."

Kairos blinked a few times.

"Did you hear something?"

Chase closed his eyes.

"I can feel the tremors."

It was then, Kairos could feel a very light rumble under his feet with his future vision. He then shifted his attention back to the front.

And there was a monster, hiding at the side of the grocery store.

However... instead of trying to take advantage of weakened people, it began running away. Like it was running for dear life.

The rumbling eventually became clearer, to the point that it was audible to everyone. Nicole blinked a few times.

"What... what is that?"

Tori furrowed her brows.

"Wait, I think I remember..."

Suddenly, a thundering roar resounded, one that sounded like a lion's, but heavily distorted. Loud thumps resounded one after another as a giant monster charged towards the grocery store.

This monster was over five meters tall, but that didn't truly encapsulate its size. That was because the monster was unbelievably burly, nearly being wider than it was tall. The arms were so large in relation to the rest of its body, it even beat those people that injected oil into themselves just to make themselves look extra muscular. Though most monsters had lost their hair, this one still had some yellow hair left on its head.

The group ended up backing up a little, even though they were already quite far away.

Tori spoke under her breath.

"That's the thing that threw cars around earlier!"

Chase sighed.

"It is quite unfortunate to encounter this creature right when we wished to access the store."

The monster charged in and picked one person up with one hand, messily consuming them, and smashed its fist down on another, obliterating them.

This made the people fighting each other panic. Some people began running away, which was a fairly normal reaction. However, some people decided to waste time to stab the people running despite a much greater threat before them.

In the end, because of these people who valued winning the fight over their own lives, the monster was able to either snatch up or kill every single one of these monsters.

Sydney recoiled slightly when she saw this scene.

"That is frightening."

As for Nicole, she narrowed her eyes, staring at the monster intently.

"Wait... is that Chad?"

Kairos' eyes widened as he also took a closer look.

"...Those are the same clothes. It is Chad."

Nicole blinked a few times.

"No wonder he is so muscular."

Chase rubbed his chin.

"It appears that it will be quite difficult to enter that grocery store, don't you think?"

Harold frowned.

"Difficult? There's no way we are going to get in with that thing in the way..."

Kairos let out a soft sigh and turned to Sydney.

"Where is the next closest grocery store?"

Sydney frowned slightly.

"...Not counting the ones we have visited, the next one is at least three kilometers away and a little off track."

Tori blinked a few times.

"Off track?"

Kairos rubbed the side of his head.

"...Off track if we want to get to the wilderness."

After a period of deliberation, he decided that there was no point in hiding it now. Chase raised an eyebrow, but did not say anything.

The monster began feasting on all of the dead corpses, prompting most of the group to look away.

Nicole smiled bitterly.

"Maybe we can go to the wilderness then find food there?"

Kairos pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Do we have anybody that knows how to gather food in the wilderness?"

Chase rubbed his chin.

"I've hunted game before, but in terms of the various vegetation that is edible, I essentially know nothing."

Kairos massaged his temple with the tip of his index finger.

"Would there be any wildlife in the closest wild that there is?"

Chase shook his head.

"Not for a while. There are measures that are taken so that most wildlife won't ever be close by. The most you would get are a few rabbits."

The anxiety of the food situation kept creeping up on Kairos, making him extremely stressed.

Seemingly noticing this, Nicole raised a finger.

"It's still ok! We can just wait for it to leave!"

Tori furrowed her brows.

"From what I've seen, that thing constantly rushes towards wherever it can find more food."

She sucked in a sharp breath.

"I'm pretty sure the only reason I escaped it was because it chased after another large group of survivors... and ate them instead."

Kairos blinked a few times.

"So that means..."

The monster looked around, seemingly aimless. But then, it turned towards the grocery store. Though the ceiling was quite high inside, able to contain the monster's height easily, the door was made for people that were roughly two meters tall.

However, that didn't seem to bother the monster as it rushed in, directly smashing through the door and wall of the place.

Kairos bit down on the end of his thumbnail.

Nicole's eyebrow twitched.

"O-Oh..."

There were several bodies inside the store, which the monster began eating without showing any manners whatsoever. Various organs and half-chewed flesh spilled out, splattering across the ground.

After being done with the bodies, it then grabbed onto the various packages from the aisles, devouring them whole, not caring about all the packaging it was eating in the process.

Kairos took a deep breath.

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"...Well, we have two choices. We can run away and pray we get some food along the way, or we try to kill this thing."

Harold furrowed his brows.

"Isn't it obvious we should run away?"

Kairos pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Maybe if our metabolism was normal. However, right now, I already feel like I haven't eaten in days. I'm sure it isn't as intense, but still the same for the others."

Harold seemed confused.

"Eh? I don't feel that hungry."

Nicole muttered.

"Um... my stomach feels a little empty."

Chase raised his hand.

"I'm not hungry, but I also ate an energy bar just now."

Kairos took a deep breath.

As everyone evolves, this will mean they will need more food. This went for everyone on the planet, meaning that food supplies as a whole would deteriorate frighteningly fast as people continued to change.

"...There is a third option."

Nicole let out a soft gasp.

"What is that?"

Currently, the group was standing in the alleyway of a house. Kairos peeked into a window that was for some reason within the alleyway and looked in the house.

"We take the food inside these houses. Chances are, we will have to go through a few, but it will be enough eventually."

Chase tilted his head to the side.

"Ah, that is far easier. Why haven't we been doing that?"

Sydney seemed enlightened, and even excited. But then, she thought of the woman from earlier with her two children.

"...But we might be taking from people that need it to survive."

Tori pouted.

"I doubt they would live that long anyway."

Nicole's eyes widened.

"How could you say something like that?!"

Kairos sighed.

"I assume that some of you aren't in agreement."

Sydney frowned.

"I... I don't think I could do it."

Chase blinked a few times.

"Isn't taking food in general still taking what others could've needed? Just because it was from a grocery store and not a house doesn't truly change the fact. Yet, we did it. This is simply what we do to survive."

Kairos massaged his temple.

"If some of us are unwilling, then we should just drop it. Sometimes it's not about the actual morality of the action, but the perspective that they take."

He was tempted to convince the others to loot from the houses. However, he also knew that the cohesion of the team would weaken significantly. It would essentially become him, Chase, and Tori, against Nicole, Sydney, and Harold.

There was nothing wrong with this itself. However, Kairos still needed someone to watch over him while he slept, and he frankly could only trust Nicole and her parents for that.

And so, Kairos quickly ended the talk here.

He looked towards the giant monster.

"...How about this, the people that wish to fight with that monster can do so. Some of us would be a liability anyway."

Kairos attempted to pretend that the option of just running away didn't exist, and just suggested it instead of saying it outright.

Chase blinked a few times and looked at Kairos a little strangely, but chuckled.

"Well, since I have a bow, there is no need for me to get close to the danger, so I will naturally participate."

Kairos narrowed his eyes.

"As I am the one that needs the food the most right now, as I used many points after killing those monsters in the freezer, I will also participate."

Tori clearly seemed to be hesitating.

"We really can't just go through a few houses?"

Kairos closed his eyes.

"If you wish to split off from the team, then sure, you can go ahead and do that."

The corner of Tori's lip twitched.

"...I-I will help you fight it as well then."

Nicole raised her hand.

"Me too!"

Harold and Sydney both furrowed their brows. They were about to say something, but Kairos spoke up first.

"You can't participate directly."

Nicole's eyes widened.

"Ehh? Why?"

Kairos shook his head and put it bluntly.

"You will die too easily. Chances are, you may be more of a liability."

Nicole clearly seemed despondent.

"B-But..."

Kairos sighed.

"You can still help, but you will be on standby. If there is an opportunity, then you can take advantage of it."

He looked over, and noticed that Nicole still seemed a bit sad.

"...I'm counting on you to save me, alright?"

Nicole's eyes lit up.

"Ah, you got it!"

Kairos stood up and walked towards the grocery store.

"Then let's get to it."

The monster was currently rummaging through the aisles, not caring about anything else around it. Though that was fair enough considering it was essentially the top of the food chain right now.

However, it's not like a wolf has never been killed by a pack of deer before.

Kairos spoke softly to Chase.

"Since it's not paying attention, you might as well hit it with an arrow once we are close."

Chase laughed.

"That was the plan."

He lifted his bow as an arrow of mana congealed on top of it. As for Tori and Kairos, the two of them slowly got closer to the monster, taking note to not make too much noise.

The monster directly uprooted one of the aisles, then tossed it to the side, causing it to crash into something else. Then, it bent down and began eating some more food.

Tori and Kairos both got up close to the monster and raised their weapons.

They were close enough to feel the heat coming from it.

Then, Chase let his arrow loose.

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