May Peace Grace Us

Chapter 46: Before the rain

The days were filled with so many things and humanity was racing against time. All over the world, the number of devastating disasters has been increasing and the world has changed in a way that does not allow them to live peacefully. Countless people have died and the world of humans has gotten smaller and smaller.

Aila coldly looked at the increasingly clear skies above them. She was urging everyone to be vigilant and alert of the changes in the sky. Any time in this period, it was the start of the rain that could make the zombies stronger.

Raining itself is not the problem. She has described the rain as a gentle one, drizzling in some places and a little heavy in other places. But what this rain brings is the acceleration of mutation to whatever creature it has befallen. Other than that, this rain is quite long-lasting and the worse thing is that she does not remember how long it be gracing them.

It is a fact that this is the period for the zombies to be stronger with the rain's blessings. Although there are so few zombies sighted nearby, it does not mean that it will not cause them trouble when they start gaining abilities. Most of the time, the zombies who have gained some ability will develop some intelligence in them afterwards and lead a group of zombies that will become the feared waves.

To humans, this rain can also help them with abilities, but only a few people can get that opportunity. Most humans who get drenched in this rain turn into zombies themselves. Supernaturalists will get some boost if they bathe in the rain, but Aila does not want to have her friends have an upgrade with this rain. From her memories of life before, the rain has adverse effects on them for a while that she does not want her friends to experience in this life.

It has something to do with some balance of things she vaguely remembered in the notes when she wrote this world. It was a vague concept she had. Those who have great powers but are not strong enough to bear them will be destroyed. Not too clear of the details she wrote about it and, coupled with her previous life experience, Aila did not want to risk things.

“Are you sure that it will rain?” Harry was skeptical as he asked this. His face is full of sweat, after all, this guy is quite bad at handling the heat. “The weather is so damn clear that it could not be any clearer. Not to mention, the day was so hot that it felt like I was dunked in a pool with how sweaty I am now.”

“Not exactly.” Aila did not want to say much about this and only brought the batch of people to clear the surrounding areas. “I am positive it would rain, but the time and exact date were blurry to me. So I am asking you all to be vigilant for that to happen.”

Today they are out to clear the surrounding zombies. It is to make sure there are no hidden dangers in plain sight as well as to train their mindset and skills for killing zombies. They can’t afford to have canaries in their midst, everyone has to contribute something for the sake of everyone.

“How long will we be doing this again?” Harry asked again as he more or less accepted Aila’s answer to his previous question.

“Two more hours to go, Harry.”

“....you know what, I would have fewer complaints if we were actually doing something here other than walking aimlessly.” Harry weakly said. “Why are there so few of them now?”

“Well, the zombies’ range of activity is at the nights at this period of time. They can only start handling the sunlight better after the rain I am talking about.” Aila did not deign to say more and lead them to the other side of the compound. “If you’re bored enough you can join Travis in the back, he is having quite some fun over there.”

“That guy and his open-mindedness.” Harry sighs as he thinks if he should join his friend in the group. Travis is a class of his own if he is with a group of people around him.

Don’t look at how he usually talks and acts with their group, the guy was quite a magnet in his own right. Among them, he is the one with the most admirers. He often attracts them unconsciously and these people often turn quite a hardcore in their pursuit of Travis. Harry is pretty sure that the people in the back are already in the way of being enamoured by the guy.

“If it's you, you can deal with it with ease.” Aila only off-handedly said. “You’ve done it countless times already. What else can you not take care of?”

“....I’ll head back.” Harry sighed as he patted Aila on the back before he turned to the direction where their aspiring doctor was.

Aila indifferently nodded at him as she spotted some zombies in the distance. Gesturing to prepare themselves to engage. They had discussed command and gestures beforehand, and they were already used to this since the time they started their clearing operations. And in that instance, the ones behind her got in their battle stance ready.

As expected, the zombies, upon smelling their scent, were excited at their presence. Not minding the sun in which they currently fear, like a rabies patient, they walked as fast as they could with their still stiff bodies. Grunting and some inaudible noises coming out of their throats.

The ones who Aila leads today are those without supernatural abilities. They utilized all sorts of weapons they could use, some had pipes, some bats, some knives, and a few who were skilled got to have guns upon their beings. With trained coordination, they annihilate the zombies in record time.

Nodding at a job well done, they continued their patrols as scheduled. They found some more zombies and dealt with them appropriately. Harry got his wish for some actions, though he was stuck with Travis behind the group who seemed to have taken refuge in him. It might have annoyed Harry at some point, but he refrained from saying or showing it on the surface. His style is the type that waits until they are indoors to settle the differences. Aila lit some candles for Travis when they returned.

Finally, after their patrol was done, they headed back to the base. At this point, the sky was starting to dim as nimbus-cirrus clouds gathered in the sky. Without doubt, this was the rain Aila was telling everyone.

Aila urged everyone to hasten their pace and aim to return to the base as soon as possible. The wind picked up as the surroundings cooled down as the humidity was affected by the weather. Once in a while, they could hear some thunder in the distance.

When they reached the base, Aila immediately gave instructions to cease all activities outside and everyone must not stay out in the rain. Telling them that the rain can turn them into zombies. At this point of time, the people on the base had learned to listen to her words and obediently obeyed her instructions.

Those who are still working on the fields hastily finish their work and put aside their things in the storage area as much as possible. Those who were in charge of the logistics made sure each accommodation would have enough food and water for at least a week. Aila cannot remember how long the rain would last, but for the safe side, she especially emphasized having extra for everyone.

The current arrangement for their population is divided into five accommodations. These were made in consideration of the activities that needed human hands to do. For example, a group of people were stuffed into the mansion of Aila’s uncle Joseph. They are mainly placed there to take care of the various kinds of fry they will try to breed on for years to come. Most of them are interested or have some experience of doing this kind of activity, so she is relieved that they will care for them.

The other houses that were fully utilized by Aila for their needs were in similar conditions. There were the domesticated animals in one of her cousin's houses, another solely dedicated to their energy needs such as electricity, another for their achievement of knowledge or the likes, and lastly was Aila’s own villa.

Unlike the other houses, Aila’s home was complete with all the features that the other properties had. After all, this was the first one that was modified by her, while the rest did not have enough time to be taken care of, so it became a house with specialties or simply a storage instead. Similarly, the other houses that have no inhabitants were also turned to such existence too, but were locked by Aila until the materials needed for those things is already available, like cotton and wools for textile, she estimates it will take at least a year before they can use those areas.

As for why Aila locked those places, it was simply she wanted to make sure none of these would be broken or damaged. Though she allowed some people to drop by to do occasional checks and maintenance, she really dared not allow others to stay in these areas for so long. They cannot find any replacement if any were accidentally broken despite her preparing for extras in the warehouse. The development outside does not allow them to venture out for long at the moment to find anything they might have a need for.

So when the rain started falling, everyone was more or less settled in the places they should be.

“Aila, look over here.” Alexa said as she pointed at the TV where they connected the monitors of the various CCTVs she had previously installed. “What was that thing in the sky?”

Aila turned her head to the TV to see what Alexa meant. The video itself was blurry with the wind and rain outside. But Aila could see a feature in the dark clouds like a child of sorts. It was the first time Aila had seen something like it.

“I don’t know,” Aila said as she tried to remember everything she had encountered, something like that in her past life as well as the things she wrote before. “Nothing comes to mind. Maybe it was just an illusion of the eye when we concentrated on something.”

“But this thing here is so weird. You might not know this as you just came and saw this one, but that figure is hovering in the sky way before the rain starts falling.” Alexa reported what she saw and observed in the monitoring.

“Really?” Aila was also weirded out by the phenomenon. A conjecture was made in her mind, but shook it out of her mind a second later. Because there is no way that existence actually followed her. From what she heard back when she was in that accident months before, the child was burnt to crisp. Even the most durable zombie will die if they are damaged to that extent.

“Really. I told you about it the fastest I could to know if it is something you know of. But since you have no impression about it, maybe this will not bring us trouble,” Alexa said as she changed the monitor to another scene. “By the way, auntie wants you to help in the kitchen.”

“Okay,” Aila replied as she went to the kitchen as she said.