It’s been two days since I’ve left the university and I can say that it was a safe haven compared to the city. In just these past few days, I’ve seen so many special types of zombies. Not just those who could use magic but some who didn’t even look human. One of the zombies I have seen was running on six legs and another was so fat it rolled around to move.

But the weirdest zombie I’ve seen didn’t even look like a zombie. I would probably place it in a category of its own. It was just an entire human skeleton. I was resting for the night within an apartment building and heard heavy thuds from outside so I looked in between the curtains and was stunned. A pure white human skeleton was normally walking down the street. The light from the moon gave the skeleton a silver glow as it continued down the street. None of the other zombies dared to approach it.

I was lucky that I didn’t have to face any of these special monsters. I’m sure I would have lost even after all the training I’ve been through.

These two days have been more terrifying than anything I’ve faced in the university. I’m just glad that I could find traces of human activity in the city. I haven’t seen or heard any humans, but I could see traces where humans have camped. I can only hope that the path I’m taking is the same as Fifi’s.

From the looks of the map, the location they were heading was north from the university. It was located on the outskirts of the cities where it starts to turn into farmlands. From what Fifi drew, the house was three stories tall and it had a white exterior. I shouldn’t be able to miss it if it’s that size.

Alright, it should be time to go. Looking through the curtains, the sun was starting to rise. From what I know, the zombies are more sluggish in the morning than at night. The only way for them to become more active is when a stronger zombie or monster agitates them. But these stronger monsters are usually less active during the day too so it’s relatively safe.

Looking at my supplies, I should be good for another few days before I need to scavenge for resources. I currently have three canned food, three water bottles, a first aid kit I found, a mysterious ring, 50 bullets, and Fifi’s cute drawn book. The only way I’ve been passing my time was to read and draw within Fifi’s book. Besides that, all I did was make more bullets or train a little.

The mysterious ring was something that popped out of a zombie’s head after I killed it. I don’t know if this is what Fifi meant by treasure but I haven’t done anything with it yet. I don’t know if it’s cursed or not so it’s better to be safe. I’ll have Fifi examine it when we meet up.

I gather up the items and destroy the earth magic that was blocking the door to the apartment. I peek my head out and see that there weren’t any zombies so I head on out with Earth Spear Mk.2. I had time to smooth out the roughness of Earth Spear Mk.1 and even added grip onto it so it won’t slip when I attack.

I head down the stairs on the outside of the building. The street was right in front of me so I carefully look around before proceeding down. There were a few zombies a distance away but they won’t notice me.

After walking for half an hour, I finally see a landmark that tells me how close I am to my destination. It was the fast-food restaurant, JackDonalds, with its large signature JD. This JD symbol was also drawn on Fifi’s map so I’m guessing I’m about 20 minutes away from my destination. It was a rough estimate of the distance between Fifi’s drawn line to the white building.

“Woof! Woof! Woof!”

Is that a dog? This was the first time I’ve heard an animal since I’ve left the university. For some reason, I haven’t seen any animals including birds within the city at all. It’s like they all knew that the city was dangerous.

I am hungry and I would like to investigate this dog so I head on over through the entrance. The barks were loud and aggressive like it was fighting something. I go over the counter and look into the back.

I could see the dog on the ground and it looks like one of its legs was injured. Looking at what the dog was barking at, there was a slime creature on the ceiling. It looks like a slime monster you would see in video games but a lot more terrifying. There were body parts floating within its translucent body.

Should I save the dog or not? I’ve never fought a slime so it might be a dangerous battle and would saving the dog be worth it?

I’ll get experience from killing that slime and if I can train that dog then I’ll also gain experience. That dog looks like a golden retriever and maybe Fifi will like it. She has golden hair that matches this dog so I’m sure she’ll look cute riding it. Lisa and Mako also seem like they would like dogs too. I’m sure this golden retriever would heal their hearts after everything they’ve been through. I guess my answer is obvious.

“Double Exploding Fire Blast.”

I run in and cast my magic before the slime notices my presence. By the time it notices, it was already too late. Its entire body was already turning into a black crisp. I didn’t realize how effective fire magic was against slimes. I hadn’t had time to improve any of the variations of fire blast so it should still be relatively weak but it was strong enough to kill a slime.

The slimy part of the body evaporated and the only parts left were the burnt crisps of human body parts. I look back and see that the dog was still wary of me. Its fangs were bared towards me.

How do you tame a dog? I’ve never owned a dog so I don’t know. I’ve played with some strays before and most of them liked it when I fed them. I wonder if it’ll be the same with this dog.

I grab a can of food and open it before letting the dog smell it. I try to approach it as peacefully as possible but it's still growling at me. I guess this isn’t going to work. Instead of approaching closer, I put the food on the ground before pushing it towards him with my feet.

Come on, eat it, Goldie. I know you are hungry. We can become friends after you nibble a little of the food.

Goldie begins to limp a little closer and sniffs at the food. It looks at me then it looks at the food. I give it an ok gesture and it seems like it understood me. Goldie begins to hurriedly eat the canned food. In a matter of seconds, he ate all of it. Since he still looks hungry, I take out another canned food for him.

After eating all of the food, he sits there and rests for a bit while also staring at me. This time it seems like he isn’t as hostile. I wonder if he’ll let me pet him. I come closer and squat down before petting him. I’ve successfully tamed a dog.

“Your fur is pretty soft, Goldie. You must have been through a lot these past few weeks.”

Goldie looks at me as I call his name. He looks at me confused, asking whether Goldie is his name or not.

“Yes, from now on your name is Goldie. My name is Jude Craven, nice to meet you. From this day onwards we are friends.”

He licks my hand as if to confirm our relationship. He’s a pretty smart dog to understand me. I guess this is what Fifi mean when she was talking about interspecies relationships.

“We’re going to be good partners, Goldie.”

Goldie continues to rest while I pick him up to look at his injured leg. It seems like it was scratched by something but it doesn’t seem to be broken. I take the first aid kit from my backpack and wrap Goldie’s leg with a roll of gauze bandages. He whimpers as I touch his wounds so I rub his back to assure him that he’s fine.

“That should be good for now, Goldie. Rest here and I’ll look around for any food we can take.”

Goldie barks in response and I look around the place for food. There’s frozen patties and bags of fries so I could probably take those but I need a bag. I wouldn’t want the patty juices to soak into my backpack. I see paper bags and grab a few before going back for the patties and fries. I wonder if dogs can eat burger patties and fries.

“Why did we have to go scavenge for food?”

“It’s obviously because we have the least Chad points.”

“Shh, quiet. We don’t if there are any zombies around.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Hey, you think we can buy Lisa or Mako with our Chad points.”

“No way. They aren’t even part of the Chad faction. Besides those two guys in black will definitely kill us if we go after them.”

Lisa and Mako? It has to be them. Lisa is a relatively common name but Mako isn’t. These two must know where Lisa and Mako are. I need them to lead me to them.

“Hey, there’s a dog in here.”

“You think we can eat a dog?”

“I’m sure you can. People in Bihina eat them so why can’t we.”

These people notice Goldie and Goldie notices them. He was growling at them.

“Shit, let’s just kill it.”

“Yeah.”

“Wait, please wait. This is my dog, I’m sorry for troubling you guys.”

Looking at them now, there were five of them. Two of them had pistols while the other three had sharp objects to pierce into the heads of zombies.

“Hey, it’s another human.”

“Yo, how have you survived out here, dude. Must have been rough.”

“Have you been bitten anywhere.”

“N-no. My dog hasn’t been bitten either, he’s just injured.”

I try and act like a coward so there guards would be down against me. The only two who haven’t talked are the ones with guns. It seems like they're the leaders of this group.

“Do you guys have a safe place to live in? I’ve barely been surviving by wandering place to place. Please take me with you guys.”

I lower my head as I beg to them. I could hear them whisper amongst themselves. It seems like the two men with guns have deemed that I can be taken back.

“Alright, be grateful. Our leaders have decided that we’ll bring you back to base. Help us scavenge this restaurant and we’ll go back.”

“Y-yes. Thank you very much.”