“What? Vodka?” she asked in confusion as she watched the man rummage through his backpack.
“Yeah, vodka. I’m using it as an emergency antiseptic. What else can I do? I hope you can handle it. It’s going to sting like hell.”
The woman was extremely startled.
“I don’t want it.”
Raiden stopped what he was doing and looked at her with a bored expression.
“At a time like this, we don’t have any other choice. What? You’re upset because it’s vodka? Or because it’s going to hurt like hell and damage your skin?”
The long-haired woman, whose hair was tied back, fell silent with an angry, irritated expression.
Most of Indonesia’s population followed Islam. Alcohol was something its followers avoided because it went against their religious rules.
Raiden understood that, and he actually followed the same religion. But in an emergency, when circumstances left no other option, there was nothing else to use.
“I don’t know why you’re refusing, and I don’t want to know,” he said, rummaging through his bag again and pulling out a small bottle. “I went through a lot to get this. So you’d better cooperate if you don’t want to die from an infection.”
The woman tried to pull away, but eventually gave in when Raiden poured the clear liquid directly onto her wound. The sting made her groan in pain as she gritted her teeth. She even hurriedly bit down on her other hand because it hurt so badly, then glared angrily at him.
Raiden’s brow furrowed deeply when he saw her biting her own hand.
Was this woman actually stupid?
He quickly handed her a handkerchief.
“Here, bite this instead. If you bite your other hand too, what’s the point of me bandaging your wound?”
The woman glared fiercely at him, meeting his eyes again. Raiden thought she would simply stay quiet and go back to sulking.
Suddenly, her voice trembling and her face looking like she was about to pass out, she whispered softly while looking away.
“The virus was created by a brilliant professor whose mind wasn’t right. He was incredibly curious and didn’t care about the risks. Maybe, at first, he was only fooling around and genuinely curious. He never expected to create a deadly virus that would endanger humanity.”
Raiden fell silent for a moment, stopping as he wrapped her arm. Then he slowly nodded.
“All right. At least my question about how this virus came into existence has finally been answered. Thanks for the information.”
The woman looked at him.
“You’d better not tell anyone about this. Otherwise, you could lose your life.”
“Does this have anything to do with the government?”
“No. It doesn’t. The professor acted alone. Yes, he was funded by the government, but what he did was clearly his own initiative. The bastard was insane! Why didn’t he just die because of his own creation?”
Raiden immediately understood. The professor she was referring to was probably the mad scientist who had created the virus using government facilities.
“All right, all right. I won’t ask any more questions. What I want to know now is, how did you end up here? Do you have a group? What about your weapons and supplies?”
Raiden was thorough. He had finished bandaging her wound and was now sitting cross-legged in front of her, watching her seriously.
The woman looked a little relieved, but her face was deathly pale. Seeing her hesitate to speak, Raiden flashed a mischievous smile.
“Don’t worry, I’m not a bad guy. If I were, I would’ve already done something to you while you were injured, right?”
The woman glared at him and said wearily, “My name is Nayara.”
“Nayara?” Raiden repeated, raising one eyebrow. “That’s a pretty unique name.”
The woman smiled.
“Nayara Hadiswara. I’m part of the special forces formed after the virus spread.”
Raiden extended his right hand.
“Raiden. Raiden Pratama. Just call me Raiden. Rai works too. Aiden’s even cooler,” he said, half-joking.
With some difficulty, Nayara reached for his hand and gave it a small shake.
“I should be the one saying that. It’s nice to meet you, and thank you again for helping me.”
Raiden chuckled and praised her sincerely. “You’re actually pretty amazing. If only you hadn’t run out of bullets.”
Nayara smiled gently again. Her face became even prettier, despite the grime decorating both cheeks.
All of a sudden, Raiden felt his heart beating strangely.
To be honest, he wasn’t the kind of man who easily fell in love or was captivated by beautiful women. Maybe he was still impressed by her awesome performance earlier, which was why he was a little affected. Without thinking too much about it, he pushed the strange feeling aside and shifted his focus.
“How are you feeling? Does it still hurt?”
His eyes settled on Nayara’s arm, the one that had just reached out to shake his hand. The sweat on her face seemed to be increasing.
“It’s a little better, but it still stings really badly.”
Raiden turned serious and inspected her wound.
“Is the bandage too tight? Is it hurting you?”
There was a hint of awkwardness in his voice, unlike his earlier casual tone.
Nayara didn’t notice the change. She chuckled again, her voice softer and sweeter this time.
“You did a good job. You seem pretty experienced, huh? What about you? Aren’t you alone? Do you have a group?”
The question brought Raiden back to his senses. He quickly grabbed the communicator and contacted Bayuda.
“I have one companion. Ah, I wouldn’t exactly call him a friend. He’s more like my former boss. I’ll contact him first, okay? I need to make sure he doesn’t do anything stupid.”
Suddenly, Nayara laughed more openly and sincerely, making Raiden’s ears turn slightly red.
“I’ll contact him first,” he said again, growing even more awkward.
Nayara nodded slowly, still unaware of the change in him.
“Boss, I’ve found another survivor,” he said quietly, sneaking a glance at the woman beside him, who appeared to have closed her eyes from exhaustion.
“Oh, really? How is it? Have you found their supplies? Compensation? Did you ask her for compensation? Do they have any good food there?”
Those words instantly made Nayara open her eyes and shoot him a suspicious, sarcastic look.
Raiden froze, struck speechless with an awkward expression. He hurriedly switched off the communicator and looked at her apologetically. “It’s not what you think.”
“You’re not the type of person who helps another survivor, then loots their supplies, are you?”
Raiden laughed awkwardly. “I’m not that evil. You were clearly being chased by a horde of undead and weren’t carrying any supplies. Do you really think I’d help you just because I was after your supplies? I could’ve simply searched this building instead, couldn’t I?”
Nayara stared at him with even greater suspicion. She seemed to be starting to think badly of him.
Raiden let out a heavy sigh.
“Fine, believe whatever you want. You wouldn’t believe me if I said I helped you out of genuine goodwill, anyway, right? How about this: after sunrise, we’ll go our separate ways. You can handle your business, and I’ll handle mine. But for now, we shouldn’t split up yet. You’re seriously injured. If a horde of zombies spots you, you definitely won’t survive.”
Nayara said nothing. She closed her eyes again, resting her head against the emergency exit door.
Seeing how exhausted she looked, Raiden stood and checked their surroundings.
“Maybe we should find a safe place first. Come on, I’ll help you stand.”
Nayara looked at him expressionlessly.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that? You still don’t trust me, even for a second?”
Raiden snorted in annoyance.