Chapter 8: One bed

The pain shot through her body like an electric current, and instinct completely took over.

May sprang upright from the truck bed like a frightened rabbit. Without thinking, she turned toward the only source of warmth and support beside her and threw herself at it.

Her arms locked tightly around Ray’s neck, and she clung to him without a second thought. Her soft, warm body collided squarely with Ray’s chest, leaving the man completely caught off guard.

For a moment, time seemed to stop. Ray froze like a statue.

His nose filled with May’s sweet, delicate scent, an intoxicating fragrance that made it difficult to think straight. The sudden closeness completely overwhelmed his remaining self-control.

The truck fell deathly silent. The expressions on the other five men’s faces were nothing short of a salad of emotions – shock, envy, annoyance, dread... And an almost tangible bitterness.

"Damn."

Someone finally forced the word through clenched teeth.

May was still crying from the pain, completely unaware of what she had just done. She simply tightened her arms around Ray and buried her face against his broad shoulder.

"It hurts... why did you hurt me so...?"

Ray finally seemed to reboot.

He caught her by the arms and carefully pulled her away, though the movement was more abrupt than he intended. His normally stern face had turned bright red.

He turned toward the five pairs of eyes behind him, all practically burning holes through his back.

"What the hell are you looking at? Turn around!"

His furious roar echoed through the truck. Then he lowered his head again and looked at the tear-streaked girl in his arms.

His temple throbbed. He could feel his entire body overheating. If this continued, he was going to lose his mind.

After fighting and killing zombies for so long, he had discovered something far more dangerous than even the highest-level Special Infected––a soft, seemingly harmless girl.

He drew a deep breath and tried to make his voice sound normal. The result was the opposite.

"Don’t move."

His hand returned to her waist, this time holding her considerably more firmly, like an iron restraint.

"If you move again, I’ll tie you down while I treat the wound."

"No, no, I won’t move!"

May immediately shook her head, her voice trembling. Though, if she were to be honest with herself, being tied up... Did not seem so horrible after all.

God! What the hell am I thinking?! This damn brain! Was this girl a pervert or what?!

Cursing internally, she hurriedly lay back down, gripping the metal floor beneath her with both hands and burying her face even deeper into her arms.

She wanted nothing more than to disappear into thin air.

Behind her, the five pairs of eyes remained painfully alert.

Ray’s breathing was heavy once more.

He said nothing else, but his movements became ten times slower and ten times more careful.

Then, Theo joined in. The cold disinfectant soaked into a cotton pad as he gently cleaned the edges of the wound.

Every touch carried an unmistakable restraint.

May could clearly feel the heat of his large hand supporting her leg. The slight roughness of his fingertips brushing her skin sent unfamiliar shivers through her body.

The truck was so still that every little sound was amplified.

May didn’t dare turn around, but she could feel the other five men staring at her back as though their gazes might burn straight through her.

Finally, Theo finished dressing the wound.

"Done."

His voice sounded unusually dry.

He immediately withdrew his hand and jumped out of the truck as though escaping a dangerous situation.

Splash!

Cold well water poured over his head.

Theo stood beneath the bucket and allowed the icy water to wash over his overheated body, yet the expression behind his glasses remained dark and unreadable.

One after another, Mitch, Ace, and even Jack seemed to catch the same urge.

Without saying a word, they found a source of water and began splashing themselves with cold water.

"Damn it, why is it so hot today?!"

Mitch poured another bucket over his head, grumbling irritably.

"Seriously. It just rained. How did it get this hot again so quickly?"

Jack’s deep voice rumbled in agreement. He looked as though he would happily climb into the water barrel itself.

Amid the constant splashing, several battle-hardened men who had just fought their way through mountains of corpses now looked like a group of inexperienced young men encountering a situation they had no idea how to handle.

The whole scene was almost comical.

May cautiously lifted her head from her arms. What she saw looked like some bizarre water festival. It wasn’t bad, though; after all, these men had some agonizingly great muscles on them.

She then glanced down at herself.

She was literally half-naked, her injured calf wrapped in bandages, and tear stains still marked her cheeks.

Well... Perhaps showing one’s ankles can be considered lewd in this world too.

By the time everyone had finally regained their composure, darkness had completely settled over the city.

The abandoned private hospital became their temporary base.

"Find a room. We’ll take turns keeping watch." Ray’s voice had returned to its usual cold firmness. Yet when he passed May, his footsteps paused for the briefest moment.

They soon found a relatively clean doctor’s on-call room. But another problem immediately appeared––the room was small, and there was only one bed. A narrow single bed, barely 1.8 meters long.

Normally, six grown men could sleep almost anywhere without complaining. But now there was a delicate, injured woman among them.

How exactly they were supposed to sleep became a massive problem.

"I can sleep on the floor." May spoke quickly, trying to make herself as unobtrusive as possible.

"No." Six voices answered almost simultaneously.

There was no way they were going to let an injured woman sleep on a freezing floor and then call themselves a respectable rescue squad.

"Then... I’ll sleep on the bed, and you guys can—"

She didn’t get to finish.

"I’ll sleep with May." Alex immediately seized the opportunity. He moved beside May and gently tugged at her sleeve, wearing an innocent expression.

"May just got hurt. Her leg will probably hurt during the night. If I sleep beside her, I can take care of her."

Uhm... What?

"You?" Mitch snorted and folded his arms. "With that skinny frame of yours, a strong gust could knock you over. If zombies come in the middle of the night, are you planning to defeat them by being so cute they die laughing?"

"At least I’m more useful than people who only know how to snore at night." Alex instantly fired back. "If you’re so fucking strong, why don’t you sleep by the door and play guardian dog?"

"I don’t snore." Jack had been silent for a long time before finally managing to contribute, his face turning red.

"I don’t even move in my sleep." Ace smiled faintly.

"How about drawing lots? That would be fair."

The argument was about to escalate when Ray, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke. He raised one large hand and issued the decision in a tone that allowed no objections.

"Enough." The tall man stood beside the bed like an immovable mountain. "She sleeps on the inside."

He paused, sweeping his eyes over the dissatisfied faces around him before making his final decision.

"I’ll sleep beside her. I’ll block the outside. You can figure out the rest."

The instant he finished speaking, the room went completely silent.

Jack and Mitch opened their mouths, then wisely decided not to say anything.

The smile on Ace’s face slowly faded.

Theo pushed his glasses up, a cold glint flashing behind the lenses.

Oh, how very clever of you. You certainly made sure you got the most comfortable spot for yourself.