Chapter 100: Luck

In the midst of playing with his newfound robe, Miles failed to notice Grimm completing his own upgrades. Until the very end at least.

"Is that a Walkman?"

Ryan’s voice rang out with confusion, prompting him to stare at Grimm. The boy stood before the pylon, his form brooding as always.

A sleek metallic headset rested on his head, streaks of blue traced through the grey metal, ending at the blue foam puffs covering both his ears. A pale cable branched off the metal, snaking down his sweater and connecting to a cassette-like container that fit snugly in his pocket. It was empty.

Grimm glanced at Ryan then looked down at the device, before hesitantly nodding.

"I think so?"

Confusion laced his voice. He stared at the empty container for a moment longer, then closed his eyes. The harsh rumble of white noise emanated from him, coming and going in a manner so quickly, Miles was half convinced he imagined it.

A white cassette tape now lay in the container. Grimm still kept his eyes closed. Slowly, the tape began playing, the little black spools on it rotating at a slow yet steady pace.

The boy’s eyes snapped back open, his pupils darting rapidly, scanning the room in less than a second. Then they paused, an even deeper sense of confusion and creeping weariness within them.

Ryan watched it all silently before pressing.

"Do you know what it does?"

Grimm’s eyes darted to him, then to the Walkman before slowly shaking his head.

"I’m not sure."

Whether he was saying the truth or lying, Miles found it hard to tell. But then again, he was in no position to judge.

Ryan sighed, rubbing his face.

"Well, no need to rush, you can figure it out. What about the ability?"

"This?"

A serious look grew on Grimm’s face as he extended a palm. That strange, staticky noise played out once more. Miles paid attention this time.

The air above his palm rippled heavily, then abruptly a bullet appeared in it. Its shell was a whitish sort of grey.

"Ha..."

Grimm took in deep breaths as he held the odd bullet, droplets of sweat rapidly rolling off his exerted face.

"Are you alright?"

Mia raised a brow.

"I’m fine. Better than fine even."

He wiped the sweat off his forehead, a shaky grin dawning on his face. Mia only grew further intrigued.

"What does it do?"

"I can’t show it here."

"Why?" 𝒻𝘳ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝒷𝘯ℴ𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝑐ℴ𝑚

"We’ll all die."

There wasn’t even the slightest hint of a joke in his tone. He was dead serious. Ryan frowned slightly.

"Can you dismiss it?"

Grimm didn’t answer. Instead, there was another burst of white noise, and the bullet vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. His condition didn’t grow any better with its disappearance, yet the satisfaction on his face told Miles that was just about the least of his concerns.

Ryan nodded.

"Thanks, you should go rest a bit, I’ll wake you when it’s time for dinner."

Grimm looked at him with widened eyes, then shook his head slightly before heading for his blanket.

With Grimm done, the rest slowly upgraded one after the other. There were hardly any changes of note, given the fact they generally only had about enough to upgrade their EGOs.

Only Sarah’s upgrade had managed to draw his attention slightly. Her auburn hair gained faint, white highlights at the very ends. She seemed more confused than anything at the change, but given it had no other effects, the matter was soon buried.

It wasn’t long before Ryan was going around sharing canned beans again.

"Do we seriously have to eat this?"

Ryan had long stopped responding to Brandon’s complaints at this point, and focused entirely on scooping spoonfuls of beans down his throat. Mia didn’t have the heart to chide Brandon either, as she stared tiredly at the bean can before her.

Grimm, having just woken up from his second nap of the day, paid no attention to any of them. Miles found himself inclined to do the same.

"Ahem..."

Chloe rubbed a hand against her throat, forcing the food still clinging onto it down before shaking her head. She swallowed once more.

"We need to leave tomorrow."

The room paused at her words. Mia quickly grasped onto them, grateful for anything that would distract her from her food.

"Why?"

"It’s only going to get worse the longer we stay here."

"She’s right."

Miles thought it through for but a moment before agreeing with her. It was an anxiety that had been increasingly gnawing at him with each passing hour.

The feeling they were wasting time. They’d barely seen beyond the school for the past few days. With no connection to the outside world, it was impossible to tell what could’ve changed.

Especially with Henry.

Ryan glanced between the both of them.

"We haven’t finished leveling though. We still need to upgrade your skills."

Chloe shook her head.

"It’s not sustainable. We were lucky the first time and were able to deal with those ghouls, and the bifurcated ghoul that attacked later on. Today, we had to resort to an even riskier strategy just to lure them in. We were only saved by that thing choosing to retreat. It knows where we are now. Are you willing to count on its continued benevolence?"

Ryan fell silent, lowering his eyes contemplatively. The rest did as well.

’She’s clearly thought this through.’

Miles scanned Chloe. It wasn’t as though such thoughts hadn’t come to his mind either, but he’d been wrestling between precaution and anxiety.

Unlike her, his reason wasn’t so neatly elaborate. Henry and Anna were still out there; every second he wasted in here was another second that they could be harmed.

With his upgrades so far, any further delays would only worsen things.

Grimm, first to recover among the rest, raised a brow.

"Aren’t you just trading a known danger for an unknown?"

Chloe shook her head.

"It’s not that simple." Then she pulled a small book out of her bag.

"Besides, I have a plan."