My Sniper System in a Zombie Apocalypse World-Chapter 42: A Quiet Morning

Chapter 42: Chapter 42: A Quiet Morning
Everyone tensed. Hannah and the twins covered their mouths to stop any noise. Jaxon tightened his grip on his rifle and closed his eyes, hoping the night would pass without them being found.
The roars came again, closer this time. Each sound scraped along the walls like claws. They all knew the creatures were moving toward the pagoda, inching nearer and nearer.
One of the creatures outside jumped just beyond the pagoda and sniffed the air like a dog detecting prey. Then it leapt toward the building, climbing higher and higher along the walls. When it reached the top, it let out a deafening roar.
Elena held the twins’ hands tightly. Hannah pressed herself closer to Natasha and Cindy, while Isabel gripped Jaxon’s arm with trembling hands. Even Burgors and Haris felt their hearts hammering in their chests. Yet every one of them forced themselves to stay silent, controlling their breathing as best they could.
The Jumper circled for a while, but eventually, it leapt down and continued its way, searching for any sign of life.
The roars and tense moments repeated again and again for hours. One passed, another came. Each time, they would sniff around the pagoda, then move on without finding them.
No one spoke, and no one even dared to move, afraid of making a sound.
Morning finally came, and with it, a faint light pierced through the windows.
"It’s morning already," Hannah whispered, relief in her voice.
"I haven’t heard those roars for a while. Looks like they’ve left," Burgors said in a low voice.
The others let out quiet breaths of relief. They had survived a nightmare. The constant fear, the nearby roars, and the tense hours in the dark had left them drained. Now, finally, they could see clearly without flashlights.
"Everyone, we can’t go out yet," Jaxon said. "I’ll clear the zombies below. Can you hold on a little longer?"
"Of course. Not like we can go out there with those monsters around," Elena replied, and the others nodded in agreement.
"Why don’t we all just rest first?" Natasha suggested quietly.
"I agree with her," Jaxon said. "I know none of you got any sleep last night. While I take care of the infected below, rest for a few hours."
"Alright then, I’ll go ahead first," Elena said, lying down and making herself comfortable. "You guys rest too. No one knows if we’ll get another chance."
In the blink of an eye, she was fast asleep. Seeing her settle like that, the others found a spot and allowed themselves to do the same.
Jaxon, however, stayed awake. He crawled to the window and began positioning himself. Down below, more than two dozen zombies loitered near the pagoda. Further down the road, he could see even more, scattered and wandering.
At that moment, his killing began. A soundless, unseen, and long-ranged killing. The heads below started exploding one by one, and the infected grew frenzied. The sound of the blasts drew their attention. Their eyes darted around, searching, but they found nothing.
’This is how it should go,’ Jaxon thought, remembering last night when he had to fight them up close. Running on dark stairs with only a flashlight, he finally understood the fear of the people in the horror movies he had watched.
The only sound was his rifle reloading. Each shot dropped another infected. Then Natasha’s voice broke the silence beside him.
"Jaxon, near the black van. There are two infected close to it," she said, peering below with binoculars.
"Why aren’t you sleeping?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the targets.
"I’ll help you finish faster. Then we can sleep together."
"Thanks, I can handle this. Go ahead and rest first," he said, turning to her. But when he saw her eyes, he knew he wouldn’t be able to convince her.
"Three on the right of the blue store," Natasha spoke, stubbornly staying by his side. And as always, she became another pair of eyes for him, spotting infected he might have missed.
For a full hour, the killing went on without pause. While the others slept, Natasha stayed by his side the whole time.
"Natasha," Jaxon called softly.
"Southeast. Down the corner, two blocks away from the green car," Natasha said flatly, like a machine stuck on repeat.
"Hey, hey," Jaxon said again but she didn’t respond. He then reached out and grabbed her shoulder, giving it a small shake. That finally woke her.
"You need to rest," he said quietly.
"No, I..." Natasha was startled, but her words stopped when Jaxon suddenly stood and lifted her into his arms.
"You’ve helped more than enough. Rest," he whispered near her ear.
Wrapped in his arms, Natasha felt warm and safe. Her body relaxed, and her eyes slowly closed as sleep took her.
Jaxon smiled faintly. He carried her to where Cindy and Isabel were sleeping, laid her down gently, and covered her with a jacket.
Then he returned to the window and took his position again. Another round of sniping began.
With his strengthened stats, one night without sleep was still something he could endure.
This place was a perfect spot for a sniper, he couldn’t let this chance slip. It was high, with a clear view, and there were plenty of targets below. Unlike before, he did not need to hunt for prey. They were already there.
’Too bad we gotta go soon. This would’ve been a nice grinding spot.’
....
Four hours later, Jaxon glanced at the level-up notification floating in front of him.
’In less than a day, I probably killed more than a hundred.’ He chuckled, then focused on his stats.
’I have two free stat points now. Then...’
(Stamina +1)
He allocated one point and felt a warm energy flow through his body. ’Better to use it now than miss the chance. I’ll save the last one for emergency.’
He was pondering over his upgraded stats when he heard a soft voice spoke behind him.
"Jaxon. You didn’t sleep?" Isabel had woken up before the others and saw him still at the window.
"I’m fine, I’m not sleepy."
She stood and moved closer, spreading her jacket beside him.
"You have to rest too, Jaxon. You saved us again last night," she whispered.
They stayed quiet for a moment. Her eyes lingered on him, like she was holding something back.
"But..." Isabel murmured, "I don’t want you to keep putting yourself in danger like that again."
Jaxon turned to her, surprised. Then gave her a faint smile. "I don’t want any of you to die. That’s why someone has to do it."
"I don’t want you to die either," Isabel said, her voice lifting before she caught herself. She then lowered her gaze, whispering. "If something happens to you... I’ll be sad."
Jaxon stared at her eyes for a long moment, then looked away, smiling lightly. "I’ll be careful next time," he said quietly.
Soon, the others began waking up as well, stretching and rubbing their eyes.