Aoto.

The wind blew by Himari as it looked like Aoto just vanished! The sound of him leaving had only come after he vanished, which means if something had taken him, it was beyond any of their imaginations! Her throat tightened as Himari began to breathe with a foreign rhythm, she darted around to see if she could pin where he was, but she only saw a dust cloud in the distance, this was genuinely terrible! 

Before she could start hyperventilating, Higa had covered her mouth , his free hand was still holding Carla, though it seemed as though he had placed her down, she was dirty. "We need to go." Higa explained in a low tone, his eyes seemed to be focused on the wasteland beyond them. Higa looked calm, maybe even relieved. He might have been relieved no one else was taken, but none of them had time to ponder on it further, it would've sealed their fate as the next target. 

Himari nodded and took a breath, frantically wiping away any stray tears that may have left her eyes as she offered to carry Carla for now. "You can't run away with an extra person, you weren't the fastest anyway, if you were to keep carrying her while our lives are on the line you'd kill the both of you." Himari sniffled a bit, she couldn't get rid of the despair as quickly as she would've liked to, but now wasn't exactly the time to be stuck on a death. Not yet at least.

Higa agreed and gave Carla away, leaving first as Himari settled the woman on her back and followed closely behind. Himari wasn't particularly skilled at anything, her whole life she only had two things she could rely on..her sense of smell and instincts. Himari could smell the steel in the distance, which would hopefully eventually lead them to the canned goods. 

Himari only had two things she could rely on, her sense of smell, and instincts…that was until Carla had shown up.

Despite the group believing Aoto had died when he just randomly vanished, Aoto was dragged away. In his point of view, a creature, one of the Zombies, had blitzed him. It grabbed his neck and dragged him across the ground, the only thing keeping him alive was the healing from before, It had barely been a few seconds before he was dragged away. He felt his skin along his back being torn off, the sand grains ripping and tearing away at whatever they came in contact with. At least now he could confidently say he'd have been dead long ago if it weren't for the god . There wasn't a doubt in his mind it was a good deity.

Being thrown, Aoto made an effort to abuse his regeneration and land on his hand, his body halting abruptly as it looked as though his hand was completely broken down by the sand. Aoto couldn't register the pain quick enough, by the time he looked down at his palm, the palm he intended to look at had been there. It felt irregular, he would just have to get used to regeneration. 

Aoto lifted his fists, it was as though he was trying to figure out a way to fight back. Assume the Zombie's speed had been blinding beforehand, if this was multiplied than surely Aoto would be able to adapt the same way the zombie would have? No, that would be a naive way of thinking, these things were artificially evolved, not him, his excuse was maybe the god but he probably couldn't keep abusing the power of it…Could he? Aoto couldn't keep thinking, the Zombie didn't think the way he did. Analyzation was the burden of the more intelligent life forms afterall.

The zombie didn't look too different from the bunch. Despite its unique speed it wasn't exactly overly strong. It was more of a common zombie in terms of physical strength. But even that wasn't something to relax on. Aoto let his eyes wander over to where the base was, but that seemed to be a worse mistake than arriving here in the first place for he had been blitzed once more, the zombie's fist crashing into his gut as Aoto was sent skyward.

Aoto felt his bones shatter and piece together, the impact of which could've ended him immediately even as he had the regeneration. But something was weird, for some reason, the zombie only moved to attack him in a direct line. 

Considering the zombie only moved in a straight line, the idea of either Aoto being underestimated or the zombie being severely handicapped had flooded his mind. Could he use this to his advantage? Currently, Aoto's body was adapting to the speeds via regeneration, so even as he was blitzed he could at least perceive himself getting hit much faster than the first time. If Aoto was correct and he was still moving in a straight line, He could grab the zombie and restrain him! It was a plan that could work, but he had to predict the moment the creature would move.

"One more time…!" Aoto grinned, he was confident about his theory, the timing, the idea, and the situation couldn't have been more amazing! "He really was a genius!" he thought to himself. 

Aoto braced himself for maximum impact, and even more so for maximum success! Just as the creature had readied itself for another dash, it seemed to be thinking..strategizing? No way. The zombies were completely mindless, the crystal had taken their brain away, there was no strategy to be made in its current state. Aoto still had a bad feeling anyway, and the feeling only seemed to dig deeper into his soul as the zombie tilted it's head to the side, curiously, as if it had acknowledged Aoto, the one who wished to stand against it. 

The sentiment was so interesting, in fact, that the creature couldn't help but crack a smile. Were they getting smarter..? Or was this one just way beyond his league? Aoto was quickly snapped out of his trance as soon as the Zombie vanished. He didn't even have half a second to think, he just needed to move! Aoto had been adapting for a while now, but the regeneration was wearing off. After another full 20 seconds had passed, he wouldn't be able to adapt unless he asked..

A click had rang through his brain, almost like a switch had gone off in his brain. Aoto grappled outward in front of him, feeling skin against his palms for a small moment, but nothing was there. Nobody was in front of him. 

Sweat generated on his forehead, his heart began to strain from the quick beating as he reached for his chest. Could his body not handle such regeneration? That didn't matter as of now though, Aoto needed to spot where exactly the zombie creature had gone! It clearly was too fast for him to spot at first, but maybe now…

But after a few seconds, there was still nothing. Aoto's heart began to race even faster, just where had the creature gone? It seemed as though it was nowhere near him, so that means..It must've been after the Higa and the others!

Aoto whipped around quickly, his feet digging into the ground as he pieced together a future, a future he prayed he was wrong about. He could hear his heartbeat as Aoto hared off through the dunes, time was melting in his palms and he couldn't afford to let it drip between his fingers! IF his prediction was correct, that zombie wasn't in the area anymore, it wasn't after him any longer! 

Aoto was breathing heavily, was the sprint back to the base that far? At the rate he was going, the run there would have taken him all day, and yet the zombie had dragged him within a second. Just how far of a gap was Aoto dealing with?

Aoto stopped for a moment, his hands falling onto his knees as his weighted pants became gags and gasps for air. There was no way he'd make it in time, his mind was spinning, his legs were shaking, the gap between human and monster was too wide for even Aoto to bridge..he wasn't a god…

Just then, something had clicked in his mind. Aoto had asked around maybe 3 blessings today, two within less than a minutes time of each other and the regenerations fairly recently…it made him wonder, just how many of these blessings could he ask for at once? Before Aoto could ponder any longer, he felt a tap on his shoulder! Excitedly, he whipped around, a relieved smile painted on his face as he instantly had thought of Carla, she'd been the fastest after all! Himari nor Higa couldn't have made it here in time!

But his smile quickly faded, his heart stopping as the being of whom he figured he left him completely by his lonesome was standing right in front of him! The zombie waved, it's form seeming ever so different! Its pale skin had hardened, turning into a shade akin to that of dried concrete, the texture had appeared rough and uneven, as if, for a being with overwhelming speed, had been in a rush. It seemed to have no eyes, but the smile, filled with humor and mockery, had relayed the message all the same. Aoto was completely out matched.

Before Aoto had even half of a second to react, he was met with a blow to the gut, that felt as if he'd been hit with a building, sent him flying back, and before he could even touch the ground he felt it grab him and thrown him beside it. It speeds up ready to attack again, but the zombie hits him with a feint punch, causing Aoto to flinch and block before falling down. Wait..he could see? With no time to ponder further, it latched its claw-like hand onto his wrist! The zombie yanked with enough force to drag him beyond itself, skipping him through sand and axe kicking his back! Aoto bounced off the ground, allowing for the assault to continue. The zombie hit Aoto with a clawed strike! It lunged forward again, reeling it's fist back to strike, with the zombie's punch hitting harder than any other punch it had thrown beforehand. Its fist crashed into Aoto's but with maximum strength! Before he could react, another one had been thrown, hitting him in the same spot, strike after strike, each punch had broken the skin and leaving deeper wounds than the last! Upon throwing the last punch, the zombie had shot straight through his gut! Leaving it gaping and spilling with blood.

Aoto didn't have time to think, he had no time to calculate the consequences or the stakes. Right now he was bleeding to death on the ground, with a Zom–no, a demon mocking him, and he didn't, by any means, want everything to end here! He didn't want to die! At this moment, he'd do anything to survive! Whatever it takes!!

"I need…" Aoto had begun to speak through strained breaths, his hand digging into the sandy floor as he made his way over to the demon in front of him. "I need.." Blood had continued to spill from his lips! Aoto gripped the ankle of the demon, his body shaking as he looked up toward the sky. While he was met with the condescending glare of the demon, he wasn't aiming to look at it. Aoto was looking further than that! At his creator, the man of the hour! " I need to be better! "If you truly are a just god–no, if i'm truly your creation, you wouldn't allow me to die here! You wouldn't risk my despair! Upgrade me! Give me strength! Don't leave me here to rot!!"

For a moment, nothing happened, the wind blew across the dunes … but then Aoto started to slowly regenerate.