My 100th Rebirth a day before the Apocalypse - Chapter 281

Chapter 281: Chapter 281 The Mass Awakening Started 4
Observing the medical personnel and the doctor she had previously guided frantically trying to manage the influx of patients, Kisha realized she needed to take decisive action. She understood that without her intervention, their base risked collapsing from within, they would be overrun by zombies and chaos. Stepping in to oversee the situation, she knew her vigilance was crucial to preventing a complete breakdown of their defenses.

Upon witnessing the pandemonium and the medical staff scrambling to attend to multiple patients at once, Kisha quickly stowed her lunch box into her inventory. Taking charge of the situation, she asserted her authority and organized the staff into action. Using her ‘Eye of Truth’ ability, she identified patients exhibiting Talent or Gifts, grouping them together and assigning them to a single room. This allowed family members to assist in caring for the sick, effectively lightening the load on the overburdened medical team.

Kisha directed the soldiers to cram as many folding beds as possible into each room, ensuring that even if patients were lying side by side, there was sufficient space for them to breathe and for caregivers to move around. With the shortage of beds, they improvised by using cardboard and other available materials to provide makeshift cushions for patients to lie on the floor.

Those without a gift or talent were placed in a separate room, isolated to minimize the risk of unanticipated transformations or awakenings. Kisha opted for this precaution due to the uncertainty surrounding their condition and the lack of personnel to monitor them closely. By quarantining them separately, she aimed to prevent potential chaos that might ensue because of the delays in the medical staff’s attendance of the patients in these separate rooms.

Although the doctors and soldiers were concerned that this approach might lead to disastrous outcomes, they were unable to voice their doubts. The lead doctor had unwavering trust in Kisha’s judgment, whether due to her extensive knowledge of the virus or another factor entirely. He ensured that both medical personnel and soldiers followed her directives without question. With the urgency of the situation, there was no time to inquire about her methods of grouping patients while maintaining individual room assignments.

For patients with uncertain outcomes, Kisha ensured they were isolated in individual rooms and assigned a dedicated caregiver to monitor them periodically. Fortunately, the medical staff, accustomed to high-stress situations, quickly adapted to Kisha’s plan. They devised a strategy based on her framework, assigning specific staff members to oversee a designated number of patients.

As long as Kisha approves, patients could be cared for by their families. The medical staff began to trust Kisha’s approach, feeling that her protective presence alleviated their fears and concerns about potential dangers. They also had faith in their lead doctor’s judgment, given his extensive experience in the medical field.

The staff began to suspect that Kisha knew more about the virus than anyone else, which led them to accept her leadership in assigning rooms. Her deliberate placement of patients, and avoiding random assignments, suggested she had a well-thought-out plan for managing the influx. With no better alternatives, they had no choice but to follow her directives.

Soon, the building was overwhelmed with hundreds of people, with even the corridors filled with patients lying on cardboard. To manage the situation, Kisha and her team hired additional help, compensating them with work points that could be used to purchase supplies from the Supply Center.

Though many feared for their lives and the risk of being the first casualties if a patient turned into a zombie, some boldly accepted the offer. They reasoned that, with the building already teetering on the edge of disaster, the risk was unavoidable. If a patient did turn and cause chaos, the outcome would be the same: they’d be overrun by zombies from within, with no place to escape. Thus, there was little difference in their decision.

With the assistance of the additional workers and family members caring for their loved ones, the burden on Kisha and the medical staff was significantly reduced. Now, the soldiers only needed to conduct routine checks on their designated areas to ensure that everything was in order. They also had to be prepared to respond quickly if any patient turned into a zombie, ready to manage the situation with minimal delay.

Since the awakening process typically lasts overnight or even a full day, depending on an individual’s body and potential, many patients would need to remain in their assigned areas for the duration. If additional patients arrived, they would need to be isolated if Kisha was not available to assess their condition and determine whether it was safe to integrate them with others.

Kisha was astonished by the sheer number of people awakening simultaneously—hundreds, in fact. This unprecedented surge of superhumans had the potential to transform their base into the strongest fortification around, significantly enhancing their defenses against zombie raids and potential attacks from other humans.

This had never happened before. To Kisha’s knowledge, the largest bases typically had only about a hundred superhumans, with many having far fewer. For her base to experience such a surge was unprecedented and promising. Previously, patients exhibiting these symptoms would have been immediately dealt with and killed, preemptively extinguishing any potential superhumans before they could fully awaken or reveal their abilities.

This, she realized, was one of humanity’s biggest mistakes from her previous lives. Even if she tried to spread the word and share her knowledge, many would likely dismiss her, especially given that she had not yet awakened while others were already starting to awaken and facing death at the hands of fearful humans.

Some even suspected that Kisha was spreading false information to undermine their base, believing that she and her allies intended to seize resources from these shelters or bases. This suspicion often led to Kisha being threatened with death or driven out in disgrace, particularly since she had not yet awakened at that time.

The only individuals who managed to awaken were those who had hidden their symptoms and relied on their families to protect them, as their loved ones were reluctant to kill them. This approach led to the discovery of awakened abilities. However, this method became widely adopted, which resulted in widespread disaster as more people attempted to use the same strategy, often with catastrophic consequences.

Some of the patients were soldiers on duty at the wall and gate, while others were newly recruited or patrol soldiers from the square. Knowing the drill, the defense force quickly sent their affected members to the medical facility for treatment, awaiting to see if their comrades would turn or awaken.

As more and more people fell ill, those still unaffected began to fear that if the patients in the medical facility turned into zombies, they would be attacked from within. While some saw the potential for new heroes to rise and lead them, the looming threat of overwhelming zombies cast a shadow over their hope, leaving fear to overshadow the optimism Kisha had tried to instill.

Kisha remained untroubled. She knew that once this batch of superhumans emerged and the base saw Sparrow and the others using their awakened abilities, the prevailing fear would shift into renewed hope.