Trash in the Apocalypse

At first, Evo was planning to use himself as the test subject for Jun's ability, but with Adrian volunteering, and Edward looking interested in the topic, the number of experimental subjects increased.

With the increased number of people joining the experiment, the more data they could gather. Therefore, reaching a higher chance to comprehend Jun's ability.

With that said, they started the experiment.

The four sat around the table, occupying one side each. In front of Jun was Evo, while Adrian and Edward sat to his left and right, respectively.

"So, how do we proceed?" Evo said.

Jun stared at them for a few seconds then said, "Based on Evo's hypothesis of The Sims plumbob, we should start by telling me what you feel right now."

Jun observed if there will be any changes in the colors of their names. Currently, Adrian has reddish-black while Edward had yellow-green. Evo, who was sitting in front, had white and green alternating from time to time.

"I'm annoyed," said Adrian.

"Well, I'm curious about what the results will be, so should I say that I'm excited?" Evo said.

Edward had a huge smile on his face and was the last to speak.

"This lord is elated. It turns out that the emperor has been blessed by the Gods too!"

After listening to them, Jun told them their name's colors. The first experiment ended, and they proceeded to the second. Then, the third.

After a few more experiments, they finally concluded that Evo's theory was right. It was the person's present emotion or mood, just like The Sims, but a bit different. There are five known primary colors, and colors can have a mixture of two or more. Jun didn't see any three color mixture, but Evo said that he could probably meet one in the future. A combination of three colors? What kind of feeling would that be?

The four of them chatted on the table while drinking coffee, talking about everything that happened today. Edward was joyously complimenting himself for having thought of a good name for the muscle infected they saw earlier, a destroyer. He was saying things like how it liked to destroy everything on its way. It doesn't even think and just keeps on using brute strength.

Adrian and Jun were indifferent, but Edward managed to get an enthusiastic reply from Evo.

Evo blabbered like there's no tomorrow explaining that since the world has changed, there would be a lot of new things that would need categorizing and that they should start planning early too.

In the past, having the right to name something officially usually takes a lot of money. Commoners don't even have the chance to even if they have enough money since they need connections or a certain level of prestige in that area; for example, naming a newly identified plant species or a recently discovered underwater life.

Fame was something significant if you plan to appear in public. Edward thought that they would have to discuss who and what should be the official name for that type of infected.

Contrary to his expectations, the other three seemed not to care, and they settled to call it Destroyer.

Adrian was indifferent to the whole naming thing while Jun appeared more interested in what Evo meant by planning ahead.

According to Evo, there would be no infected after ten years or less. Since their bodies disappear after looting them, the remnant of the government would surely do their best to clear the whole country of infected even if it took a long time. Unless the infected from other countries evolved and gained the ability to fly, there would be not enough infected for everyone to share for the next ten years.

Considering the theory that people who died during the initial phase were turned into infected, mostly made of elderlies and those who got into lethal accidents, there should be at least one-tenth of the population left alive. With a population of nearly 109 million, there should be approximately 10 million people alive and currently trying to survive in their own ways.

It's indeed hard to kill an infected when you're by yourself, but humans are group animals. They tend to gather under a capable leader and live under the alpha's rule. A single infected is outmatched by a group of people, making hunting rather comfortable and safe.

Even if people encounter an evolved infected, that doesn't mean that they would be killed easily since humans can grow too. The infected's rate of evolution is currently unknown, but as for humans, they can track their progress visibly. And due to future competitions for growth and power, the rate of leveling would surely be faster. Civilization would once again come, and those in power would decide everything.

Jun doesn't really care about power, but the idea that someone can boss him around doesn't sit well with him. When he remembered how people in power used everything possible to kick his father down while he was cornered on all sides, rage ran wildly inside him. His body heated up, and his breathing turned rough.

Just then, Evo's calm voice sounded, making his unstable expression calm down. He then pushed a USB towards Jun's side of the table.

"Everything you're looking for should be inside. I worked hard to get them, alright! I knew it took a month, but hey! I still got them... that was two days ago." he stood up and placed his hand on Jun's shoulder. "I don't know if they're still alive, but make sure to beat the heck out of them."

Seeing that the atmosphere turned uncomfortable, everyone left and chose to get some sleep.

***

When the city square's clock's long arm moved to twelve, it rang and made the reverberating sound it usually makes.

In the middle of the night, outside the streets, the moonlight showered every infected with its radiant light.

The infected in the area reacted differently to the moonlight.

All of the infected were idly standing while looking up towards the sky; their skins shone brightly as the moonlight entered their bodies. Some infected rolled and wiggled on the ground.

A few seconds later, they stood up with visible changes in their bodies. Most of the infected recovered their injuries while others evolved differently; some dashed and searched the surroundings while others overturned the cars as if searching for something.

When they stopped searching, they also looked up into the sky and shone brightly, white moonlight entering their bodies.