The tiger's roar shattered the fragile calm. Jason's expression transformed instantly, his eyes widening with alarm.
"Shit," he muttered, jaw tightening. "The bodies."
"What bodies?" Haruka asked, tensing.
Jason ran a hand through his hair. "Those three men. I left them where they fell. Stupid mistake."
He cursed under his breath. "I left them lying out there like bait."
"Indeed," Nia responded calmly in his mind. "I considered reminding you, but chose not to."
Jason raised an eyebrow. "Why the hell not?"
"Because I'm here to assist you, not think for you," she said, firm but not unkind. "If I compensate for every mental lapse, you'll stop making decisions independently. And if I'm ever unavailable, that dependency could get you killed."
Jason exhaled sharply. "Fair point. Just… maybe give me a heads-up next time before we end up as tiger chow?"
"I will intervene if your life is at immediate risk. Until then—assume I'm not here. That's the only way you'll stay sharp."
He nodded to himself, accepting the hard truth. "Thanks. I hate how right you are sometimes."
"You're welcome. I exist to be annoyingly accurate." Luckily, consumed by their fear and worry, the sisters failed to notice Jason's odd gestures. Otherwise they might have assumed he was insane.
He turned to the sisters, urgency threading through his voice. "We have a problem. Tigers normally avoid humans, but if they feed on human remains..."
"They develop a taste for it," Misaki finished, her face darkening.
"Exactly. Once they associate humans with food, they become man-eaters. We need to scare them off before that happens."
Nia gave information in his mind "Tigers that consume human flesh often continue hunting humans thereafter. This behavior is well-documented in India and parts of Southeast Asia."
Haruka's eyes darted toward the ceiling. "Aiko's upstairs. If they came here..."
"What can we do?" Misaki asked, hand instinctively moving to the shot-gun at her shoulder.
Jason reached into his pack with practiced efficiency, producing a metal cylinder. "Flash grenade. Non-lethal, but it'll scare them off. Bright light, loud bang—enough to make them associate this area with danger instead of food."
Misaki eyed the device skeptically. "You sure that won't just piss them off?"
"Most predators avoid unnecessary risks," Jason explained. "They'll retreat rather than investigate something that frightens them."
Haruka nodded. "Do it."
The three moved to the front yard, crouching behind a high garden wall. In the street, near where Jason had confronted the men, they spotted movement—the mother tiger approaching the bodies, two small cubs trailing behind her.
"Perfect timing," Jason whispered, weighing the grenade in his palm. "When I throw this, cover your ears and close your eyes."
He calculated the distance, factoring in the slight crosswind. With a smooth motion, he pulled the pin and hurled the grenade. It arced through the air, landing precisely between the tigers and their intended meal.
"Now!" Jason called, ducking down.
The flash popped with a quick burst of light and a muted thump followed, more like a heavy firecracker than an explosion. It wasn't deafening, but it was enough.
Startled by the sudden flare and sound, the tigress flinched, then let out a short, low growl. Her cubs pressed close to her side, their ears flat in alarm. With a sharp huff, she turned and guided them quickly away, disappearing down the street corner they had come from. In moments, they were gone—just three shadows swallowed by the bend in the road.
Jason scanned the area, ensuring no other threats lurked nearby. "That bought us time, but we need to bury those bodies. Otherwise, they'll be back."
"The backyard has soft soil," Haruka suggested. "Near the vegetable garden."
They approached the bodies cautiously. Jason lifted the heaviest man—Travis—with surprising ease, the nanovirus enhancements making the weight manageable. Misaki and Haruka dragged the other two between them, grunting with effort.
In the backyard, Jason found shovels in a garden shed and began digging. The soil was harder than expected, compacted from lack of rain. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he worked, the physical strain providing an outlet for his frustration.
"Goddamn waste of time," he muttered, driving the shovel into the earth with unnecessary force. "Fucking idiots got themselves killed and now I'm digging graves instead of finding medicine."
Misaki approached with water bottles. "Such language," she said with a hint of amusement. "One minute you're all polite and proper, the next you're swearing like a sailor."
Jason accepted the water with a tired smile. "Sorry. It's been a long day."
"You've been digging a lot of graves?" she asked.
"Just this morning, actually. Found my neighbor—Mrs. Moreno. She was... just dust in her bed. Had to bury her and her cat." He paused, leaning on the shovel. "I thought to myself that I'd end up digging a lot of graves in the future. Didn't think it would happen so soon."
Haruka's expression softened. "I'm sorry. Was she important to you?"
"She used to bake biscotti for us. Called me 'tesoro'—her little treasure," Jason said, a faint smile touching his lips before fading. "She was Italian. Treated us like family. She didn't have to, but she did. That kind of kindness... it matters now more than ever."
A moment of silence passed between them—not awkward, but weighted with shared understanding. The world had changed, but grief remained familiar.
When the graves were finished and the bodies buried, they returned to the house. The sun hung low on the horizon, painting the sky in deepening shades of orange and purple.
"You should eat before you go," Haruka said. "We don't have much, but we can share."
Jason hesitated. "I don't want to take your supplies."
"Relax, hero. You saved our asses." Misaki countered. "Besides, you're helping Aiko. This is the least we can do."
In the kitchen, they worked together preparing a simple meal—rice, dried vegetables, and canned beans. The domestic routine felt surreal after the violence and tension of the day, but somehow grounding.
As they ate, Jason asked, "How long have you been traveling?"
"Almost two weeks" Haruka replied. "We were staying at my grandmother's farm when everything happened. It was isolated, safe. But when Aiko got sick..."
"We had no choice" Misaki concluded. "The city was our only hope for finding proper medication. We wished we could have left Aiko behind, but... there wasn't anyone who could look after her. We had to travel with her. She requires rest, and we needed to make frequent stops. The journey here took considerably more time than it normally would have."
Haruka turned to Jason. "What about you? Why are you out here?"
Jason hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "I'm gathering information. Scouting the area. And... there's something I need to retrieve from a place my father used to work. It's important, but I don't know exactly what I'll find."
After dinner, Jason retrieved a small bottle from his pack. "This will help with Aiko's fever and discomfort. It's not a cure, but it'll buy time until I can find antibiotics."
Haruka accepted it with both hands, bowing slightly. "Thank you. Truly."
"Two tablets every six hours," Jason instructed. "Keep her hydrated. Boil all water before drinking."
As darkness fell, Jason prepared to leave. "I'll be back as soon as I can with the antibiotics. Two days, maybe three." He shouldered his pack, checking that his knife was secure at his hip.
"We'll be waiting," Haruka said, her eyes reflecting worry in the dim light of their oil lamp. "Be careful out there."
Misaki handed him a small package wrapped in a scrap of cloth. "Some rice balls. For the road." Her usual guardedness had softened, if only momentarily.
The gesture caught him off guard. He hadn't expected kindness from the more skeptical sister. "Thank you." He tucked the package carefully into his side pocket.
Jason stepped outside, the cool night air a relief after the day's stifling heat. Stars punctured the blackness above, offering just enough light to navigate by. As he walked away from the house, a distant roar echoed through the darkness—the tiger, still prowling somewhere in the shadows. The sound vibrated through his chest, primal and unmistakable.
The sound followed him down the empty street, past abandoned cars and darkened windows, a reminder that in this new world, danger and connection existed side by side. Neither could be avoided. Both had to be navigated with equal care. Jason quickened his pace, his mind already mapping the route to his destination.