Current progress: 16% | Your contribution ranking: 4th | Time left: 57h:43m:2s

  This didn't take long.

  Isaac snorted as he threw on a fresh hoodie, his gaze flickering to his new contribution rank. From a thousand—or whatever rank he was after waking up—to fourth place was quite the jump. Then again, with how many Wretched he had killed on the streets, he was slightly surprised he wasn't first yet.

  Though maybe he shouldn't be. With the size of this Contamination Zone, there ought to be some people out there who had found ways to kill those monsters fast. Military personnel, hardcore survivalists, or maybe someone who had spent their entire life preparing for an apocalypse. There were plenty of possibilities.

  "Like another Pioneer," he muttered, even if he didn't believe those words.

  The Breakout had begun with thirteen Contamination Zones. The odds of more than one Pioneer emerging from his own zone were slim. Not an outright impossibility but still not something Isaac would bet on.

  Besides, the more critical issue was the current progress listed in the message. In the span of almost ten hours, it had only moved up by three percent. Not a good prognosis for the future, if he had to be honest.

  Hopefully, it's just a slow start. Most people are probably waiting for their Origin to awaken or are still in hiding. He reasoned. With each hour, more Hosts should join the fighting—at least in theory.

  The reality could be much different. For one, nobody had any idea just how many people turned into Wretched. If, for example, only ten or twenty percent of the population survived, completing the Phase Two task would be much harder than expected.

  That said, even if this horrible scenario were true, all it would take to complete the task was for everybody left alive to kill the necessary amount of Wretched to awaken.

  Of course, Isaac wasn't naive enough to believe that could be the solution. Not everyone was a fighter willing to put their life on the line. And then there were also the children to consider, too.

  That was why the world needed outliers like him and the others at the top of the ranking. It was their job to pick up the slack and make up for those who couldn't fight.

  And honestly? Isaac didn't even mind that as long as people didn't expect him to save them from every danger in the future.

  I'm getting ahead of myself. He chuckled, shaking his head. Even if my ranking is high now, that might change in a few hours. Who knows, maybe a few days from now, I will be just another host—Pioneer or not.

  Yet, a quiet voice in the back of his mind told him he wouldn't allow that to happen. Not when this entire apocalypse had finally made him feel more alive. Fading into the background, as he had always done before, wasn't an option. This new era could be his time to thrive.

  "We will see…" he mumbled.

  With that, Isaac left his bedroom and headed for the exit. The moment he left his apartment, muffled voices filled his ears, echoing across the entire staircase. Seemed like the others had managed to settle in just fine.

  He quickly made his way to the third floor and approached Carol's apartment. As she said, the door was open, but he still knocked before entering.

  Soon, a familiar face appeared in the corridor and gestured for him to move into the living room. There, a small crowd was already waiting for him.

  "Ah, lad, there ya are," Tyler exclaimed, rising from the couch to greet him. "Thanks for joining us. Carol and Brandon, you already know." He gestured toward the married couple before motioning to the final person in the room. "And this is Marie. She's probably the best at killing those bloody things here—right after you, of course."

  The young woman—the water whip wielder from before—offered Isaac a quick nod and a small smile. He returned it and turned his attention back to Tyler.

  "So what's this about?" he asked.

  The older man snorted. "A better question would be, what isn't this about… Sit down, lad. We might be here a while, so better get comfortable."

  Isaac shrugged and did just that, waiting for Tyler to continue. The man nodded.

  "Well then, to begin with, you should know that after you went to rest and we settled in, our group had been working on clearing the buildings on this street. We found a couple more people hiding and secured some supplies. Unfortunately, that's about all we accomplished in those few hours."

  "That's still good," Isaac pointed out. "I just slept in that time after all."

  His comment earned a chuckle from a few in the room while Tyler grinned.

  "Aye, fair enough. But now that you're up and we got most of the basic stuff out of the way, I figured it might be a good time to get moving for real. Galt may be small, but if we clear it out today, we can still make a difference by moving on to the nearby towns tomorrow."

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  Isaac's eyebrows shot up, and next to him, Marie shared a similar expression. At least someone else here wasn't cued into the plans before this meeting.

  "Today?" he repeated, more than a bit skeptical. "You got what? Twenty, thirty people? Even assuming that only half of Galt turned—which we all know isn't true—that’s still about fifteen thousand Wretched for us to kill. Sounds damn near impossible."

  "You're right," Brandon, Carol's husband, took over. "As we are, we stand no chance. But we are finding more survivors with every building cleared. Then there are the other groups we keep hearing in other parts of the city. If we can all unite and plan accordingly, we could have Galt cleared by tomorrow morning. You alone showed us how much one awakened Host with a higher level is worth."

  "It could work," a soft and quiet voice beside him agreed.

  Marie flinched as suddenly everyone turned to look at her. Still, she continued, "I'm only level three, and the Wretched practically can't touch me anymore. Exhaustion might be a problem, though…"

  Tyler nodded. "Aye, good point, lass. That's why working in groups and conserving your energy is key. Getting some better weapons, both melee and range, would be ideal too. Good thing I have a plan for that, too."

  Of course you do. Isaac stifled a snort and instead looked between the different people in the room. Most eyes were already on him as if everybody was waiting for his blessing. And maybe they were…

  "All right, I will bite. What's the plan?"

  Despite his age, Tyler grinned like a child, excitement shining in his eyes. It seemed like there were more people who had no issue with the world ending. That, or they were all slowly going mad.

  "Wonderful!" the oldest among them exclaimed. "My idea is simple but has a few parts to it. First, most of us will continue clearing the area close to this place. We have to do it anyway, so why stop? Second, a handful of the awakened—those with at least a level or two—will head to Norton's. You know what I mean, right?"

  Isaac nodded. He had lived in Galt for far too long not to know about one of its two gun stores. Norton's was the closest to their current location.

  "Good." Tyler grinned again. "There are a couple more shops, mostly sports ones, that I would like us to loot, but those can wait. Anyway, third. Other groups. We need to make contact fast. The sooner we can coordinate, the better. This is also where I would like to ask for your help, lad."

  Isaac opened his mouth to speak, but before he could let out a single sound, Brandon beat him to it.

  "Carol mentioned you were planning to check on a friend who might be leading another group," he said. "If it's not too much of a problem, would you mind taking a person or two with you to help establish contact? We found some portable radios that should make the communication easy."

  Isaac held back a sigh. So much for staying alone, he thought, yet despite that, he didn't disagree. In the end, they all shared one goal—to complete the Second Phase task.

  Thus, he nodded. "I will do it as long as the person coming with me is already awakened and had some time to test their Origin. "

  "Easily done," Tyler said. "I even have someone in mind, but maybe Marie would like to go too? With you and Isaac in a group, the trip should be quick."

  The woman shrugged, running a hand through her short blonde hair. "Sure."

  "That's what I like to hear!" the man beamed. "Well then, that about covers it. You two," he said, looking at Isaac and Marie. "Go prepare, eat, gear up, take a shite, whatever. Just be down by the entrance in ten minutes."

  This time, Isaac snorted, almost letting out a full laugh when he caught the Jacksons' exasperated expressions. Next to him, Marie shook her head and followed him out of the apartment.

  At the entrance, they shared another glance and, without a word, went in separate directions. Ten minutes wasn't much, but it should be enough to get another bite to eat and heed another part of Tyler's advice.

  And then we are fighting again.

  His tattoo shivered.

  "There you two are!" an unfamiliar voice, belonging to a tall and muscular guy greeted them the moment Isaac and Marie stepped onto the street. The slightly older man was dressed in a simple tank top and shorts, with no visible weapon—just a small bag slung over his shoulder.

  "Come on, kiddies, we've got a job to do."

  Isaac glanced at Marie and caught her rolling her eyes. Good, so he wasn't the only one already annoyed with the guy.

  "And you are?" he asked.

  "James Harmon, at your service." The man gave them a mock bow. "Little Marie here, I already know, so you must be Isaac. Tyler told me you know where another group might be camped out."

  Damn. Don't tell me it is one of those guys… Still, Isaac squashed his building annoyance and nodded. "That I do. What about the radios?"

  James snapped his fingers. "Right! Got 'em right here," he said, patting his bag. "Two of them. One for us, the other for whoever's leading that new group. Now, you done with your questions? We are wasting daylight."

  Isaac sighed. "Sure, follow me."

  Of course, it would have been far too easy if that was the end of their conversation.

  "No, no, no. That's not how this is gonna go," James said, raising a hand to stop them. "You tell me where we're going, and I'll lead. Trust me, kid, I'm better at the front."

  As he spoke, every inch of his tanned skin darkened to a metallic gray. At the same time, his right hand transformed into a long blade of even darker color. "See?" He grinned.

  Now, Isaac wasn't quick to anger, but somehow, this guy managed to get under his skin with just a few sentences. Narrowing his eyes, he summoned Root of Blood into his hand—but didn't raise it.

  "Listen," he said slowly, as if talking to a child. "I don't give a shit who you are or what you can do. I was the one Tyler asked to bring you along. So stop posturing and acting like you're in charge, or you're staying here for all I care."

  For a moment, nobody moved. Even Marie only watched from the sides, looking more bored than anything.

  Finally, James let out a chuckle, grinning wide. "So the kid got some bite. Got it, boss! Lead the way."

  With that, the man stepped aside, letting Isaac pass. Soon, though, Marie joined his side.

  "Was that really necessary?" she whispered.

  He only spared her a glance. Maybe to her, this whole argument sounded stupid. After all, in the grand scheme of things, it didn't really matter who led the way.

  But to him? It did matter, more than he was willing to admit. He had spent too much of his life letting people walk over him. Now that the universe had given him another chance, he wasn't about to let that continue.

  And so, his answer was simple enough.

  "Yes."

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