The next day, I woke up around an hour before noon.

  Still sleepy, I dressed up and was ready to go to the guild.

  I decided to leave my backpack here.

  The receptionist greeted me when we met. I greeted back.

  At around noon, I went to the meeting place – the guild.

  To be honest, it was looking more like a tavern than a guild, but who was I to judge?

  Unlike yesterday, when I entered, I did not feel the curious and somewhat hostile gazes of the people present.

  Despite it being around noon, the atmosphere was quite chilly and serious. The lively chatter and drunkards from yesterday were nowhere to be seen.

  Yes, there were people, but they were showing respect that I never imagined them to show in a pub like this.

  Either they found the rascals who forced me to kill them, something unpleasant was about to occur or someone everyone feared was with us.

  The first option was unlikely. Two nobodies died. Big deal.

  The second and third options were likelier, but I opted for the latter of the two.

  There was someone who looked like a high-ranking member of this stronghold.

  He was in a military uniform and wore a cap. His hair was very short. He was around 180 centimetres in height.

  He had some rank engraved on his uniform’s shoulders, but I had little knowledge about their rankings.

  A step behind him, on both sides, two other soldiers guarded him. Each guard had their face covered and was heavily armed with a heavy assault rifle, which I could not get a good look at. One had a bulkier build than the other.

  Still, their weapons should be tiers above what all of the “mercenaries” present had. Even my own assault rifle might pale in comparison.

  The officer was leisurely sitting on a chair next to a table while the guards stood upright.

  The table was not here yesterday. It was made out of wood, had space for 20 people and was secluded from the other tables. The only thing questionable was the lack of chairs. Excluding the already in use, there were no other free ones around the table.

  10 people, excluding the military, came before me for the meeting.

  There was no need to doubt who I was looking for. Captain something Jeff or the like was here. He seemed a bit intimidating, but, honestly, how scary could a human be?

  The answer? A lot. I found humans, me included, to be one of the cruellest known life forms.

  The first impression was important. I had to seem strong and capable. What would I do if every weakling thought they were my equal?

  So, I took one of the many wooden chairs from an empty table, got some glances and sat around the group. My movements were the noisiest thing in the hall. Even the flies dared not make a sound.

  The table might have places for 20, but who knew how many would come and from them – how many would be brave enough to steal a chair and sit.

  I scanned the people before me, but found nothing interesting in them for the time being.

  “Are you here for the mission?” the officer broke the silence.

  “Yes.”

  “I’ll begin the explanation in 30 minutes. Until then, we’ll be waiting for others to join. Since it’s noon – waiter! One more serving!”

  I was expecting some high and mighty attitude from him, but talking with him was easy. He got right to the point.

  The waiter was the waitress from yesterday.

  She wore the same clothes as yesterday, her “backpack” on her back. Her cheerful demeanour and smile managed to lighten the mood.

  The only difference from yesterday would be her hair – today it was loose.

  Sadly, her eyes continued to be a mystery.

  She came with servings on a tray and it took her seconds to distribute them.

  She showed a bit too much agility and skill for a mere waitress.

  I suddenly got the desire to test if she had combat prowess, but gave up. The gain was too little for the risk.

  Still, I was curious about her. Not only in the way a man sees a woman, I must add.

  I thought that a slight grope on her butt might get a reaction from her. But as neither this establishment seemed like one where the waitress was a slut in disguise, nor her choice of wear indicated her desire to show her body, made me rethink it.

  There was a possibility of getting a penalty for my offence if she complained about my actions. It was not a big deal, maybe a day or two ban from the guild or a fine at the worst, but my potential employer might not like my action.

  Before I decided whether to be brave or smart, she came with my serving.

  I chickened out. I wanted to avoid trouble as much as possible, not stand out. Groping a woman when no one was around or when no one noticed was one thing, but in such an atmosphere, it was a pure insult both to the man before me and the waitress.

  She served me a stew with no meat on a wooden plate with a glass of water, a wooden spoon and a small bread. The others also had that, but they had two slices of normal bread instead of the whole bread I was given. The officer had nothing before him. He was not going to eat this low-quality meal.

  As I was graciously accepted the “food” wannabe, the waitress spoke cheerfully with a smile and left immediately afterwards without waiting for a reply.

  “The bread is a gift from me. I find it better than the slices of bread. I hope you enjoy it.”

  Her words stunned me. Not because I found it close to flirting, but because it made me stand out. The best outcome was to get what the others did and keep a low profile, but she made that challenging.

  I looked sideways at the receptionist, the only one I suspected of having a hand in this. She gave me a thumbs up and a small smile with her eyes.

  What a great helper you were! I hope your death is swift and painless! What is next? Book a room to spend a night with her?

  Due to the silence, everyone heard what she told me. Her fast retreat made her look shy, but I believed otherwise.

  The cold and murderous gazes filled with jealousy that most of the men in the hall gave me made me uncomfortable and annoyed. Some of the people sitting with me also gave me one.

  Once again, thank you! You were a great help! Both of you were! I will not chicken out next time I have the chance!

  And about the pricks who showed their hostility so openly: I wanted to show them a middle finger, but decided to ignore the small fries.

  I held the wooden spoon with my right hand and started to eat with it.

  More or less of the cheaper food I usually expect to eat would either be leftovers with no meat in them or would be the tasteless rations “mercenaries” eat while on the move.

  I would have preferred to enjoy moussaka with Rakia from the Balkan Union, a meaty steak paired with 50-year-old wine, sushi with Sake or perhaps something similar.

  The stew was lukewarm and had the taste of dirt. The bread was relatively hard, but it was better than the stew. Still, food was food. That was why I ate it. I have seen places where even food like this was hard to come by.

  After the dirt stew and stone bread, I found a freshly baked bread from the oven to be a feast.

  Sadly, this “meal” was not the worst thing I have eaten thus far.

  Was this the usual hospitality of a commander of a stronghold? Maybe? Even more so if they required something.

  Sure, the food was barely edible, but it was still a treat.

  By the time the briefing began, excluding the military, more than 20 people had joined the meeting.

  Some brave early birds were sitting while some slow pokes and shy birdies were standing upright. Only those who sat down were treated with the stew.

  I was yet to grope the waitress while she was coming in and out.

  It was finally time for the explanations. Those here were one of the slowest 30 minutes I had to endure.

  He checked the time with the help of the clock on the wall and spoke, breaking the eerie silence.

  “The mission’s simple. A week ago, we got a report that a forward base, 32 kilometres north of here, was attacked and destroyed. It’s expected of you to go there and scout the perimeter. You must also destroy any zombies that might be there. You’ll start going to the destination tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. You’d be there in around half a day. Any questions?”

  This was a pretty vague explanation. For what he said, was there even a need for a meeting? Why was it not just written? Something was omitted, but I could not detect what exactly.

  “About the pay. Are we really getting that much and to all of us?” someone asked while looking around.

  Let’s say that we are 20. If all of us were to accept and survive, that would be 20 000 LC and I doubt this place had that much to spare.

  “It’s 1 000 dollars per person if you manage to clear the nest. If you only go, see what is in there and come back, you’ll be paid half. And only living people will be paid.”

  “I see. In short, you’ll send us to an unknown place that could even have a King and get paid only if we return?” some newbie cried.

  Well, that was the norm, usually. Why would anyone pay someone already dead?

  “First, if a King were here or nearby, we might as well already be dead. Second, for a half-done job, you get half the pay. Last, for what would a corpse need money?” the contractor told us while smiling lightly.

  There was some menace in that smile. The menace that could be seen from those who knew what death was.

  “No one forces you to go. If you need the money, you’ll be here tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. I’ll even allow you to group voluntarily. Three people per team. Anything else?”

  “Is our destination the recently overrun military outpost?” I asked.

  “Yes, the same one.”

  “What are you allowed to share with us about the outpost?”

  “Not much. The little information there is, is classified. There’s nothing that guarantees you won’t spill the beans or sell that intel. Only those who persist to tomorrow will be given hints and only when we get near the outpost.”

  In short, no, he would tell us nothing. Was there a need for such secrecy? What was hidden in there? The next Manhattan Project?

  “Next?”

  After seeing that there were no other questions, he continued and ended the meeting.

  “Dismissed.”

  A man of few words. My only wish was that the words he spoke gave me something useful.

  He got up and walked to the exit, his guards behind him, leaving some of us dumbfounded, unhappy or already giving up.

  The information he left us with, despite it having little value, continued to make the atmosphere somewhat tense.

  The bystanders who had nothing to do with it immediately became rowdy.

  The cat left and the mice decided to play. Soon, the cheerful and noisy voices were chatting, the smell of alcohol was getting stronger and the heavy smokers decided to chain smoke.

  “Waiter! Two bear mugs and a bowl of peanuts!”

  “Coming!”

  “Beauty, a bottle of wine! And beef jerky!”

  “In a moment!”

  Unlike them, we, the ones around the big table, were contemplating. We were a total contrast to the other cheerful fellas.

  In a normal situation, we should start to get to know each other. After all, we would be divided into groups. It was better to know what type of people the others were in advance.

  The question was, would someone take the first step? I knew that my sociability was questionable and if I were to make the first move, there was a high probability of failure.

  There were already groups of twos or threes before the briefing, so they might feel that socialising was whatever.

  But for a lone wolf, like myself, I would probably get others who could not cooperate, much like myself, which could get me killed.

  While I was thinking as such, a girl got up and declared her name and intentions.

  “Hello all! My name is Mariana, but you may call me Mary. I hope we’ll get to know each other!”

  That was faster than I thought.

  And it was a girl who did it, therefore the success was decently high.

  She said all that with a cheerful smile, but it felt more sincere compared to when the waitress was smiling. It was hard to deny her outer beauty.

  She was also one of the few people who came before me, but I discarded her back then. I did hope she would break the ice.

  She had straight blond hair that was slightly wavy at the lower end and her hairstyle went down slightly below her shoulders. Her height… maybe around 170 or so centimetres. Her eyes were dark blue. They were appealing, but still paled in comparison with the dark, abysmal eyes that gave me the feeling of sucking me in them. She looked to have been well-fed thus far. I believed she recently became a “mercenary”.

  She was wearing casual clothes that did not reveal much skin. Only her hands, neck and face showed her white and even skin. Her nails were cut short, but I would rather not know how sharp they were.

  She wore jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt.

  She was pretty by my standards. Bet if she were a waitress here, there would be fierce competition over which of the two attracted more customers just by their looks.

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  As a domino effect, others started to introduce themselves.

  But from all of them, I could remember only a few.

  The first one was, obviously, Mary.

  The second was Lily. Her straight black hair was slightly shorter than Mary’s. Her eyes were brown. Her expression was more serious, maybe even showing a slight contempt. Her skin was also white, but Mary’s was better. Overall, Mary was the prettier of the two.

  Her wear included a hoodie and sports pants. Her hands were in her pockets. At least she did not use her hood.

  There were two reasons for noticing her: she seemed like a friend of Mary’s and her name.

  ‘Lily’. This name always made me be on my guard. It probably was just a coincidence, but better safe than sorry. They were not dumb enough to just announce themselves in the open, but who would suspect them if they did?

  The next one was Leonard or Leo for short – he had short red hair, light reddish eyes and was the closest boy sitting to Mary.

  He was the shortest among those present, but I could tell that in terms of brute strength, he was one of the strongest among all of us. He must have put a lot of effort into his muscles. The calluses on his hands made me believe so.

  He wore jeans and a short-sleeved t-shirt.

  The reasons for noticing him were Mary – another friend of hers – and his build.

  All the people I noticed had one thing in common – they had some relationship with Mary.

  Richard – dark brown hair and hazel eyes.

  He wore black trousers and a shirt.

  Roosevelt – black hair and amber eyes.

  He knew how a ready-for-battle “mercenary” should dress. He was in military clothes. There were subtle differences compared to my camouflage, but it was also mostly greenish.

  If a strong zombie were to come falling from the ceiling, I was confident he could put up a fight.

  As with Lily, his name was also a reason to take notice of him.

  ‘Roosevelt’. Although they did use a variety of names for them, ‘Roosevelt’ was the one that got me on guard. In short, a Roosevelt was a male Lily. I lacked the knowledge to talk about them in detail, but if their names were not just a coincidence...

  Another woman caught my attention with her green hair color, but after observing her conduct closely, even if she had potential, she was wasting it by clinging to someone with muscles.

  Unless someone left some sort of impact on me, I would not remember their name. Humans die too fast for me to remember them all.

  Were I to have numerous encounters with an individual, I would attempt to remember them.

  This group of five drew my notice solely by their names: Mary, Lily, Roosevelt, Richard, and Leonard. However, not in a good way.

  I would keep an eye on them. If they were a threat to me, I would take them down if needed.

  While I was too focused on seeing if there was anyone worth using as a meat shi… I meant, having as a temporary teammate and having speculations, my turn for introduction came.

  Totally forgot about it.

  Seeing my delayed response, the whole table looked in my direction.

  “You can call me…”

  I knew what my name was according to the ID. I usually use fake names or nicknames. As for my real one, I locked that memory deep inside me, if I even remember it by now.

  It had been since my childhood when I used the name my family gave me.

  I intended to give my borrowed name, but I decided otherwise. Only later did I realise my decision was a mistake, but the ‘me’ back then did not.

  “… Rex?” I said, sweat going down my back.

  At the last moment, I decided to stand out. The attention that the waitress had already given me made keeping a low profile somewhat ineffective.

  Sadly, my slow decision-making made me sound awkward. I did not even believe what I said.

  With that botch, I could only hope that they would believe me.

  There was silence for a while after that. Only the noisy bystanders were continuing with their noise-making.

  I felt like I botched my introduction, but I could not see where exactly. There were too many mistakes to pick only one.

  Some, like Mary, gave an awkward smile, while others stared daggers at me or were speechless.

  One even dared to laugh at me.

  “Bha… HAHA! Oh, God! You must be a comic, not a “mercenary”!”

  “Raimond!” the girl with green hair chimed in to scold him, “My apologies. This idiot has no manners!”

  “Haha… What did you expect when one tries to pull such bullshit?” he was about to tear up from laughter.

  Was I that funny, funny man?

  “I don’t care about your name; I don’t need it. Just continue to be the heart of the company!”

  My blood boiled. My forearms felt a bit suffocating. I had to calm down.

  “… Heh. Won’t bite back?”

  Why was this monkey continuing? I got the urge to mutilate him on the spot.

  The simplest and effective solution was to ignore him, but with my fiery temper, the best answer might have been to get up and leave.

  Still, I decided to stay, ignoring his existence.

  After getting no reaction from me, he stopped.

  “Waiter, beer for all of us!”

  “In a moment!”

  Someone decided to treat us to a light drink. Some accepted it and drank, others did not touch it. I did not feel like drinking back then.

  Nothing eventful happened after that for me.

  Some managed to make friends, while others got to know each other and I was left isolated.

  In a mission where cooperation might be needed, this was a terrible start.

  Since I had nothing more to gain here, I got up and headed out.

  Some probably looked at me, but I did not care much.

  It would be better for me to get ready for tomorrow.

  I was steadily walking towards the exit, but then I saw the receptionist waving at me.

  I went to see what was up with her.

  “So, how did it go?”

  “Which one?”

  “Well, for starters, the meeting, then maybe how you feel about Sophia giving you a gift?”

  The meeting went horrendously and the gift ruined my plan.

  “The meeting went so-so, but I think to spend my time doing something productive rather than chatting at a table.”

  “And about the gift?”

  Her eyes shone. Did she have nothing better to do?

  “Well, let’s say that attracted the attention of all.”

  “Don’t let it bother you.”

  “By the way, why was it so… uncomfortable when I entered?”

  “The “big man” of this settlement was here. We lack police and the military substitutes for it. Therefore, he’s the law in here. Even the guild master bows to him. Some soldiers also frequent the guild for a drink and a meal. I know some of them. My husband is in the military. This is a secret, but the only reason why I’m here is that I moved in with him.”

  “Then how come today there was only the military on vacation here?”

  “When you came, only one table had soldiers. Even your kind knew to be polite while he was in here. The soldiers number around 100, the “mercenaries” vary but are between 50 and 150. The civilians are around 250. ”

  “Small.”

  “Yes, it’s not heaven on earth.”

  “I heard the military lacked a proper camp.”

  “Umhum. They don’t exactly have a dedicated camp, but they have a building only for them. Entrance is forbidden for non-military personnel. Since Sophy has taken a slight liking to you, I might tell you more about her.”

  “The only thing I care about is her cup size,” I said, trying to show that giving me her personal information was unnecessary.

  “Well… I don’t exactly know her measurements, but I’ll root for you to find out.”

  I was speechless.

  “She’s a young girl in her twenties, the prime age for finding a partner. If not now, when would she experience the pleasure of youth? When she has two kids like me? I barely get in bed with my husband!”

  I almost spat blood. When exactly did I care about this?

  “Would you think giving her a slight grope would annoy her?”

  “Hmm… It would depend on her mood. If she liked it, I think you might get to know her better by the night, but if you fail, you'd better give up.”

  “What if I were into older women like you?”

  I tried to disgust her, but…

  “Were you a playboy? Your look is average, you are too young and my husband is at that table behind you. Hard pass.”

  “It was because he was here. Worry not, plucking young flowers suited me better.”

  “Playboy.”

  I neither denied nor agreed. If a busty girl were naked in a bed in front of me, how could I not? If a girl were begging for it, why not use her rather than someone else using her? My only limits were their age, my conscientiousness and my condition. Preferably 18 and above, but it may vary, depending on how much alcohol I had.

  “They seemed to be doing well,” she said while looking at the bigger table.

  I also stole a glance.

  They were chatting, getting to know each other, some wondered why they were even there and so on. All kinds of people.

  “I do not remember that table being here yesterday. The other tables’ arrangement also looks different.”

  “Yes, we had to make this arrangement last night after all the customers left. It took us a while, even with Sophy’s help. The night waitress isn’t bad, but pales compared to Sophy.”

  Did they have another waitress? I had yet to see her.

  “Oh, perfect timing, Sophy, are you free right now?”

  What had this copidon thought of?

  “Sure, just finished serving the last orders. How can I help you?”

  “Can you take the post for a second? I need to go to the restroom. Also, keep this gentleman company.”

  Me? A gentleman?

  “Sure, no problem. I’ll hold the front for you.”

  “Thanks! You’re the best!”

  She left somewhere while giving me the thumbs up and that cheeky smile.

  This was the first time someone had shipped me this hard with someone.

  “Did you like the bread?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  I was looking at the round table. How were they still at it? Gonna have orgy at the end or what?

  “Are you looking at the blonde?”

  “Blonde?”

  “Mariana. Or Mary. She’s quite something.”

  “How so?”

  “Her cheerfulness was something. I’ve been working for almost a month. My first two weeks were nothing special. There were a few customers, but the hall was mostly silent. I wasn’t all smiles like now.”

  “Why change yourself?”

  “The first time I saw her, her smile amazed me. I was inspired and tried to smile more, to be cheerful. Before I knew it, the hall was constantly full, I had to serve countless orders and everything became livelier.”

  “Really? I would have stayed the same. Those who like me should like me for who I am.”

  “You have a point, but I think of this ‘me’ becoming the real ‘me’.”

  Such determination and such stupidity at the same time. A wolf might change its skin, but not its character.

  “Do your best.”

  “Thanks! Sadly, I’m lacking compared to her.”

  Yes, seeing a genuine smile made me realise how fake yours was.

  “Where exactly are you lacking?”

  “Uhmm…. My body feels less developed compared to hers,” she replied and averted her head slightly.

  Body? I looked at her breast and then at Mary’s.

  “You have got a point.”

  “How mean!” she pouted slightly.

  It still felt fake.

  What was the receptionist doing in the restroom? Why was she taking this long? Having a hardcore upset stomach?

  The woman before me leaned on the reception desk.

  “I didn’t know the one Amy spoke so well of to change his pursuit so often. Makes to show that there really is no one worth it in here.”

  “By the way you are talking, you must be single.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  “I bet there are some who want to put you in bed. What stops you?”

  “That’s quite the question from you!”

  “I fear you misunderstood me. Men, by default, want to put women in bed.”

  “I guess they do, yes.”

  “I have been wondering if this was the only choice of clothes you were given?”

  “There were a few picks from which I could choose.”

  “Was this the one showing the most skin?”

  “No. One was with short sleeves while having half my bosom in the open for all to see and a miniskirt. I might as well work without the skirt if I had that costume. It barely covered anything.”

  Yes, such clothes were too much for any woman with any self-esteem.

  “It sounds great.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Your current wear feels too stifling. Having one more revealing and sexier, you could have attracted customers without putting on such a smile. Yes, the one you described is too lewd, but having a skirt to around your knees should not be a big deal. It might have given you a reason to wear your… long socks?”

  “I get your point and it's pantyhose, but I fear if I showed more skin, men might try to be more forceful. I think that there are more important things than sex. I don’t think it’s that pleasing and I’m not into getting banged by many men. Even more so from ones like the guest we have.”

  “Right? I do not mind two girls at once, but sharing one? Hell no!”

  “You have the stamina for two?”

  “Who knows?”

  She laughed slightly. This one felt genuine.

  “I’m surprised no one called for me yet.”

  “Do you want to be called?”

  “Having a small talk with you is not bad.”

  I wanted to make a move on her, but my gut warned me about her.

  “I have been wondering since meeting you.”

  “Yes?”

  “What do you have on your back?”

  “A weapon for self-defence. I need it to keep the horny drunkards at bay or they might impregnate me.”

  “Must be hard.”

  “No one who tried succeeded.”

  I decided to risk it.

  “Mind if I were to grope you once?”

  “… Where?”

  “Butt, but if you allowed other places, feel free to inform me.”

  “Hmm… I’ll have to reject you now, but try asking another time. There is a slight possibility of allowing you.”

  “Ohoho…”

  Both of us turned to see who was making this sound. It was the receptionist with her cheeky smile.

  “I don’t want to get between you, but there are too many people here.”

  “I see. Too bad,” I lamented, but was happy we stopped with this.

  The uneasy feeling I had about her would not go away.

  “That said, I won’t mind you taking a half-hour break. Just don’t make too much noise.”

  “Not happening,” she rejected the proposal.

  “Waiter, the bill!”

  Someone from the big table shouted.

  “Coming!” she replied and told me in a quieter voice, “The small talk with you was fun.”

  I detected a few hostile gazes from the same table she walked to. Lily was looking at me with amazement and Mary gave me her sunny smile.

  My gamble seemed to have paid off. For some reason, many of the people here fancied the waitress. I admit that she had charm, but the danger she posed nullified it.

  Since my… leaving the group, they all seemed to be getting rather cosy with one another. By chatting with the waitress, I managed to ruin their fun.

  Yes, I did not care much for what they were up to, but forming an alliance against me was the worst outcome.

  The annoying receptionist wore her cheeky smile, which very much annoyed me. I made my way to the exit.

  I forgot to take note of the waitress’s eyes. Yes, I had the perfect opportunity to look at them and I certainly saw them, but I could not recall what they looked like.

  Sigh. Why was I such moron? The only thing I remembered was that her irises had a different color.

  What did I think of her? She was dangerous. The fewer encounters with her, the better.

  By the time I was out of the guild, it was… how much o’clock was it exactly?

  I reentered and looked at the wall clock. It was around 14:00.

  It seemed like I still needed more gadgets at my disposal.

  The next day, I woke up around 6:00.

  The little information given to me did nothing to help with my preparations.

  I decided to leave only my backpack in my accommodation. I had a fast breakfast with the food rations, assembled my AK-47 and filled my pockets with miscellaneous items and ammo.

  By 6:50, I was entering the guild.

  The employer was waiting at the guild with his guards around him.

  From the 20ish or so people yesterday, 15, including me, were left. From all, only the bulkier officer’s guard had a rucksack.

  Most had casual clothes with waist pouches and many pockets overall. Only a few had a full set. Excluding the military, only Mary’s group and I had one. Her friends had gloves. Hers and Lily’s were fingerless.

  “Those who have made a team of three band together. As for the others, try finding. You still have some time.”

  He seemed pretty nonchalant about it.

  It was not like he was alone in the middle while most others were already in a group.

  I could either feel or imagine some pity gazes. Still, I was going to find some eventually. Given that no one else joined. Then I should start thinking of solutions.

  “Excuse me,” a girl with blond hair told me.

  Her name was… Mary, if I remember correctly.

  “You seem to be alone and my friend and I are lacking one person. Would you like to join us?”

  I pretended to think about it for a little bit. I could not have shown that I was excited to be invited by someone to join their team.

  By a pretty girl, at that.

  I only wondered if the reason she used was genuine…

  “I do not mind, but will your partner agree?”

  “Yes, she will.”

  A group of two girls?! Calm down now! Breathe in, breathe out…

  Her group consist of five. Two of them – girls.

  It would be with the ‘Lily’ thing. I should not take her lightly. If the organisation that created them managed to use them properly, they might have taken over an entire Continent by now.

  “Let’s go and regroup with her,” she continued.

  I followed like an obedient doggy to see the team while thinking about how to counter them if my fears were to become true.

  She approached a group of four who were talking – the ones I had met yesterday.

  The man with the red hair, Leonard, Lily and two more – Richard and Roosevelt were there.

  I felt slight hostility from Leo, but he was not the only one.

  The others gave me some distrustful looks at the beginning.

  All of this was due to my introduction.

  Were I to have done a good one, I might have had a bigger selection of meat… Ahem. I meant compatriots.

  “Lily! I found the last member of our group!”

  “… I see,” was her reply after giving me a glance or two.

  Seemed like she did not like me as a teammate.

  Or could it be that Mary made her proposal with neither consent nor knowledge from her partner?

  The males gave me a quick look, mostly cold, but Lily did not make any facial expressions. It was as if I were not worth making her show negative emotions.

  If that was how they were going to be, then why should I be friendly? Well, it was my fault they had such an impression of me.

  “Nice to meet you. My name is River.”

  I tried to repair things, but I made a fatal mistake right then.

  I forgot who ‘I’ was…

  They all looked right at me. Even Lily made a dumbfounded expression.

  “Wasn’t your name Rex yesterday?” asked Mary, her face making a forced smile.

  Right then I knew I screwed up.

  I could either continue my nonsense or apologise.

  “… Yes, my name is Rex River!” I said, trying to salvage the situation with the riskier option.

  “Let’s leave it at that …”

  The goddess Mary decided to leave me be or so I thought, before she finished her sentence.

  “…Rexvar.”

  They all laughed, hurting my fragile feelings.

  I had no idea what the funny part was.

  That was what I got for forgetting names.

  “So, how can we call you?” Mary asked when she stopped laughing at me.

  “Call me however you want.”

  I had no more willpower to choose a name.

  “Well then. I will call you… “Him” for the time being. Hope you will give us your real name eventually.”

  “Okay, time's up. Seems like you all found yourselves a team.”

  The bell saved me.

  “You were supposed to be escorted by two brutish-looking men to your destination, but they were found dead yesterday afternoon. I’ll have to go with you in person.”

  Wait, wait, wait… he could not be talking about those thugs I took care of the other day?

  Ops… I hoped no one would care, but I had been proven wrong. As long as no one made a problem out of it, I would keep it under the rug.

  If I had known they would have been found and identified this quickly, I would have done more to make their identification harder.

  No, that was not an option. Doing so would have soaked me in their blood. The reason why I used a gun was to stay clean. Tch.

  The officer retrieved a piece of paper from the receptionist.

  She had dark circles under her eyes. I hoped they were due to a lack of sleep or a certain “night activity” with her husband, rather than her thinking of ways to ship me with the waitress.

  After that, we exited and walked to the northern exit. The two men on post saluted when they saw the officer. The officer saluted back and handed the paper he got a while ago.

  “This is the list of those exiting. I’ll leave it here with you to write the information down. Inform the next on duty to keep it. When I come later today, I’ll take it back.”

  “Yes, sir!”

  And thus, our half-day journey began.

  The northern side was better defended – the fence was reinforced and there was even a stationary HMG on one of the nearby buildings.

  Unlike the southern entrance, where there was a crude dirt road, here it was non-existent.

  During the travel, the little small talk that occurred rarely included me. Mary did attempt to start conversations with me occasionally, but I did not feel like bonding with anyone back then.

  Especially not with her. I feared she wanted to gather information about who I was from me.

  “I come from The Old Continent. Where are you from?”

  “I am from the same Continent.”

  “Are you a solo “mercenary” or are you affiliated with a group? I travel with my friends.”

  “I mostly do things alone for the time being.”

  She was asking very smartly – by telling me something first, she was prompting me to answer too. How true her answers were was another question.

  A goody two-shoes might have given her honest and accurate answers, but that was not me.

  That might have been why she usually asked me a question and after I answered, the conversation stopped.

  Or it just looked to her as if she was annoying me and stopped out of politeness.

  She seemed like a scary woman.

  I would better keep my guard up around her.

  While we were traveling, each team kept some distance from the others.

  The ones leading were Captain Jeff and his bodyguards.

  The vegetation along the way did not slow us down significantly. In the few areas where it did, the soldiers cleared it with machetes.

  As for the wild animals, the bigger ones feared us and dared not come closer, while the little critters were hard to spot. Only the singing birds were brave enough to come into our view, but kept a distance for their safety.

  I found the birds quite brave. Yes, they were not at arm’s reach, but any good shot would have been able to take down a few of them if the person desired so.

  We had a 15-minute break for lunch. All ate what they had taken. Most, including me, had taken a food ration. After the break, we continued moving closer to our destination.

  There were almost no zombies during the trip.

  As for the few we did encounter, they were taken care of effortlessly by the military.

  We were not supposed to waste our energy yet.

  Overall, the trek, for me, was light.