The Perfect Hideout

I tower over Jessica and gesture my hand. "You should not say such a thing, Jessica. You have no idea what that means, and besides, I do not want anything that you think you can do for me. Rather, I want what you can give me."

"W-what I can give you?" Jessica questions. "I don't have anything."

I grin deviously. "Your thinking is far too simple. There are plenty of things you have that can be traded and exchanged. Things that you cannot even imagine, and it depends on how much you want to save your brother."

Jessica tenses up. Her mind races, as she tries to figure out what she possibly has that I want.

"Dude. You're acting like the fucking devil," Alex comments, snapping me out of it.

"Heh. Sorry. I just want to mess with her a bit. Nothing serious," I response, but no one is buying that, and that is fine by me. "Can I have the Life Crystal back, Jessica? It is just a rock in your hands. A pretty rock, but pretty useless."

Jessica nods slowly and shakily hands me back the Life Crystal.

Honestly, I have plenty of ways to save Thomas, and while using the Life Crystal is not the easiest way to do so, it is the best way right now, as everyone will figure out how to do it themselves eventually. I rather not resort to any of the better alternatives as using any of those methods will reveal too much about me and my Merchant Class.

I do not want that to happen, as I know what the future holds once the Zones have all collapsed around the globe. The world will never be the same again afterwards. Those who managed to awaken cannot really see themselves as human. Their power will be feared or worshipped.

As a matter of fact, everyone here should have been awakened. They just have not prove themselves to the System and obtain a Class.

"This can save your brother's life, but I cannot make use of it right here. Actually, I can, but we will all be in danger," I tell Jessica and eye Alex. "Thomas is a huge guy, but can you help me carry him?"

��Carry him to where?" Alex questions as he looks around. "Where the fuck we are heading to anyway, Zan? You haven't really told us anything meaningful."

"Really?" I response and shrug. "Sorry, but you guys will have to get used to it, and as for where we're heading to, how about the abandoned subway?"

"The abandoned subway? What abandoned subway?" Alex questions.

"Oh right. I forgot that you guys don't know," I response and recall the first time around with the Ruler of Death. I managed to discover the abandoned subway tunnel after escaping the undead by jumping into a manhole. After regrouping with Alex later on, we had used that place as our base of operation, hiding from all the Zombies and Ghouls prowling about on the surface. More people joined us later on as we scavenged for supplies, but in the end, only I was left.

"There is actually an abandoned subway station below the city, and if we can reach there, it will be a good place to set up base," I tell everyone and approach one of the manhole cover within the school's ground. I open it, letting the nauseating stench to disgust everyone. "And here is the entrance."