7 Chapter 7

It was already noon when I came back out of the building. We were supposed to leave the city today. But, I guess the plans need to change a little. Maybe tomorrow. I do not want to stay here anymore. As I grew stronger than before, I also had a slight sense of danger in my head. Since last night, I could feel something awful in this city, and today after leveling up a few more times, this sense of danger becomes even more apparent. My body wants to walk by itself and wants to avoid this city. Maybe some strong demon or monster lives here. Nothing is impossible. I don't want to mess with it.

I came back into the streets. There was only one head on the roof of the building. I guess others left this person to watch. I went towards the van. The sisters were alright. Aria jumped out of the van and tried to hug me before moving her out of the way. Dana didn't say anything as she walked out of the van.

"Now, we will go to that roof," I said to them.

"Did you kill all the monsters in that building?" Aria asked.

"Yes, there were about two hundred ghouls; I cleared them all."

"You have become powerful," Aria said. She already had her bag on her shoulder and started walking behind me.

"Do you need any help with that cut?" Dana asked as she pointed at my left shoulder. There was a cut? I didn't notice.

"Nah, it will heal itself."

"Okay." She didn't say anything else. She sounded a bit heartbroken. Hmmph. Stupid girl.

We entered the smaller building; I do not want these girls to see the hell I came out of a few minutes ago. The way up into the building might also be blocked for safety by the people on the roof, which is expected.

I walked ahead, followed by Aria and then Dana. I didn't smell anything funny until now, and nothing seems off. We reached the highest floor safely and sat down at the stairs to rest for a while. At that time, there was some noise coming from the other side of the corridor.

I stood up, and the noise was getting louder and soon turned out to be some people talking to each other. Old people, surprisingly.

"Are you sure, Martha?" One of them said.

"Yes, yes, just don't frighten these guests." The one called Martha answered.

"Frighten them? They are the ones who are frightening us!" The one at the beginning replied with a clear sign of worry in his voice.

"Okay, just open the cursed door," Martha said again.

The other person grumbled something which I couldn't hear correctly.

Both Dana and Aria were standing with me right now, looking at the door at the end of the corridor which opened, revealing an old woman who could be at the age of my mother's grandmother. How the hell did she survive, not to mention walking and climbing stairs? I do not have any idea. But the smile on her face as if she just found her lost grandchildren did make me lose the grip on the sword in my hand. The other was an old man, young compared to Martha but still way older than usual. These people, I wonder how they survived.

We walked towards them as the smile on Martha's face got brighter, and she called us with both of her hands and the worry in the face of the old man as he was glancing between my loose pants, shirts, and the sword.

"Well, come on," Martha said as she gestured at Aria and Dana. "Ohh dear, how have you suffered out there." She grabbed both Aria and Dana's hands as soon as they got close and started walking. I smiled at Dana and nodded at her. I still have my worries, but one of these people seemed to be worried about me, which does reduce my suspicion of them a bit less.

What if they are taking us to cook us and eat us? That thought made me grip the sword, which didn't go unnoticed by the old man. Cannibalism isn't that uncommon. I have heard stories from other survivors, mother eating child while they were stuck in a building, later killing herself due to the agony. I even listened to a story of a boy who was later discovered cutting his hand to eat and die out of blood loss. I have seen in TV series how people set traps for other people to fall in and then kill them to eat.

Such disgusting things. Would I eat Aria and Dana if I were to put in a situation like that? I don't know. Most probably not. May God kill me before that.

All the bad thoughts made me the frowning target for the old man. He was walking very carefully beside me, as If it would be impossible for me to kill if he were like that. I smiled and looked at him.

"Why do you go into the building? Are you one of them?" He asked, still frowning.

"If you think I was one of them, why did you open the door?" I asked.

"Martha said, the man who would travel with a child and a defenseless girl would not be a bad man."

"What if I just kept them as emergency food?" Well, that made All of them look at me at the same time. Martha was surprised Dana and Aria were skeptical. And the old man was terrified.

"Just joking!" I laughed out loud to let the awkward situation go away. "I went there to kill the ghouls. I have killed them all."

"Good." The old man said, then he stood there for a second and shouted, "What?"

"Yes, it was hard work, to be honest. It took a whole three and half hours to clear all the floors." I scratched my head and smiled at him. Martha went back at me, grabbed my other hand, scratching the head, and gave me a look that brought tears to my eyes. The pity and care in her eyes. I sighed and nodded at her. She nodded back, grabbed Aria and Dana's hands, and walked again.

No more talks then. We soon reached a section where a few long wooden planks were laid to connect the two buildings. The wooden plank seemed to be removable. That truly made the area where these people lived very safe. I wonder what they did about the stairs. I soon found that out after reaching the other side. There were hundreds of furniture dropped into the stairs to make a blockade. Even a hundred ghouls could not push them apart, an excellent way to make this a good living place.

Two middle-aged men helped with the wooden planks and brought them to this side after all of us crossed. Now the ghouls could jump from the other side, but soon, these two middle-aged men started to place think wooden planks to block the window and then fortified them with large metal pipes pushing the planks from an angle from the ground. The ground had holes to make sure the pipes stayed in one place. I gave them a thumbs up in my mind. This has to be a perfect place to live. Very safe. I can't even imagine sleeping sound at night. Even the thought of it almost made me cry. Ohh, how long has it been that I have slept like I used to?