85 Chapter 85

**- Xenon -**

It has been two weeks since I've learned how to make bows and we have not been idle. Maggie and Andrea took their jobs seriously and have been mass-producing bows and arrows, the latter more than the former for obvious reasons. I helped them during the first days but quickly left them to their devices once they got the hang of it. I did get a skill out of it though.

[[Proficiency: Crafting. (Passive)] LVL 1

Increase the speed and success rate of your crafting.

Your products have increased physical effects.

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It is certainly a welcome surprise and seems to be encouraging me to follow that path, but I couldn't spend more time on it regrettably. Instead, I went out of camp to find places of interest. At least, that's what I told the others, which was obviously a lie. Well, not exactly, since I did find a few places we raided, but I did it mostly not to draw suspicions.

I spent most of that time killing as many zombies as I could while training my skills at the same time, focusing on both [Empower] and [Sprint], since they were the most useful tools in my arsenal.

< Status >

Name : Xenon

Age : 16

Level : 22 | Progress : 0/500

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Stamina (SP) : 430/430

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STR : 30

DEX : 22

CON : 8

END : 20

CHA: 33

WIL : 8

INT : 26

WIS : 15

LUK : 11

Unused Stat Points: 18

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My stats are becoming really impressive, and it was not subtle either. It was glaringly obvious how different I've become, both physically and mentally, and I've had plenty of people giving compliments about it. My shoulders had gotten broader, my pectoral muscles noticeable underneath my clothes. And my favorite part... the six packs... It's like a dream come true... I've always been self-conscious about my belly before, even if it wasn't that bad in my previous life... Speaking of six-packs, a hand sneakily made its way underneath my clothes and caressed me on my stomach with unrestrained admiration... Or maybe lust, I can't tell.

"Mmmmmm..." Amy moaned as I gently trailed kisses down her neck. My chest puffed up in pride at her sounds, making me have this unprecedented feeling of accomplishment for some reason, urging me to continue. It was all a very novel feeling for me...

Amy grabbed my hand and slowly dragged it up her belly to her chest. I was taken aback for a moment but gladly welcomed the invitation. My mouth resumed its activity, trailing kisses down to her collarbone before going back up.

"Mmmmmmm...." She moaned a bit louder as I squeezed her left mound. I was surprised they were bigger than I expected, but my tongue did not miss the opportunity presented by the opening of her mouth, and went on the offensive, dancing wildly with hers in a game of dominion. Amy got even more excited as our supposedly innocent snogging session escalated quickly. But she gave me an extremely hurt look once I pulled back and stopped. I just sighed and shook my head.

"Someone is coming." I shook my head but I couldn't calm the tent in my pants signaling the raging boner I was suffering from. Amy noticed and looked away guiltily. I couldn't tell if she was blushing or not; she was already beet red. Glenn opened the door of the room we were in without knocking, his eyes widening in surprise as he noticed us.

"Xen, you're here! I've been looking for you for a while now." He exclaimed before he furrowed his brows. "What were you doing here with Amy?" He asked before his brain caught up. "Err... I'm not interrupting anything, I hope?"

"Not at all." I waved it off nonchalantly, keeping my thoughts as positive as I could. "What can I do for you?"

"Yeah, that!" Glenn seemed to remember something. "Rick came back from his trip. He wants to talk to you."

"Came back?" I frowned. "He just left two days ago."

"I know." Glenn nodded. "He found something, but wants to tell everyone on the council." I had my suspicions what this was about, but I needed confirmation.

"Go ahead, I'll be there in a moment." Glenn quickly understood the situation and left without delay. I turned to my girlfriend, who cupped my cheek, drawing me in a searing kiss as soon as the door closed. We didn't make out for too long though, as Amy reminded me who was completely lost in her charms that I had other obligations at the moment. "I'll make it up to you, I promise." She whispered in my ears right before we separated. I left the room with a goofy grin, my imagination running wild over how Amy would make it up to me... Which turned out to be extremely counter-productive as I now had an impossible to calm down the tent in my pants, and I could not meet the others in such a state. Luckily, Meditation was very useful in this situation, so I took my monk pose cleared my thoughts before going to the meeting.

**- Narrator -**

"I didn't keep you waiting, I hope?" Xenon said with a smile through his mask, as he entered the cafeteria, a place they found ideal to hold their meetings.

"No, you're right on time, we've just sat down." Rick eased his worries. The others had been bugging him to spill the beans, but he would rather everyone be present first so that nobody was left out of the loop.

"I'm sure everyone is itching to hear you, Rick, including myself, so let's not delay any longer." Xenon prompted him to speak.

"Right." Rick took a deep breath, readying himself for the news he was about to give them. He knew there would be several stances towards it, though he could already tell what Xenon's would be, and he was absolutely certain he'd agree with him. "I wasn't planning on coming back this early, as you already know, but I had to inform you of this without delay." Almost everyone were holding their breaths in anticipation. "I found another survivor camp, about twenty-five miles away." He said, noticing everyone's surprised reaction but Xenon's, who was only looking around with interest. "And they seem to be doing reasonably well for themselves. Cars had been arranged to block the walkers along the road, walls made mainly out of huge containers blocked the entrance. I couldn't get any closer without attracting their attention, so I can't tell how big their group is, but from the area they are occupying, I'd say they are pretty big."

"Did you establish contact with them?" Xenon asked calmly, a trait he focused on the most during his discussions.

"No." Rick shook his head. "I didn't think it was a good idea, and I also didn't think it was my decision to make." He pointed out. "This concerns the whole group."

"You were right. It does concern the whole group." Shane nodded approvingly. "You made the right call. We shouldn't establish contact with them just yet."

"Why not?" Dale asked 'curiously', but everyone facepalmed, knowing full well he would start saying some 'dumb shit' again. If you listened carefully, you could hear them muttering 'here we go again'.

"What do you mean why not?" Shane looked at him incredulously. "Don't you remember the bad guys we literally killed a month ago? Are you having memory problems, old man?"

"Now now, Shane... Let the man speak his mind." Xenon interrupted the argument before it began. "Let's hear what Dale has to say first. I'm sure he has a good reason." He gestured for him to speak.

"Thank you." Dale nodded. "You said it yourself, Xenon. We shouldn't fear the outside world, but look to create opportunities for ourselves. That's why we started recruiting people, even though they might have harmful intentions toward our group. I don't see why this particular camp should be any different. We should talk to them first, hear them out, see what they have to offer and how we can benefit each other."

"That's different." Rick disagreed. "We made it a rule to only recruit small groups of people because they are more likely to be trustworthy. Now, you're talking about a group that could rival us in numbers."

"If they rival us in numbers, we have no reason to fear them, right?" Dale pointed out. "Assuming they were hostile in the first place, even someone blind can tell you that there would be no clear winner between two forces of the same magnitude."

"Allow me to interject here." Xenon had heard enough, his voice carrying with it an authority that prompted the others to stop talking and pay attention."You are a well-learned man, Dale. Have you ever heard of Murphy's Law?"

"I have. 'Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.'" He recited.

"Indeed. Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong when given the opportunity." Xenon nodded. "The saying can describe our situation perfectly. I see every group outside of us as rivals. And rivalry will inevitably lead to war. I am fairly certain they are relying mainly on scavenging resources from stores. They have no productions of their own. This means, we are bound to clash over territory or resources. Ergo, we are bound to fight each other, regardless of how much we delay it." Dale was about to interrupt him, but he raised his hand and the effect was immediate, as Dale stopped himself in time. "Now, I am not saying we cannot coexist. Although they can be threatened by our existence, that doesn't mean they will be dead-set on killing us. But ask yourself this, why should we expose our group to risk, when we can use that time to strengthen ourselves?"

"They will eventually find us the same way we found them." Dale pointed out.

"They most certainly will." Xenon nodded in agreement. "Nevertheless, that does not mean we should give up our advantage. We will keep inviting people to join us, keep expanding and fortifying our position, keep getting stronger. And remember, the only way to guarantee peace... is by making the prospects of war seem hopeless."