Chapter 29: Locals

"I wouldn't do that if I were you guys."

Kennen saw three people come out of that alleyway and they looked like locals.

It was two males and one female, and the three had guns with them.

Luckily, the guns were stuffed in their pants and they didn't seem to be hostile to Kennen's group.

"Why?" Evan asked in curiosity.

"There are hundreds of them inside the building." The man who seemed to be the leader of the three said, "By the way I'm John, this is Kanesha and this is Gabriel."

Frank also introduced the team out of politeness.

"Nice to see more survivors out there. Tourists?" John asked.

"Yeah."

"This must be the worst vacation ever." John laughed.

"It is, now we must forage for food and hunt monsters, not exactly the vacation we envisioned in the Bahamas, we thought the Bahamas was paradise on earth, not hell." Frank joked back.

"Stealing food, why am I not surprised that Americans like to take what isn't theirs." Gabriel sneered in displeasure.

"Aren't you the same? I doubt you paid for the food you have on your backpack." Enzo chuckled.

"The pot calling the kettle back." Kennen added.

"You look more like a thief than any of us." Rafael said, "You dusty hair and crackhead looking ass. Get some lotion on those skin you ashed Muggsy Bogues."

Kennen stared at Rafael with a confused look and that was the case for everyone else too.

He personally just found what Gabriel said ironic and had no idea why Rafael was so triggered as that rant came out of nowhere.

As for Gabriel, he certainly didn't appreciate being roasted and put a hand on his gun.

"Watch your mouth, American. The blues aren't here to protect you arrogant thieves anymore."

Rafael also put his hand on his gun and the situation became awfully tense in just a few minutes.

"Stand down Gabriel!" John instantly calmed things down and put a hand on Gabriel's gun, "Please forgive him, he just doesn't like Americans."

"It's alright, Rafael shouldn't have said that." Frank also tried to avoid a shootout as he elbowed Rafael to get him to calm down.

Rafael lifted both of his hands up in sign of backing down but he still muttered under his breath, "A racist then…"

Kennen poked at his back with his finger to tell him to chill out as he didn't want this to develop into some gang-like shoot out.

"There are that many monsters in that hospital?" Frank asked them and changed the subject.

"We tried to get into the hospital earlier but an army came out of the place the moment we got close. Thankfully, we were able to hide away before any of them caught on to us." John explained.

"There's a hundred of them in that hospital?" Evan had a hard time believing it.

"At the very least, from our vantage point, we could already see fifty to eighty monsters going back after chasing us. The hospital is quite big so there's probably even more hiding inside."

"They all have steel armor on them too so your or our guns won't be much use against them. Only an elite tactical unit would have a chance against them so that's why we shouldn't stay around here."

Kennen glanced at the hospital and it was quite huge. The building probably could take thousands of people in so it wouldn't be weird for it to house a hundred monsters or more.

However, it was also a potential hunting ground for them. Armored pig orcs weren't much of a threat for them anymore and even if it was a big number of them, it didn't mean much on narrow corridors.

The only problem was they may get overwhelmed due to not being able to kill fast enough and up being trampled to death.

"I'll take your words for it. Thanks for warning us, otherwise we'll be in hot water." Frank thanked them.

"It's nothing, we're always looking out for survivors. After all, we humans should help each other when monsters are killing everyone."

"We have a camp east of here at the apartment near the church of god if you're looking for a safe place. We would gladly welcome some warriors, especially in times like this so we can reclaim our land from those monstrosities."

John tried to invite them.

"Oh, we have our own camp at the embassy but still, thanks for the invite." Frank refused.

"Oh, the US embassy? Maybe we'll visit if we ever pass by there." John said.

The two groups talked for a bit and exchanged information on where was safe and where they already looted.

Kennen learned from the three that there was another den of monsters down south in a medical field block.

Those monsters sure loved to squat in medical buildings.

As for Frank, he didn't have anything to say on monster den as they wiped all the monsters they encountered so far.

"Right, we're trying to go back to the US and saw some yachts at the dock but keys are needed, do you have any idea where we can find those?" Frank asked.

"Probably in the downtown area where those rich people stay." John gave a guess.

"I have those keys with me!" Gabriel chuckled sinisterly, "I took them with me when we raided those fancy hotels downtown."

"Americans, if you want them, pay me one hundred red diamonds."

Kennen's group all looked at him as if wondering if he was on crack.

Kennen started to believe that Rafael might have been right and this guy was on some drugs.

One hundred crystals was a crazy number and enough power for someone to roam these lands easily.

No way they would ever pay that.

"Fuck off, we'll pay that in your dream. I rather swim back to Miami than pay you." Frank was completely indigned by the ridiculous price.

"Swim back to your country then." Gabriel laughed.

"Come on, Gabriel, just let them leave, isn't it what you want? You won't use the yachts anyway." John tried to convince him.

"B*tch, the keys are mine and you might lead our little group but you don't have a say on our loot! I'll sell them if I want to or maybe I'll want to go out to sea some day, I surely won't give it for free to those American pigs!"

John let out a helpless sigh, "Sorry guys, at least, you'll be able to enjoy paradise for longer and also for free!"

"It's alright, we'll find another way, until then, we'll try to enjoy the great views." Frank replied.

John had been nothing but friendly with them so it would be wrong for them to be rude toward him even if Gabriel was being an asshole.

"Anyway, no matter what Gabriel personally thinks, our camp is always open for you guys to visit, who knows? Maybe we could use your help or vice versa." John said.

***

The two groups split and went their own ways after some idle talks, they each had their own things to do after all.

Since the hospital was potentially too dangerous for them now, they decided to visit the second monster den they heard from John.

"What do you guys think?" Frank asked his friends about the three they just met.

"Seems alright, if you take out that Gabriel guy." Kennen replied.

"Yeah, why is there always an asshole everywhere we go?" Enzo sighed.

"It's still alright if it's just that Gabriel guy who is like that. It might potentially turn into a big problem if more people in their camp think like him." Kennen added.

They may even launch an assault on them if there were enough people on their side who disliked Americans or just liked to act like straight up bandits.

John seemed to be very friendly but maybe he was just better at hiding his feelings and was putting on a facade.

It was easier for him to gauge people's expression as a silent observer but some people were just good at hiding expressions.

Or maybe he was just overly paranoid, probably because of all those apocalyptic content he watched.

"Man's just a thug, unless there is a whole gang, I don't think we should worry." Frank said, "Normal people don't go attack other humans for fun, especially when there are monsters to worry about."

"Not for fun but those people sure as hell can find other reasons to do so, such as greed and wanting our stuff or selfishness of not wanting to share monster hunting with us." Rafael countered.

"That's why we should grind and get stronger, boys! With enough strength, there's nothing to fear! Power is might!" Evan clapped in motivation.

Kennen just found it funny that Evan, who hated grinding in games as he found it boring, would become their biggest motivator to grind now.

"That thug though, he better not open his mouth the next time I see him or I'll smack his rotten hole that he uses as his mouth." Rafael seemed to be really triggered by Gabriel.

"Chill out, it's not worth it." Frank said.

"Yeah, that roast came out of nowhere and although it was funny, it didn't help." Kennen agreed.

"I'll try but his thuggish attitude rubs me the wrong way." Rafael nodded.

"What else do you expect from a thug? Maybe he'll back off if you do a yo mama joke." Evan laughed.

"How is he a thug?" Brandi asked, "He's an asshole for sure but isn't calling him a thug is a reach?"

"He hates Americans so he's probably a xenophobe but I don't think it makes him a thug." Amelia added, "Those types of people should be ignored and not be interacted with. They are like trolls who fish for reactions."

"Did you see the guy? How is he not a thug?" Rafael asked.

"As a wise man once said, if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's probably a duck. In this case, a thug." Enzo siad with his old sage voice.

"Man, who cares if he is or not, just stop antagonizing him." Frank gave a little slap to Rafael's chest.

"The best way to deal with people like that is to ignore them as if they were a dog barking." Amelia also advised him.

"Listen to her Rafael, or you'll cause a shootout one day. You might think a gun shootout is not that but we are not in GTA where you can tank ten bullets and be fine after eating some snack and drinking cola." Kennen laughed.

"Not everyone is good with a gun here and a school threat in their prime." Kennen joked.

"I'm dead, mate." Evan was laughing his ass off as he recalled how Rafael bragged about that, "Raph, you should bring that up the next time you meet him, maybe he'll back off after learning how much of a threat you are."

"Raph gets a precision buff when in school so you should lure him into a school before the shootout." Enzo added and proceeded to laugh even harder.

"Bro, big mistakes. The last thing you should do is to mock the school threat. Better be careful when you guys go back to school." Rafael joined in on the fun.

Everyone was laughing until tears came out