Chapter 26: Clarifications

Krieg opened his mouth to hear him, but Adam beat him to it.

"Only for tonight, Krieg, and then everyone will return to their respective building."

The old man nodded in satisfaction and fell silent. Adam internally reminded himself to ask him about Darry after taking care of everyone here.

Adam continued talking to the group until, after about 10 minutes, Carlos, followed by Noah and a group of people who seemed to be in a bad mood, entered the courtyard of the building. Adam looked at the group and nodded. Finally, he decided to start the meeting.

"Well, now that we are all gathered, I would like to make an announcement."

Adam looked around at everyone's expressions. Some were watching him nervously, while others looked impatient.

"As you all know, the world is a complete mess." Adam had thought long and hard about what to say as he waited for the others in the superblock. Some people nodded, others showed no reaction.

"After I managed to clear my building, I unexpectedly became the leader of a haven. At first I didn't think it was such a big deal, but now I realize it's vital to our survival. I don't know what changes the seventh day will bring, but I am almost certain that the shelters will become more important at that time."

Adam paused for a second and wished he could somehow know what the people in front of him were thinking. Many still seemed indifferent or impatient. Some seemed to be paying quite close attention to him, though.

"So I want to announce and make it clear that you are all now inhabitants of Nuevo Sol and the leader of the refuge is me. Many will not be pleased with this announcement, but this is no time to fight amongst ourselves. In just one day some zombies have become very powerful, so powerful that we have to fight them in groups. I don't want to imagine how strong they will be after 7 days."

As Adam expected, not everyone liked the announcement. The superblock man, who had closed the door on him and Carlos, raised his voice.

"Who chose you? I am not willing to accept your imposition. I am no inhabitant of Nuevo Sol and you are no one to command me."

Adam looked at the other people and noticed that some of them seemed to agree with the man's words. He felt again a strange anger inside him. Even suppressed by his talent, it was enough to make the next words come out of his mouth.

"It is true that I was not elected, but I founded the haven by risking my life to kill the zombies while the others were hiding in their homes. I am the reason you are not, right now, dead and you know it. I simply don't plan to give up the leadership of the shelter because it's something I've earned through my own efforts."

Adam paused for a moment before continuing. Fortunately, he was no longer angry.

"Also, I don't plan to demand much of you as part of the refuge. If you don't want to fight and help expand the shelter, that's fine. When we've grown big enough and are better organized, maybe there will be some work for those people who don't want to risk it. They won't have to pay rent or anything ridiculous like that. The only thing I hope is that they will collaborate and not create unnecessary conflicts right now. If you still can't cooperate, then I will ask you to leave the shelter."

When Adam finished speaking, everyone was silent. The survivors looked at each other's faces.

"What about those who were outside when all this started? Will they be able to return to their apartments without any problems? More importantly, will they be able to acquire ownership of it?"

The questioner was one of the men who had arrived with Carlos. A tall, stocky man who looked askance at Adam.

"Well, if they survive and make it back, of course they will get their apartment."

The man nodded and spoke no more, but Adam couldn't tell if he was satisfied with the answer or not.

"What about those who live in rented apartments, is the apartment theirs or the original owner's?"

The question surprised Adam, as he himself was one of those cases. The apartment he and his sister lived in was rented, as neither of them could afford to buy one. A pitifully common occurrence with the excessive property prices and the meager wages earned by the majority of the population.

Adam thought for a moment as everyone watched him. It was certainly a complicated case. The original owners of the apartment would no doubt demand that their property be returned to them, but Adam remembered that when he killed the zombies in his home, the system complimented him on it and automatically gave him ownership of the apartment. Noticing that he had let too much time pass and was losing the public's attention, Adam decided to speak up.

"It's certainly a difficult case, but I think that, with the situation the world is in, priority should be given to those who live in the rented apartment and have cleared it of zombies themselves. On the other hand, those who were not there at first and have managed to return, but lived rented, I think they should choose an unoccupied apartment whose owners are dead. Unfortunately, I think there will be plenty of apartments to choose from."

Adam looked with some discouragement at the superblock group. 120 apartments with hundreds of people and only 15 survivors.

"Well, I think those who have cleared the apartment also have to vacate, after all, as you said, there are plenty of apartments to choose from."

The man who had asked the question owned several apartments in the superblock and had rented several. Furthermore, he suspected that it was important to obtain ownership of the apartments, as Carlos had incited the group to clean them.

Adam was at first going to fight, but realized that it would be futile to argue the matter and that he really didn't lose much by agreeing to it. He would have to move himself, but if he thought about it, if the owner of the apartment were to survive, everything would be a lot simpler if Adam gave in a little, but....

"I agree, but those who cleaned the apartment should get some kind of compensation for it. I don't think anyone would agree to give up their home after having lived there and fought to get their property."

Adam was willing to give it up, but he also realized that he should ask for something in return. After all, as Carlos used to say, only idiots work for free and cleaning an apartment of zombies was no easy task back then when he had done it.

Adam realized that he was thinking about the previous day as if it had happened a long time ago. Certainly something ridiculous.

"To those who have to give up their apartment because of these conditions, I agree to give up ownership of the apartment of their choice."

The man who had asked the question did not seem entirely satisfied, but in the end he accepted Adam's proposal. However, he realized a problem.

"What can serve as compensation? I mean, I doubt very much that common money would do the trick now that everything went to shit."

Adam watched everyone carefully and decided to reveal something that many already knew anyway.

"Zombies drop some kind of crystal when they die, which the system considers a currency. We're still not quite clear on its value, but I think that will change on the seventh day."

Adam realized that many were confused by his words. It didn't take him long to learn from everyone's conversations that those in the superblock knew nothing of the changes coming on the seventh day. Adam had forgotten that such a message had been received by him and the others in the building when they founded the shelter, so Adam went on to explain what he knew.

"If you don't have any crystal, I recommend you try to get some way to come to an agreement."

"What if I don't agree to give up my apartment to anyone, I mean, I already acquired their property and I see no reason to give it back."

Adam could see a headache coming, so he decided that problem should be solved later, when it would be more relevant.

"For now we don't know if many apartment owners are still alive, and if they are, whether they will return. So it is not a relevant problem right now. I want to let you know that my group and I will continue with the clearing of buildings until the entire development is covered. Those who are willing to risk their lives can join us or form their own groups and receive rewards for their help."

Adam guessed the next question, so he continued speaking.

"The rewards will be ownership of apartments, valuable items we can obtain, spells and even crystals, once we are clearer on their value."

The group watched him in silence and, as Adam expected, it didn't seem that many were willing to fight the zombies. That was a problem for him, who knew that in a few days the number of evolved zombies would reach an atrocious number.