Risk And Reward

Salena. It's the country's capital city, which is also where our target destination is.

The city that we just left is called Alzille. That is where our school, despite being elite, is located instead of the capital. It's an industrial city that has a higher economic power compared to the capital. Well, at this point, that barely matters anymore.

It's a bit of a shame though. That city has more resources kept in storage because of the huge amount of factories and production facilities. But we already crossed the border and entered Salena after an hour or two.

Since we left the gas station, the three of us have barely talked about anything, with Aunt and I switching to drive every 30 minutes or so. Claire offered to drive as well but I rejected her offer, thinking that she should rest more.

Right now, I am the one who's driving but Aunt would probably suggest switching right about now. Just as I thought of that, Aunt crossed her arms before turning to me and speaking quietly.

"We've already crossed the border, there should be about 20 minutes left before our destination."

"Have you been here before, Aunt?"

"Yeah, we used to live here after all. Alright, take the wheel now."

"I see, hold on a second."

Aunt talked quietly so I matched her voice. I stopped the car on the side of the road and was about to get out when I finally noticed Claire at the back.

She was sleeping soundly, a stream of drool was even visible in the corner of her mouth. Now that I looked at her closely, her eyes, despite being closed, looked worn out.

When Aunt saw me looking at Claire, she said something interesting.

"How about you climb to the back, Leon?"

"Hmm? Why?"

"You know...~ Claire looks like she needs a nice pillow right now."

"Oh... I see, alright."

Accepting Aunt's suggestion, I carefully climbed into the backseat of the car instead of getting out, allowing Aunt to move to the driver's seat inside as well easily.

The moment I got seated, Aunt quickly stepped on the throttle, accelerating the car abruptly, making Claire fall to the side but I managed to catch her and had her lay on my lap.

Looking at the mirror, I could see Aunt's grinning face as she spoke.

"I heard that this is what they call the 'lucky pervert syndrome'."

"It's not lucky if you made it happen."

After retorting to her words, I also relaxed myself. Or rather, where the hell did she even learn that!?

Subconsciously, my hand scoots over to Claire's head which is in my lap, patting it gently. Although asleep, Claire seemed to have felt comfortable as her face became more calmer.

Looking at her right now, the phrase 'what I wouldn't give to be with this woman' kept flashing in my head. It wasn't just because she's cute as hell. But her caring and outgoing personality is what made me love her.

In the end, I was the one who kept dragging this relationship. This was a pretty late realization.

As we try to survive, we will probably meet more people and there won't be a shortage of men who would want Claire. At first, I thought I simply wanted her to be happy as her childhood friend.

But the thought of another man touching Claire like this and talking to her intimately irks me. But more than that, I could feel a light sting in my chest. Is this what they referred to as possessiveness? I'm not usually to go with the flow of something as destructive as that kind of feeling but...

Alright, I will settle this the sooner, the better. In the end, it would simply continue hurting both of us if I drag this out even further.

While I was looking at her face, Claire's eyes shot open a moment after and turned her above, which made us lock eyes. At the same time, I smirked.

"Awake now, princess?"

"...Heh!?"

As if she felt the drool of saliva on her mouth, she quickly wiped it with her hand while her face slowly turned red. The way she wiped it made her hand graze her lips which brought my attention to it.

If I kissed her right now, would she get angry? Nah, let's save that for later. I thought of that while Claire was blushing all over. Yes, this is the gap I'm looking for.

"W- whuh ware you dwoing!?"

"Hey, don't get up!"

"This is sexual harassment!!!"

"You can report me to the police."

I said that as I turned my gaze to Aunt with a smile. She smiled at me as well through the mirror before looking back at the road.

As for what's going on with Claire right now, she has always been very susceptible to surprise attacks like this. Especially when her mind is elsewhere. In other terms, this is what they call the gap moe.

Claire stopped flailing around after a moment and relaxed while lying on my lap. When I turned back to her, she looked like she wanted to say something.

"Hey, Leon."

"Hmm?"

"You probably know this already but I really do love you."

"Hmm... I love you too."

"...Really?"

"Absolutely."

When I replied with that, Claire seemed surprised. Even Aunt couldn't help but look at us again.

"Seriously?"

"Seriously what?"

"You just said you love me!!!"

"And? What are you gonna do about it?"

"You two, save that for later. We've arrived."

Claire tried to push further before Aunt interjected, saying that we had arrived at our destination. I removed Claire from my lap and forcefully sat her beside me which earned a glare from her but I ignored it.

Looking at the supermarket about a mile away, I couldn't help but be surprised.

"Are those solar panels on the rooftop? They don't use anything like that right?"

"Yes, there's no mistaking it, there are people who were settled there. What do you think should we do, Leon?"

When I remarked on the supermarket's rooftop, Aunt replied to my words and asked me about our next move. Should we just go in?

No, we have many supplies with us. Even if that's a supermarket, we still don't know their current condition. At worst, they might even rob us or try to come with us. Thinking of that, I spoke.

"Let's leave the car with the supplies a bit further away but with a clear path in case of emergency. Let's also not bring our rifles, one handgun for each of us and a melee weapon should suffice."

"What about the supplies?"

"We'll bring a bag and fill it with half. Then the rest will be left here. Claire, check the surroundings if we're being watched, forget about the supermarket, it can't be helped if they have binoculars."

"...I got it."

When I gave an order to Claire, she glared at me as if to say 'We're not done yet' but obeyed nonetheless. As for Aunt, she nodded afterward and drove to an alley.

She parked at the back of one of the houses before we got out. The back of the supermarket is only a walking distance. Still, we have to stay on guard.

"Don't use your guns unless as a last resort. Since we're going at the back, there shouldn't be much problem. Those things are roaming on the main road after all."

The two nodded at my words as Aunt locked the car and the three of us walked straight to the supermarket. 

We've encountered only about four undead before reaching the backdoor. As expected, it was also barricaded. Seeing that, Aunt looked at me weirdly.

"Should we knock?"

"Politely."

I smiled before drawing my gun and approached the door quietly. The two women did the same. I knocked on the door four times, producing a rhymed sound that should indicate that I'm not an undead.

We waited while pointing our guns at the door. A few moments later, footsteps can be heard from the other side as the door slowly opened.

The figure of two men was revealed. One looked like a regular man, who was holding a metal pipe while the other was a bit more ripped. He looks like a cool uncle, resembling Claire's father with his sharp eyes.

The latter was wearing a tank top so his muscles were in full view. I subtly turned my eyes to Aunt, as if to see her reaction but there was none. Who knows why I did that?

When the two men saw us, the former looked terrified while the ripped guy simply smiled. He's also the one who spoke first.

"I'm sure all of us are being careful these days but we promise that we aren't bad people. We have women and children here that we are also trying to keep safe."

My gut is telling me that his smile is genuine, unlike the mercenary who tried to take over Calire's mansion. With that in mind, I asked him a few questions.

"What's your name?"

"You can call me Adam, this one here is Denis."

"What do you call those things?"

"Erm? Undead?"

"Very well."

I said that as I lowered my gun, which prompted the two women to do the same. Adam shot me a confused look before I continued.

"We really wish to get to know you people. However, we won't trust you enough to surrender our guns. If you let us in, I promise that we won't do you any harm."

"Isn't that practically an unfair tradeoff?"

"It is, but that's my point. If you can trust us without us trusting you, then we don't mind helping your group, or if you guys already have a sizable community here. In the end, it depends on you. If you reject us, we will simply walk away."

"..."

The man, Adam became more serious as he heard my words, as he placed his hand over his chin, contemplating. Unexpectedly, he quickly made a decision.

"Alright, if you can promise that you won't use your guns inside, then I'll trust you."

"We won't use it as long you don't do anything funny."

"Haha, I understand. Come in, come in."

Adam put his hand over the other guy's shoulder to calm him down before walking further inside. I was about to follow him before Aunt leaned over my shoulder and whispered.

"Can we trust them?"

"I'm not a hundred percent sure so be ready just in case. Well, compared to Luis, I don't see a liar in him."

"I see, if you say so."

Ultimately, I'm just relying on my gut. This shouldn't be my basis as someone who has always relied on logic, however, after weighing the advantages and disadvantages of getting inside this place, the former far outweighs the latter.

If there is a sizable community in there, then all of this risk is worth it. Not just information, but we can also acquire help in terms of manpower.

I thought of that as I entered through the door, making sure that the three of us were always walking behind the two men. What awaited us there, however, was something even I didn't expect.