09 - Safe Zone Capacity

They all sat and started doing small talk for a while. They were all enjoying themselves, or at least, it appeared that way.

Olivia kept touching Lucian over and over again. At first, it was nothing important, just a little physical contact. She would put her hand on Lucian's chest and other similar stuff when she laughed. 

However, as those actions started to accumulate… Ava, who was watching, seemed annoyed as both her fists were clenched, and her eyes regained the hollowness from when Trevor had pushed both her and Lucian. But whenever Lucian would look her way, she would return to her cute self, putting on a little innocent smile.

While all this was happening, Lucian kept eyeing Trevor with a small smirk. The effects seemed quite good as Trevor tried his hardest to look away as much as possible. As for Alex, he still hadn't said anything as he kept looking at the Death Counter, and it kept going down as time passed, but it seemed to have stagnated with around 350 people left to die.

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[350 people left to die.]

[Since everyone is now inside the Safe Zone, no human is left to kill outside. There will be a small change to the Safe Zone. The capacity will change from 1500 to 500. You have five minutes to make the number of people inside the Zone 500 people. Good Luck!]

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As soon as the message appeared, everyone inside the Safe Zone started to panic. They started running around. Some grabbed their weapon tightly, prepared to kill anyone who would get closer to them. One thing was sure: chaos had taken over the Safe Zone…

Someone needed to make everything go back to normal, someone needed to guide the others, and that person would be Lucian.

'First, we need to direct the masses.'

But before Lucian could utter a single word, Olivia did. She had perceived the presented opportunity just as fast as Lucian.

"Everyone! Please listen to me. I have a proposition to make. I know some might not like it. But I don't think we have much choice if we want to survive… While it might sound horrible, I think it's inevitable. We need to get rid of the elderly first. After all, they aren't the ones who will be useful in the Otherworld."

Seeing her all composed, Lucian thought and thought. He needed to find a way to be in her place, the one in control. That's when he thought of a man who hadn't done much in the past minutes… Alex.

Lucian instantly made his move. He got closer to Alex and tapped on his shoulder, bringing his attention to him. He knew that with his help, it would be much simpler to take control of the situation. He would even be able to choose who would leave and who would die. After all, strength was the only thing that mattered at the moment, and Alex was the one who had the biggest amount of it.

"Psst, Alex, do you want to go to the Otherworld faster?"

He knew that was the only thing that could make Alex move and help him. It was the only thing he had mentioned at the start, going to the Otherworld.

Alex looked away from the Death Counter for the first time in a while. His gaze was now directed toward Lucian. It seemed that he had grasped his attention.

"How?"

It was a one-word question. However, it was an important one.

"Just stay beside me. I'll take care of everything. And when I tell you to do something, just do it."

Alex stared Lucian right in the eyes as if trying to see if he was telling the truth. They looked at one another for a few seconds.

"..."

After a few moments, Alex finally spoke, and the tension between them fell instantly.

"Sure, show me what you got."

Lucian just nodded without showing the slightest stress; he knew his plan was solid and would work without any problem.

The words Alex had chosen made it clear it was a test for Lucian to gain Alex's trust.

Maybe it was Lucian overinterpreting things, but that's what he thought it was, and he would give his absolute best. He wanted to show his usefulness and had just gotten the opportunity.

'Time to show him my true nature.'

While this little conversation had happened, there had been a few changes to the situation inside the Safe Zone. Only one minute had passed, but nothing had changed.

While Olivia tried her method, no one tried to leave the Safe Zone. They were all desperately trying to stay inside it. They wanted to survive.

'Time to make my move.'

He quickly looked behind him and saw Alex was right behind him, swiftly following him.

'Perfect.'

"Alex cut off her arm."

Alex heard him and disappeared from behind him, appearing right beside Olivia. He had moved so fast that it almost seemed like he had teleported right beside her. Lucian was the first shocked since he had never seen anyone move so fast in his entire life. 

*Slash!*

One of Olivia's arms was gone in an instant.

"ARGH!" She dropped to the ground right away, holding onto the side where her arm had gone missing. She tried to utter another word, but it was too much for her.

A switch to turn inside Bob, Bobby, and Trevor's heads as they all turned toward Alex, attacking him by instinct. It was clear they had been ordered to protect their owner.

'I wouldn't do that if I were you,' Lucian thought.

"Alex, don't kill them yet. Those are the most important people here."

With a diabolical smile, Lucian walked in Olivia's direction with Ava still holding his arm.

"Good job, right there. Let me take over from now on," Lucian muttered as he slowly patted Olivia's shoulder.

She tried talking back to him, but she wasn't able to. The pain was too much for her to endure.

"Hello, everyone… There will just be a small change to whatever that guy just said."

Lucian pushed Olivia to the ground as he said that.

"If you want to survive, you better leave the Safe Zone because, in a few moments, being outside with the monsters will be much safer."

"Don't listen to him! He's alone. If anyone tries to attack him, then he won't be able to do anything."

Olivia tried her best to rally the others, but it was already over. Lucian had taken over.

"Are you sure about that?" Lucian smiled. "Alex, show them."

He disappeared from his position once again, reappearing right over Olivia, cutting off her second arm.