What's the use of keeping you alive?

Weaving out the perfect lie, Rael talked with the few people inside the canteen for a while, there were 12 people in total, 9 men and 3 women.

One of them who seemed to be the leader stepped forward, "You said your name was Rael right? How did you get here?"

"I killed the zombies standing in my way if that's what you want to know. For now, it should be safe to stay here, but we should secure another place if we want to leave."

Rael didn't just talk with the man, he also low-key mentioned that he was strong enough to kill some zombies at least. This should be a good reason for the man to trust him a bit.

After all, how could a prisoner who was locked in his cell break free and also get stronger? This only strengthened his previous lie of being a guard.

It was to be mentioned that Rael was now wearing a guard's clothes. For one, he didn't like his earlier dress as a prisoner.

"You… You killed those monsters?" Just as expected, the man was a bit taken aback.

He himself was only a Level 1 after luckily killing some zombies with the only weapon he was familiar with, a kitchen knife.

But he understood that Rael must be stronger than him. Intently watching Rael's sword that was in his hand, the group's leader made an instantaneous decision.

"You can come with us then, we already planned to depart from here, there's limited resources anyway, so may as well risk it all and go outside."

Saying so, the man beckoned to the other people there to come out of their hiding spots.

"My name is Robert, nice to meet you Rael."

Saying so, the middle aged man, Robert, tried to shake Rael's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Robert. It's a pleasure." Rael gladly shook the man's hand, but he did a little trick.

He actually used a bit more strength when shaking hands, which resulted in a frown on Robert's face.

Seeing that the man didn't say anything, Rael kept his poker face and slowly began to get to know the others.

'That kid and that girl, they should be useful.'

Thought Rael as his eyes trained on two people, both seemed to be a little younger than him, but he still thought of them as kids.

The young man, Jacob, was a 22 years old janitor. But his hands were covered in blood, and he also seemed to have a good physique.

The girl that caught Rael's attention wasn't a beauty like one would have expected, instead, she was very ugly. But Rael didn't judge Sonia based on that, he briefly glanced at the knife in her hand that was covered in blood, just like Jacob's fists.

He didn't take any mental note of Robert, as he also saw that the man carried a gun, so he probably used it a lot more than his knife.

What Rael truly wanted was to find some people capable of helping him.

Being alone, he understood that he didn't have a single chance to go too far, so in case things went south, he could always use some people's lives to cover for himself.

Even if Rael was a normal young man previously, those five years in prison with the one he was in solitary confinement, they definitely broke him.

"Listen everyone, we're going to eat something and pack whatever we can before going to the medical center and see if there are other survivors there."

As they previously spoke about it, Robert and the others didn't have any idea why this Apocalypse started, they could only do their best and complete the Quest they received before worrying about other things.

"Rael, if that's alright with you, please be our vanguard. Don't worry, Jacob and Sonia would help you out, meanwhile, me and the rest would cover you from behind."

"Sure, I don't mind." Kindly smiling at the man, Rael quickly accepted the offer, he also wanted to be at the front so he could kill more zombies.

While others would say it was stupid, for Rael, the only thing that mattered was to be ahead of everyone, to become the strongest.

Thus, some sacrifices needed to be done, even if something was going wrong, he could just ditch the group and run for his life.

He didn't have any problem in abandoning these unknown people, maybe he would feel regretful about Jacob and Sonia's fate, but that would be all.

———

After stuffing his stomach, Rael felt much better. It has been a while since he was full. His own situation was a bit complicated, that's why some people decided to give him a private 'bodyguard' - Daniel, which he previously strangled to death.

Because of something he did in his past, some people out there were trying their best to make sure that Rael didn't die, and instead would be kept alive until the last of his days, or until he broke down completely and killed himself.

'Those tuckers would pay the price, I truly hope they are still alive and didn't die. If they're dead… I'll make sure to destroy everything and everyone they left behind.'

As Rael made this venomous oath in his heart, the group started to move.

Slowly sneaking out of the canteen, they had to walk for about a kilometer to arrive at the medical center where other possible survivors and different meds could be found.

The first ten minutes were pretty much safe for them, as only a few lost zombies appeared. The thing that caught everyone's attention was actually the gunfire that was constantly heard from multiple parts of the prison.

It seemed that there was an all out war between the left guards and the zombies.

"Look! I can see the medical center there!"

One of the men in the group suddenly shouted, this earned him some dangerous glares from the others.

"Shut up Evan!"

"Are you an idiot?"

"Shh! Those zombies are attracted by sound!"

Trying to admonish Evan, the people suddenly stopped when remembering that he was a powerful figure's son.

He was assigned as the canteen's supervisor, and he basically did nothing. He only messed around with people and used his status to cover for it.

Most of them hated him, and seeing him being such an idiot, they couldn't help but curse at him a bit.

"That's right! I'm sorry guys."

Before they could say anything, the sound of multiple steps was heard, along with the growling of zombies.

It seemed that they were extremely unlucky, and that Evan's shout really attracted those sinful beings.

"Rael, cover our retreat." Robert suddenly shouted while trying to get everyone out of there.

"Got it." Not showing any emotion on his face, Rael prepared himself to face off against the zombies while everyone else left him.

Well, not exactly everyone.

Jacob, Sonia, and surprisingly enough, even Evan was there.

"I'm with you in this. It's my fault."

Said Even as he smiled at Rael.

"Why did you shout?"

"Excuse me?" Evan was taken aback by Rael's question. He didn't understand what he truly meant by that.

"Don't play games with me. You did it intentionally, and you know it."

As Rael said this, he gripped his sword and turned to look at Evan and the other two.

Meanwhile, the zombies continued to approach them.

Evan pretended to be surprised for a while, but he couldn't, as he burst into laughter for a second, "Haha! You got me, Rael Hamartia. As expected of you."

After Evan finished speaking, he felt a gust of wind hitting his face, before Rael's figure appeared before him.

"I won't ask who you are and how you know about me. But tell me, what's the use of keeping you alive?"