A Safe Place

Sheila stood in the center of the room, and eight people were staring at her. She took a deep breath and spoke confidently.

"Please make a line and come here. We're conducting a simple check if you want to come with us. You can also stay here, and we won't force you if you don't want to."

It took a few seconds before someone actually moved.

It was the old manager who took the first move.

"I'm clean, no bites.", he said as he spun on his spot to prove that there's nothing suspicious of him.

"Okay, I'll now check your pulse.", Sheila said.

Sheila's quest was to use [Minor Healing] on 10 unique individuals, while Adrian's quest was to use [Steal] 10 times.

She already used it on Edward and Jun, so with the number of people here, she could finish her quest. Although she used her energy a few times earlier, with the cure energy regeneration, she managed to recover her energy to full again.

After checking his pulse, she brought him to Adrian's side. She stayed in front of the old manager as Adrian does his job.

"Please put your hands to the sides and turn around," Adrian instructed.

The old manager followed him and turned around with his arms on the sides.

When Adrian put his hand near the back pockets, a small vortex appeared. He inserted his hand, then immediately took it back out.

"Okay, your good. Please wait at the side. We're leaving if no one else wants to come." Adrian said to the others while emphasizing that they would leave now.

With the manager as a precedent, Pablo and all of the employees lined up, causing the civilians to fall in line since no one really wants to be left behind.

After repeatedly doing their "checks," they managed to complete their quests with ease.

***

Jun observed everyone inside the bank. When they first arrived, everyone's name was black, including the manager who always had a white-colored name.

Ever since he knew that he gained this unique ability, he tried to understand and learn what those changes in colors mean.

Although his understanding of them were just assumptions, one thing is for sure, its connected to how they see him or think of him at the time.

That means he can't fully trust the person since they could betray him later, but it would be a good indicator of whom to trust.

"I need my gun back," Pablo said while staring at him, his eyes are saying that won't take no for an answer. "You took all the guns upstairs, and we could have died losing those guns!"

Jun grinned and said, "Yes, I took them. We came back and dealt with the problem, right? So what's the problem."

Pablo looked tired of the conversation even though they just started it.

He sighed and reasoned with Jun. "Just give me a gun. I'm a better shot than you, and people feel safe if someone who has AUTHORITY is in charge."

Jun frowned but still chose to agree. "Sure." He took Pablo's gun from his storage and held it at the barrel. "...here, take it."

Pablo took his gun back and pointed it towards him. His face became savage as he smiled wickedly.

"I want you to kneel and raise your hands."

Pablo's eye becomes bloodshot. All the rage he held in was finally released.

"Hahaha!" Jun laughed hard and attracted everyone's attention.

When everyone noticed the situation, they stopped whatever they were doing and just watched except for Adrian and Sheila, who already brought out their weapons from their inventory.

As they inched forward, Pablo pointed the gun towards them, causing them to be unable to move.

They became paralyzed as this is their first time standing at the other side of the gun. If they make any wrong movements, they could die.

Jun was still laughing but slowly recovered. When he finally controlled his laughter and managed his expression, he approached Pablo.

"I knew it. We're both a**holes! It's just I'm the better one." Jun angrily shouted as he suddenly grabbed Pablo's neck.

Pablo was surprised, and so he aimed the gun at Jun and pressed the trigger.

The loud gunshot should have killed Jun, but instead, the pistol only produced clicking sounds.

There were no bullets!

Jun raised him up, making him unable to breathe.

Jun stared at him, then said, "I have AUTHORITY, and I'm the better one."

After saying what he wanted to say, he released him and took back his gun, leaving Pablo coughing on the floor.

He then started walking.

"Let's go!"

Since everyone's already finished with their checks, and already finished watching the scene, they followed behind him. They felt less guilty about leaving Pablo after what he had done.

Their group of eleven made a beeline for the grocery retail store, Super-9. It's a vast warehouse that sells groceries in retail.

They didn't encounter a single infected, and they managed to cross the street swiftly.

After reaching the storefront, Jun called for Adrian. They both looked at the thick padlocks attached to the shutters.

"Can you unlock it?"

Adrian smiled and replied confidently. "Of course, there are no locks I can't open as long as I have enough time."

He knelt down and started tinkering with the locks.

The new members of his group were frightened as they looked around the streets. The area was chaotic and filled with signs of slaughter, pools, and splashes of blood scattered in the surrounding. The strange thing that they noticed was the lack of dead bodies in sight.

As they scanned the surroundings, they noticed three infected in the distance.

"Hey, look over there!"

"Those are zombies, right?"

"Eh? Why are they looking here? Did they notice us?"

"Ack!! They're coming"

Jun couldn't help shaking his head, listening to their conversations. Most of the members of this group were female, so he could understand why they were talkative and curious, but what pisses him off was no one at least tried to hide as they openly stayed in the middle of the road.

He turned to Edward and inquired about his injury. "How's the bite? Can you fight?"

He didn't talk nonsense and said excitedly. "The wound already scabbed, and it's so itchy! I think I can fight as long as it's one on one."

Jun then asked Adrian, "How much time left?"

"Just one minute is enough. Three fat locks to tinker with."

Jun faced Sheila. "Can you fight alone?"

"I can't kill one, but I can stall one. You can quickly kill one anyway."

"You should practice as early as possible."

"Maybe, some other time."

The female employees were now staring at him, watching their casual attitudes as if they're on a picnic distributing chores.

"Okay! Here they come." Jun reminded them.

Sheila took a basic stance with her coat rack while Edward bumped his fists together, yellow aura slowly covered his hands.