Chapter 36

- Author -

Xenon didn't panic much, despite how dire the situation seemed. The most important part of how he would survive this ordeal depended on them putting their guard down for a few seconds, as he would need the element of surprise to face two people at once he identified through their reflection in the car's window.

"Now, take off your weapons slowly, and put them on the ground." Xenon slowly complied with their orders, taking his knife first and dropping it on the ground, and then his hatchet.

"You've got a bunch of knives too. Don't play dumb with me kid, I ain't joking." Xenon unstrapped his forearm and leg sheath. "Good boy. Now turn around." Xenon was finally face to face with his two captors. A tall and fat man, typical gangster look if there was such a thing, though he cared very little about those details. He turned his attention to inspect both of them for weapons. The tall man had a machete on his belt and a revolver on his hand. The second one only had a metal pipe, and a tactical knife from his observations. He wasn't sure if he had any guns on him, but he could guess he didn't.

He only raised his hand as the other one came to search him for weapons, but the way he touched him sent shivers down his spine, especially how he seemed to enjoy touching his thighs. Xenon met his eyes, and noticed clearly how he was smirking at him and licking his lips. He was disgusted beyond measure and angry at the implication, as he had no doubt what the bastard would do to him given the chance. That's when he promised himself he would not give him an easy death, no matter how much he would beg for it. And he had no doubt would be begging for it.

"You got no guns on you?" the man who seemed in charge asked with a frown.

"No." Xenon shook his head.

"You're one of a kind, aren't you?" he chuckled. "Never seen someone kill man after man with a hatchet of all things, let alone a kid like you."

"I'm glad you're impressed." Xenon commented, earning himself a slap from the fatter captor.

"You've got a mouth on you, huh?" he chuckled evilly. "I like that." Thanks to his more impressive weight, his slap was no joking matter, as a bruise already started forming on Xenon's cheek.

"What, you haven't found a single gun within all the houses you looted? And judging by what you got on your car, I'd say that's quite a lot of houses." He frowned.

"People took their guns with them when they were leaving."

"Well, I guess you don't mind us borrowing everything you found so far, do you?"

"Not at all. Be my guest."

* SLAP *

"Who the fuck said you could talk back!" Xenon didn't look at him, as he knew it would only earn himself more slaps. The asshole was making any excuses to abuse him, from what he could tell.

"You know, this is the part where you start begging for you life." The tall man smiled in amusement, though he was left unsettled by how calm the kid was. This wasn't the first time he'd done this, admittedly it was before the outbreak, but it still doesn't explain how calm the guy was acting.

"Would it change anything if I begged you?"

"A little bit." He chuckled, shaking his head.

"Then I'll pass." He looked at him with the same passive voice he had been using till now, something he now understood was a mistake on his part.

* SMACK *

The fat man was getting frustrated by his lack of reactions, putting more force in his slap, knocking him out in the process. He just scratched the back of his head awkwardly as the other man raised his eyebrow at him.

"Just when we were having a special moment, you had to ruin it…" He sighed.

- Xenon -

I didn't know how much time passed since I was out cold… On second thought, I could clearly see it on the interface's clock: one hour. Though that information is of little consequence to me. I need more relevant information, like how many people do they have with them, because it is clear as day I'm basically reduced to a 'slave' right now. The bindings on my legs and hands were irrelevant, as I could get out of them any time I wanted. The problem was finding the right moment to do so.

"Finally awake." The tall man chuckled as he noticed me stirring in place. We were in the living room of some house, I couldn't tell which even on the map. I had a vague feeling that once I am not longer a 'captive', I would get an update, but for now, I was in the dark.

He was sitting on the couch smoking cigarette. His gun safely resting on the table.

'Well, this is gonna be even easier than I thought.' I wondered how frustrated their ghosts would be, when their silly little endeavor ends with both of them killed because they didn't point the gun 24/7 at me. The fatty's ghost is gonna be a lot more frustrated, I'll make sure of that. It was the main reason I wasn't panicking that much: the knowledge there was such an easy way out it wasn't even funny. Though now that I think of it, it was really dumb on my part to drop my guard just because I was about to leave. Now, I'll have to take care of these idiots first.

"You getting bored down there?" the fatty came to the room suddenly, holding two beers in his hands. "Don't worry, you'll be getting all the fun you'll need later." He cackled, having made the funniest joke in the world.

I supported myself against the wall, so I was in a comfortable enough position. Though with my hands behind my back, it was proving to be an even more difficult task.

"Don't do something stupid now." I was warned, though he clearly didn't take my situation seriously, and quite frankly, I wouldn't either, as I'm pretty sure magic doesn't exist in this world, if we don't take my presence into consideration.

I had a clear line of sight for both of them, something made on purpose to keep an eye on me, and I didn't hear any other noise indicating anyone else in the house. So, I had no reason to wait anymore. I didn't want to spend another second in this position if I didn't have to.

I sent both ropes binding my limbs into my inventory, took an aiming position with my hands before taking out my Glock out of inventory. My first target was the man closest to the gun, as he was the most dangerous. His eyes widened in horror when he noticed I was free, but it was too late. He tried to reach out for his gun, but it was next to useless, as mine was already pointed at him.

* BANG BANG BANG *

Three bullets found their way to his chest, his body made several jerks before he just fell on the couch motionless, slowly bleeding out from the gunshot wounds.

"AAAAARGH!"

His fatter friend was a lost cause, as he tried to get up in panic, but ended up rolling back his single seat couch, falling miserable in the process. I aimed at him but didn't bother shooting.

"D-d-d-don't shoot! Please!" he said fearfully.

'Oh, you think you're gonna die that easily? Hahaha, that's cute.' It was my turn to smile evilly at him. What can I say, I'm a very vengeful person, and he is about to experience it first hand.