"Well well. Look what we have here."
The man had his rifle over his shoulder and the monster that gave Mattias and Tsuyoshi a hard time under his foot. His smile was triumphant and mocking at the same time. He looked around and talked with a smug expression.
"What are you doing? They couldn't even hurt this one little thing; do you think they'll be able to hurt us? You even have their weapons. You can lower your weapons."
After this, everybody started lowering their weapons while keeping they eyes on the duo. The man then turned to Mattias and talked.
"You can lower your hands as well. We are not going to hurt two kids."
Mattias sighed and lowered his hands while Tsuyoshi was grinding his teeth, not because of anger but frustration. He felt ferocity from this man and danger. Not the kind like the monster they ran from gave off but something similar.
Mattias as well, was aware of the power this man possessed just by standing there and looking at them. He talked with an unsure voice.
"What are you going to do to us?"
"Oh? Finally talking?"
Man smiled after hearing Mattias talk. He started walking towards him with slow steps. When he saw this, Tsuyoshi took a step forward only to see a gun get pointed at him. He stopped then and looked at the man with fury. The man smiled and held his hand up.
"I mean no harm kid. I am just interested a little."
He then looked at Mattias, thoroughly investigating him with his eyes. He then looked at Tsuyoshi who was still looking at him as if he would jump at him any minute.
"Haha. I like your eagerness! Okay, I've decided. You two are coming with us."
"What?!"
"Boss are you sure? These are just some brats!"
"Who are you to take us away!?" (Tsuyoshi)
Mattias looked at the man solemnly. He was trying to understand if he was serious or not and tried to determine if he meant harm or not while their group talked amongst themselves if them going with them would be a good thing or not.
"Well, I lead a bunch of survivors and gaining numbers is a good thing. Plus, if I wanted to kill you, I would've done it already."
His voice turned deep and serious at the end of his sentence. His aura changed and his eyes became vicious. Tsuyoshi shut up after this and took a step back. This amused the man and made him laugh. Taking this chance, Mattias spoke up.
"Although I do not understand your intentions, and even though I don't like how they are wording it, I agree with your henchmen. There would be no merit with taking us with you."
"Let's see. First of all, I determine things and you all listen. So if I say you come, you come. Second, I saw you two fight with this thing here. If I didn't see any potential, do you believe you would be alive right now?"
His words held meaning behind them. His eyes were looking through him.
'Well, shit.' (Mattias)
Tsuyoshi also understood what he meant and they looked at each other. After determining each other's thought, Mattias turned towards the man and talked.
"It's not like we have much of a choice. We will come yes but we want our weapons and car back. We will follow you from behind you."
"It's cool. Give them their things."
The group nodded and kicked the katana and kodachis towards the duo. The man turned to them and smiled before continuing.
"There. You also wanted your car right? You are free to take it. Just, don't blame me if I have two of my men in there with you."
"I wouldn't expect any less."
"Haha! Okay then! Gather what you must people! We are leaving in 5!"
After that the man dragged the monster's corpse to their car. There wasn't any damage on its body, just a single bullet hole in its jugular notch. Mattias' eyes became wide when he saw this.
'Such precision! It is impossible even for military snipers! Just who is this man?'
Everyone from the man's group went into the nearby buildings and carried stuff to their car. There were clothings, various food stuffs -whatever they could salvage at this point- and whatever they thought it would be useful.
After 5 minutes, everyone went into the car except for two of them, a woman and a man. They came to Mattias and Tsuyoshi with loaded guns and serious faces. Their hands were on their guns and they were ready to use them at any moment.
"Looks like we'll be riding for a while. I'm Tusyoshi. Nice to meet you. May I ask for your names?"
"Tsuna."
"Haruko."
"Mattias."
"…What a bundle of joy you guys are."
After everyone, including Mattias, gave just their names, Tsuyoshi gave up and went into the car. At that time, Tsuna blocked his path and spoke.
"One of you in the back with me."
"Why?"
"Let's just go with it Tsuyoshi. I'll be driving so you get on the back."
"Haah. Whatever. Why are you so serious all of a sudden?"
"This is how I usually am though."
"No you used to talk a lot more."
"Because you force me you idiot. Hurry up and get on. Or I'm leaving you."
"Okay okay!"
Mattias sat on the driver's seat and started the engine. Haruko sat beside him and Tsuyoshi and Tsuna got on the trunk. After Tsuna confirmed they were on with two bangs on the roof, Mattias began driving. The other car was waiting for them and when they saw Mattias and co. move, they also moved.
Mattias quietly followed after them. Haruko was the same and she was looking out the window from time to time.
'She seems like she's enjoying the scenery. Well, if there's something to enjoy out there.'
Even though he thought like that, Mattias didn't talk. On the other hand, Tsuyoshi was the opposite. He was talking nonsense at one point and made Tsuna want to just shoot himself in the head and end it all.
"I mean, I told her that her form was all different and tried to fix it but she just went ahead and tried to jump on me. Well, I told her that I was training for longer so she wouldn't be able to make me fall but she just tried and tried." (Tsuyoshi)
'Poor girl. This dense guy had no idea, how the hell is that possible?!' (Tsuna)
That was what Tsuna was thinking about what Tsuyoshi talked about. It was apparent that he left his soul a minute or so ago by listening to Tsuyoshi's nonsense. His eyes were looking at the distance and his hand reached for his pack of cigarettes. He lit one up out of frustration and puffed out.
"You shouldn't smoke y'know." (Tsuyoshi)
"Why? Because it is 'bad for my health'? I know that already."
"Well not only that. You will be out of breath more easily while running. In a world like this it is important to be able to run. Even climbing stairs will be a challenge after some time."
Tsuna looked at Tsuyoshi for a while. He shrugged his shoulders and finished his cigarette and looked at the road. Tsuyoshi didn't say for a while before continuing on with his nonsense. He was his usual self very quickly after that short serious moment of his. This kind of surprised Tsuna but there were a lot of people with al sorts of personalities out there.
Even though it looked the same from the outside, the atmosphere became a bit cold after Tsuyoshi's remark about smoking. Inside the car was similar as well. Mattias looked at Haruko from time to time, for no reason but curiosity.
"What?" (Haruko)
"Just curios."
"About?"
"About why you follow him."
Haruko looked at him for a second and thought before speaking her mind.
"He's a good leader. We work and he fills our bellies. He is kind and understanding, never making us do the impossible."
"That sounds like a good leader indeed. What about your internal structure? Is there a second in command as well?"
"You might say it like that. We have upper management but he has the final say in matter most of the time."
"Does he have a name?"
"I cannot say it unless he doesn't want you to know. If he tells, he tells. If he doesn't, then you cannot know his name."
"That's weird."
"It's a sign of trust for him."
"Aha. I see."
"We are about to reach so if you have any more questions you can just ask it to the leader."
"Thanks, I suppose."
They were on the road for half an hour now and they already exited the central district. They were driving towards the calmer places near downtown. Mattias could see a structure was built a bit way off from them.
"That wasn't there before." (Mattias)
"We built it ourselves."
"What is it though?"
"You could call it a 'city'."
"Really? You must have quite the number of people."
"You could say that. In any case, we will need a bigger area in the future."
"That's true."
The car in front of them approached this survivor city. The walls were made from container walls and they towered at about 5 meters from the ground, enough to block zombies. The gate opened as they closed in and they entered slowly.
Even though from the outside, it looked grand, on the inside, it was a bit bland. They had some buildings surrounded by the walls but it was obvious they had seen some action. There were people inside and they were working all over the place. It all looked like a small village.
The car in front stopped after driving for a while. They were at a place one would call a 'village center' as it was a big open space between the buildings. All the surrounding people started cheering when they stopped.
The leader stepped out of the car under the cheers and greeted everyone.
"Greetings everyone! I am proud to say we had a good harvest today! Apart from resources, please welcome our new members to our small community!"