Once they walked through the door, Ash didn't greet the three. Which surprised them since they thought he would go running over to them. However, looking inside the apartment, among all the food, Ash was sleeping.
Further walking inside the apartment, they shut the door behind them and made their way to the sleeping child. Sitting down, they let out a tired sigh while taking off their shoes. They had been moving nonstop with little rest. So taking off their shoes felt like heaven.
Not waiting any longer, the three grabbed some beef jerky and bread. They had only eaten once and with how much they were running and fighting; it was safe to say they were hungry.
"So, what's the plan after we find our families," Ivan asked, curious what they would do after finding his and Danny's family.
Johnathan and Danny were just as clueless. They could always stay in the apartment, but they doubted there would be enough space to house all of them. So, with that train of thought, Danny shared his idea.
"Can't we stay at your house, Ivan? You have a massive one after all."
"You're right, we can!" Ivan said a little too loudly.
"Arg. Huh, you guys are back. Finally!"
With a groan, Ash woke up and couldn't help but shout. He waited a good hour before falling asleep. So, quickly rubbing his eyes, he sat up with a smile.
"Sorry for waking you up. You hungry?"
As an apology, Ivan handed him some snacks. Ash gladly accepted and started eating the jerky, along with the others.
"How d'you sleep?" asked Johnathan between bites.
Ash thought for a moment before hesitantly smiling and responding with a 'Good'. Johnathan and the other two didn't really buy it but they didn't want to bring up anything unnecessary. With what Ash had been through, they doubted he had a pleasant dream. But Why didn't he tell them something had been bothering him? Though it's only been a couple of hours, the boys had grown a soft spot for Ash. Seeing him sort of like a younger brother.
"That's good."
Ash nodded at what Johnathan said, somewhat absent-mindedly. Remembering the nightmare he had frightened him. He didn't visibly shake, but he started sweating a little. The others didn't notice though with how focused they were in devouring their portions of food and talking about what's next to come.
While they were talking, Ash kept getting flashes of his mother and her dead body. It really wasn't a sight for a young child like Ash to see. However, while still being young, it didn't mean he was stupid. He wasn't a genius or anything close to it, but he understood that the world wouldn't be like it used to. He would keep seeing dead bodies and seeing those close to him not be there anymore.
This was the reason he didn't want the three boys to leave. He knew that what happened to his mom could happen to them, and he didn't want that. They were like older brothers to him. Not only did they save him, but they fed him as well. He saw them as heroes!
*Knock, Knock*
The knocking on the door took Ash out of his thoughts. He watched as Johnathan got up from his spot and walked to the door with a piece of Jerky in his mouth.
When he opened the door, Mark greeted him. Johnathan, not wanting to be a dick, invited him in and offered him food. Since he gave them the apartment, it was the least he could do.
Mark walked into the apartment but denied the latter of the offer. He had already eaten and wasn't hungry. He did, however, thank him for the offer.
"Thanks, but I already ate."
Mark walked to where the others were and noticed that there wasn't any sight of another kid. He wasn't a moron and quickly found out that Johnathan's brother had died. 'Sigh, what has the world come to.' Mark with a sigh patted Johnathan's shoulder before greeting the others.
"What's up boys. Anyway, I'm here to ask if you guys want something more comfortable to wear. After all, a school uniform can't be all that comfortable. I have nothing for you though, Ash. But your clothes seem good enough for now"
The three laughed and thanked him. "No worries," Mark said as he turned around and started walking to the door.
Before he could leave, Johnathan grabbed onto his shoulder, and with an apologetic look apologized to Mark.
"Sorry Mark, but I kinda lost your bat"
Mark, hearing this, laughed. Though the bat was an excellent weapon, the boys didn't die. He would very much rather have the weapon break and get lost than the boys die. He didn't know them all too well, but they were kids.
"Nah, you don't have to worry. I can always find another weapon. I'll be back with the clothes in a minute"
After saying that, Mark left the apartment to get the clothes. He wasn't gone for too long, as he went back two minutes later with three pairs of clothes in his hand. After handing the clothes over to them, Mark left, not wanting to overstay his visit and to let the boys rest.
Once Mark left Johnathan and the other two looked at the clothes they got. Among the clothes were also underwear. They reminded themselves to further thank Mark for all he's done for them.
Not waiting any longer, the boys told Ash to turn away while they changed before they also turned away from each other and changed. Johnathan saved the clean pair of underwear for when he took a shower or cleaned himself in some type of way.
After he changed, he looked down at what he was wearing. A black sweatshirt with a white undershirt under it, and grey joggers. 'So comfortable' Johnathan thought as stretched his leg back. Like normal school uniforms, it was just as uncomfortable. But with his new set of clothes, he felt more... free? If that was the word.
"You guys good."
"Yeah," the two responded to Johnathan's question.
With everyone changed, the four turned around. Danny was wearing a black hoodie with a red shirt under and black sweats. Ivan was wearing a white t-shirt with a grey zip-up over it, along with wearing blue and white track pants.
After everyone saw what they looked like, they sat back down and continued eating.
"So Johnathan how were you able to hit the zombies so hard. I've been wanting to ask you since, but I couldn't find the right time"
Ivan thought back to the incident where Johnathan hit the zombies a lot harder than he normally would. He couldn't help but ask what it could've been. It was a wonder how he could gather so much power.
It confused Danny as well, but unlike Ivan, he wasn't able to see how hard he hit the zombies since he was fighting one by himself and wasn't able to pay attention to their fight.
Johnathan stared at his fist and thought of what it might have been. However, not even a second later, it clicked! Mana. It had to be the only answer for the sudden increase in strength.
Now that he had the idea that it was mana, the six adults dealing with the zombies so easily made a lot more sense. The apocalypse started not too long ago, and Johnathan believed they were pretty fast in eating the crystals.
So Johnathan doubted the six adults had fought so many zombies and got so many crystals to wear It increased their strength so much further than theirs.
Mana would've had to be the answer. If they somehow coated their fists or rocks in mana, the punching and piercing power would definitely increase.
"I was probably using mana unconsciously to increase my strength"
The two teens, hearing this, let out a sigh and slapped their foreheads. It wasn't too hard to guess that mana was the answer. They couldn't believe that it took this long for them to figure it out. In many movies and comics, they've read and watched, mana was always used to increase base strength. However, they couldn't just go off of what movies and comics said right?
For them, that was all fantasy. Something that never existed.
However, now they were practically living a fantasy. They not only have powers but mana as well. So using movie and comic knowledge might work for them.
"Try to bring your mana to your fist."
Johnathan tried to do what Danny asked, but it didn't work. He tried forcing the mana into his arm, but that clearly wasn't the way to use it. So instead of trying to force it. Johnathan closed his eyes and took a more gentle approach.
He cleared his mind and focused on his mana core. Looking at the mana core filled with mana, he tried to do what he normally does when stopping time. He started moving the mana outside of his core. However, instead of bringing it out into the world, he started moving it to his right hand.
The mana flowed through his body and gathered in his arm. Opening his eyes, he let out a smile as a drop of sweat fell from his forehead. Not that it was hard moving his mana to his hand, but he was worried that a wrong move could injure him.
Mana was a dream to them. In movies, mana didn't seem to injure them when they manipulated it, but this was real life. He could never be too safe.
He didn't know if one wrong move would cripple him or not. Mana to him was like a foreign weapon. Something dangerous and not something to take lightly.
Now that the mana was flowing through his right hand, Johnathan sighed with relief. It didn't hurt him and certainly didn't cripple him. The only downside to this was that he was using all of his mana in his hand, leaving nothing in his core.
"It works, but I used all my mana in my arm"
Johnathan let them know it was possible to use mana in certain parts of the body. He didn't try it out yet, but he could feel the power surging through his arm.
"It also increases your strength," he said with a pinch of excitement in his voice.
With this, many new possibilities would arise.