I was totally shocked by this quest! It was a fact that I knew about it beforehand, but I never knew it was made up of parts!
The quest should start with the appearance of them, then a long lecture to explain things here.
However this quest looked different. People around didn't have any info at all regarding what was going on here.
And that was one of the deadliest things anyone could have at such a moment; confusion!
'If so… Then the old man's words are proven to be right once again,' I couldn't help but admit that, 'putting that into consideration, that means what he warned me about is also true.'
I turned my gaze around in vigilance while looking at the faces of the people nearby. They were all shocked by the appearance of that quest, while Isabella mistook my words here.
"What do you think is going on?" she asked while I felt she was closer to me now. I realized at this moment that I was acting strong and unshaken, slightly weird in such a situation.
But my last curse saved me, it freed me from her suspicion radar. "I believe we have to face something during the next hour."
"Survive what exactly?" she asked as if she knew I had some knowledge about what was going on here.
"I dunno," I shrugged, "but let's hope it's not a nuclear war or something."
I knew people of this age were most terrified of these kinds of weapons. However they didn't know that once the apocalypse started, all the places with such weapons were destroyed cleanly without giving it any chance to detonate.
"Don't tell me…" her face paled, "it's world war three!!!"
I didn't answer. At this moment I heard a ruckus coming from all over the place. 'They are gathering up,' I moved my eyes silently while watching everyone getting together and getting closer.
"Listen up everyone," one suddenly spoke in a loud tone, "we are all now confused. But let's not panic. I'm sure the government is doing something about this situation right now."
I looked at this man who had a strong build and some military experience. However I didn't trust him.
After all, I had a warning from the old man, one that I needed to take seriously at the moment.
"What should we do now?"
"Anyone got a signal? My phone is dead!"
"What's happening?"
"What are all these weird golden floating messages?"
"Where the hell is the sun?"
Many questions rose up and they seemed logical. But I didn't drop my guard especially when more people began to gather around.
"I have no answer to that," that man honestly said, "but at least we have to move out of here."
'Bingo!' I didn't know why but I felt strange excitement when I heard these words. 'One of them is here… So the old man wasn't lying after all.'
"Where should we go?"
"Home?"
Many nodded in agreement. After all most of them came from places inside New York city.
"Sorry but I don't think it's wise to do that," but that man suddenly said in a loud tone, "who knows what is going on here? Most likely it's a nuclear war or something."
His words caused an instant state of panic around everyone. I felt Isabella's gazes fall on me from the side, as if she was giving me the credit for such a hypothesis.
"I say we go somewhere safe first."
'Here it comes!' I thought to myself while noticing some people acting strange at the moment.
They were standing far away like they were prison guards. When that man said these words, they moved silently amidst the crowd and vanished within them.
At least a few hundred were gathering up here, families with kids, friends from school or college. I looked at all of them while knowing their fate.
Despite that, I had no intention of interfering. It was a lost cause if I did so, plus I had to take care of myself first.
"Where?" a shout came from within the crowd that I was sure came from one of those suspicious people.
"I say the subway tunnels," that man said, "it's the safest place we can hide at during such times."
"That's a good point," one man said.
"I say we go with you," a woman said.
"I agree with what you said," another man said.
It was just a matter of time before many expressed their agreement out loud while everyone else went silent.
"Then let's go," the man who acted like the leader of the group said while starting to move, "we'll hit the first subway station we meet before entering the tunnels there."
"Yeah, that's a good point."
"That's the safest place we can hide at the moment."
"Even if a nuclear missile fell here, we'll have a chance this way."
More and more expressed their opinions out loud as if they agreed to do that beforehand. And it wasn't a surprise to see most of the people here moving out after that man.
But I didn't move an inch! I knew everything! That wasn't a safe trip, it was a deadly trap that no one would ever survive from!
According to the old man, and now I totally believed in what he said, some people were contacted prior to the apocalypse.
They were given some privilege and time to test the reality of the offer. They looked like normal humans but in fact they were enjoying something different; a system!
They got their systems activated on one condition; to become traitors to the human kind and work for those dirty species who wanted us dead!
The early days of the apocalypse were the worst per the words of the old man and the official records. Most deaths occurred within these days and they were all explained by the state of confusion and panic by the records.
But according to the old man's words, they were caused mostly by those filthy traitors!
"Aren't we going after them?" Isabella seemed surprised to see me standing motionless with no intention of following them.
"Don't you see it slightly suspicious?" I turned to her as I added, "we have strange things happening now. I know nuclear war is one of the possible reasons for all this, but it's not the only reason here."
"What do you mean?" her gaze was dead serious. I couldn't lose her, not when I met her out of pure luck.
According to the official records, her name wasn't mentioned there at all. That meant she would eventually die, and that wasn't a surprise.
The trap these traitors were leading the people here to wasn't a simple one. Even with all my experience in dealing with monsters and all my knowledge about the apocalypse, I didn't have a chance there.
"I dunno," I shrugged to push away any sense of suspicion about myself, "it's just that man didn't seem trustworthy. Something is fishy about him. It's like he knows what's going on here and has a plan for it."
"No way," she turned to look at the getting far larger group of people, "but he seems reliable to me, like an ex-soldier or someone working for the government."
"I know he looks like that," I acknowledged this, "but in another way he didn't even take the opinions of people here. It's not a normal thing to do."
Her eyes widened and I knew that I got to her at last. I wasn't lying or bluffing. After all these traitors did a simple trick here.
They manipulated the minds of the group with someone looking reliable and a scattered few who declared their support in the open.
It was a mind game that, if not for the old man's warnings from before, I would have fallen in it as well.
"Mentioning this… I find it weird too," she finally took my bait, "that's not a normal way of thinking here. We should use democracy and voting, not just forcing opinions on others."
A good saying coming from someone who wanted to become a president one day. However despite convincing her, I knew things wouldn't easily end up here.
We two weren't the only ones staying behind. Scattered groups of tens of people remained behind with us. I could tell by a single glance they were students and friends from college, people with a natural instinct to doubt and question any form of authority even if it was in such a hidden form.
"Excuse me," as I expected, that man who just led everyone here towards their death came back in less than a few minutes. He targeted the two of us first, mistaking us to be the easiest ones to sell his crap to. "Aren't you coming with us? Staying with the group is much better than staying here alone."