Zombies... monsters of pure cannibalistic nature known for their greatest feat as the destroyer of society. But for some unknown reason so to make them look less overpowered came the ability users. Esper, mutants, awakened yada yada yada with many particular titles are humanities last shining hope. After a month signs of their debut came popping up one after another and these so-called saviors became rulers
"Halt!" Before they could arrive at the city first they must pass the bridge their safest entrance apart from the zombie-infested river
"Hey L look at these guys, what a riot am I right? Their cyberpunk get-up looks fucking whack, I guess the apocalypse changes you in many ways... sorry bro, can we pass? We're okay with stripping you doubt if we're bitten– Whoa why so serious?" Rick eventually stopped in his tracks once a gun was pointed at his face
"I said halt! Are you fucking deaf? You're kind isn't welcome here... sorry to say but we can't do shit about you lots. We reached the max capacity for citizens, hear that? So unless you're an awakener we could– Aaaah! Who the fuck hit me— C-captain!!? What brings you here?" The guard froze when a tall man in a suit of black came forward to greet their visitors
'Whoa! Now would you look at that? This guy is rocking the whole tough guy act, wonder why he's here? By the looks of it, he doesn't like anyone that can waste a single second,'
The man leaps from their side of the bridge and perfectly landed at our band of survivors, and the first thing he did was kneel. The guards were shocked when they saw this man bend his knee in front of Stein and the guards screamed in terror. The very girl they threatened and had one of her teammates held at gunpoint was revealed to be his guest
"It's an honor to escort you, Ms. Stein... what made you think of moving to Dusk Crest, the last time I saw you the mall was heavily guarded. Well what would I know, but seeing these men behind you I assume you're traveling?" He darted his gaze at the two seemingly normal bunch before he leaves and the guards connect the bridge
The two were bewildered by how well that panned out, Stein shifted her gaze on the two and said. "I trade with those guys before, since the mall is broken I have nowhere left to go. It's great they let us pass without ever paying the fee, follow me. I haven't been here but I already remember the map, I'll tell you the norms along the way,"
They follow her lead on their venture into the city of Dusk Crest, one of the strongholds of humanity blooming with peace. Walls are built to protect from outside danger and people of all ages walk the city with delight and not a hint of fright. They settled down to rest at the park centered in this fortress of a city ruled over by one of the few sensible ability users
"This whole city is ruled by a person if I remember correctly has the ability of 'Creation'. No one knows the price of his ability but I had an idea of what that person creates is of equal value. The walls you see are made by his ability, ability users become figures of unimaginable worth, do you know what that means?"
"Are you talking about that thing the guard had mentioned? You know the one about becoming a citizen, are they in need of ability users?" Rick promptly replied
"Right on the money, as I said before zombies of our reality can't be compared in games, folktales, or anything. It's a biological growth or evolution, they are alive but brain dead, I tested it a while ago as well. Before you guys came along, I place male and female zombies, for research purposes. The results? They made an offspring," With Stein's added information they could no longer avoid the thought that arises in their minds
"So you're saying they're intentionally making normal people that seek refuge fend for themselves?"
Rick couldn't hold his emotion and said. "What!!! They're leaving them to rot? That's insane... so you're saying ability users can easily come but not the common folk, that's fucked up if you asked me. Even if I'm desperate I wouldn't be doing shit like that– Excuse me? Can't you see we're talking over so why don't you beat it?"
Rick was interrupted when a woman exuding a bizarre aura slide her arm into his shoulder without a care in the world. "Oh don't mind me, please continue... or should I be the one to proceed? You see this city function as the society you once knew. It's just that we're in demand of more users than farmers and builders. You do realize our currency isn't money but these orbs to enhance our ability so to speak?"
Eleanor sighed at the arrival of this enigmatic figure so much that even a fool could tell she was irritated. "Stop with the riddles, Beatrix... as far as I know you don't have the slightest time to waste. I'm not here to cooperate with you if you're here to kick us out by all means were happy to pay the needed fees,"
"Ellie, who the hell is she?" From the moment Leo asked she turns and faces his shredded face along with his reddish eye nearly identical to the undead
"I kind of guessed how you're able to get here in such a short amount of time... it's because of this man? Nice to meet you, veteran huntsman, are you perhaps interested in earning a mountain of orbs? It just so happens that our slot has yet to be fully closed," Before she could lay her hands on his skin Stein slap it away with such hostility before dragging the two away
'What a bummer... and here I was thinking about letting them slide, but the way she acts is odd. Eerie in fact, like she's hiding her thoughts, and whatever it is it wouldn't be long till I found out. If she's trying to keep it hidden for as long as she could have, I wonder what lengths she'll go to keep this secret,'
...
1 hour later
"Ow! What the hell was that for?" Rick had a taste of her slap in her fit of rage
"Why? Ahahahahaha! Isn't it obvious? Who the hell interacts with a literal stranger, wouldn't a logical person just ignore them? Great... just super fucking perfect, I tried so hard to keep ourselves safe and up and screwed us all over," She stormed out of their room, and before Rick could follow through he was stopped by Leo
"Buddy im not judging your choices but remember that you're the target of her anger, do you think you could calm her down? I'll talk to her, in the meantime, do what you do best..."
"Shooting?" Rick replied
He shake his head in confusion and replied. "Cleaning... just tidy the damn room, I'll get her myself. I'm not overly familiar with Dusk Crest but I have my heightened senses. I can easily track her down,"
He sighed once Leo left him alone. "It's official, im the maid of this band of survivors, so where do we start– Are you serious? Where the hell is the broom!? You call this an inn where you can't even supply a mop and a freaking broom,"
...
As soon as the evening came to this fortress of a city the life of the fortunate began to sparkle unlike anything else. Before the apocalypse, Dusk Crest was famed for its nightly activities such as the addictive casino, marvelous food, and who could forget about the chicks. For a person who lives in the night Dusk Crest was a paradise for many of the wasteful bunch
"I spy with my zombified eye something metallic,"
He said as soon after he swung to the top of the tower with the use of his tentacles, and there he saw Stein. His entrance was loud but she didn't turn and face her comrade and remained indifferent and cold. He retracts his weapons and sat on top of the cable car that held his ally afloat
"... I might not be as smart as you but in terms of emotional intelligence, I could say im far better. Let's say we go back and the two of you make up, you might not like it but you'll be seeing more of him. It's better to settle things than to keep some bad blood between the two am I right?" His words made a lot of sense and what made it ironic was due to his being turned into an unfeeling chunk of flesh
She sighed. "Look I know it's hard to take me seriously since im a literal twelve-year-old... but the person we've just met is dangerous, even more so than me. I assure you she wouldn't bat an eye if she's given a reason to kill us,"
Her worries were laughable and even though it was a serious topic he intend to lighten her mood with a simple joke. "Hah! What's gotten you so scared? It's not like you to be oh so tense, don't tell me that Beatrix chick was secretly the boss ahahahahaha– she's literally the boss, isn't she?"
Eleanor's outright silence provided his answer and she buries her head deep through the cushion of one of the seats and says. "Many people don't know her true identity, some speculated she's a guy... but that's far from the truth, the first time I came in contact with her was through a radio feed. She reached out to me when they saw the signs and I've made around the mall about my willingness to trade,"
"Wait... don't tell me it was a voice changer!" Leo excitingly said and she nods in agreement
"It wasn't cheap, the pricey ones you see the virtual streamers use or what you might know as Vtubers. She had a husky voice of a man, but I didn't buy it, there was a 0.55-millisecond delay. As if prompting me to doubt she's processing her voice and changing it to another. When the settled date appeared I rigged myself with a voice recorder and apart from the man we saw before... Beatrix was there, she didn't use her 'Creation' ability but her other one, inhumane strength on par with yours,"