Brick had originally intended to voice his thoughts in a different way to let Tanya know that he would be by her side no matter where she goes or what decisions she would make in the future.
He had the knowledge to achieve most possible things and he was bound to her.
He could not tell her something strange like he was eternally bound to her for some strange reason so used the original Brick's past as an excuse but not everything came out as intended.
Before he was brought into the novel, Brick was broken up with by his only girlfriend that was originally a childhood friend so his experience with the opposite gender was not that great.
Talking in front of a beautiful young lady that was leagues above his previous girlfriend took a lot out of him and Brick was unable to speak as he originally intended.
It lead to a stalker-like and overconfident display which made him wish to shut himself away and forget everything.
Brick left the room and sighed. 'Should I just give up here? I do not feel like dying though.. how about I just give up on this novel and throw away the plot? I could just kidnap her and take her somewhere far away from the events of the novel until it blows over right? No.. stop it. That idea is even worse and could only have a bad ending for both of us.'
The life of him living in the middle of nowhere and keeping them both safe sounded nice so long as it was what they both wanted but it would never work if he forced it upon her.
If she grew resentful of him, lost the will to live or escaped then there could only be bad results that followed.
If he suppressed her and held her captive to suit his own desires then her resentment would be used to kill him once she gained a single opportunity.
If she lost the will to live and tried to kill herself, Brick did not know how severe the effects that the failure of his task would bring to his body or soul and he did not wish to take the risk to know if it was bad enough to kill him.
If she escaped them he would have a difficult time finding her and when he did, she could have died already so the same consequences may befall him.
Brick closed his eyes and came to his senses. 'It is enough to just be her bodyguard. It does not matter much if she thinks I am a clown or anything else so long as she does not die and I can prevent any future troubles. The future threats are not just from Lucy who is the protagonist so I need to prepare better now that I have a change to be outside.'
There were all kinds of threats but there were many opportunities in the apocalypse if someone knew enough information about it.
The world's rules had been turned upside down and many resources that were highly valued became useless while some less useful suddenly became treasures that were essential for the future world to be built.
Brick sincerely hoped that Tanya would no longer be a sheltered princess that would be readily sold off by her father not only for her own wellbeing but to allow a little more freedom in his own movements.
If he had to remain around Shane Reed and protect Tanya most of the time then he would become more bound to the family itself instead of Tanya and he would have less time to seek out those opportunities to build his own power.
Brick took a quick look over the hallway of the current floor they were on and he came to understand how capable Tanya was and how she had taken charge of everything all on her own. 'Not bad… you really have been working hard here. The girls that are armed with basic bows and arrows seem to be a little more battle hardened than many back at the Reed residence.
They are patrolling and keeping quiet most of the time too. The problem is the others that seem to be relying on them a lot more, they may be the first to panic and let things get out of hand once something goes wrong.'
He could easily separate those that could be useful and those that could not just by looking at them based on how they each were contributing to the group and their present mental state that they showed.
Brick did not have many worries about Tanya slowing him down with how she had carried herself but it did not mean that others around her could be completely trusted. 'Now I just need to do a little more recon in the surroundings and get their cooperation.'
While Brick was talking to the others, Tanya was sending a message to her father and it was not long before she got a confirmation from him about sending over Brick.
After confirming the identity of Brick completely, she thought back to his previous words. 'Do not die? Such a simple request that I would have tried my best to achieve even without him requesting it. Does he really not have an ulterior motive? He talks like I helped him in the past so he must be someone I forgot about.
Oh, was it that skinny and tiny kid back then? He has grown a lot if it is him but that was so long ago and I just left him alone after I picked him up. Regardless of who he is, he seems to possess some skill to get here with little assistance.
From what father mentioned about his achievements back at home, I thought he was exaggerating a little but when I think about what he left behind on the stairs just to get to this floor, I cannot really doubt it all that much. He seems to know a lot so perhaps he is another reader of the forum I read or knows them personally?
Perhaps he is just one of those survival junkies that always used to rave on about end times coming. What matters right now is how to get through today and tomorrow. Worry about those things later.'