A girl near the back of the group had opened their mouth first. "You talk about Brick and others but it just seems like you cannot really made any decisions for yourself. How can we trust that you will do things in everyone's best interests?
Why should we stick around when there could be better options available? We all have our own things to do and worry about so we cannot just do as you want."
What she had said was reasonable considering their situation and voiced many of their worries too.
Even if they were all in the same group and had Tanya and Buffy as their group leaders, there was little that could keep them together forever and each of them had something they had to do or someone they needed to look for.
If there was a better option available then there were those among them that would choose to leave Tanya and sever their ties with their past archery club members.
Some had already been swayed by the words of the young master of the Barnes family so the words of Tanya had very little influence over them.
There were some that had fallen deeper and had even went as far as to give their bodies to him to show their commitment and devotion to him so they were far more difficult to convince to go back on their decision after they had already given up something precious to get what they wanted.
If Tanya was not completely sure of herself and could not make promises to let them get what they wanted then there was no point in them continuing any further as a part of the archery club.
Tanya may have been a capable archer and was a part of a wealthy family but her family could not do as much as a family like the Barnes family while she was rumoured to have little influence over the family and her father so it was less likely that she could help them.
Many already knew how her father was and that he was the type of person who would want to bring his daughter home but did not care about the lives of others so they would be left behind to fend for themselves.
It was only due to Brick and there being no other person to pick Tanya up that she had not already been dragged from the hotel without anyone else being brought along.
Tanya frowned a little and thought to herself full of helplessness. 'It is just like Brick had said… I do not really have any power of my own and all people will see is the power of my family which I cannot make use of.
If I return home then it is very likely that everything will go the way that Brick has said and I will be locked away for my father to use without having my own way to support myself.
I am done being powerless and being seen like some kind of exotic bird that must be trapped in a cage and will be kept until its value reaches the maximum amount for it to be sold off to the highest bidder. I really cannot do this anymore if I do not want to lose more people close to me.'
Tanya was done losing precious friends to her fathers manipulations and being told who she should associate with or what she should be doing.
A small flame lit up above her finger that was very small but it was enough to attract the attention of those in the room.
"Wha.."
"Fire?"
"A flame?"
"But.. how?"
"It.. it must be a trick?"
There was a lot of confusion in the room as the small flame moved around and danced around her finger before going around her hand. "This is my power. The world is not what we once knew but I will not hide away or cower and I will use this power to survive.
Those that join me will be supported by this flame that will grow stronger and perhaps you all may discover your potential along with me. I cannot make promises to everyone that we can achieve what you really want but we can do take the first step together.
I will put the same offer to each of you that Brick had made and will offer you all a means of survival if you join me and contribute to the group. Once we have left this place then we can discuss other things later.
If you do not leave her first then you are all even less likely to be able to achieve what you want right?"
The only things that she had to prove that she could be of assistance to each of them without using her families power that most knew she had little influence over was her archery and her fire ability.
It was the only card she held so she had shown it to them in the hopes of igniting their desires to stay around her.
A flame could be used offensively but it could be used to light the way or warm everyone up too.
Not everyone may have felt the heat from the small flame but if they were close enough then they would have been able to warm their bodies a little.
Without there being electricity, there were far less ways for everyone to see in the dark, start a fire to keep warm or keep warm so unless someone was a survival expert or had access to tools that relied on fuel then they would benefit greatly from her ability.
Tanya had a feeling that Brick had known a lot more than he had mentioned about the abilities but he had stated that he could help her to improve her own.
The strange water that she had drunk along with the various exercises and practice she had been told to do did have some kind of effects on her physical and ability improvement so she had some faith that it was possible to create a group of her own with the help of Brick.
Brick had demonstrated the use of his own ability more than once in front of her so it was the second ability she had witnessed so she believed that there could be others that could have a similar potential that could be nurtured.
Her final words had caused many to quieten down and consider whether they should really stay where they were.
If they stayed longer inside of the hotel then it was more likely that those they wished to get to would have already left where they were staying or may have died during the time that they had delayed their journey.
The young master of the Barnes family may have made promises to some people but no matter how many believed him, there was a limit to how many promises he would uphold once the time came to do so even if he did not go back on his word or his family had advised against it.
A big family would not be so willing to risk more manpower and resources on people that would be of no help to them and that was a harsh truth that many had failed to realise.
If they missed their chance to leave then they would be stuck inside the hotel for a long time until any kind of support came and even then they may not be taken along just like how Tanya would be taken away by her father's people without saving anyone else.
They were just making a big gamble by remaining in the hotel and the longer the time they spent there, the less likely it was for them to be reunited with their loved ones.
Perhaps some of the lucky ones may have been reunited one day if they were able to survive longer but most of them would not be so lucky and would have missed their chance during the initial stages of the apocalypse.