"I don't really wanna waste the bullets, but… Whatever." The man entered the building and appeared in a huge, poorly lit place.
The layout was a bit weird in Sergei's opinion. A big landing - twenty-twenty five meters in diameter, six apartment doors, the stairs and a huge iron door leading to the basement. Which was where the annoyed zombies were located. Judging by the traces of blood on the metallic door, they really wanted to get in there and feast on the humans but the door was too heavy for them to kick down…
A shot, another one… Eight shots - eight bodies. He left the last one "for dessert": a swing of a sword and thank you for experience.
CONGRATULATIONS! YOU ACCUMULATED ENOUGH EXPERIENCE POINTS AND ATTAINED SIXTH LEVEL.
"Excellent, put all my points in dexterity!"
LEVEL: 6
EXP: 0/160
STAT POINTS: 0
SKILL POINTS: 1
STAMINA POINTS (SP): 13/17
MAGIC POINTS (MP): 10/10
STATS:
STRENGTH: 16 (20)
DEXTERITY: 16 (20)
STAMINA: 13 (17)
DURABILITY: 13 (17)
MAGIC: 10
SKILLS:
HAVEN
His base strength and dexterity were 16 points each now and the bonuses from his gear raised them to 20 each. Sergei was now twice as fast and strong as an average person!
"What, no reward for leveling up? Cheapskates!" Sergei sighed upon seeing that the zombie didn't give him neither coins nor eggs.
*knock-knock-knock*
"Is anyone alive in there? Do you speak English?" Sergei knocked on a metallic door and spoke loudly.
"Human?" A hoarse male voice sounded from behind the door.
"No, I'm a sly zombie who learned how to speak just to try to lure you out of the hiding, oh and yeah, argh argh arrrrgghhh!" Sergei's response was full of sarcasm as usual, he even imitated a zombie's growl at the end. It didn't work very well.
"We don't have anything…"
"As if I need anything from you! I'm here because one very kind girl and a young man with a needlessly heightened sense of justice asked me to save you. Hurry up and open the damn door or I'm leaving."
(fr) "Honey, what did he say?" Asked a skeleton-like skinny woman. She was hugging her little kids, who looked even worse than their mother.
(fr) "He said… that he'll leave if I don't open the door… And that he was asked to save us."
(fr) "Let's trust him. Even if he's a criminal, we have nothing to take…" The malnourished, almost mummified woman pleaded, looking at her husband.
(fr) "There are lives to take, for example. Yours and our children's." The man argued.
(fr) "Honey… If not today, tomorrow we'll lose them as well…" She would've bursted into tears if she wasn't so dehydrated.
"Okay, I'm opening the door." The man listened to his wife, then stood up with some difficulty, climbed the stairs and opened the armored door.
"Damn, it stinks!" A foul stench of human waste from four people being locked down for minimum a week came from behind the door.
"Did you kill them? Alone?" Asked the exhausted man looking at the dead zombies.
"No big deal, a bullet to the head and they're dead again." Replied the savior looking at the man in front of him. Tall but skinny, dirty and very stinky… However he felt the strength of his spirit. "Alright, let's get back on track. You are a soldier, aren't you?"
"I was…" the man replied, suspicious.
"Do you want for your family to be safe and have plenty to eat?" Sergei asked looking the man in the eyes.
"Of course! But… I won't do anything that goes against my conscience," he shook his head. Despite the poor state he was in, his eyes indicated a high spirit.
"Even if your family dies because of it?" The stranger was surprised.
"They support my ideals."
"Good, very good." Sergei smiled broadly, which scared the man. "I need people with such a mindset. I need an assistant and a bodyguard. You have the experience and I'm interested in you. What do you say?"
"Do you really have food?"
Sergei smirked and waved his hand and instantly four sacks of potatoes and one sack of corn appeared in front of him. "I'm probably the only person in the world who can grow food in large quantities."
The man's eyes resembled the O_O emoji when he saw the sacks. He and his family had been starving for a long time and suddenly there were so many fresh vegetables! And real ones!
"What needs to be done?"
"Let's go downstairs."
"Yes, Sir!"
(fr) "Mommy, I'm scared…" The little girl became scared upon seeing the stranger and clung closer to her mother. The boy sat with lifeless eyes and didn't show any reaction to what was going on around him.
(fr) "Everything will be okay, honey…" The woman hugged her children closer to her chest, but calmed down the second she saw her husband's reassuring smile.
"You'll appear elsewhere in a second, so don't panic." The stranger approached the woman and her kids and sent them into the haven.
"What! Where are they?!" The husband roared. He started becoming more and more furious with each second, but…
"Somewhere safe, it's my system skill, so relax we'll join them shortly." Sergei took the man's hand and they both appeared in the center of his little village in the haven.
(fr) "Honey, where are we?" The woman saw her husband appearing near her and asked, pulling her kids closer.
(fr) "He said it's a safe place…" The husband replied observing his surroundings. There were some trees nearby, wooden houses and it smelled delicious!
"There are no zombies here and we have a lot of food. But to stay here you all need to sign the contract." A message appeared in front of the new people's faces. They were shocked (as usual). Only the little boy didn't show any reaction - he was completely unresponsive.
After singing the contract, Sergei explained and showed how everything worked.
"You can thank these two for saving you." Sergei said pointing at Annette who was sitting behind the computer and Gai who stood beside her with a stupid grin on his face.
(fr) "Thank you. You are our saviors." The woman thanked them with tears in her eyes which made Annette cry as well.
(rus) "Women…" Sergei could only sigh.
"There're not many people who can fight around here - it's just me actually. However if I die this place will disappear and I have no idea what will happen to everyone inside."
"I understand." The man was smart and experienced, so he understood the situation rather quickly. If he wanted his family to be safe, the man in front of him couldn't get hurt.
"Alice."
"Yes, Boss?" Alice, and everyone else for that matter, saw the appearance of new people, she immediately hurried to his side because she was his confidant, so she was right there beside him when he needed her.
"Feed these people and tell the Professor to check them out. Then choose a place for their new house."
"Yes, Boss." She replied and immediately left.
"I'm going to return to your house, do you need me to bring you your personal belongings?"
"If you can, yes…" The man gave him the list of things he wanted to be brought back, thankfully they weren't many. The man's gear, their personal belongings, clothes, photos etc. After handing the belongings to their owners, the hero headed to The Basilica - he hoped to get there by nightfall…
***
Considering that his wounds weren't completely healed yet, plus the fact that he already managed to overexert himself earlier, it was decided to avoid fighting. That's why he ended up in this situation…
"Fuck, I just wanted to bypass a horde!"
Sergei ran and cursed while being followed by a small horde… While trying to walk around a big group of zombies he stumbled upon another one, it made a lot of noise and attracted all zombies in the area. Now there were over a couple hundred of them chasing after him… He could've returned to his haven, but no one could guarantee that they would leave! They could stay in one place for weeks!
"Boss?" It was Louis.
"What? Who gave you the radio? Never mind, speak!"
"Annette told me you were in trouble. We have a motorbike and it's in a good condition. I upgraded it: it's not as fast anymore, but it can drive very very silently."
"Got it. Which one is it?" The man thought about all of the motorbikes that were in the warehouse and saw eight of them that were intact and two disassembled ones.
"The black "Harley Davidson", it's all gassed up and running."
"Ha-ha, nice!" At the very next moment the motorbike appeared in front of Sergei. He jumped on it with a running start, hit the gas and sped off, leaving his pursuers behind. "Louis, I'm having a bit of an issue with maintaining the balance and there's a faint squeaking sound. But overall it's perfect!"
"Got it, Boss. I'll examine it when you get back. It's really hard to make modifications without doing actual testing."
"I heard you. I'll test your inventions occasionally. But, damn! The streets are too narrow around here and too many abandoned vehicles!" He grumbled, trying to maneuver between a lot of abandoned and even most times wrecked vehicles. He was also afraid of running over some broken glass and puncturing a tyre.
No matter how much Sergei cursed the roads, but he managed to reach the familiar manhole in five minutes and after twenty minutes of walking through the sewage he reached The Basilica.
"Yo, it's been a long time, buddy!" The guard armed with a shotgun greeted him as usual as he was exiting the sewers.
"It should've been much longer, but things have changed." Sergei replied getting out. There was a lot of hustle and bustle around. "The Basilica is blooming I see?"
"That's true, we took in a lot of survivors and now are enlarging the camp. There's so much work that we don't even have time to fart."
"Ha ha, well, you on the other side can fart all you want, right? I think that's all you do as you sit here and guard the manhole, you only yawn and fart."
"You are completely wrong! I also pick my nose!" The guard exclaimed and both of them laughed.
The Basilica was really expanding - if its population was about five thousand people before, now it was more than seven! Approximately, of course - it could be more, in fact, but not less than that. It turned out to be almost impossible to find Emmanuel and as a result he found the guest himself.
"Sergei! You are earlier than expected, you already have what I asked for?" Emmanuel smiled broadly.
"Of course, otherwise why would I have come? Here, look." The salesman passed him the backpack with twenty kilos of corncobs.
"Such a good corn! Excellent, how much can you sell?"
"760 kilos for now, but I can get more if you want, it just would require more time."
"It's enough for now, but we'd want to buy more. How much is it?"
"I haven't thought of it yet. On one hand, its nutritional value is lower because of the cob. On the other, the yield is much lower and a commodity is rarer. I think it will be right to charge the same 5 coins per kilo."
"Okay, deal." Emmanuel pondered for a few seconds just for show before accepting the price.
"Deal. The goods are at the usual location."
"Excellent! I will send people out immediately and collect the coins." Emmanuel ran off to gather people and while they were retrieving the goods decided to have a little chat with the guest.
The corn was quickly found and brought back, there were even guards protecting such an important resource.
"Here are 3800 coins." The old man handed Sergei a heavy bag of coins.
"Let me show you a more compact method of storing the coins." Sergei said. He took two coins from the bag and merged them into one two-units coin, then split them back.
"Ohhh! It is much handier!"
They talked for a while, but soon had to say goodbye as Emmanuel had a lot to do and the salesman descended back into the sewers. After walking for a while, he returned to haven where a festive table awaited him.
The feast was to celebrate the newcomers. The table was filled with a lot of different potato dishes and canned food. But the main meal was corn and everyone pounced on it immediately, as they were all already kinda sick of potatoes.
"Oh, it's delicious!" Anne moaned with her mouth open. Everyone nodded approvingly. The corn was really amazing: sweet, juicy and filling. The kernels were big and separated easily from the cob. Everyone enjoyed themselves.
The newcomers ate like it was their last meal on earth, it wasn't usually allowed to eat that much after starvation, but Professor Curie informed them that it wouldn't be harmful as long as they'd be eating only potatoes and corn - on the contrary, they would recover much faster. The only thing - the little boy was completely apathetic, he didn't move and couldn't eat on his own, so he was fed by his mother. In the middle of the meal Sergei asked them to introduce themselves to everyone.
(fr) "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Solomon, this is my wife Giselle." The man put his plate aside, then stood up and loudly introduced himself.
Solomon was a big man, but now resembled a mummy. He had a short haircut, masculine face and serious eyes. His wife was shorter than him, somewhere around 170 meters (14 feet 2). She was stick thin and could hardly be called beautiful at the moment, but judging by the photos Sergei found in their house while looking for their things, she used to be much more prettier.
(fr) "These are our children, Irene and Dominic." They were seven years old and couldn't be looked at without tears.
(fr) "Dominic had a nervous breakdown and he became like that… He's been silent and unresponsive for three months now… We consulted a doctor friend of ours and he said that my son will recover in time… But it hadn't happened yet…" Giselle bursted into tears. However there were no tears, which was even… sadder.
"Alice, translate please. The skills exist in this world that can cure. There are probably people out there who can help your son. If there's a skill that could build this place, then there has to be one that cures everything." Alice happily translated his words. The couple's mood has improved after that and the woman stopped crying.
"Let's eat - things will get better over time."
After the meal, Sergei bought a one-room house and helped to move in some basic furniture. He still had things to do, so he decided not to linger behind the table any longer.
***
He sat behind the computer and thought about the information he received from Emmanuel. It turned out, that the huge horde that Sergei met before attacked the Louvre. It withstood the attack but not without casualties. Of course, Sergei wasn't considering helping them, if anything, he was thinking how to profit from them.
"System, let's say there are a thousand bodies of zombies, it will take me forever to transfer them. Is there an easy way to do that?"
THERE IS.
"Yeah? And what is that?"
THE HAVEN'S LEVEL IS NOT HIGH ENOUGH FOR IT.
"Are there any other options?"
THERE ARE.
"What are they?"
THINK.
"I should've known… Maybe there's something in the store? Nothing… What if…" Sergei started typing a new contract and sent it to the system as soon as he finished.
THE CHANGES ARE APPROVED.
"Yeah? Well then it changes everything! Annette, gather everyone!" Annette was bored, so she was wandering near the laptop all this time. Recently she started spending most of her time behind it, so she got really bored and sad when Sergei occupied it.
"Yes, Boss!" The girl exclaimed and ran to carry out the task. Soon all the adult residents gathered near their boss. All the work for the day was done and everyone was either bored or relaxing.
"I discovered a new opportunity! Specifically - I can grant you the authority to transfer items and other stuff from the real world to the warehouse. Who wants to work in the field, so to speak?" People started thinking about the idea, but then Gautier whispered something to his brother and he voiced the thought:
"Boss, your "and other stuff" mean dead zombie?"
(rus) "Look at that smart-ass…" Boss frowned, which brought giggles to Russian speaking girls.
"Yes, it implies the corpses, not just zombies but human bodies as well. Why? Let Gautier explain it to you." He did just that and people became uneasy, especially the newcomers. "Each body, whether it's a zombie or a human, gives us the biomatter. The biomatter is needed for the expansion of the haven. Today I learned that the Louvre was attacked by a huge horde. I'm planning to go there and "help them" with utilizing the bodies. I'll also sell them some potatoes and spring water to heal their wounds."
"Is it mandatory?" Kathrine raised her hand and asked.
"No, I think most of you wouldn't want to go to Paris again. You should agree only if you are confident about yourselves. You have a question, Solomon?" Sergei replied confidently and turned his gaze to the new resident.
"Is it safe to bring zombie corpses in here?"
"It is. The system confirmed it and it never lies."
"But Boss, then everyone will know that you have the ability to transfer things." Natasha said. Despite her schoolgirl appearance she was a mature and wise woman. Every time she opened her mouth she spoke to the point and always thought through her words.
"I think everyone already knows that - so many people are watching my every move that I'm starting to feel like a superstar," Sergei smirked and proudly puffed out his chest. "Alright, who's ready?"
The brothers raised their hands. And so did Anne and Zoey, to everyone's surprise, Solomon too volunteered. No one else wanted to participate. Well, Alice was the first one to raise her hand but Sergei turned her down - she had a lot of things to do inside the haven. But in reality Boss didn't want to put her at risk, she also had a little son… And most importantly she was very useful.
YOU ARE ASSIGNED TO NEW POSITION "A SLAVE IN THE WILD".
YOU ARE AUTHORIZED TO TRANSFER INANIMATE MATTER INTO THE HAVEN.
Such a message appeared in front of the eyes of five people. Gai was already used to being a "slave behind the camera" now he was a "slave in the wild" as well. Everybody else was surprised, Zoey especially. Like an African American she was really offended by that word. But to be honest, Sergei didn't really care - he wasn't about to explain to her the difference of cultures and the difference in understanding of certain expressions.
"Well, have a little rest for now. I'll call you as soon as I get there and dig around. Solomon, you are still too weak, so eat a lot and relax with your family. Alright, I'm out."
Sergei left the haven, summoned the motorbike and drove to the Louvre. Some streets were barricaded so he was forced to send the transport back and climb over them, then to summon the bike back again.
Each survivors' camp did their best to block all the routes leading to them with cars and debris. It prevented the big groups of zombies from entering their territory. Of course such a method wouldn't stop the mutants, they were too smart for that, but they tried not to enter the human territories without their entourage.
"I'm sick of these barricades!" The man grumbled while climbing the fifth barricade. He traveled this road a week ago and met only three of them on his way! That's why he chose this route in the first place, but his inner compass failed him.
After arriving to the Louvre with a lot of difficulties, Sergei shook his head. All the barricades that blocked the paths to the camp were smashed down as if run over by a tank. The soldiers reacted too late to the invasion of the horde and the battle started on the approaches to the Louvre, which resulted in breaking the perimeter and significant amount of people in the refugee camp getting hurt. Even the Louvre itself didn't come out of it untouched.
"Boss, how many zombies you think were here?" He heard Annette's voice through his radio.
"Tens of thousands no less." Boss walked through the countless corpses of zombies followed by the brothers and two girls. The girls were terrified by what they saw, the brothers were pale as well at the sight of so many bodies.
The group approached one of the surviving checkpoints. A few armed policemen immediately ran towards them - they were visibly nervous as they looked at their "guests".
(fr) "Halt! Who are you?"