"If we go up there, we'll be trapped!"
His words annoyed me, more than his pleasant looking face, "We'll be trapped either way, whether it's here or there!" I shouted back.
Screeeeeech!
The mutant was still shouting and zombies had already burst out from all directions, leaving nowhere to run.
Given the sheer number of zombies making up this wave, it was impossible for them to escape on their own the moment that mutant screamed.
After hesitating for a moment, the handsome guy nodded and exchanged a glance with the athletic man.
At the same time, the group began running toward the building I was on.
The bespectacled man led the way, followed by the book-armoured guy being supported by the athletic man.
Trailing them, as if protecting the group, were the handsome guy and the woman. Though rather than protection, it was more like the woman was glued to him.
Screeeeeech!
As soon as they entered the building I was in, zombies swarmed toward the mutant's location.
A moment's delay, and they would have been on their way to the afterlife.
But I noticed that some of the zombies were now heading toward the building.
Using a bit of telekinesis, I shoved the approaching zombies back hard.
Thud—
As expected, the telekinesis that didn't work on the mutant was overwhelmingly effective against regular zombies.
Creaaaaak— Bang!
The rooftop door burst open as the bespectacled man slid inside, gasping for air.
Huff— Huff— Huff—
His glasses were fogged up with his frantic breathing.
The others followed behind him, and the handsome guy closed the door behind them, blocking it with a chair nearby.
A tense silence filled the air between their group and me as they caught their breath.
The book-armored guy—when had he retrieved his dropped baseball bat?—pointed it at me, shouting.
"W-who are you?!"
Watching the bat tremble in his hands, I felt more pity than discomfort.
To reassure them, I raised both hands above my head and waved them, even flashing the most amicable smile I could muster.
"Relax. I just wanted to help since you all seemed to be in danger."
The handsome guy, gently lowered the baseball bat from his comrade's hand and stepped in front of his group.
I ignored him and instead focused on scanning the face of the woman glued to him.
Pale skin, delicate and refined features.
Her slender, elongated figure contrasted with her enticingly plump white thighs. I fought hard to suppress my rising arousal.
'This... this is a jackpot.'
Suppressing a laugh, I shifted my gaze to the handsome guy's face.
Well, yeah, he was good-looking. That was it.
He examined me carefully, as if assessing me, before speaking.
"…Do you live here?"
"Oh! Now that you mention it, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is Palmer. I don't live here; I came from the walker street, Liverpool."
"I'm Kane. We…"
After smacking his lips for a moment, he bit down and continued.
"Anyway, nice to meet you."
It was clear he didn't want to give away too much information. He didn't trust me yet.
The athletic man whispered to Kane, glancing at me cautiously.
"Kane, there's no sign of habitation. He hasn't been staying here for long."
I eavesdropped on their conversation while deliberating their fate.
'Should I kill them?'
It'd be simplest to kill everyone except the woman. The men were of no use to me.
On top of that, seeing the woman clutching Kane's clothes made my blood boil with murderous intent, as if I were being NTR-ed.
"Mr. Palmer... May I ask you a few questions?"
"Go ahead."
Should I kill them or not?
I kept mulling it over, gauging my recovered mana.
Just as I was about to decide, the spectacled man, who had caught his breath, shouted while pointing at the woman clutching Kane's clothes.
"Bro! Wait a second! Before anything else, we need to do something about that woman!"
"What do you mean by that?"
The man's accusation made the woman bow her head and tremble violently, fear evident on her face.
Damn… If this turns into a snuff film with the men's heads flying, that woman will 100% faint.
And I wasn't about to lose my virginity to an unconscious woman.
Although, upon reflection, that didn't seem so bad, I still didn't like it.
Unaware that his life had just been extended thanks to someone's mercy, the bespectacled man raised his voice again.
"That woman is the reason the zombies came! She suddenly insisted on going outside, and when we did, the mutant was there! She's definitely connected to this!"
"Saam. Lower your voice."
"Hyung! This time, I'm serious! I told you we shouldn't trust that supposed Awakener nonsense! That woman is 100% a mutant! Why believe a potential infected?!"
Awakener.
My eyes gleamed at the familiar word.
So, that woman's an Awakener?
But if she was, her physical specs were no different from a regular person's.
I clearly saw her clinging to Kane's clothes, struggling to catch her breath earlier.
'Has she not allocated any stat points?'
Kane glanced at the trembling woman, then answered.
"Sam. If you shout one more time, I'll tape your mouth shut. And Cristine is not a potential infected. She just woke up late after fainting."
"…Ugh, you really believe that? We shouldn't have gone out today anyway. I told you we should've stayed in the library longer…"
Library.
Thank you, bespectacled guy.
Barely suppressing a smirk, I filed that information away.
The athletic man approached the muttering Sam and draped an arm over his shoulder.
"Little Boy Sam, watch your language, okay?"
"Uh, yes, Bruno. Sorry, I'm really sorry."
As Bruno kneaded Sam's shoulder, he turned to Kane with a smile, then addressed me.
"Nice to meet you, man. I'm Bruno. You already know Kane over there. This guy here is Samuel, the injured one is Smith Stevenson, and that..."
Bruno hesitated, licking his lips as if reluctant, before continuing.
"That woman is Cristine."
Ah, finally, a useful piece of information. Cristine. And, other people's name…very useful indeed, ha!
Damn it, it would have been great if there is skills like third eye or sage! I'm stuck without anything like that.
Thanks to Bruno's intervention, Sam had finally calmed down, and Kane resumed leading the conversation.
"If you don't mind me asking, what were you doing here?"
"Oh, of course, it's not exactly a secret."
I gave a small smile, alternating my gaze between Bruno and Kane. The athletic man had now moved back behind Kane, having succeeded in pacifying Sam.
'So, this Kane guy is the leader of this group, huh?'
Clicking my tongue lightly, I continued speaking.
"I ran out of supplies, and it became impossible to stay home any longer, so I came out for some 'farming.' I'd also heard rumours online about a survivor group in this area."
At the mention of a survivor group, Sam, standing beside Bruno, flinched.
Wow, if I were their leader, that guy would've been the first to get killed as my sacrifice.
Maintaining a poker face, Kane exchanged a glance withBruno.
"'Farming,' you say. But you don't have a bag with you."
"Ah, I lost it while being chased by zombies. That's also why I ended up on the rooftop like an idiot."
"And even in that situation, you chose to help us."
"Does anyone really need a reason to help another person? By the way, is Ms. Cristine and Mr. Smith okay?"
Ugh, this is getting annoying. I made up my mind right then: one more retort, and I'll just kill them.
At my last question, Smith, who'd been left out of the conversation, finally lifted his head. His severely bent wrist still dangled awkwardly.
At minimum, that's a dislocation with a fracture, I thought.
Finally breaking off our standoff, Kane approached Smith to check his condition.
Cristine, who had been following Kane, froze in her tracks under Bruno's sharp gaze, unable to move further.
Ignoring them, I turned back to look outside.
Zombies were still crowding the streets, circling the mutant like bodyguards in the middle of the road.
First, I had to deal with those bastards.
"Smith, I told you not to act rashly."
"Ugh… It hurts… my, my hand…"
"…Sigh."
A total group of amateurs.
It didn't take long to figure them out.
Two—or maybe three—liabilities, barely hanging on because two semi-competent people were keeping them alive. A party that practically screams disaster.
If I were Kane, I'd have never brought those two out here.
As I glanced at my mana reserves, which were now sufficient for another round of psychokinesis, I weighed my options.
Should I use this power on zombies—or humans?
Honestly, if I only wanted to assault Cristine, I could do that right now. None of these non-awakened humans could resist my psychokinesis. Zombies were tougher opponents in comparison.
But doing so would make it much harder to convert Cristine into my follower later.
It'd be just like my earlier outburst with the cult lady—starting off on the wrong foot.
Killing a bunch of people and then going, "Okay, now trust me, alright?" Who'd respond with, "Oh sure, makes sense."?
No. I needed to save these fools first and join them at their library hideout.
I'll bring Cristine into my fold later—then I can kill the rest.
With the group focused on tending to Smith, their backs to me, I turned my attention to the mutant zombie.
Trying to physically crush or tear it apart wouldn't work on that thing.
Channelling my psychokinesis, I reached out toward the mutant. The moment it sensed my interference, it began screeching.
"SCREEEEEEECH!"
As the mutant started howling again, I focused, lifting its body just as I'd done before.
All right, time to yeet this bastard out of here!
Burning through the rest of my mana reserves, I flung the mutant high into the air.
"SCREEEEEEEEEEE!"
The noise faded as it flew further and further away, and the zombies, frenzied by the sound, began sprinting after it.
Startled by the commotion, Kane and his group turned to look at me. I raised my voice, feigning urgency.
"Z-zombies are running in the opposite direction! If we're leaving, now's the time!"
"Let's move! Bruno, help Smith up. Ms. Cristine, please follow closely. And…"
After making sure everyone was ready, Kane turned back to me.
"Mr. Palmer, if you don't have anywhere else to go, why don't you come with us?"
In situations like this, a healthy young man is an asset.
No group leader would let such an opportunity slip by.
I nodded, smiling warmly.
"Gladly, I will come along with you."
Then I glanced at Cristine, flashing her a deep, meaningful smile.