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“Let me reiterate what just happened,” Daria spoke in a cold voice and a slow manner. “You visited the merchant that also serves as the control hub for the fortress, right?” she asked.

“That’s right,” Mathew nodded his head, even though it was too dark for the girl to see it.

“And after visiting said hub, you suddenly found a way to bring back electricity to the compound.” Daria finished what she wanted to say before taking a short break. “Do you see what I struggle to accept?” she then asked.

“Not really?” Mathew denied. But he wasn’t an idiot. The way in which the girl put this topic made it clear that there was something wrong. Something wrong that Mathew simply failed to take notice of.

“Aaah…” Daria released a long sigh. “There is some kind of entity that caused this entire zombie outbreak. That I can accept,” she stated, only to take a step forward. “I can accept the idea that a group or faction exists capable of denying our biological knowledge,” she elaborated on her statement. And then, once again, she stopped herself from explaining any further.

Mathew scoured his brain, trying to figure out what the girl was hinting at. ‘It won’t be a problem if I don’t catch it, but it would surely uproot a bit of my authority in the group,’ he thought, only to try even harder.

“I give up,” Mathew finally admitted after a few more moments had passed. “What are you hitting at?” he then asked, eager to figure out what Daria had a problem with.

“A group possessing an otherwordly knowledge of biology, I can accept,” the girl repeated. “But them being capable of manipulating the physics?” the girl said before shaking her head. “It’s impossible for anyone on earth to be capable of that!”

‘Dang, she has a point,’ Mathew thought when he finally made the connection. His face then darkened. ‘I wonder what she would say if I were to tell her about the shadowy realm,’ he thought before pursing his lips.

“My question is,” Daria said before swallowing her saliva so hard Mathew could actually hear it. “What do those abilities make them be?”

Mathew turned silent, taking his sweet time to think about the reply.

“Back in the day, I didn’t really want to think about it,” he finally admitted while taking a step away from the merchant, unwilling to stand right on the edge of the already crumbled floor. “And to be honest, I think it’s better to keep it that way,” he added.

“…” This time, Daria didn’t reply. Instead of keeping the topic going, she simply stood there in silence, showing her dissatisfaction with Mathew’s approach in this creative way.

“It’s best if you just think of it as a game,” Mathew said, unwilling to just let Daria go with her clearly unsolved problem. “Wait, now that I think about it, doesn’t everything apocalypse-related work a little too much like a game?” Mathew said, astounded by how this simple fact could elude him for so long.

“I never really played any games, so I don’t really know what you are talking about,” Daria replied with a shrug. “I guess I have no other choice but to just trust you on that point,” she then added.

“Anyway, I think we did enough for today,” Mathew pointed out, happily changing the topic. “Still, before we all go to sleep, one question.”

“Yes?”

“Do we have any leftover cores?” Mathew asked.

‘I know I should’ve kept the count, but simply too many things happened for me to bother,’ Mathew excused himself in his thoughts.

“I don’t think so,” Daria replied. “We gathered all those that we had before, so I doubt there are any left,” she explained. “But if you want, we can go look for some zombies to grab a new batch,” Daria added.

“No, we all need to rest first,” Mathew countered. “There are no more zombies left within the compound, so we would have to venture outside the wall to get some,” Mathew explained before turning his eyes in the direction of the merchant.

“And I don’t think it’s going to be as cheap as it appeared to be,” he added, his voice so silent there was no realistic chance for anyone to hear him.

“What did you say?” Daria asked, proving that Mathew’s effort to keep his words to himself worked out.

“Nothing much,” Mathew waved the question off, only to realize that in the darkness, the girl wouldn’t see shit anyway. “Let’s go rejoin the rest and then go get some sleep,” he decided.

“I second that,” Daniel suddenly said, reminding the pair that he was the one who actually guided them towards the merchant. “I will keep watch by the shaft so that we won’t be caught off-guard by a zombie’s bite,” he then offered.

“There is no need for that,” Mathew shook his head, too used to his small gestures to suddenly give them up only because others couldn’t see them anyway. “All the zombies within the compound are gone,” he pointed out at what he assumed was obvious to anyone aware of the raising of the fortress.

“Still, I wouldn’t be able to sleep in this place without someone on the watch,” Daniel insisted.

“You just want us to share the duty, don’t you?” Mathew pointed out, unwilling to give up on the full eight hours of sleep that he already envisioned himself getting.

“Is that wrong to expect you to help me out?” Daniel asked, his tone turning slightly colder. “Don’t you know the saying, those with power…”

“Do not hit me with that bullshit,” Mathew cut in Daniel’s words before he could finish his sentence. “Strong should protect the weak?” he asked, only to shake his head.

‘Fuck,’ he then cursed in his thoughts. ‘This lack of light is really annoying,’ he thought before recomposing himself.

“The only reason why I bothered to save others today was that it didn’t cost me anything,” Mathew revealed. “Even though I already have some experience with the apocalypse, I don’t know shit about what its creators will expect from me later on,” he added, leading to a pretty cold statement. “For me, the people I saved are nothing more but a potential investment into the future.”

‘Or so I want you to believe,’ Mathew thought.

Despite the tough front he ended up putting, Mathew was still a normal guy. The only thing that set him apart from others, besides his system, was his prior experience of the apocalypse.

Sure, it taught him how to value his own life and safety over the health of strangers, but it didn’t turn him into a cold-blooded monster.

‘Knowing the cliche, saving anyone will end up biting me in the ass,’ Mathew thought while gritting his teeth.

“I really thought you were a bigger man,” Daniel said, no longer bothering to hide the coldness in his face. “I guess there is no need for us to talk anymore. I hope you will enjoy your rest,” he added before turning around and leaving.

“You won’t even offer to guide us back, huh?” Mathew commented in the direction he could hear Daniel’s footsteps. Yet, he didn’t bother to chase after him.

“It’s not perfect, but I can somehow make out the shape of things,” Daria informed. “I don’t know if it’s some sort of skill or the improvement caused by my level…”

“It’s natural,” Mathew cut into Daria’s words. His mood was too shitty to endorse the small talk. “It takes time, but human eyes can adapt to way more than you would expect,” he explained what he had once learned when he picked up a stargazing hobby back in the middle-school.

“So you can see?” Daria asked, leaning her head to the side in an expression of curiosity.

“More or less. Nothing more but general shapes, just like you,” the young man replied before grabbing the girl’s hand and moving back to the rest of their group.

‘I better follow the same path that Daniel took to get us to the merchant,’ he thought, carefully stepping over anything that even remotely appeared like an obstacle.

Tripping in itself wasn’t something that Mathew would be scared off. Yet, the perspective of falling several stories into rubble full of pointy and hard edges was enough to raise his carefulness to its limits.

“Right, before we join with the others,” Daria suddenly said, pulling herself up closer to the young man’s side. “Is there any chance for us to… you know…”

“Play around?” Mathew asked. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’m up to the task now,” he cut the girl’s hopes before she could even fully voice them out.

“And will that answer be the same for Nadia?” Daria then asked, clearly set on pushing the topic as far as she could.

“Yes,” Mathew replied without even a moment of hesitation. “Establishing the fortress gave us some leeway. But that doesn’t mean we can get careless.”