“Alright, we’ll spend the night here. I’ll be in this room.” I go to one corner of the house and find a dusty bed to sleep in. “We’ll leave early in the morning, so don’t stay up late.”

“Umm, Hei, do we really have to leave so soon?” Yin calls out to me. I stop at the door to my room. “I mean, this place is pretty safe. They have a fence and everything. Getting to the city would be nice but why can’t we just stay here for a while?”

“You’re welcome to stay if you want.” I shrug, gnawing on a sandwich. One of the villagers baked their own bread and was willing to sell it to us. The “fresh” food tastes amazing even if it’s only prepackaged meat and a little cheese. “But like I said, the zombies will grow stronger soon. Eventually, the only way to keep large settlements alive will be to use a sort of virtual currency you get from killing undead. They’re called System Coins.”

“System coins?” Yin takes off her jacket and I feel my breath catch a little bit. She really is far prettier than she should be. There’s a bathtub upstairs and this place even still has a little running water so we took showers and it felt amazing to wash the river gunk off of me. Her wet hair glistens in the residual steam from the wash. Swallowing, I almost choke as she unbuttons the top part of her blouse. Unfortunately, she’s wearing a t-shirt underneath.

“System Coins are automatically accredited to the Hunters responsible for killing undead. They can be used to purchase a sort of undead repellant for towns. It’s not infallible, the higher level undead can ignore it, but if you buy enough of it, you can keep a settlement from being overrun by wandering zombies. Basically, even if a town has a lot of fortifications, people will still need to leave and hunt zombies or else a horde will come.”

“Jeez, that’s kind of unbelievable…” Yin trails off as she goes to wash her clothes upstairs. I’ve already done mine. They’re draped over the side of the couch and I have a spare shirt and jeans on from my bag. “But since you’re telling me, I guess I’ll have to accept it. Hei, will you ever tell me how you learned all this?” She looks at me and I just focus on chewing my sandwich.

“Eh, alright, I won’t press you since you saved me. Listen, I don’t need you to tell me all your secrets, but I hope you’ll grow to trust me one day.” Her worried face leaves mine to attend to her laundry.

“So, you’re saying that we’ll always have to hunt the undead no matter how safe the town looks? And if you’re right, and the zombies are going to get stronger…it’s better to train now.”

“Bingo.” I move to close the door slowly. “Also, the undead are easy to see, but they are not the real threat. Some people have probably already discovered that you can gain levels by killing. Be careful…these towns may be safe from the undead but they won’t protect you from the worst killer of all.” My mind unconsciously recalls a heavy weight falling on my head, the pain of having my hands and feet stomped down. For a second, I almost ask Yin if she remembers but then I catch myself. She doesn’t know anything about that. As far as she’s concerned, her friends were heroes who died protecting her. Perhaps it’s better that way.

“Goodnight.” She murmurs after hearing my warning. I slide the door closed and lock it from the inside. The deadbolt outside is thick, and all of the windows are locked, I checked. We should be safe until the sun rises. Staring the giant moon, I sigh.

How did I go from being a member of the strongest party to taking in a girl? I can’t do this for long, I’ve already accidentally had to level up because of her. Who knows what will happen if I become too strong. But maybe if I can get her to level faster than me, she can stop me if I die. It’s brutal, but I should tell her a bit about what to expect. Others might only become zombies, but that thing is inside me. The Gray…it almost felt like it talked to me before I died last time. And it happened after I hit Lvl. 100. Is this world really just a trap?

#

Scritch…

The noise outside my window immediately causes me to wake up. Even though this body hasn’t experienced the life my mind has, it still understands that the world is dangerous. Raising my head slowly, I peer over the edge of the windowsill. My eyes have adjusted well to the darkness and I can clearly see two people trying to find a way to get the door open.

“Shh…they’ll hear you!” One of them whispers as another man fumbles a lockpick inside the keyhole.

“Whatever, just keep a lookout, they’re definitely sleeping by now. Did you see that babe?” The lockpicker sounds like he’s sneering. I can imagine the smug smile on his face as he jiggles the lock. “Why she’s staying with such a chimp? Dude’s not even tall!”

“Probably took advantage of the circumstances. Besides, did you see that wad of cash he had? Dude’s loaded! We’re gonna strike it rich!” The man, in charge of keeping a lookout, crows as his friend unlocks the door with a click. “Nice one bro!”

“It’s deadbolted. That’s a problem. These guys sure are cautious!” The lockpicker sighs, reaching into his pocket. “I have a credit card here, maybe I can get it open. Give me a minute.” Listening to the two go on, I have to resist the urge to roll my eyes. I can’t tell if they have more sinister motives or if they’re just thieves. Idiots, cash won’t even be worth anything next week. And I spent it all. I go to my door, grabbing my cleaver from under my pillow on the way out. Guess it’s time to get up!

Opening the door quietly, I pad outside into the living room in my spare clothes. I can see a thin card poking up at the thick metal deadbolt. A muffled curse comes from outside as the man drops it and the credit card slides to the ground.

“Damnit!”

This time I can’t resist and roll my eyes.

These guys suck!

To be honest, I’m not above just killing them. Later on, in the apocalypse, this kind of behavior would mean they’re coming in to murder me. But after overhearing their conversation I’m kinda tempted to see where this goes and what they plan on doing when they get in.

Smirking, I silently walk next to the door and stand behind the hinges. Just in case I keep my cleaver down at my waist. A few seconds later, I hear the idiots finally get the deadbolt free. The door clicks and someone pushes it open just far enough to peek inside. When they see the living room empty, I hear a quiet fist-bump. Then they try to sneak in, right in front of me. I hold out a hand, pressed between the wall and the door. There’s a fifty percent change they try to close the door in which case I’m going to be found. But if they’re amateurs like I suspect, then they might leave it open. And then I can have some fun!

“Which room do you think he took?” One of them hisses to the other as the come inside. Unlike my bare feet, they’re wearing heavy boots and their footsteps are so obvious I wouldn’t be surprised if Yin woke up. It’s at that moment that a noise echoes from the room to the side. There’s a slight creak of the floorboards and a disgruntled moan which could probably make god’s cry. Holy crap it’s Yin! For a second I’m tempted to just take these guys out right here and now, but her door is already creeping open.

DAMNIT!

“Oh crap!” One of them shouts and the door opens all the way. A black-haired sleepy beauty pokes her head outside, squinting in the darkness!

“Hei? You up?” She murmurs as she stares right at the intruders! Behind them, I sweat bullets holding my cleaver. Comeon Yin! Read the atmosphere here!

“Um we were just…” The smaller thief holds up a hand in surrender. Unfortunately…that hand also has a knife.

“KYAAA!”

#