Grey raised an eyebrow.

Marshall overlooked his expression and directly got to the heart of the matter. 

"Why are you referring to him as "BloodReign_666"? He's not that scumbag, he's KillSwitch. I think you got the two mixed up."

"Oho?"

Grey sneered. He managed to catch a glimpse of Lucien's embarrassed expression; the other party looked extremely guilty.

While I was gone, this kid started to make up lies?

Marshall crossed his arms, and his tone started to become serious.

"But, even if we ignore that, you interrupted what I was going to say."

Grey's face hardened. Is this prick still trying to play it innocent? He quickly masked his expression and didn't bother to say anything.

Marshall took his silence as a sign to continue where he left off at the start.

"Anyway, Mr KillSwitch.... I...i-if possible... I don't want you to take this in the wrong way, but I want to survive this apocalypse together with you.

I want to be each other's teammates, where we'll face many fierce battles together, eat together, and look at the stars together at night, reminiscing with the moon about the battles we fought, and yearning for a better future. And... if that day comes, maybe something special could form between us..."

With each and every phrase that came from that bastard's mouth, Grey was closer to punching him in the face.

This was all said to Lucien, right? Building a future together? Pfft-- maybe in your dreams. Wait, maybe not even in there because I'll come over to take your life as the Grim Reaper before you even dare to think of him!

Once again, an uncomfortable silence entered the air while there was a standstill between the two tall men.

A frightening, dark abyss pooled inside Grey's eyes. He sneered and quickly retorted sarcastically.

"Oh, really? Well, why not? Let's be together until the end, then. Moonshot."

Marshall sported an impatient and confused face.

"What? I'm not even talking to you."

Grey leaned closer and scoffed.

"And why do you say that? I am KillSwitch, so why back down now? If you weren't genuine with your proposal, I might kill you. I hate liars, you know?"

Perhaps Lucien felt the situation was getting out of hand, or the guilt reached beyond what he could handle.

He scrambled his head and realized the consequences of his little white lie.

Lucien stepped forward, no longer hiding behind Grey's back.

"Okay, that's enough!"

The two men turned their heads toward him.

"I-....Marshall, I'm sorry. I'm not actually KillSwitch."

He paused, before eventually dropping the bomb.

".....I'm BloodReign_666."

At this moment, Marshall's face dropped. He stared at Lucien's eyes and didn't say a word.

Grey found this opportunity a great way to slip in the truth.

"And, I'm telling the truth. I really am the real KillSwitch."

Lucien's eyes widened. What? 

As if his thoughts spilled into reality, "That's a lie!"

Grey and Lucien locked eyes. The latter didn't care about any courtesies anymore and stepped closer.

"How could you be KillSwitch? 

Lucien was beyond dumbfounded.

"How can I not be?" 

Grey saw his stunned look and couldn't control his grin.

"Want me to prove it? If what I said before wasn't enough, then maybe this will be."

He pulled out a few photographs from his jacket's pocket and showed them to Lucien.

Lucien eyes widened. His eyelashes trembled as he moved between each picture.

The photos showed their duel when Grey first asked him to be his friend, the moment when his character missed Grey's character when he toggled the "crouch" emote, and the time when they defeated their first zombie boss, the orange juice and cheese pizza coupon, and finally, a picture of the couple's heart-shaped bed in Lucien's room.

This was undoubtedly the ultimate, bona fide Grey Dusk in front of him.

The other man, who was silently observing all this, finally put the pieces together and realized that Lucien was lying to him.

"Aha! So you were just a dirty liar with his little accomplice. BloodReign_666, my rival, I should've known it was you who walked through my gates. I had an inkling. I should've acted upon my impulses earlier."

He pointed straight at Grey's chest, seizing him up closely as his face seethed with rage.

"And you. You were once my idol, my shining star in my world that was devoid of light. But now you betrayed me! You joined forces with this little demon, you're nothing but a dirty rag on the side of the road to me now."

He took a step back, and started rolling up his sleeve.

"There's no turning back. I swear, you two will pay for this. It would only be a matter of time!"

When Marshall finished unrolling his sleeves and revealed that patch of skin, Lucien gasped, and Grey immediately blocked him from Marshall.

The man was bitten by a zombie.

Slowly, the virus started to eat up his brain and his consciousness. This included his skin turning into that disgusting dark green color, and his organs decaying and rotting.

The former Marshall had become an ugly beast, but there was something unusual about his transformation. He had somehow held on to his former emotions before decaying, thus his body had suddenly tripled in size! A strange, gem-like red stone had also formed in the center of his chest.

This was not an ordinary zombie. Grey thought. Could they be evolving now due to a surge of intense emotions?

Marshall stomped his big feet and crushed the concrete under them. He then uprooted a nearby evergreen tree, and his red, bulging eyes locked onto the two people.

This was not the time to observe him now! Grey estimated that during his transformation, the bullets he bought with him would not be enough to knock down the monster.

He wasn't even sure if the bullets would have any effect on him at all. This kind of zombie variant was the first he'd ever seen, so what course of action would work?

What else but to run away! Grey quickly snatched Lucien's hand and dashed for the gates.

As the two people ran, the passerby also switched directions and followed. 

Grey was a very fast runner, although the same couldn't be said for Lucien; his couch-potato tendencies had finally caught up to him.

When they reached the gate, Lucien saw the two familiar faces of the man and woman who had interviewed him first before Marshall.

When they met eyes, the woman had a sinister grin while the man appeared uninterested. 

They released their hands that were holding onto some rope, and the two big boulders blocked the exit in an instant.

Crap.

Everybody simultaneously cursed in their heart.