Hearing what Nathan said, the teen"s face brightened for a moment but he immediately put on a serious face before looking at the man wearing a business suit as if he was waiting for instructions.They were making eye contact.
"So this guy in the business suit is the leader? The voice of reason?" Nathan a.s.sessed.
"Can we see your ID, badge or something to prove your ident.i.ty as part of the rescue team?" the man in the business suit asked.
"f.u.c.k!" Nathan cursed inside his heart.
Right now he was contemplating on whether he should continue lying or just storm in forcefully.
He finally decided…
"Sure! Wait a moment. Let me get my ID."
Nathan bent down and pretended to drop his weapons on the ground when he suddenly lunged forward and kicked the skinny teenager in front of him with the full force of his 18 points of strength, sending the kid flying and hitting the man behind him.
Thud!
Thud!
They were both lying on the floor.
"Clint!" A female voice could be heard from inside.
Other screams followed as well.
The teen he kicked was on the floor vomiting blood.
"My 18 points of strength caused this much damage?" his expression darkened knowing that he should"ve controlled his strength a little bit.
The man wearing a business suit, on the other hand, was struggling to get up. As he struggled, he warned his companions, "Don"t come any closer!"
Nathan stepped in and knocked him out cold using the hilt of his Training Sword.
Thud!
He fell on the floor.
After that, he pulled out the handcuffs he "borrowed" from the security guard and handcuffed him.
He looked at the surroundings. There was electricity and the store had three aisles filled with goods on each side.
At one of the corners, there were three female teenagers. One of them was wearing the same uniform that the male teen wore and was also carrying a wooden stick, while the other two were behind her wearing civilian clothes.
On another side near the front entrance was the counter. Behind the counter was a woman about 30 years old hugging a little child. Fear was written on their faces.
"This…" Nathan suddenly felt this gut-wrenching feeling, especially when he saw the kid"s expression. But what can he do? It was clear that they wouldn"t let him in unless he offers something in return.
He was basically trying to justify his actions.
"Don"t come any closer or we"ll kill you!" The female with the wooden stick threatened.
Nathan tried to put on an apologetic face and said, "I had no choice. They wouldn"t let me in. I"m just here to pick up some supplies and I"ll leave right away. I promise."
"Don"t trust anything he says! He"ll kill us!" One of the female teens shouted.
True. She had a point. Seeing what he did to the two men, they would be a fool to trust Nathan"s word.
Nathan looked annoyed and then coldly said, "Listen, you have two choices: You can let me take some supplies and I"ll leave, or we can fight it out to the death before I take some supplies and leave."
Hearing the coldness of his voice, everyone was quiet.
They knew for a fact that it was dangerous outside. They"ve seen the zombies and what they"re capable of. The zombies weren"t the slow-moving ones, but are instead agile and quick for the kill!
But what if it"s already safe outside? This man in front of them was able to come here. So it must be safe, right? Even with the level up system, it was still dangerous because the zombies would immediately attack you -- one of their male companions even died trying to level up last night.
But then again, who gives a f.u.c.k if it"s safe outside? Just looking at the swords on his hands and what happened to their male companions, who among them would dare to antagonize Nathan?
In their mind, they hope he will immediately leave after getting the supplies.
"I"ll take some supplies and leave right away," he announced.
He picked up a large shopping basket and placed his swords in there.
***************************
While he was picking up supplies, the survivors quickly helped the two injured men.
He could hear one of the female teenagers saying, "Clint, let me clean you up."
The 30-year old woman said to her husband, "Dear…"
She was holding back her tears.
The little child asked, "Mommy, is daddy gonna be okay? Why did that uncle hit him? Will he turn into a zombie?"
Hearing them made him feel very guilty with each pa.s.sing minute that he couldn"t wait to leave, especially when he heard the child"s question.
But what was he expecting? He chose to invade this convenience store knowing the consequences. Was he expecting that the people hiding in here were killers or rapists that he could just bully around and not feel bad about it? It was too late for regrets.
He quickly picked up a bottle of shampoo, 2 bars of soap, a box of toothpaste, 2 boxes of candles, a pack of bottled water, a bottle of mouthwash, 2 packs of rice, 5 packs of his favorite cigarette brand, eggs, cup noodles, canned foods, and only a pack of pork ribs because he didn"t have electricity at his apartment so he can"t keep them inside the refrigerator.
He looked at his shopping basket and thought, "This is heavy. How will I travel with this? If I activate [Coward"s Way] while carrying these items, will they also turn invisible?"
As he was thinking about it when suddenly one of the female teenagers approached him and asked,
"Excuse me, sir. Is it safe outside?"
Hearing her voice, he returned to his senses and looked at the direction where the voice came from.
"What?"
"Is it safe outside, sir?" she meekly asked.
He noticed that everyone was quiet. They were waiting for his answer.
Although they believe that the man in front of them was strong, given how he was able to go outside and come here, they also hoped that it wasn"t really the case and that it"s relatively safe to go outside.
"No."
When they heard his answer, they felt even more depressed about the current situation.