Trash In The Apocalypse

The clouds on the sky continued drifting finally giving moonlight to those below.

The people at the plaza appreciated the light and started their drinking compet.i.tion.

A beautiful woman wearing a "virgin killer sweater[1]" approached the tables. Her curves attracted every man"s gaze and her fair skin became the envy of the women present.

It was Veronica, the host and sponsor of the event. She cheerfuly greeted everyone and settled them down. She explained the rules and the prize tiers before proceeding with the event.

"Can I go train now?" said Nik impatiently.

"Stop doing that. You need to relax too." said Bartolome.

The two of them came out to watch the event, but when Nik saw that it was just adults intoxicating themselves with alcohol, he became disinterested.

Bartolome smiled and said, "Did you see that girl in the red s.h.i.+rt? Ofcourse you did. She"s been staring at you for so long but you didn"t even glanced at her! Your acting like a kid! Man up and have some fun!"

"I"m not interested," said Nik as he turned around. "If were not going to train, we should be helping them look around."

Before Bartolome could even say anything, Nik started walking, leaving him behind. Bartolome sighed and rolled his eyes. With no other choice, he ran after Nik and walked beside him.

"It"s a waste though. Trust me when I say this, that girl, that fresh, beautiful lovely woman, she"s into you. If you just talked to her, or even smiled at her, she would have probably came running to you.

That"s right. Nik and Bartolome weren"t wearing their black masks anymore. Jun made it clear to them earlier, that they can do whatever they want and leave whenever. But them being used to be around him, stayed and asked if they could work for Jun. He agreed.

Nothing really changed with how they worked with each other, but now, there"s no way to force them into doing things. While it was true that they have become free, it also meant that they have to provide for themselves. Just like everyone else, they were given salaries and benefits—food, shelter, clothing, everything that the other employees have.

Though Nik knew Uncle Bartolome meant no harm and most likely was just trying to help him, he"s currently feeling stranged with all the things that are happening. He wasn"t a popular guy nor a handsome one, he even has no talent and was quite an introvert. His fas.h.i.+on sense was garbage and most importantly, he had no confidence. Tha"s how Nik viewed himself in the past and even now. The only time that he changes was when fighting and he doesn"t even know it.

Bartolome continued pestering him as they walked and when he finally got tired of it, he turned and faced him.

It just happened that a scantily dressed woman was walking towards them in a hurry. She was looking behind her as if she was running away from something. Due to her not paying attention and the two men infront were having a staring contest of who was right or wron, Nik and the woman collided with each other.

The woman lost her footing since she was wearing high heels and had to grab Nik"s shoulders to balance herself. On the other hand, when Nik saw someone unfamiliar grabbed him, he automatically responded by removing the hand and pus.h.i.+ng it away. It was an instinctive reaction after fighting carriers everyday on close proximity.

When Nik pushed the hand that barely caught his shoulder, the woman plunged down to the ground. Her eyes widen in shock as this was the first time, specially a male, shoved her away.

The woman"s b.u.t.t bounced softly from the rough road which caused her to curse profanities her heavenly face shouldn"t have. The look on her face was a mix of surprise, pain and anger.

She woke up from her daze and stared at Nik. "Are you crazy? Do you have no manners at all?"

Nik frowned and felt that her att.i.tude was inappropriate since she was the one who actually b.u.mped into him. But since he was thought to respect women and the elderlies, he just remained silent and stared back.

"What? Are you mute?" said the woman in displeasure. She stared at the two men infront of her and instantly knew that they were losers. Unlike other men, the two wore simply and quite poorly. There"s even a pungent smell on them as if they slept with the dead.

The woman snapped at the two people dazedly staring at her, "Aren"t you going to help me up?"

As if he received a new mission, Nik quickly helped her up. He felt the woman pulled him down when she started to get up, so he pulled harder for the woman to get up. But he was too forceful and caused the woman to fly into his embrace.

Nik smelled a fragrent scent coming from her neck and it somehow energized him. Something soft hit his chest and the blissful feeling made his face blush. He became embarra.s.sed and quickly pushed her away. Bartolome who was watching from the side had a teasing smile on his face.

When they separated, the woman had an astonished expression on her face. She glanced at Nik, then slowly walked away. Earlier, she tried pulling Nik down to embarra.s.s him but she was lifted instead. Nik basically pulled her up with a single pull. She was weighing herself and even pulled him but she still lost in the end. She walked away confused and would sometimes look back to Nik.

"Oh-hoh~ Looks like someone isn"t being honest with himself." Bartolome teased.

"I don"t understand what you mean."

Bartolome smirked then shouted towards the woman asking for her name. The woman just yelled back that she"s only interested to those who have money. Bartolome frowned then shook his head.

He said to Nik with a bit of disappointment, "So that"s your type? You better stay away from women like that. They"ll suck you dry before you know it. Listen from me, I"ve got the experience."

Nik replied, "Is that something to brag? And she"s not my type."

Bartolome didn"t reply and just smiled.

Just then, a familiar voice came from behind. "What are you guys talking about?"

Ni and Bartolome were startled and quickly turned around. When they saw that it was Jun, they sighed in relief and relaxed. Nik said, "Nothing, a weird woman just pa.s.sedby..."

Bartolome interrupted Nik"s awkward attempt to what should be his explanation and said, "There"s a hot chick at the drinking contest but our guy likes the high-end ones."

Nik glanced at him and stopped caring.

Jun tried to recall what drinking contest Bartolome meant, then he was reminded of Edward"s earlier question of whether he would be coming to this event. At that time, he said that he had to ask Marianne whether she wanted to but now, he can"t do that anymore.

He just managed to ease up but barely a few moments later, he was once again reminded that Marianne left. With a stale answer, he asked for Nik to get his card out then transferred 10,000 CP to him.

"Give it to the host, tell them to add that to prize list."

Jun was already planning to sponsor or atleast add a prize of his own to flex with Marianne but that doesn"t seem possible anymore. After transferring the amount, he left and headed back to the mall.

Nik and Bartolome looked at each other and had different thoughts in their mind. Nik was thinking that love was a scary thing when Bartolome suddenly said with s.h.i.+mmering eyes, "You could buy her after all."

Nik turned around in disgust and left the old man to himself. He went towards the host and gave the full amount as additional prize money. He didn"t told the host that it came from Black Haven since Jun didn"t specifically told him to do so. He just said that it was for everyone to have a good time.

Bartolome shook his head as he watched over Nik. "Sometimes smart, most of the time a fool. That"s better i guess." He saw the woman in plain s.h.i.+rt strike a conversation with Nik, so he decided to have fun on his own. He joined the little party behind the rows of table and mixed with the crowd. He moved his old body and followed the rhythm.

Sometimes, he would glance over Nik like a parent watching over their princess. He laughs every time that he saw Nik acting awkward but finally felt proud when Nik finally calmed down and managed to control the situation.

—

Jun smiled at everyone he met and went directly to his room. He slumped down his bed not due to physical exhaustion but mental fatigue. He was out the whole day, fighting for his life and when he safely got home, he learned that his other heart left. He grasped the sheets and rolled around. The sweet fragrance stayed on the bed and he couldn"t help but envoloped himself with it. 

"I love you..." Jun muttered as he sniffed the sheets.

"That"s creepy," the door made squeaking sounds as someone entered, "...and weird."

Jun didn"t feel embarra.s.sed since the voice was familiar. He got out of the sheet and sat down. Jun stared at Evo who was standing at the door, holding a bottle of alcohol.

Evo shook the liquor bottle in the air then said, "I heard you finally came back, so I stopped by."

Jun felt that Evo was acting weird. Evo wasn"t a good drinker and him being the one who brought  an alcohol bottle meant a lot of things. Basically, he only drinks were there"s a problem that he can"t do anything against.

"You know something right?" Jun said, then quickly stood up and got out bed. He stood infront of Evo while staring at him. "Tell me."

Evo stared back and said, "Its Carl."

[1] that backless one, or google it