Novel Full 148 Splitting tasks
“Exactly what you expect from those words,” Robert elaborated. “After the director died while trying to investigate the area where the zombies first appeared, that bitch cracked open the guy’s safe and pulled out the gun she threatens everyone with right now,” he explained.
“Right as the apocalypse started, huh?” Mathew reiterated the point that he found the most puzzling.
‘Is this another scheme of the beings behind the apocalypse?’ he suggested himself, conveniently showing all the responsibility for such an event on an entity that he couldn’t even prove existed.
‘But it wouldn’t make any sense otherwise. I know most of the office and corporation workers have psychotic tendencies due to the nature of their work, but not to a such degree!’ Mathew argued with himself, nearly going as far as to bite down on his fingernail in frustration.
Problems like that were a source of both Mathew’s excitement, as they could lead him to more knowledge about the apocalypse, but also annoyance, as it constantly reminded him how little he knew about it.
‘Did she get infected with a different type of virus? Is she steered by some evolved zombie? Or maybe she is actually an evolved zombie that specialized in mimicking humans?’
“Well, I won’t figure it out without learning more about the situation,” Mathew summed up out loud, shaking both his shoulders and then his head to regain focus.
“What’s the plan, then?” Daniel asked after patiently waiting for Mathew’s expressions to change, indicating the end of yet another of his internal bouts..
Even though the two had only known each other for slightly more than a day and a half, Daniel was quick to pick up the patterns behind Mathew’s behavior.
“I’m kind of tempted to try doing both things at once,” Mathew admitted, alternating his eyes between the doors and Robert’s face.
“Grinding down the zombies and taking control over the building?” Daniel asked just to make sure he was on the same page as the young man.
“Yeah.” Mathew nodded his head. “If we keep killing the zombies we will force them to make a move,” he stated while bringing out his hand only to point at the ceiling to indicate who he had on mind. “On the other hand, we could dedicate everyone’s time to control the upstairs, but that just feels like a waste of time,” Mathew admitted, the grimace that went up on his mouth showcased just how troubling this issue was for him.
“If it’s the case of disarming a gun newbie, then you can leave it to me,” Daniel stated, a confident smile emerging on his lips. He then raised his hand and patted himself on the right side of his chest, where his badge should be. “It might be a thing of the past, but I spent quite a long time on a battlefield,” he pointed out, the corners of his lips moving up even higher. “As such, I believe I’m the best fit for this mission.”
“That makes sense,” Mathew nodded his head. Faced with a vet-turned-policeman, he couldn’t help but admit the truth behind Daniel’s words.
After all, the other best choice from their group would be Nadia as she boasted the greatest agility of them all. Yet, just the fact that she was quick wouldn’t necessarily prove to outweigh the experience of a war veteran.
“Let’s do just that, then,” Mathew quickly came to a decision before stepping forward and placing his hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “I will leave Norbert with you,” he said only to close his eyes while still keeping his hand on the officer’s shoulder.
“Phui!” one of the girls to the back couldn’t stop her giggle.
‘I know it has to look comical,’ Mathew thought, more than aware how it would look for someone of his posture to pat a former policeman twice his weight and one and a half his height on the shoulder. ‘Just put up with it, brother,’ he told himself, swallowing his shame as he focused on the task.
“Did you hear it?” Mathew asked, his eyes still closed.
“Yup,” Norbert wasted no time replying, only making Mathew worry about the safety of their surrounding.
“Then you know what, before we begin, I want you to do a full sweep of the area,” Mathew suddenly proposed, putting their plans at a momentary halt.
“Is… is this really necessary?” Norbert asked with a doubtful voice. “It’s not like there is anyone with a system in this building beside us,” he pointed out.
“And besides an insane woman with a shotgun,” Mathew pointed out on a counter. “And no matter how strong we got from the systems, I doubt we could stop a slug with a far. A bullet would penetrate our skin the same way it would go through the body of someone without a system.’
Mathew couldn’t be sure whether his words were correct. After all, there was a chance they grew strong enough not to fear a bullet striking them anywhere but their vitals.
Yet, the opposite also could be true. Only a proper set of testing could shed some light on the issue, yet the risks and potential costs of conducting such a test were regretfully way above the price Mathew was willing to pay.
“Daniel will be able to deal with her,” Norbert said without even a shred of doubt. “I once saw him get attacked in the bar. Three assassins approached him from the back. And then…”
“And then he killed them all with a pencil,” Mathew replied in a calm voice, spoiling the backstory of a certain move that Norbert was clearly trying to play off as Daniel’s work. “With a fucking pencil!” he added, repeating the exact lines from the movie.
“That’s…” Norbert hesitated. “Only slightly removed from the truth,” he then added, clearly taking his time to sort his thoughts to avoid embarrassment. “It wasn’t a pencil but a chair,” he then added in a relaxed manner as if he just announced the type of dish everyone would have for dinner.
“Huh?” Mathew opened his eyes, so shocked that he forgot he had to keep them closed to converse with the ghostly version of his ally. “Wait,” he shook his head to the sides before closing his eyes again. “That was for real?”
“I would rather if you didn’t discuss my past like that,” Daniel interjected in the discussion while reaching out, grabbing Mathew’s hand and then shaking it a little to pull him out of a conversation with Norbert.
“And there it goes, his tsundere side,” Norbert giggled right before Daniel’s shaking forced Mathew to cut the discussion and open his eyes.
“Well then, for how surprising that was, I can’t say it’s a knowledge unwelcome,” the young man stated with a small, still confused smile.
“Should I wait, then?” Daniel asked, shaking off the slight blush from his cheeks before casting a curious glance at Mathew’s face.
“Feel free,” the young man replied with a shake of his shoulders. “Happy hunting, both of you,” he added when the officer turned around and headed down the darkness of the hall.
Even though the sun was still high in the sky, this particular part of the building somehow ended with only a few windows, all of which were located in the three areas where the main hall intersected with the subsidiary corridors.
Mathew turned his head back towards Robert and the rest of his group once he could no longer see Daniel’s back in the darkness of the hall.
“With that said, how about we go back to the job?” Mathew suggested, nodding his head towards the bloodied area of the doors.
“Excuse me…” Robert muttered and reluctantly raised his hand before anyone could answer Mathew’s call. “But is that guy going to be fine?” he asked before averting his eyes. “I don’t doubt your power, but how’s he supposed to deal with someone armed and constantly aiming at the only two points of entry to the room?”
Robert shook his head.
“And now that I ran away, that bitch is even more likely to be on her guard,” he added only to end up lowering his head in what could only be a silent apology.
“You don’t need to worry about him,” Mathew replied with a small, genuine smile. “He used to serve in the army. And from what I heard, he is quite the man,” Mathew added, cursing the idea of praising another male right in front of his own, small harem.
Yet, Mathew wouldn’t be himself if he didn’t follow a set of rules he found fitting for his lifestyle. And giving credit where credit was due, was one of those rules.
“Then the rest of you are going to go out and kill the zombies?” Robert asked, leaning his head to the side. “Isn’t that… dangerous?”
Mathew could only smile in response to the question.
“Of course it’s dangerous,” Mathew said as a lenient smile appeared on his lips. “But we are putting ourselves in danger now so that we can be in a lesser danger in the future!”