Upon seeing those people, John became alert. He didn't know if those two would do something, so he remained silent and moved slowly towards them. When he approached, one of them stood up and pointed a gun at John, who froze, not knowing what to do. He just raised his hands.
— No, leave him — said the other man. His voice was calm, and he spoke in a welcoming tone, despite his voice making him seem younger.
The other man put away his gun, as he was told. The man who was sitting in the chair stood up and walked a little away from John, turning his face towards him. John looked back; the man was shorter than him, about 16 centimeters, and he gestured to John, who followed him out of the cinema.
Now, with the light from one of the lamps that still worked in the place, John saw the face of this man, who, in reality, was very young. His shoulders were more rounded, indicating that he hadn't reached adulthood yet. He was wearing a red blazer and black jeans, with branded shoes; basically, a rich kid.
— So, how long have you been here? — the young man asked, deducing the time he had been there.
— Why would I tell you? — John replied imposingly.
— Ha ha, no need to play tough guy now, dude... But okay, if you don't want to tell, I can't do anything — He spoke in a carefree manner.
— Anyway, it seems I can't do much about you, but I can help you with one thing... — he said, trying to pique John's curiosity.
— And what would that be? — John replied as expected by the kid.
— A place to sleep. I can give you that — He offered this to John, which sounded very kind.
— Don't say anything, if you want to come with us, just follow me. OH MORBIUS!
A man with gray, stitched skin came out of the cinema, looking like one of the undead, but he reasoned like a person, which was even more frightening.
— Yes, sir? — Morbius asked.
— Let's go — He said, and Morbius replied:
— Okay, sir.
The two started walking through the streets, John observed them, and Morbius, by his attire, seemed to be a butler. He was holding a shotgun in his hand, the same one he had pointed at John's face.
"Are they really trustworthy?" John thought. "From the way that kid talked, probably not. Besides, he has a more powerful gun than mine, the chances of them doing something bad to me are too high, and the fact that the kid made that offer to me so carelessly makes him even more suspicious... But on the other hand, they might be useful to me. There's a slim chance they know where Lisa is. If that's the case, maybe I'll hit the jackpot, or she might be with them too. All this time, she shouldn't have come to me because of the danger the city is in now. She had nothing to defend herself, and her boxing training wasn't even 2 years old. She didn't learn much, and I've seen that many of these things can't be hurt by human hands. That's even more worrying."
John looked at his pistol and finally made up his mind.
Morbius and the kid heard accelerated footsteps coming from behind them.
— So, you've decided? — The kid asked rhetorically.
The kid glanced at John briefly, and John realized he was being observed, the kid was just observing John's body, the clothes he wore, the items he carried, just that, John became uncomfortable with this gaze.
— Try anything funny and I'll put you in the devil's lap — John replied with some immaturity.
— Ooh, scary...! — The kid joked.
The two continued walking through the city, for some reason, everything was very quiet, which made John suspicious, and he already had his gun unlocked, just in case something happened, but so far, nothing, but even so, he didn't lower his guard, because those two could be plotting something against John, which made these two more unpredictable.
The trio was walking through the city, the streets were completely deserted. There wasn't even a monster in sight or a person besides the three, but that wasn't a reason to relax. The silence could be fatal, after all, it's a post-apocalyptic world, and anything can happen.
The butler looked at John and started trying to make conversation with him.
— So... What are you looking for? — He said.
— Huh...? — John didn't pay attention to what he had said.
— I just asked what you're looking for — Morbius repeated.
— How do you know that? — John asked.
— It seems you haven't noticed his capabilities yet — The kid intervened.
— Is this thing intelligent, by any chance? — John asked.
— I'd rather you called me "monster" than "thing", it's less offensive — The "monster" replied.
— Okay, then. Monster! — John replied, with a tone of prejudice.
— That's better — Morbius said.
— Answering your question, yes, he is intelligent, very intelligent. You could say he's a new Nikola Tesla, to see how much of a genius he is.
— Tesla, eh? You've messed with electricity? — John asked.
— Basically, my body runs on it — Morbius replied.
John was impressed with this; he looked for his notebook to jot down about this discovery. This one, this time, was like a pocket book; he leaves one in some of his clothes, in case he loses the other, like what happened in his burning house. This one, he had really kept in his pocket; he took it out and opened it.
On one of the pages, there was a pen stored, and he started to write about the butler.
"His name is Morbius, and he's a 'intelligent' monster, his skin is pale like a corpse, and he's full of scars on his face. When I say intelligent, he really is; he walks like a normal human, talks like a normal human, and even uses weapons. I still don't know much about him, but I notice that he's really intelligent. Somehow, he knows who I'm looking for. I can't trust him for now; he's still one of those disgusting and nasty things I've seen for almost 4 years. If these bastards try to do something to me, it'll be certain death."
They stopped walking in the middle of a large gate, with several fences on the sides, pure steel fences, and through the gaps, you could see a large, spacious area, full of trees, with lots of nature. The trees were big and hydrated, their leaves didn't fall easily from their branches, and it seemed they wouldn't fall easily.
Further on, in the depths of this large terrain, you could see a mansion, a noble place, where a rich person would live. The environment was well-lit, obviously powered by generators, there was very little left of the city's electricity, and it probably wouldn't be enough to sustain that mansion.
The butler started to unlock the gate, which was wrapped in chains and a padlock. He opened it for the kid to pass, and he entered the terrain, while the butler gestured to John, extending his arm with his hand signaling for him to enter, and he saw John's face. He was in a state of shock; that house had put him in some kind of trance.
The butler was shouting and shouting to get his attention, but nothing made him focus on it. John started to sweat cold, and his breathing became labored, making him hear voices.
— STOP! STOP! — A woman said, crying.
John snapped back to reality and saw that the butler was still shouting at him. John questioned him.
— Why are you shouting in my ear?! — John asked.
— It's just that you were standing there for a while... Are you okay, sir? — The butler worried.
— Don't worry, I'm fine — John replied, while quickening his pace towards the gate, keeping his head down, looking at the ground.