Ah, shit. I called him Unc aloud.
As he reached me, he outstretched his hand.
"Unc?" He chuckled awkwardly, "I know I look a bit rough, but I'm not that old. I'm just 22."
My eyes widened, jaws literally dropping as I stared at him. Saliva might have dripped from my mouth. Unknowingly, of course. Not that it did.
22?
"22?" I asked, looking at his outstretched hand.
He nodded, his awkward smile still present as he scratched his cheek. "Yup. 22. I'm Gen Z."
"Pfft." I almost laughed out loud.
I held myself back, though. Barely.
He kept staring at me, then at his outstretched hand.
I, too, stared at him. And then his outstretched hand.
Suddenly, it clicked. "Oh!"
I shook my head.
A handshake.
I outstretched my hand too.
"The name's Marcus." He said, his signature deep dimple smile flashing on my face.
Turn off the light! It's too blinding.
We grasped hands. His hands were firm, calloused. Rough. All the words that signified one had been working for a long time. Hard labor, it seemed. Kinda like me.
"Dustin. But never call me that." I returned his smile with a tight-lipped smile of mine.
"Huh?" Unc raised a brow. "Why not?"
I should really stop calling him Unc.
"I hate the name," I said, my eyes darkening as my smile morphed into a bitter one.
But I still call myself that. Hahaha. I'm such a fool.
"Oh.. must be something personal. I won't ask you why. What should I call you then?"
I pondered, rolling my eyes as I–
Ah yes!
He can just call me what Jericho calls me.
"Duz," I replied.
"Okay, then. Nice to meet you, Duz."
"...Sure.."
He finally let go of my hand.
"You're a total beast, you know. What's with that strength? The way you killed those things so effortlessly, like you were... even I couldn't.." Marcus put a hand on his chin. "I really admire your strength. And you don't even look like someone who could do that. Is this what they call… sleeper build?"
That one made me chuckle.
I'm just underfed. With triple stats that's most likely returned to normal by now.
Oh, and I have three systems.
But there was no way I'd tell him that.
I put my steel pipe on my shoulder.
That act attracted his twinkling gaze.
"And that steel pipe. Your only weapon. It doesn't even look that solid. You killed those things with this? I barely kill 'em with my hammer."
I narrowed my eyes.
Not that solid?
This guy should learn to watch it.
No slandering my steel pipe.
I glanced at the pipe.
Although it is bent. Do I really have to replace it? What other weapon could I use?
A fucking hammer?
I let out a soft sigh.
"Hm?" Marcus looked toward the direction of the crowd.
I followed suit.
They had all crossed the bridge.
Looks like goody two-shoes over here achieved his dream.
Marcus smiled. Not that bright smile. A warm, pleased smile.
Then he turned toward me. "Where are you headed? A subway station?"
Huh?
"How'd you know?"
He chuckled. "C'mon, ain't that the number one spot in those apocalypse movies?"
"..."
He does have a point.
"So? Subway station?"
I shook my head slowly. "Nah, first I have to go find a guy I kn–"
My eyes widened.
Shit!
I totally forgot about Jericho!
"Ah, so you aren't coming with us?" Marcus asked, head tilted, a disappointed tone etched in his voice.
"No."
"Quite unfortunate. You're really strong. Having you with us will greatly improve our chances of survival. But I'm sure we'll see around. That's.. if I survive, haha.."
I like your self-awareness!
I smiled. "Yeah, we'll see around."
He nodded, walking toward his hammer, picking it up. Then walked toward the other three.
They were probably sleeping or something.
I immediately locked in, smile faded.
All the 'friendly energy' dissipated from my body instantly.
I breathed out a sigh of relief.
Extroverts…
I shook my head, looking at the other side of the bridge.
I have to find Jerry.
The moment I took a step, I..
No, I couldn't take another step. I froze.
My gaze found Marcus ahead of me.
It seemed he had frozen in place, too, as his eyes, simultaneously, found mine.
He knows.
Shit.
The reason we froze was that whistling sound.
The same one that echoed through the entire city before that black cloud appeared.
The only difference was that this whistling sound wasn't as loud.
It was almost nighttime now. The sun had set already. The skies were clear, devoid of the black clouds.
Is another black cloud gonna come?
Something tugged at my insides, rumbling within my belly. My throat knotted. I couldn't gulp down saliva.
And even with no source of heat present, sweat flooded my body instantly.
I tried to gulp. All to no avail.
The whistling sound finally ceased.
My body freed up.
What the fuck?
I turned. And so did Marcus.
My eyes widened, pupils shrank.
That same black mass. Except this one wasn't in the sky.
It formed just above the bridge, spinning violently. And within it, those violet streaks of lightning danced randomly.
It's that same thing.
I squinted my eyes. Something arose from within the swirling cloud.
A… hand?
No, it wasn't a hand. It was a claw. Black, wriggling, like it was made up of a thousand black maggots.
Another claw. One more, another, and another.
–Rip!
A sound, like that of a cloth being torn, echoed.
The black mass tore open.
"Duz…" Marcus called out, his voice slightly stuttering.
"Yeah?" I replied.
"Run!" He screamed.
"Huh?" I looked back at him with a deadpan expression.
Run?
Does this guy not know that I'm against the whole 'running away' from danger stuff now?
Eh, no way he'd know.
But I'm not missing out on a chance to gain more, higher Exp.
"No way," I replied, licking my lips.
From the torn cloud, those things crawled out.
The red status window flickered right at that moment.
And on top of all of them, I saw:
[Avendar. Tier 1 Reaper Grade Monster.]
I whistled, twirling my steel pipe.
"Reaper Grade."