"He is coming, get ready!" Rich said in a half-whisper, leaning back behind the corner.

"Told you the coward will try to run immediately," Mark agreed.

He predicted the gate he would leave, and also that he would most likely attempt to run the moment his talk with Marcus was over.

Lin steeled her nerves, and prepared herself to stop him should he refuse to give up the stolen items.

A nod from Mark served as their signal, and the six of them stepped out.

"Marcus gave you a choice to join our shelter… you refused… I'll offer you a different one, and I hope you choose differently. Or else…"

Join the shelter? Wasn't he a thief?

"You either leave all your unjustly obtained items with us, or we will beat them out of you. Don't worry though, unless you do something stupid, nothing truly bad will happen to you,"

But where would he go? It's suicide to go out there alone.

Rina leaned into Mark and whispered something to his ear, and from her expression, it wasn't anything good.

Lin never liked Rina. Before the Apocalypse, everyone believed that she was sleeping with Mark, but because no one wanted to confront their boss about the ethics of having sex with his secretary, they pretended not to notice. Now it got worse. After the Apocalypse, Rina leveraged her position and became his right hand.

"I don't want any trouble, but I need my stuff," He said in a shaky tone, "I could let you have my new cloak. It was over a hundred blue ash, would that be a fair compensation to solve our conflict and part ways?"

"Bullshit!"

Why is he yelling? Lin wondered. This whole situation felt off.

"Shut it, Rich. I remember looking at that cloak yesterday. He is telling the truth," Rina berated him in her annoying I am superior tone.

"Interesting, tell you what, that cloak, and the flying ball of lightning. Give me those, and we'll call ourselves even. How does that sound?"

What? She looked at Mark with confusion in her eyes.

Didn't he steal something, why does this look like extortion? She looked around, and both Pete and Matt were just as confused as her.

"Ok, ok. If I do that, will you really let me go?" the guy said. His face was mostly hidden under the cowl of his mantle, but she could make a four-day stubble showing on his sharp chin.

"Yes, you have my word," Mark said with a business-like smile.

That bastard! Those were the exact same words he said to her a year ago when she asked for a promotion. Of course, she never got one. There was always some issue and later he promoted that slut instead.

From Receptionist to Secretary and then to Cleaning manager, what a joke.

"Rich, bring it up, and you take a few steps back… don't try anything stupid."

She watched as he crouched down, placed the card on the ground, and stepped back.

Rich walked to it and bent to pick it up…

"Hey! He… he switched it!" The man yelled out, "I saw him hide it in his deck and pull out a different card!"

What a dumbass, Lin thought.

Rich worked as their Chief of security and was the typical asshole. Always boosting among the other guys about how much he drank or with whom he slept last. Though to be fair, she didn't expect him to try something this stupid.

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"Wha?"

"Rich, did you really think…"

"I didn't boss, I swear…"

Could he…

"One of you is lying to me, and I don't like to be lied to. Lin, do it," Mark suddenly said, making her flinch but follow his order.

Dominating shout.

"On the ground, now!"

Ever since she gained a card for five extra Willpower, her main ability could stop a Rothound, so the moment it hit Rick, she felt it crush his pitiful defense like an egg and force him to obey, but as it passed through the unknown man, her eyes widened in fright.

His mind felt like an impenetrable wall. She tried dominating the Alpha yesterday, and its defenses felt minuscule in comparison.

"Shit! Kill him, now!" Mark yelled, and a lightning bolt arced from the sky, hitting his head, and momentarily blinding everyone around him.

Hearing a wet thump, she turned to the side, and to her growing horror saw Pete collapse with a thin dagger in the back of his neck.

What is happening?

Something blurred through the air, hitting Matt in the thigh, and before she fully refocused on the man, there was a quickly approaching shimmer in the air, and flying straight against them. That shimmer caught both Matt's Flame blast and Rina's Necrotic Gale, shattering itself, but dispersing both of their abilities.

Lucas stepped out from his hiding spot, his right hand facing the man's head, and used his Rock Lance that zipped through the air and hit the guy's neck. The crunch of shattering bones made her wince as she watched his head jerk to the side.

Thank god it's over.

She was about to join Rina who was checking up on Mark, but the guy only stretched his neck and turned toward them.

With dread, she realized, it was the Lance that shattered, not his spine.

What should I do… my ability doesn't work, and I have only…

He did a move akin to a golf swing and crushed Rick's head like a melon. Following that, he frowned at the mess on his boots, but very soon after looked toward them.

Not seeing any threat, he turned left to face Lucas.

Suddenly, with a sickening squelch, the thin dagger flew out of Pete's dead body, oriented itself toward Rina, and before she could say a word sunk to the hilt between her ribs. It repeated the same robotic motion of flying out and stabbing in again, and again, and again, and…

A loud crunch made her jerk back, seeing the man's club buried half a foot into the brick wall barely missing Lucas's chest. How he did that, she had no idea, and she wasn't in a state to ponder that, because after a nasty punch to Lucas's head, his horrifying figure turned to her.

"Please, don't. I… I am sorry," Lin stammered between sobs. She didn't expect any compassion, but what else was she meant to do?

"You are Lin?"

"Mhm," she desperately nodded her head, hoping that knowing her name would make him less likely to kill her.

"Tell me, Lin. Why did you try to kill me?" His rough voice was filled with anger and accusation, making her shiver.

"I," she desperately thought of what to say.

"We didn't mean to. Mark… he told us that you stole from the shelter and we…"

Looking at Mark's burned head and the pool of blood all around Rina made her lose the last bit of composure. "Oh God," falling to the ground, her body was wracked with loud sobs.

"Hey, Lin! You should help that one before he bleeds out," he suddenly yelled in a commanding tone, making her peek out from the position she tucked herself in.

"Lin, you should also let Marcus know what happened here and what Mark was trying to do. And don't try to make up some lies, you tried to kill me, failed, and paid the price."

Nodding, she stumbled to Matt, who was passed out, and did her best to dress the wound and stop the bleeding. He was lucky, because the projectile hit the side of his thigh, tearing through the muscle, but missing the artery.

The man walked further away into the city filled to the brim with freshly respawned undead and showed not a single care.

Looking back, she moved to Mark and inspected his body. Yes, he was dead, and there was nothing she could do. Moving on to Rina, it was obvious that she was also dead, but she noticed her clutching something in her left hand.

What is she? Forcing her fist open, she cursed out loud.

"That fucking bitch!" Thinking about the way she died, it was quite likely that she got poetic justice.

If the man thought she was trying to help Mark and targeted her because of it, he couldn't have been more wrong. She was actually stealing Mark's magical necklace that somehow significantly sped up his self-healing, likely killing him in the process.

This crazy cocktail of emotions she experienced in the last couple of minutes broke something deep inside her, and she stood up after prying the strange item from Rina's grasp.

"Fuck you, Rina, you finally got what you deserved," she kicked her motionless body between her ribs, "and fuck you too Mark. Here is the promotion I always deserved!"

She tied the necklace around her neck and got back to work. There were many more useful items to be had, and she was the only one fit for the job.

Let's see if those boots fit…