Fletcher was going through Will’s diary again to see if he missed anything when someone knocked on the door.

“Come in” Fletched said in a steady tone.

Olivia walked in and stood there rooted to the ground.

“Are you afraid of me?”

Olivia didn’t know how to answer.

“Answer me” Fletcher repeated with a voice full of authority.

“Yes” Olivia answered instinctively.

“That’s good to hear, but you don’t have to, as long as you are honest with me” Fletcher had to put her at ease to get the information he wanted, “Do you know why I called you here?”

“No” Olivia answered showing a puzzled expression.

“I have some questions that only you can answer”

Olivia stared in confusion.

“Do you know why your fiancé was collecting zombie cores for the military?

“For the reward” Olivia answered straight away.

“What reward are you talking about?” Fletcher asked intrigued by what he heard.

“All I know is that it’s a device that can help awakened get stronger, and Jack wanted it badly, after all, Jack had a bright future ahead of him as an awakened, I remember when Jack awakened his ability a lot of people approached him, especially the military they were quite persistent, but Jack always refused them, this was the sentiment of a lot of the other awakened as well in the base, joining the military meant you had to give up your freedom and risk your life on dangerous missions, but later that changed when the military posted a reward that enticed the reluctant awakened, those who didn’t buckle like Jack were given another choice, to exchange a certain amount of cores for it, and that’s why jack formed the group two month ago”

“Well my sweet Olivia, you were of great help to me again, just like last time, without you. Jack wouldn’t have gone down so easily, and I appreciate the fact that you didn’t spill the beans back then”

Olivia felt sick to her stomach knowing that she had a hand in the death of everyone, if only she trusted her friends and fiancé, none of this would have happened.

“I must reward you for your contributions, speak what do you want?”

“I don’t want anything”

“well that’s too bad, are you sure this is a rare opportunity, well how about you think about it, and tell me later”

'What is this sick bastard thinking, does he seriously think that I would take a reward for causing my friend's and fiancé's deaths' Olivia thought.

“You can leave now” Fletcher said.

***

Somewhere on the north side of the city.

Ray and Brian carefully made their way through the city, they avoided zombies skillfully and covered a good distance on foot.

"Ray I just wanted to tell you this as friends, I will go back to the base, that man is a crazy psychopath," Brian said begrudgingly

"Come on are you going to abandon me, when I need you the most" Ray pleaded.

"Then come with me, we can find someone at the base to help us rescue your sister and the others" Brian felt guilty, ray saved his life before when a zombie almost bit him, that's how they became close friends, he could not leave his friend in good conscience.

"Tell me, do you honestly think someone would be so generous to come and save us? you saw what that guy is capable of" Ray said dejectedly.

"At least we should fucking try, we can't let that crazy lunatic do whatever he wants" Brian lashed out.

"I agree with you but not right now, we'll wait for our opportunity to come, and then we will strike back" Ray knew that it was just a pipe dream but he needed to convince Brian to stay otherwise their mission would fail and his sister will be in danger.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

The two of them decided to stick together and finish their mission.

After they rested they continued their search, and to their luck, they spotted some people searching a pharmacy store, it was a group of five people, and after they filled their bags, they left the place, needless to say, Ray and Brian followed them discreetly, after a while, they arrived in front of a hotel.

"This seems to be where they are staying, based on the number of people going in and out, they must be a large scavenger group, we should be careful not to get detected," Ray said to Brian in a low voice.

***

A few hours later.

The two observed the building for a while, from what they could gather at least 50 people, went in and out, this means that a group of this size was commanded by more than one awakened.

Inside the royal sweet of the hotel

A man and two women interlocked in some steamy play, with moans of pleasure filling the room, mixed with heavy and rough breathing, suddenly the door opened and a man with a huge frame walked in unannounced.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, sir, Lester spotted something"

The girls screamed and covered themselves with the sheets.

"What the fuck, Luke can’t you at least knock, you see I'm busy here" The man pushed the two women off him, got out of the bed, and put on his robe and glasses.

“I apologize sir, but this is urgent,” the man said unemotionally

“At least pretend you mean it” Jayson clicked his tongue, clearly annoyed

“So what is so urgent?” Jayson asked clearly bothered.

"We have some unwanted guests, two people have been watching the hotel for a while now" Luke reported.

"Is that it? you’re interrupting my fun time, for a small matter like that, just handle it yourself" Jayson said in disappointment.

“But last time, you specifically said to inform you of anything out of the ordinary” Luke replied matter-of-factly.

Jayson didn’t have the energy to explain things again to this thick-skulled man “Fine, did you make the preparations”

"Yes, how do you want me to handle them?" Luke asked.

“For fuck sake Luke, just capture them alive, if they try to run kill them" Jayson ordered casually.

Luke nodded his head and left the room

“Now, ladies where were we?” Jayson dropped his robe and jumped into bed.

Meanwhile few Blocks away from the hotel.

Ray and Brian were still keeping watch on the hotel, Brian held a pair of binoculars surveying the place, he happened to look at the alleyway behind the hotel when he saw some silhouettes moving through the dark shadows, he immediately dropped the binoculars on the ground.

“OH, SHIT!!!” shouted in panic.

Ray who was taking a nap next to him was startled awake by the commotion,

“What is it, Brian?” Ray asked while rubbing his eyes.

“We’re fucked, we’ve been made” Brian explained his voice filled with urgency.

“Are you sure?” Ray asked again still not grasping the seriousness of the situation.

“Yes, we need to leave right now!” Brian said reaffirming

“Okay, I’ll get my things” Ray reached for his backpack.

“There is no time just leave it” Brian said realizing there was no time left.

Ray and Brian hurried out of their hideout running at full speed, they were on the seventh floor so they had to go down the stairs as fast as possible, but as soon as they reached the fourth floor, they could hear people coming up the stairs.

Both of them looked at each other and could see the look of helplessness.

“There is only one way, I'll stall them, you must get back to the camp without me,” Ray said with a determined look.

“What are you talking about, I can’t leave you here!” Brian said with a puzzled look on his face.

Ray grabbed Brian by the shoulder “Listen to me we don’t have much time, you’re the only one who can get away, you have the skills to go down the building, trust me”

“But…” Brian was hesitant to leave.

The sounds were getting closer and closer, they were almost on the second floor.

“GO!” Ray Shouted.

Brian entered the fourth floor and went through the hallways, he tried the doors until he found one open, he made his way to the window and started climbing down the building skillfully, this was child play for Brian who was an avid parkour enthusiast.

Ray got the attention of the people chasing him, and went back up the stairs, to try and gain as much time as possible for his friend to run away.

“There he is!!” One of their chasers shouted.

“Stop right there” the pursuers shouted and chased Ray up the stairs.

on the outside of the building

Brian just made it down, when an arrow pierced through his shoulder, he looked in terror and could see in the corner of his eyes, the head of the arrow sticking out of his left shoulder.

“ AHH, Fuck, Fuck” he instinctively reached to grab the arrow, and felt a jolt of pain, from the slightest movement.

Another arrow whizzed by his head, barely missing him by a few millimeters.

Brian flinched and started running in panic, although the arrow was still lodged in his arm, his body was full of adrenaline, so he was able to run unhindered by it, he could hear people running after him, and he tried his best to lose them relying on his impressive free running skills.

Somehow Brian managed to evade capture, after hours of running, and walking, and running again, he finally made it back to the camp.