Adam was pretty sure the boy was not dead. After the System message had rang out that the first horde was repelled, Adam saw the boy climbing up on top of the train and lying down. Perhaps the man was tired of fighting all by himself. Adam felt pretty sad thinking about what the boy who was of such a young age had to go through in these troubling times. People did not seem to bother the man that much. They had all heard about the man’s achievements. It would be a shame to disturb a hero.

They had been warned not to go near the train tracks. Partly, because the monsters of the horde would come out from there and partly because there was a nasty rumor that was floating about in the subway station. The instigator of the rumor was a man named Anthony, who seemed to love telling everyone that the man on top of the train was a robber, a murderer, and other shameful things which would make people's skin crawl. Most people chose not to believe him though, but those who did believe in those rumors also chose to veer away from the train tracks lest they lose their lives to a homicidal maniac.

Adam was the group leader and was responsible for a large group of people. On the second day, they had finally managed to get their hands on two safe rooms that could accommodate their large size. Adam had his own story card for the times when the System's protection would not help them but for the time being but he preferred the System’s protection more. If worst came to worst, he would probably use it to save people. Adam really wanted to talk to the man lying on top of the train but decided to be a good Samaritan instead and let the latter rest. Perhaps after a few hours, he would go and have a chat with him.

It was a few hours later, that Adam decided to go and have a chat. He was pretty sure that the man would not mind being woken up. He went towards the train tracks despite the warnings of everybody around him. Adam had to reassure all the people that even if he died, they would manage to avenge him. Adam had such a persuasive tone that most people did not really bother him very much after that. Adam was pretty sure that the probability of him being killed outright, just for talking to the man was near impossible. Adam felt that his story card was somewhat making him appear more friendly and making his interactions easier but that might just have been a trick his mind was playing on him.

The space between the two trains looked like it was a slaughter house, like someone had taken a chainsaw and butchered everything they could get their hands on. Apart from monster bodies, there was shrapnel of swords and splinters of broken hilts scattered everywhere. Weirdly enough, there was not a single dent on the exterior of the trains. The smell of crimson was pungent and the once pristine white trains were splattered with blood. It was not visible from the outside but the man really was a beast. How had he been able to kill so many of them at once. It was a question whose answer Adam would probably not get this time. Adam climbed up the train just like he had seen the man do. It was surprisingly difficult.

He nudged the man awake and gave him the best smile he possibly could. The first impression went a long way after all. Also, Adam wanted to appear as harmless as possible. If the man in front of him felt any sort of danger, Adam was sure his head would fly up above the sky and no one would be able to do anything

“Hi there mate! I am Adam, care to have a chat”

“Chat?” The man said, his eyes still bleary from the sleep he had gotten. Perhaps the man had not slept for a long time, the concept seemed to be mostly unknown to him. Suddenly Adam felt something flow near him. He couldn’t explain it but as soon as he felt the flow rise up, it died down instantly. The man who was once bleary eyed looked wide awake, alert to everything that went on. Adam concluded that maybe the man had done something with his Arkana flow. That did not seem impossible

“Sure man I can have a chat…I am Ark” The man spoke softly and yet each of his words had a distinct cadence to it

“Like Noah’s one?” Adam decided to break the ice. Honestly, he had just decided to have a chat without any plan in mind. Originally, he had planned to talk to him about the monster massacre down the train tracks or what had happened in the first scenario. Every possibility that came to mind, Adam dismissed immediately. Something told him talking about such stuff was a surefire way of him losing a potential ally. But now he had no idea what to say to the man at all.

“Noah’s Ark! Hah Hah” The man started laughing. It was to that extent that two drops of tears fell down onto the hard surface of the train. Soon Ark seemed to compose himself.

“Sorry Sorry, I have not heard that for quite a long time now you know…what with all that fighting…” The man…no Ark sighed as he looked blankly at the train tracks. He continued to speak

“My grandfather used to call me that…but I am rambling right now. Most people who talk to me usually talk about fighting and stuff so it is a breath of fresh air to talk about something else, you know”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Ah! I understand the feeling. I hate it when people continue to talk about the things I hate the most. Before all this happened I used to have a job. All the people would talk about the latest soccer match and stuff. I had no clue what they were talking about most of the time…but that is a matter for another time...What are you doing here Ark? I see no green squares”

“Ah! That’s because I am sitting on one…The monsters are another reason though…I have to kill all of them when they come out”

“Monsters? Why…I don’t understand…Why do you have to kill them? Are you not safe when you are sitting in the safe room itself?” Adam broke off to let Ark continue on

“You are the leader of a group, right? The strongest out of all of them?” Ark spoke all of a sudden. It was not surprising that Ark would know all of that. He seemed to be the strongest so perhaps, his perception stat allowed him to deduce that

“Err…Yes?” Adam could not deny the truth. He really was the strongest out of all of them except for maybe Ark himself. He still could not measure how strong the latter was.

“It is the same thing for me…I am the strongest one here and when you are strong you kind of have a duty to protect people right?”

“Ah!…” Adam could finally understand what was going through Ark's head when he went ahead alone to fight the monsters. Adam decided not to ask him how he became so strong. That was not important at the moment. Ark seemed to have the same beliefs as Adam himself. If you were strong, why wouldn’t you protect the weak?

“I used to hate my job you know…used to hate people too but when all of these occurred" Adam gestured with both his hands "...there was a single mother with a child…and then there were the monsters…I don’t even know what happened. My body moved on its own and here we are...I honestly wish I was stronger to protect those people”

“I understand…It must have been tough for you…to lead all those people. To ensure that not a single one of them would die?” Adam knew that if it came out of anyone else's mouth, he would never have believed them, but when Ark said that he understood what that felt like, Adam knew that it was the truth. Ark seemed not to tell any lies, wearing his heart on his sleeve. If only people got close to him, they could probably see it but most people were afraid to approach someone so strong

“Yeah!… Well, we are all safe till the next day, aren’t we? You managed to kill off the entire horde so the people don't have to worry about their survival anymore. I sometimes wonder though... Let’s not talk about that…Tell me, Ark, why do you wear these” Adam pointed at the blood stained blue robes that Ark was wearing. According to Adam, they looked ridiculous but he couldn't just say that to his face

It was for the second time that Ark started laughing, “It is not really much, my grandfather used to restrict me a lot when I was younger, control what I could wear and stuff like that and then I got independent. I could wear whatever the hell I wanted. These seemed like the most comfortable choice" Ark took one look at Adam's mostly proper poker face and promptly decided to defend himself "I really like these clothes okay?…They are…comfortable…to fight in”

Adam burst out laughing, “Sorry Sorry! They sure are comfortable.” There was some unspoken rule which did not allow Adam to ask about the fight earlier or how Ark used to be in his past. And yet they talked about random things for over an hour. When all was said and done, Adam felt like he had made a worthwhile friend.

“Last thing though mate, if you need help, just holler at me ya? I have a pretty neat ability. I could help you out if you wanted it” Adam knew that in such troubling times, it was almost sacrilegious to share his personal Story card but he felt that Ark could be trusted. Ark had not hidden anything from him yet and talked with him comfortably. The entire time, they had been talking, Ark always seemed like a person who knew a lot more than they let on. Adam was curious how a young man such as Ark knew so much about these kinds of things. That was a question for later though

“My card lets me cast a safe room around me” Adam shared this without any hesitation. Ark would have secrets of his own too. Probably, he would never share it with Adam, but according to him, if any hint of information could help Ark protect all those people, then disclosing his private information was worth it

“That could certainly come in handy on the fourth or fifth day…I will keep you in mind then.” Ark seemed to think for a moment before saying something “When we get to the third scenario, maybe I will tell you about my story card too…You are a good man Adam. You are a good friend too”

Adam smiled at that. It was reassuring that, just as Adam now saw Ark as a friend, the latter reciprocated his feelings too.

“Hah! Keep at it then… I’ll be off, got to see the folks now. They will be worried sick”

“See you around” And that was the start of a beautiful friendship.

Three days continued on like that. Each day, a new problem would arise but Adam and his group managed to keep everyone in check. Perhaps there would be a shortage of food and people had to go out of the safe rooms to gather them or perhaps there would be some people threatening the safe rooms of one another. Adam only had to remind that he was friends with Ark and that people stopped talking about bloody murder. No matter what they did though, one thing always seemed to be constant. During the three days that went by without a hitch, not a single monster had managed to make it past Ark. The people of the subway station were grateful for that.

They had become complacent and complacency led to death, as any good adventurer would tell you. The people of the subway station became alert when they heard Ark shout out for the first time in three days. There seemed to be a problem

“Adam! Get ready. The Horde is going to attack.”