Jake traced the path of the arrow. He saw a large group of men standing close to the exit point. One of them, a fifty-year-old man, was holding a bow, still bent from the arrow he just shot.

"Frank, did u get it?" A young man in the middle of the group said.

"Yes, young master. I never miss my shot, just like sperm."

....

Upon hearing his attendant's reply, the young master's face twitched. It wasn't helpful when he saw the expressions of those he saved. They were blank.

With a cough, the young master hinted at Frank, "Cough, Cough. Frank be serious."

Frank humbly replied, "Yes, young master."

Meanwhile, Jake was lamenting his life choices, "Why am I always saved by idiots?" He sadly sighed, "It seems like I am a magnet for fools."

Jaya looked at her savior. He was clothed in what looked like expensive clothes, so she knew he had to be the head of the group of men.

She sincerely thanked him, "Thank you for saving me. I wouldn't be alive without your men's help." She bowed as she once again said, "Thank you."

Going with the flow the rest of the trio also thanked.

Lola bowed and said, "Thank you."

Nico said, "Thank you, fellow brother."

Lola sighed at her twin brother. She thought, 'You just met. So, how is he your brother? Don't get all warmly on him'

Sometimes, she just couldn't understand her brother's thought process.

Jake nodded at the young master, indicating his thanks, 'Technically, he didn't save me. He saved them, but whatever.'

Receiving their thanks, the young master swiftly said, "Save that for later."

It made the trio and Jake realize that they were still within the forest.

The young master charismatically shouted to his men, "Attack!"

...And like that the group was saved.

...

Outside the zombie mine, on the field.

It was three minutes after Jake's group met the young master. It took three minutes for his men to clear up the zombie horde.

Jake marveled at the skills of the young master's group. Each of them possessed enough strength to break a zombie's head with just a punch and they were equipped with all types of weapons. Their attacks left holes in the trees. Jake reckoned that they could deliver at least a force of one thousand pounds..... Not to talk of the young master and his attendant.

Those two had exceeded the limits of humans; there had to be a secret behind their strength.

Wielding a broadsword, the young master effortlessly split apart ten zombies in a row. He even split the trees.

Watching their movements, Jake discerned that the attendant was stronger than the young master just by a little. Jake had to admit that the well-aged man could still kick it at such an old age. His arrows were fast and deadly, evidence of proper training and diligence. Every one of his shots marked the death of a zombie. Sometimes, one-shot marked the death of five zombies.

While this prowess was nothing to the previous Jake, the current him was nowhere close to that. The current Jake could not even break apart a zombie's head. He was utterly pathetic. The only comfort he could find was that the trio(Nico, Lola, and Jaya) were as pathetic as him.

There they were in the young master's tent.

After he saved them, his men built tents on the open field outside the barrier.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Inside the tents were the young master, his attendants, and a few warriors, the trio, and Jake. The warriors guarded the tent, while the attendant stood behind his young master. The rest of them were sitting.

After a minute or two of arranging themselves, the young master quickly got to business, "Allow me to introduce myself. I am the young master of the Elliot family. Gavin Elliot."

'So he is really a young master,' thought Jake.

As the established leader of the group of three, Jaya said, "I am Jaya."

She pointed at the twins, "This is my friend Lola and her twin brother Nico."

Pointing at Jake, she said, "and this is….." She tried recollecting Jake's name but to no avail.

One minute later, Gavin said, "This is…..."

Another minute later, Jaya said "This is…." this time she was hinting at Jake to introduce himself, as she remembered that she didn't know his name.

While this was going on, the reason for the confusion was sleeping soundly and quietly, he had had a rough night.

It was only after Lola who was close to him nudged him that he woke up.

Jake said, "What? What? Oh, me. I'm Jake."

Going straight to the point, Gavin asked with a hint of authority, "Now, with all the introductions gone, can you tell me what you were doing in the zombie mines."

Lola was confused, she asked, "Zombie mine? You mean the forest?"

Gavin calmly answered, "Yes, the forest."

Scratching his head, Nico asked, "Why is it called zombie mine? Shouldn't it be a zombie forest?"

Gavin twitched as he replied, "Well, it was always called zombie mine."

He didn't understand why the name was an issue to them.

It didn't help matters when he heard Nico ask, "Do zombies pop up from the ground?"

"No"

Inquisitively, Lola followed, "Do they explode?"

"Well---"

Gavin was cut off by Jaya who was also getting frustrated, "Enough. Does it matter what the name is?"

Getting his groove back, Gavin said, "Back to my question. Can you tell me why you went to the forest?"

This question alerted Jake as he understood the reason for the question

The first time he saw Gavin, he realized that the young master was not here for them. Gavin had an expression of confusion when he first saw them; he was not expecting them. So why were his men well prepared and equipped?

Jake analytically thought, "Most likely, they were here for a particular reason. And the reason was in the forest. Judging by how we didn't see anyone in the forest, I would say that the forest is either forbidden, unknown or dangerous. That was why his men were prepared; they were about to venture into the forest."

He desperately sought a solution, 'The zombies we saw were properly dressed. They didn't look right. I reckon that they were previously humans. That was why Jaya warned me to not get bitten. It also aligns with the stories I heard about zombies.'

He pondered, 'There could be many reasons for their venture into the zombie mine, but one thing I know for sure is that their goals were not the zombies or us. Discerning the zombie's previous state, it is safe to say that it is rare for someone to enter the mine, but not unheard of. That is why Gavin's expression is still normal. I need an excuse for being in the mine as I came unconventionally and I rather not tell them. Similarly, Nico, Lola, and Jaya are quite strange. They woke up in the mine. How? Why? I don't know, but I am guessing that they won't want to tell Gavin, so I need an excuse that works for the fours of us.'

Arranging his thoughts, a lightbulb lit up in his head, 'Memory loss won't be a good one. I also can't say I am lost. The best excuse should be adventuring!'

Having gotten what he needed, Jake quickly replied to Gavin before the trio could, " We went to test our abilities. We thought it would be easy, but we never expected it to be so terrific."

It was full of loopholes but it was better than the other options. Right now, all he needed was Gavin to buy it.

Furrowing his brows, Gavin thought, 'It makes sense!'

He laughed, "Hohoho, That's true. We get people who occasionally overestimate themselves. It seems that you are one of them."

Jaya, who picked on to the excuse earlier, hung down her head as she said, "Yes, we overestimated ourselves."

She nudged Lola, hinting at her to say something.

While she didn't understand a dime, Lola went with the flow, "We went with no weapons. We did not realize that we were being foolish."

She didn't nudge Nico as she didn't trust the words that would come out of his mouth.

She just let him act confused.

Gavin scolded the group, "I must say that is quite foolish of you. Where are your parents?"

Jake rapidly replied, "We are orphans. We grew up at the outskirts."

His reasoning was sound. Orphans exist everywhere, just like death. Outskirt also existed everywhere. It was mostly the outermost section of a particular location, where the poor lived. Orphans tend to be poor. So, if you add both of them together, it would make a good story.

Gavin silently glanced at each one of them, "Hmm, is that so? I guess that must have been why you were so reckless."

His expression changed to normal as he said, "Well, that is that." He said domineeringly to his guards, "Take them to their tents and give them the purifying lotion. Tomorrow, we will talk about your crimes."

Nico cried out loud, "Crimes?!!"

Gavin ignored him as the guards proceeded.

Before they left the tent, he smiled at Jake, "You have a cute dragon. Still room for growth."

Jake was confused, 'What did he mean by that?'

It was then he felt a cool breeze graze him. It touched every part of his body, made him feel cold.

Jake looked down, he realized that he was naked. From the start of his arrival, clothes had been the least on his mind. He was always thinking about surviving.

He thought about the scenes of him fighting and realized he was naked all along. His dragon was dangling freely all this time.

Jake couldn't handle the shock. He fainted.

…..

After the group left, Frank, the attendant, asked Gavin, "Young master, do you believe them?"

"No," said Gavin. Their excuse sounded too convenient to him.

"What do we do? Should we send people to monitor them?"

Smiling, Gavin replied, "No. I have a better plan….."