Four figures traversed through a narrow alleyway that led to a main road, hiding under the tree shades that shielded themselves from the beating sun.

PQ tossed an emerald like object into the air playfully. Dappled sun rays filtering through the branches and healthy foliage of trees delineated the outline of the emerald green gemstone.

"These intricate patterns are mesmerizing." PQ murmured softly as the gemstone landed in his hands. It was the size of a ring but light as feather.

"Ain't it beautiful? You better thank my observation skills!" A young girl laughed as she snatched the gemstone away, scrutinizing it under the sun rays. While cleaning up the mess back at her apartment, Teresa had discovered a shiny gleam escaping the mutated Australian Shepard's corpse. She had dug out the gemstone etched inside its head and showed it to Raphael and PQ proudly. Before the apocalypse, they might have been able to sell it at a high price. But other than being pretty, they had no idea what its usage was for now. Still, PQ's instincts suggested him to keep it, so that was what he did.

"Um… I think you guys should simmer down a little… I don't wanna fight any of those monsters… I should have taken a day off today…" A young man in bright uniform cried out, cowering behind the others as if preparing to run at any given moment. The new addition to the group was a pizza man who was wailing at the 2nd floor stairwell. He had just finished delivering an order when the apocalypse occurred. Fortunately, the person who ordered the meal had closed the door before he turned, or else this pizza man might have been devoured by now.

"Man up a little Charlie! There's not a single zombies in sight!" Teresa said in a mocking tone, brandishing a dagger to demonstrate her bravery. "Even I have taken down a zombie!"

Charlie the pizza men covered his face with his yellow work cap, crying in humility. "I'm just a dude who works at a pizza place Teresa… The first thing I'm going to do is run!" Rolling her eyes, Teresa left Charlie alone and stomped on fallen leaves to occupy herself.

The street was laced with fallen leaves. Dotted road markings that indicated traffic lanes guided them towards the metropolis in the far distance.

PQ lived in the suburbs of a small yet rich country called Sappore. It only consists of two cities, Sap-East and Sap-West city. He always thought it was really funny how those city were named, but it stuck with him overtime. Due to the lack of land, while suburbs in many other bigger countries housed landed properties, residential buildings and apartments were more prevalent for the middle upper class.

They had slipped by the zombie horde unnoticed since they were distracted by the residential building on the opposite story. They even tried going door to door to rescue as many people as possible, but most rooms were either empty because of dinner outings, or were already occupied by zombies. It was not hard to imagine why that was the case. Dealing with a family member who had suddenly turned into a zombie wasn't easy to handle. Very few households who had survived refused to leave the comfort of their home due to various circumstances, such as an elderly couple living on the 3rd floor. They decided it would be best to spend their last moments in their apartment, so PQ gave them his best regards and moved on.

"Why'd you even join us Charlie? We did offer you to stay at our places, didn't we?" PQ questioned the cowardly pizza man. For a fearful man who behaved as such, it was shocking to hear Charlie reject his generosity earlier.

Charlie just winced, stuttering. "I— I don't know man. I just wanted to see if my golden retriever, Chloe, was safe. She's 14 years old already, and she's like family to me." He stopped, glancing towards the city. "Hopefully she's alright."

PQ didn't tell him about the mutated Australian Shepard they had slain. Some things were just better off unmentioned.

Surprisingly, the street leading to the inner city was considerably vacant. Smoke emitted from vehicles that collided with one another and against the sidewalks. It was clear that the stationary vehicles were all run by electricity, while most motor vehicles still worked. The handful of zombies wandering on the streets was easily decapitated by PQ, posing almost no threat. They walked past many tragic accidents, like families who perished while still locked in the car.

There were many subdivisions dividing the suburbs into different sections. Swarms of enraged zombies attacked the apartment complexes in various districts, disrupting many survivors' escape attempts. Luckily, PQ's apartment complex wasn't far from the inner Sap-East city.

Jabbing his spear into a female zombie's skull, PQ decided it would be a good time to take a break. There was an emblematic border separating the towering infrastructure in the inner city and the residential buildings of the suburbs.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"There's a 9-fourteen over there. We should check it out before we make our way to the city." Raphael pointed towards a small, isolated neighbourhood convenience store situated on the sidewalks.

PQ had to suppress the urge to chuckle. According to his memories, Earth also had similar storefronts like this. Were they called 7-eleven?

They immediately scurried to the opposite side of the road, hiding behind well-pruned bushes and groves to avoid detection. Pushing open the glass entrance door, the crisp jingle of a bell welcomed them.

The convenience store was awfully quiet, eliciting an odd ambience. Considering that there weren't many storefronts in the neighbourhood, this particular 9-fourteen would at least be accommodating some customers.

The air was laced with a pungent, metallic scent.

"Stay on guard." He whispered as he positioned his spear, creeping towards the aisles. His breathing was steady, unlike his initial few encounters with impending danger. Sweeping his feet gently through a torn newspaper on the floor, he made a quick turn to face the first aisle.

There was a corpse in an employee uniform laying lifelessly against the food shelf. A puncture in its skull suggested that someone had set foot in this convenience store and killed the infected cashier. Holding his breath, PQ copied the same series of movements and swept through each aisle. To his dismay, there were only the lifeless corpses of several zombified shoppers and not a human in sight. Daily groceries and household necessities were scattered all over the floor, yet none of the shelves were dilapidated. It seemed that whoever killed these zombies were professionals and managed to take them out swiftly.

All of a sudden, a creak broke the deafening silence. Teresa grabbed onto the corner of PQ's shirt tightly, frightened by the abrupt noise. Charlie jolted in shock as well, but after seeing PQ's skills, he felt less afraid.

Batting an eye at PQ, Raphael, who was closest to the sound, inched towards the origin. The noise came from the back end of the convenience store where the storage rooms were typically located at.

It could be a lingering zombie, but it would most likely be the people who had obliterated these zombies. Images of intimidating, burly criminals formed in PQ's mind, and he clenched his spear tighter.

"Who's over there!" Roaring aloud to boost his morale, Raphael jumped out from behind the final aisle to confront whatever or whoever made the noise.

Shocked by the sudden intrusion of a bearded man, the sweet voice of a lady emanated from the origin of the creaking noise.

"Oh my! You scared me!"

The wooden door leading to the storage room door was agape, and beside it was a slender figure. A beautiful woman in her early twenties fanned her delicate hands in an attempt to calm herself down. Her clear skin was white as snow, complimenting her enchanting blue eyes and her luscious hair. She was the definition of a goddess.

PQ sworn she would have been the most successful runway model in human history. However, the accursed wheelchair beneath her denied all possibilities of that dream.

Folding her hands on her lap, the woman tilted her head slightly to the right and observed the group that surprised her. "Hello! It's wonderful to finally see some survivors!"

"Maggie! Are you alright? I told you to not speak to strangers!" Leaping out from the storage room, a figure shielded the beautiful woman behind him and glared at the group warily. But after noticing the age range of PQ's group, the predatory gaze in his eyes faded away.

Maggie wrapped her thin arms around the young man, projecting her angelic voice loud enough for PQ and the others to hear. "Don't worry Glen, we were just trying to be friends!"

Hearing this, caution in the young man's eyes depleted a little more. The young man was also in his twenties, his chiselled face adorned with unique freckles.

The special duo before PQ was not what he remotely expected. As a display of sincerity, PQ decided to reach out first.

"So sorry for the nuisance we caused. I'm PQ by the way." PQ apologized before introducing the others. "And these are my friends, Teresa, Raphael and Charlie."

"PQ huh? Well, it's nice to meet you PQ." Glen, the freckled young man, responded in an apologetic tone. "I should be the one apologizing for being aggressive. This apocalypse has made me a little too paranoid."

"No. I completely understand." PQ took a discreet peek at the beautiful woman's wheelchair. "Do you live around here?" He continued asking.

PQ wasn't an ableist or anything, but a wheelchair seemed very out of place in a world like this.

"We're just tourists." With a frown on his face, Glen replied calmly as he proceeded to attend to his business — nitpicking products from the storage room. It felt as if he was keeping some secrets, intentionally avoiding detailed responses.

Awkwardness began to permeate before Teresa stepped up to talk to Maggie. Their lighthearted gossiping eased the atmosphere.

"So…" While Raphael and Charlie salvaged items from the shelves, PQ crept up beside Glen for further questioning. "Did you escape from the cities? I mean, there aren't any hotels nearby."

Glen threw a disapproving glance at PQ. "Haven't you heard of homestay for vacation rentals?"

"Ugh… I didn't really think of that option…"

Watching PQ's embarrassed reaction, Glen laughed. He ceased his item shopping spree, uttering with a humorous tone. "I was joking kid. I did come here from the city. This convenience store is just a little pit stop for our road trip."

"Road trip?"

"Yup. It's kinda a fucked up thing to do during an apocalypse. But it's really a golden opportunity for our honeymoon." The freckled young man grinned at the thought of his beautiful wife. "And in addition, I'm powerful enough. You would know, wouldn't you?"

Despite the cheerful and friendly demeanour, PQ sensed a dominant presence weighing over him. As expected of the person who eliminated all the zombies so swiftly.

The truth was glaringly obvious. Glen was a superhuman like him. A very powerful superhuman.