Now it was time for the three of them to return to the Capital. They wanted to use the tank the entire way but didn’t have the fuel for it. They instead dropped it off at the nearest outpost. They used the fuel they scrounged up to power a nearby SUV and drive the rest of the way back.

The soldiers hadn’t gone through the bus in search of loot because their leader was a moron. Or it could have been that they thought there was a trap on board. Either way, everything was as they left it.

The Skeletons were tasked with delivering the corpses and searching for more supplies that may have been brought by the soldiers, but there was nothing. Any GP, Resources, or Tickets on them would disappear, never to be seen again.

The members of the Undead Clan didn’t care, so they would take care of anyone that attacked them without mercy. Plus, when Andrew would raise them, he would receive a way to Level Up his Skills and Spells. It worked out well this way.

The only problem was now the military. Of course, the Variants down south and the Gamer to the north were distant compared to the army.

But not by much.

After the ice was broken, Clara was more ready to communicate. She also ate real food and looked a lot better already. At one point, John and Clara were talking about music and left David floundering for a chance to enter the conversation as well.

Too bad.

She looked a lot better, but she also sounded better. If it weren’t for the spiders, she would look like a fragile lady who was out on a trip to the beach in her sundress.

David was having a hard time actually getting a word in edgewise. He ended up quitting and just followed along. There weren’t any other problems and they all eventually made it back to the Capital.

When Andrew heard that Clara wanted a piano, he went and grabbed all sorts of instruments. But when both John and Andrew grabbed trombones, Andrew quickly switched to a trumpet. Unfortunately, it was just the three of them that played in a band. Reese and his pals were spread out, so even if they played in a rock band, they wouldn’t be able to show up.

The trio goofed off and held a sort of show, inviting all the nearby people to participate in a Talent Show style competition.

What made the whole thing more enjoyable was when the System made an Event later with rewards and everything. The big thing about it was it involved the entire globe! There were several locations around the world dedicated to being Talent Zones. Each Talent Zone had a corresponding timeframe to it.

For example, everyone had three days to figure their talent out before one place, somewhere in Argentina, started off. Once the people there were finished, anybody watching could place their votes. And after Argentina was finished, the next Talent Zone would go. There were even three cartoonish judges that happened to be Fairies in disguise.

Well, two Fairies and one Pixie.

The Fairies belonged to the Heroine and the Farmer while the Pixie was Navi! She ended up being forced to wear a blue costume, looking exactly like her namesake, much to the people’s enjoyment. Andrew and Co. didn’t know exactly how it worked, but while the Event was going on, Andrew could not call out Navi.

It wasn’t bad, some people danced, some people performed skits. It was a fun experience to watch these survivors compete during the apocalypse. Most were in it for the reward, but those from the Undead Clan were more for the fun of it. They set up a magnificent stage for the Talent Zone, with lights and speakers and everything.

They had plenty of time to prepare and practice since they were actually last. Everyone was pushing for their best because the whole world would be watching.

In that time frame, the trio of John, Andrew, and Clara grew to include Rebecca and the little girls with clapping or tambourines, Brandon on drums, Reese on an acoustic guitar, Kuvali with a strange wooden flute, and Renzo with a shamisen.

Andrew was having some few choice words with everyone when they came to join.

“Okay, I can understand the clapping or the drums, maybe even the guitar, but how are you even going to play a flute without a mouth, Kuvali? And how is a shamisen going to fit with the sounds of these other instruments?”

Renzo was surprisingly passionate.

“We’ll make it work.”

Kuvali didn’t say anything, but he used the shadow form into a mouth which started playing the stick shaped long flute. Andrew couldn’t tell if it sounded like a didgeridoo or something else. It took everyone the entire time to figure what it would sound like, but everyone was having some fun with it, which was nice.

Andrew was waiting for everything to blow up, but everyone kind of realized they all suck so it fell to the actual people who knew how to play. That meant John, Clara, Renzo, and Brandon, surprisingly.

The song was built on Renzo first, then supplemented by the drums, giving the others a good beat to work with. Reese ended up switching to a bass, playing an underlining tone that helped keep the tempo slow, almost as if it was competing with the drums who wanted to keep the tempo up. Rebecca and the girls were mostly decoration, but that led to an amazing idea.

Sam wanted to join in, but that would mean he would have to leave…so they videotaped his Dolls dancing and played them on some large screens behind the group. Andrew wasn’t gifted at the trumpet, but at least he knew his way around. He played a sort of accent, or like a callback to the main trombone part.

Clara was the core of the group, her playing was always the thing everyone listened to so they could figure out where they were. This meant no one was playing over each other, so when a solo came up, it was easy to pick out. It was unsure what Kuvali’s job was in all of it, but he managed to somehow fit in well enough.

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Finally, the day of their Talent Show was upon them. They decided to break the ice as the opening group so everyone else that followed would be more comfortable.

As everyone was tuning their instruments, John looked over and saw Clara crying.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

“I wish my father could actually have seen one of my concerts.”

“What? I thought you said he came out of the surgery okay.”

“He did…then the zombies came. I had just received the confirmation that he was out when there were screams on the other end…then it stopped.”

“Oh, shit.”

Completely disregarding the upcoming Event, John went and consoled Clara who went back to her silent self as tears fell down her face. She had finally succeeded in helping her father get better, and then he died! It wasn’t her fault, so she had no idea who to get angry at.

It was at this time when several of the Undead came by to see if anything was needed, like water or a towel for sweat. But the Undead that came to Clara made her gasp in shock.

“…Father?!”

“Ah, I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you. I knew who he was since he still had his bracelet on his wrist when I received his corpse.”

Andrew had walked up and placed his hand on the shoulder of Clara’s dad.

“Hey, should I have left you dead?”

Then, the Undead spoke. His voice wasn’t raspy like most other Zombies, but he did have a slight gravelly sound in there. The weird part was that the Undead wasn't even robotic, Andrew had given the man his self back!

“Naw, now I can finally see my daughter’s playing.”

“Andrew…what the shit?!”

Not only Clara, John was shocked! This came out of left field!

“Heh, I know, save your applause. I am an awesome guy.”

He held his arms out in mock self-appraise, but when Clara stood up and rushed in his direction, he was immediately surprised! He didn’t budge, but he didn’t have to worry since Clara wasn’t going to hug him.

“Father! I missed you!”

As the two hugged each other, Andrew recovered and walked back to the front of the stage, where it had gotten really quiet.

“My friends, my comrades! We are here today to express our joy in still being with those we love! I want to dedicate this piece to Miss Clara Monti and her father, William Monti! Let’s hope we don’t screw it up!”

He leaned over and pretended it was some sort of secret with the audience, which made some of the people chuckle. Clara’s father pulled her in for another hug before returning back to the edge of the stage to watch.

Clara wiped her tears and her previously depressed face was still teary, but now it was enlivened with a gentle smile.

All in all, the song went well, except for when Andrew got too into it and blasted a note really loud.

After the song was already over.

And everyone was walking offstage.

“Heh, couldn’t help it.”

Everyone clapped, but by the end of the night, it was clear they didn’t win first place. That went to Damian and Chance’s knife throwing party/fight where someone almost died but it was on purpose and stuff. Everyone went crazy from the spectacle and Renzo almost went up to crash it with his sword.

He wasn’t happy that he didn’t get first. However, at one point, John and Clara went up again, but for a duo. Brandon had never left the stage since his drumming added to the effect. He was the busiest out of everyone, apparently.

This piece was far better than their first one, and everyone stood up to cheer for them. They had actually gotten second place for their efforts. Renzo wanted to go up, but there were no more openings.

Unfortunately, the big group didn’t even get fifth place, but they went back up to the stage and kept playing different music even after the Event was over. There was no end to the night since Andrew made it a celebration for having all of the Undead Clan in one place.

But…soon Andrew was going to have to figure out what to do with the ever-irritating government. It was about time he did something.

It was just a matter of what that something was…