Bob's lifeless body hit the ground with a dull thud.
Aron, unfazed, crouched down and retrieved the cigarette he had given him earlier. He searched the body quickly, then moved on to the guards, but found nothing of value.
Aron had made peace with killing his own kind long ago. From the moment he survived his first zombie, he understood: in the apocalypse, humanity itself was going to be the deadliest threat. Greed, envy, power, those were the true predators.
If it had been anyone else, Bob would have simply been beaten and left alive. But Aron wasn't like the others. He wasn't afraid of any Awakeners.
In fact, he welcomed their arrival. The reason Bob had to die was simple, he dared plot against him. Failure carried consequences.
Aron left no loose ends, a lesson beaten into him long before the apocalypse by the woman he once called mother.
Even if he had let Bob go, his cowardice wouldn't stop him from running back to his brother. And if that brother was even half as powerful as Bob claimed, he would come after Aron eventually. Keeping Bob alive served no purpose.
Once done searching, Aron stood. His gaze swept over Daniel, Rose and finally landed on the officers, who held their breaths, praying the monster before them would simply leave. His eyes lingered on them for less than a second before one amongst them couldn't bare the pressure and fell to knees.
"Please, sir! Am an orphan I have four kids, my wife, her parents, her grandparents, they all depend on me! Please don't kill me!"
Aron blinked, momentarily caught off guard by the mans out burst. When had he said he was going to kill him?
Then another knelt his voice rang out.
"My grandma… has a shovel stuck in her throat. I'm am the one paying for her medical expenses. Please, don't kill me!"
One by one, excuses spilled out, each more absurd than the last.
What the hell did these people take him for? A fool? If they were going to lie, at least be creative. He almost laughed, but kept his face cold.
Aron soon learned why they were behaving like this and a lot more
It turned out Bob hadn't been bluffing. His brother had been a top official before the collapse, and afterward, he was rumored to have awakened a powerful ability.
Their fear made sense. The smart move would be to silence them all, make sure Bob's death never reached his brother.
Before communication went down, the brother told Bob he had established a base in Zone B and urged him to hurry to zone B and join him.
But Bob had stayed behind, drawn to the customs warehouse, where seized goods were stored, including silent electric cars.
Those vehicles, produced in Zone C due to cheap labour and taken to zone B for 60x it's price, had been confiscated from merchants who couldn't afford the bribes.
Bob wanted to take it as a present to his brother, but when they went there to retrieve it, the place was crawling with terrifying zombies.
One grotesque, bloated zombie had swelled until it exploded, wiping out half their numbers and drawing even more undead with the sound. They barely escaped.
Only a few days ago had the passing truck Aron and Rose had been on lured most of the horde away, which was why they dared gather again today to devise a plan to go there again.
The logical move was to kill them all. But Aron wasn't interested in playing safe. His only goal was finding his ex-wife and Demian, and for that, he needed strength.
Because before the apocalypse begain. He heard Rihanna had been listed on Forbes as the most richest model and woman in Solara and was given a visa into zone A.
Talent wasn't coming fast enough. If Bob's brother came hunting him after learning of Bob's death, all the better. With luck, Aron might claim more than one talent.
Why would he waste such an opportunity?
It was a blessing in disguise.
"I swear! On my grandmother's life! What happened today will be buried with us, we'll never tell a soul!"
Voices overlapped, pleading. Daniel and Rose stayed quiet, avoiding eye contact, too afraid to move. Aron ignored their rambling. His finger suddenly pointed at a man among the officers.
The man stiffened as icy dread swept through him. He glanced behind, hoping Aron's gaze was meant for someone else, then tried to shuffle out of the line.
"Pathetic," Aron muttered. "Get up. Show me where Bob lived. Then take me to were you guys keep your weapons."
The man staggered forward, trembling, but obeyed.
Aron turned once more toward Rose and Daniel. "I wish you both the best. Maybe we'll meet again." Without waiting for a reply, he left with the man leading the way.
Daniel and Rose stood frozen, staring at his back. The way Aron killed Bob and his men, without hesitation, without a flicker of emotion or remorse, left them shaken to their core. His parting words felt like a final goodbye.
Rose bit her lip, did he dislike her so much he couldn't stand having her near? Was she so unworthy? She glanced down at herself, bitterness rising. What did a women have that she didn't? Or maybe… maybe he wasn't into women at all. That thought gave her the slightest relief.