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"Yo! Well, would you look at that!"
"Didn't expect someone to beat us here and start clearing out the vapes."
"Good thing we showed up in time. Otherwise they'd have taken everything!"
A skinny young man picked his teeth, looking Ryuji and the others up and down with open arrogance.
Behind him stood five more people, just as cocky.
"Listen, man, we're not taking much," Ryuji said, remembering what Nanami Kento had told him—avoid conflict with other survivors whenever possible. "We'll just take a few. The rest is yours."
"Tsk, tsk… your awareness isn't quite there yet," the skinny guy said coldly. "Leave all the vapes."
"And everything in your bags too."
He was robbing them. No pretense about it.
"Don't push it too far!" Ryuji clenched his fists, the muscles in his arms bulging instantly.
If they wanted a fight, then fine—he'd fight.
So what if they had more people? He was an awakened. It's not like he was afraid of them.
"Oh? Looks like you've got some strength," the skinny man smirked. "Awakened, huh? Interesting."
"But… we've got plenty of awakened over at Bloodfang Camp."
As soon as he finished speaking, all six of them released their aura at once.
Six awakened.
Ryuji and his team stiffened.
That was more than their entire group combined.
As the squad leader, Ryuji made a decision immediately.
"Sorry. We'll leave right away," he said, forcing down his anger. "We'll leave the stuff too."
He used to have a short temper. But now, as the leader, his team's safety came first.
What they had in their bags was just clothes and daily necessities anyway. They could always gather more.
"Tsk, smart choice," the skinny man sneered. "But I'm not too happy with your attitude just now."
"How about this—you break one of your arms, and I'll let you go."
"Don't worry, I'm not lying. If we really wanted you dead, it'd be easy."
He picked at his teeth again, flicking a shred of meat onto the ground.
"…Fine."
Ryuji gripped the fire axe in his right hand, turning the blunt back toward his left arm.
"Brother Ryuji, don't!" Shimada and Shiro both tried to stop him.
"Let's fight them instead!"
Breaking your own arm? That was insane.
These guys had gone way too far.
"Enough," Ryuji said quietly. "They outnumber us…"
"And besides, a broken bone is nothing. Give it some time, it'll heal."
"I'm the team leader. I have to take responsibility for your safety."
"Put your bags down."
He clenched his teeth and raised the axe.
Crack!
With a dull, sickening sound, he brought the back of the axe down on his own arm.
His forearm twisted at an unnatural angle. Clearly broken.
Sweat beaded across his forehead, but he didn't make a sound.
"Tsk, tsk… tough guy," the skinny man chuckled. "I, Ryusei Shidou, keep my word. Leave your stuff and get lost."
"Today was worth it. Got to see something this entertaining—haha!"
His underlings grinned smugly.
They didn't even have to lift a finger, and an awakened had crippled himself.
That was power.
Joining Bloodfang Camp had definitely been the right choice.
"Let's go…" Ryuji gritted out, leading Shiro and the others away.
Shiro grabbed a few clothes hangers from a nearby shop and used a belt to brace Ryuji's arm.
They'd need to treat it properly once they got back.
"I'm fine," Ryuji said in a relaxed tone. "Ever since I awakened, my recovery's been faster."
"I'll probably be back to normal in a month or so."
"This is my fault…" Shiro said, guilt written all over his face. "If I had awakened too, this wouldn't have happened."
"Yeah… if all five of us were awakened, we could've fought them," another guy sighed.
"Enough," Ryuji cut them off. "Let's keep collecting supplies and regroup with Captain Kento."
Once his arm was secured, he felt a lot better.
Even with one hand, he could still kill zombies.
—
Half an hour later, the two teams met at the stairwell.
"Damn, Ryuji, what happened to you?" Kento frowned. "You went out for supplies and came back with a busted arm?"
"Captain Kento, it's like this…" Shiro couldn't hold it in anymore and explained everything.
"Damn it! Those Bloodfang bastards!" Kento exploded. "That's crossing the line!"
"No way I'm letting this slide."
"Shiro, you and the other non-awakened take the supplies back first."
"I'm going to deal with those assholes."
Rage surged through him, and with it, his strength seemed to spike.
"But Captain Kento… they have six awakened," Shiro said, worried.
"So what?" Kento snorted. "I can take three on my own!"
"They dared threaten my brothers? They're asking to die!"
He shrugged off his backpack, gripping a fire axe in each hand, radiating killing intent.
"I'm coming too," Ryuji said, raising his axe with one hand.
Back there, they couldn't fight.
But with Kento here? That was different.
He really could take on three by himself.
"Let's go. We can't let them bully us like that," Takeshi and Shimada said, fury burning in their eyes.
Shiro saw he couldn't stop them, so he did as told and picked up the supplies.
"Captain Kento, we'll wait for you in the parking garage!"
He and the other non-awakened headed off.
Inside, they were all frustrated.
Why weren't they awakened?
Why couldn't they help when it mattered most?
—
Back at the car, Shiro loaded the supplies into the trunk.
Six of them squeezed into a single Land Rover.
"Hey… those two cars weren't here when we arrived!" a dark-skinned guy pointed out.
A BMW X5 and an Audi Q5 were parked in the road not far away.
"I get it," Shiro said, eyes lighting up. "Those are their cars."
"Guys, cover me. I'm gonna leave them a little gift."
He grabbed a screwdriver and a knife from the car, a sly smile spreading across his face.
As an experienced security guard, he'd dealt with plenty of illegally parked cars.
If it wasn't a resident's car, he never hesitated to mess with it.
Of course, for those Bloodfang bastards, a flat tire wasn't nearly enough.
Slashing tires would be too obvious.
If he was going to do it, he'd go for the brake system.
Cut the brake lines. All of them.
"Shiro, looks like there's supplies inside their car," the dark-skinned guy said after peeking through the window.
"Hand me the screwdriver. Let me show you something," he grinned.
With a few quick moves, he popped open the trunk.
Dozens of cartons of premium cigarettes.
Several cases of top-shelf liquor.
"....."