"So what are you saying, would you help us in fighting these monsters?" Saito, the elderly man asked.
But the man didn't budge "Listen man, I'm not going to put the life of my family in some strangers' hands. So don't even try to guilt trip me,"
"Jerry, wait–" his wife tried to speak, but he cut her off.
"I've made my decision and that is final,"
"Well, I'm going to give," the wife said boldly, earning a grunt from her husband.
"And so am I," Alex, the host added with a patriotic look in his eyes.
"Me too," The nine years old girl screamed out, raising her hand.
Saito smiled at her, "Thank you dear, you're very brave. Anyone else?"
More hands went up around the room, and in the end very few remained down.
Lucas was one of them, and Stacy also had her hands down.
After that they brought in some relief packages and shared it around the room.
They offered it to Lucas and although it was tempting, he turned it down.
Stacy on the other hand was very glad to receive, she even changed her mind and gave the old man some of her Karma Points out of gratitude.
In the end it was only Lucas and Jerry –the angry husband– who didn't give them anything.
As they left, he locked eyes with Carol. No words had been said but the disappointment was written all over her face.
As for Arnold he was even more pissed, shooting him a death glare like he was a sworn enemy.
'Just because I didn't give them my stuff… How can he be so entitled?' Lucas sighed without feeling a single atom of guilt. It was his right after all.
'Maybe they were expecting some kind of thank you for saving me gift?' he scoffed
After thinking about it he considered that maybe he really should have said thank you at the very least.
It would make no difference but it would at least show that he wasn't ungrateful. He wasn't intending on creating a strong relationship with them but he wasn't also planning on making them enemies, after all they did save his life.
"Where are you going?" Stacy asked as he headed for the door.
"I'll be right back," he shut the door behind him and headed downstairs.
He didn't catch up to them until he was almost outside the building.
"Fuck!"
He paused at the sound of a loud crash from outside. Peeking around the corner, he saw Arnold repeatedly kicking over a trash can, his frustration spilling out with every strike.
"Stop acting like a child. You're going to attract something here," Carol said with a sigh.
"I don't understand how you can be so calm. Don't tell me you aren't mad too. We're out here trying to save their lives, and they're not even grateful."
"Don't worry, we're making progress," Saito said.
"But it's too damn slow…" he ran a hand through his hair, his voice thick with frustration.
"I'm telling you, the sooner we start taking what we need by force, the better for us."
"That's stealing. You can't just go around forcing people to submit to your wishes." Carol pointed out.
"What if it's for a good cause?" Arnold shot back boldly, defending the outrageous statement without hesitation. "We need more points so we can get stronger. If nobody is out there fighting those monsters, we're all cooked anyway."
"Arnold, you shouldn't say things like that. It hasn't gotten to that point yet," Saito said calmly.
"Yet?" Carol said at the same time as Lucas.
They turned to his voice but he had hidden before they noticed him. Her voice was louder so they suspected it was just an echo.
"I mean, doing something like that would definitely be easier and get us faster results," The old man continued casually scratching his jaw, pulling back their attention. "I'm not saying we should do it though"
"I can't believe this," she said, her face full of disgust. "How can you even imagine using your strength like that? Even if things has changed we are still human beings,"
"Yes, and sometimes we as humans don't know what is best for us. That is what the government is there for, to make sure things are done in the correct way even when there are people that don't agree," Saito shared his thoughts in a profound manner.
"So are you people going to become the government?"
"Someone has to," He replied with an unsettling calmness.
Lucas was surprised to hear all that from the man who was just upstairs giving a speech about protecting everybody and working together.
The worst part was that he justified himself so well that it would make any sane person in their position consider his words.
But apparently not Carol.
"That's fucking bullshit... if you want to be the government then you would have to hold an election and let the people choose for themselves. I'm not going to let you take away anyone's freedom," She tightened her fist with a frown.
"Calm down Ms. Carol, no one is stealing anybody's freedom," The old man let out a small laughter,
"Yeah, you don't have to try so hard to be a hero. It's not that deep," Arnold added with a playful grin.
It was obvious that neither of them had been joking but she couldn't do anything else.
After they left, Lucas finally came out of the building. He didn't expect to have heard any of those things but there he was.
"Now I feel even better that I did not give them anything, those assholes are fucking crazy. Why don't they just go ahead and try to rule the world while they are at it!"
He cursed, his insecurities fueling his anger as he went on, until he heard a sound coming from down the street.
'Shit, did they come back?' he paused, spotting someone walking towards him. The streetlights were all dead but he could faintly make out the shape.
He was about to take off but then he began to recognize the person,
"Mr. Barry!" It was the manager from the convenience store.
He was limping like he was hurt, so Lucas rushed to help him.
He was already far too close when he noticed that his skin was very pale and his eyes were empty, but the kicker was that there was a huge hole in his torso.