Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Two Old Friends
"Yes, though Adam doesn't seem to want to wake up."
"What's wrong?" Tarin asked, somewhat upset.
Miguel proceeded to explain in detail what Terry had told him. Tracel frowned, while Tarin shuddered. The former decided that the next day he would start leveling up, as every time a new monster appeared it made him understand the new reality he was living in. After the Berserker he had also told himself the same thing, but the truth was that his cowardice would not allow him to stick to his word.
"What do you think we should do?" Tracel asked. I know we should kill it, but with such incredible power I don't know how we could try.
"We have to have a plan. That's why I want to talk to Adam and call a meeting."
"What about the Breeder? Now that he's killed part of his zombies don't you think he might try to kill it. If we wait long enough maybe the problem will take care of itself."
Miguel thought Tarin might be right, but he didn't like to depend on something like that. They couldn't accurately predict what the Breeder would do. Suddenly, as he thought of an answer for Tarin, a new idea occurred to him.
"I don't like to depend on that, Tarin, but besides, if we get to kill that thing we'll get levels. If we leave the Breeder a corpse that size we'll soon have a lot of Windwalkers and Windrunners on top of it."
Tarin nodded. Meanwhile, Tracel was trying to think of a solution, but he was only level 4 and anything he tried personally would be useless. Again, he felt regret for not deciding to level up sooner.
However, it was not the time to let himself be carried away by regret, they had to start acting and getting organized as soon as possible.
"We'd better get together now, all of us who are awake. I will try to contact them by phone. The meeting can be in the superblock. You also try to talk to those you find."
Miguel nodded at Tracel's words and went down the stairs at full speed. On the second floor, he knocked on the door of Miriam and Marlen's house. The door was still damaged, but the sisters had improvised some sort of lock for the door.
Luckily, he only had to wait a few seconds to talk to them. But after telling them what had happened, he was disappointed. Miriam shuddered when she heard Miguel talk about that monster.
"I'm sorry, but I can't, I need a break, so I won't help this time."
Marlen looked at her sister and then declined as well. Miguel got a lump in his throat. Miriam was the highest level healer and Marlen was the best warrior, without them the situation would become much more complicated. He thought about continuing to talk, but as he briefly crossed eyes with Miriam, he realized it would accomplish nothing. It was best to let them rest.
Marlen closed the door and turned to look at Miriam.
"Are you sure? The situation doesn't look good."
"Yes, I'm sure, go if you want, but I can't, I'm afraid I can't follow you anymore."
"Follow me? What are you talking about?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
"Miriam…"
Miriam gave in to her sister's worried look.
"I've tried so hard to help you even though I don't really want to fight but I'm afraid you'll end up dead like... like Jane. I feel I can't leave you alone."
Marlen didn't know what to say, so she just hugged her sister.
"I'm sorry. I'm afraid it's the same old thing, isn't it? I always remember when I was a kid I was the one proposing all the games and you always followed me. You know what, for once let's let the others take care of this problem. Believe it or not, I think I need this break too."
"You sure?" You don't think Adam will be mad?
"I don't know and I don't care. I'm sure he'd be grateful to have our help, but he'll have to manage without us."
Miriam nodded and was finally able to calm down. Since they had arrived neither of them had been able to fall asleep, but now she was sure they could sleep and forget everything for a while.
Miguel, meanwhile, had been intercepted by Krieg when he was thinking of returning to the superblock. He knew the old cop and was one of the few friends he had in the suburb.
"What do you say, old friend?"
Krieg's voice was kind, something that would no doubt have surprised everyone in the building if they had heard him.
"Bad news."
"It looks like that's all there is to it, come in."
Miguel thought for a moment about refusing, but decided he had some time. He didn't think the meeting was for another 10 or 20 minutes. He entered Kreig's house and surveyed his surroundings curiously. Despite having known him for years, he had never entered his home.
In the living room, the first thing that caught his eye was the giant bulldog lying on a rug. The dog must have been Darry, but he didn't know it was so...monstrous.
With concern, he noticed that the dog was changing color, its light brown fur slowly turning to black.
"It seems to be evolving. Well, that's what Adam thinks."
Miguel nodded, he hoped so.
"He's not turning into a zombie, is he?"
Kreig shook his head.
"I don't think so. I have abilities that let me know, somewhat abstractly, that he's okay. But I still can't help but feel concerned."
After that, both elders sat down in the living room. Miguel proceeded to tell him what had happened with the flesh monstrosity.
Krieg didn't seem to be affected in the least, but Miguel knew him well. His silence was answer enough.
"I don't think these old bones can help much, all I can do is shoot my gun. Besides, I stopped moving up in levels when we cleaned the parking lot."
Miguel nodded and they were both silent for a few seconds. Finally, Krieg spoke again.
"I don't understand half the things that have happened lately. Levels? Skills? All too strange a concept for me to fully understand."
"I don't think anyone quite understands what's going on."
"Well, I only understand one thing and that is that until a few days ago I thought I didn't have much more to live for and I was wrong." Miguel raised an eyebrow at his friend's words. "I thought it wouldn't be long before I would die and see my wife again. Now I feel like the world has played a joke on me. Tell me something, if all this is... false, did our lives make sense?"
Miguel felt uncomfortable with the subject. Recently, some survivors had the same doubts.
"I don't know, but I think asking that question is useless. I mean, even if this is all a simulation, we are still alive and have our own thoughts, right?"
"Now I doubt it. What if we're just characters in one of those video games that kids like so much? Worse yet, is God even real? Is my wife waiting for me in heaven as I expected? Or is it that when you die you are simply erased, like deleting a folder on your computer?"
Miguel stood quietly looking at his friend. He never thought Krieg could fall into despair like that. This was not the grumpy old man he knew.
"I don't have answers to those questions. I'm sorry."
Krieg deflated in his seat like a balloon.
"Well, I guess I'll just have to live with it, one more thing to add to the load. If there's one thing I'm good at, it's holding on to these old bones until they turn to dust, in fact, I'm surprised this isn't my talent."
Miguel breathed a sigh of relief. There was the Krieg he knew, beaten but never completely down.
"I'll help kill that thing," Krieg continued. Just call me and I'll be there.
"There will be a meeting soon, it will be a good idea for you to attend."
Just as Krieg nodded, Miguel's phone rang. The number was Tracel's and, with some nervousness, Miguel answered.
"Is everything ready?"
"Yes, it will be in 10 minutes in the superblock."
"Okay, I'm coming. I'll take Krieg," Miguel looked at his friend, who nodded.
"All right, if you want to wait for me outside, I'm coming down too."
Miguel hung up the phone and got up from the furniture. Krieg followed him shortly after and together they headed for the exit. Krieg stopped briefly to look at Darry and then opened the apartment door.
They both waited a few moments for Tracel and Tarin to catch up and together they headed toward the superblock.
"Were you able to contact Adam?" Miguel asked.
"No, but he'd better rest while he can, I'm afraid there's a lot of work to be done."
"I just hope it's not more work than we can handle."
Tracel looked at Michael for a few seconds.
"So am I, for all our sakes."
"So you haven't lost your touch at all eh? You're still talking like a politician."
Tracel paid no attention to Krieg's comment and moved on.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone