Chương 40: The Safe - Nevermind... I'm not good at this kind of thing...

Oscar was nodding a few times as he was looking at me, but his eyebrows sprang up the moment an imaginary lightbulb appeared on his head. With that said, a huge smile formed on his face telling me that he was up to something. I just rolled my eyes in derision but he immediately got up to my face with fervor.

"YOU BETTER NOT LET GO OF HER NOW, UNDERSTAND ME?! THIS IS ONE OF THOSE CHANCES YOU SHOULD NEVER FUCKING PASS UP, GOT ME?! GOT ME?!"

"Uh-huh… I know, old man. Heh. You know I'm not the same person from that time, right?"

"Eh~ Not so fast on that— Oh! Fuck it! I'd even give you my M134 if you guys… you know… uh… that," Oscar started moving his eyebrows up and down with a dirty smile.

"Really~? I thought you'd die first before you hand over your minigun?"

"Ah— well, um… I didn't think this through— WAIT, HELL NO!!! I ALREADY SAID IT!!! I'LL SAY IT AGAIN!!! I'LL. GIVE. YOU. MY. M. 1. 3. 4. IF. YOU. GUYS. HOOK. UP. Happy?"

I immediately snorted and he looked at me with confusion, "What's with that face? Huh?!"

"Nothing~"

"What?! Tell me!"

"Nothing! I said nothing!"

"..."

Oscar threw me a suspicious look for a few seconds but it slowly turned into a stare of death. However, I just looked at him with the same expression as earlier and it just left him even more frustrated. In the end, he just continued to search the cupboards and the cabinets while grumbling incessantly.

I thought Oscar would be like that for the duration of the search but his expression changed the moment we took down the huge painting on the wall.

"Kid… this is..."

"A safe..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! DO YOU WANT ME TO SHOOT IT OR JUST TORCH IT, KID?! HUH?! WHAT DO YOU THINK?!"

I was excited as well, "W-Wait, wait, wait, wait, old man. I know what to do."

"Don't you need a stethoscope for that?!"

"This is a very cheap one, I can handle it. Just be quiet, okay? Oh, could you remove the batteries on that clock? I'll hear it once we start."

"Heh, have a crack at it then! This clock? Okay~"

"What are you— of course..."

"What?"

"..."

Instead of just simply removing the batteries, Oscar just flung it outside the window like a frisbee, wearing a huge smile on his face. I was staring at him blankly but I just shook my head as I exhaled deeply and approached the safe. After that, I placed my ear close to it and began moving the combination slowly.

With each faint click, I would remember the position and turn the wheel to the opposite side. Cracking a lock like this just needed some quiet, skill, patience, and luck, and I have all the time I needed. It took about 10 minutes of trial and error because as Oscar said, doing this without the proper tools would prove difficult.

But nevertheless, we heard the final click and I turned the handle. It instantly gave in but before I managed to pull on it, Oscar suddenly grabbed me and celebrated.

"HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO~~~ WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE~~~ HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! GOOD FUCKING JOB, KID!!! YOU'RE INSANE!!!"

"Heh, don't celebrate yet. Let's see what we have here..."

When I opened the safe, we found a few stacks of cash, assorted jewelry, expensive watches, and a few pieces of paperwork that had the deed to this house and a few other important documents. However, the moment we looked at the bottom part, Oscar and I immediately high-fived because we fucking knew what those two cases contained and the boxes right next to them.

"I CAN ALREADY SMELL IT, KID!!! OPEN THEM!!! OPEN THEM!!!"

I waited for nothing as I pulled the cases out of the safe and laid them on the table. The first one was twice as long as the other one but we still opened them at the same time. The first case contained a Remington Model 700 and it had a 1-6x40mm scope, a two-point sling, and a suppressor while the other had two Glock 19s with extended magazines and a combat knife.

'Nice.'

After that, Oscar also uncovered five boxes each of 9mm rounds and .308 Winchester rounds from the safe. We looked at our rewards for a few seconds before Oscar found a coin and tossed it in the air.

I smiled and said, "Heads."

The coin flew in the air and it didn't take long before I holstered the Glock 19s in my empty holsters. Oscar just chuckled in kind as he picked up his new rifle then I placed the boxes of ammo in my bag along with his share. After taking everything into account, we marked the house before going outside.

Oscar and I couldn't hide our smirks and his group threw us weird glances when they saw us. I discovered that my group wasn't out yet but I trust that they would do just fine.

Chris approached me, "Did something happen? You two look a little too… happy."

We chuckled before I showed them what was hiding under my jacket and Oscar opened up his long, black case, "We found guns."

"What?!"

Jo interjected, "For real?!"

"Settle down you little fuckers, it's just a gun."

"Just a gun?! Are you out of your mind?!"

"AND THEY'RE MINE, BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Lucky bastards..."

"Why is this kid's group taking so long?"

Arnel replied, "There are people inside, I believe Kaley's talking to them."

"You aren't gonna go there, kid?"

"No, they could handle it. That's the point of letting them do this, right? If I remember correctly, a family of three is inside that place and I know their daughter. I've played basketball with her a few times and her name is Alex. I dunno about her parents though, we haven't talked much besides discussing basketball."

"Oh? What was she like?"

"In basketball? She's definitely better than me and she's as tall as Jared too. I believe she received a scholarship to play in one of the top universities around here and she's exempt in most of the subjects."

"An athletic one, eh? You think we should add her to one of our groups?"

"We'll see."

After a few more minutes of waiting, we saw Kaley and the rest walk outside Alex's house and they seemed to be in good spirits. Looking at them told me that the 'recruitment' had gone well and more people would be added to our fold. However, before I managed to utter a word, Jared rushed up to me and pointed at the extended magazine peeking out of my jacket.

"Bro, where the fuck did you get that?! We've been gone for a few minutes and I didn't see you with that! You found that, right?!"

Oscar interjected, "I found a bolt-action too..."

"WHAT?!"

"Take it easy, dude. Anyway, Dong, Mark, you can keep those M9s but you gotta attend my class later, got it? I would bring you to the range sometimes but you two need a refresher."

The two celebrated as they exclaimed, "YES, BOSS!!!"

It was noisy again but I approached Kaley, "Everything okay? What happened there?"

"Oh, ah— umm… they got worried at first because they didn't recognize us after we rang their doorbell. But we told them we're living at your place so they were convinced to let us in. They're a family of three and their daughter… Alex, was it? She mentioned that she remembered you from playing basketball before. Her dad is a little out of it but her mom seemed to be okay."

"Did you ask them if they're willing to move to our place temporarily?"

"T-That's a no… they wish to stay at their place because Alex's dad mentioned that they have guns too… However..."

"Yeah?"

"They're kinda lacking in food because they just almost cleared their pantry before it started. They were just about to shop but they opted from going out when the broadcast aired. They have a small garden in their backyard but they can't harvest the crops yet. However, they told me that they're willing to help in any way they can in exchange for food. I told them I'll tell you first and that was it. Her mom wanted us to stay for some snacks but her dad was kinda against it so… you know… we just excused ourselves..."

'Stingy, eh?'

I just smiled as I looked at her, "It's good we have another household that knows how to use guns and know how to maintain a garden. Aside from that, we have another possible member for our group but Alex should still undergo some training of sorts… let's just say that she's kinda ahead with her athletic background. You did great, all of you."

That was when Oscar turned to his group after listening to Kaley, "Oh right, how about you guys? Found me a grenade launcher or something? That's the only way you'll beat them."

'Right, we forgot about them when they saw our loot...'

Oscar's group choked at the same time but Unc Zardon responded, "Yeah, about that… nothing too important about that place. The people living there must've left in a hurry when the broadcast aired because we still found a few supplies lying around. Furthermore, the electricity is still running so we just turned the main breaker off. We did the whole shebang after that, then we saw you guys outside."

Oscar nodded a few times then he turned to me, "Are we heading to the radio station now? We got some time, right?"

I looked at my watch first and discovering that it was only a few minutes before noon made me decide to take a short break.

We brought Jonathan back to his house safe and sound and we found out that his parents and his sister were also home for a time already. With that said, Isabelle and Esther were preparing the materials they would be using to teach the kids. However, when Esther saw me dropping her brother off, she sneaked a wink at me and Kaley saw it happen.

In an act of marking her territory, Kaley linked her arm with mine as she pulled me outside. We were in the back of the group walking so nobody saw it happen… except for Oscar. I never looked back to check on him but Kaley and I kept walking while our arms were still interlocked.

The thing was, the old man never said a word and that made me suspicious.

'Judging from his character… he would've flipped out by now. And the gun that he wagered… his M134… it's his most prized treasure… Fuck it… He's probably cooking up a reason to void the deal.'

It didn't take long before we reached the compound and our new couple, Allan and Jenny, waved at us when they saw us coming. Allan volunteered to open the gate for us but he was taking too long. He would've opened and closed the gate several times already but the gate was still shut tight.

Jenny was just looking at us with a helpless smile so we decided to call out to the perpetrator.

"Allan? Are you in a ranked game or something?"

"Ah! Just a moment! My shoe got untied..."

Oscar exclaimed, "Haaaaah?! Your shoes?"

"They're new! Just a sec! I'll be done… I think..."

"…" everyone else.

After a certain deity knew what, the gate finally opened and we gathered by the pool area. The kids were already doing some sort of activity that Isabelle left though a few of them were asking for their mother's guidance.

'She started immediately, huh? That's good.'

We occupied a vacant table and we all placed what we could bring back on the table. That was when my cousin Nicole and her girlfriend Alicia passed by and saw the black cases in front of me. Nicole stopped in her tracks and U-Turned to get back to me while Alicia just stayed in place.

Nicole asked, "You only found those?"

"We just grabbed these first since they contained guns."

"Oh, I see. H-Hey bro… umm— we're thinking of asking you to teach us how to use guns. I know it's kinda late asking you but the more people that know how to use them, the more secure this place would be, right? The two of us are taking more shifts with guard duty so we're kinda learning from Allan."

'Fuck… not that guy...'

Nicole continued, "We're not asking for the same gun as he was using but something enough to protect ourselves that's easy to use."

"Hmm, you two are in luck. Actually, I'm planning to train a few of you so you're welcome to come with me for a small lecture."

"Really?! Just tell us the time and we'll come with!"

"Sure. It's never too late."

As soon as I approved their suggestion, the two looked at each other with an excited expression. They both thanked me profusely before they held each other's hand and walked away. However, from the corner of my eye, Rin was looking at them with a certain gleam in her eyes. The moment she saw me looking at her, she immediately averted her gaze and disappeared from view.

'Oh~ Could she be also? Maybe? Is she not sure? Bah! Nevermind… I'm not good at this kind of thing...'