Before climbing up the ladder at the side of the building, Zain put a small knife in between his teeth, ready to use it at any moment and time. The large sword was still stuck in his backpack, but it was going to be hard to access it while climbing the ladder.
Just below him was Kun, while Skittle and Cobra stayed at the bottom of the ladder.
'I… I'm worried about what we will see up here.' Kun muttered.
Finally reaching the top, Zain gave Kun a hand and pulled the latter up.
"So it looks like you are going to follow me this time?"
"What choice do I have?" Kun rolled his eyes, "Shark and I decided to follow that Reborn Organisation, and look what happened to us. I don't want to die twice."
Zain smiled, and soon both of them began to look around. It didn't take them long for them to find the person they were looking for. Covered in a large black sheet of some sort, behind a storage room on the roof, there was Pink. Her eyes were wide open, and she was spacing out while staring at the sky.
"Pink! Thank god you're here!" Kun shouted while running over. He knelt down and quickly went in front of her to see that she was alright.
"Kun.." She softly spoke as she looked at him, and a bit of life seemed to return to her eyes. "Kun, you're back, you're finally back!"
Immediately, she hugged Kun and held him tightly as her whole body trembled. The last night had been hell for her, and the fact that she could only helplessly run away upon seeing her friends get killed only made it worse. She had cried all throughout the night, and upon seeing Kun, she felt a lump in her throat but had no tears to cry.
"Kun… they're all dead, our whole group, they all died because of me!" She started to sob and make a few strange noises out of her mouth.
"I know you're upset, but it would be best if you kept quiet for now."
Pink had heard someone speak, but it wasn't Kun. At the moment, she hadn't realised who else was around, and that's when she noticed Zain standing at the back.
Wiping away her face, she tried to get rid of the tears, but there was nothing.
"Kun, you found him," Pink asked.
"Well, we kind of just encountered each other in the Club…but Pink, I'm glad you're okay. We saw everything, well, I mean, Zain saw everything, but he explained to me what happened. It's not your fault.
"You didn't even know about the Demons, and to be honest, none of us did. Our organisation never told us that they could turn into Humans like that. No one is to blame for the situation that we are currently in. And now that we're together, we have to move on…together."
Unlike Kun, who originally had blamed Zain for leaving them in the first place, it was clear that Pink had blamed herself for this whole ordeal. After a while, when it looked like she was starting to feel better, she finally felt easier to speak.
"How, how did you guys know I was up here?…I was so scared of everything that was happening. I was worried that even if I ran in the middle of the night that…that Demon would get me. So I thought it was best to just hide instead." Pink asked.
"As I said, Zain was able to see everything that had happened. He can extract memories from the dead. So he saw what had happened. Can you tell us anything else tho'? Did you see or hear anything after the Demon left?"
Pink shook her head while thinking about Zain. The latter was certainly a strange Reborn Zombie, and it was clear he was different compared to the rest of them.
After a few moments, Pink replied, "Like I said, I stayed put. I heard the door slam but just stayed here, not even taking a peek at what could have happened or returned back to the Club. Honestly, I didn't even notice when the night turned into day."
After a while, Kun pulled up Pink, and then both of them walked around the terrace to see if they could spot anything. They talked for a little bit about what had occurred down there when he had met with Zain, and she explained in detail what she had seen as well, which had matched up with what Zain had told him.
Eventually, the two returned, and there was a firm look on Pink's face.
"Zain…I want to follow you. Kun and I have talked, and we both want to follow you. We know you are the lone wolf type, and we will give you the space when you need to do your own thing. We will take care of ourselves.
"But you should know that a group is better for survival in these circumstances. If a similar situation happens again, like what happened last night, then you will need all of us. But I have also realised the mistake that we made with Shark. There was no trust within the group, and everything was one way.
"So, before we ask to join you, or before you would even be willing to accept us, we both want to know, who are you? Who do you work for, and what are you?"
Originally Zain was planning to head out alone, but what Pink was suggesting was the best of both worlds. As long as he was the leader, he could say when he wanted to go alone and when he wanted these guys to follow him.
On top of that, there was the Quest that he had just received, and the new rewards had piqued his interest. It was just how he would spin this. Before answering, there was a smile on his face.
"I have always been honest with you all from day one," Zain replied. "I don't know why I am different from the rest of you. I really am just a university student. If we encounter one of my teachers in the future, they will confirm it.
"I was someone who always thought what life would be like if it ended up like this, so I always prepared for it, but that's it. There is nothing to hide on my end. You can believe me, or you don't, but why do you think I have been walking around with my Zombie friend this whole time.? We were good friends and attended class together.
"Does Skittle really look like an agent to you guys?"
Looking at each other, they thought Zain had a point.
"This world has changed a lot," Zain explained. "And I think all of us have changed from what we were before. So I have a suggestion as well. Let's create a new group in this world and survive this thing.
"All five of us." Zain smiled, including Skittle and Cobra in the group as well.
Placing his hand out, Zain was waiting for the two of them. The first one was Kun, who placed his hand on top of Zain's. Then, Pink did the same.
"What is the name of this group?" Pink asked.
"How about 'Level up'?" Zain asked.
"That's…a really strange name," Kun said with a raised eyebrow.
"It's what we are going to need to do. To survive this world, we must rise and level up above everyone else and all our enemies."
In the end, they all lifted their hands in the air and agreed despite the strange name.
[Quest complete]
[You have created the 'Level Up' Group]
[You will now receive your rewards]
****
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