Trash in the Apocalypse

When Jun woke up, he saw the unfamiliar ceiling. He then heard voices and people surrounded him, or maybe just one or two.

He then felt a relaxing feeling course through his body when a hand touched his leg. His misty vision cleared up, and when he came into himself, he saw everyone looking listless. Sheila narrated the story to him, how Paterno selfishly drove them to his resort, and how he tried to kill Adrian.

After hearing her side of the story, he approached Paterno, who was clutching two crystals on his hand. He tried asking, but the old man chose not to speak. He looked around and saw Adrian leaning back on a chaise lounge by the side of the pool.

They didn't talk immediately but gazed at each other. Afterward, Adrian sighed and sat up. He told his story and showed his hand.

Jun found something strange from their story but didn't voice it. If there were only two people inside the resort, and one was a harmless old woman, how did the little child die?

Jun looked around the area, confused.

Inside the room, a picture frame was on top of the desk. An old couple looked worried, holding a smiling girl. On the girl's hand was a white cat that had some rashes.

***

It was high-noon.

A white van was traveling on a spacious highway. There were few cars on this highway and had less number of infected.

An infected standing idly in the middle of the road, flew away when the car hit it. The driver had an indifferent expression on his face as he watched the infected stumble through the side mirror. On his chest lay a simple necklace with two transparent crystals.

The road showed a fork ahead, one goes left, and the other one goes right.

"Take the left turn."

A raspy voice came beside the driver; the man's face was stern.

"The national highway is to the right..."

"Left turn."

The driver wordlessly turned left, although he followed what the man said, the way he drove showed how he truly felt.

As they traveled, the car kept hitting infected on the road. The infecteds that got hit either flew to the side or in front of the vehicle. The infecteds got ran over, making the ride a bumpy one.

After a few minutes of riding an "Earn to Die" UV express, they finally arrived at their destination.

The car stopped in front of an intersection. Jun, who was sitting beside the driver's seat, surveyed the area.

On the left was the long parade of cars that blocked their group's advance earlier. A tall building especially stood out, as an infected was dangling on one of its railings. Its thigh was split and broken into two, allowing the lower part of the leg to serve as a hook, resulting in its current situation.

Jun looked behind; everyone had their eyes on him.

"We'll start searching for your family, from the nearest house, and decide based on the circumstances where to go next as we make our way forward. I hope everyone stays calm and cooperative. As long as we stay in formation, there shouldn't be a problem."

Jun then left the car, and the group followed.

One person remained.

It was Paterno sitting on the driver's seat with his head slumped down on the steering wheel. He looked sideways when he heard growling voices from afar. The dangling infected saw the group and was now wildly moving its body. As it kept moving, the flesh that was supporting it started to stretch, like a thread that was cut, it broke. The infected's body rotated in the air as it fell. It splattered when it dropped on a fenced wall.

Jun stood in front, leading the group. He was limping, but he still walked quickly.

The stat point he received when he created a skill was added to endurance. It pained him to do so since he was planning to use the Ogre's Club as soon as possible, but there was no other choice.

The world was acting like it was a game, and he decided that he would "play" the game, just like how it wants to be played.

Since investing in power increased his physical strength, just like on any other game, shouldn't endurance do the same? Like improving one's physical resistance or increasing one's max health.

Although he wasn't too sure about how it will affect his body, he needed to try. The things he noticed were increased health by 10 and the reduced pain on his legs. It could have other benefits, but he needed to do some experiments for him to know, which should be impossible since he didn't have enough points.

As they walked forward on the sidewalks, Jun decided to inquire about how his group allocated their stat points.

Adrian said, "I put one on speed and cunning. Why? I just want to.".

Sheila said, "Of course, I added two points in power. I needed power for the spear's requirements."

Then Edward, "What stat points? Uhhh... Do I need to use them? Where do I add them? Okay, endurance it is."

Jun was surprised by their answers. He turned to the rest of the group, and they gave the same answer, just like Edward.

To think that his group doesn't have an optimized stat configuration, he felt the need to explain it to them. They went to the nearby parking lot and held a short meeting.

Jun explained what he thought of what benefits each stat could give and whether what build they should go for.

For example, if you want to fight infected, power, endurance, and speed should be your main attributes. Even if you don't main those attributes, it doesn't stop you from fighting with infecteds. It's just the optimal one for smoother performance.

After listening to Jun's explanation, everyone contemplated on how they want to grow themselves.

Bernard chose to put all his stat points to endurance. He said he would like to help in defending the group rather than actively killing infecteds.

Gina and Dyna chose to split their points into wits and cunning while Alex's group decided to invest everything in charm.

Jun didn't stop them from allocating their points. It's their choice, and it's their life. He was actually curious about what charm could do in the apocalypse.